Tagline: The bigger the hit, the harder they fall.
Meet the Spartans opens with a Spartan elder inspecting a talking baby ogre. The baby vomits on the inspector and is then discarded with a punt off the hill. Next, he inspects a Vietnamese baby, and Brangelina instantly adopts it. Baby Leonidas is then inspected, having a six-pack, biceps, and beard from birth. He is accepted as a Spartan and prepared for kinghood through his childhood training, from fighting his grandmother to enduring torture. Leonidas (Sean Maguire) is then cast out into the wild, and survives the harsh winter while killing a giant dancing penguin. Returning a king for his inauguration ceremony, Leonidas sees Margo (Carmen Electra) dancing and asks her to marry him, to which she responds by giving him the combination to her chastity belt.
Years later, Leonidas is training when Captain (Kevin Sorbo) informs him that a Persian messenger has arrived. The messenger has come to present Xerxes’ demands for Sparta’s submission. Leonidas arrives to greet the messenger in the Spartan way (high-fives for the women and open mouth tongue kisses for the men). After growing angry with both the messenger’s disrespect and making out with his wife, Leonidas kicks him, the messenger’s bodyguards, and then several other people he simply disliked, ranging from Britney Spears (Nicole Parker), Ryan Seacrest, Michael Jackson and Kevin Federline (Nick Steele) to Sanjaya Malakar (Tony Yalda) and the American Idol judges into “the pit of death”. As Leonidas walks off he turns to a column that has a switch that reads “Garbage Disposal”, and flips the switch causing the celebrities to spiral to their “death”.
Meet the Spartans is a 2008 American parody film directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Similar to past movies, such as Scary Movie, Date Movie, and Epic Movie, it directs parodies at various films. Although it references many films, TV shows, people and pop cultural events, it focuses mainly on the 2007 film 300. It opened #1 in the US box office, despite receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews. The film stars Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra and Kevin Sorbo.
About the Production
With Meet the Spartans, Friedberg and Seltzer bring together what they call “the highly stylized and oh-so-cool” world of the Sparta depicted in “300,” with a non-stop assault on our media-blitzed pop culture. They set their parodic sights on other blockbuster films, like “Transformers,” “Shrek,” “Casino Royale,” “Spider-Man” and “Happy Feet”; TV reality shows like “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “America’s Next Top Model” and “Deal or No Deal”; the video game “Grand Theft Auto,” and celebrities Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Donald Trump, Dr. Phil, Tom Cruise, J-Lo, and “Brangelina.”
In Friedberg and Seltzer’s Sparta, men greet men with a kiss and women with a special handshake. Marching off to war, these heroic 13 warriors skip along, singing “I Will Survive.” Their Leonidas battles a “happy-footed” penguin; the hunchback sandman who betrays the Spartans turns out to be Paris Hilton; and the set of “Deal or No Deal” magically appears, replete with the models and their suitcases.
What was it about “300” that made it the filmmakers’ prime target of parody? “We liked the movie and how it was so committed to the world of violence and leather underwear,” Friedberg deadpans. “The characters are overly macho — and the film is rife with homoerotic undertones. We picked up on all those themes, which seemed like they’d be a lot of fun to explore in a parody.”
Seltzer elaborates: “The characters in `300′ take themselves very seriously. Their humorless natures gave us a lot to explore. In MEET THE SPARTANS the characters still treat themselves and their situations seriously, but we juxtapose the dialog and actions in ways that parody the original film.”
The sexual undercurrents from “300” run throughout MEET THE SPARTANS in both subtle and unsubtle ways, from the original film’s painted-on look of the characters’ abs, to Seltzer and Friedberg’s invention of a Spartan tradition of the turned-around Spartan greetings.
“Well, it’s not like we invented [the homoerotic undertones],” says Friedberg. “A lot of the reviews of `300′ referred to it. And it’s our understanding that in the original graphic novel the characters weren’t even wearing codpieces. They were in the nude, just like the classic Greeks.
