300

I know I have a habit of getting too excited about a movie based solely on its trailer (for instance my breathless anticipation for the upcoming Prestige), but I think you can tell quite a lot about a movie based on its trailer, even, to some extent, a good hint as to its quality. For instance, after watching the trailer for the upcoming Steven Zaillian film All The King's Men, I get the distinct impression that it's going to be a terrible movie. In a big, star-studded Oscar-bait movie like this, the studio will invariably trot out a few of the best lines or moments from the film for the trailer to entice folks to head out and see the thing when it comes out. And when the movie's best face is so clearly sub-par, as is the case with All the King's Men, inferences can safely be made. (And that it has Jude Law in it makes it that much easier to figure out.)

Of the trailers I've seen in my life, the trailer for Alien and Pearl Harbor are, in my mind, the best ever cut. Well, today I saw another trailer to add to the list. It's a little grainy and it's hosted on a foreign language site at the moment, but it is stunning. The trailer (technically a "promo reel") is for Zach Snyder's upcoming adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel, 300. It retells the legendary story of the 300 Spartans who fought back an attack by the Persians even though they were outnumbered to the tune of several thousand. I think the actual number is so enormous as to strain credulity. As Rodriguez did with Sin City, Snyder's focus with this movie is to bring the spirit and look of Frank Miller's graphic novel to life as faithfully as possible, and I think this is really the only way to go with most graphic novels. The results speak for themselves. Anyway, take a look at the trailer here, and be doubly glad Snyder's also the one in charge of adapting Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen.