'300' strikes a chord

[thedrifter]

MOVIES <br />
'300' strikes a chord <br />
Marines see parallels between war in Iraq and the film's story, which tells of Spartans fighting against mighty Persian invaders. <br />
By Tony Perry and Robert W. Welkos,...

[usmcmule]

I heard on FOX news a few minutes ago that Iran don't like the movie, something about making Persians look bad?? I have not seen it, waiting for the DVD to come out then I don't have to deal with people at the theater. As I get older I get more recluse/keep to myself.

peee on Iran is what I think anyhow...

[testforecho2112]

I saw it at the IMAX theater this weekend, it is a great blood and guts movies, about a great band of warriors...not unlike alot of you here.

"We are Sparta" Sounded alot like, "We are Marines!"

[slowrider]

Yup, Seen a trailor on it this morning on the "Today Show" Might have to go check that out this weekend

[Zulu 36]

From what I've read about the movie "300," it is somewhat historically innacurate (how many movies are 100% accurate anyway?). It leaves the impression that the Spartans did all of the real fighting when they actually had many more Greek troops to assist them and they all took turns on the front line. Also, the movie does not show the Greek forces fighting in their "hoplite" formations, which is primarily why they were able to hold off the Persians for so long until betrayed (not by a PO'd Spartan, but by a local Greek).

No mention of the Athenian Navy is made in the movie and their naval equivilent of Thermopylae taking place at the same time, although the Greek navy got away mostly intact with the Persian navy mostly destroyed (the Greeks got welcome help from the weather).

However, the movie does accurately reflect one historical fact: The small Greek forces put an ass kicking on the Persians they didn't quickly forget (evidently even to this day). Those psychological memories caused serious problems later for the Persians when they faced a far larger force of Spartans and other Greeks.

Apparently, the Persians/Iranians are still pretty sensitive about getting their collective butts kicked. Facts are facts. Looooosers!

[thedrifter]

The few, the proud among fans of '300' <br />
By Tony Perry and Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writers <br />
March 14, 2007 <br />
<br />
To the U.S. Marines serving at Camp Pendleton, there is much to learn from the...

[ZSKI]

I want to visit the memorial at thermopolyae.

"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie"

[drumcorpssnare]

Granted, this is a very broad statement, but for the most part the Persians had nowhere near the mettle of the Spartans.
Throughout history, unless they were certain of an easy victory, the Persians were quick to negotiate or run away.
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[hankhoffman]

This was a great movie. If you like good action movies you need to see this one.

[Osotogary]

I only counted 297 Spartans!
Not too much is said about the Spartan woman but they also were known for their athletic prowess. Public Broadcasting did a whole series on Greece and the Spartans. The fall of Sparta, that is also part of this PBS presentation, can also be made current with a few name changes.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

My plan is to see this, this weekend.

I've read up prior to attending, and just for general knowledge, I'd suggest the following to give you a good idea of the 'whys and wherefores'....

"The Western Way of War", Victor Hanson. Discusses, in great detail (but not boring detail) the reasons the Hoplite Infantryman fought the way he did. A must read to understand the Greek Grunt.

Followed by:

"Gates of Fire", by Pressfield. Damn good read. Fiction, but the story was well researched, from the Greek, and Greek scholars (including Hanson).

That having been said, I know '300' is a story, based on a comic book (Ok, Graphic novel...hardback comic book LOL) so I'm not expecting a documentary. I expect to be entertained without my intelligence being insulted. I think I will get both from this movie.

[DWG]

Granted, this is a very broad statement, but for the most part the Persians had nowhere near the mettle of the Spartans.
Throughout history, unless they were certain of an easy victory, the Persians were quick to negotiate or run away.
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

Easy there Drum; you might hurt the feelings of the iranians! Hmmm, I-RAN, maybe there is something to a name!:confused:

[drumcorpssnare]

DW- Makes me wonder if today's French are descendants of the ancient Persians. Must be they both used to smoke "Chesterfields"...backwards...hence, "I'd rather switch, than fight." LOL:D
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[DWG]

Damn Drum; you must be OLD; do they even still make Chesterfields?:scared:


The problem with the french is that they have had their a$$es handed to them by EVERYBODY in the world at one time or another; they're just punch drunk! (and chickensh*t):D

[Devildogg4ever]

300

Click on this link and you can watch the movie 300 for free!

Movie (http://free-tv.50webs.org/flvplayer.swf?url=http://ll-previews.veoh.com/previews/get.jsp?fileHash=b8086cdab8733abe7935f32add7cf48f4 ed4d404)

[drumcorpssnare]

DW- Yeah, I'm pretty much older than dirt! LOL As for Chesterfields, and Camels, and Lucky Strikes, Pall Mall, even Bull Durham...I smoked all that nasty non-filter stuff when I was a young pup!
And the French??? They're like French's mustard...YELLOW!
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[DWG]

DW- Yeah, I'm pretty much older than dirt! LOL As for Chesterfields, and Camels, and Lucky Strikes, Pall Mall, even Bull Durham...I smoked all that nasty non-filter stuff when I was a young pup!
And the French??? They're like French's mustard...YELLOW!
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

I always wondered why it was "french" mustard. Thanks for solving that for me!:banana:

[thedrifter]

.
Watch an exclusive clip from '300,' based on Frank Miller's graphic novel. ...

