1. FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Names of group members: YIP CHIN SENG
Historical Movie
English 2 (ENGL 0205)
Compare and contrast two movie
YIP CHIN SENG (0311956)
Lecture:Mr.Nathniel Woon Wai Cheong
FNBE 2012 July intake semester 2

2. FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Names of group members: YIP CHIN SENG
Nowadays, we were always went to the cinema and watch movies, we had
watched different genre of movies like historical, musical, mystery, action and so on.
But even we had watched many movies, do we had understood the meaning of the
movie and what the movie wanted to tell us? And was the movie we watched bring
the true story? Well, most of the movies will not bring the true story, but some movie
might have told us the true story, example like historical movie. Why we said that
historical movie will tell us the true story? It is because historical movie normally tell
us the true history in the world example like war, politics, love and so on.
Let me introduce two best historical movie which is about war in two century,
which was the movie “Pearl Harbor” and “300”. The movie “Pearl Harbor” is a
historical and romantic movie in US. The story of the movie is about two young boys
Rafe McCawley and Danny Walker who grew up together and wanted to learn to fly
and a beautiful nurse Evelyn Johnson. In the story, after the two young boys grew up
and became a man, they joined U.S. Army Air Corps where Rafe McCawley falled in
love with the beautiful nurse. In the movie also told that on December 7,1941, the
Japanese military begin bombing Pearl Harbor in the period of World War 2. Besides
that, the movie “300” is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in
which King Leonidas, who leads 300 Spartans fought to the death against Persian
“god-king” Xerxes and his massive Persian army of more than 300,000 soldiers.
Facing insurmountable odds, their courage and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite
against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. So, what was
the different between this two movies which in the same genre?
There were a lot of different between the two movies, example like war, why
is the war started? When and where is the war and what is the weapons they were
used to fight against their enemy and what is the tactics they used to fight in the war?
First, let’s talk about the different of movies. Why is the war started? In the movie
“Pearl Harbor”, the war started because of the Japanese military begin bombing

3. FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Names of group members: YIP CHIN SENG
Pearl Harbor with hundreds of airplane and submarines in December 7, 1941. After
the first battle in Pearl Harbor, US military planned to bomb Tokyo which is the
capital city of Japan. After training, the raiders of US military were sent towards
Japan by ship and in April, the ship was attacked by the Japanese and the raiders fly
on their B-25 Mitchell medium bombers towards Tokyo and that is how the war
started in the period of World War 2. In the story of “300”, a Persian messenger
arrives at the gates of Sparta, demanding the submission of Sparta to King Xerxes.
In response to this demand, King Leonidas kicks the messenger into a large well and
this is how the war started between the Spartans and the Persian army.
Then, the war in “Pearl Harbor” is a modern war because of the weapons they
used to fight. For an example, Japanese military used airplanes and submarines to
bomb Pearl Harbor and the revenge of the US military also used modern B-25
Mitchell medium bombers to bomb Tokyo. Not only airplanes and submarines, they
also used guns and other modern weapon in the war. In the movie “300”, the
weapons they used is quite old, it is because in the war of the Spartans and Persians,
the melee weapons they used is only swords, spears, axes and shield. For ranged
weapon, they used bows and arrows to kill enemy. Besides melee and range weapon,
they also ride on the elephants in the fighting just like the modern war which the
soldiers used the tanks in the war.
Finally, the setting of the movies is also different. In the movie “Pearl Harbor”
the setting is in the Pearl Harbor and the seaside of the Pearl Harbor. The battle field
between Japan and United States are Pearl Harbor when the Japanese military
bombing the Pearl Harbor, the seaside when the submarines of Japanese military
bombing the ships of the US military, in the sea where the Japan forces attacked the
ship of US forces and the Tokyo where the US military take revenge on the Japanese
and bombing Tokyo. Besides that, in the movie “300”, the setting is in the Ancient
Greece, but the setting during the most pivotal part of the movie is specifically at

4. FNBE JAN 2013 - ENGL 0205
English 2
Names of group members: YIP CHIN SENG
Thermopylae. The 300 of Spartan soldiers fought against a large Persian army, even
Spartans had much lesser man than Persian army, but the Spartans still won a lot of
war during the battle between Spartans and Persians. But in the end, the man
Spartans lose in a battle and sacrificed together with their king, King Leonidas.
In conclusion, even some historical movies are boring, but they are
meaningful and it can let us understand the history of different places while watching
the movie and I personally agree the peoples watching historical movie to understand
the history in this world.