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76 thoughts on “Oh my Sweet Lord. Look at this 300 Clip”

  1. I think that in some cases it can be overused, but in a case like this where it serves the way the director wanted to tell the story then I think it’s perfect.
    To me, it feels like the graphic novel come to life and he couldnt have gotten that same effect using actual locations. Frank Miller is not an artist known for his realistic take on characters or settings. His take is very impressionistic and stylized. Using CGI was the only way to do this particular piece justice.
    I love the color palette of this film and CGI allowed Snyder to fine tune every scene perfectly.

    Of course, this is all just my opinion.

    I also agree with FACE on his take on the dialogue and how the actors are playing their parts. I happen to think from the scenes that I’ve seen that Gerard Butler does a fine job. He’s saying the lines and bringing the character to life exactly the way I heard and saw it in my mind when I first read the comic.
    So again I must say, to me everything looks phenomenal.
    I even love the blood spurts. They’re exaggerated, just like the comic.
    I dont want to spoil anything but I think most of us realize that the look of the film is stylized and exaggerated because the movie is being told to a group of soldiers by – SPOILER – the one surviving member – SPOILER – and therefore it is going to be bombastic and rousing and the events are going to be amplified and emphasized. This is not a fly on the wall watching as events unfold but it is a story told to other troops about to go into battle. A story told to energize and invigorate those troops. A story told for them to have these great feats as something to aspire to.
    Of course the king is always going to saying something great and inspiring. Of course the violence is going to be operatic. It makes complete sense for the manner in which the story is being told.

    Just my 2 cents.

  3. Sorry I couldn’t remember your name Chris.
    Well guys we have another hot topic here.
    “To CGI or not to CGI, that is the question.”

    As to gay or bad acting, that’s a casting and direction problem.

  4. Hey Alfie,
    I don’t think you are being contrary. It is going to be really easy
    for hollywood to take shortcuts and cheats with cgi. Sometimes practical gags and squibs would be better..

  5. so shane … do you really think I am just being contrary?
    believe it or not but not everyone is impressed by this super stylised overacted soulless CG fest……the silly “alt” rock soundtrack…..the silly shouting by the silly lead….the silly violence….silly silly silly….

    as for the gay stuff well there is a difference between camp and gay and while i do not think this film is gay it is definitely high in camp factor- very high and that if you think it isn’t then you are in denial. Again – camp and gay…there is a difference.

    and anyone standing up for the acting needs to go and watch that clip again – gerard butler is such a bad actor he is even bad during an interview!!

  9. I admit, my weiner is a bit sandy right now.
    Alfie, I do respect your thoughts on this though, like no blood on the ground. Sometimes it comes across like you are spongebob squarepants on “opposite day”.

  10. Man that clip made my day. How God damn awesome what that clip? Slitting troats and cutting limbs off in slow motion. All clear for the eye to see and not all shakey which bothers me, just like what was said about shakeyness on last nights show.

  12. the only thing that annoyed me was the stupid noises everytime anything got cut or blood sprayed. overboard with the slurping and splashing sound effects.

    oh well, i am still stoked!

  13. and the award for Best Post Of The Day goes to…

    Shane Razey

    for

    “www.sandyweiner.com”

    Tell him what he’s won, Bob.

    “An all expense paid trip to sunny, beautiful Jamaica.
    Where he will experience fine dining, romantic sunsets, and all the gorgeous, white, sandy beaches that his weiner can handle”

  14. Will you guys stop bitching about it being “gay” because of half-naked men?! If anything, some of you guys are probably insecure as hell because your girlfriend will drool over all the six-pack abs on display while you’ve got your lil beer gut. Kill it with the homophobia, it’s so sixth grade.

