frank miller's 300!

so, frank miller is a genius. the point of the matter is that his work is incredible, and being that it's done in 'graphic novel' form, it is typically overlooked by many that would enjoy it.

until hollywood takes notice, that is.

i, for one, have been enamored with the fact that main stream comics have come into their own in the theaters. it's incredible. it's beautiful. it's moving. it's what i have longed for since i was a kid collecting books from the drug store, or shinders, or wherever i could pick 'em up. so, now that there have been some marvel titles that have gotten their fare share, after the smattering of dc (batman) flicks over the years, some of the more rare and beautiful titles.

such as, frank miller's sin city, which was an incredible movie. while i could spend a good hour talking about the ways in which i loved it, and how great it was to see it in a thx certified theater on a couple of pre-release tickets a friend scored, and, of course, the couple of things that i didn't like, i won't. this 'blog' is about the new 300.

frank miller's 300 is based on the graphic novel is 'loosely' based on the battle of thermopylae, a little known battle that took place in 480 BC between the greek city states, and the invading persian army, and most noteably, the 300 spartans that fought to the death to hold back a massive, multi-continental invading force, consisting of what is widely considered to be millions, while the smaller (merely 7,000 or so soldiers) escaped away. the smal band of career soldiers, the spartans, were ordered to stay behind, while the remaining greek forces were ordered to flee. the thespians, a small contingent of 700 citizen soldiers (read, not bred for war like the spartans), refused to leave, and fought bravely with the spartans, all of their lives were forfeit. in the end, it is considered a victory for the persian army, who had colected their soldiers from across asia and africa, who's numbers were all but worthless in the small mountain pass, they suffered such great losses in the end, that I feel like it should truly be considered a 'draw'.

now, for more info, click the link to the wiki article, which is, i hope, fairly accurate still. frank miller's adaptation takes extreme liberties, which i think will be evident by the beautiful trailers. i kid you not when i say that this looks like it's going to be the one of the best movies i've seen in a while, and i see a lot of movies.

the thing that i like is that there is such an excellent fusion of historical record that herodotus left for us, and frank miller's incredible story telling, as well as a truely incredible film rendering of the original graphic novel's art.

anyway, if you get a chance. spend a few bucks to see this in the theater, because it appears that this is one that cannot dissapoint. it will not be your typical ancient war epic, there will be so much more to it than that, and will be so very very very worth it!