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DVD The 300 Spartans
The futile yet inspiring stand of 300 Greek soldiers against the hugest army ever assembled in the ancient world inspired this typical example of Hollywood epic movie-making. King Leonidas of Sparta (Richard Egan, Demetrius and the Gladiators), prevented by political squabbling from sending his entire army to defend the narrow pass of Thermopylae, sets out with his personal bodyguard to fight off the ambitious Persian king, Xerxes. Along the way are a pair of young lovers, scantily clad dancing girls, and treachery though a secret mountain path. The 300 Spartans, made in 1961, has an overstated cold war subtext--there's much talk of freedom vs. slavery--and there are a few too many shots of armored men marching through the Greek countryside, but the historical conflict has a fundamentally stirring quality. Also featuring Sir Ralph Richardson (Dr. Zhivago, Dragonslayer) as a wily Athenian politician. --Bret Fetzer
As many reviewers have pointed out, the acting in this semi-epic is wooden to the extreme ... with one major exception.
It's almost like Ralph Richardson is acting in another movie. His Themosticles is eloquent and truely moving. But his scenes with Richard Egan are almost painful to watch ...
As for the rest ... well, this is a movie I saw when I was like 13 years old and it was perfect for me then. Now? I look back with affection, despite its flaws. It's not a great movie by any means, but it's still a wonderful film. I'm very happy to get the widescreen edition at last on DVD (allowing me to retire the old PS version I taped off TV).
For a slightly more sophisticated look at the battle of Thermopalye, let me recommend Stephen Pressfield's novel "Gates of Fire." It's available in paperback and is a first-rate fictional re-telling of the stand of the 300 Spartans.
Memory vs now
Many of us grew up on these Hollywood 'epics' of ancient history. We remember them fondly. "The 300 Spartans" is one such film. Our memories, however, can play tricks on us. Then we see them again as we age, and our opinions change. We have to remember the times in which they were made and the type of audience that eagerly went to see them.
As a widescreen epic (and you have to see it in the 2:35x1 aspect ratio which the DVD presents), it stills holds some strange fascination.
Sir Ralph Richardson is the one stand-out performance; somehow, British actors seem to be able to deliver stilted dialog in such a way that it seems somehow classical. Richard Egan was also a good actor. As the Spartan king, his performance is consistant and even believable. He is rugged-looking and seems to understand what his character is all about. He brings the character on the page to some sembelence of life.
The rest of the cast make their characters seem cut from a comic book, or a very bad high-school production. This is especially true of David Farrar as the Persian King, who tears up the screen without once delving beneath the skin to give his role any dimension. These are supposedly professional actors, able to rise above a bad script. Unfortunately, the director accepted only fair performances and let it go at that.
Barry Coe and Diane Baker have the unfortunate roles of the young lovers. They were both young contract players at Fox and neither convinced anyone that they were either Spartans or that they were ever actually in love. Mr. Coe has one unfornutate line: "Have you heard anything about the Persians?" He delivers this like a football player asking his coach about the opposing team.
The script does present the story's history with fair accuracy. Once the Spartans get on the march, the pace picks up nicely, and the battle scenes are well staged. As usually happened with these epics, the production values of the behind-the-camera talent clearly outshone those being photographed.
not quite truthful
Okay. So the actual truth was a little different. But in 61 the kids loved it and as one of the so called epics it wasn't bad. Now some years later it still brings out that feeling of the few against the many, while the Spartans didn't win the battle they in effect won the war. Good simple stuff sadly long missed in todays cinema.
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