...There is no doubt that Zack Snyder is very capable of making a wonderful film, with all of the actions and the graphics that he gave us within the hit movie 300, released in 2007. As much of a hit as the movie was, it was also riddled with historical inaccuracies. Three of such that were rather large towards the end of the movie were that only the three hundred Spartans stayed to battle, when the death of Leonidas actually took place, and when Epialtes and the men that he’d lead to the back of the Spartan army showed up. There were also a few parts that Herodotus never mentions that must have been added to make the storyline flow easier, of course, though viewers see that in every Hollywood movie. As stated above, there are many inaccuracies within the movie. One of which was the fact that there...
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...Snyder’s 300. 300 is a film about King Leonidas, the King of Sparta, and his 300 Spartan warriors who all stood up against the God-king Xerxes and his massive Persian army from annihilation. After watching the film very closely for my critique I believe there is a serious underlying theme that everyone has the right to be free and sometimes you have to stand up and make sacrifices to keep your freedom. Standing up for freedom is never an easy task as shown in 300 but, everyone deserves to be free. In discussing the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, the impact of society on the film, genre, a formalist approach to analysis, and the overall textual theme of 300 I will attempt to back up my belief. Storytelling 300’s narrative structure is the first-person point of view of Dilios, a Spartan solider under the command of King Leonidas. The film is presented in chronological order and takes place in Sparta and Thermopylae, Greece. The major conflict in the film is that the Persian army has come to Sparta and requests their submission or will kill them and enslave their women and children. King Leonidas makes the decision to stand up to the Persians but; is not allowed to go to war with the Xerxes, the Persian God-king, because the Ephors deny him the right. The Ephors are later found out to be traitors. Unfortunately, by the end the Spartans are betrayed by Ephialtes, a deformed Spartan outcast, and Xerxes orders all 300 Spartans to be killed...
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...strong, leader, determined and perseverance. This idea is proven in Wolfgang Petersen’s film Troy and Zack Snyder’s film 300. Both films portray a character that embodies the image of a hero, Prince Hector and King Leonidas and Anit-hero/villains who are greedy and inspired by wealth, fame, and or power, Achilles and Xerxes. The theme of Heroism in 300 and Troy are similar because they both exhibit a common philosophy of Immortalization of oneself vs the protection of ones homeland and people. The latter is viewed more highly because their heroic action are for the betterment of themselves and other people but goal of the former is selfish and self-centered which is seen as immoral and is often frowned upon. Whether or not any of these characters are heroes is debatable but fact remains that they all possess characteristics of a hero in addition to the same idea of “All for One” vs “One for All”. Although, these historical events took place during different times in history these two different pairs of characters represent the same thing. Ironically the conclusion of both the films express that when the two interject, those who fight for themselves will indeed conquer those who fight for their land and people. In the Spartan culture warriors were taught to either win the battle or die honorably. This behavior was both showed in the actions of 300’s Leonidas and Troy’s Hector; both individuals came from a royal background and were highly respected and beloved by their...
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...Summary Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer’s film “Meet the Spartans,” is a parody imitation of the well-known film “300,” by Zach Snyder. The plot of the film “Meet the Spartans,” is a caricature representation of “300” and is revolved around Xerxes’s plans to invade the Greek city-state of Sparta with his army numbering up to millions, and threating the people of Sparta with not only slavery, but also death in order to try and extend his empire. Furthermore, Friedberg, as well as Seltzer depict a film in a sense of Leonidas and his out-of-shape soldiers against the mighty Xerxes and his Persian Empire. Leonidas is trained as a young child to become a Spartan king and leader. Untimely, leading up to the defeat of Xerxes quite similar to “300.”...
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...had an advanced military, and because the women were respected. To begin, with the Spartans respected authority. In document it says, “The young men were required not only to respect their own fathers and to be obedient to them, but to have regard for all the older men.” How could Spartans be loyal to others if they didn’t respect authority? People should respect authority because now of days people go visit the elderly, and if we didn’t...
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...The explosive movie “300” garners a wide range of praise and criticism from fans and critics alike. The overall movie stays true to the real-life story of the battle of Thermopylae and even has minor details depicted accurately, but it also leaves out major parts of the story. This contradiction of historical accuracy is the main reason for critics to give the movie a thumbs down. However, most of the fiction involved in the movie is pretty obvious and not meant to be taken literally, which, therefore, allows the viewer to enjoy the movie for its visual appeal and not necessarily for its historical teachings. In the end, the opinion of the movie is based on personal preference, but it is still worth mentioning some of the fiction involved in the movie and some of the factual depictions. Before the historical accuracy is discussed, a little information is needed. The movie “300” is an American historical action film made in 2007 and directed by Frank Miller. The movie is based off the graphic novel by the same name and has Gerard Butler in the starring role as the king of the Spartans, King Leonidas. The plot of “300” tells the story of King Leonidas as he leads 300 Spartan warriors in the battle of Thermopylae. This battle took place in 480 BC between a group of allied Greek soldiers, led by the 300 Spartan warriors, and the invading Persian army. Leonidas is only allowed to take 300 soldiers due to religious customs in Sparta going on at the time...
