I thought the point of that scene was simply that Xerxes convinced Ephialtes that he doesn’t reject people because they’re physically imperfect, and he promised him all the girls he could dream of if he betrayed the Spartans. I don’t remember an amputee, but I remember at least one harem girl with a deformed face, and I figure that was to convince Ephy the girls wouldn’t run screaming from his gross deformity.
Remember, the story is exaggerated, so Ephy probably wasn’t quite so grossly deformed himself, and who knows what people actually looked like back at the harem.
On that note, did anyone hear what the third thing Ephy asked for? The first two were like money or women or something dumb, and then he hesitates and whispers something, and the Xerxes says “done” and Ephy grins. End scene.
I find it’s like Sky Captain in that it’s too stylish for its own good. And my girlfriend’s a big The Last Samurai fan and found 300 to be virtually identical.
I just saw the movie today and I loved it. I have a degree in history and know the actual story of Thermopylae, but the ahistorical parts of the movie didn’t bother me in the least. Neither did the fantasy elements as I saw from the beginning that this was NOT a straight history, it was a MYTH being told by the only survivor of the 300 trying to exhort his troops. It was how someone who lived in the Classical Period would have described strange beasts and strange men, and damn the details.
For those who felt they had no connection to the characters and didn’t care if they lived or died, I certainly did feel it and did care. De gustibus, as they say.
Ha, even a history major is championing the same message I was. I don’t think it was the best film ever, but the fact that it wasn’t historically accurate was far from the reason why. Anyone who harps on a film on that basis should probably find a new hobby besides watching movies.
I just saw it last night. Good movie. Nothing special. I’d give it a 7 out of 10. The fact that the movie was unrealistic didn’t bother me. But what bothered me was the unrealistic strategy. For example, when the Persians sent the shower of arrows, the Spartans covered themselves with their shields. What prevented the Persians from doing that again? It seemed too Road Runner-ish. Maybe they could have sent some soldiers to pre-occupy the Spartans, and then send the arrows.
Also, why the heck did the Queen allow herself to be raped? Did she really believe that this would help matters? Why did Leonidis pay the mutants to consult with the Oracle? If he was so much about reason, he shouldn’t have bothered. And what was the deal with the Council? Did they not know that an enemy was approaching? They wouldn’t alllow their king to get a proper army organized? Were they just going to let the Persians march right in and take over? These are supposed to be Spartans?
Leonidas didn’t care, but the leaders of the other Greek cities did. Without the blessings of the priests, they wouldn’t march to war. Leonidas himself was legally prevented from taking the entire Spartan army into the field because of the priest’s dictates, and had to settle for a “bodyguard” of three hundred men.
You know what, I have not seen people who came into this thread to comment why they did not like the movie condemning those who did, so why are you acting like a teenager because some movie goers did not enjoy the movie that you did?
Want some more disagreements to make you feel superior. I think Matrix was a piece of crap. I know I am in a minority on this. Spiderman, pure garbage, all of them, same with X-men and League of Extraordinary Gentleman. Yet I really enjoyed Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I thought Narnia was great. I even enjoyed Rocketman years ago. So it is not Highbrow vs. Lowbrow. It is simply some movies work for you and some work for me and we have different taste.
However, if you wish to go on thinking you won the internets, please carry on.
Good question…could you point one out? I am not seeing how Persians vs Greeks based on a graphics novel thats been out for years has a political agenda. Now, if it were Greeks vs TURKS…well, you might have something then…
Wait. Wuh? I finally won the internets? I wonder why I’ve been trying so hard when it was this simple! All I had to do was rile up What Exit, which isn’t hard to do considering his interpretation of what someone wrote in this thread seems to have no correlation to what was actually implied. What I actually did say was that anyone who nitpicks this film on the grounds that it delegitimizes the history of the actual event is an idiot, and probably shouldn’t watch movies if they’re finding faults where they aren’t meant to be found. The movie had its flaws, but I don’t think historical accuracy is one of them because its not striving to make an attempt at it. It’s like criticizing an apple for not being an orange, but maybe if you read what I said instead of taking me to task over what your favorite flicks are, you’d have noticed that.
One more question (in addition to my others): What happened after the 300 were killed? In the movie, it took about a year for Sparta to put together a full army led by the guy who lost his eye. During that year, did the Persians control all of Sparta?
The Persians didn’t make it to Sparta. The Athenian navy beat the hell out of the Persians at Salamis. Xerxes retreated back home, leaving only a portion of his army under the command of a subordinate. That Persian army was defeated by the Greeks at Plataea about six months later.
And this was my biggest problem with the whole movie. I loved it, loved the fantasy elements, didn’t much mind most of the ahistorical stuff, but this? Argh. It drove me insane. Historically, the Oracle told Leonidas that either Sparta would fall or he would and he knowingly sacrificed himself to give the other Greek city-states and the rest of Sparta a chance. It wasn’t some random machismo, or actually thinking that 300 men could fight off the Persians indefinitely.
The real story behind the Oracle and Leonidas’s choice was just so much cooler. The breaking the law aspect of it bugged so much, especially considering that the monument to the men who fell at that battle speaks so eloquently of the fact that they remain there still, upholding Spartan law.
So, I rewrite that part of the movie in my mind and then I’m happy and can enjoy the awesomeness.
Not to nitpick too much, but when Leonidas ordered his troops to “Eat a hearty Breakfast, because tonight we dine in Hell!” or something similar- that is probably an inexact quote, but the whole idea and ennui of Hell as delivered here doesn’t translate well and just reassured the Americana Warlording slant to this production, nothing like a damning to date this movie as entirely Chritianmericancentric.
Leonidas would have inferred the underworld of Hades where all Greek dead went, not a burning Hell ruled by an anachronistic Lucifer and Christian Dualism.
