A new film is crowned "Best Comic Book Movie."
Brothers and sisters, lend me your eyes so I may share with you the tale of brave Leonidas I, King of Sparta, son of King Anaxandridas II, descendant of Heracles, who led 300 Spartan warriors against the seemingly unending forces of Emperor Xerxes of Persia at The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.…
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— go to most recent comments76 - iraklis
for those still arguing if persians were black
[3.114] Where the south declines towards the setting sun lies the country called Ethiopia, the last inhabited land in that direction. There gold is obtained in great plenty, huge elephants abound, with wild trees of all sorts, and ebony; and the men are taller, handsomer, and longer lived than anywhere else.(Herodotus)
Of course Persians werent black,but the Persian empire of that time was consisting of many many nations,amongst them the Ethiopians who were black,tall etc...They also had huge elephants!
Hehe ,maybe not that huge as Frank Miller's 300.. and ok xerxes wasnt black himself, but then again was he so much taller than Leonidas:)
When tales like that or like homerus tales were told back in 500 bc,i guess people were using their imagination to picture them.Nowadays its the screen that provides us that imagination,the director's imagination.
Maybe in the eyes of that people back then ,the mighty persian empire was consisting of terrifying animal like people(ethiopians were under panthers skins acoording to herodotus)and huge beasts until
they set foot in main Greece and..oopps..they were just people!
77 - terry
Persian Chauvinism must be as uqly as persian characters in the 300 movie. no wonder iran needs a strong/dictatorial central governmet lead by ugly persian chauvinists, without a brutal central government, iran will fall apart because nobody wants to live with ugly persians, so the stick of central government,hanging,torturing ...continues...down with ugly persian chuavinism. but I'm sure soon non-persian azeris, kurds, baluchis, arabs, turkmans, lores ....will be freed from this evil virus called persian-chauvinism.
78 - Matt
I thought the movie was okay, the problem was that the plot was very obvious- not really anything happened that I didnt see comming...
So how would you rate it - vist my site and let me know
79 - Mudasir
The Comments section isnt helping at all for those who havnet seen the movie. plz comment on the movie instead of conflicting with your own ideas
80 - Parastoo
I know this message is irrelevant from the opened discussion! But since tomorrow is the start of the New Year (Nowrouz) in Iran, I would like to offer you the following poem from Fereydoon Moshiri, an Iranian poet, and say Happy New Year to you all!
Please accept my apology if the translation does not infer the poet’s feelings.
Original poem in Persian:
Booye baran, booye sabze, booye khaak,
Shakhe-haye shoste, baran khorde, paak,
Aasmane aabi o abre sepid,
Barg-haye sabze beed,
Atre narges, raghse baad,
Naghmeye shoughe Parastoo-haye shad,
Khalvate garme kabootar-haye mast…
Narm narmak miresad inak bahaar,
Khosh be haale roozegar!
Translation:
The smell of rain, the smell of grass, the smell of soil,
Washed, rain sunk, clean tree branches,
The blue sky, and the white cloud,
Green willow leaves,
The fragrance of narcissus, dance of the wind,
The delightful melody of pleased swallows,
The warm privacy of ravished(?) pigeons...
Gradually, spring is approaching,
Good for the world!
81 - Awesome
Us Greeks know how to lay the Smackdown.
Next up Alexander, who chased and conquered the Persains all the way back to persia.
Incredible movie to watch at IMAX.
82 - Bre
Maybe I set my expectations too high, but I personally thought that this movie was AWFUL.
I wanted to like this movie, I really did. But despite the riveting battle scenes and pretty pictures, it was all rendered irredeemable by the script, the sporadic plot-line, the unfortunate political references, and the incredibly annoying voice of the narrator...and maybe too much nipple.
Great display of manly thighs though. It’s not every day you get to see men’s thighs that look that nice.
