Is Gladiator a good movie

[Sheilbh]

What did you think of the Netflix adaptation of the Trojan story?

Haven't heard of that?

[Jacob]

It is very good parody.  Anyone who went to see it thinking that it was a movie about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae walked away disappointed, but those who recognized that it was sending up Miller and his whole worldview about real men fighting monsters while almost naked could be entertained.  I know that there are people who don't recognize the movie 300 as parody, any more than they recognize the movie Starship Troopers as parody, but that's their loss.

If David Lynch's version of Dune hadn't been intended for us to take seriously, it would be up there, too.

Starship Troopers was clearly intended as a parody, at least to my eyes. My impression of 300 was that it was not intended as a parody... though as you say, it is laughable when taken at face value. I think that was the weakness of that film.

[crazy canuck]

Well if parody means a faithful reproduction then yes, 300 was a parody of Miller's work.

[Jacob]

Yeah as I understand it, the film was a fairly faithful adaptation of the comic book - and the comic book was unironically quasi-fascist.

[crazy canuck]

What did you think of the Netflix adaptation of the Trojan story?

Haven't heard of that?

It might be what you are looking for

https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/80175352

[Barrister]

It is very good parody.  Anyone who went to see it thinking that it was a movie about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae walked away disappointed, but those who recognized that it was sending up Miller and his whole worldview about real men fighting monsters while almost naked could be entertained.  I know that there are people who don't recognize the movie 300 as parody, any more than they recognize the movie Starship Troopers as parody, but that's their loss.

If David Lynch's version of Dune hadn't been intended for us to take seriously, it would be up there, too.

Starship Troopers was clearly intended as a parody, at least to my eyes. My impression of 300 was that it was not intended as a parody... though as you say, it is laughable when taken at face value. I think that was the weakness of that film.

Starship Troopers was clearly intended as parody, but that intent I think went over some people's heads.

300 was not intended as a parody, but some have found enjoyment in the movie viewing it as parody.

[crazy canuck]

Yeah as I understand it, the film was a fairly faithful adaptation of the comic book - and the comic book was unironically quasi-fascist.

Yep.  Although I am not sure about the quasi bit.

[Valmy]

It is good. Almost the archetypal summer blockbuster.

Kind of a weird moment in time, when a film like this could win Best Picture and a film like this that is not a comic book adaptation or a sequel to something.

[grumbler]

It is very good parody.  Anyone who went to see it thinking that it was a movie about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae walked away disappointed, but those who recognized that it was sending up Miller and his whole worldview about real men fighting monsters while almost naked could be entertained.  I know that there are people who don't recognize the movie 300 as parody, any more than they recognize the movie Starship Troopers as parody, but that's their loss.

If David Lynch's version of Dune hadn't been intended for us to take seriously, it would be up there, too.

Starship Troopers was clearly intended as a parody, at least to my eyes. My impression of 300 was that it was not intended as a parody... though as you say, it is laughable when taken at face value. I think that was the weakness of that film.

Like Starship Troopers, 300 took the original zany work and then turned the volume to 11, turning it from a serious work into a cartoon.  I guess its possible that that was accidental (this is a Zach Snyder movie, after all), but it looked too pervasive to me for an accident.

The movie kinda skipped the part in the book where the Spartans all take off their diapers to sleep, for some reason, though...

[Berkut]

It is very good parody.  Anyone who went to see it thinking that it was a movie about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae walked away disappointed, but those who recognized that it was sending up Miller and his whole worldview about real men fighting monsters while almost naked could be entertained.  I know that there are people who don't recognize the movie 300 as parody, any more than they recognize the movie Starship Troopers as parody, but that's their loss.

If David Lynch's version of Dune hadn't been intended for us to take seriously, it would be up there, too.

Starship Troopers was clearly intended as a parody, at least to my eyes. My impression of 300 was that it was not intended as a parody... though as you say, it is laughable when taken at face value. I think that was the weakness of that film.

Starship Troopers was clearly intended as parody, but that intent I think went over some people's heads.

300 was not intended as a parody, but some have found enjoyment in the movie viewing it as parody.

My point was simply that it was funny to realize that the movie actually took itself seriously. It really was trying to present this maniacs as the good guys, the people we should be rooting for - and yet....they did so in a way that you would have to be about 13 and maybe just thinking about puberty to actually think "Damn, those guys are so cool and badass!"

Now, perhaps that same level of emotional intelligence is what the comic's author was aiming for as well - I don't know since I did not read the comic, but I guess if so I would have found that amusing as well.

300 overall was a pretty fun movie to watch. Kind of like the way Porky's was a fun movie to watch. But the idea that the guys who made that movie would actually think that is an awesome way to treat women and something that we should all strive for would be....disturbing.

[Syt]

Like Starship Troopers, 300 took the original zany work and then turned the volume to 11, turning it from a serious work into a cartoon.  I guess its possible that that was accidental (this is a Zach Snyder movie, after all), but it looked too pervasive to me for an accident.

Frank Miller was executive producer on 300, so I'm not sold on it being an intentional parody of the comic.

[grumbler]

It is good. Almost the archetypal summer blockbuster.

Kind of a weird moment in time, when a film like this could win Best Picture and a film like this that is not a comic book adaptation or a sequel to something.

The plot was too silly to make for a Best Picture, imo, but you are correct that this was a good summer blockbuster kind of movie.  In those movies, you don't want to have to think about what's on the screen, you just want to absorb it.

And as for Master and Commander, it's doubly ironic that the reason no sequels were made was because the money types thought it couldn't compete with the Pirates of the Caribbean series in the "nautical movie" slot.  I don't think that the franchises competed for the same audience at all.

[Barrister]

And as for Master and Commander, it's doubly ironic that the reason no sequels were made was because the money types thought it couldn't compete with the Pirates of the Caribbean series in the "nautical movie" slot.  I don't think that the franchises competed for the same audience at all.

Pirates of the Caribbean was based on a themepark ride.  Master and Commander was based on a 20 novel series with impeccable historical accuracy.  Nope, not the same audiences at all.

But that probably limited the ticketsales of any future Master and Commander movies.  The beancounters at the movie studio probably had some idea what they were doing in not greenlighting a sequel.

[Valmy]

While I think we are in a golden era of niche content in many ways, it seems like studios will not even consider anything even slightly adjacent to mainstream stuff now.

So we would probably need one of those streaming services to make a series if we want a decent budget for something like Master and Commander.

[The Minsky Moment]

Gladiator was really well cast.  Russell Crowe has great presence when he commits to a role and Joaquin Phoenix is always fun to watch.  Then there's gallery of talented retreads - Richard Harris playing Roman King Arthur, Derek Jacobi playing Claudius with better elocution, Oliver Reed playing Roman Oliver Reed,  and even former pretty boy David Hemmings showing up older and bloated but wigged and rouged up.  The story is pulped up nonsense and the history is about as good as Gibsonesque Men in Kilts but its fun and well paced.