36th Surfman Award: Frank Miller & The 300

Recently I purchased a copy of Frank Miller's The 300 and I was extremely impressed by the story and art so much that I cannot wait to see the movie later this afternoon. Lynn Varley's colors are also perfect for the story, giving it a dark and vivid texture. If you are not familar with The 300, it is based on a real battle back in 480 BC, where King Leonidas and his Spartan bodyguards fought as many Persians as there are stars in the sky. They did perish in the end but they held the Persians off long enough for the rest Of Sparta and Greece as a whole to rally their troops into one unified force to defeat the Persian invaders. This was no little feat considering that Greece was made up of many city-states that were constantly divided among themselves.

Lat night I watched the 1962 classic The 300 Spartans to get a perspective of the film made than to compare/contrast it to today's 2007 CGI blockbuster The 300. The 1962 film was slow and a bit campy, yet surprising entertaining...however, I'm sure it will be no contest for this afternoon's imax experience. I do not believe Richard Egan's Leonidas will be any match for Gerald Butler's.