300 Reviews

pretty silly - world's longest video game cut scene

When the corrupt oracles rule that Sparta should not be defended against the oncoming Persian army, King Leonidas leads an army of 300 warriors to defend their lands. In other words a dozen male strippers hack away in slow motion at a collection of CGI circus freaks and a giant drag queen for two solid hours. And that's it. Plot development? Nope. Characterisation? Nada. Meaningful dialogue? Zip. If anything, 300 is like a historical Ultraviolet, except instead of plastic sci fi cliches spouting techno-gibberish it just resembles a collection of Bill and Ted's album covers brought to life linked by a load of macho posturing in cod Olde Worlde speak. It's an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel so there is some nice imagery and well framed shots in deference to his vision, but I don't think history will look kindly on this film as it's basically just cinema reduced to the level of an empty, homo-erotic cartoon.

King Leonidas leads 300 men against the Persian army.
I haven't seen this many six-packs since a fraternity house party. Zack Snyder's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel is like his other adaptions -- faithful to a fault. All the shots and scenery are designed to bring Miller's artwork to motion, but as he did with Watchmen Snyder forgets that these are two different media and style doesn't make up for plasticity in character and story. Indeed, Leonidas and his men might as well be professional wrestlers taunting each other before a match.
Miller's refuge to justify the remarkably blood-letting, aside from making all the enemies faceless, is the claim that King Leonidas is fighting for "freedom." But Sparta is portrayed as a monarchy, and despite Xerxes's claims of divinity I fail to see how life under Xerxes would be radically different for the body politic than life under Leonidas. As it is with most politicians' claims about wars for freedom, Leonidas's use of the word is empty, and the people who follow him seem either duped or foolish.
Overall, there's plenty of style and posing and sweaty men in their underwear, but there's nothing behind the pictures but a vapid story with cardboard characters.

Imagine a high school football pep rally with everyone shirtless, jocks and the cheerleaders, all of them yelling "HOO-YAHHH!!!", filmed in close up and glorious slo-mo, and you've just about got this film completely pegged. Come to think of it, it actually sounds pretty good put that way, huh? At least I didn't mention the excessive bloodshed, the hacking, whacking, chopping dat meat, not even once ... oops!

A testosterone pump-up of a movie. The visuals is dazzling and the action entertaining. Too bad the story qualities and characterization is slim. It tries to be nothing more then a violent action movie for kicks. The classic 300 Spartans story is there for the sake of a plot backdrop and a place to ignite action... nothing more.

Fantastic special effects and action scenes!

a great film. not quite an epic, but fun to watch and directed very well. the cinematography was great and the music fit each scene perfectly. gerard butler was great, although his scottish accent was a little too noticeable at times since he was playing a greek. the history wasnt meant to be accurate obviously, but i still wish it was more accurate. most of the details were highly inaccurate in very blatant ways. i only with held a 5 star rating because the story was too simple with little character development, i could have done without the porn scenes, and some of the outlandish characters were a little silly. usually if i have this many criticisms of a movie it wouldnt get more than 3 stars, so the fact that im willing to still rate it so high should show how much i liked all of the other elements of this film that i havent criticised. worth watching for sure.

Hmmm tricky, the action is absolutely amazing, over the top , bloody , fast, furious, deadly, brutal, dark, gorgeous to look at yet quite realistic in a sense and almost slightly gothic. The fantasy aspect is great, very much alike 'Clash of the Titans' or 'LOTR', maybe too much like 'LOTR' for its own good in places and the plot is historically accurate to a degree so you know what happens but that doesn't really spoil the outcome.

Like various other comic adaptations the soundtrack which has been used really makes it so much darker, harder and exciting , much like 'Spawn', 'The Crow', 'Sin City' or 'Blade', the only thing that puts me of is the half naked buffed up men haha also the acting is pretty wooden if truth be told. A great film purely for the fights and looks really, 'Sin City' still just about wins with its plot and characters but this a damn fine hack n slash historical/action flick.