  15. okay wtf, like your going to be able to hear the blood hit the ground, that was little much and a little ridiculous…..

    but that she is HELL wont stop me from going to see it…

  21. first, for the person who’s father didn’t like the fact that one of the soldiers threw their sword. My friend is a very experienced western martial artist, i asked him about it. It wasn’t uncommon for swords of that size to be thrown during combat, although they usually had a backup, just in case they didn’t get it back in time.

    secondly, in case you didn’t know one of the greatest generals of all time was gay, ie – “Alexander the great”, he came from a WARRIOR culture where homosexuality wasn’t seen as “wrong” in any way and shouldn’t be seen as wrong.

    thirdly, there was a comment about the dialog “EVERY SINGLE LINE is read as if it were part of a rousing speech”, this is the way frank miller wrote the comic. there wasn’t much dialog, every word or phrase had to convey as much emotion as possible.

  22. thank you! some backup, people just want to find things wrong with tthe movie, its cool if u dont like but don’t give bullshit answers like “its gay” at least back up your position with intelligence….

    peace…

  23. If you’re so insecure in your own masculinity that you cant handle a few shirtless guys bonding before a battle that they know they wont survive then perhaps that says something about you. If you think a movie that acurately depicts the clothing of the time to be merely an excuse to show “sweaty, glistening male flesh”, then again, I think that speaks volumes about your own desires. Frued would have a field day with you, my friend. He might say that more often than not, it’s the guy making the accusations that is actually hiding something. I’m not saying you are, far be it from me to make accusations, but you had some pretty graphic descriptive word choices. Homosexual oral sex orgies… “sweaty, glistening male flesh”… interesting that your mind went to those places while watching a movie about soldiers fighting against a superior opposing force. Did you imagine guys “blowing” each other while you were watching it or is that just where your mind went after you saw all that “sweaty, glistening male flesh”? Questions you should really ask yourself sometime. Personally, no matter how many guys are in a movie, I never think about them “blowing” each other. To each their own, I guess.

    Point of fact,
    Not only was it accepted, it was very often encouraged that soldiers engage in homosexual relationships with their fellow soldiers in ancient times. The theory was that you would fight harder to protect someone you loved. Not to mention the fact that in many ancient Greek cultures the soldiers would go into battle with nothing but their sword, spear and shield. If you thought this was the “gayest f**king film ever”, I’d hate to think what you would say about a more historically accurate version.

    And feel free to call me whatever you so desire. It doesnt affect me in the slightest.

  25. whats with all the gay comments…because it has shirtless men acting macho and killing other guys mean its gay. its my understanding that most of the films art style and costumes are from the comic. nobody called the book gay, but now its on screen it looks gay. maybe some of you guys are insecure cuz u actually got turned on by the men….lol

    peace…

  26. Oh my fucking god. I just saw it tonight at a screening and it is the GAYEST FUCKING FILM EVER. Seriously, this film is gayer than 8 guys blowing 9 guys.

    Some tits early in the film, but the kind of nude scenes that get boys in puberty hard. Most of it is sweaty, glistening male flesh.

    This will be THE gay sub-culture film of 2007! All you closeted fellows — this is your movie! You can see it in the safety of telling people you are in to it for the action, when in fact you just want to hump the spartans. LOL.

  29. John [et al],

    Just got out of a screening of 300 and wow was it amazing. There was more story than I thought there would be, with great character interaction. The dialogue was probably the second best part behind all the crazy CGI that made the fights dazzle with adrenaline. This film will make scads of cash – deservedly so.

    On a scale of NO GO AND ROUTH…I give this a ROUTH ON ENZYTE!

  30. Hey Battle Royale Boy #5

    Ummm… what are you talking about? When did I “dis” Grindhouse? I’m looking forward to Grindhouse. But it won’t be as good as 300.

    And ummmm… who cares is Grindhouse makes more money? I’m not disagreeing that Grindhouse will make a little more than 300. But what does that have to do with it????

    Are you saying that if a movie makes more money then it’s a better movie??? Because if you’re saying that, you’re saying Titanic is the greatest movie of all time. Are you saying that?

