The 300 Spartans
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Movie Reviews of The 300 Spartans
Movie Review: Memory vs now
Summary: 3 Stars
Many of us grew up on these Hollywood 'epics' of ancient history. We remember them fondly. "The 300 Spartans" is one such film. Our memories, however, can play tricks on us. Then we see them again as we age, and our opinions change. We have to remember the times in which they were made and the type of audience that eagerly went to see them.As a widescreen epic (and you have to see it in the 2:35x1 aspect ratio which the DVD presents), it stills holds some strange fascination.
Sir Ralph Richardson is the one stand-out performance; somehow, British actors seem to be able to deliver stilted dialog in such a way that it seems somehow classical. Richard Egan was also a good actor. As the Spartan king, his performance is consistant and even believable. He is rugged-looking and seems to understand what his character is all about. He brings the character on the page to some sembelence of life.
The rest of the cast make their characters seem cut from a comic book, or a very bad high-school production. This is especially true of David Farrar as the Persian King, who tears up the screen without once delving beneath the skin to give his role any dimension. These are supposedly professional actors, able to rise above a bad script. Unfortunately, the director accepted only fair performances and let it go at that.
Barry Coe and Diane Baker have the unfortunate roles of the young lovers. They were both young contract players at Fox and neither convinced anyone that they were either Spartans or that they were ever actually in love. Mr. Coe has one unfornutate line: "Have you heard anything about the Persians?" He delivers this like a football player asking his coach about the opposing team.
The script does present the story's history with fair accuracy. Once the Spartans get on the march, the pace picks up nicely, and the battle scenes are well staged. As usually happened with these epics, the production values of the behind-the-camera talent clearly outshone those being photographed.
Movie Review: So Timmy do you like movies about Spartans
Summary: 3 Stars
The 300 Spartans: 6 out of 10: This is one of those strangely bi-polar movies. 1/2 historical war film 1/2 Gidget goes to ancient Greece. Much like that three-hour opus Midway, there is a romantic subplot completely out of tone with the rest of the film. Diane Baker, who can really act mind you, seems to be channeling a beach party movie in her ill-advised love interest role.
Luckily for the viewer it's all swords and sandals after the first half. For a sixties movie the battles are very well done indeed. The armies are large and the extras are plentiful. The battle is also creative in its use of fire and arrows. This isn't a two guys fighting to the death with fake swords Italian job. This is a battle of entire armies clashing on the screen.
The location shooting in Greece proper is also a beautiful plus. The sets on the other hand are right out of the original Star Trek series almost to the point you expect Kirk and Spock to pop in any moment violating the prime directive. (This might explain why a Persian commander exclaims the Spartans fight like machines. Machines in ancient Greece? Must have escaped from the zoo.)
There is also the hilariously historically inaccurate braying about freedom from the Spartan commander. (In reality Sparta was a model for Nazi Germany. And their views on slaves and slave labor would have made a Confederate general blush.) In actuality the Persians foes were the more enlightened of the two.
But I am nit picking. As long as one can get past the romance, stop expecting Klingons to pop in at any moment and enjoy the hour-long battle at the end. 300 Spartans is a well-done ride.
Movie Review: Decent, but only decent
Summary: 3 Stars
As a student of classical history I enjoyed watching The 300 Spartans. The costumes were above par for the era in which it was made and the photography wasn't half bad. The Greek locations the film was shot in were nice to look at as well.
However, the filmmakers should have fired their technical advisor. The Greek phalanx--a fixture of ancient warfare--was somehow overlooked. The troops line up shoulder to shoulder in thin, widely separated ranks like a skirmish line and, when the battle is joined, duke it out one-on-one, which just didn't happen in the ancient world (hard to have an Errol Flynn swordfight with a xiphos).
The Spartans also give very stirring speeches that sound more like George Washington material than something Leonidas would have said. The democratic gloss given to these Spartans is a major faux pas--I actually laughed at it a couple times. The filmmakers apparently didn't know about the helots. Also, the Spartans in this film just don't act very... Spartan... what with the young man and his bonnie lass gamboling about the countryside and whatnot.
I've spent a lot of time on the film's problems, but for what it's worth I was entertained. This was a nice break from what is offered these days and I may go back and watch it again sometime. For anyone who enjoyed this movie but knows nothing about Sparta/Thermopylae otherwise, check out Steven Pressfield's excellent piece of historical fiction Gates of Fire.
Movie Review: Spartan portrayal of Spartans
Summary: 3 Stars
The writers and producers of The 300 Spartans had their hearts in the right place when they set about to make this film in the swords and sandals era. They included many "facts" (history back then was as much an art form as a journalistic one) of the event and filmed on location. Overall, however, it reeks of limited budget. Film stock was not the best. The typical we-must-use-an-American-lead-and-all-other-Greeks-must-have-British-accents casting is the greatest weakness. But for those who can't be bothered picking up a history book or using their imaginations, this flick comes closer to the truth than the very stylized '300' of Frank Miller. That film is an exercise in pure, over-the-top entertainment that cares not a whit that the battle had no giants, rhinos, or African elephants (from Persia?). Better casting, more Tarentinoesque gore, and more of the bravado of the most macho battalion of soldiers the world has ever seen would have pushed this film to four stars in my estimation. If you're a reader and love ancient warfare, seek out my novel To Move the World.Movie Review: Go tell the Spartans, here we lie obedient to their commands
Summary: 3 Stars
While not a perfect movie, this is an eminently watchable one. In the tradition of the movies Hollywood liked to make in the early 1960s dealing with the ancient world, this film dwells on the topics of honor and loyalty. Richard Egan is terrific as King Leonidas. This film does a wonderful job explaining what happened in the famous battle in which 300 Spartans held off an entire Persian army of thousands at the Battle of Thermopalye Pass long enough for the Greeks to organize and prepare to repel the Persian invaders. While I am not a sufficiently knowledgeable historian to know whether this film hews closely to historical accounts of what happened, the film tells a coherent story that is certainly based upon actual events.
While the acting in this film (other than Egan's) is not terrific, this is nevertheless a film that is suitable for the whole family to watch. This is solid entertainment. The DVD features good sound and superb video--the colors are crisp and bright. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and recommend it to anyone.