300

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

Anybody posted a review on this one?

[Hans Deventer]

Anybody posted a review on this one?

Actually, reading the description gave me no desire to watch it. I'm sorry, Andrew.

[Brad Mercer]

I watched it with my sons and Roland and his boys. My testosterone engorged adolescent sons thought it was the greatest thing ever put on celluloid. Wesley said compared to the 300 the men at the Alamo were wusses. ;-)

I found the homosexuality of the Persian king gratuitous and the fighting pretty much replaced any plot.

I didn't really see much redeeming value in the movie.

Brad

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

I'm certainly testosterone-engorged myself at times, but even my wife loved this film. We saw in it a profound portrayal of warfare between Christ (with the Church) and Satan. Here are my thoughts:

While I would never describe myself as a militant, triumphalist, Crusader Christian, this movie presents another side of the Christian experience, and this is the Christian at war.

I saw the movie roughly at the same time I began reading a book by Gregory Boyd called "God At War." The book touches on a number of the same spiritual warfare themes Gina and I both got from watching "300." Especially in times where it's so much more acceptable for Christians to be nice, clean, and peace-loving, it's important to remember that whether or not we like it, we're at war. God and Satan have been at war before time began, and it continues.

Both the film and this book reminded me that while I'm sitting on my rear studying Greek and reading pages and pages in my commentary on John for class, everything good and right is being threatened by everything horrific and evil.

We're at war, and that's all there is to it. We might sit comfortably in our pews on Sunday, enjoy a great life the rest of the week, have plenty to eat, relatively few real struggles to worry about ... and yet across the world or right down the street somebody (or even an entire people group) are in battle for their very lives and souls. Not to say we should feel guilty over that, we ought to simply remember that everything isn't perfect for everyone the way it is for us, and we ought to take some time each day to enter that battle ourselves in prayer for them.

In the film, the Greeks had little idea of the sacrifices being made on the front lines and exactly what the real stakes were. Their leaders in the senate were blind to it as well, and willfully so. It simply reminds me, the book and the movie, that there's a lot more to reality than what I can see, and just because things in my life might feel relatively peaceful, it doesn't mean I'm immune to injury or excused from the front lines.

The book and movie made a great point that you don't just pray and call it good, you get out there and you act. A prayer for someone can be followed up with a phone call or a note, for example.

The film "300" demonstrates it as well. An emissary from Xerxes arrogantly parades the heads of several kings Xerxes has conquered when he arrives in Leonidas' court to talk "peace." He looks Leonidas in the eye and says your head doesn't have to go with my collection, Xerxes wants peace like you do, just let him conquer you without a fight and everything will be fine. Leonidas seems to consider this for a moment, perhaps counting the cost of leading men into a battle he can't win. He actually appears to hesitate. Suddenly, this righteous, kingly rage explodes across his face and he kicks the emissary into a deep pit, then calls his men to war immediately.

Compromise, for Leonidas and the 300, is out of the question. Compromise means defeat, which means slavery and death. Leonidas recognizes this and when he kicks the emissary down the pit, it's not just a violent action that nice Christians would never do, but a decisive statement that Leonidas, king and protector of the Spartans, will never lie down quietly and allow his people to "live" under Persian rule and all such tyrannical rule entails. He doesn't care what the odds are or the likelihood that he and 299 of his best men will probably all orphan their families. Well, more correctly, he cares about this a great deal but knows that freedom and slavery are not negotiable items. He strikes out decisively, his deed makes a vivid statement that he will never compromise with Xerxes, and that if Sparta is to be defeated, it will never happen without one incredible, furious fight. It reminds me every time I want to compromise just a little teeny bit.

Anyway, great film, great book, totally made me think very hard. Inspired me to change, too.

[Billie Goodson]

Guilty -- I watched the movie and enjoyed it. The cinematography is great and I hardly noticed the CGI-ness of the movie. I think stories like this one encourage people to dig deeper into the history of the world and we gain a better respect for where and why we are. That Leonidas was willing to give his life along with some of his best men to defend their freedom -- well, that just rings a huge bell. I would not recommend the movie for small children -- very bloody. My wife would not like it either -- she didn't like Braveheart either -- no taste for great guy movies. I did enjoy the Queen's response to the Persian emissary -- and that is a line attributed to her in history. The Spartan women were a little different than the average Greek woman -- that is for sure.

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

The Spartan women were a little different than the average Greek woman -- that is for sure.

A little different from the average Greek man, too, if you caught the lines about the Athenians.

This is a movie John Eldredge, author of "Wild at Heart," would love and probably include in an update of his book.

[Ryan Scott]

I think you might be a reading a little much into the movie, but that would be understandable with the book material also in your head.

The movie was essentially a live action version of a comic book made simply because the technology finally exists to make it look like the director wanted it to look. I'm sure there are plenty of unintended parallels in 300 (that's what's so cool about art), but it might be a stretch to pull a Christian message out of it.

Your synopsis really only described a parallel to our present political situation. I guess if it helped you through some issues in life, it made a good impact, but it's hard for to understand how there's a Christian message in it.