  31. THe only reason people are so excited about 300, is becasue SIN CITY did so well,otherwise no one would really be paying attention to this, and we all know it. but lets not forget who directed SC. Now this guy, who’s only film was a reamke of a classic movie (Dawn of the dead,) (Shouldn’t be so hard to make a film of an idea thats already happened) really thinks he has the chops to make this film. I can name yuou millions of trailers, or clips that make a film look like it’s going to be a masterpiece. (Pear Harbor is one.) but for a techniacally first time director, who’s really only used to making Michale jordan commercials, I wouldn’t be surprised if this bombs.

  32. Who gives a shit if some pussies don’t like this movie, or I know is that this movie is going to blow the box office away on the opening day and the following week then the rest of the box offices around world.

  33. Hey John, you can diss Grindhouse all you want, but the fact remains, it’s going to make 3 times what 300 makes. I’ll bet my house on it. Now, My friends who have seen this film, also say it’s terrible, and they like these kinds of films. It doesn’t matter what the film critics say. I pay no mind to them, seeing as they are just a bunch of 40-50 year old men who don’t understand the type of movies college kids who smoke dope like. I don’t think the young crowd will go see this, and i bet it won’t do that great in the box office, no matter how creative it looks. So go back to watching the history channel guys. And MARK MY WORDS JOHN, GRINDHOUSE WILL CRUSH 300’S BOXOFFICE NUMBERS, AND I’LL BE BACK TO RUB IT IN YOUR FACE WHEN IT HAPPENS. Real pro’s like the ROD, now they know how to make movies. SHould have had him do this. SIN CITY KICKS 300’S ASS.

  34. uh oh….alfie and jay in the same post talking about movies they disagree on….here we go!! round 467,213,432….FIGHT!!!

    i usually agree with alfie on certain things (cough….transformers….cough) but not on this, still respect your opinion. this movie looks fuckin cool,most of the lines are from the book and i think they’re kinda cool. the “overacting” is perfect imo it adds to that “epic” feel and hey kristina….(awkward…lol)

    peace….

  35. I thought it looked pretty bad ass until I noticed that with all those massive gushing blood spurts, there’s not a drop visible on the ground throughout the whole fight. That kind of ruined it for me a little. Also, GC blood just isn’t there yet visually. It’s too gelatinous and viscous IMO. I’d prefer a well-placed squib myself.

  36. Yeah not the best scene. It just looked to easy in fact a minute into it I was like okay that’s enough. Plus the blood sound effects were crap. Oh well I am still excited to see it. I still think it will be amazing.

  37. john what does rotten tomato have to do with this? so 9 critics have liked this so far – what does that have to do with what I am talking about…….

    it still looks bad to me…

    cg blood spurts don’t do it for me i am afraid…..

    it all looks way to fake to care about….it looks like a cut scene from a video game – I normally feel people say that all too flippantly “oh it looks like a video game” but this time it really really does…the film to me looks like 2 hours of watching someone else play a game….pretty to look at but hard to get invested in and ultimately boring……and I really feel its target audience is going to be too young to get in and see it which will hurt the box office…..

  38. …usually…I say pretty dumb stuff because I dont have anything constructive to add…

    …I have only one thing to say after seeing that…

    HOLY BEJEEZUS, I can hardly wait to see this rampaging slug fest sword fighting, hack and slash kick ass spartan mash of a film!

    The only thing that could possibly make me blow a blood vessel with excitement would be if that kind of stuff all through the movie like this clip and the trailer…and I think the paramedics are on standby

    Anyone who doesnt want to see it, I believe a “Bridges of Madison County 2” is coming out soon, so we’ll reserve ya seats for that.

  39. Oh, and because everyone else is doing it and I always wanna be one of the cool kids…

    THIS MOVIE IS GOING TO BE WONDERFUL

    (like putting things in caps will somehow make others see things your way)

  40. Everything I’ve seen from this movie so far looks phenomenal.

    I absolutely cant wait to see it, because I think it’s gonna be great.
    The visuals, the characters, the action, the story… everything.

    Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but everything I have seen, heard or read about this movie just makes me even more enthusiastic about it. I studied this stuff for 4 years in college and finally, I get to actually see it the way I always imagined it. Super stylized, bloody as f**k, shot just the way I would have wanted it to be, and just plain beautiful to look at. Simple story where the actions speak louder than words.

    Sure to be fanttastic.

  41. John mate, I think you need to give Alfie a little ‘rest time’!

    I must admit the clip didn’t ‘wow’ me, but again as people have said, that was probably due to the crappy resolution that can’t be avoided. I live just down the road from the IMAX in London and they’ve just announced that 300 will be playing there parallel to its theatrical run; THAT’s where it’s going to wow me I think!

    And hey, don’t be beating on the Bourne Supremacy just cos of the editing; I know some of my friends found it a little jarring but I thought it suited the tone of the film itself; I doubt Paul Greengrass would do that for an ‘epic’ film.

    Anyway, just to sum up;

    clip=okay
    film=looking good
    IMAX viewing experience=looking frakking brilliant
    bourne supremacy=don’t ‘diss’ the editing

    good luck with the show tonight guys

  42. I’m speechless. Really. Wow. If I had a time machine, I would not go 1000 years in the future to see what happens to society, I’d go ahead 4 days and watch this movie. Once again, WOW.

    I’ve shown this clip to two of my relatives. My brother shares my excitement, but interestingly, my father said that the clip was over-stylized and repetitive. He even complained that the Spartan threw his sword during the battle. While I thought it was badass, he thought it was silly.

    My eventual point? Perhaps this movie really does appeal to some age groups and not to others.

  43. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (only 9 reviews up there right now. But they’re from the likes of Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, ComingSoon, IGN, CinemaBlend ect)

    100% on Metacritic

    Once again… to you it doesn’t look good, and that’s fair enough. But these are great actors, great story, great action. Could it suck? yup, it could. But from what I’ve seen I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY doubt it.

    THE MOVIE LOOKS FRIGGING AWESOME!

  45. i’m really am not looking for a fight at every turn john….honestly.

    but one guy pretty much accuses me of being a troll…one guy says I have sand in my weiner…another calls me lame..everyone attacks poor old alfie once again but goddamnit i am sticking to my word…and to all of those who have attacke dme I will word it in a way that maybe more to your understanding

    THIS FILM LOOKS LIKE A LOAD OF SHIT

    once again john we have very different perceptions of a film…

    as the trailers and clips make me laugh and cringe – I think it is going to be an overblown shallow load of soulless CGI nonsense with inane dialogue that is not helped by the fact it isa being spoken by terrible actors…

    but the pictures look pretty – I have never denied that.

  46. I was really looking forward to seeing this but having gone out and read the book it has nowhere near the depth of characters that Sin City does. Sorry but I think it will be a pretty two hour battle, which in Return of the King was ok because it was the conclusion of a huge story. Here it will just be tiring.

  47. Alfie,

    Jezzus… put your pants back on.

    I said, “Yes, I understand the differences”. The point is I think you’re dead wrong on your opinion of what we’ve seen from 300 (which is fair enough) and that your terminology is more appropriate for Grindhouse, which you’re looking forward too… and all I said was I was curious to understand your reasoning.

    Jezzus… stop looking for a fight everywhere you turn.

  48. i agree with you lou…..it looks great when you see it the first time….then the second time i thought “yeah that does look really cool”…then the third i was “hhmmm it is a really cool effect” by the 678th time I thought they may have over used it…..

  49. the difference is so huge john that your argument is still a bit silly…………yes you could use the same terminology but it isn’t about that fact the same words could apply to both films it is about the intentions of both films and what they are trying to achieve….

    if 300 is actually meant to be cheesy and hammy with some terrible acting and some of the worst dialogue ever spouted then fair enough – they have achieved their goal by the looks of things and I am wrong but they are not trying to do that at all. they are serious about this shit

    Have you seen any old exploitation films john? because from the looks of things they have done exactly what they set out to do…..

    the acting in grindhouse is MEANT to be hammy and the dialogue is meant to be borderline. It is the films intention to be that way.

    grindhouse which is well aware of what it is….300 looks to think it is something else and from what I can see it looks as if they have failed.

