300

¡Ay! Pues, esto no es ninguna mega epopeya. 300 es un modesto experimento basado en un guión de 10 páginas y con bonitos fondos de pantalla azul. Los diálogos pretenden ser tan serios y fríos que resultan hilarantes. La historia recicla lo que ya nos han contado Braveheart y Gladiator (El gladiador) pero de una forma más breve y visual. Se ve bien, las escenas de lucha están bien hechas, pero todo lo demás es nada. Si no fuera por las tomas a cámara lenta, duraría apenas 60 minutos. Una buena película, pero espero que no prediga el comienzo de un nuevo subgénero cinematográfico. (13.03.2007)

I would like to paraphrase a sentence uttered in the film itself: "My eyes saw a grotesque spectacle summoned from the darkest corners of Miller's strange soul." The rape of history under the guise of a comic adaptation (under which everything is tolerated nowadays, perhaps even if someone made Němcová's Grandmother a dominatrix in a S&M parlour), the fanatically stubborn (though undeniably charismatic) Leonidas, who reminded me of another fanatic, Hoferik from Signum Laudis, so I certainly wouldn't want him as a king, and the slow-motion shots in the second half with their increasing frequency bored me to death. If, given the high box office returns, this empty and narcissistic affair will set the course for the future of the film industry, then we have no choice but to shout "Gott mit uns!" I'm not sure if sentences like "...I felt like smashing someone's face in after the movie was over..." is the right emotion to take away from a film, but I have no doubt that for angry young teens, this will be the best movie of their short lives so far :) (07.04.2007)

I really like Zack Snyder for Watchmen and Dawn of the Dead (and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and Suckerpunch look very promising, too), but 300 is unfortunately a very big misstep. A visually fancy historical carnage (a bit too digital and artificial for my taste) that to it’s own chagrin takes itself way too seriously. Gerard Butler is one of the least likeable actors and his heroic speeches almost made me burst out laughing. This is not Sparta, this is a bad joke. (12.09.2010)

Snyder is here to entertain! An elegant recycler of the classic sandal adventure and heroic epic wrapped in a beautifully re-styled audiovisual package that has very little to do with history itself, and the search for historical context can hardly be called viewer ignorance. The vast majority of current productions are in the same boat, so why nitpick here when it's clear from the start that the pathetic phrase will be part of every Leonidas (Gerard Butler, the most charismatic leader of the screen a few years back, scores points!) monologue, the purely macho speech of every dialogue, and that the battle will be nothing but visual gluttony of the finest quality? I enjoyed 300 for its relative originality, down to the last drop of digitally redacted blood the characters shed, and I’m certainly not worried about the future of other Hollywood productions. There have already been several similar booms, and in a few years, young angry teens will find their new cult. It is rather surprising how many people, after seeing 300, suddenly crave pure awesomeness, which has survived (and will survive) everything. (29.04.2007)

For me, a completely indigestible mix of pathos, stupid dialogues and a pseudo-art image, which, apart from rich colors and slow-motion, offers nothing more interesting than bricks of soaked Spartans and a nice composition here and there. Snyder is an absolute maniac, who, more than the narrative itself, is driven by various effects, accessories and frills, because of which, from my point of view, the film has no tempo, explosiveness or even meaning. Impactful comic book bullshit about freedom and building speeches, in the style of the last battle ignited me, endlessly irritate, and the action scenes bore me with their sterility and the absence of a decent choreographic idea. Any way I look at it, it’s a truly idiotic work, probably only good for making fighting slogans for hockey teams. (19.12.2008)

Both an excellent start and conclusion and... And in the meantime, there is only filler, which is not boring only thanks to the charismatic Butler and the artistic component, which eventually becomes too much. It isn’t completely fair to reproach 300 for its unmistakable macho and even fascist façade, but to criticize its boring action scenes is. The middle part is mostly the clash between the brave Spartans and Persian masses, but the action itself somehow lacks juice. Which is a big problem with this type of movie. Paradoxically, the biggest plus doesn’t come until the stylized final credits. (30.03.2007)

Thanks to the fact that I didn't let myself get overly hyped despite the excellent trailers, I was able to watch 300 as an unbiased viewer, expecting a quality spectacle with good action - and to my great surprise, I got much more. An amazing film with one of the best visual aspects in recent years. The moment Gerard Butler appeared as the fierce Leonidas, even I, an old cynic, fell in love with Sparta and rooted for them as much as I could, even though I knew how it would probably end, thanks to history and logical thinking. Of course, I have to agree with all the criticisms regarding the overall fascist tone of the story about a "strong, unyielding nation," but for me, the tale of unbreakable warrior discipline remains a story of heroism and determination. As for the visuals, 300 proved that slow-motion shots of blood and warriors can be captivating, even if we've seen a similar scene in a film countless times before. Both battles with the Immortals, the iconic fall into the gorge, and the final spear throw and arrow rain are unforgettable and, as cinematography showed, in their own way, unbeatable. (05.04.2007)

The film has a nice visual aspect, but the rest is sterile or conceptually problematic. I once invested an incredible 50 bucks in Miller's comic book, influenced by the claim that it is one of the most significant works of comic creation. There is no doubt that it was the worst investment I have ever made in the world of books. Ideologically, it felt like a guide for a young fascist through the world of life values, not to mention the lack of historical credibility, only the visual concept stood out... Overall impression: 40%. (25.09.2010)

The missing color of the palette of historical movie varieties has been put in its place. Thanks to Frank Miller’s imagination we can see the reflection of times so distant for us that we know about them only from myths. But it would be incorrect to call 300 a historical movie. It really would. It is more of an attempt at balancing a fantasy and a story based on true events. This was exactly what Snyder realized and he was able to capture that balance that thanks to the technology he used. With a huge support of the cast, mainly the flawless Gerard Butler and the excellent to gigantic Rodrigo Santoro. I was so looking forward to it and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. Tell them in Lacedaemon, passerby: carrying out their orders, here we lie. I’ll never forget how I felt when leaving the movie theater after seeing 300. (06.04.2007)

Frank Miller has always worked better on paper (and even that hasn't been great as of a certain point). 300 may not be a total loss, but the ravages of time have gnawed away at it after only a decade. On the other hand, we can thank this phenomenon for the creation of the competing Spartacus series, which is simply much better in many ways. The comic book of the same name is legendary, but unfortunately, a sequel was released 20 years later. (02.12.2011)

If the film hadn't added one quite unnecessary plot line compared to the book (yes, the one with Leonid's wife and scheming senators) and just stuck to flashbacks, it would have had even more momentum and 300 would have become an uncompromising digital blood-ride during which you’d be holding your breath. It’s a bit of a shame. Still, the result is an excellent show about a tough fight for the right cause. (24.09.2007)

Are you kidding??!! That stupid parody was almost better. (20.11.2011)

Admittedly an extra-dangerous film currently in every European (crypto)Nazi's mandatory KPZ, but it's not Snyder's fault. A giant hyperbole where mythical monsters threaten the abdomens of Greek übermenschen whose dialogue goes something like this: "I trust that "scratch" hasn't made you useless." "Hardly, my lord, it's just an eye. The gods saw fit to grace me with a spare." Paradoxically, it falls down in the need to emancipate the story with the storyline of Leonidas' woman trying to fight the traitors in Sparta, and these passages are filmed with utter barrenness, but utter earnest. Suddenly all that chauvinism and machismo has the bitter flavor of Vandas' semen, and the blunt theses spouted by Leonidas throughout the film are no longer funny (which they were originally intended to be), but just muscular and stupid. As I say, though, it's not Snyder's fault; instead, he has hereby established himself as America's premier action director/choreographer with his endlessly cheesy aesthetic, which, while it may look terribly pointless at first, does an excellent job of revitalizing the ancient fetish of body and movement with the assistance of contemporary filmmaking devices. This was eventually perfected by Tarsem Singh's Immortals. (23.07.2009)

Frank Miller's comic book is absolutely captivating, and Zack Snyder managed to transfer its poetry, brutality, and heroism into the film, basically everything that the comic has. There are added scenes here that are almost unnecessary, but it doesn't change the fact that the battle of the 300 brave warriors is still a powerful spectacle, visually intriguing. I am captivated, and I was even during its theatrical release. Just shorten it a bit, and it would be perfect. (30.03.2014)

Visually completely mannerist and brief testosterone ride that is so stupidly entertaining as to be utterly irresistible. It's certainly not high art, and there are perhaps too many slow-motion moments at times, but on the other hand this is (from my perspective) Zack Snyder's early and peak period, when he delivered three hugely interesting films to audiences within five years. This "hat trick" sort of firmly defined his future visual style, which he then perfected in Watchmen – his subsequent work is unfortunately already heavily decadent (with the minor exception of Man of Steel). [85%] (17.04.2022)