review: Spartan

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

reference: http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=965

can you tell us a little more about the sparta references in the film?

[Skar]

I didn't notice any blatant ones.  

I get the feeling the name came from the hero of the film being a professional warrior.  Which is a simplified but accurate view of the Spartans.

[n8sumsion]

I may be way off on this one, but if I remember correctly, when neighboring nations would ask for help from the Spartans, Sparta would send over 1 warrior instead of sending a legion of troops or anything. I felt that the title came from this, where Val Kilmer was the only one sent in after the kidnapped daughter.

If you can find Frank Miller's 300, that is a great story about Spartans.

I enjoyed this movie. I'm not a huge Mamet fan, because I think his films are too understated, but I thought Kilmer did a nice job on this one, and the story held together really well.

[Skar]

Yes.  Now that you mention it, I remember.  That story is in fact mentioned explicitly in the movie.  Sorry.

Although I think that it was told as an isolated incident rather than a habit of the spartan kings.  And Kilmer was not, in fact, sent by anyone.  He went because he thought it was the right thing to do.

[n8sumsion]

Duh. I was hoping to post this before anyone else caught it. I realized when I got home this evening that the place where I had heard that bit of information was, in fact, mentioned right at the beginning of the movie.

So yeah, as long as Mamet did his research properly, that's the source of the information. And I'll try to limit pulling random facts out of my head for a while to save myself some embarrassment.