    Plus even with that intention I am yet to see any dialogue or acting from grindhouse that is as bad as what the acting appears to be in 300. and they are trying to be bad…..

    they are not trying to be bad in 300 …they just are.

    loosk I am not saying visually it is isn’t stunning…the visulas look amazing…..but that just won’t be enough for me….the more I see of the film the more I just think it looks terrible…..

    I do like the fact that apparently not liking the look of this film puts sand in my cock and makes me lame……I mean when you make such strong valid arguments like that I must be wrong….

  52. Have also seen 300. It’s okay but nothing special, certainly not a shade on Sin City. A good adaptation of Frank Miller’s book, but none of the stuff they’ve added to pad the story out – like the stuff happening back in Sparta – works particularly well. Also, David Wenham’s narration is terrible. It has to be said, though, that many individual scenes rock hard – and there’s a goat-headed minstrel in there too, which is always good.

  53. ALFIE LOL……………..LAME

    AND SHIELDS…..A LOT OF THE INFANTRY BACK IN ANCIENT DAYS DIDNT DON THEM….I WOULD HAVE LOL……BUT YA ALFIE LOL U R FUNNY………………….U HAVE SAN IN YOUR WIENER LOL NICE

  55. The slow-mo effect is used throughout the film. It’s dreadful. Way overdone.

    Sin City, an all green-screen film, worked because Rodriguez made great use of the artifical backgrounds, and his use of color was clever. 300 just looks like shit.

    But the single worse thing about the film is the screnplay. EVERY SINGLE LINE is read as if it were part of a rousing speech (a la Henry V or that speech from Braveheart.) It’s like seeing really bad, amateur theater. It’s not tongue-in-cheek or clever — it just sounds pathetic.

    Look, that lead actor was in Phantom of the Opera for fucks sake, also one of the worse films of all time.

  56. Hey Alfie,

    Oh I understand the differences. I strongly disagree with your preception of the film (To each their own, your opinon is just as valid as mine). But I found it ironic that the terminolgy you use for one film is the same I would use for the other.

  57. I wonder if they make a movie about the brave Nazi SS fighters 50 years from and how they bravely gave birth to new Europe.

    Spartan = Nazi. no, read about their practices like throwing undesirable babies off the cliffs.

  58. because grindhouse is aware of itself….its called irony john.

    this 300 thing is not…..

    i don’t know what your point here is john … I am a bit confused…..come on….Are you seriously comparing trying to compare these two films??

    they could not be more different and you know it……..

    soby what you are trying to say because i am looking forward to grindhouse for its take on classic exploitation films i grew up loving i should be excited about an over stylised CG fest with swords and sandals and terrible acting- but not terrible or cheesy on purpose….just terrible because they couldn’t pull of what they are trying to acheive??

    there are huge differences

  61. Hey Alfie,

    I’m amazed at the comments you make about this movie… and yet say you’re looking forward to Grindhouse. Have you seen the clips from that???? Corny, bad lines, hammy acting… everything you’ve said about this movie… but you like it. I’m just curious.

    Cheers

  62. EAGLEWING SAID:

    “If that had been in The Bourne Supremacy, there would have been 800 million quick cut edits and shaky cam. Nice to see a director do action in a way you can actually see it.”

    Excellent excellent excellnt point! I’m going to bring that up on the show tonight.

  63. you hope the don’t overuse it??

    have you seen the trailer?? it looks like they use it in every scene…..

    if that had been bourne supremcy the acting when they opened their traps wouldn’t have been mind numbingly awful and the dialogue wouldn’t have been cringeworthingly laughable

  64. I agree with Tedward above. I hadn’t really thought of it – I was just enjoying the clip. But seeing it look like one fluid shot allowing you to see the action play out is great. If that had been in The Bourne Supremacy, there would have been 800 million quick cut edits and shaky cam. Nice to see a director do action in a way you can actually see it.