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...critique on Zack Snyder’s movie, 300. This is a film on Leonidas, who is the Spartan King alongside 300 Spartan Warriors that willingly volunteered to stand up against a Persian army, which were almost ten times as many as they were. After a careful look at the film for the following critique, it is clear that there is a general theme prevailing in the whole movie that, sometimes one has to make sacrifices to gain freedom. Film Critique The movie “300” finds its roots from a graphic novel named 300 also, that was written by Frank Miller in 1998. The movie is based on one of the fierce Persian Wars in 492-449 BC in a battle known as the Thermopylae Battle. This battle went down in the historical books as a war that was characterized with plenty of bravery. The Spartan King, who was known as Leonidas, was the leader of 300 Spartan warriors who engaged the Persian Army in a war, which intended to block them from going into Greece via a two-meter wide pass in the Thermopylae Mountains. In as much as the Persian Army greatly outnumbered the Spartan soldiers, they were held back for two days, and in those two days they encountered major losses, which outweighed that of the Spartan warriors by far. However, on the third day, all was lost when a traitor informed the Persian King of a Path that would lead them behind the Spartan warriors. Therefore, it remains uncertain to the viewers as to whether the Spartan army would have managed...
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...Vincent Widiaman Professor Daniel Weller English 101 7 October 201 300 A viciously- intense movie “It’s a gore - blood drunken movie.” That is what people say about the movie. True indeed, this movie shows an abundant amount of blood splattered throughout the film. 300 is a movie that most of the part contains blood- filled scene. But it doesn’t necessarily diminish its core value, as the movie says, “Freedom is not free, it comes with the highest cost, the blood of our men.” Even though the movie is critiqued to be too barbarous, 300 is still able to catches readers’ attention with its refined graphic along with the intense actions. 300 is a 2006 American action- war film directed by Zack Snyder. It is based on a 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. The movie takes place in ancient Greece, recounting the battle of Thermopylae, between Spartan and Persian. The story revolves around King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and Queen Gorgo (Lena Heady). The movie lasts for 117 minutes and spends 65 million dollars for the budget. The movie begins one year after the main story, the famed battle of Thermopylae, as Dilios (David Wenham) starts talking to his fellow warriors. As the character and also the storyteller, Dillios is able to frame the story with his interesting narrative technique. Dillios starts depicting the journey of a child (Leonidas) who is born under Sparta’s doctrine, from childhood until he reaches kingship. As a child, Leonidas is portrayed...
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...HUM 111 The movie 300 was based off of a graphic novel, but both are just cultural and artistic expressions of a historical event. Though both are exaggerations of what actually happened there are many parts that are based on actual events. Over the course of this paper a handful of aspects of both 300 and The Battle of Thermopylae will be compared. There are many stories and retellings of the Battle of Thermopylae of varying facts, the main focus will be of key components that show up in both items. The largest aspect you see in both the movie 300 and the Battle of Thermopylae is the number of Spartan hoplites. The number of Spartan hoplites came to 300 in both the movie and history. Another likeness between the two is the leader of the Spartan hoplites, Leonidas. He was also the one that essentially kick the war off. Of these first two items they are probably among the most recognizable to anyone that knows the story of the Battle of Thermopylae and have seen or know of the movie 300. Other similarities between the movie 300 and the Battle of Thermopylae is the deal that Ephialtes made with Xerxes to show his army the way around the Spartan soldiers using a mountain path used for herding goats. This betrayal by Ephialtes was what brought the downfall of Leonidas and the 300 Spartan hoplites. Ephialtes betrayal of his homeland earned his name an everlasting stigma where his name gained the meaning “nightmare”. One of the most exaggerated between the movie and history is...
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...300 Jonathan Hewitt ENG 225 Cicely Denean-Cobb October 2, 2012 The film I have chosen to do my critique on is Zack Snyder’s 300. 300 is a film about King Leonidas, the King of Sparta, and his 300 Spartan warriors who all stood up against the God-king Xerxes and his massive Persian army from annihilation. After watching the film very closely for my critique I believe there is a serious underlying theme that everyone has the right to be free and sometimes you have to stand up and make sacrifices to keep your freedom. Standing up for freedom is never an easy task as shown in 300 but, everyone deserves to be free. In discussing the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, the impact of society on the film, genre, a formalist approach to analysis, and the overall textual theme of 300 I will attempt to back up my belief. Storytelling 300’s narrative structure is the first-person point of view of Dilios, a Spartan solider under the command of King Leonidas. The film is presented in chronological order and takes place in Sparta and Thermopylae, Greece. The major conflict in the film is that the Persian army has come to Sparta and requests their submission or will kill them and enslave their women and children. King Leonidas makes the decision to stand up to the Persians but; is not allowed to go to war with the Xerxes, the Persian God-king, because the Ephors deny him the right. The Ephors are later found out to be traitors. Unfortunately,...
