300

[Dymetrie]

Well, myself and Jarp have just returned from the picturehouse having watched this Frank Miller story of the Battle of Thermopylae.

First thoughts were that it was very good, the story worked, the action was fantastic and the casting was not bad at all.

Gerard Butler as Leonidas seemed very much the warrior king, and had the love of his men. Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes was so up himself it was unbelievable (so worked :p) and David Wenham as Dilios was amusing.

Every one of the Spartans was buffed to the max (hard man boobs and six packs all round, even David Wenham!) and looked like the hard bastids they were portraying.

I enjoyed it, found it fast paced, well presented and just the kind of gore filled violence I needed after a Thursday spent sleeping at work. There were however some downsides.

The dialogue was quite dire (geddit? :p) in places (although David Wenham' narration was not one of these), the plot twists were obvious from even before they were introduced, and the Persians were a bunch of nancies...

If you want a fun, violent, enjoyable film then I'd highly recommend seeing this film. If you want something thought provoking, I'd still recommend it. If you want a brilliant script with mystery and intrigue throughout.... Watch The Usual Suspects...

Dym rating: 3 shurikens.

[Garp]

Gotta Echo Dym's comments, though admittedly this is because we discussed the film over a pint in the pub afterwards.

Good film, very interesting cinematography in it. The violence seemed almost computer game esque in a way I can't pinpoint. I think its down to the style of the graphics in it, the heavy emphasis on dynamic range in every cell.

Dialogue is so cheesy its almost arguable that George Lucas was writing better dialogue for Star Wars.
"It's only an eye, and luckily God saw fit to provide me with a spare"
or something like:
"Our arrows will be so numerous as to block out the sun" which queued the response
"Then we will fight in the shade"

The soundtrack, apart from occasional dalliances into metal could have been filched from Gladiator wholesale, and saved the composition time / money. A number of bits of imagery brought Gladiator to mind too, wheat fields etc. etc.

Still a good film, if you're up for a bit of glorified violence :) I'll give it 3 swords out of 5.

[leowyatt]

This is Kitten :D

Now. I'm not really into violence. But buff men in skirts? Are we talking Troy here, because from the advert I though it looked pretty good. I know we haven't got Brad in a skirt, but will the girlies like it?? :D

[Tak]

I saw this last week (yay for special invites to previews) and I completely enjoyed it even though I wasn't too keen on going to see it in the first place.

Yes the scripts is pants and a lot of the fights were actually very "pretty" in a choreographed (almost dancy in some places) way, but in my mind it was a fun film.

Films that make you think can be great, but a lot of the time I want to see a film in order to not think and action/bloody films are always the best for leaving your brain by the door as you go in :)

[Mark]

I've seen the trailer and I quite liked the look of it.

Might coax me to the cinema for the first time in about five years. :huh: :)

[Rich_L]

Massively looking forward to watching this - ropey plot & dialogue, tons of action and special effects - my perfect film :D

Did anyone read the review in the Metro of it though today (gave it 1 star), the daft bint TOTALLY missed the point of the film - I mean I'm all for unbiased review but why send someone who clearly hates films of this genre to review it?

Here's her closing comment:

"It's an ugly business: brutal, racist, homophobic - dare I say fascist? Harmless escapism indeed." :rolleyes: - What the hell did she expect from a film about a bloody big battle, them all sitting round a campfire singing frickin hippy songs? :D

[Robert]

;D

The greeks loved a bit of bum love anyway ;D

[Kell_ee001]

I've heard some great reveiws about this :)

[Haly]

I'm not sure about it. I half want to see it, half have a feeling I'll despise it :p Studied too much Greek History, Troy just made me cringe a lot of the time ;D

[kaiowas]

On a related note, just seen this :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNqiSkd1M6k

[Mark]

BRUSH YOUR TEETH! :D

[/bandwagon]

[Goose]

I loved it, although I didn't like David Wenham's accent.

[Tak]

Might have just *got* the graphic novel - after I get it off Mic I'll have a read :)

[Robert]

We read "The Persians" written by Aeschylus.

[memphisto]

thought it was great for 2 hours of escapism even if i thought the end was a bit weak.