Gateway Cinephiles

Film Diary: 300 (RiffTrax Edition)

January 21, 2010 8:01 am Chris Film Diaries - Chris

2006 (USA)
Director: Zack Snyder
Viewed: January 15, 2010
Format: DVD – Warner Brothers (2007) with RiffTrax audio (2006)

This was two firsts for me, my first viewing of 300, and my first RiffTrax.  I saw it with a room full of friends in San Diego, with a liberal application of booze.  Super fun!  I fully recommend seeing action movies with RiffTrax, even on the first viewing of the movie.  The RiffTrax commentary did a good job of staying out of the way of the movie’s dialog enough that I didn’t feel like I missed anything, while mitigating the problem that I normally have with action movies being basically dumb visual entertainment.

300’s visual style and over-the-top action sequences were beautiful and compelling.  I was impressed with the movie’s ability to suck me in and make me feel like I was rooting for the most epically bad-ass underdogs in history, and I loved the ending.   It was great to see an action movie that just focused on being a great action movie.  300 knew what it was, didn’t try to be something more, and did its job wonderfully.

The RiffTrax was also very funny.  Mystery Science Theater 3000 was always a bit hit-or-miss for me, but this RiffTrax was solid throughout, and made me eager to see more.