Flixster Wiki: 300


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300 COMIC/CARTOON MOVIE VERSION
Title 300 300
Date of Release The first issue was released on May, 1998
March 9, 2007
Creators Frank Miller, Lynn Varney
Zach Snyder
Genre Action, Graphic Novel
Historical Action
Story A dramatic re-telling of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartan troops lead by King Leonidas held off a massive Persian army for three days by channeling them through a narrow passage called the Hot Gates.
A dramatic re-telling of the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartan troops lead by King Leonidas held off a massive Persian army for three days by channeling them through a narrow passage called the Hot Gates.
Characters King Leonidas, Queen Gorgo, King Xerxes, Dilios
King Leonidas, Queen Gorgo, King Xerxes, Dilios
Stars
Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro
Dialogue Memorable and clever, with a noir-ish undercurrent.
Incredibly quotable due to the exceedingly dramatic performances using the comic dialogue.
Aesthetic Miller creates a legendary tale taken to mythic proportions with his surreal world of monsters and freaks of nature- an exaggeration of the way his characters would have seen the world, as opposed to a direct interpretation of how things really may have been. Another in the growing line of direct-from-the-page comic adaptations, taking its stylistic cues and even some of its shot compositions directly from the graphic novel.
Ambiance Drawn in Frank Miller's inimitable style and inked and lavishly colored by Lynn Varney, everything in this world pops, from the golden fields of Sparta to the blood of Xerxes seemingly endless forces.
Green-screen technology creates a world not unlike an idyllic painting for the film to take place in, and its legendary scope benefits from it. Heightened reality at its finest, even if the world is populated by surreal and incredible characters.
Audience Miller fans, comic aficionados, teenagers looking for an inroad to history (albeit a highly stylized one).
Guys, Dudes, Men, Males, Anyone with a Y chromosome (who happens to be over 17).
Cool Factor It's cool, all right.
Pretty freaking cool.
Cheese Factor As usual, Frank Miller's tendency to exaggerate verges on the comical, but here he is kept in check fairly well, and the exaggerations work dramatically.
Maybe a bit too gung-ho, rah-rah, "let's kick some ass" at times, but you'll be damned if you don't buy into it.
Adaptation Accuracy
Pretty dead-on, save a few minor tweaks.
Better or Bastardization?
Arguably better (if sheer box-office numbers are any indicator), even though they seem to be about equal.

One aspect that works in the film's favor is pacing. Neither the film nor the book have much extended dialogue, but the film is able to pace the story by out the action sequences and visuals. The book can be a very quick read, by contrast. The art is wonderful but with sparse dialogue you find yourself at the last page within minutes.
Other The book is a very odd size with extremely wide landscape pages. It may not blend into your bookshelf very well.

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Images from the Original
Movie Images

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Video of the Original
Movie Video

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