“So we didn’t have to scratch the surface very deeply to come up with that theme. And it certainly seemed right for parody. But it’s never meant to be mean-spirited; it’s all in fun.”
To cast the role of the Leonidas, who leads the valiant 300 — er, make that 13 — into battle against overwhelming forces, the filmmakers met with hundreds of actors. British-born Sean Maguire, who has worked in film and television on both sides of the Atlantic since childhood, captures the nuances of “300’s” Leonidas (played by Gerard Butler), including the character’s gravelly voice and inflections, unique stance and walk, and take-no-prisoners attitude.
Maguire impressed Seltzer and Friedberg with his choice to play the character minus obvious comedic “winks.” “To make this kind of comedy work,” says Friedberg, “it’s important for the lead actors to play their roles grounded in reality. During his audition and even while filming, Sean often seemed oblivious that he was even acting in a comedy.”
“In a parody, it’s an actor’s job to poke fun at the other movie but try and play it as straight as possible,” Maguire elaborates. “Then, hopefully, you find the comedy.”
Maguire’s decision to not overtly play to the jokes points to his and the filmmakers’ affection for the subject of their parody. “We made MEET THE SPARTANS with love and admiration toward `300,'” says the actor. “Although it may look like we were just being silly with it, we really do appreciate that film. And I tried in almost every scene to sort of pay homage to Gerry Butler and the incredible job he did in the role of Leonidas.
“I think there’s something about taking the audience through the memorable `300′ moments and then doing a left field comic turn by ridiculing the film. That was kind of the joy of making MEET THE SPARTANS.”
The role also proved to be a physical challenge for Maguire who knew he’d have to be in the best shape possible to capture Gerard Butler’s performance — and sculpted form — in “300.” “I had three weeks to put on about 14 pounds of muscle,” recalls Maguire. “I was working out twice a day. I had a trainer and nutritionist and, basically, my life as I knew it before was pretty much gone for that time. It was no drinking, no carbs, no fat, no sugar — and no fun.” It all paid off handsomely, says Seltzer. “Sean’s a straight-up badass in the film, just like Gerard Butler was in `300.'”
Playing Leonidas’ wife, Queen Margo, is Carmen Electra, a “veteran” of the previous Seltzer-Friedberg collaborations “Date Movie” and “Epic Movie.” Electra, say the filmmakers, shares their sensibilities. “Carmen really gets our comedic spin,” says Friedberg. “She’s obviously beautiful and very sexy, but she also has great comic skills” — all necessary qualities to pull off the role, which mixes sex and outrageousness.
“I’m always attracted to doing parodies, and especially to Jason and Aaron’s specific brand of humor,” says Electra. “Their films are a lot of fun to make. I love to go to work every day and laugh, get to do all this silly stuff, and even make fun of myself. You do have to walk into a movie like this with an open mind and be willing to poke fun at yourself a little bit and put yourself out there.”
Electra particularly enjoyed the way Seltzer and Friedberg subvert audience expectations as to which characters end up shedding clothing…or codpieces. “I’m usually the one who’s hardly wearing anything in a film, but in MEET THE SPARTANS the guys are actually a bit more naked than I am — which is kind of nice for a change. It was cute the way some of them were so shy they kept trying to cover themselves up.”
For the role of Leonidas’ right hand man, the Captain, the filmmakers cast Kevin Sorbo, no stranger to the sword / sandal / codpiece genre through his years as the titular hero in the popular television series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.” “We liked the concept of casting someone as Captain who was in the mold of a real tough guy, with great physical presence,” explains Friedberg. “Obviously, Kevin was an ideal choice; he was the ultimate tough guy — Hercules — for so many years.”
