3.12.2007
It Seems "300" Did Pretty Well
Newsarama reports that the film "300", based on the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, has broken box-office records in its opening weekend.
Gerard Butler as King Leonidas
"On Friday, those with their eyes on such things knew something was up. Online movie ticket site Fandango.com was reporting that 92% of all online ticket sales for the coming weekend were for the film adaptation of Frank Miller's 300. And then - the film brought in $27.7 million on Friday. When it was all said and done, the film, directed by Zack Snyder had laid waste to the competition, bringing in an estimated $70 million, making it the biggest opening weekend for a film in March since records had been kept. In Spartan fashion, the film made more than the nine other films in the top ten, combined. The film also came in as the 3rd largest R-rated opening of all time, and the fifth best debut for a film based on a comic book. The movie opened both in regular theaters and IMAX theaters, bringing in $22,567 per traditional theater and $55,000 per IMAX screen (62, total)."
Those felt that the fate of "swords and sandals" epics rested on the success of this film can now breathe a bit easier. All that is left now is for Warner Bros. to count the money (the production budget was 65 million), and for the critics to hash out what the relevance of this film is.
In general, criticism of the film seems pretty split (it just barely squeaked out a "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Some admire the unique look and feel of the film (it was mostly shot against bluescreen), while others were troubled by what the political "message" (intentional or not) of the film was.
"But what's maddening about 300 is that no one involved - not Miller, not Snyder, not one of the army of screenwriters, art directors, and tech wizards who mounted this empty, gorgeous spectacle - seems to have noticed that we're in the middle of an actual war. With actual Persians (or at least denizens of that vast swath of land once occupied by the Persian empire)... One of the few war movies I've seen in the past two decades that doesn't include at least some nod in the direction of antiwar sentiment, 300 is a mythic ode to righteous bellicosity."
Other reviewers brush aside such critiques as attempts to read too much into the imagery of the film (based on a comic book that was written before our current "war with Persia").
"The first person who uses any aspect of this flick to justify the American debacle in Iraq is getting a swat across the nose with a copy of My Pet Goat. Which King Leonides of Sparta does not sit reading while his country is threatened and attacked. And if that's not enough, I point to the villains here: politicians who are in it for the money, a tyrant who thinks he's doing the work of a god (even if that god is himself), and priests whose advice and counsel can be bought. King Leonides of Sparta holds those priests (and their crazy-ass religion) in disdain, actually, and does not invite them to the White House -- er, palace. Oh, and Sparta is the invadee, not the invader."
Writer Frank Miller, while personally pro-war, rejects any attempts to twist his film as some sort of pro-Iraq-war epic.
"I see a lot of that on both sides of the political front these days - taking whatever facts are out there and screwing up the language to make it fit a preconceived notion...I don't think anyone would mistake my Xerxes for Osama bin Laden."
While technically a "pagan" film (or at least a film full of pagans), the issue of religion hasn't come up much in discussions of the film (not entirely surprising considering the action-packed nature of the story), and has even won the blessings of Christianity Today's film reviewer. So I think its a safe bet that we can see more ancient Greco-Roman action on the big screen in the future (including a possible sequel to "300"). Lets just hope the quality of these future films surpass "Troy" and "Alexander".
Comments:
Hey sari0009 ,
I completely agree with you - I thought the movie was visually incredible!
I found some cool behind-the-scenes and production footage on this site, Zannel, you would definitely appreciate. Makes you realize how challenging this movie was to create for the actors and the entire production staff.
Post a Comment
Hey sari0009 ,
I completely agree with you - I thought the movie was visually incredible!
I found some cool behind-the-scenes and production footage on this site, Zannel, you would definitely appreciate. Makes you realize how challenging this movie was to create for the actors and the entire production staff.
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