    The only thing that might worry me is what appears like slow-motion effect. I hope they don’t overuse that. Either way, I’m in a theatre next week to see this.

  65. well i don’t say things to not say things….
    of course i say things to say things…thats why i say them…so that I can have said them…….

    ….if i like something i will say so..if something looks terrible to me i will say so….it looks fucking awful…..

    wow – he ramps up the speed and we get to see them kill a bunch of guys over and over and over again – i was already bored from that one little scene….. all that speed ramping stylised camera wankshit

    then when they stand back to back for their little bit of dialogue – dear fucking god….. i don’t get that people condemn lucas (and I amoone of them) for being so souless with the overuse of cg when right here is the exact same thing with as far as i can see just as bad acting and dialogue…..it looks soulless and just has this Cg sheen to everything i see that fails to engage me as nothing appears to be real….i know it is hyperstylised and meant to be but when everything looks that fake i just can’t get into it

    the big problems for me start with the fact that from everything I have seen so far anytime anyone opens their mouths in this film it is terrible…..you trying to tell me the little bit of acting and dialogue there wasn’t cringe worthy??
    awful stuff…….plus I have heard the “alt” rock we hear on the trailer is in fact in the film and if that is the case then the film stands no chance with me as I hate period films that contain modern music…its ridculous and takes me out of the film completely

    there is no way this is going to do over 60 million this weekend…no way on earth…it will be big but not 60 million big…..

    how come people only notice it when i talk about things I don’t like…..godfather you talk as if I am some troll just trying to cause trouble…I sincerely think this film looks awful….honestly. i am not trying to piss people off…..

    so for the record as I don’t want to bee seen as mr negative guy …..

    grindhouse is my number one can’t wait to see it film of the year – it looks fucking great.

    I have a feeling the simpsons movie might be better then we are expecting…

    same with die hard 4.0 – the last trailer looked great and I just think maybe since most people expectations are not exactly booming we may be surprised by it…

    other films I can;t wait to see…..
    Hostel Part II
    pirates 3
    gone, baby, gone
    american gangster
    the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford
    bourne ultimatum
    I Am Legend
    son of rambow
    run, fatboy, run
    grace is gone
    the host
    national treasure 2
    the hoax
    harry potter
    30 days of night

    of course my excitement for these films could change if the trailers look terrible but those are the films I am looking forward to most this year

  69. That’s ok BegToDiffer

    You’re entitled to your opinion. It’s all good.

    I choose to keep my enthusiasm. Holding a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes right now and every single person I know who has seen it (only about 7 or 8 granted) are falling over themselves for it.

    To each their own.

  70. Hate to burst your bubble John, but the film sucks. Big time. Yes, I’ve seen it.

    Lovers of gay gladiator porn will love it, as will 12 year-old boys, but for anyone with even half a brain it is laughably awful.

  71. I am little underwhelmed… Most likely because of the terrible YouTube resolution and quality. I bet it’s 100x kickass in the theater… Where i will happen to be on March the 10th (because I won’t be near a theater the 9th)

  72. oh…come on alfie…you got to be crazy not to think this shit is fuckin awesome. “dull repititive with huge gay overtones” what the fuck, man? are u crazy, what they have no shirts and they are killing people they have gay undertones….wow buddy u got problems man…

    anyway back to the clip…..fuckin wow….that shit looks fuckin sick…fuckin wow!! holy ballquake that was awesome. they keep given me reasons to fuckin see this shit!! goddamn!! it looks fuckin crazy….a must see…

    peace…

  73. Wow, that was impressive.
    The fact that the entire scene was shot & composed like one continuous shot (it wasn’t, but it felt like it) is incredible.
    A scene like that in any other movie would’ve had quick edits all over it. In this, you actually follow the one soldier & all his moves from beginning to end.
    This is not what I expected. I was cautiously looking forward to this film (Sin City didn’t really do it for me, so I was sceptical about this), but not anymore.
    March 9th can’t come soon enough now.

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