Olympus Has Fallen

There was a time when action movies were simple. Ah, yes, we're going in the Wayback Nostalgia Machine again so brace yourself. There were movies where the good guys were good guys, and the bad guys were bad guys, despicable without an ounce of anything even remotely redeeming. I like to call this time in Hollywood history.....the 1980s. That's simplifying the premise too much, but my point is valid. We had the Russians/Soviets/Commies to root against. In the vein of those straightforward, black and white action movies come 2013's Olympus Has Fallen.

A longtime Secret Service agent and the head of the Presidential detail, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is removed from his post when President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart)'s wife is killed accidentally in a winter car wreck. Banning leaves the Secret Service and takes a job in Washington D.C. as a U.S. Treasury agent. Some 18 months pass, and Mike still yearns to get back to what he was so good at and loved. He may get his chance. Sneaking into the White House as part of a South Korean diplomacy party, a North Korean paramilitary terrorist, Kang (Rick Yune), leads a well coordinated attack that decimates Washington and takes over the White House, capturing the President and much of his cabinet. As the bodies mount in the lightning-quick strike, Mike is among those fighting back, even managing to get into the White House in all the bloody, bullet-riddled chaos. As the terrorists make their demands and the nation and the world wait to see what happens, Mike works from the inside, using all his know-how and skills to take down the North Koreans.

Does this movie sound even remotely familiar? It should. From director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Tears of the Sun), 'Olympus' is a not so subtle tweaking of Die Hard meets Air Force One. Whole scenes from those movies are tweaked, twisted and prodded here and there to make it slightly different. More than just those two movies, it plays like every action movie you've ever seen and will see ever again down the road. So what to say about this one rather than wrap it up here? Ready for a twist? I LOVED this movie. It's so epically stupid I can't even describe, but I loved it. I betcha didn't see that one coming, now did you? Don't be confused. This isn't a good movie with all its mindless action, cardboard characters and goofy one-liners. What is it then? This is a popcorn movie. Sit back with a big tub of popcorn, turn off your brain and just enjoy a movie for a change.

So how to explain why I liked this movie? Action movies aren't just action movies anymore. So often they have to throw a ridiculous twist at you or telegraph a horrifically unsubtle, heavy-handed message at you. 'Olympus' gets back to the basics in a big way. Americans = Good. North Koreans = Bad. The timing is also interesting considering North Korea's recent threats of firing nuclear weapons at the U.S. but that's for someone significantly more cultured and intelligent than me to analyze. I'm more of an explosions and gunfight kind of guy. If familiar, the premise is very cool, an unsettling attack on Washington D.C. setting the tone for the rest of the movie. It's incredibly uncomfortable to watch civilians get shot down in the street, the Washington Monument crumbling, the White House under heavy attack with Secret Service and military forces shot down in droves doing their duty. In a very straightforward movie, there's something primal in these scenes. If it sounds simplistic on my part, so be it. America gets attacked, and Americans fight back. Cue a pissed-off Scotsman in Gerard Butler, and we've got ourselves an action flick.

I like Gerard Butler. I don't always like his selection in movies, but I like him just the same. This is him doing what he should be doing. He handles himself well in drama and comedy, but I think he's best as an action star. Here as the ex-Army Ranger turned Secret Service agent turned Treasury agent, it's ideal casting. His past haunts him, and he wants to make things right. When the White House, the President, and America (cue dramatic music), Butler's Banning steps to the plate. As an action star, he's extremely capable. He's believable in his fight scenes, believable as he sneers and snides his way through countless cheesy one-liners. The dynamic between Banning and Yune's Kang is eerily reminiscent of Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman in Die Hard so as long as you're going to rip a movie off, at least rip off a good one. Moral of the story is this, Gerard Butler is cool and a more than worthy leading man as an action hero.

The casting on the whole is solid. It's also fair to say not much of the talent assembled here is given much to do, but whatever, minor complaint. Eckhart is a solid President, an everyman who wants the best for his country and his son (not shrill but talented Finley Jacobsen). His Cabinet and the government higher-ups include Morgan Freeman as the Speaker of the House, Melissa Leo as the Secretary of Defense, Robert Forster as Army Chief of Staff, Sean O'Bryan as Deputy National Security Advisor and Angela Bassett as the head of the Secret Service. Oh, yeah, also look for Dylan McDermott, Ashley Judd, Radha Mitchell and Cole Hauser in key supporting roles. Lots of people, lots of talent. Underused and/or misused maybe, but it's fun seeing so many big names together.

