I could have warned you. I though it was awful. I don't blame the actors for not turning lemons into lemonade, of course.
I guess Xerxes looked cool, but I was annoyed by him. He should have had a beard and curled hair. He shouldn't have been huge. And he certainly shouldn't have been there in the middle of a battle.
Also, Spartans talking about freedom is hilarious. I have to give them props as historical bad-asses, but a symbol of freedom they weren't. They were a military monarchy, in which the only citizens were adult spartan males who had murdered a helot peasant and gotten away with it. That is, they would have to kill a helot, and not get caught in the act. In the movie, they went on about the "Persian slave empire." Riiiight.
It turned out that the only thing I find interesting about the movie was the thing that interested me in the first place: the training the actors undertook at Gym Jones. But since you can see videos of the training at the Gym Jones web site, you don't even need to watch the fascist cartoon.
I knew what I was getting myself into watching the movie, but I felt like it was such a phenomenon that I had to at least give it a chance.
And yeah, I wasn't going to open up the whole subject of how much it distorts history, but really...a free society where your 7 year-old-son is taken from his parents, no matter how they feel. All I ask for in a movie is just a little bit of consistency so I can suspend my belief long enough to enjoy the plot. If it's just continually retarded, I'm not going to enjoy it, no matter how rad the movie looks.
On the back of the DVD it says, "experience history at swordpoint." I happen to know that there are people who really think they're learning about history by watching this movie. What a fucking shame.
Definitely eye candy, but elephant thingies and gerard butler in leather underwear held my attention long enough. I enjoyed it, but I was going in expecting a movie, based on a graphic novel, based loosely on a historical battle. The "based on a graphic novel" is the most important part. The dialogue was awful (I did laught out loud with the "freedom isn't free"), but again I was expecting comic book style action so was ready for one-liners and stereotypes galore. Since in fact, it looked like a frank miller novel come to life, I got what I wanted out of it. So for me bitchin art direction, was in fact, enough :p
I love the gladiator, and its definitely a much better movie as a whole. I guess how I see a movie depends entirely on my expectations though, and in that sense they both were good movies for me. It is sad that anybody would actually look to the movie for a history lesson, but I don't think we can hold the people involved with the movie accountable for that (maybe marketing, heh).
I'm pretty sure that suspension of disbelief is MAINLY important in movies high on special effects and looks and low on dialogue and plot. If a movie sets up a highly unrealistic world, as long as it stays consistent within itself (which I would argue it did) then I don't have a problem with it (at least not on a film critique level).
But that's all besides the point. You said it only works "when the plot and dialogue make it worthwhile", obviously both me and Frank found something worthwhile (kick-ass fight scenes mostly) and you did not. We could go back and forth forever and I doubt any of us would change our minds.
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I guess Xerxes looked cool, but I was annoyed by him. He should have had a beard and curled hair. He shouldn't have been huge. And he certainly shouldn't have been there in the middle of a battle.
Also, Spartans talking about freedom is hilarious. I have to give them props as historical bad-asses, but a symbol of freedom they weren't. They were a military monarchy, in which the only citizens were adult spartan males who had murdered a helot peasant and gotten away with it. That is, they would have to kill a helot, and not get caught in the act. In the movie, they went on about the "Persian slave empire." Riiiight.
It turned out that the only thing I find interesting about the movie was the thing that interested me in the first place: the training the actors undertook at Gym Jones. But since you can see videos of the training at the Gym Jones web site, you don't even need to watch the fascist cartoon.
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And yeah, I wasn't going to open up the whole subject of how much it distorts history, but really...a free society where your 7 year-old-son is taken from his parents, no matter how they feel. All I ask for in a movie is just a little bit of consistency so I can suspend my belief long enough to enjoy the plot. If it's just continually retarded, I'm not going to enjoy it, no matter how rad the movie looks.
On the back of the DVD it says, "experience history at swordpoint." I happen to know that there are people who really think they're learning about history by watching this movie. What a fucking shame.
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This isn't history; this IS SPAAARRRTAAAAAA!!! Growl. Noise. GUITARS! SPARTARS!
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I love the gladiator, and its definitely a much better movie as a whole. I guess how I see a movie depends entirely on my expectations though, and in that sense they both were good movies for me. It is sad that anybody would actually look to the movie for a history lesson, but I don't think we can hold the people involved with the movie accountable for that (maybe marketing, heh).
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(The comment has been removed)
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But that's all besides the point. You said it only works "when the plot and dialogue make it worthwhile", obviously both me and Frank found something worthwhile (kick-ass fight scenes mostly) and you did not. We could go back and forth forever and I doubt any of us would change our minds.
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I do, however, have a special place in my heart for Gladiator... or maybe it's just Russell Crowe in leather. *drool.
In the meantime, did you see Apocalypto? I might have to attack that one post-martini.
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