Have you seen this movie yet?

I just saw it (with 2 friends from work--none of the ladies wanted to see it!) and it rocks. Besides being visually amazing, it's pro military, pro America (yes--Greeks v. Persian, USA and the West against Iran and radical Islam though it's historical time is 2500 years ago) and its about courage and commitment and ideals.

The "graphic novel" style is over the top but the artistic achievement here is considerable. You can't but be stirred by the Spartan's indomitable courage and warrior culture that prefers honor and valor on the battlefield to to dishonor and slavery. You just want to go into battle after seeing it.

I wouldn't be surprised if Marine recruiting and that in the other services as well experiences a considerable uptick in the next few months. You couldn't help think that the Spartan's warcry of "OUAHHH!" has come down to us as the Marine's "OOHRAH."

I hope every teen boy and girl in America sees this; maybe it'll offset some of the BS they hear in gov't schools these days.

We need a film like this and apparently most of the real USA agrees seeing as it's smashing box office records everywhere.

Yes, I saw it. It was good to see the "noble" Western Civilization vs. "evil" Persians angle. Nevertheless, I hope we can find peace with Iran. It is the administration (of Iran) that is evil, not the people. They have the capacity to like the U.S.

Is this a new movie I remember seeing a movie a long time ago called 300 Spartans.

I gonna see that movie, it ROCKS!! and it's bases on a real event where about 300 Spartans defended a narrow mountain passage against roughly 12,000 Persians.

Oh, and here's the typical retard Iranian reply:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6455969.stm


The Iranian community in the US and Canada is very keen on e-petitions as a form of protest.

The latest issue to grip Iranian expatriates is the Hollywood blockbuster 300. According to the protesters, it projects an "irresponsible" and "distorted" image of ancient Persia.

The film, which has broken US box office records, is a special effects-laden depiction of a battle in which a small Spartan army resisted a Persian invasion.

It is based on Frank Miller's epic graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

The film shows the Spartan king and his army of 300 - white, muscular soldiers - strongly resisting Xerxes and his savage Persian army of hundreds of thousands.

Loud opposition

The film has stirred controversy among Iranians across the world, but it is the expatriate community in North America that have been the loudest voice opposing an "assault on its culture and tradition".

Iranian bloggers started their campaign against the film a week ahead of its opening.


Not only does it give the wrong outcomes to battles, it grossly misrepresents the Persians and their civilization
Omid Memarian

Bloggers have taken offence at the way in which the Persians have been depicted in the film and the way the battle of Thermopylae has been narrated.

Award winning Iranian blogger and journalist Omid Memarian has been among these voices. He is worried about what he sees as historical discrepancies in the film.

"Not only does it give the wrong outcomes to battles, it grossly misrepresents the Persians and their civilization.

Spartan warrior fights Persian foes in the film 300, courtesy of Warner Brothers
Some see a hidden anti-Iranian agenda in the film
"It is unfortunate that very few curriculums in the US cover world history and it is very easy to misdirect the general public on historical facts."

Mr Memarian is also concerned about the film's balance.

"Let's not forget that Cyrus the Great, Xerxes's grandfather, drafted the first declaration of human rights in 539 BC, freeing hundreds of thousands of Jews from Babylonian slavery."

Iranian officials have joined the angry protests and some are seeing it as part of a wider campaign against Iran.

Javad Shamaqdari, a cultural advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was "plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization".

He branded the film "psychological warfare" against Tehran and its people.

A daily Iranian newspaper, Ayandeh-No, recently carried the headline "Hollywood declares war on Iranians".

Image problems

Omid Memarian is not surprised at the reaction to the film due to what he calls "skewed media coverage on Iran and anti-Iranian rhetoric which has escalated in the US".

Warner Brothers, the film's producers, has been quick to explain that "the film [is] a work of fiction, loosely based on an historical event".

Scene from 300, courtesy of Warner Brothers
The makers say 300 is a work of fiction, not to be taken seriously
A statement by the company said: "The studio developed this film purely as a fictional work with the sole purpose of entertaining audiences; it is not meant to disparage an ethnicity or culture or make any sort of political statement."