Set in an almost fanastic world the movie about the historic Battle of Thermopylae is very beautiful to look at and visually extremely stunning. I guess the graphic novel saw to that and the movie seems to stick rather close to it.
There is a LOT of blood and violence of course, but like in Sin City it looks so surreal and stylized that it's a lot less disgusting than in some recent horror movies.
Some of the really cool fight scenes feel a little repetitive at times, with too much slow-motion used, but at least there is no editing that could cause spasms. The patriotic, death defying lines the Spartans are yelling must not be taken too seriously from today's point of view, just like the movie should simply be considered an entertaining piece of art, no history lesson or with meaning for today's world.
Gerard Butler is very good in the lead role, but I still would have wished for the movie to touch me more than it actually did. The excellent last five minutes finally reach the emotional depth the whole move would have deserved.
Very entertaining and cool eye candy, but not as strong as its huge historical forerunners like Braveheart or Gladiator.

Gerard Butler gives a commanding performance (the best of his career so far) as Spartan King Leonidas in this intense, surreal, epic, and beautifully shot, edited, and directed historical fantasy. Snyder has created a great and unique cinematic experience that, while not being completely historically accurate, is a wonderfully entertaining and stylish take on the Batte of Thermopylae in which a small group of Spartan warrirors due battle against a vastly overhwelming number of Persians who wish to conquor them.

Though this film is largely style over substance, it does have some deeper themes and what not going through it, chiefly that of fascism. You root for the Spartans, and you're rooting for fascism. Kinda like Starship Troopers though not quite as brilliant. The slow-mo gets a tad overused, and yeah, the Persians are undeniably portrayed as perhaps too fey and sibilant, but hell, this is fun, not art. I actually prefer this to the graphic novel it's based on because this has much more story and depth.

All in all, a bloody good show.

A thrilling, action packed film, and is definently worth seeing. KingLeonidas (Gerard Butler) and his 299 strongest men take on the Persian army that is taking over anyone who stands in their way of global conquest. The plot is very interesting, but is also very historically unaccurate, and as kind of a history buff it bugged me, but it did follow the comic prett well I think. The cast is boring, they act and talk how Snyder tells them, and Gerard Butler is cool and my favorite, but he bothered me too at times. The action is the main point of the film, and in my opinion was near perfection, and Snyder never fails to make a great action film. The score was pretty awesome, it worked amazingly well with the action and basic scenes. The slow mo effect was great too in the action scenes, but I think they use a bit too much. The look of the film is also great, it really looks like a comic. 300 is a good film, and although I have big problems with the historical accuracy and cast, this is a movie nobody should miss.

This movie is badass, period. Glad I got to see it in IMAX.

A stylistic visual fantasy infused by non-stop gore filled action. It's a film that's obviously heavy on imagery but even behind all the excessive masculinity there's some credibility to the dialogue.

The archetypes often resonate, the honorable king, the loyal queen, the scheming politician. They may all have been 2-dimensional but rightly so.

What we have is a blockbuster action epic, perhaps nothing more but it's nothing really less either.

With this visually mind-blowing experience Zach Snyder has definitely created a steady fan base. It's like stabbing myself in the heart with a syringe of testosterone - Pulp Fiction style.

I think Critics were too harsh on this. I think it's a masterpiece. I was surprised that 90% of users liked it. Sure it had outstanding visuals and great dialogue, but people shouldn't treat it like it's the greatest thing ever. I thought it was good though. Maybe a little too much slow motion and some parts don't make sense. Gerard Butler gives a believable performance as King Leonidas and this movie sure has a lot of memorable quotes and scenes. The messenger part was pretty dumb though, and the persians had some pretty weird piercings but overall this is a 'must see' movie that's action packed and full of great actors. One word though: OVERRATED.

A...fun?...film with all the blood you can ask for. Awesome visuals with the occasional 'Ummmmm... Why?' but that's okay. An entertaining movie.

Honestly, this movie is fun. Sure, half of it takes place in slow motion and some dialogue is corny, but it still manages to be jam packed with cool stuff. From a visual standpoint it's flawless, the style is really beautiful and the landscape is treated with the upmost respect. When all is said and done, the story works and chararacters alike. While it doesn't have the emotional weight as something like Troy, it's dynamite as a pure action movie.

Review pending.