"300" Presents a Glorious, Action-Packed, Stunning Slice of Greek History

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2007)

At first sight the splish-springing blood and hyper-gory violence in 300 may seem cartoon-like and excessive to some. But this is only because the film is based on a graphic novel. Thus, it is indeed appropriate for the graphic-novel turned feature film scheme.
This film is one you can literally call a "picture." The Larry Fong's cinematography in this absolutely movie stunning. Everything from the ebullient field's to the soldier's pewter-gray shield's to the rustic golden sun rays which occasionally shine through this hardened film give the film a uniquely polished look. It' as if Frank Miller himself painted each frame.
The actor's own appearance will stun you as well. All the lead actors spent rigorous months to make their bodies look as though they were chiseled by Greek sculpters. The women are of course beautiful and breathtaking as well (though I don't think the female leads spent as much time in the weight room as these actor-turned-body-builders did.) At the start of the film, the characters did not seem believable. Gerard Butler and the modern, colloquial verbiage seemed out of place for a period piece. But as the movie progressed, the acting and the speech seemed more believable. When he Butler's Leonidas proclaims to the Persian messenger "THIS IS SPARTA!" you can't imagine him saying it any differently, such is the power and conviction of his voice.
The film is very accurate historically as well being quite realistic irrespective of the fantastic artwork and special effects. Besides a gnarled monster or two and the strange absence of food or water supplies for the soldiers in between battles, everyone and everything looks believable, and most importantly all the key plot points check out on the historian's checklist. These particular war-obsessed ancient Greeks really did "discard" many weak-looking male babies and all disfigured ones. It really did happen as like the citizen-type selection process in Antz (at birth, the male baby ants in that film were either given spears or hammer's, signifying them for either the soldier or the worker-ant life).
I found it inspiring, and I immediately thought of the soldiers who choose to enlist (and sometimes fight) in our army. Without them (and the laws that banished the draft), many would have to join up and fight against their will. The few and the proud these mighty Spartans are, indubitably.