300

Have you ever played a sport for a long period of time, and documented 

improvements until this day? I remember my first time as a martial artist, I recorded 

an exhibition match, when I look back and reminisce, I see the how far improved 

from my younger days. My Muaythai kick had no momentum, and thrust, I always 

take note to better myself next round. Whether its technology, culture, social 

structure, or a film, as human beings we always keep in touch with our history. 

Improvement is most important when a person needs to move on and discover new 

styles and ideas. In the film 300 Spartans, I want to compare recent 2006 version to 

its predecessor made in 1962. The films share same storyline, but have their 

differences in terms of mise-en-scene, paste, cinematography, and choreography. 

          In some cases some would speculate that the first version is always the best, 

remakes are never better than the original. In other cases, some may argue that the 

2006 version of 300 is more entertaining to watch. I would like to point out that the 

paste of both films are different, the 1962 version has a slow climax, while the 

recent 300, moves at a fast paste. The 1962 version of the 300 focuses on narrative, 

most scenes were spent talking about the politics of going to war against the 

Persians. Compared to the recent 2006 version, we have a narrator talking over the 

action scenes.  

         The recent 300 Spartan paste in action played a key role; the color grading 

was phenomenal in terms of cinematography and mise-en-scene, the color red was 

saturated, everything else had a sepia color tone. The color tone of the film 

reminded me of a Jacque Louis David painting. The special effects were on point. For 

instance changing the time speed from slow motion, to speeding it up, made 

Leonidas, the main character, look like he had super speed and power. The scene 

was a long tracking shot of Leonidas cleaning through the Persian army in a 

profiling tracking shot - blood and gore squirting everywhere. Not only were the scenes in 

the film action packed, but also horrific. Another scene, the 300 Spartans 

stacked a wall of dead Persians, and used them as a defensive ambush, the bodies 

          The 1962 version of 300 was a great movie at its time; the film was like 

getting taught a history lesson, compared to the more recent. If I wanted to open up 

a book and receive an education, I would watch the 1962 version of the film.  The 

film focused a portion of its narrative on a love story between the young Spartan 

warrior and Leonidas’s daughter. The paste of the movie was slow; everything 

wasn’t in your face, giving time for audience’s to appreciate the ambience.  Since a 

green screen wasn’t used in 1962, the amount of soldiers looked limited. Instead of 

looking like a battle, it looked like a small skirmish. On the other hand the more 

recent 300, made the Spartans look like they were going at war against millions of 

Persian warriors. Overall some mat say recent films are better than the classics.

-   Sompong Viengvilai