Jump to content

300 (film)

Listen to this article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Losha Master (talk | contribs) at 01:38, 31 July 2009 (→Plot). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

300
Original theatrical release poster
Directed byZack Snyder
Written byScreenplay:
Zack Snyder
Kurt Johnstad
Michael Gordon
Comic book:
Frank Miller
Lynn Varley
Produced byFrank Miller
Zack Snyder
Gianni Nunnari
Jeffrey Silver
Mark Canton
StarringGerard Butler
Lena Headey
David Wenham
Dominic West
Vincent Regan
Rodrigo Santoro
CinematographyLarry Fong
Edited byWilliam Hoy
Music byTyler Bates
Production
companies
Legendary Pictures
Virtual Studios
Atmosphere Entertainment
Hollywood Gang
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
Greece
March 7, 2007
United States
March 9, 2007
Running time
116 minutes
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million[1]
Box office$456,068,181[2]

300 is a Template:Fy American action film adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller, and is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. The film was shot mostly with a super-imposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the imagery of the original comic book.

Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fight to the last man against Persian "God-King" Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his army of more than one million soldiers. As the battle rages, Spartan Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy.

300 was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters in the United States on March 9, 2007, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD on July 31, 2007. The film's opening was the 24th largest in box office history, although critics were divided over its look and style. Some acclaimed it as an original achievement, while others criticized it for favoring visuals over characterization and its controversial depiction of the ancient Persians.

Plot

Through Dilios' narration, the life of young Leonidas is depicted, chronicling his journey from a boy to a man through the Spartan doctrine of Agoge. Years later, after Leonidas is crowned King, Persian messengers arrive at the gates of Sparta demanding its submission to King Xerxes. Offended by their threats and behavior, Leonidas and his guards kick the messengers into a bottomless pit. Knowing that these actions will precipitate a Persian attack, Leonidas visits the Ephors, ancient priests whose blessing he needs to convince the Spartan council to authorize going to war. He proposes a strategy to repel the numerically superior Persians by using the terrain of Thermopylae (the Hot Gates); his plan involves funneling the Persians into a narrow pass between the rocks and the sea. The Ephors consult the Oracle Pythia, who decrees that Sparta must not go to war. After Leonidas departs a messenger from Xerxes appears, rewarding the Ephors for their covert support and revealing that they have been corrupted by Xerxes.

Denied by the Ephors, Leonidas follows his plan anyway, deciding to set out with only 300 soldiers. While he does not require the council's permission for this, taking such a small force turns what had been a bold strategy into a certain suicide mission. Leonidas hopes that the sacrifice of himself and his men will spur the council to defy the Ephors and all of Greece to unite against the threat to freedom and democracy (represented by Greece) posed by slavery and tyranny (represented by Persia).

Along the way to Thermopylae, the Spartans are joined by Arcadians and various other Greeks. They construct a wall at Thermopylae to contain the approaching Persian advance. Meanwhile, Leonidas encounters Ephialtes, a hunchbacked Spartan whose parents fled Sparta to spare him certain infanticide. Ephialtes asks to redeem his father's name by joining Leonidas, warning him of a secret path the Persians could use to outflank and surround them. Leonidas is sympathetic to the eager warrior but rejects him, as Ephialtes cannot properly hold a shield, which would compromise the Spartans' phalanx formation.

Prior to the battle, the Persians demand that the Spartans lay down their weapons. Leonidas refuses, and with their tightly-knit phalanx formation the Spartans use the narrow terrain to repeatedly rebuff the advancing Persian army. Xerxes personally approaches Leonidas to persuade him to surrender, offering Leonidas wealth and power in exchange for his loyalty. Leonidas declines, promising instead to make the "God-King" bleed. Outraged, Xerxes sends in his elite guard, the Immortals, whom the Spartans dispatch. As the Spartans continue to defeat Xerxes' forces, Ephialtes defects to the Persian king and reveals the location of the secret path in exchange of wealth, woman and a uniform to show his rank. When they realize Ephialtes' treachery, the Arcadians retreat. Leonidas orders a reluctant Dilios to return to Sparta to tell the Council of their sacrifice.

In Sparta, Gorgo, Queen of Sparta reluctantly submits sexually to the influential Theron in exchange for help in persuading the Spartan council to send reinforcements to Leonidas. Following her address to the Council, Theron publicly betrays the Queen, prompting the councilmen to cry out in outrage and Gorgo to kill him out of rage, spilling open a bag of Persian coins from his robe. The exposure of Theron's treachery, along with their Queen's plea, prompts the Council to unite against Persia. Meanwhile, at Thermopylae, the Persians use the goat path to surround the Spartans. Xerxes' general demands their surrender, again offering Leonidas titles and prestige. Leonidas seemingly bows in submission, allowing one of his men to leap over him and kill the general instead. A furious Xerxes orders his troops to attack. As Persian archers shoot at the remaining Spartans, Leonidas rises and hurls his spear at Xerxes, cutting the King on the cheek, thus making good on his promise to make "the God-King bleed." Visibly disturbed by this reminder of his own mortality, Xerxes watches as all of the Spartans are slaughtered by a massive barrage of arrows.

Concluding his tale before an audience of attentive Spartans, Dilios declares that the Persian army, depleted by desertions out of fear the heavy casualties they suffered at the hands of a mere 300 Spartans, now faces 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 Greeks. Although still outnumbered, Dilios declares that the Greeks shall have victory. Praising Leonidas' sacrifice, Dilios leads the brave Greeks in a charge against the Persian army, resulting in the great Battle of Plataea.

Cast

Production

Above: the film version of a panel from the graphic novel (below).
Above: A scene during filming. Below: The finished scene.

Producer Gianni Nunnari was not the only person planning a film about the Battle of Thermopylae; director Michael Mann already planned a film of the battle based on the book Gates of Fire. Nunnari discovered Frank Miller's graphic novel 300, which impressed him enough to acquire the film rights.[3][4] 300 was jointly produced by Nunnari and Mark Canton, and Michael B. Gordon wrote the script.[5] Director Zack Snyder was hired in June 2004[6] as he had attempted to make a film based on Miller's novel before making his debut with the remake of Dawn of the Dead.[7] Snyder then had screenwriter Kurt Johnstad rewrite Gordon's script for production[6] and Frank Miller was retained as consultant and executive producer.[8]

The film is a shot-for-shot adaptation of the comic book, similar to the film adaptation of Sin City.[9] Snyder photocopied panels from the comic book, from which he planned the preceding and succeeding shots. "It was a fun process for me... to have a frame as a goal to get to," he said.[10] Like the comic book, the adaptation also used the character Dilios as a narrator. Snyder used this narrative technique to show the audience that the surreal "Frank Miller world" of 300 was told from a subjective perspective. By utilizing Dilios' gift of storytelling, he is able to introduce fantasy elements into the film, explaining that "Dilios is a guy who knows how not to wreck a good story with truth."[11] Snyder also added the sub-plot in which Queen Gorgo attempts to rally support for her husband.[12]

Two months of pre-production were required to create hundreds of shields, spears and swords, some of which were recycled from Troy and Alexander. An animatronic wolf and thirteen animatronic horses were also created. The actors trained alongside the stuntmen, and even Snyder joined in. Upwards of 600 costumes were created for the film, as well as extensive prosthetics for various characters and the corpses of Persian soldiers. Mark Rappaport worked hand in hand with Snyder in pre-production to design the look of the individual characters, and to produce the prosthetics, props, weapons and dummy bodies required for the production.[13]

300 entered active production on October 17, 2005, in Montreal,[14] and was shot over the course of sixty days[13] in chronological order[12] with a budget of $60 million.[15] Employing the digital backlot technique, Snyder shot at the now-defunct Icestorm Studios in Montreal using bluescreens. Butler said that while he didn't feel constrained by Snyder's direction, fidelity to the comic imposed certain limitations on his performance. Wenham said there were times when Snyder wanted to precisely capture iconic moments from the comic book, and other times when he gave actors freedom "to explore within the world and the confines that had been set."[16] Headey said of her experience with the bluescreens, "It's very odd, and emotionally, there's nothing to connect to apart from another actor."[17] Only one scene, in which horses travel across the countryside, was shot outdoors.[18] The film was an intensely physical production, and Butler pulled an arm tendon and developed a foot drop.[19]

Post-production was handled by Montreal's Meteor Studios and Hybride Technologies filled in the bluescreen footage with more than 1500 visual effects shots. Visual effects supervisor Chris Watts and production designer Jim Bissell created a process dubbed "The Crush,"[13] which allowed the Meteor artists to manipulate the colors by increasing the contrast of light and dark. Certain sequences were desaturated and tinted to establish different moods. Ghislain St-Pierre, who led the team of artists, described the effect: "Everything looks realistic, but it has a kind of a gritty illustrative feel."[13][20] Various computer programs, including Maya, RenderMan and RealFlow, were used to create the "spraying blood."[21] The post-production lasted for a year and was handled by a total of ten special effects companies.[22]

Soundtrack

Main article: 300 (soundtrack)

In July 2005, composer Tyler Bates had begun work on the film, describing the score as having "beautiful themes on the top and large choir," but "tempered with some extreme heaviness." The composer had scored for a test scene that the director wanted to show to Warner Bros. to illustrate the path of the project. Bates said that the score had "a lot of weight and intensity in the low end of the percussion" that Snyder found agreeable to the film.[23] The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and features the vocals of Azam Ali.[24] A standard edition and a special edition of the soundtrack containing 25 tracks was released on March 6, 2007, with the special edition containing a 16-page booklet and three two-sided trading cards.[25]

The score has given rise to some controversy in the film composer community, garnering criticism for its striking similarity to several other recent soundtracks, including James Horner and Gabriel Yared's work for the film Troy. The heaviest borrowings are said to be from Elliot Goldenthal's 1999 score for Titus. "Remember Us," from 300, is identical in parts to the "Finale" from Titus, and "Returns a King" is similar to the cue "Victorius Titus."[26][27][28] (See Copyright issues.) On August 3, 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures acknowledged in an official statement:

... a number of the music cues for the score of 300 were, without our knowledge or participation, derived from music composed by Academy Award winning composer Elliot Goldenthal for the motion picture Titus. Warner Bros. Pictures has great respect for Elliot, our longtime collaborator, and is pleased to have amicably resolved this matter.[29]

Promotion and release

The official 300 website was launched by Warner Bros. in December 2005. The "conceptual art" and Zack Snyder's production blog were the initial attractions of the site.[30] Later, the website added video journals describing production details, including comic-to-screen shots and the creatures of 300. In January 2007, the studio launched a MySpace page for the film.[31] The Art Institutes created a micro-site to promote the film.[32]

At Comic-Con International in July 2006, the 300 panel aired a promotional teaser of the film, which was positively received.[33] Despite stringent security, the trailer was subsequently leaked on the Internet.[34] Warner Bros. released the official trailer for 300 on October 4, 2006,[35] and later on it made its debut on Apple.com where it received considerable exposure. The background music used in the trailers was "Just Like You Imagined" by Nine Inch Nails. A second 300 trailer, which was attached to Apocalypto, was released in theaters on December 8, 2006,[36] and online the day before.[37] On January 22, 2007, an exclusive trailer for the film was broadcast during prime time television.[38] The trailers have been credited with igniting interest in the film and contributing to its box-office success.[39]

In April 2006, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced its intention to make a PlayStation Portable game, 300: March to Glory, based on the film. Collision Studios worked with Warner Bros. to capture the style of the film in the video game, which was released simultaneously with the film in the United States.[40] The National Entertainment Collectibles Association produced a series of action figures based on the film,[41] as well as replicas of weapons and armor.[42]

Warner Bros. promoted 300 by sponsoring the Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell, who made personal appearances and participated in other promotional activities.[43] The studio also joined with the National Hockey League to produce a 30-second TV spot promoting the film in tandem with the Stanley Cup playoffs.[44]

In August 2006, Warner Bros. announced 300's release date as March 16, 2007,[45] but in October the release was moved forward to March 9, 2007.[35] 300 was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and HD DVD on July 31, 2007, in Region 1 territories, in single-disc and two-disc editions. 300 was released in single-disc and steelcase two-disc editions on DVD, BD and HD DVD in Region 2 territories beginning August 2007. On July 21, 2009, Warner Bros. released a new Blu-ray entitled 300: The Complete Experience to coincide with the Blu-ray release of Watchmen. This new Blu-ray is encased in a 40-page Digibook and includes all the extras from the original release as well as some new ones. These features include a Picture-in-Picture feature entitled The Complete 300: A Comprehensive Immersion , which enables the viewer to view three perspective featurettes while watching the film. This release also includes a Digital Copy.[46]

On July 9, 2007, the American cable channel TNT bought the rights to broadcast the film from Warner Bros.[47] TNT will be able to start airing the movie in September 2009. Sources say that the network paid between $17 million[48] and just under $20 million[47] for the movie. TNT agreed to a three-year deal instead of the more typical five-year deal.[48]

Reception

Box office

300 was released in North America on March 9, 2007, in both conventional and IMAX theaters.[49] It grossed $28,106,731 on its opening day and ended its North American opening weekend with $70,885,301, breaking the record held by Ice Age: The Meltdown for the biggest opening weekend in the month of March.[50] 300's opening weekend gross is the 24th highest in box office history, coming slightly below The Lost World: Jurassic Park but higher than Transformers.[51] It was the third biggest opening for an R-rated film ever, behind The Matrix Reloaded ($91.8 million) and The Passion of the Christ ($83.8 million).[52] The film also set a record for IMAX cinemas with a $3.6 million opening weekend.[53]

300 opened two days earlier, on March 7, 2007, in Sparta, and across Greece on March 8.[54][55] Studio executives were surprised by the showing, which was twice what they had expected.[56] They credit the movie's stylized violence, the strong female role of Queen Gorgo which attracted a large number of women to the movie, and the MySpace advertising blitz.[57] Producer Mark Canton said, "MySpace had an enormous impact but it has transcended the limitations of the Internet or the graphic novel. Once you make a great movie, word can spread very quickly."[57]

Reviews

Since its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2007, in front of 1,700 audience members, 300 has received generally mixed reviews. While it received a standing ovation at the public premiere,[58] it was reportedly panned at a press screening hours earlier, where many attendees left during the showing and those who remained booed at the end.[59] Critical reviews of 300 are divided.[60] Rotten Tomatoes reports that 60 percent of North American and selected international critics gave the film a positive review, based upon a sample of 214, with an average score of 6.1 out of 10.[61] Reviews from selected notable critics were 47 percent positive, giving the film an average score of 5.7 out of 10 based on a sample of 38.[62] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 51 based on 35 reviews.[60]

Variety's Todd McCarthy describes the film as "visually arresting" although "bombastic"[63] while Kirk Honeycutt, writing in The Hollywood Reporter, praises the "beauty of its topography, colors and forms."[64] Writing in the Chicago Sun Times, Richard Roeper acclaims 300 as "the Citizen Kane of cinematic graphic novels."[65] 300 was also warmly received by websites focusing on comics and video games. Comic Book Resources' Mark Cronan found the film compelling, leaving him "with a feeling of power, from having been witness to something grand."[66] IGN's Todd Gilchrist acclaimed Zack Snyder as a cinematic visionary and "a possible redeemer of modern moviemaking."[67]

A number of critical reviews appeared in major American newspapers. A.O. Scott of the New York Times describes 300 as "about as violent as Apocalypto and twice as stupid," while criticizing its color scheme and suggesting that its plot includes racist undertones.[68] Kenneth Turan writes in the Los Angeles Times that "unless you love violence as much as a Spartan, Quentin Tarantino or a video-game-playing teenage boy, you will not be endlessly fascinated."[69] Roger Ebert, in his review, gave the film a two-star rating, writing, "300 has one-dimensional caricatures who talk like professional wrestlers plugging their next feud."[70]

Some Greek newspapers have been particularly critical, such as film critic Robby Eksiel, who said that moviegoers would be dazzled by the "digital action" but irritated by the "pompous interpretations and one-dimensional characters."[55][71]

Awards and nominations

File:300- Leonidas fighting Persian soldiers.jpg
The combat scenes were heavily stylized, using slow motion camera work.

At the MTV Movie Awards 2007, 300 was nominated for Best Movie, Best Performance for Gerard Butler, Best Breakthrough Performance for Lena Headey, Best Villain for Rodrigo Santoro, and Best Fight for Leonidas battling "the Über Immortal."[72] It eventually won the award for Best Fight. 300 won both the Best Dramatic Film and Best Action Film honors in the 2006-2007 Golden Icon Awards presented by Travolta Family Entertainment.[73] In December 2007, 300 won IGN's Movie of the Year 2007,[74] along with Best Comic Book Adaptation[75] and King Leonidas as Favorite Character.[76] At the 2008 Saturn Awards, the movie won the award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film.[77]

In 2009, National Review magazine ranked "300" number 5 on its 25 Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years list.[78]

Historical accuracy

300's director Zack Snyder stated in an MTV interview that "the events are 90 percent accurate. It's just in the visualization that it's crazy.... I've shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it's amazing. They can't believe it's as accurate as it is." He continues that the film is "an opera, not a documentary. That's what I say when people say it's historically inaccurate."[79] He was also quoted in a BBC News story as saying that the film is, at its core "a fantasy film." He also describes the film's narrator, Dilios, as "a guy who knows how not to wreck a good story with truth."[11]

Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at Cambridge University, advised the filmmakers on the pronunciation of Greek names, and states that they "made good use" of his published work on Sparta. He praises the film for its portrayal of "the Spartans' heroic code," and of "the key role played by women in backing up, indeed reinforcing, the male martial code of heroic honor," while expressing reservations about its "'West' (goodies) vs 'East' (baddies) polarization."[80] Cartledge writes that he enjoyed the film, although he found Leonidas' description of the Athenians as "boy lovers" ironic, since the Spartans themselves incorporated institutional pederasty into their educational system.[81]

Ephraim Lytle, assistant professor of Hellenistic History at the University of Toronto, states that 300 selectively idealizes Spartan society in a "problematic and disturbing" fashion, as well as portraying the "hundred nations of the Persians" as monsters and non-Spartan Greeks as weak. He suggests that the film's moral universe would have seemed "as bizarre to ancient Greeks as it does to modern historians."[82]

Victor Davis Hanson, former professor of Classical history at California State University, Fresno, who wrote the foreword to a 2007 re-issue of the graphic novel, states that the film demonstrates a specific affinity with the original material of Herodotus in that it captures the martial ethos of ancient Sparta and represents Thermopylae as a "clash of civilizations." He remarks that Simonides, Aeschylus and Herodotus viewed Thermopylae as a battle against "Eastern centralism and collective serfdom," which opposed "the idea of the free citizen of an autonomous polis."[83] He further states that the film portrays the battle in a "surreal" manner, and that the intent was to "entertain and shock first, and instruct second."[84]

Touraj Daryaee, now Baskerville Professor of Iranian History and the Persiante World at the University of California, Irvine, criticizes the movie's use of classical sources, writing:

Some passages from the Classical authors Aeschylus, Diodorus, Herodotus and Plutarch are spilt over the movie to give it an authentic flavor. Aeschylus becomes a major source when the battle with the "monstrous human herd" of the Persians is narrated in the film. Diodorus' statement about Greek valor to preserve their liberty is inserted in the film, but his mention of Persian valor is omitted. Herodotus' fanciful numbers are used to populate the Persian army, and Plutarch's discussion of Greek women, specifically Spartan women, is inserted wrongly in the dialogue between the "misogynist" Persian ambassador and the Spartan king. Classical sources are certainly used, but exactly in all the wrong places, or quite naively.[85]

Controversy

Some criticized the portrayal of King Xerxes as androgynous.

Before the release of 300, Warner Brothers expressed concerns about the political aspects of the film's theme. Snyder relates that there was "a huge sensitivity about East versus West with the studio."[86] Media speculation about a possible parallel between the Greco-Persian conflict and current events began in an interview with Snyder that was conducted before the Berlin Film Festival.[87] The interviewer remarked that "everyone is sure to be translating this [film] into contemporary politics." Snyder replied that, while he was aware that people would read the film through the lens of contemporary events, no parallels between the film and the contemporary world were intended.[88]

Outside the current political parallels, some critics have raised more general questions about the film's ideological orientation. The New York Post's Kyle Smith writes that the film would have pleased "Adolf's boys,"[89] and Slate's Dana Stevens compares the film to The Eternal Jew, "as a textbook example of how race-baiting fantasy and nationalist myth can serve as an incitement to total war."[90] Roger Moore, a critic for the Orlando Sentinel, relates 300 to Susan Sontag's definition of "fascist art."[91]

However, Newsday critic Gene Seymour stated that such reactions are misguided, writing that "the movie's just too darned silly to withstand any ideological theorizing."[92] Snyder himself dismissed ideological readings, suggesting that reviewers who critique "a graphic novel movie about a bunch of guys...stomping the snot out of each other" using words like " 'neocon,' 'homophobic,' 'homoerotic' or 'racist' " are "missing the point."[93]

File:300 monster.poster03.jpg
A 300 movie poster depicting the Persian Uber-Immortal.

Since its opening, 300 also attracted controversy over its portrayal of Persians. Various critics, historians, journalists, and officials of the Iranian government including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad[94] denounced the film.[95][96][97] As in the graphic novel, the Persians were depicted as a monstrous, barbaric and demonic horde, and King Xerxes was portrayed as androgynous.[98][99] Critics suggested that this was meant to stand in stark contrast to the masculinity of the Spartan army.[100] Steven Rea argued that the film's Persians were a vehicle for an anachronistic cross-section of Western stereotypes of Asian and African cultures.[101]

The film's portrayal of ancient Persians caused a particularly strong reaction in Iran.[102] Azadeh Moaveni of Time reported that Tehran was "outraged" following the film's release. Moaveni identified two factors which may have contributed to the intense reaction: its release on the eve of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and the common Iranian view of the Achaemenid Empire as "a particularly noble page in their history."[103][104][105] Various Iranian officials condemned the film.[106][107][108][109] The Iranian Academy of the Arts submitted a formal complaint against the movie to UNESCO, labelling it an attack on the historical identity of Iran.[110][111] The Iranian mission to the U.N. protested the film in a press release,[112] and Iranian embassies protested its screening in France,[113] Thailand,[114] Turkey[115] and Uzbekistan.[116]

Slovenian philosopher and author Slavoj Žižek defended the movie, from those who attacked it as an example of "the worst kind of patriotic militarism with clear allusions to recent tensions with Iran and Iraq." He wrote that the story represents "a poor, small country (Greece) invaded by the army of a much large[r] state (Persia)," suggesting that the identification of the Spartans with a modern superpower is flawed. Instead of seeing a "fundamentalist" aspect in the Spartan identity, he stated that "all modern egalitarian radicals, from Rousseau to the Jacobins...imagined the republican France as a new Sparta."[117]

In response to the criticisms, a Warner Bros. spokesman stated that the film 300 "is a work of fiction inspired by the Frank Miller graphic novel and loosely based on a historical event. 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."[102]

300 has been spoofed in various media, spawning the "This is Sparta!" internet meme,[118] with parodies also appearing in film and television. These include the short United 300, which won the Movie Spoof Award at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Skits based upon the film have appeared on Saturday Night Live[119] and Robot Chicken, the latter of which mimicked the visual style of 300 in a parody set during the American Revolutionary War, titled "1776."[120] 20th Century Fox released Meet the Spartans, a spoof of 300. Universal Pictures is planning a similar parody, titled National Lampoon's 301: The Legend of Awesomest Maximus Wallace Leonidas.[121] 300 was also parodied in an episode of South Park named "D-Yikes!".[122]

300, particularly its pithy quotations, have been "adopted" by the student body of Michigan State University (whose sports teams are nicknamed the Spartans), with chants of "Spartans, what is your profession?" becoming common at sporting events starting after the movie's release, and Michigan State basketball head coach Tom Izzo dressed as Leonidas at one student event.[123][124]

Sequel/prequel

In June 2008, producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann revealed that work had begun on a sequel/prequel to 300.[125] Legendary Pictures has announced that Frank Miller is writing the follow-up graphic novel, and Zack Snyder has declared his interest in directing the adaptation, though he is waiting until he sees the graphic novel before officially signing onto the project. The new film's title is rumored to be 'Sparta'.[126]

References

  1. ^ Corliss, Richard (March 14, 2007). "7 Reasons Why 300 Is a Huge Hit". Time. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  2. ^ "300 (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
  3. ^ Rob M. Worley (March 9, 2007). "Exclusive interview: Producer Gianni Nunnari's epic struggle for 300". Comics2Film.com. Retrieved March 10, 2007.
  4. ^ Scott Mitchell Rosenberg (March 9, 2007). "March to Glory". Broken Frontier. Retrieved March 10, 2007.
  5. ^ Stax (February 17, 2004). "The Stax Report: Script Review of 300". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  6. ^ a b Stax (June 22, 2004). "Who Commands the 300?". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  7. ^ Susan Wloszczyna (March 3, 2007). "An epic tale, told 300 strong". USA Today. Retrieved March 10, 2007.
  8. ^ Todd Gilchrist (August 20, 2005). "Being Frank". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  9. ^ Stax (August 15, 2005). "Attila Leads the 300". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  10. ^ "300 Matches Miller Style". Sci Fi Wire. July 27, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  11. ^ a b Resa Nelson (February 1, 2006). "300 Mixes History, Fantasy". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  12. ^ a b Chris Brown (September 9, 2006). "Zack Snyder on keeping 300 sharp". Comics2Film.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
  13. ^ a b c d Douglas Edward (January 5, 2007). "300: The Set Visit!". SuperHeroHype.com. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  14. ^ Pamela McClintock (May 15, 2005). "300 counts for WB". Variety. Retrieved October 29, 2006. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Pamela McClintock (October 9, 2005). "Warners bets a bundle on swords-and-CGI 300". Variety. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  16. ^ Patrick Lee (July 23, 2006). "Butler Not Too Chafed By 300". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  17. ^ Edward Douglas (January 19, 2006). "300's Queen Gorgo". SuperHeroHype.com. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  18. ^ Mark Olsen (January 14, 2007). "An epic battle is pumped up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  19. ^ Jonah Weiland (February 6, 2007). ""300" – One-on-one with Gerard Butler". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  20. ^ Sean Davidson (March 6, 2006). "Meteor hits 300". Playback. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  21. ^ Sean Davidson (March 8, 2007). "Meteor, Hybride pumped blood into 300". Playback. Retrieved March 10, 2007.
  22. ^ Lev Grossman (March 2, 2007). "The Art of War". TIME. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
  23. ^ Daniel Robert Epstein (July 13, 2005). "Exclusive Interview with Tyler Bates, Score Composer for The Devil's Rejects". UGO. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  24. ^ "WB Records to Release 300 Soundtrack". SuperHeroHype.com. January 19, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
  25. ^ "300 Soundtrack To Hit Hard". IGN. January 31, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  26. ^ Justin Bielawa (February 27, 2007). 28, 2008 "300". Music On Film. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2007. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
  27. ^ James Southall. "300". Movie Wave. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  28. ^ Demetris Christodoulides. "300". Score Magazine. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  29. ^ "300 on DVD". August 3, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
  30. ^ Stax (December 22, 2005). "300 Invades the Web". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  31. ^ "300 MySpace Page Launched". SuperHeroHype.com. January 2, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
  32. ^ "Frank Miller: Graphic Novelist & Filmmaker". The Art Institutes. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  33. ^ George A. Tramountanas (July 23, 2006). "CCI Day 3: Warner Bros. Presents "300"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  34. ^ "UPDATE: The New 300 Promo Trailer!". SuperHeroHype.com. September 20, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  35. ^ a b "Official 300 Trailer Hits!". SuperHeroHype.com. October 4, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  36. ^ "New TMNT and 300 Trailers this Week". SuperHeroHype.com. December 3, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  37. ^ "The 300 Theatrical Trailer!". SuperHeroHype.com. December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
  38. ^ "300 Premiering in Berlin". SuperHeroHype.com. January 23, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  39. ^ "Weekend Box Office (March 9 - 11, 2007)". boxofficeguru.com. March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  40. ^ Daemon Hatfield (April 19, 2006). "300 Marches to PSP". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  41. ^ "Spartans! Tonight We Dine in Hell!". NECA. November 13, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2006.
