25 reasons to love Zack Snyder's 300

What's a guilty pleasure? Who determines what's good or bad? Personally, I don't let myself get carried away by others' opinions. I experienced it recently with Anora, Sean Baker's new movie everyone around the world is praising. As a fan of his cinema, I could have easily gotten carried away by everyone, but I simply didn't connect with it. I'm not that kind of fan who glorifies with anticipation. So, who am I to determine what's good or bad in cinema? Maybe it sounds better to say "I didn't like it," and I know a lot of people don't like this movie and even consider it a bad one.

For this reason and as an answer to my undeniable love for Zack Snyder's early work, I will enumerate 25 reasons to love 300, and maybe change your opinion in the way.

1. The first 30 seconds. Warner Bros trusted Snyder's vision and his second movie's potential so much that even granted him the privilege to alter the production company's presentation logo with a cloud of ashes, wind and dust with a sepia tone and music worthy of a more than promising beginning. Dinner is served.

2. Gerard Butler. This unparalleled epic wouldn't be the same without the unmatched contribution of this Scottish actor turned into a Greek legend who, along with his British accent and privileged musculature, brought Leonidas I to life, the first Spartan king who gave his life for his nation with a group of Spartans.

3. The score. Legendary composer Tyler Bates, renowned in action cinema, adds rock to a symphony packed with testosterone that, together with the dark and gloomy atmosphere, immerse those of us who consider ourselves manly [add humorous music] in a unique experience as few others do.

4. The use of slow and fast motion. There was a time when the idea of altering the speed of frame rates in a shot was glorified. Together with the Wachowski sisters, the director made a name for himself with this epic for mixing scenes with extreme slow motion together with a much faster change than usual. The first fight scene, where Leonidas shows his full potential in combat, represents this perfectly.

5. Historical accuracy. Not even Ridley Scott dared to go that far with Gladiator and the apparent historical imprecision everyone pointed out as when 300 premiered since, despite this movie being based on Frank Miller's iconic comic, most events were real.

6. The precise premiere timing in history. Not only was 300 on the big screen when epic historical dramas had resurfaced thanks to Gladiator's premiere six years earlier, but it also marked a milestone in how filmmakers wanted to approach the subgenre.

7. The color. 300 feels like a comic brought to life, and color plays a key role in it. The range of saturations—and also desaturations—in copper and gold create the perfect mood for the story.

8. David Wenham's voice-over. From the beginning, we can hear the actor who played Faramir in LOTR with an impressive voice-over. This voice never disappears since it's used as the narrator of the story we have in front of us about an army of Spartans who need inspiration for the next battle. Absolute brilliance.

9. The building of the lore. Mythical animals, deformed beings and sculptural bodies are mixed. The line between fantastic and real is blurred to increase the mystique. Men with arms that cut heads, goats with human appearances… and a villain of cosmic proportions.

10. "Ahoo! Ahoo! Ahoo!" Can anyone deny wanting to shout like these warriors with their iconic battle cry? Come on, don't be hypocrites, I suppose every man—sorry, girls—in puberty, adolescence or adulthood has pronounced these simple words.

11. "This is Sparta!" This is probably the first iconic moment of the movie—which was surprisingly improvised by Gerard Butler—in which King Leonidas reveals against the Persian messengers, with the approval of his beloved partner. This goes down in history. I suppose that, in reality, the scene was more like a "hey, listen, how can we settle this?" But I wasn't there so I would rather think that the bearded Leonidas gave one of the coolest kicks of all time.

12. The early female empowerment. The first huge feminist moment of the century regarding cinema was in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, in which Eowyn takes off her helmet and pronounces "I am no man" to then thrust her sword into the Nazgûl. The second one is the gaze of approval Queen Gorgo gives Leonidas to eliminate all the Persian messengers. But apart from this, she withstands a congress full of old corrupt men on her own. Anything more to ask for?

13. Politically incorrect. There was a time when there wasn't much filter: if you went to the cinema to watch a movie about 300 muscular Spartans going to war alone, you knew you were going to get that and much more. A softened message couldn't be expected. Snyder joined the wave of movies of the beginning of the century—before any current political correctness—in which, if there was something to be shown, it was presented and that was it. And if you didn't like it, you could just go to the movie theater next door to watch a Disney movie.