83 - jack
greatttt movie, they should've chased ugly persians all the way to afqanistan where they can fest with narcotics, write stupid and nonsense poems, and escape from reallity
84 - Matt
It's easy to say just enjoy this movie as mindless entertainment, but, for some of us, that's impossible. Partly, the problem is the movie (or Miller's story) tries so hard to sell us on who are the good guys and who are the bad. The script goes out of its way to educate us about Spartan culture and the characters are constantly telling us how honorable they are. The movie frames itself as a story about freedom fighters and those of us who don't view it that way--for whatever reason--feel like we're being manipulated.
Personally, I found the Spartans to be annoying. Why should I get behind a bunch a militaristic jerks who hurl their weaker babies off cliffs and go around saying how much greater they are than everyone else?
I'm tired of movies and tv shows throwing out words like honor, destiny, and freedom in an attempt to win my heart. Without any proof, these things don't really mean anything.
85 - jackie
sweetie jack
You must have mentioned Afghanistan’s raise in Narcotic production after US invasion to that country don’t you? Why do you escape from reality honey?
86 - Dudeee
Dudes chill out. This movie was amazing. Of course it was very historically inaccurate. When is hollywood every historically accurate. All the innacuracies like huge fat guys with saws in their arms, the gay xerxies and other shit make the movie much more interesting. If the movie was 100% accurate the 300 spartans wouldn't seem quite as glorius as they did. For those who haven't seen the movie go see it ... its the 3rd highest grossing r rated movie of all time and the highest grossing movie ever released in march also it was only 60million to make which is relatively cheap. And any movie that causes so much talk and controversy must be great.
87 - sean
I can't believe Iranian persians treat non-persian Iranians so badly, they force them to just learn persian in schools and learn persian history and culture (what a darn culture). I just visited ethologue site and it clearly shows persians are not the majority in Iran, then why they force others to learn their language, not only that, they totally prohibid the use of non-persian iranians to use their own language in their own provinces. the more I study iran and persian the more I come to realize that non-persian iranians are denied their baic human rights in a country called Iran by persian" chauvinists". I can't believe this's taken place in the 21st century right befor our eyes.
88 - MEEE
Remember.....this movie is not a historical documentary...so dont go saying it has no historical accuracy when it wasent meant to necicarly educate u in a certain way. The movie was purly made for the action and to tell u a small glimpse of how 300 Spartans held off a shit load of Persians. its NOT a documentary
89 - todd
some people's opinions get so twisted thinking pro american film or that greece are put on a pedestal...and for a trully objective opinion this movie is very clever and witty, the cinematography is undaunting. Remember folks leave your baggage at the door when you see this one.." |Remember, after all, it is just a movie"! One of the best films i have seen in ages.
90 - Johno
Just saw "300".
Man what a film....
Loved every bit of it. Now I,m of to the Gym to work out.
91 - mark
do you guys think persians have evolved? I doubt it comparing this guy """ ahmadi nezhad""" stupid persian leader.
I think persia or Iran's days are numberd.
1-because persian history is a big lie
2-persian language is a big lie, it's god-father is arabic.
3-economicly farsi-speaking countries are dead.
4-they've done whatever they could to make everybody within and outside Iran their enemies, within iran the non-persian nationallites are awakining, demanding their human rights from chuavinistic persian system, and outside the country you all know better
92 - farmerhot
OK. Lets make a new kind of movie that is totally and completely in now way possibly offensive to anyone. Lets call it White Screen....
93 - Tom
Thats being racist. What about "black screen"?
94 - Dave
300 was incredible ive seen it multiple times and find both the cinematography and acting to be phenominal. The grand scenes and beautifully depicted battle scenes add to the overall quality. Im not sure about its historical accuracy, but considering it was narrated by a spartan to the spartan army, i wouldnt expect a non-biased depiction of the tale. This film is a must see, 10/10.
95 - Marxist
Amazing how much racism exists in the "most democratic country" in the world. I am not a historian to tell how accurate the accounts in this movie are, but Iranians are the most gracious hosts I have ever visited. I was in Shiraz, a city of poets, last Summer and the movie that depicts Persians as Barbarian sex-crazed people has certainly gone out of its way to paint these people as evil, whereas my experience was the exact opposite. As for non-Persians in Iran, I am not sure how many times that dude has been to Iran, but certainly his opinion will change after a visit.
