Actually, 300 was first published as a miniseries in 5 monthly issues. The collected volume was put out a year or two later.
I saw it a few days ago with my 15 year old daughter. I’m less than impressed.
- The girl on girl scene to bribe the deformed man was a bit much. One woman, 69’d over the other as she dangled her naked breast into the face of the prone woman, as two other women sucked tongues? Ehh… a bit much to sit and watch with one’s daughter. Also, completely gratuitous- like an awful lot of the film.
Ditto the scene where our dear Queen uses her body to sway the body politic, only to have that surrender thrown back against her by the man who had just sexually abused her. Unnecessary in harshness and rape-like cruelty, but then again, the film WAS geared solely to the mindset of a 14 year old boy.
Ironic that the Spartan lifestyle was portrayed with such lavish splendor and attention to detail. True Spartans would have lived a more…uh… SPARTAN LIFESTYLE !! However, that wouldn’t have made for a very sexy film, now would it? 
I am a big fan of history. Real history. The real history part of this tale is sobering and admirable and more than heroic enough. It got tarted up to the point that it wasn’t much of a story.
As for slo-mo spattering blood, I understand that this is a cinematic graphical novel. I really do. Honestly. I get that. However…
[Insert Political Statement Here]
For all of the boys watching the film who are excited beyond words by watching this rather over-worked special effect, I do wonder how stunned they will be when they’re drafted in 3 years and sent to Iraq and find out just how incredibly quickly lethal violence is delivered in real life. The blood spatters in an instant and is dried to a dark crimson goo in the blistering heat of day, the dead lay there nobly torn to shreds and the screams of the wounded don’t end when the shot cuts.
[ / Insert Political Statement Here]
Cartooniverse ( who adored Sin City, btw )
Well, the film IS rated R. I never would have brought a 15-year-old girl to it, but that’s just me.
R means a lot of things, and I suppose some of those things made for a difficult viewing experience. Such is life.
I thought it pretty much always meant, “Content inappropriate for audiences under 18 without the accompaniment of a parent or guardian.”
Also, what was lavish about the Spartan lifestyle? They wore simple clothes, their homes were mostly unadorned except for functional items, and the only jewelry I saw was the wolf’s tooth Leonidas wore. Hell, they couldn’t even afford to buy a breastplate for their king! I thought they did a pretty good job contrasting the simplicity of Sparta with the wild excess of the Persians.
In what way is this observation applicable to this film in particular, and not any other violent Hollywood Summer movie, Sin City included?
It was repeated ad nauseum to a degree not even seen in Sin City. Or so it seemed to me.
Even if they don’t censor anything in a film, an R-rated fim will be advertised as PG here, so as not to worry parents about sending their childen to it. Really.