  42. ^ "Are You a Spartan or a Persian?". NECA. November 27, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2006.
  43. ^ "300 Teams with UFC's Chuck Liddell". SuperHeroHype.com. December 28, 2006. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
  44. ^ Pamela McClintock (March 4, 2007). "NHL promotes 300". Variety. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  45. ^ Stax (August 10, 2006). "Warners Shuffles Dates". IGN. Retrieved October 29, 2006.
  46. ^ {{cite news|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=1207&show=review%7Cwork=Blu-ray.com%7Cdate=July 23, 2009|accessdate=July 23, 2009]]
  47. ^ a b "TNT spears "300" for basic cable". Reuters. July 10, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  48. ^ a b "TNT Loves 300 Spartans". CanMag. July 9, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  49. ^ "300 The Movie Home Page". Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
  50. ^ "300". Box Office Mojo. March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  51. ^ "Biggest Opening Weekends at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  52. ^ "300... and 70 Million Dollars!". ComingSoon.net. March 11, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  53. ^ "300 Sets IMAX Opening Records". SuperHeroHype.com. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  54. ^ ""Homecoming" for 300 in Sparta". London Greek Radio. March 9, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2007.
  55. ^ a b "300 wows Sparta home crowd despite some critics' complaints".
  56. ^ Michael Cieply (March 12, 2007). "Surprise! Spartans Assault Box Office". New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2007.
  57. ^ a b "300 a multi-pronged box-office triumph". Associated Press. March 11, 2007. Archived from the original on September 20, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  58. ^ "300 World Premiere Gets Standing Ovation". SuperHeroHype.com. February 2, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  59. ^ Erik Davis (February 14, 2007). "Berlinale Update: 300 Screens To Chorus Of Boos In Berlin". Cinematical. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  60. ^ a b "300 (2007)". MetaCritic. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  61. ^ "300 Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  62. ^ "300 Movie Reviews: Cream of the Crop". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
  63. ^ Todd McCarthy (February 14, 2007). "300". Variety. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  64. ^ Kirk Honeycutt (February 15, 2007). "300". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  65. ^ Richard Roeper (March 9, 2007). "Battle worthy: gloriously violent 300 sets bar for cinematic "comic books"". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  66. ^ Mark Cronan (August 14, 2006). "Review: "300" the movie". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 11, 2007.
  67. ^ Todd Gilchrist (February 12, 2007). "IGN: 300 Review". IGN. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
  68. ^ A.O. Scott (March 9, 2007). "Battle of the Manly Men: Blood Bath With a Message". New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  69. ^ Kenneth Turan. "The visually arresting 300 gets bogged down in blood and bodies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  70. ^ "300 :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  71. ^ "Greek critics lash Hollywood's ancient epic 300". International Herald Tribune. March 8, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  72. ^ "MTV Movie Awards Nominees: Pirates, Spartans — And That Crazy Kazakh". MTV. May 8, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
  73. ^ "Zack Snyder's Film "300" tops in Golden Icon Awards". Axccess News. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  74. ^ "IGN: Best of 2007 - Movie Awards, Movie of the Year". IGN. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  75. ^ "IGN: Best of 2007 - Movie Awards, Best Comic Book Adaptation". IGN. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  76. ^ "IGN: Best of 2007 - Movie Awards, Favorite Character". IGN. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  77. ^ ""Enchanted" and "Lost" are the big winners at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards". Saturnawards.org. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
  78. ^ "The Best Conservative Movies on National Review / Digital". Nrd.nationalreview.com. Februay 23, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  79. ^ Josh Horowitz (March 13, 2007). "300 Trivia: Albino Giants, Sequel Chances — And Sienna Miller". MTV. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  80. ^ Dan Vergano (March 6, 2007). "This is Sparta? The history behind the movie 300". USA Today. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  81. ^ Paul Cartledge (April 2, 2007). "Another View: Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History, on 300". The Guardian. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
  82. ^ Ephraim Lytle (March 11, 2007). "Sparta? No. This is madness". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  83. ^ Victor Davis Hanson (March 7, 2007). "With Your Shield or On It". City Journal. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  84. ^ Victor Davis Hanson (March 22, 2007). "300 Fact or Fiction?". Townhall.com. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  85. ^ Touraj Daryaee (March 14, 2007). "Go tell the Spartans". iranian.com. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  86. ^ Sheigh Crabtree (March 4, 2007). "Giving 300 movie a comic-book grandeur". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