Enough with all this acting mumbo-jumbo. This is a movie about action and gunfights and stabbings and explosions! Borrowing heavily from Die Hard, Banning works from inside-out at the White House, trying to take down the North Koreans one by one. Oh, and those North Koreans are highly trained commandos so we're in store for some good, old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat. If it's a little cliched, so be it. The bad guys for the most part can't hit anything (Mike), but Mike can hit everything (North Koreans). The North Korean attack on D.C. is something else to watch, a meticulously coordinated attack that's brutal in its efficiency. Without giving away too much, the action is brutal, hard-hitting and even features some solid surprises along the way.

Is this one predictable? Oh, yes. You've probably got a good sense of where this one is heading as of right now....without having seen a second. Wait!!! Morgan Freeman becomes the President?!?! The North Koreans are brilliant in executing a plan but can't capture one freaking man?!? We get lots of shots of American flags blowing in the wind -- to composer Trevor Morris' patriotic score -- and a general feeling of patriotism and national pride. It's a good movie. Don't overthink it or its rather obvious influences. Enjoy it for what it is, a shoot 'em up action flick with a cast that looks to be having a lot of fun.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013): ***/****

Machine Gun Preacher

The movie title certainly jumped off the page when I stumbled upon it, 2011's Machine Gun Preacher. It sounded like a schlocky action, drive-in movie from the 1970s that Quentin Tarantino would have loved. But no, it's actually a true story based on the life of Sam Childers, a drug-dealing biker turned obsessed missionary. The end result is a mixed bag, but there are certainly positives to take away.

Fresh out of jail, Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) returns to the exact things that put him in jail -- drugs, robbery, assault -- and quickly sees the error in his ways when he almost kills a man. Seeking help, some sort of redemption for all the bad he's done, Sam joins a church with his wife, Lynn (Michelle Monaghan), and tries to turn over a new leaf. He starts over, building a construction company from the ground up, starting a church for individuals like himself, but most importantly, he hears about the atrocities being committed in the Sudan and Uganda. Sam wants to do something to help the children living daily on the brink of death, but walking into a revolution, nothing will be simple.

This is an interesting mix of a movie, for good and bad reasons. Based on Childers' life, it has an authentic feel to it, and Butler does a fine job with the part (more on that later). But at the same time, it can't quite figure out what to say or do. At 127 minutes, it's both too short and too long. Focus on Sam's home life with his wife and daughter (Madeline Carroll) is necessary to show Sam's inner struggles and demons, but those scenes vary from dull to repetitive. Where the movie is at its strongest is when Sam travels to Sudan on multiple occasions to build an orphanage for children left on their own because of the revolution. It's just too bad more focus couldn't have been put there.

When the focus is on the fighting between the LRA and the freedom fighters, 'Preacher' is moving along at its best. There are moments of emotional perfection and sheer horror as Sam sees the atrocities being committed. In a startling opening sequence, we see a LRA attack on a peaceful village, a boy, William (Junior Magale), forced to kill his mother because the LRA demands a death. As Sam sees these horrors, he comes completely undone when he sees a boy killed by a land mine. Later ventures have him making choices that will end in someone's death, a decision that obviously weights heavy on his head. Butler's scenes later with Magale's William are about as perfect as you can. When the movie works, it really works.    

Also a producer on the film, this was clearly an important role to Gerard Butler, and he does a great job portraying Sam Childers. At times since the success of 300, Butler seems to have trouble picking the right roles, but this is an ideally suited one for him. Early on, Sam is a despicable person -- and an easy one to hate -- but he needs that low point to help turn things around. Butler is a live wire here, emotionally charged, driven and frustrated that he can't do more. All he wants is for others to see the brutal atrocities being committed and want to help, but even that's too much sometimes. Saving the orphaned children becomes an obsession with him to the point he blocks out his family and friends. A very good performance from Butler. Monaghan is good as Lynn, Michael Shannon is underused as Sam's similarly troubled friend, Donnie, with Souleymane Sy Savane a scene-stealer as Deng, a freedom fighter who comes to be Sam's friend and partner in fighting.