96 - russ
marxist, not being able to understand the complexity of the issue,over simplifying things will get you no-where. first do your homework, take your time and get to know what's going on, take a look at ethnologe site and realize that Iran is and have been a multi-national country
97 - russ
the city that you visited " shiraz" is a persian-living city, it's development has been achieved in the expense of depriving non-persian provinces from development.you can't sacrifice non-persian nationallites basic human right in return of having a good time in a city.
98 - Spartan
Hey for all of the "Persians" out there who are sooo upset about this movie, will you all stand up and acknowledge that maybe the decendants of the spartans could be upset for being portrayed as babykilling inbred ghouls??? Its a fairy tale that used a historical event as a plot line. Don't watch it if you don't like, and if you were so savvy in regard to the "real" history and the accuracy of the story, what would have compelled you to go watch it anyway?? Were you bloodthirsty to see your great Xerxes slaughter the western army of 300 Spartans??? You're all a bunch of collectivist babies. YOU were not on screen, this movie was not about YOU, YOU were not alive back then, YOU are not a great poet and not a great creator of human rights. YOU are just an individual alive today and only create more animosity between other individuals when YOU can't dissasociate yourselves from a meaningless group. YOU may be proud of what other of the same bloodline have accomplished but why don't YOU recognize that we are all human and if we hold on to these racist ideas of "I'm this and you're that" based on skin color that YOU are perpetuating the very thing YOU are on here crying about!
99 - booboobiscuit
this is the most awsome fucking movie ever the killing captivates you and if the ticket was 20 dollars i would see this fucking MANS movie again hoooooooo ahhhhhhhhhhhh whoooooo hoooooooooooooooooooooooooo
100 - Nicholai
300 is the best movie I have seen all year! I want to see MORE movies like this.
101 - RRS
300 is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It should have stayed in the comic book. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble. I could have left after the first 10 minutes of this epic want-a-be. This movie you should have paid me to see because it is not worth matinee price
102 - El Bicho
"This movie you should have paid me to see"
Sorry to burst your bubble, but considering it's made $166,844,117 in 20 days in North America alone that's not likely.
103 - steve007
300! is a Rootin' Tootin' Heroic Movie!
You may have noted that the movie "300!" is clobbering all competitors at the box office, seen varying reviews, and wondered if it was worth it. In a word, absolutely!
The plot is true, and well-known. In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the enemy in one of the most famous last stands of history. Persian King Xerxes led an Army of well over 300,000 men to Greece and was confronted by King Leonidas of Sparta and 300 Spartans (plus some Athenians). He offers them terms/promises/bribes to stand aside and join his empire, and they choose to fight, knowing they will all die, while the folks back home debate about whether to send reinforcements..
Thar's the bare bones of it, but doesn't cover the truly glorious film that is 300! The photography, enhanced by computer graphics, is shockingly beautiful. The dialogue and acting is terrific. Gerard Butler's King Leonidas makes Russell Crowe's Maximus (Gladiator) look like a choir boy in comparison. Can't see how you could do better short of Richard Burton. There is an excellent extensive female part, and it would be a mistake to think of this as just a "guy's' movie". There is even some definite humor. My wife loved it. You WILL be drawn in and emotionally involved. Quite a few audiences seem to applaud at the end. They should.
You may have heard this is violent. Well,sort of. It is a genuine epic with many fight scenes. The film editor never uses the same camera angle twice, and the combination of color and shading makes for an absolute beautiful vision. Much thought had also been put into the music, and sound effects chosen by the director. But there really is little blood and no spilled innards, though there are antiseptic severed limbs and heads.
You may have heard that this is a "political'" movie, and it is true the the Iranians are not fond of it. I didn't see it that way. Greece WAS the foundation of Democracy and Western Civilization, and the invading army WAS Persian. Can't change reality.
In sum, the movie really is the words that are over-used. Spectacular. Epic. Glorious. Beautiful. Heroic.
Five stars. For sure. Go see it. And don't wait for the DVD.
