300 was one of the better movies from director
Zack
Synder. There is an expansion of the
mythology of 300 in movies based on comics written and drawn by frank Miller
(in fictionalized retellings of real historic battles). 300: THE RISE OF AN
EMPIRE acts as prequel,
side story to the 300, and sequel to the first movie. The naval battles are
the center piece of
this movie other than the over-the-top grand performance by Eva Green as the
Persian naval commander Artemisia (who is also the grand manipulator of Persian
God King Xeres in her quest of revenge against the Greeks). Artemisia is equally
skilled in battle as she
is in sex (as witnessed in a scene between her and Greek General Themistokles
(Sullivan Stapleton) which is one part brawl/ one part rough sex scene). Stapleton
almost matches Eva Green in the scenes they are in together, but Eva always
comes out on top regardless of her character’s fate. 300: RISE OF
AN EMPIRE blends CGI
and actual set pieces more smoothly than in 300 (which was more of a style over
substance movie that was trying to be a film version of Frank Miller’s comic
down to some of the visuals of the comic itself).
300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE is best seen as
a companion piece or
another chapter of the 300 saga which fills in the gaps and expands on the
universe. It starts with the fateful
battle between the Greeks and Persians ten years ago where one decision by
Themistokles leads to the rebirth of Xeres as a God King bent on revenge as
manipulated by Artemisia (who was beaten and raped by Greeks when she was child
before being left for dead to be taken in by the Persians who trained her to be
a warrior). The movie then goes into the
events happening while the Spartan King leads 300 men against the Persians and
the events after the 300 had fallen. It
is like chess match between two equally
clever opponents as Artemisia tries to break the back of the small Greek fleet
and Themistokles using clever tactics to beat back the advancing fleet. Artemisia
admires the tactics of her
opponent which she sees as an equal in her yearning to have someone she can
trust to be at her side. Fans of 300
will love this one and straight action films fans might even dig it too and
definitely anyone who wants to see a deadly badass woman take power in a world
controlled by men. I know I loved it for
the great action and an awesome scene stealing turn by Eva Green. I definitely
like it better than the first
300.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
BEHIND THE SCENES: THE 300 EFFECT:
3 DAYS IN HELL (7:08)-
BRUTAL ARTISTRY (9:08)-
go behind-the-scenes as you hear from
Patrick Tatopoulos talk about bringing new production design to 300: RISE OF AN
EMPIRE
A NEW BREED OF HERO (4:49)-
Focusing on Themistokles, the real
person and the character in the movie
TAKING THE BATTLE TO SEA
(8:52)- behind-the-scenes of how they created the battles at sea on ship sets
against green screen where they created the water in post along with creating
blood in post along with using various type of prop swords to finish the
effects of the weapon going into people (with effects work).
REAL LEADERS &
LEGENDS (22:52)- a look at the real people the characters are based on and
learn how Artemisia’s fate is different in history from the movie that features
interviews with historians including Bettany Hughes. They also talk about
the actual history and
how history was turned into myth.
WOMEN WARRIORS (12:22)-
a little overlap from the previous featurette as the focus turns on comparing
the women characters in history vs. the movie
SAVAGE WARSHIPS (10:36)-
a look at the production design of the ships of 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE and
making sure they got the look of the ships (Triremes) right (and how they
worked and designed) along with interviews with historians and the producers
and Patrick Tatopoulos
BEHIND THE SCENES: BECOMING A WARRIOR (4:39)- a look at the training the cast went through to get
in shape for the movie and learn the skills needed to do the fights
Movie on DVD in Standard
Definition and a code to download and stream a digital HD Ultraviolet copy among
several devices (TV, computer, tablet, smartphone)
FINAL ANALYSIS: 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE
is a better movie
than 300 with better effects, impressive naval battles, and a scene stealing
turn by Eva Green. The extras are worth
watching if you want to learn about the real history of 5th century
Greece
during the time of the 300 movies and how the movie was made.
This review is ©6-27-2014
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
to feedback@enterline-media.com
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