I hope this movie is good. The previews have me totally sucked in. I have been a fan of Frank Miller's writing style ever since my childhood when I followed his Daredevil comics. It looks like another movie jammed packed with epic, stylized violence. Bring it on! Hopefully it will do $100m+ domestically to further encourage studios to be willing to view graphic novels as movie source material.
i'm intrigued by this. more from the fact that i was a history major then for a love of graphic novels
The first time I saw the Trailer, was in Ocotber and it didn't intrigue me at all. I saw it again a couple weeks ago on TV, and it got me hooked. I've watched the trailers a bit online, and I'm getting excited for this one. Officialy the first movie of the year that I'm really excited to see.
Be prepared to tune out the history. They state that a million Persians attacked at Thermopylae. I believe that number is an exaggeration. Herodotus, while very accurate in his description of the physical features of Thermopylae exaggerates the size of Xerxes forces. The number real number has been estimated at anywhere from 100,000-250,000 including support personnel.
I love the graphic novel and have been a Frank Miller fan as well, read pretty much everything he wrote. I HATED Sin City and Rodriguez's style is horrid for me to watch so I think it will be more of that. But for the sake of post-film discussion I'll watch it. I think it will be very true to the graphic novel apart from one added subplot.
yeah, i know it wasn't a million and I know some stuff on Thermopolyae thanks to my class on Classical Athens in college!
Historical fiction movies always do it for me. Master and Commander, Gladiator all those types hook me. This one looks more action packed than those I just hope they don't completely throw the history portion to the wind.
yeah, even though there are lots of errors in Gladiator and in Master and Commander (i think, i know it differs from the book) I still love the genre.
I'm totally pumped about this as well. 300 is one of the best works Miller has ever done in my opinion. This especially is a good mix because I'm a history buff. Visually, it looks brilliant. I heard they added some stuff that wasn't in the book so it's not going to be a straight panel-by-panel copy.
I've read an interview with either the director or producer who said they didn't try to replicate what happened in history, rather they wanted things that look cool. One early review I read said there is heavy metal music playing during the fight scenes.
There are no reliable numbers. It might as well have been 10000 Persians. Doesn't really matter either. The one million that has become part of the myth of Thermopylae, as a hyperbole used to emphasize just how much they were outnumbered.
Miller's work is very losely based on history. And I doubt it was 10000, they wouldn't attack Greece with 10k I wish they made movie based on Gates of Fire which is a great book (I recommend reading it after movie or you'll probably be disapointed with movie )
I wouldn't really compare it to those two, since they were grounded in some form of reality. After seeing the trailer with monsters and shit, I'm not really sure if I'm up for it. Graphic novels aren't really my thing, although the subject matter is intriguing enough that I might go if I learn there's a significant historical focus.
Yea, the trolls add a bit of fantasy to it but it's a real event as BW's link above me proves. Therefore it would be categorized as historical fiction in my book.
300 [r] This movie, based on the Frank Miller 1998 graphic novel of the same name, opens in theaters today (Friday, 3/9/07). -G
Re: 300 [r] A.O. Scott begins his review in today's Times by saying: Talk about cutting to the chase! I just watched the History Channel program on the Spartans and Thermopylae, etc., last night. All I needed to know without the histrionics. Apparently, in the movie, King Leonidas' wife says to him at one point: "Come back with your shield--or on it." (!!!) I'll go see The Host instead. Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath With a Message - N.Y. Times