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/300.html

Ellie

[thedrifter]

The Few, the Proud, the Movie
Marines love it. Iran calls it an act of war. '300' is essentially a Spartan (yet lavish) videogame, but people take it seriously.

By Evan Thomas
Newsweek

March 26, 2007 issue - The new york times andthe government of Iran agree: the movie "300" has no redeeming social value. The movie, which depicts the brave stand of 300 Spartans against a marauding army of hundreds of thousands of Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C., "is about as violent as 'Apocalypto' and twice as stupid," according to A. O. Scott, the Times' movie critic. The Iranians, who presumably don't screen many Mel Gibson movies, were nonetheless even more offended. The movie is aimed at "humiliating" Iranians, who are descendants of the ancient Persians, said Javad Shamghardi, cultural adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "300" is "part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological warfare aimed at Iranian culture." And this was the headline in the Ayan No newspaper: HOLLYWOOD DECLARES WAR ON IRANIANS.

To most moviegoers, "300" may or may not evoke the Clash of Civilizations, but it certainly is popular among young American men. The R-rated film grossed more than $70 million its opening weekend, the biggest March debut ever. The majority of the audience was under 25 (though there were a surprising number of older viewers). They were probably not drawn by their interest in classical Greece. The bloody 2004 epics "Troy" and "Alexander" were expensive box-office duds; "300" was made for $65 million in a warehouse in Montreal, using B-list actors filmed against a blue screen, with the digital mayhem painted in. Aggressively marketed online, "300" may be none too cerebral, but it is disturbingly beautiful. It looks and feels like a lavish slash-and-chop videogame.

Still, the cultural significance and popular appeal of "300" reach beyond the thrill of watching pixilated decapitations. The Persians in "300" are the forces of evil: dark-skinned, depraved and determined to terrorize the West. The noble, light-skinned Spartans possess a fierce love of liberty, not to mention fierce six-pack abs. "Freedom is not free," says the wife of Spartan King Leonidas. The movie was adapted from a graphic novel by Frank Miller ("Sin City"). Miller's post-9/11 conservatism (he is reportedly working on a new graphic novel pitting Batman against Al Qaeda, titled "Holy Terror, Batman!") suffuses his comic-book fantasies. Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that "300" resonates for some real warriors. At a theater near Camp Pendleton outside San Diego, cheers erupted at a showing of "300," the Los Angeles Times reported. The Marines ("The Few, the Proud") identify with the outnumbered Spartans. In fact, "Gates of Fire," a novelized version of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield, is on the Marine Corps commandant's recommended reading list.

The analogy between the war on terror and the death struggle of ancient Greece with Persia has not been lost on some high administration officials either, especially Vice President Dick Cheney. (A White House spokesman declined to comment about the film.) In the months after 9/11, a classics scholar named Victor Davis Hanson wrote a series of powerful pieces for the National Review Online, later collected and published as a book, "An Autumn of War." Moved by Hanson's evocative essays, Cheney invited Hanson to dine with him and talk about the wars the Greeks waged against the Asian hordes, in defense of justice and reason, two and a half millennia ago.

The movie is a cartoon, based very loosely on historical fact. The Persians are depicted as either effeminate or vicious abusers of women, while the Greeks are manly men. The bad guys in "300" also include corrupt Spartan politicians who refuse to send more troops to the battle. Some right-wing bloggers have likened them to liberal Democrats voting against the surge in Iraq. Moviegoers may be a little confused by other cultural echoes in the film. The Spartan heroes seem to be in love with what one of them calls "a beautiful death." Just like, er, Islamic suicide bombers.

Ellie

[mrob7781]

ellie, the history channel has a special out about the HISTORY OF THE 300, probably not as intense as the movie but I found VERY informative. your above thread is right on,I may not wait for the dvd now!

[Sgt Leprechaun]

I just went and saw this last night...and holy mother!!! WHAT a movie! It should be a 'must see' for all Marines!

[thedrifter]

Hollywood has declared war on us, say Iranians
March 19, 2007

LOS ANGELES: Hollywood's latest blockbuster has broken box-office records, delighted the US Marines and the Greeks and enraged the Iranians, but is it just another brainless popcorn flick or an attempt to get Americans excited about invading Iran?
The film is 300, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Frank Miller about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC, during which the Spartans, a tiny band of Greek warriors, resisted a ferocious invasion by the Persian Empire, now known as the Islamic Republic of Iran. The film even stars a group of nay-saying, anti-war priests - the French, perhaps, or the UN - who take bribes in return for capitulation to the enemy.

