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Frank Miller's 300 (merged) (1 Viewer)

MichaelBA

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The "300" graphic novel is fairly excellent. The only aspect that threw me is that stylistically both Greeks and Persians look like sub-Saharan Africans. But it's not a major distraction.
 

Kain_C

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I wonder if this is going to be another "Sin City" as in being a translation -- and not an adaptation -- of the material. If so, it looks like Sin City could usher in a new period of source integrity that may raise the bar for comic book movies.
 

Chuck Mayer

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The website seems to indicate that Snyder is hewing pretty tightly to the GN, but I imagine he'll do a few of his own things because

1) The 5 issues of material won't make but for about an hour of footage at best (The Sin City movie adapted the 5 issue The Big Fat Kill, the six issue Yellow Bastard, and the equivalent of 5 or 6 issues for The Hard Goodbye).

2) He doesn't want to rotely copy what RR did.

I'm certainly of two minds about 300. I do like the GN quite a bit, but my favorite book is Gates of Fire, by Stephen Pressfield. If Pressfield's account is like a great long weekend with a ravishing magnificent beauty, full of great conversation, intimacy, and the best lovemaking of your life at some destination bed and breakfast, then 300 is like nailing a hot, skanky chick from the bar and waking up to find her gone. Some of the motions are the same, you aren't complaining, but the experiences are not even remotely the same.

300 means I'll never see Gate of Fire. But I am happy to be getting 300. It doesn't have 5% of the story (or historical accuracy) of Gates of Fire, but it's a good looking film by a decent young director.
 

MichaelBA

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GATES OF FIRE was excellent too, and written with a great deal of historical rigor. It would have seemed more logical from a plot-perspective to adapt that book rather than Miller's graphic novel. But if that latter proves a faithful cinematic expression, it'll definitely be worth the price of the ticket.
 

Chuck Mayer

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Just Like you Imagined - Nine Inch Nails

The trailer is completely hypnotic, probably thanks to the music and the screaming. I can't watch it enough! I'll wait for a higher quality trailer to comment on the effect and style. But I like what I see.
 

DanR

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Count me in the bunch that would have rather seen "Gates of Fire" which would have been more in the vein of Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut. However, the early screening for "300" was very positive, so I'm hopeful it will be a good movie.

Regards,
Dan
 

John Doran

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i'm looking forward to this film, but i may have to check out gates of fire; the battle of thermopylae - and the spartans' last stand - sets my imagination on fire.

my only concern is that i think i'd be disappointed if gates of fire[/] wasn't written like tolkein wrote the last paragraph of chapter 5 of book 5 of LOTR: the ride of the rohirrim. i can't read those words without being moved to tears...i know warfare is terrible and ugly, but still...

i would like to have met leonidas.
 

Chuck Mayer

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john.
Gates of Fire is immeasurably moving and vivid. The entire book is a frank exploration of courage. Not just in battle, but life. It is extremely well-written. I doubt you'll be disappointed in the tone. Read it :)

After watching that trailer over and over (and over), I make the claim it is one of the best trailers I've ever seen. The use of NIN is absolutely incredible, especially when juxtaposed with those images. I freely admit this is a candy movie, much more fantasy and myth than reality. But even the merest connection to Thermopylae elevates it. Even if the movie stinks...the "trailer" is primal.
 

Paul Case

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Not to be too contrary, but this trailer makes the film look like trash. It caters to nothing more than an adolescent fixation on violence and sex and is edited in typical MTV style replete with nonsensical screaming. The Spartans deserve better.

By the way, Pressfield is a hack. While certainly better than Frank Miller's pornographic take, Gates of Fire is poorly written at best. It's Thermopylae for babies. If you are, in fact, looking for the equivalent of the ride of the Rohirrim, look elsewhere.
 

Nathan V

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Wow, those are two pretty disparate opinions :D I look forward to doing my own investigations into the matter. Chuck, you've got me pretty psyched to see this trailer. I'll check it out as soon as I am able.

Regards,
Nathan
 

John Doran

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well, i just finished reading gates of fire, and i have to say that i am not sure by what literary standards it could be accurately judged as the work of a hack - i've read lots of stuff by hacks, and this is definitely not it. gates of fire is a beautiful and beautifully written book.

it's too bad that you didn't get anything out of it, but i'm quite frankly amazed at how wildly your opinion of the book varies from mine.

ah, well - sua cuique voluptas...

i'm sorry to say, though, that the book makes me a little less excited about the movie 300, though. i would have dearly loved to see the book onscreen...
 

Quentin

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Make that two votes against Paul's unfair and egregious attacks.

Pressfield is no hack. I've read hacks, and he doesn't come close.

What should we read, Paul? Will nothing but Herodotus do the moment justice? Please...

I HOPE the movie lives up to the trailer. Like Chuck, I am suspicious that the GN does not offer enough guts to make a strong film. I hope they fill it in with some good writing. That trailer is pure badass. Nothing wrong with badass. :)
 

Michael:M

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While I have hopes for this film, I have to agree that Gates of Fire is mediocre at best. I read it, perhaps unfairly, with the high standard of The Killer Angels in mind. TKA did essentially the same thing - took an historic, epic battle and put the reader in harm's way.

Gates of Fire had tons of what I would call "filler" narrative, and I just didn't find Pressfield's writing engaging or all that good. I found the the conceit of the narrator--

the last survivor of the battle

unnecessary and to some degree lessened the impact of the battle.

I usually am in full agreement with Chuck M's tastes, but here I have to diverge. I found the book lacking in substance and depth; to some degree it resembles Pearl Harbor, in that it wrapped a real event with a hackneyed and fluffed up plot.

YMMV, of course.
 

Max Knight

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I also did not find Pressfield's book to be as great as I had heard. It's fairly well put together, and seems very accurate. However, I was never pulled into the story the way I am with a really good narrative. To expound on Chuck's analogy, I'd say The Gates of Fire was more like going out to a pretty good dinner with a great looking lady, but when you get home you realize she's slathered on the make-up, padded her bra, and doesn't quite know what she's doing. In the morning you think about the potential and wonder if it might have been better if you'd decided to share that second bottle of wine.
 

John Doran

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looks almost like magic realism from the trailer...

i'm still of two minds about it: on the one hand, it seems very visceral; on the other, i'm not sure i'm sold on the way they seem to be portraying leonidas and the spartans' tactics (leonidas seems too over-the-top, and i'm pretty sure the spartans wouldn't charge pell-mell into combat).

still, i'll probably see this one in the theater.
 

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