  87. ^ Michael Cieply (March 5, 2007). "That Film's Real Message? It Could Be "Buy A Ticket"". New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2007.
  88. ^ Jason Silverman (February 22, 2007). "300 Brings History to Bloody Life". Wired News. Retrieved March 17, 2007.
  89. ^ Kyle Smith (March 9, 2007). "Persian Shrug". New York Post. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  90. ^ Dana Stevens (March 8, 2007). "A Movie Only a Spartan Could Love". Slate. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  91. ^ Roger Moore (March 7, 2007). "300 as Fascist Art". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  92. ^ Gene Seymour (March 9, 2007). "On the field of this battle, war is swell". Newsday. Retrieved March 16, 2007.[dead link‍]
  93. ^ Jonah Weiland (March 14, 2007). ""300" Post-game: One-on-one with Zack Snyder". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  94. ^ Ali Jaafar (March 21, 2007). "Iran president irked by 300". Variety. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  95. ^ "Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic "300"". Middle East Times. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  96. ^ "Iran condemns Hollywood war epic". BBC. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  97. ^ "Iran's U.N. Mission Outraged at 300". New York Times. March 23, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  98. ^ François Peneaud and Joe Palmer. "Frank Miller and 300's Assault on the Gay Past". AfterElton.com — Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  99. ^ Wesley Morris (March 9, 2007). "300 Movie Review, Sweating it out at the Hot Gates". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  100. ^ Stephen Hunter (March 9, 2007). "300: A Losing Battle in More Ways Than 1". Washington Post. Retrieved March 9, 2007.
  101. ^ Steven Rea (March 9, 2007). "Just 300, but CG on their side". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved March 13, 2007.[dead link‍]
  102. ^ a b Gary Leupp (March 31, 2007). "A Racist and Insulting Film - 300 vs. Iran (and Herodotus)". COUNTERPUNCH. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  103. ^ Azadeh Moaveni (March 13, 2007). "300 Sparks an Outcry in Iran". Time (magazine). Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  104. ^ "Iran outraged by Hollywood war epic "300"". Middle East Times. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  105. ^ "Iran condemns Hollywood war epic". BBC. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  106. ^ "Iran official condemns Hollywood movie". Press TV. March 10, 2007. Retrieved March 11, 2007.
  107. ^ Robert Tait (March 15, 2007). "Spartans film is psychological war, says Iran". The Guardian. Retrieved March 16, 2007.
  108. ^ "Movie "300" an Insult to Iranians". Fars News Agency. March 13, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2007.
  109. ^ Rober Tait (March 14, 2007). "Iran accuses Hollywood of "psychological warfare"". The Guardian. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  110. ^ "Iranian Academy of Arts to submit UNESCO declaration against 300". Payvand News. March 16, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2007.
  111. ^ "Iran complains to UNESCO". BBC. March 18, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2007.
  112. ^ "Iran's UN mission: Movie 300 is full of deliberate distortions". Islamic Republic News Agency. March 22, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  113. ^ "Embassy of Iran Protests at Screening of 300 Film in France". Fars News Agency. March 22, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
  114. ^ "IRI slams 300 show in Thailand". IRIB News. March 30, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2007.
  115. ^ "İran'ın '300'e tepkisi sürüyor". NTV (in Turkish). March 27, 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  116. ^ "Embassy protests to screening of anti-Iranian movie in Uzbekistan". Islamic Republic News Agency. April 1, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
  117. ^ Slavoj Žižek. "The True Hollywood Left". www.lacan.com.
  118. ^ Steve Spalding (September 30, 2007). "How To Explore Internet Memes". How to Split an Atom. Retrieved October 31, 2007. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  119. ^ "Saturday Night Live, March 24, 2007". Backwardfive.com. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
  120. ^ ""Moesha Poppins", Robot Chicken episode #50".
  121. ^ Jeff Giles (October 3, 2007). "National Lampoon + Kevin Dillon = A 300 Spoof". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
  122. ^ Travis Fickett (April 12, 2007). "South Park: "D-Yikes" Review". IGN. Retrieved December 29, 2007.
  123. ^ ""300" cheer shows unity, reflects Spartan history". The State News. September 18, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2009.
  124. ^ "Photograph of Tom Izzo at Midnight Madness". The State News. October 14, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2009.
  125. ^ Frosty (June 25, 2008). "Producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann Exclusive Video Interview". Collider.com. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  126. ^ Diane Garrett (June 29, 2008). "New 300 rallies troops". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
Wikiquote has quotations related to 300 (film).
Listen to this article
(2 parts, 35 minutes)
  2. Part 2
Spoken Wikipedia icon
These audio files were created from a revision of this article dated
Error: no date provided
, and do not reflect subsequent edits.
(Audio help · More spoken articles)
Preceded by Box office number-one films of 2007 (USA)
March 11 - March 18 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Box office number-one films of 2007 (UK)
March 25 		Succeeded by

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=300_(film)&oldid=305192028"