300 took a record $US70 million ($90 million) during its opening weekend in the US, and continues to draw cheering crowds of US Marines in Oceanside, California, near the vast Camp Pendleton military base.

In Iran, it has been denounced as a Western conspiracy - "Hollywood declares war on Iranians", read one headline - aimed at preparing international opinion for a military strike on Tehran. An adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the film as "part of comprehensive US psychological warfare aimed at Iranian culture".

Reviewers have not felt so moved. "As violent as Apocalypto and twice as stupid," offered AO Scott in The New York Times. An online film critic in Canada warned readers that if a friend told them that 300 was his favourite film, "back away slowly ... your new friend may be George W. Bush".

Esteemed Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper took a more sober opinion, pointing out that the comic on which the film was based was in turn based on a 1962 film, The 300 Spartans.

He pondered: "So is Bush represented by Leonidas, the bloodthirsty (Spartan) king defending his country, or Xerxes, the warlord trying to conquer the world?"

Analysts have pointed out that the timing of 300 could work against US interests, producing a rare moment of national unity at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the populist Mr Ahmadinejad.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best reception for the film has been in Greece, where it has struck a patriotic nerve. Since it opened in Athens on March 8, 300 has broken box-office records, selling more than 400,000 tickets in a week.

"I bought a ticket expecting little more than an elaborate and rather silly adaptation of a comic book," said Dimitris Anagnostopoulos, a television documentary maker. "I came away almost in tears."

Greek cinemagoers are usually talkative, but a reverent hush prevailed throughout the showing. When Spartan leader Leonidas snarled his one-liner in reply to the Persian demand that the Spartans surrender their arms - "Come and get them!" - a frisson of delight surged through the audience.

Athenians seemed confused, however, by a Spartan's homophobic description of the Persians as "boy-lovers".

Meanwhile, the Greeks have largely shrugged off reports that the Iranians are unhappy about their barbaric, zombie-like portrayal, and that 300 risks widening the already dangerous rift between Islamic culture and the West.

The Times

Ellie

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Thus proving yet again, the so called 'critics' just don't get it. Did Marines flock to see the shootem up pic, "The Marine"??? No. Nor did most other people, because it was a crappy pic that was not only inaccurate (the title character wears an army patrol cap, for example, among other egregious sins) but stupid.

The 'critics', none of whom I'd venture have ever served a day in uniform, of course would be 'aghast' at such a movie. They can't understand the simple concepts of Honor, Courage, Commitment. They are not held accountable for their words, and words such as those are mere fodder, and mean as little to them as any other insult. Yes, insult. For, to have Honor, one must have some sort of principle. To have Courage, one must confront fear, and overcome it. Commitment means more to us than just getting up in the morning and putting on a green set of clothing.

They will have none of that, ever, and when they look in the mirror in the morning, they know exactly what they are.

So, the Iranians don't like it. The absolute last thing I'm concerned about at the present time is hurting Iran's feelings. That is the equivlant of Hitler going on a rant about the way he was portrayed by Chaplin, and lampooned by the Three Stooges.

[yellowwing]

So, the Iranians don't like it. The absolute last thing I'm concerned about at the present time is hurting Iran's feelings. That is the equivlant of Hitler going on a rant about the way he was portrayed by Chaplin, and lampooned by the Three Stooges.
The Three Stooges! Now you are talking entertainment. :D

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Oh yeah!

[recruit0107]

Devildogg4ever, that is awesome.
Iran

[recruit0107]

Iran seem to search for reasons to get butthurt. Hell, their culture isnt even the same that attacked the Greeks. that battle predates Islam by... how many years?

[yellowwing]

Iran seem to search for reasons to get butthurt. Hell, their culture isnt even the same that attacked the Greeks. that battle predates Islam by... how many years?
Excellent point.

[usmcmule]

March 26, 2007 issue - The new york times and the government of Iran agree: the movie "300" has no redeeming social value.

Lets pack up the NY Times and send them by slow crab boat and camel to Iran and let them live together in their agreement!!! :devious:

I don't go to theaters, to many people, will wait for the DVD to watch this movie.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

This is one I would recommend that you go to the theatre and see.

[JinxJr]

[QUOTE=usmcmule]Lets pack up the NY Times and send them by slow crab boat and camel to Iran and let them live together in their agreement!!! :devious:

I Second the motion. All in favor say "Aye".

[recruit0107]

No redeeming social value? It's a summer action movie. By the way, Master Sergeant, I would have to disagree with you. The NY Times should probably go someplace as Communist as they are.

[drumcorpssnare]

SgtLeprechaun- Man, where's the "Three Stooges" when ya need 'em? It would be great if they were around to parody Hussien, What's His Nuts from Iran, and their "towel head" Ayahtollah!

Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk!! Oh, wiseguy, eh? (Boink!):banana:
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Oh yeah..!

[yellowwing]

Sheik Allah Curley? Munching on a BBQ sandwich and swilling a beer! :banana:

[Macavity0331]

Great film