104 - MissDebbieBlue
Fantastic movie going to see it for a third time tomorrow. Gerard Butler's performance was outstanding. You can tell those Spartans worked their asses of to get those abs. Loved the king too. This whole movie was visually stunning. Great Job.
105 - Rose
I agree with everything you said, 300 is very striking and gerard butler was perfect as leonidas, a real leading man, if ever i saw one. this is a very unique film, a real cinema spectacle.
106 - perspolis
El Bicho stop erasing comments that you dont like. you know what you are doing
107 - perspolis
[Entire remark deleted. El Bicho doesn't do the comment editing, I do. If you want to make a comment, go ahead and do it. Simply posting a bare link to your own site without actually saying anything is simply spamming us and as such was deleted by myself, the Comments Editor.]
108 - El Bicho
Thanks for the clarification, Comments Editor.
109 - Gianni (ITA)
I have always liked the tale of thermopylae battle. When I read the graphic novel I hoped that someone would have partrayed it in a movie , faithfully, with no modification.
I in humble opinion this movie is my dream come true. Simply wonderfull. Wonderfull !
110 - Natasha
whether or not '300' has made money at the box office, gotten good reviews, made by respected industry pros, or based on whatever books, I REALLY DID NOT LIKE the movie, and that is my opinion.
The comments I've read above bashing persian ppl for Iran's current issues in response to persians defending their past is just WRONG. Almost EVERY country today has racial issues in the past and/or present, the U.S. being the absolute biggest offender. Those of you who disagree are very much in denial or just uneducated about the subject. Having been around the world, I KNOW how most "americans" (in quotes because america really is not just the white U.S.) look down on everybody else, with or without realizing it. I believe this movie is secret propoganda, and most ppl who like it so much are blindsided pro-Bush followers, or are being brainwashed to be such. God forbid they make a movie from native americans' point of view showing how the evil wannabe "americans" raped, killed, and stole their ppl & land.
Those of you who say 'get over it' to the persians really need to step out of your over-privileged shoes for a second and realize that this world is more than just your little brain neurons. Please.
111 - Chimaera
Hi. I am not Persian, Greek or American. Perhaps if I was I would be offended by this excellent movie.But I really don't think so. It is is historical fact that the Persians were more imperialist than the Americans ever were, and for this reason would have appeared barbaric to nations they were trying to conquer. This film is just about 300 guys that knew they were going to die, but didn't care because it was for the good of their country. Whether this is right or wrong is up to the viewer to choose. And even though persians are not black, there were people in their empire who were black, and they would have almost certainly been represented in the multinational army that almost conquered the world. And we don't really need any comments about Persian language and history being a lie, because I am sure that French and Italian are at least 80% Latin, and the language in which we are communicating now is about 60% Latin (I'm no expert, so please correct me if I am wrong.)Also, proud as I am of my own culture with its legends of King Arthur and Robin hood, I am not going to say they are anything more than legends.
All civilised people will be ashamed of the barbaric acts they committed in the past, because civilisation can only exist after a long period of blood spilling. And the Persian Empire was quite barbaric and militiaristic in the time of the battle as portrayed in the film.
Does anyone expect that we are supposed to believe that all Persians were crazy sex-obsessed mutants? As there are very few historical sources of the battle, no film portraying it can be anywhere near accurate, so why not go for the awesome crowd pleasing rhinos and giants? I thought that along with the grainy, high-contrast photography, it gave a nice Greek legend feel to it.
All in all, the film is based on a comic book, and views like one too. Of all of the awesome action scenes my favourite is where Leonidas' second in command cuts someone's throat with his hand-guard. How can you deny a film like that?
112 - Ronnie
I don’t generally like watching American POLITICAL movies, because the foolish and wild policy of the US is so clear that it doesn’t need to be displayed indirectly. But the film 300 swelled so much that I was tempted to watch…
In my opinion, this American cartoon would be proper for children if it demonstrated American wildness less intensely. But the present version does not attract either a mentally healthy adult (I’m not talking about Americans) or an uncorrupted child (neither am I talking about American children).
I hope that Persians, Greeks or any one who have been offended by this movie, will realize that such American junk is not worth caring about. And I am really sorry for those Americans who have so much turned into animals that can enjoy such garbage.