The filmmakers and Sorbo even reference, in MEET THE SPARTANS, the actor’s signature role. Friedberg explains: “It’s fun to play off a role in which one of our actors is closely identified,” says Friedberg. “For example, Kal Penn, in `Epic Movie,’ has a line of dialog pointing to his character’s familiarity with White Castle” — a parodic nod to Penn’s role in the popular comedy “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” Similarly, says Friedberg, “There’s a line in MEET THE SPARTANS where Kevin Sorbo says, `I’m going to go Hercules on your ass.’ And [test] audiences seemed to really like that line. It’s a bit of a wink, but it’s fun. And we like to occasionally include stuff like that.”
Sorbo, who did much of his own stunt work in “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and in his follow-up series, the science fiction epic “Andromeda,” found the sword fighting action in MEET THE SPARTANS very much in his comfort zone. But in addition to the usual action heroics, he was required to pull off a very non-traditional mode of combat. “The Captain is pitted in a brutal kind of dance contest,” says Sorbo. “We have a stomp-off instead of an actual fight sequence.”
In “300,” the character of Xerxes, King of Persia, was a nine foot tall “God King” — a formidable figure even matched against the muscle-bound Spartans. For MEET THE SPARTANS, Friedberg and Seltzer envisioned the character very, very differently, casting the corpulent comic actor Ken Davitian in the role. Davitian, who co-stars in the upcoming film comedy “Get Smart,” is best known for his role as the Kazakh producer Azamat, who engages in an eye-popping nude wrestling match with “Borat.” In MEET THE SPARTANS, Davitian, with his formidable bulk swathed in gold chains and jewels, is quite something to behold.
Friedberg and Seltzer knew audiences would have fun with the way Davitian’s casting would turn the role of Xerxes upside-down and inside-out. Unlike some of the other key cast members, Davitian is physically dissimilar from his counterpart (in this instance, Rodrigo Santoro) in “300.” Moreover, many “Borat” fans believed the Los Angeles native actually speaks with the accent he used in “Borat”; hearing him use his real American accent adds yet another twist to the character.
Davitian himself seems to be emerging as a new “god king of comedy.” “I was ordained the God King of Persia when the filmmakers called and said they needed one,” jokes Davitian. “Xerxes has taken over all of the free world. And he keeps going and going, just like the Energizer Bunny. But all of my troops are beaten into submission, so it’s not really a volunteer army.”
Co-starring in MEET THE SPARTANS is Diedrich Bader, whose many comedy credits include “Napoleon Dynamite” and the series “The Drew Carey Show,” as the treacherous Traitoro. “Traitoro is, well, a traitor,” deadpans Bader. “I betray everyone I can. It’s a wonderfully dastardly role to play — and how often do you get to wear a codpiece in a film?”
Bader says he’s a fan of “300,” but the film did raise some questions for him: “Why does everybody shout through it?” he ponders. “Are they deaf in Sparta? What’s wrong with them; even when they’re just standing around talking, they’re screaming.”
Jareb Dauplaise portrays Dilio, which is based on the character of Delius in “300.” Dilio is a young, eager Spartan warrior who narrates the film and is the only survivor of the Spartan’s battle with the Persians. Dauplaise had worked with Friedberg and Seltzer on “Epic Movie,” in which the young actor parodied Jack Black as Nacho Libre.
Dauplaise, a “twentysomething” actor with a “generous” physique, was delighted when the directors asked him to audition for MEET THE SPARTANS, but puzzled by the role he was up for — a chiseled Spartan, 30-40 years old. “Physically, the role wasn’t me,” laughs Dauplaise. “But I did the best I could with the audition and somehow got lucky.”
Meet the Spartans (2008)
Directed by: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
Starring: Diedrich Bader, Kevin Sorbo, Method Man, Jim Piddock, Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian, Travis Van Winkle, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, Emily Wilson
Screenplay by: Jason Friedberg
Production Design by: William A. Elliott
Cinematography by: Shawn Maurer
Film Editing by: Peck Prior
Costume Design by: Frank Helmer
Set Decoration by: Teresa Visinare
Art Direction by: William Ladd Skinner
Music by: Christopher Lennertz
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language and some comic violence.
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: January 25, 2008
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