14. The tenacity of ideals. Leonidas doesn't say "Goodbye, my love" to his queen. He leaves. He must have a strong mind to avoid losing focus in the battle. It may sound rude, but these types of people were the ones that gave everything up for their ideals, for what they represented. Nonetheless, it didn't cost him much to just say "Bye, my love" [add humorous music].

15. The use of CGI. 300 was shot in several sets with the minimum and indispensable elements to bring Ancient Greece to life. They didn't travel to the deepest parts of Europe nor waste thousands of millions of dollars. Every last penny was exploited to complete the set with backdrops, many close-up muscles and some animals that actually never existed.

16. The R-rated classification. Snyder's glorious persistence in wanting to have this type of classification that allows to show a sliced head flying around or any other visual morbidity without any filter was what made 300 glorious. If it had been PG-13, the experience would have gone from passable to mediocre. 17. The "perfume advertisement" style. Who would have thought that seeing a red-haired woman weirdly dancing with quite a Coco Chanel style could look so good? Or that watching Gerard Butler having sex with the queen in slow motion with an undeniable Giorgio Armani vibe could be so enjoyable?

18. The "erotic moment". Yes, let's talk about it without beating around the bush, since this shouldn't be ignored as something badly seen. It may be one of the most savage, short and genuine representations of love of all. The thing is that, since it's too short, it can't be too analyzed, but that shot of Gerard Butler backwards with the moon illuminating the house should be printed and framed.

19. "What is your profession?" In a certain moment, Leonidas dares to pull the leg of an Arcadian—belonging to a town near Sparta—by asking what their "warriors" professions are. One says he's a potter and another one answers he's a sculptor. But the 300 Spartans are ready to die in combat since they were born and answer with the classic "Ahoo! Ahoo! Ahoo!" I mentioned before.

20. Religious references. It's known that Snyder has a good relationship with Christianity. Maybe his vision of Superman was the work in which he represented certain religious connotations the most, but they are also present in 300. From several dead bodies pinned to a tree as a symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus to the ending in which Leonidas opens his arms looking at the sky, his seal is present.

21. Mythological references. The king isn't alone, he has the gods on his side. Zeus and Poseidon move the ocean and sky to get rid of a Persian fleet of a thousand vessels in a colossal scene lacking action but full of rock. And of course, with Leonidas' best poser face.

22. The iconic quotes.

“Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty... For tonight, we dine in hell!”

"Give them nothing! But take from them EVERYTHING!".

"You there, Ephialtes. May you live forever." This quote, which supposedly was pronounced as such in real history, cursed Ephialtes name as from that moment, since nowadays it means "nightmare" in Greek.

“The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, that even a god-king can bleed.”

“Children, gather around! No retreat, no surrender; that is Spartan law. And by Spartan law, we will stand and fight... and die. A new age has begun. An age of freedom, and all will know that 300 Spartans gave their last breath to defend it!”

Is it possible for Gerard Butler to hold the record for having the most iconic quotes in one movie or am I just hallucinating?

23. The first fight. The Battle of Thermopylae was one of the most inspiring military strategies thanks to the incredibly smart use of the land as a tool to face the numeric disadvantage. In 300, we can see how a Spartan provocation ends up leaving the Persians stuck in a lethal trap full of shields and with the titanic force of the Greek conquering everything.

24. Men do cry. With the heartbreaking and unexpected death of Astinos, the son of the Spartan captain, we witness one of the only two moments in which a man cries in the movie. You have to understand that, even though we sometimes are repressed, we are also made of flesh and blood. Sure, I'm talking as if I were living in the year 480 BC, but, in some corners of the world, there still exists that outdated belief that men shouldn't cry.

25. "My queen, my wife, my love…" In his last seconds, Leonidas expresses what he kept quiet during his 40 years alive. While hundreds of arrows fly though the skies, he realizes he owes everything to her. Snyder turned what could have been a simple moment into a full display of iconic acting, Wenham's voice-over, the magnificent use of CGI and slow/fast motion… and crowns everything with a religious reference.

Posted on JANUARY 3rd, 2024, 21:44 PM | UTC-GMT -3

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