Because I felt a little misled, I'm going to point this out. Hearing the title 'Machine Gun Preacher,' I was expecting a slightly different movie. This is not an action blockbuster. While the action scenes are exciting and well-made, brutally efficient in their quickness, this is a personal story about Sam and what causes the violence. A lot of time -- too much for me -- is spent on the religious aspect, Sam's missionary work at home, and at times heavy-handed messages about God and religion. It never goes too far (but it gets close at times) so be forewarned going in. A good movie that could have been better, but one that's still worth a watch.

Machine Gun Preacher <---trailer (2011): ** 1/2 /****

Reign of Fire

Usually post-apocalyptic movies like to throw some natural calamity at us. If it's not nature -- an epic tsunami, a world-ending storm -- then it is something man-made. How about something else though, something different? How about dragons? Yeah, I thought it sounded kind of silly too. I never consciously avoided 2002's Reign of Fire, but I never actively sought it out until recently. While reviews and ratings are mixed, I liked it.

It is 2020 in the countryside outside of London, and a man named Quinn (Christian Bale) is leading a small group of survivors in the ruins of a castle. For some 20 years, immense, destructive dragons have been wreaking havoc all over the Earth, and now the few remaining people have been forced to band together to survive. Hoping to defeat or at least outlast the dragons, Quinn and his group are surprised one day to see an armored convoy approach their gates. Leading this American contingent is Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), an obsessed dragon slayer hell bent on wiping out the dragons. The two men differ on what to do. Quinn wants to survive, Van Zan wants to go on the hunt. The right answer? Somewhere in between, forcing the men to work together.

Maybe the biggest reason I never sought this flick out was that the premise just sounded too silly. Dragons wiping out mankind? Desperate, poorly-supplied survivors trying to fight back? I don't know. Maybe I was thinking of Pete the Magic Dragon from growing up, but it didn't sound too appealing. Well, I was wrong. I liked it (didn't love it) because director Rob Bowman keeps it serious. If anything, even a little humor -- dark though it may have been -- would have aided the cause. But as is, it's an end of the world story. The backstory with the dragons is actually pretty cool, the creatures periodically coming from the depths of the Earth to ravage the planet, then retire back to deep, cavernous cavities. It isn't anything ground-breaking, but it's better than what I expected.

Playing the two leads, Bale and McConaughey provide an interesting Odd Couple at the forefront of the movie. A pre-Batman Bale is the more sympathetic (if not more interesting) of the two; a grown man trying to help other survivors keep living one more day. As a boy, he saw his mother killed when the first dragon escapes from under London. He's spent the rest of his life trying to right that wrong. The scene-stealing, more showy part goes to McConaughey as Van Zan, an American military officer obsessed with defeating dragons. His look alone -- Mad Max meets Neo-Nazi -- with a shaved head, heavy native tattoos on his arms, sleeveless bomber jacket, wicked goatee, and big old biceps is enough for a badass, but I thought McConaughey does a fine job with the character. He sneers and growls, giving Van Zan quite that dramatic edge.

Also look for a pre-300 Gerard Butler as Creedy, Quinn's long-time friend and right hand man, Izabella Scorupco as Alex, Van Zan's highly trained and effective helicopter pilot, Scott Moutter as Jared, a teenager Quinn saved as a young boy, and David Kennedy, Alexander Siddig and Ned Dennehy as three of Quinn's men who help him combat the dragon attacks.   

Post-apocalyptic. That must mean the world looks pretty dreary, right? The look of the movie certainly reflects that sentiment. It's a dreary, dark, cloudy world without sun after years of fire have ravaged the Earth. 'Reign' was filmed in Ireland and down to the sets and costumes, it looks like a modern Middle Aged story developing. The musical score from composers Ed Shearmur and Brad Wagner is good in that epic Hans Zimmer vein as well.

So how do you combat fire-breathing dragons? Well, you don't really, and if you try.....it sure ain't easy. 'Reign' has some fun with that issue as Quinn and his survivors basically hide when a dragon appears, but when Van Zan's heavily armed crew arrives, we're in for a treat. His attack on a raiding dragon is a high point of the movie featuring a complicated, suicidal plan. The action overall is the best part of the movie, and the finale in a desolated, demolished London is surprisingly cool too. Does this one deserve the rating I'm going to give it? Maybe not, but I liked it just the same. Entertaining, exciting rainy day type of movie that's good with a bucket of popcorn.

Reign of Fire <---trailer (2002): ***/****

RocknRolla

Before I saw Sherlock Holmes last winter, my knowledge of Guy Ritchie was limited to knowledge of a couple cult classic British crime stories, his marriage to Madonna and subsequent disastrous movie starring Mrs. Ritchie.  I liked Sherlock Holmes but didn't love it, and looking at his short list of movies none of them really jumped out at me, especially 2008's RocknRolla.  I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked like an annoyingly ultra-stylish story that knows it's cool and is going to take every opportunity it gets to show you how cool it is.  But then I really looked at the cast, and thought I had to at least give it a try.  I'm glad I did.

Ritchie has taken all sorts of abuse over the years for everything from his directing style -- as a Tarantino rip-off -- to his not-so private life with Madonna.  And even in a period piece about one of literature's most famous characters, Ritchie was able to make it an ultra-stylish period piece.  Not having seen Snatch or Lock, Stock... but knowing their reputation, it seems Ritchie is most at home in the London underworld where heavy accents and dialects dominate and everyone and anyone will turn on you for a buck.  RocknRolla is at times convoluted, at times overly concerned in its style, but in the end a very enjoyable, very entertaining British crime caper.

When a business deal goes south, two members of a British gang called the Wild Bunch, One Two (Gerard Butler) and Mumbles (Idris Elba), find themselves in needs of some quick cash, turning to an icy accountant (Thandie Newton) for some inside information.  The man they owe, criminal kingpin Lenny Nelson (Tom Wilkinson), doesn't necessarily need the money, but principle is principle.  Lenny, with right hand man Archy (Mark Strong), is caught up in a real estate deal with a Russian businessman (Karel Roden), who loans Lenny a famous, lucky painting of his until the deal can be completed. The painting wastes no time disappearing, and Lenny is up the creek, even more so when he finds out his stepson, drugged out rocker Johnny Quill (Toby Kebbell), is the thief. So it goes as all these crooks work to save their own backsides, a vicious cycle as One Two and Mumbles end up stealing the money that Lenny is due from the Russian, the painting playing a key role, and in the end everyone is going to run into each other.

Screwy enough for you?  There were times as all these various storylines cross and re-cross that I wondered if I was watching a Seinfeld episode.  But like the best Seinfeld episodes, Ritchie fixes everything in the end as all these characters, storylines and predicaments come together, everything tied up nicely with a bow.  Confusing at times, surely, but never to the point where you feel lost.  Because there is so much going on, you're not always sure quite where everything is going, but it's fun to go along for the ride.  At a certain point, you just go along and enjoy some really cool characters interact in some very stylish ways.  The London criminal underworld never looked so good.

The characters I included above covers about half the actual cast.  Jeremy Piven and rapper Ludacris have two small parts as Johnny Quill's former manager roped into helping Lenny get his painting back.  Tom Hardy plays Handsome Bob, a member of the Wild Bunch and friend of One Two and Mumbles.  There's other characters that drift in and out, but those are the biggies.  Two main storylines dominate all the action, Wilkinson and Strong as the kingpin and his tough as nails assistant trying to track down a stolen painting (the ridiculousness of the premise somehow works perfectly) while Butler, Elba and Hardy keep going after piles of money just waiting to be stolen.

Going away, my favorite parts of RocknRolla was the Wild Bunch.  They have a great dynamic among all the members of a gang that isn't low-level crooks but isn't top-shelf thieves either.  They're somewhere in between, knowing their place in the underworld.  Butler has struggled finding good roles since the success of 300, but this is a very funny gem for him.  Elba is equally perfect in an underused part as Mumbles, and Hardy (another great supporting part along with this summer's Inception) has a great twist to his character that produces some very funny results.  The high point for the Wild Bunch is a robbery gone bad when two Chechnyan thugs do everything they can to protect the cash they're guarding.  A running, chaotic chase scene with some great dark humor, knock down violence runs for almost 10 minutes and is the runaway favorite for the best scene in the movie.  Watch a portion of it HERE. The end of course says the Wild Bunch will be back, and I'm looking forward to it.

As strong as the cast was, I was skeptical going into this movie and ended up really liking it.  Almost every member of the cast is given their own chance to shine and none disappoint.  Wilkinson is his smarmy, intimidating best, Strong's narration is dripping with subtle humor, Newton is a sexy femme fatale that film noir would be jealous of, Butler, Elba and Hardy have a chemistry that speaks to longtime friends, and in the big picture, the stylish elements never go overboard.  Ritchie has a real winner here.  If I can offer any advice, watch the trailer below, but don't hold it against the movie. Don't do what I did, and hold it against the movie.

RocknRolla <---trailer (2008): ***/****

The Miracle Match

Americans love their football, their baseball, their basketball, even hockey has had a bit of a rebirth over the years.  But every four years with the World Cup and every so often in between on countless ESPN shows, the U.S.'s struggle to become a soccer nation comes up. Why can't Americans embrace this sport that is the most popular sport by far around the world?  I grew up watching and playing the sport so I'm an easy convert, but I've never understood the disdain and hatred certain American sports fans have for the game.

When the U.S. National team advanced to the elimination round this summer in South Africa, it brought up the inevitable "Could this be the event that propels soccer into the U.S. limelight?" discussion.  It comes up every two or three years with big wins or events like past his prime superstar David Beckham joining the L.A. Galaxy three years ago.  So can soccer every become extremely popular in the United States? Who knows for sure.  By now maybe you're guessing where I'm going with this.  Looking for a way to drive possible fans away?  Show them 2005's The Miracle Match, the true story of the U.S. at the 1950 World Cup.

The true story is of a 1-0 upset the United States team won over powerhouse England in the 1950 World Cup, a victory that still resonates because it was the ultimate underdog story, the ultimate team that shouldn't be there winning a huge game.  It's the type of story that should translate well to a movie.  Think of Rudy, Hoosiers, Miracle, The Blind Side and countless other inspirational sports movies that stick with viewers long after viewing.  Well, 'Match' follows the same basic formula that made those other entries so good, but it falls flat on its face.  It's so sticky sweet with these underdog Americans while shoving the U.S. patriotism down the viewer's throats that it never makes any impact at all.  Potential for a winner, definitely, but that's all it is; potential.

I knew when I was in trouble almost from the get-go when an opening prologue introduces a reporter (Patrick Stewart) at the 2004 MLS All-Star game, much older now but the only U.S. reporter who even covered the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.  He starts to talk adoringly about how epic the game was, how this ragtag group of amateur American players banded together, how they shocked the world.  That's the whole movie.  The 1950 team is treated like gods who changed the course of history.  Sure, the 1-0 win over England was beyond believable, but you know what the Americans did in the other two pool play games? Lost 3-1 to Spain and 5-2 to Chile.  At no point does 'Match' even mention the rest of the games or any sort of context as to what the game meant.  It didn't change much at all and is a stand-alone of what sports can do.  Goliath doesn't always win, but don't try and convince me this team was welcomed home like conquering heroes.

Playing actual people -- especially when they're still alive -- can be tricky so 'Match' plays it as safe as possible.  Every character is from the cookie-cutter school of generic sports figures.  A pre-300 Gerard Butler plays Frank Borghi, the U.S. team's very talented goalkeeper and really the only character with any sort of personality, anything of interest about him at all. Wes Bentley plays Walter Bahr, one of the greatest all-time players to play for the U.S. and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Bentley gives little personality to the part, and it's hard to believe him as a leader of a soccer team because he doesn't even convince the viewers of his ability, much less his teammates. No one else in the cast makes much of an impression except John Rhys-Davies as national team coach Bill Jeffrey, maybe the worst portrayal of a coach I've ever seen in a movie. It looks like he's sleepwalking 90% of the time.

Now on to the soccer.  Any sport can be tricky to translate to a screen because acting is one thing.  Physical confrontations in a game that is almost entirely unpredictable? Downright impossible.  The soccer scenes -- and there's plenty -- lack any energy, any drive.  The actual World Cup game is well handled although the one goal scored comes as a bit of an anticlimax.  Honestly though, the movie was lost to me long before the final 20 minutes.  Director David Anspaugh supposedly had his budget cut from $65 to $27 million so the version we see is not the one he intended.  I'm hard-pressed to think of much that could make this movie that much better.  Pass.

