Greek Critics

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2007)

Greek critics blast 300 By The Associated Press ATHENS, Greece  Greek critics have blasted 300, a Hollywood recreation of the 480 BC Battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas of Sparta held back a massive Persian military invasion, leading to its eventual defeat.
The popular Athinorama magazine described the film as a "bloodlust video game." Daily Ta Nea newspaper gave Zack Snyder's 300 zero out of 10, with critic Dimitris Danikas claiming the film even carried a message about the U.S. war on terror.
"By ancient Persia, they refer to modern Iran  whose soldiers are portrayed as bloodthirsty, underdeveloped zombies," he wrote. "They are stroking racist instincts in Europe and America." Robby Eksiel at the daily Ethnos said moviegoers would be dazzled by the "digital action" but irritated by the "pompous interpretations and one-dimensional characters." Greece's critics were similarly scathing about other recent movies depicting ancient battles, including Wolfgang Petersen's Troy and Oliver Stone's Alexander in 2004.
It's a pattern that disappointed Panayiotis Timoyiannakis, the lone voice of support among Greek critics for 300 "This is not a university lecture, it's a movie," he wrote in the daily Eleftheros Typos. "It's an adaptation of a comic to the big screen, and that's only how it should be judged . . . When seen this way, it gets high marks."