Hello I am the Movie Encyclopedia and if no one else will see it, I will.
In the history of film there have been masses upon masses of action films. Slyvestor Stallone and Arnold Schwarzanegger revolutionized it and brought it back into the spotlight. Horror films made from the 80s onward are essentially scary action movies. But one movie took all that we thought we knew about action movies and threw it into the fiery pits of Hell. That movie was 300.
300 was made in released in early 2006 and I was more than excited to see it. The premise of 300 is simple. Frank Miller, one of the most dazzlingly graphic, artistic, and possibly crazy comic book creators makes a graphic novel about King Leonidis, the king of Sparta and his 300 men against the entire Persian army. Based slightly on the battle of the Hot Gates (Thermopylae) Frank Miller blows the battle up to epic proportions. Not soon after the book is published they decided to turn it into a film. Zack Snyder, a relatively unknown director who made his debut with the revamped and reimagined Dawn of the Dead (favorite horror film ever) was attached as the director with Gerard Butler recieving the coveted prize of playing the King. Butler was a fairly unknown character actor at the time. He had only jumped into the biz in 97 but he was never really given much star treatment (with the exception of Tomb Raider 2 and Dracula 2000, box office flops) but after his stunning performance in Phantom of the Opera as well as his previous works in action movies (and his six pack) he was the frontrunner for the role.
It was shot in a super-imposed chroma key (so it would look like the comic) and given an internal scructural time of a kid with ADD (take this fight scene for example)
But while distracting to some to others (myself included) this was a big breath of fresh air. The ultimate guy movie. Dudes kicking ass in slow motion to a great soundtrack and including the most overused line in film history to show your a badass
Along with this scene (which has been remixed hundreds of times) this one also stands out
have you noticed a pattern yet? While they have the somewhat cheesy one liners, they are done in such a way that is both artistic and really gripping. Through the whole movie you have this sense of being right there with them, adreniline pumping at max speed. When I walked out of that theatre I wanted to go fight an entire army. And i still feel this way years later. The acting is great and extremly well done. The cinematography is astounding and everything about this movie is great. If you have a Blu-Ray player than this movie should be packaged with it because this is one of those extremly colorful and carefully crafted movies that demands to be played at the highest capabilities of your television. I feel bad I cant give this a Top 10 rating because my top 10 are pretty solid. But you know what? It was a Top 10 for almost 4 years so I think it deserves to be up on that list too: tied for 10th.
You owe it to yourself to see this movie. If you only see one action movie in your life, it should be this one.
MY RATING: TOP 20
No comments:
Post a Comment