adrianj
Joined Sep 1999
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adrianj's rating
Apart from acres of beautifully toned male flesh, comic-book blood and guts and a graphic novel sheen I didn't really know what to expect from 300.
The dialogue is at best cheesy and at worst cringe-inducing. The characterisation is adolescent. The sex scene is incredibly unsexy. Realism is never given a look-in. As history it is hysterical. But, still, I enjoyed it.
The production design is wonderful, the colours and effects (mostly) are impressive. The costumes are fabulous, those 'Spartan' torsos are glorious, a joy to behold. The fantastical, monstrous, madness of the 'Persians' beggars belief.
Sprinkled with laugh-out-loud moments where you just can't believe the film-makers thought they could get away with yet another ludicrous spectacle. 300 is a lot of fun.
Absolute tosh of course, you'll wince at most of the dialogue, you'll laugh at the audacity of it all, you'll drool over the 'Spartan' hunks in trunks, you'll love (or hate) the look of it but give it a go, just make sure you leave your serious head at home!
The dialogue is at best cheesy and at worst cringe-inducing. The characterisation is adolescent. The sex scene is incredibly unsexy. Realism is never given a look-in. As history it is hysterical. But, still, I enjoyed it.
The production design is wonderful, the colours and effects (mostly) are impressive. The costumes are fabulous, those 'Spartan' torsos are glorious, a joy to behold. The fantastical, monstrous, madness of the 'Persians' beggars belief.
Sprinkled with laugh-out-loud moments where you just can't believe the film-makers thought they could get away with yet another ludicrous spectacle. 300 is a lot of fun.
Absolute tosh of course, you'll wince at most of the dialogue, you'll laugh at the audacity of it all, you'll drool over the 'Spartan' hunks in trunks, you'll love (or hate) the look of it but give it a go, just make sure you leave your serious head at home!
This extraordinary film presents in chilling detail the affect of the failure of Hitler's Third Reich. By keeping a close focus on Hitler's bunker and the government district of Berlin we can concentrate on who these people around him were and how they reacted to him and the imminent collapse of the Nazi dream.
The acting and direction are assured and the visual impact of the film, both in the claustrophobic bunker and the ruins of Berlin itself, is impressively realised. Part of the horror of the film is that it does all seem so very real - these are real people in a real situation - and that is terrifying.
For me though, the most disturbing thing is that although the film recreates specific events of World War II, it stands as a warning to us, today.
Hitler, Goebbels et al, had a vision. A vision of purity and truth, a vision that millions of people took to be real, genuine and achievable. The problem with all such visions of purity and truth are that they require absolute fanaticism. For the Nazis there was no alternative, like for Magda Goebbels who could not see any future for her or her children without the Fuhrer. For these fanatics, if you cannot live up to the dream you have failed, and there is no compassion for failure.
The truly terrifying thing is that the world is still full of fanatics - be they al-Qaeda, born-again fundamentalists or Balkan nationalists. They have no place for non-believers, and should they ever gain the support that Germany gave Hitler, we risk being plunged into the dark ages again.
Traudl Junge's final words of the film are a chilling reminder for all of us, that no one can be 'innocent' when the fanatic calls.
The acting and direction are assured and the visual impact of the film, both in the claustrophobic bunker and the ruins of Berlin itself, is impressively realised. Part of the horror of the film is that it does all seem so very real - these are real people in a real situation - and that is terrifying.
For me though, the most disturbing thing is that although the film recreates specific events of World War II, it stands as a warning to us, today.
Hitler, Goebbels et al, had a vision. A vision of purity and truth, a vision that millions of people took to be real, genuine and achievable. The problem with all such visions of purity and truth are that they require absolute fanaticism. For the Nazis there was no alternative, like for Magda Goebbels who could not see any future for her or her children without the Fuhrer. For these fanatics, if you cannot live up to the dream you have failed, and there is no compassion for failure.
The truly terrifying thing is that the world is still full of fanatics - be they al-Qaeda, born-again fundamentalists or Balkan nationalists. They have no place for non-believers, and should they ever gain the support that Germany gave Hitler, we risk being plunged into the dark ages again.
Traudl Junge's final words of the film are a chilling reminder for all of us, that no one can be 'innocent' when the fanatic calls.
I hardly need to say anything ... or rather I can't say anything that hasn't already been. This is a excellent movie; we've had gore-fests, we've had horror-parody, now is the time for the return of the *intelligent* horror story.
'The Sixth Sense' works it's magic by suggestion; by simply going *just* far enough from normality that the viewer spooks themselves.
There are a couple of moments to make you jump, just to make sure you are in the right frame of mind; there are a few unpleasant ghouls, but this is no Clive Barker fright-a-thon.
From those simple elements it builds slowly (perhaps a little too slowly) and you start to share in the torment of young Cole as he searches for an escape from all the "dead people" who inhabit his world. Eventually psychologist Crowe offers a way out and you sense that the film will have a happy ending and that, as it were, the ghosts will be laid to rest. But no, just when you start thinking all is well with the world, the *real* truth is revealed.
It's not a 'Carrie' style heart-stopping moment, but the final twist is so brilliantly played out, you can't help but go back and revisit all those key moments that suddenly make a totally different sort of sense.
The beauty, the magic, of this film is provided by the two splendid performances from young Osement (Cole) and Willis (Crowe) drawing you effortlessly into their world, making the unreal palpably real.
Knowing that there is a big 'twist' to this film, you may well be able to work it out for yourself, but even if you do, you will surely enjoy this beautifully crafted film, a film that puts the magic back into the telling of ghost stories.
'The Sixth Sense' works it's magic by suggestion; by simply going *just* far enough from normality that the viewer spooks themselves.
There are a couple of moments to make you jump, just to make sure you are in the right frame of mind; there are a few unpleasant ghouls, but this is no Clive Barker fright-a-thon.
From those simple elements it builds slowly (perhaps a little too slowly) and you start to share in the torment of young Cole as he searches for an escape from all the "dead people" who inhabit his world. Eventually psychologist Crowe offers a way out and you sense that the film will have a happy ending and that, as it were, the ghosts will be laid to rest. But no, just when you start thinking all is well with the world, the *real* truth is revealed.
It's not a 'Carrie' style heart-stopping moment, but the final twist is so brilliantly played out, you can't help but go back and revisit all those key moments that suddenly make a totally different sort of sense.
The beauty, the magic, of this film is provided by the two splendid performances from young Osement (Cole) and Willis (Crowe) drawing you effortlessly into their world, making the unreal palpably real.
Knowing that there is a big 'twist' to this film, you may well be able to work it out for yourself, but even if you do, you will surely enjoy this beautifully crafted film, a film that puts the magic back into the telling of ghost stories.