113 - Chimaera
In my opinion people are just looking for evidence of 'manipulation' by the American establishment. It's pathetic that you even look for it in a work of art, and one which clearly does not take itself seriously. As a 15 year-old, being the youngest age meant to view the film, I can watch it without being 'manipulated' at all; and apart from the 'freedom isn't free' comment, noticed no direct comparisions to American society, culture or politics. In my opinion, the tiny yet fearless army that stand up against unreasonable foreign aggression seems to be more closely related to a nation that was against America, rather than for it. And of course; Aemerica would not exist for another 2200 years so the point is entirely moot.
114 - ARAZ Bilgin
many thanks dear spartans. You have shown the reality of Persia who have been discriminating minorities of Iran for more than 86 years. They have killed thousands of our Turkish and Baloches and Arabs. We Iranian minorities thank you.
115 - Kathryn
After seeing it 3 nights ago, I still feel in awe of 300...I'm going again tonight!
I think I'm safe to say that that is the best movie I have ever seen, the visual impacts, the costumes, acting and content was perfect!
116 - penelope
this is my second time seing this movie....awesome....persians u guys should'nt take this movie personal..even though it kinda makes u guys seem like people who were over taken by 300 men..you shoudl understand that people change graphic effects in this movie to make it more exciting....and we know u guys are not animals but its just an entertaining movie....every one should go see this in theaters before its out because you will be missing out.
117 - Ronnie
Oh, Penelope,
I didn’t know an American could be as smart as you to realize that Persians are not animals. Thank you very much for your comment.
Go see your cartoon for the third time, since your life is not worth doing some more important job. By the way, I have the DVD of your favorite cartoon. I could offer you the joy of watching it every night before sleep…
118 - El Bicho
Yeah because spending time on the Internet making dumb comments like Ronnie is much more important.
119 - Chimaera
That's right penelope,go see your favourite cartoon; or is it a vicous political piece of evil american propaganda? Get your facts right Ronnie.
120 - Alex
Ronnie, you must be pretty paranoid to think that a movie has any American influence at all? I bet George Bush was behind the making of this movie, to "hide" American propaganda in the messages of the spartan army, oh which was a while back I am sure you know that! And I bet you also did not know America has freedom of speech, not everyone here likes the man in power! well not me at least, but you know... it's my Freedom of choice! and I don't know why the people behind this movie, would make a movie to brain-wash more Americans and make them into animals! I don't really know what makes you think movies about 300 men with swords killing men and creatures in a Mythical take on a battle that happened awhile ago around 250 B.C has ANYTHING to do with American politics? ok maybe I heard one of the Spartans say "join the u.s army!" somewhere in there... but I think it was just you.
Also please keep your racist comments to yourself. You have never been here, you are only speculating things, You think everyone here is not above the standard of a healthy adult mind? [Personal attack deleted]
121 - Alex
Oh and another thing Ronnie, Pirating cartoons is illegal!
122 - Candide
Ok here is the story:
There was only 1 Spartan and he was the storyteller of the group. As the movie opens all of the other 300 Spartans are already dead! Dillios was the only one left alive and his king had told him to tell a “GRAND TALE” so that they would not be forgotten, and that is just what he did. He did not tell Herodotus’ tale because Herodotus had not even been born yet. Before books and movies, the storyteller was a very important person in any tribe. That is why we hear him narrating! It is a fictional story told by a fictional character.
It was a very simple story and MOST of the people in the WORLD were able to understand it.
We (the world) can clearly see in this thread who the real racists are. Just keep drawing attention to yourselves so that you can be more easily identified.
123 - Chimaera
A valid point.
124 - SuperSpartan
What a great movie! It's such a realistic showing of how heroic and noble western ideals can stand up in the face of cowardly and evil "persian" thoughts - i.e. global jihad.
Just goes to show no matter how cowardly and misguided these idiots are that honor, dignity, and knowledge will prevail.
I'm all for a Spartan revival. Any joiners?
125 - Ronnie
You see Alex,
That's the way your people think!