Moviebuffs.com Movie News, Reviews and More!
Our Mission
Prize Trivia
The Golden Rules
Movie News
Movie Reviews
Submit a Review
Your Videos/Movies
Movies by Period/Category
Register & WIN!
300 300
2007
Directed by:
Zack Snyder
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan


Written by:
Jay Dussault

August 14, 2007

Now that it's on DVD, many people have been able to see 300.  For those haven't here is a review to help you decide whether or not it is for you!

I have the soundtrack playing away and I'm ready to go! 

 

Are you ready?

All right... I'm not THAT ready.  Since exiting the theater I've been stumbling around trying to figure out the best way to describe the film and my views on it; I'm finding it very difficult to take all the words that come to mind and put them to good use. 

I'll do my best!

As some know, I typically have a top three movies that I'm, most literally, aching to see.  I get a nervous twitch of excitement and count down the usually massive time period before my eyes get their feast. This movie was my number two movie to see behind Pan's Labyrinth.  I don't think that any of the movies that have gained this much excitement from me has ever let me down, and that fact remains here as well.

300 is in the simplest of terms an amazing movie.  It's everything that you wanted it to be and more and it promises to delight for many, many viewings to come.  I'm a total sucker for epic movies and especially epic war-type period pieces.  Movies where guns were non-existent and men fought with swords and shields with everything that they were and for everything that they believed in -- and they loved every moment of it.  Passion was monumental in every single one of them and honor was more important than life, and I love that about those times.

Don't get me wrong, I know that this movie isn't a straight-on historical epic like Braveheart or Gladiator was, but it is based on actual happenings and this was one of the best things about the film.  It took a real story (which I plan to now read up on so I can compare) and it told the story with a splash of fantasy dripping down around it to really differentiate its self from other films.  It combines the normal epic music that we're all used to (and I personally adore and listen to all the time) as well as modern-day guitars and drums in some sequences to really blast the adrenaline inside of you.

I mentioned before how there were so many words that I could use in talking about this movie and the only way that I think I can do it is to just spit them out all the same time and walk away smiling.  Who needs witty sentences to hold the most important words?   As follows, 300 is breath-taking and awe-inspiring, it is dark and magical and beautiful... it's uplifting and inspiring as well as devastating and brutal; and as I said before, amazing.
Most people enjoy knowing the good and bad in a review to gage their "to view or not to view?" questions on, and although I can't offer much, I do have slightly negative things to mention for the really picky people, which I can be at times.  Some of the acting was a bit stale, but not much.  A couple of the Persian actors' dialog just didn't flow quite right for my taste and that can be a sore spot to some, but personally I don't think that it affected the film at all.  I doubt most would even notice.

300, I believe, is an incredible step in modern-day film making.  It's a great story that is very well-written and flows along very smoothly.  It is also a work of art to look at -- some of the shots you will see in this movie could very realistically touch someone emotionally, as some of them did for me.  This now makes two movies that have derived from Frank Miller graphic novels that have truly blown me away and I hope to see many more.  I obviously recommend this film on the highest level and suggest checking it out!

I know that most reviews typically include the story and how it goes, the characters and the actors that portray them, and some even like to share parts of the film.  As you may have noticed in prior reviews, I do try and shy away from things like that as often as possible.  I think that a review should be written from the heart and reflect the writer’s personal opinion of a film in order to give those who trust in their opinion a valid outlook on whether to see a movie or not.  That's basically my only goal in writing these reviews and I hope that they help some in seeing or avoiding a movie they are unsure of.

Lastly, I wanted to write something that related to 300 quickly.  I want to give it it's fair congratulations; for those that don't know it made a bit over $70 Million in it's opening weekend, making it the record holder for March openings surpassing Ice Age: The Meltdown which made $68 Million, and from what I hear, was in 850 more theaters.  I knew this movie was going to be great, and I knew people were excited to see it, but I was not expecting that kind of turnout at all.  I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised and I hope that it only gains momentum!  Also, it ends up being the third best opening weekend for an R-rated movie of all-time, coming in behind The Matrix Reloaded and Passion of the Christ.  Big films to hang out with, for sure.

"Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time."

starstarstar

 
We would love to hear what you think! Agree? Disagree with this Moviebuff? Send your Review in TODAY!
Click here to send us your review
Or copy and paste into your email browser:  reviews@moviebuffs.com
include your review in your email!