.cross.wired.mind.

Every 5 or 10 years you walk out of a theater and realize that you have just seen a truly important film. The critics may hate it, the money may or may not roll in, but something about the film stands out and changes things.

Star Wars - Blade Runner - Saving Private Ryan - The Matrix - The Lord of the Rings

All of these films changed the genre from which it came. All films that came after looked back at them for inspiration. They became iconic. They shifted the cinematic landscape. After you have seen them you look back at other films like them and they somehow pale in comparison. Scifi before Star Wars just looked cheap. Blade Runner showed that scifi could have substance. Saving Private Ryan made all previous movies about World War II look like Boy Scout outings. The Matrix gave us a whole new way to visualize the world both cinematically and philosophically. The Lord of the Rings showed us that fantasy films did not have to be just mindless sword and sorcery romps with campy dialogue and rubber monsters.

300

Films based on the tales and myths of ancient history have a new gold standard. Narrated in the style of a Greek tragedy, the story telling in 300 feels larger than life. The characters are iconic without being two-dimensional. The story is refined to essentials. There was never a moment that seemed out of place or without purpose. The visuals were simply astounding. Tales of great heroism and ancient drama requires a sense gravity and grandeur without a hard and fast grip on reality. Gladiator tried to recreate history. 300 does not pretend to be an accurate simulation of the fine details of history. Who cares that the helmets were not quite right. Who cares that Spartans were sometimes heavily armored and sometimes fought with just cape, sandals, helmet, shield, and spear. Details are not as important as grand story telling and a real sense of the hero and the myth.

300 certainly has its detractors (more on that another time). It is not a flawless film, but it is the first film about the ancient world that cuts through the historical clutter and tells the heart of the story. It does not attempt to layer on 21st century sensibilities. It is told - unapologetically - from the Spartan perspective. Gross exaggeration - the hallmark of mythical story telling - is embraced rather than shunned. It is not the single most accurate portrayal of the Battle of Thermopylae but it does not stray far from the truth. And that is the power of a good tale - take the truth add some drama and a little exaggeration and you get one hell of an entertaining story.

Now add some of the most breathtaking visuals I have ever seen and that makes the kind of film that shakes it all up and changes the way films are made. Time will tell if I am right but one thing is for sure - 300 is the most beautiful film I have ever seen.

If you have not seen it yet then run out and get a ticket. This is an event that MUST be seen on the big screen (and in DLP if possible).