M. Porcius Cato Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 I expected a little Hollywood-ization insofar as a lot of beautiful people engaged in superfluous love affairs. But monsters and demons in the age of classical Greece? And yeah, what is with the Persians being black Africans? Film producers, it is strange to say, often have no imagination whatever. Without any LOTR-type embellishments, the battle of Thermopylae has been exciting enough to inspire many generations of students--purely using words. BTW, if the producers really wanted to represent the battle historically, they would have called it "1000" rather than "300". For some reason, people always forget about the 700 Thespians who fought at the 'hot gates.' (Should let SAG know about this slight to the Thespians?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonlapse Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 There are some movies which, if taken seriously, are absolutely horrible. This isn't one of the movies that should be taken seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotWotius Posted February 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 BTW, if the producers really wanted to represent the battle historically, they would have called it "1000" rather than "300". For some reason, people always forget about the 700 Thespians who fought at the 'hot gates.' (Should let SAG know about this slight to the Thespians?) I have said it once, and I will say it again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 So which parts of the film are actually historically inaccurate, besides the mythological creatures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 BTW, if the producers really wanted to represent the battle historically, they would have called it "1000" rather than "300". For some reason, people always forget about the 700 Thespians who fought at the 'hot gates.' (Should let SAG know about this slight to the Thespians?) I have said it once, and I will say it again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Condemning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 In case you haven't seen it, there's a cool interview on 300 at Wired Magazine. Money quote: This is a historical film, and technology gave us the tools to render history in ways we haven't seen before. And it wasn't cost-prohibitive. The idea of making ancient Rome or the pyramids -- those could only have been done in very big-budget films. Now, rendering these kinds of images has become less expensive and more accessible. I think you'll be seeing more fantastic images and journeys back in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 In case you haven't seen it, there's a cool interview on 300 at Wired Magazine. Money quote: This is a historical film, and technology gave us the tools to render history in ways we haven't seen before. And it wasn't cost-prohibitive. The idea of making ancient Rome or the pyramids -- those could only have been done in very big-budget films. Now, rendering these kinds of images has become less expensive and more accessible. I think you'll be seeing more fantastic images and journeys back in time. The sad part in reading the interview is that it sounds like he actually believes that quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 Hopefully nobody that watches this film will believe that the Battle of Thermopylae happened like that. After checking the Imdb movie boards it does seem that the majority of people who want to watch this film are comic book fans, who don't care about the Greeks, History, ancient warfare etc. They also realise that the film has only the slightest connection to reality. So in a way it's better that they've done it this way. Take Mel Gibson's Apocalypto for instance. That film is very inaccurate according to Pre-Columbian scholars, and yet people who leave the cinema (including many critics) believe it to be a realistic depiction of the Maya. This is largely due to the attention to detail of the costumes, sets and the use of the native Yucatec language. Therefore a film that attempts accuracy but fails, is much more damaging than a film that never attempts to be a factual re-telling of a historical event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted February 26, 2007 Report Share Posted February 26, 2007 Perhaps this might be pulled away into a new thread , but for a work which tries to give veracity to an historical event this film still electrifies:This is as regards Culloden http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/520802/index.html I do not know if it is available in the US. This is perhaps the antidote to the film we are discussing , shot on a budget of zilch .I recommend this work wholeheartedly if you can get a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotWotius Posted March 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Perhaps this might be pulled away into a new thread , but for a work which tries to give veracity to an historical event this film still electrifies:This is as regards Culloden http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/520802/index.html I do not know if it is available in the US. This is perhaps the antidote to the film we are discussing , shot on a budget of zilch .I recommend this work wholeheartedly if you can get a copy. The above film is often rated highly by most scholars dealing with the period; BBC History Magazine viewed the film in high regard and did a very good assessment of it. I will try and find a link to the article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 The film is about to be released in the US this week. So far, it's teetering on the brink of being 'rotten' according to the film site 'Rottentomatoes'. It ranks as 60% out of a hundred with 12 positive and 8 negative reviews. The number will of course grow, when the film is officially released. Despite this, the public has rated the film 90%. All in all, it's doing alright, considering that Alexander ranked at 8% in its opening week. It currently sits at 14%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiochus of Seleucia Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 Wow. I just got home from that movie. It is amazing. It does not try to be historically accurate. It is entertaining, and I loved it. Even my girl liked it. However, don't bring your kiddies to it- it is just that R... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antiochus of Seleucia Posted March 10, 2007 Report Share Posted March 10, 2007 I'll say it again- AWESOME MOVIE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divi Filius Posted March 11, 2007 Report Share Posted March 11, 2007 Would we have Achilles if not for the for the fictionalizing of what most likely was a real war? What about Romulus, Brutus, Scaevola etc. etc. Fictionalizing characters and events (or even making it up entirely) is not something new in history. It is a great thing for us to know what we know about the events, but I think in the end entertainment is entertainment... My persona view... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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