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300 (film)

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Template:Future film

For the video game based on the film, see 300: March to Glory. 2007 film
300
File:300Poster.jpg
Directed byZack Snyder
Written byScreenplay:
Zack Snyder
Kurt Johnstad
Comic Book:
Frank Miller
Produced byGianni Nunnari
Mark Canton
Bernie Goldmann
Jeffrey Silver
StarringGerard Butler
Lena Headey
David Wenham
Dominic West
Rodrigo Santoro
Andrew Tiernan
CinematographyLarry Fong
Edited byWilliam Hoy
Music byTyler Bates
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release datesUnited States March 9, 2007
Australia March 22, 2007
United Kingdom March 23 2007
Running time117 mins.
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million

300 is a 2007 film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller about the Battle of Thermopylae. The film is directed by Zack Snyder with Frank Miller attached as an executive producer and consultant, and was shot mostly with bluescreen to mimic the original comic book work. 300 stars Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro, Andrew Tiernan and David Wenham. The film is scheduled to be released in both conventional and IMAX theaters in America on March 9, 2007.

Synopsis

File:Leonidasfarewell.jpg
Leonidas bids his family farewell
File:GBPic.jpg
Leonidas makes his last stand

The film 300 is a close adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller in which Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the last man against Persian King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his massive army of one million soldiers. Facing insurmountable odds, the Spartans' sacrifice inspires all of Greece to unite against the Persian invaders. The story is loosely based on the Battle of Thermopylae which took place in 480 BC.

Cast

In August 2005, Gerard Butler was cast to portray King Leonidas. On September 26, 2005, a casting call was issued for the role of Pleistarchos, younger portrayals of Leonidas, as well as a Persian messenger. Three days later, a second casting call went out for the role of the Oracle Girl, a slave to the Ephors.

In October 2005 Lena Headey was announced to join the cast as Gorgo, Leonidas' wife. Actors David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro, and Vincent Reagan were also announced to join the cast. Santoro was familiar with the graphic novel before ever auditioning.

Production

In May 2003, the project was being produced by Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton, whilst Michael B. Gordon had completed a second draft of 300 that was 121 pages long. In June 2004, director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) was hired to direct the film. Snyder, with the help of screenwriter Kurt Johnstad, worked to rewrite Gordon's script for production. Frank Miller, the author of 300, was also attached to the project as executive producer and consultant.

The film is a shot-for-shot adaptation of the comic book, similar to the film adaptation of Sin City. Snyder said that he had photocopied panels from Frank Miller's comic book and worked to plan out the shots that would lead up to the moment and the shots to get out of it after. "It was a fun process for me to kind of have to go, to have a goal, to have a frame as a goal to get to," said Snyder. The director also worked to craft the film style to be similar to the comic book. Numerous images and pieces of dialogue are taken frame for frame from Miller. One exception to the direct adaptation was using the character Dilios to narrate the story. Dilios was used by Snyder to show the audience that the surreal "Frank Miller world" of 300 was through the perspective of Dilios taking artistic license in his storytelling about the Battle of Thermopylae. Snyder also added the sub plot of Queen Gorgo trying to rally support for her husband.

The film spent two months of pre-production in creating 125 shields, 250 spears and 75 swords, although some were recycled from Troy and Alexander. An animatronic wolf and 13 animatronic horses were also created. The actors trained alongside the stuntmen, and even Snyder joined in. 600-700 costumes were created for the film, as well as extensive prosthetics for various characters and the corpses of Persian soldiers.

Above: A scene during filming. Below: The finished scene.

300 entered active production on October 17, 2005 in Montreal, and shot over 60 days in chronological order. Warner Bros. provided a budget of $60 million to back the 300 project. The director employed the digital backlot technique for the film, which was shot at the now-defunct Icestorm Studios in Montreal using bluescreens. Gerard Butler said that he didn't feel constrained as an actor by Snyder's direction of the film, however saying, "If you are performing in a way that's trying to be so truthful to the comic, then, of course, there are certain freedoms that are limited to the way that you perform." David Wenham said there were times where Snyder wanted to capture iconic moments from the comic book specifically and times where the director gave actors "absolute freedom and liberty to explore within the world and the confines that had been set". Lena Headey said of her experience with the bluescreens, "You can't sort of relate to any world, so it's very odd, and emotionally, there's nothing to connect to apart from another actor." The only scene shot outdoors is a shot of horses travelling across the countryside. The film was an intensely physical production, and Butler pulled an arm tendon and gained a drop foot.

In post-production Snyder enlisted the assistance of Montreal's Meteor Studios to work on 250 visual effects shots to fill in the film footage of bluescreens and near-empty film sets. James Price, Meteor's visual effects supervisor, said the team of 70 Meteor artists manipulated the colors in 300 by increasing the contrast of light and dark, and certain film sequences were de-saturated and tinted to establish different moods for the scenes. Ghislain St-Pierre, Meteor's GM, described the look, "Everything looks realistic, but it has a kind of a gritty illustrative feel." Chris Watts and Jim Bissell created this process, which was dubbed "The Crush". The filtering meant props were painted differently on set due to the eventual process. The team worked on creating visual effects shots for scenes including a battle between Spartans and Immortals (elite Persian soldiers) and an expansion of the city of Sparta.

In August 2006, Warner Bros. announced that 300 would be released on March 16, 2007. In October 2006, Warner Bros. moved the release date to March 9, 2007, a week earlier. The MPAA issued an R rating for 300 for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.

Soundtrack

File:300soundtrack.jpg
Soundtrack cover

In July 2005, composer Tyler Bates had begun work on the film, describing the score as having "beautiful themes on the top and large choir", but "tempered with some extreme heaviness". The composer had scored for a test shot that the director wanted to show to Warner Bros. to illustrate the path of the project. Bates said that the score had "a lot of weight and intensity in the low end of the percussion" that Snyder found agreeable to the film. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and features the vocals of Azam Ali. A standard edition and a special edition of the soundtrack containing 25 tracks will be released on March 6, 2007, with the special edition containing a 16-page booklet and three two-sided trading cards.

Marketing

In December 2005, the official site for 300 was launched by Warner Bros. Conceptual art and Zack Snyder's production blog were the initial major attractions of the launch. The website added video journals that covered a range of production details from comic-to-screen shots to creatures of 300.

At Comic-Con International 2006 in July, the 300 panel showed a preview of the film. Afterward, a Q&A session was held with panelists Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Gerard Butler, and David Wenham. Due to the audience's positive reception of the 300 preview, the footage was shown twice more before the conclusion of the panel.

On September 20, 2006, the promo trailer for 300, shown at Comic-Con International 2006, was leaked onto the Internet. On October 4, 2006, Warner Bros. released the official trailer for 300. The music used in the trailers was "Just Like You Imagined" by Nine Inch Nails. A second 300 trailer was attached to Apocalypto, which was released on December 8, 2006. The trailer was released online the day before. On January 22, 2007, an exclusive trailer for the film was broadcast during prime time television.

In April 2006, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced its intention to make 300: March to Glory, a PlayStation Portable game based on the film 300. Collision Studios is working with Warner Bros. to capture the style of the film in the video game. 300: March to Glory will be released simultaneously with the film in March 2007.

The National Entertainment Collectibles Association is producing a series of action figures based on the film, including the characters King Leonidas, an Immortal warrior, Queen Gorgo, and Ephialtes, to be released in the winter of '06-'07. In addition to the figures, NECA is producing prop replicas based on the film, including an Immortal mask, dual Immortal swords, a Spartan sword, and a Spartan helm.

Warner Bros. Pictures plans to promote 300 in a unique sponsorship of Ultimate Fighting Championship's light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell beginning with a match on December 30, 2006. Liddell will also make personal appearances as well as participate in other promotions of the film up to its release.

In January 2007, the studio launched a MySpace page for the film. As promotion for the movie, MySpace users were given the opportunity to upload 300 pictures to their profile.

At WonderCon on March 2, 2007, a special screening of 300 will be available to be seen by convention attendees.

On March 4, it was announced that the National Hockey League and Warner Bros. would be partnering to make a 30-second TV spot to promote the film as well as the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs. The commercial uses a combination of teaser footage from the film, and recordings of several notable NHL players, and will be broadcast on NBC, Versus, TSN, as well as at games.

The Art Institutes launched a micro-site to promote the film and a Q&A session with Frank Miller and Zack Snyder. The micro-site was marketed to over 200,000 Art Institute students and prospective students.

Reception

In an early screening in August 2006, Mark Cronan of Comic Book Resources gave a positive review for the film. Cronan described most of the film as being "a bit of a cross between Gladiator and several scenes from the Lord of the Rings movies". He found the film compelling, leaving him "with a feeling of power, from having been witness to something grand". However, he admitted, "This is a chest thumping, dirty, writhing mass of violence at times... It is all quite stylized and probably less gory overall than Miller's other big screen success, Sin City. Still, it's there, and if you don't want to see men fighting and dying, do not see this movie." IGN's Todd Gilchrist disagreed. Giving the film a score of five stars out of five, he said "Leonidas' relationship with his wife Gorgo offers a rare display of tenderness and devotion that is seldom seen in 'guy movies' like this one". He acclaimed Zack Snyder as a cinematic visionary as well as the visual sensibility of the film. George Rousch acclaimed the film, citing its visual appeal and Gerard Butler's performance.

300 had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14 2007 and received a standing ovation from its 1700 strong audience. Alex Billington said "Be ready to be blown away on March 9th", calling it a film ahead of its time. Kirk Honeycutt praised it, saying "Those turned off by the sex-and-violence cartoonery of Sin City can embrace 300". Emanuel Levy also praised the film, complimenting Snyder in that he "retells Miller's saga not as an ancient tale (sort of "once upon a time..."), but as a classic and eternal one." Todd McCarthy of Variety gave it a positive review, and praised Lena Headey, though he criticised Butler as he "bellows most of his bellicose lines, which become tiresomely repetitive", as well as the lack of focus on geography. Erik Davis heavily criticised the film, calling it "one of the most overly hyped films in history... a boring, fast-food version of better films, with better scripts, better acting and better battles. 300 men fought to defend their freedom but, in the end, 300 people (including me) wanted their two hours back."

References

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  39. "See 300 Early at WonderCon". SuperHeroHype.com. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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External links

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