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...300: Battle of Thermopylae The film “300” is based on the battle of Thermopylae, which was the first battle between the Persians and Greeks during the Persian attack. The battle began because Persia wanted to rule the entire world because owning Asia Minor, Lydia, Mesopotamia, Judah, and Asia was not good enough. The Greeks had a very small army but they were determined to do whatever it took to stand against the Persians, who had a huge military. When all of Greece heard about this outlandish decision, they all had a tremendous amount of fear, especially when they knew that the army of the Persian king Xerxes had commenced its attack. The Thessalians, an area of east-central Greece, had gone over to the Persian side in the early states of the attack. Some Greek cities had formed together and forgot about their usual conflicts so that they could stop the Persian invasion. The cities that had formed with each other decided together that Sparta would lead the Greek army because its status in war was supreme over any other Greek state. When the Greeks went on their way, they had chosen to guard a narrow pathway among the mountains of central Greece and the sea, called Thermopylae. The pass that they were defending, led its way into Greece from the north. At this location, the Greek force waited, which was made up of only three hundred Spartans ruled by their king, Leonidas, and about six thousand soliders from other Greek cities. These nine thousand men were about to face a Persian...
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...I would like to start off with the title of the movie “300.” The fact that movie insinuates that there were 300 Spartans that went up against 300,000 Persians is not 100 percent true in itself. In the film it is omitted that the Spartans were also accompanied at Thermopylae by as stated by Herodotus in his Histories - “500' (men) 'from Tegea, 500 from Mantinea, 120 from Orchomenus in Arcadia ... from Corinth there were 400, from Philus 200, and from Mycenae 80. In addition to these troops from the Pelopennese, there were the Boeotian contingents of 700 from Thespiae and 400 from Thebes. The Locrians of Opus and the Phocians had also obeyed the call to arms, the former sending all they had, the latter one thousand.” I think the reason it was made to look like just 300 men took on an army of 300,000 Persians and was almost successful, because this was a Hollywood movie and 300 vs 300,000 sounds that more dramatic and interesting. Another thing that I noticed is that the movie never really established why Xerxes has set out on this massive conquest in the first place in the film. The Ionian revolt is not mentioned at all and neither is the First Persian War which is strange in the fact that some aspect of background is usually incorporated into a film as to give the viewer a more in depth understanding of the nature of the film and its themes. Personally, I assumed he was trying to expand the Persian Empire. However this is fairly understandable as the film can be perceived as a...
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...source below from Plutarch and other evidence, asses the accuracy of the modern portrayal of the agoge in films such as “300”. The Spartan education system for boys consisting of rigorous training is known as the ‘agoge’. The people of Sparta have been interpreted as very violent and warrior like and a fierce and brutal society has since been represented in modern times due to the portrayal of Spartans in graphic films such as “300” and “Spartacus”. Zack Snyder’s “300” depicts the young boy’s process of training to become a man and Spartan citizen to then the harsh brutality of fighting and war. As the movie is shaped on the comic series “300” by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley in 1998, the film recounts a fictionalized...
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...graphic, gory, vile, and intense movie called 300 is about two opposing armies constantly battling each other. On one side is the sinister Persian army with thousands of soldiers ready to clobber any foe. On the other side are the audience's heroes, the Spartans. The Persians, led by Xerxes wish to conquer all of Greece. However, the city of Sparta is in their path and the soldiers of Sparta are known for their extraordinary performance on the battlefield. With the Persians wanting to conquer and destroy Greece and the Spartans ready to defend their city, many gruesome battles take place in what is now known as the Battle of Thermopylae. I believe this movie is accurate according to the historical event that took place in 480 B.C. The film gives a good impression of how much more massive the Persian army is compared to the Spartan army. Also, the Spartan army is known for their strong army and this is greatly expressed through out the movie. The strongest characteristic about the movie are the special effects which enhance the reality of the battles. Some of the scenes are so strongly portrayed such as disembodied body parts, obscene pictures, and disgusting images of facial expressions that it is hard to watch at times. There is one view about the movie that does not compliment the past historical battle. There were actually many Greek city-states that united to fight the Persians. In the film 300, the plot revolves around primarily on the Spartan soldiers and a little on the...
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...Tyler Faldet Extra Credit: Film Review Assignment Professor Debauche 11/12/2012 300 Review Over the weekend I happened to rent a few movies to watch with friends at my home back in Iola Wisconsin. I also had hopes that one of them would give me a lot of information, along with motivation, to write a review on using the different concepts that we have talked about in class. So way back in 2007 the American film 300, directed by Zack Snyder, and staring popular film stars such as Gerald Butler, and Lena Headey, brought millions and millions of mainly young and old men to the theaters. I personally remembered when it came out because everyone at school was talking about how amazing it was and quoting some of the lines from the film. And even with its popularity, I never did get the opportunity to watch the film, until this weekend. The General Plot of the movie is narrated by a Spartan soldier Dillios, who narrates the story from king leonidas's boy hood through the sacrifice of the 300 Greek Spartan soldiers, which sparked the war against the advancing Persian "immortals". Previous knowledge of the movie from what I had heard from others who had seen it was that it is a war movie based on a true Greek story many hundreds of years ago. Soon into the movie I realized it was completely different from what I had envisioned it would be in my mind going in. This difference was definitely for the better and my expectations were completely blown away. The whole style of...
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