[Billie Goodson]

I guess if it helped you through some issues in life, it made a good impact, but it's hard for to understand how there's a Christian message in it.

Well...a lot of people got to go see Jesus.... :basic05

I agree with you Ryan -- I try not to draw too many correlations between a movie like 300 and the Christian experience -- there are some points that could be used in an illustration, but, if you paint with too wide a brush, you get lots of paint on parts you didn't mean to. Oh, and they prefer "graphic novel" -- comic books just seems so uncouth. :rolleyes:

[Ryan Scott]

Maybe I'm a little touchy about the word Christian as well. People have so many definitions of it today, when it really just means Christ-like. I find it hard to compare the bloody, ruthless battles depicted in 300 to anything Christ would do, even if they are immeasurably fun to watch on screen.

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

Sure, I could see how you could draw parallels to the current world situation. The Iranians sure did. They hated the film.

I draw Christian messages from a lot of places where they may not necessarily be deliberately intended.

[Ryan Scott]

I guess I was more confused as to what Christian parallels you saw. I didn't see any Christian parallels outlined in your post.

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

Check all the way down toward the bottom of the post. I talked about Leonidas confronting the messenger. He could have spared his best men, and himself, and possibly lived a long good life ... all he had to do was bend the knee to the enemy. This wasn't peace, it was surrender. It was compromise.

Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife, rather than kicking her down a pit, I'll give you that. But in confronting Satan, God doesn't exactly sit down at the negotiating table or stage a peaceful protest. Analogies tend to break down, and I totally admit this parallel isn't perfect, but the comparison can in fact be made. The filmmakers and comic-book writers (nothing wrong with calling it a comic-book, graphic novels are just long comic books and nobody needs to be ashamed about it) might not have intended this message to come across, but it can still be seen just the same. Read up on the "true myth" ideas of Tolkien and Lewis to see how that could be.

"Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all." - Romans 8.

Compare to this:

Messenger: All the god-king Xerxes requires is this - a simple offering of earth and water, a token of Sparta's submission the will of Xerxes.

Leonidas: Submission ... now that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it the Athenians [portrayed as weak and effeminate in the film] have already turned you down.

Spartan adviser: We MUST be diplomatic ...

Leonidas: And, of course, Spartans have their reputation to consider.

Messenger: Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They could be your last as king.

Leonidas whips out his sword and points it straight at the messenger's throat.

Messenger: Madman! You're a madman!

Leonidas: Earth and water ... [looks at the pit behind the messenger] You'll find plenty of both down there.

Messenger: No man, Persian or Greek, threatens a messenger.

Leonidas: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps, you insult my queen, you threaten my people with slavery and death. Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same.

Messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!

Leonidas: This ... is ... SPARTA! (kicks the messenger down the pit)

I'm not saying the film is suitable for children, or that it's a perfect vessel of scriptural truth. Personally, I think a film about Gideon's "300" would be pretty cool. I do think "300" presents several suitable parallels where sin, compromise, and fighting evil are concerned. The one described just happens to be what sticks out the most to me.

[Ryan Scott]

Anything more I'd be tempted to say probably belongs on the theology board. 300 is a cool movie, though.

[Roland Hearn]

I first remember hearing the story when I was 9 or 10. I remember our teacher talking about the tactical effectiveness of a small group of people against a large army in a small space. The story always stayed with me so I was intrigued to see it come out as a movie. I thought they over played their hand on a lot of the cinematography and they bent over backwards to portray Persians as anything but the people that are their descendants but all in all I think I would have to say I liked it. It game me a cool opportunity to talk about the development of civilization with my sons. We talked about the idea of something being "spartan" and we talked about sacrifice and honour. I think that probably made the movie a worthwhile experience.

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

I had never heard the story before, Roland. After seeing the movie, I went back to Herodotus' "Histories," and had a good read. I was fascinated with the parallel to Gideon's 300 men in the book of Judges.

[Gina Stevenson]

I had never heard the story before, Roland. After seeing the movie, I went back to Herodotus' "Histories," and had a good read. I was fascinated with the parallel to Gideon's 300 men in the book of Judges.

Until I noted this was on the movie forum (I do "new posts," not forum-by-forum), I tho't perhaps you [oops! you or whoever it was that started this thread; forgot by now!] were telling us you'd finally gotten a 300 score in your bowling! Well, I've not heard the story before, either! ;)

[Andrew J. Pottenger]

Haha! Gina, it's a good bowling game for me when I crack 100, much less a perfect 300.

[Gina Stevenson]

Haha! Gina, it's a good bowling game for me when I crack 100, much less a perfect 300.

Well, I didn't know. 'Have a cousin who kept "whining" (well, nearly! ;)) he wanted to go bowling while he, his wife, another cousin & hubby, & Danny and I were playing a board game long ago. This "addict" has 2-3 300's (at least two; not sure if 3?), and I had to ask, "What next, when one cannot top 300? Once one's reached this apex, then what does one 'aim for'?" His answer? "Another 300!" ;)