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Meet the Spartans

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Meet the Spartans
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Written byJason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Produced byJason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer
Peter Safran
StarringSean Maguire
Carmen Electra
Ken Davitian
Kevin Sorbo
Diedrich Bader
Method Man
Nicole Parker
CinematographyShawn Maurer
Edited byPeck Prior
Music byChristopher Lennertz
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Regency Enterprises
Release datesJanuary 25, 2008
Running time84 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million

Meet the Spartans is a 2008 spoof/parody produced and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Although it references many movies, TV shows, people and pop cultural events, it focuses mainly on the movie 300.


Plot

The film opens with a Spartan elder inspecting a baby similar to that of Shrek the Third. The narrator paraphrases the words of Dilios in the movie 300 about the Spartan selectiveness of their citizens. The baby is rejected and punted off the hill. Leonidas is then inspected, having a six-pack, biceps, and beard from birth. He is accepted as a Spartan and prepared for his kinghood by many "humorous" adventures, including being captured and accused as if he were James Bond, getting beaten by a Spartan elder, and fighting and killing a giant penguin (as in Happy Feet) in the wilderness.

Returning a king for his inauguration ceremony (in a scene similar to 300), Leonidas sees Queen Margo dancing and asks her to marry him, to which she responds by giving him the combination to her chastity belt (a spoof of Robin Hood: Men in Tights). The film then cuts to Leonidas' kingship as he is beating his own son with various weapons and other objects. Leonidas is then informed that a Persian messenger has arrived to represent Xerxes, and Leonidas greets him the Spartan way (high-fives for the women, open mouth tongue kisses for the men). After growing angry with the messenger, Leonidas kicks him and several other people including "Britney Spears" (Nicole Parker), "Tom Cruise" (Thomas McKenna), "Dane Cook" (Ike Barinholtz), "Ellen Degeneres" (Nicole Parker"),"Ryan Seacreast" (Nate Haden), notorious Idol contestant Sanjaya (Tony Yalda) into "The Pit of Death," a big hole similar to the one in 300, with a sign that says, "Pit of Death."

Leonidas and Margo then decide to have sex before Leonidas most likely dies (which in fact is just Leonidas bench pressing his wife numerous times). Leonidas then goes out to meet the soldiers collected for his departure, and finds that only 13 (not 300) came to the call of war. The 13 hold hands and skip behind Leonidas to Thermopylae, where they meet Paris Hilton (the movie's equivalent of Ephialtes). She is rejected and betrays them to Xerxes (who was identified as "the fat guy from Borat" to remind those stupid enough who he is).

After several Stomp the Yard and Yo Momma battles, the Spartans prepare to fight their final battle against Xerxes. Using a digital army, Xerxes overpowers the 12 remaining Greeks. Even after being defeated, however, Xerxes still overwhelms the Spartans as a giant transformer (which plays the Chris Crocker YouTube 'Leave Britney Alone' video) by falling on them. Dilio apparently leads a force of 100 real Spartans and several thousand more digital ones, but since he is blind goes the wrong way and leads the Spartans to Malibu, just as Lindsay Lohan is coming out of rehab. They crash into her and the screen shoots into her pantyless crotch.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received negative reviews from critics. This was the first movie to encourge movie piracy. As of January 28, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 3% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 23 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 8 out of 100, based on 6 reviews — indicating "extreme dislike or disgust. British film critic John Hays said "About as awful as putting a pine up your back side.""

Box office performance

Despite the negative critical reaction, the film opened at the top spot at the US box office, grossing an estimated $18.7 million, narrowly edging out fellow newcomer Rambo. The film was marketed towards pre-teen and young adult audiences. . Teenagers and young adults made up about 75 percent of the audience and that percentage probably thought it was the sequel to 300.

Parodies

References

  1. "Meet the Spartans - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  2. "Meet the Spartans (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  3. "Moviegoers glad to 'Meet the Spartans'". CNN.com. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  4. "Moviegoers glad to 'Meet the Spartans'". CNN.com. Retrieved 2008-01-28.

External links

Template:Box Office Leaders USA

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