300

Surprisingly exceptional movie: 300.

Phil went to see it with a bunch of guys on Saturday night at the IMAX and he thought it was so incredible, he took me back last night. I was totally blown away by this movie! I didn't expect to care for it at all, so it was a positive surprise. Here are a few of the reasons it blew my mind:

Inspirational
I agree with Phil that much of the content and battle talk and actions were Gladiator-esque -- very inspirtational and challenging. One particular exchange between Xerxes and King Leonidis where Xerxes says, "Any of my men would gladly die for my advancement," and Leonidis responds, "I would gladly die for any of my men," was really poignant in the midst of that battle. Overall, 300 was packed with incredible exchanges that really demonstrate strong and worthy leadership as opposed to manipulative, evil leadership. Those following Xerxes followed him because he fulfilled their temporary, fleshly desires. People wanted to follow Leonidis because he was fighting for their freedom and the freedom of the generations to come. The clear demonstration of that was awesome.

Technically Spectacular
Phil said they filmed all of the acting in a warehouse in about two months, then spend 18 months doing the graphics and finishing. No single frame of the entire movie was untweaked. No 30 men, no matter how hard they work, could have six-packs like that. But the settings (and even the six-packs) were incredibly realistic. The blood and gore was over-the-top, of course, with at least three very prominent beheadings. But, it was cartoon-ish blood and gore with an element of realism, but not as graphic as, say, Gladiator.

The only reason I can't fully endorse this movie is because of the nudity and junk. To a certain extent, I understand that they needed to show an aspect of some junk to show the decadence and lustfulness of Xerxes and his followers. On the other hand, the level to which that junk needs to be shown was exceeded for sure. Of course, that's part of why the movie is doing so well, but I wish it wasn't so excessive so I could endorse it wholeheartedly. But, on DVD, you can skip a few scenes and it will be remarkable. I can guarantee we'll be seeing big chunks of this at church as soon as it's on DVD.