300 (2007).

Comic book with a soundtrack.

Directed by: Zack Snyder.

Writing credits: Frank Miller (Graphic novel).

Starring: Gerard Butler, Dominic West.

300 is a transformation of the Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name published in 1999 into a digital movie with a techno soundtrack. This is a tale of 300 Spartans who fought about a million Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Led by King Leonidas these 300 soldiers fought for the glory by making a phalanx at the entrance of a mountain pass over three days.

300 is quite a graphic film directed by Zack Snyder who previously created Dawn of the Dead. Some of the scenes like the one when Leonidas rejects the offer of earth and water or the blinking of a wolf's eyes in the dark or the rhino killing sequence are directly creditable to Mr Snyder. But then his direction tries to make an epic but fails at the urge of creating an actual portrayal of Frank Miller's vision on a big screen. When I saw The making of 300 the filmmakers evidently mentioned the idea to make a movie almost similar to the comic book images used as story boarding for quite a few scenes. That limited the scope of not just directing but also screenwriting for Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad. While watching the movie there seemed no sympathy to the urge of glory of the 300 Spartans. Not to ignore cheesy romantic dialogues between Leonidas and Queen Gorgo. Key scenes have limited words. Mr Miller himself has claimed to have changed the history to make it look cooler. The battle scene dialogues between fellow Spartans sound like conversation between a bunch of college kids watching a Monday Night football game at a local Hooters. Also there is quite a fascination with flesh exposure in the movie. There is squirting of blood throughout. But what is missing is a solid story-telling. This would make this a mediocre movie watching experience.

Acting department doesn't have much scope. Everyone required to be on an adrenaline rush which is probably why they scream their 'glorious' dialogues, say for instance 'Tonight we dine in hell' or 'This is Spartan'. Rather one thing the actors were expected to have was 'six-pack abs' and they all count six each. Well if you just expect about 2 hours of entertainment then this is a movie that looks and sounds cool.

Do not go to the theatres. But do watch it on an HD pay-per-view to experience the fascinating use of colors and sound.

My rating: 4/10.