Review 300

by Seyed Mohamad N.

Since Lords of the Ring, Peter Jackson a legendary director has set a new trend, a trend that many multi million budget movies had tried to copy and transform into a cliché, a cliché that is not working anymore. Audience does want to see that but there is no more.

This matrix selling, tried to be Lord of the ring, Braveheartish movie had something else at the first glance. The Persian old saying for this is: “Drum has stunning sound but with nothing inside”.

When the teaser of 300 was released, it was eye catching and stunned every single audience. It had a message that wanted to say this is just part of the great battle and a great detailed story.

After the first public release of the movie, for the first quarter of the movie time all audiences were waiting for the battle to start and when the battled started it was good. It was part of the trailer they saw. And this was just part of their expectation. But it did only show one part of the formation of armies which was only Spartan side and no sign of Persians. How did that multi-million army, the greatest and the largest of army of all time gathered into a single group? What kind of organization was there to control that massive army? How did they plan and how did they move? Even Peter Jackson spent a while showing the enemy and how it was formed and motivated. It even showed a bit of audacity in the enemy, something that was ZERO in Persian side. But was there absolutely not a single human being among those 2.7 million (according to Herodotus) had not a single strong person to show in the movie? Or it has be movie selling junk? Was it again another fast-food movie?

Yet audience expected more. They wanted to know what movie has to offer beside those eye catching shots from the teaser. That nice “THIS IS SPARTA” was the nicest phrase and gesture from Gerard Butler in the movie and it was already shown and it already spoiled, in fact it looked nicer in the teaser than the movie itself.

Zack Snyder had actually offered his best parts except few into the teaser. That made the movie a big shot box-office to start but will it last for another one month?

By the time that this article is written it is not even end of the first weekend but it smells that it is another Troy. Yet another big shot by big stars and polished, eye catching colors movie made by computer graphics.

The word Persian was mentioned more than a hundred times and Xerxes was mentioned more than ten times. It was shown as a naked, shaved, homosexual king.  So it was supposed to be based on true existing country and true existing battle and of course it is undeniable by any audience that is illustration of battle of Thermopylae. But was it loyal? Was it even tried to be loyal? It was all fantasy, but the director did not even dare to mention that it was fantasized by writer and many characters was added just to make movie sellable!

It was clear that even in the Spartan way of fight they added technique of fighting that was not even exist or being used by them but just to make the movie look better and nicer.

The Persian generals and armies looked anything but Persians. From Indian to Arabs or even Chinese and even the king is looking absolutely Indian with many pierces and jewels that only used by Indians.

Apparently nor the director or writers or even novelist did even do a simple Google search as part of study of making a movie based on historical names and facts. Just googling the name Xerxes in google image will result him on top of the page and impossible to miss. That Xerxes has very long bear, he wears a cylinder eastern style hat (which used to be black in color) and a clothing that fully cover body, but not naked. He wears a very long and very covering frock that is indistinguishable in pictures carved on stone from his own palace.

The military techniques of Persian was not shown at all in the movie. It was pack of lies when they crossed the sea when it did not showed who exactly was the first maker of longest floating bridge of all time joing Europe and Asia to pass more than million people and horses and elephants.

Persian were called barbarian many times just to fulfill the Spartan hatred and only to fake audience point of view in Spartan way.

But why everything is Americanized? Why Americans want to show everything so American? Was Spartan indeed acting like American army? Was American army based or inspired from Spartans?

I was personally disappointed from Frank Miller, specially being a translator of his previous art “Sin City” and I believe he indeed destroyed his art by his wrong illustration of one side of battle (looser or winner) without any neutral point of view in regard of a historical event.

I wished 300 was another independent movie from Frank Miller but it was not anymore.

I wish one day I can have that strength and that power to show the world the truth about Persians and their heritage.

3.21 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."