Some bloggers and commentators have opposed the petition against 300 on the grounds that there are bigger battles to fight - such as opposing what is seen as the increasing threat of military action against Iran.

Salman Jariri, a Farsi blogger, published an open letter addressed to the protestors.

"The actions of leaders of third world countries has a more destructive effect on the westerners' perception of these countries than Hollywood productions," he said.

Google-bomb

One Iranian blogger in Canada has an alternative to the petition.

Pendar Yousefi, who blogs from Toronto, is "Google-bombing" the film.

His "bomb" aims to divert internet traffic searching for 300 to a web site that introduces the various aspects of Iranian culture through art.

Mr Yousefi, who is upset with the way ancient Persians have been depicted in 300, has called on Iranian cartoonists and artists to send him work that will help educate people about the Persian empire.

A number of artists have obliged and some 600 Iranian blogs and websites have established permanent links to Mr Yousefi's site.

Those futhermuckers live 2500 years in the past, we (Western Civ but particularly USA) look forward.

The truth is the Iranians see this and are soiling their trou in fear and trepidation because they see WHAT WE CAN BE WHEN PUSHED TOO FAR AND WHEN THE NEED ARISES.

quote:

I wouldn't be surprised if Marine recruiting and that in the other services as well experiences a considerable uptick in the next few months. You couldn't help think that the Spartan's warcry of "OUAHHH!" has come down to us as the Marine's "OOHRAH."

Reminds me of a story--

I remember being a young Cpl and having our Det Gunny conduct a Field Day Inspection and telling us we had "too much crap".--

"Ya got crystal chess piece collections (one of my friends did), and China cabinets with full sets of China? (one of our female Marines). What the hell is with all the crap? Ya need one seabag, ya throw it on your back and ya go to war. Ain't no crystal or china required. From now on ALL I want to see is government issue. All that personal crap goes in a wall locker. We are the modern day Spartans!"

My roommate turns to me and says, "that mean we have to f*** each other in the ass too?"

How can you possibly say that this movie should be seen by everyone in the US to offset schooling. it had nice special effects I'll give it that, but it was not stirring or moving in any way. It was a testosterone and political message filled gore fest. Not that I am against movie violence, it was a fun movie, but not a "good" movie in any way shape of form. In case anyone hasn't read history, the spartans were not protectors of freedom, they were authoritarian SOB's who based their entire system off of a massive caste of slaves called helots. They were certainly in no way "defenders of freedom". Also it's demonization of the persians is pretty obvious especially with all the saber rattling going on agaisnt Iran. It also completely trivialized the great contribution that the thespians and other greeks made to the battle. Also it chided the thespians and athenians as gay while the spartans pranced around shirtless and waxed in tight leather shorts. This movie would have been good if it had acknowledge how patently ridiculous it was, I mean, seriously Xerxes looks like a 7 foot tall pride parade reject, and the traitor looks like gollum with a 90 pound tumor on his back. The problem was it DESPERATELY tried to take itself seriously despite being so utterly fanciful. If it had realized how fanciful and in many places, just plain ridiculous it was and play off of it, it could have been a good movie, but as it is it's a fun watch, but not a good movie.

[EMAIL]http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/weaponswar/p/blpwtherm.htm[/EMAIL]

What this does not say is that there were about 1400 other troops with the 300. It makes the story more dramatic to ignore them. This has happened since the story was first told because it was made into a play.

This is a move and not a moral or intellectual addition to our society. It is also not worth a rant Hyperion.

I would have spared it had people like PT considered as just a movie, but him and other people I know take it as more than that.

So, some people like cheese on hot dogs. It is about as important.

Hate to poop on others' parties but, the film is crap.. I have the ' graphic novel ' on which it is based and ,quite frankly, it is not one of Miller's best works.. His Sin City series and his early Batman stuff is much, much better..

The ' original film ' 300 Spartans, starring Richard Egan and Ralph Richardson, back in the '60's was better in terms of balance and holds up quite well given the ' antiquated' special effects methods of the time..

much better story [ if you disregard the love interest sub plot ]..

certainly can appreciate where the Iranians and others are getting pissed off, the ' gingoism' is way over the top.

still, if the producers are going to stick to their wide-eyed innocent routine and claim there was no ' slant' to the film, it was purely for ' entertainment value' ..then the old story holds true. If you don't like it, don't pay the ransom to go and see it.

quote:

Originally posted by Hyperion:
I would have spared it had people like PT considered as just a movie, but him and other people I know take it as more than that.

Of course, its "just a movie" and not perhaps a cinematic triumph on the order of something by John Ford. And yes, the style is OTT, but it teaches something that kids are no learning in public schools and college campuses. There they learn about pacificism, acquiescence to evil, narcissistic "me first" self-regard (as recent studies have shown), and surrender. Would I advocate a Spartan society that throws imperfect babies over cliffs or lack of personal freedoms? Of course not. But this movie is a hell of a lot better for young men and women than an anti-war protest where protestors actually were quoted as saying "The answer to Terrorism is Love." Bull.
We face the greatest menace and evil to freedom and liberty since Hitler's Germany. Would they have said "the answer to Nazism is love?"
The Spartans in the film refuse to acquiesce, refuse to bargain for their lives. The Persians, thousands of years before Mohammed, nevertheless represent a force, the IslamoNazis, who are telling us we can live as long as we adopt their ways, Sharia law, convert at the point of the sword.
The only answer to that is not to "love" them its to tell them f*ck off and shove them down a well. To maybe develop an uncurved backbone and end this menace with character, cooperation, teamwork, sacrifice, and honor. Only a warrior culture's values and ideals will save us from Islamic evil. For which this civilian is profoundly grateful because war isn't fun.
We in the West and particularly the USA are unique in that we can embrace both Athenian Democracy and Spartan aggressiveness in protecting it. Victor Davis Hanson has written about how that works in Western culture.
But I'd much rather expose a kid of mine to this movie than 80% of the crap taught in classrooms by academic surrender monkeys.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PT,

Anit-education are we PT?

My god are you a jingoistic alarmist. The I do believe that radical religous freaks like the hijackers are indeed a great threat to world peace indeed, I will not argue you on that point, but we don't need to reform our entire culture to stop them. We are perfectly safe, their gurrilla terrorism can't invade us, for the VAST majority of it happens in their own country, 9/11 was a sad thing, but an abberation, not the norm. Also please don't call them islamonazis because:
1. The nazi's crimes were significantly worse than anything the islamic extremists have done
2. Islamic fundamentalism has very little in common with Nazism, so don't compare them.
3. It's a cheap loaded comparision that is thrown around way too often, I hear things like Saddam is like Hitler or Bush is like hitler, no, just no, the comparison is so vastly different it isn't even valid, the nazi card is a cheap one.
Now also the education community are not "a bunch of surrender monkeys" may I remind you that without oppenheimer and other professors we would have had a MUCH harder time winning the war. Also comaring the persians to the islamic extremists is completely unfair. The spartans were no freer than the persians. They were a brutal totalitarian society the work of which was done by slaves. But finally and most important this movie glorifies war, this is bad. The "warrior society" you think we seem to need is the be all end all of the glorification of war. Let me tell you something war isn't glorious. War isn't proud, respectable, or honorable. War is the personification of the nessacary evil. It is the most evil of evils and also the most nessacary, but to believe that even the most nessacary war is not evil, is a complete fallacy. Wars are needed to stop things like the nazi's, islamic militants, and cessionists, but that doesn't mean it's good. It is one of the greatest errors any society can make to glorify war, because it is so utterly far from the truth. So let's reveiw:
1. The spartans were not defenders of freedom, they were selfish tyrants.
2. This movie was an obvious attempt to attack Iran, as the Persians were not the near inhuman horde they were made out to be.
3. War, while nessacary should never be taken to lightly, glorified, or put in a positive light, I say once again it is the most evil and most nessacary of all evils.

quote:

Originally posted by HarryP:
Anti-education are we PT?

heheh, certain kinds, yes. To take it out of the overtly political realm, I am against Constructivist math for example.