The Miracle Match <---(2005): * 1/2 /****    

300

Back to a topic I've written about before for this review...the anti-climactic last stand. Of course, it's only anti-climactic if you know even a little about history. So if you fit in, the endings to movies about the Alamo, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and the Battle of Thermopylae shouldn't come as a surprise to you. But how do you make a movie where at least a good portion of the audience knows how the story is going to end? Getting there can be half the fun, but that doesn't fly with a lot of audiences.

Turning Frank Miller's graphic novel 300, based on the real life battle of Thermopylae, into a big budget action picture, director Zack Snyder stayed true to the story's roots -- in this case the graphic novel. Instead of making a historically accurate, fact-based version of this ancient battle, Snyder goes for the jugular with an over the top, very stylized telling of one of history's famous last stands. And even though the movie was a huge hit -- making over $200 million -- the criticisms rained down, but more on that later. Maybe more so than with so many other movies, it is essential to know the type of movie you will be watching when it comes to 300. If not, there's any number of places where interest may wane.

It is the year 480 BC and the Spartan king Leonidas (Gerard Butler) receives a messenger from Persia. The Persian god-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) is sweeping across the world with his massive army, swallowing up countries and armies wherever he goes building his empire. But with the war-heavy culture and upbringing of the Spartans, Leonidas isn't going to just roll over and let Xerxes take Sparta. The council won't allow the army to march out and face the army coming to destroy them so Leonidas finds a loophole of sorts. With his personal bodyguard of 300 men, he marches north to face Xerxes' army.

Leonidas plans for the battle at the pass of Thermopylae where Xerxes' numbers will be negated by the thin entryway. Occupying the pass, Leonidas and the brave 300 can hold back the charges thrown at them over and over again. But as the casualties mount on both sides, can they hold out in time for the council to agree to send the army to help them? Or like true Spartans, will they die in battle as they live up to their belief 'Never give up, never surrender.'? All other things aside, this movie is about the action. It gets to the point it's not just graphic violence anymore. At a certain point, it becomes a ballet, an odd dance of death with blood and guts flying around.

As somehow who doesn't love graphic violence in movies, even I was able to appreciate 300's action. It's heavy on the slow motion which works perfectly because it allows the viewer to see what's going on, how proficient the Spartans were with their weaponry, like this scene. And most of the last 75 minutes of the movie is action, pure and simple, as the Spartans repel charge after charge. You'd think it would get repetitive, but Snyder throws a curveball here and there to keep us interested, including this great fight scene with the Immortals. For one, the script is great, full of one-liners that out of context might sound overdone, but in the context of the movie could not have worked perfectly. Like this now-famous line which has been reused and reused since the movie's release.

Not having read Miller's graphic novel, I can't say how close the movie stays to its source in terms of dialogue. But the dialogue surprisingly enough is what boosts this action movie from average to above average. I for one would not have thought of an ancient massacre being the basis for good one-liners, but what do I know? Credit goes to the cast for committing to these lines, starting with Butler who delivers a movie-stealing performance with his growling voice as he spews out these great lines one after another. The rest of the cast includes Lena Headey as Gorgo, Leonidas' wife and queen of Sparta, Dominic West as the treacherous councilman Theron, and David Wenham, Vincent Regan and Michael Fassbender as three key Spartans.

Done completely in front of a green screen, the movie looks and feels like a graphic novel with its washed out colors (check out the ending for a good representation) which are nonetheless appealing to the eye. The whole movie is a visual treat, not just the expertly-choreographed action sequences. Everything down to the Spartans uniforms all works toward the visual aspect. It also made some people think this was possibly the gayest movie ever with 300 ripped, semi-naked warriors fighting together. Some people have a better imagination than I do I guess. As for the historical naysayers, this movie was never supposed to an accurate depiction of the battle. It's one crazy, over the top look at the battle that never pretends to be anything other than it is, an incredibly entertaining movie.

There are elements of Gladiator and Braveheart visible at times, but it would be hard not to reference those two classics in one way or another. But 300 stands on it's own with a style unto itself. And massacre be damned, Snyder finds a way to make the ending powerful, inspiring and emotional...and that's after the battle. Check it out here as David Wenham's Delios tells the story of the 300 to the Spartan council. A damn good ending to a great movie.

300 <----trailer (2006): *** 1/2 /****