Talk:Spartan (film)

Scott's job
Never is it mentioned that Scott works for the Secret Service, and in the commentaries, Mr. Kilmer says that his character is one of those people who's organization is not known and not talked about.
 * At one point another character refers to Scott as a Marine. He's serving as training cadre for Delta Force, which is evidenced by the fact that Eric Haney was a technical advisor and the training at the beginning of the film is similar to that described in Haney's "Inside Delta Force." Also, Curtis looks at a Ranger memento that his dad gave him; implying that he too is a Ranger, participating in 1st SFOD-D selection. That being the case, Scott has to be former Marine Recon (MARSOC wasn't yet created when the movie was made), and is probably an independent contractor. delta_foxtrot_zulu 20:47, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Laura Newton's father's position
Whoever wrote this article did not watch the film. Miss Newton's father is the President not just a high-ranking government official. Please for the sake of those who use Wikipedia as a source for information, get your facts straight.

Ryan hunt17 07:14, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Actually, never is it mentioned that the girl's father is the President. In fact, on the back cover of the DVD (the one that is currently sitting mere inches to the right of my keyboard) the man in question is indeed described as simply "a high government official."  I'm not sure where you heard he was the President, but please, for the sake of those who use Wikipedia as a source for information, get your facts straight.

I agree with Ryan. I watched the film and it was never mentioned in the film that the father of a girl is a President.

If you research the SS, you'll know they only guard the President or as of right now, candidates for the Presidency. The SS never guards "high ranking officials" so even though it is not specifically stated, she is the daughter of the President. The film also does not specifically state that humans need water to survive, nor that Sweden is a neutral country, and that getting her on that particular flight is exactly the contrived bit of melodrama the characters needed, but did you really need to be told that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.113.81.76 (talk) 06:20, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I think it's implied that he's the President. But my personal thoughts aren't worth a hill of beans in Wikipedia. Filmmakers have been known to bend the facts a little, so it is quite possible in a film for high ranking official to be guarded by the SS. Ryan is right. gramorak 17:15, 20 July 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gramorak (talk • contribs)

One riot, one ranger.
I don't believe that line refers to the King of Sparta. It refers to a statement made by Captain Bill McDonald of the Texas Rangers to the author, Albert Paine. McDonanld was sent to Dallas to prevent a prize-fight from happening and was questioned about why only one Ranger was sent. McDonald is said to have replied, "Hell! ain't I enough? There's only one prize-fight!" This is from the book: Captain Bill McDonald: Texas Ranger

17:26, 6 December 2006 (UTC) Jim


 * Well, while what you've said about McDonald is true, are you sure that it's not also true of the King of Sparta? These could be entirely independent stories.  And let's not forget that the film's called Spartan.  Cheers, --Plumbago 08:43, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Oops. To clarify; I doubt the King of Sparta ever said "One riot, one ranger", but the story of only sending a single soldier sounds like exactly the sort of thing ancient kings got up to.  Cheers, --Plumbago 09:23, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Certainly the kind of things that ancient Spartan kings got up to. --Peter Knutsen (talk) 16:28, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

The film is called Spartan after the KNIFE. Plus Spartans were Stoics, and Scott was rather Stoic. According to legend, the Spartans used to whip the boys into men, and Scott has a lot of pain he keeps bottled up. The Spartans used to kill the boys in front of each other so the survivors would accept death, and everyone Scott knows ends up dying in front of him. Now about the OTHER Spartan business, since he doesnt respond to Kristen Bell's tits, maybe he's into little boys too? Outrageous? You bet. The movie was named for the KNIFE. Stop reading too much into movies, folks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.113.81.76 (talk) 06:29, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Spartan movie.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 05:28, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Lengthy Plot Summary
I submitted a much shorter version of the overly detailed 1650 word plot summary. Per the wikipedia WP Plot Summary guidelines I tried to cut it down to within the 400-700 word range. I just viewed the film, and while I may have incorrectly described some details (because Mamet's story is quite void of details) I think I managed to summarize the story as it's presented. But feel free to correct any minor mistakes I may have made. KeithLD (talk) 15:17, 4 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree the opening paragraph describing Scott's function as a selection cadre member and how he meets Curtis and Jackie Black is appropriate and necessary to understand the film better. I had included the terms "Scott and his unit" because I was referring to the other team members that were surveilling his interrogation of Laura's ex-boyfriend, the "raid" and interrogation of the madam at the bordello, as well as the team mobilizing to fly to Dubai. As they were being briefed on the strategy to enter Laura's suspected location in Dubai, Scott's familiarity with a few of the men seemed to indicate they were an elite unit that had worked together before. But of course, it was never stated these people were "part of Scott's unit" or "team" or that he "belonged with them or had worked with them before." Scott certainly acted alone and was brought in alone to assist the operation. Mamet's script was sufficiently void of these specific details. KeithLD (talk) 18:21, 4 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks for summarizing the plot to fall within the appropriate range, Keith. Erik (talk &#124; contribs) 21:45, 4 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I removed references to Stoddard later in the summary, because he is never named in the early portion of the summary. Beadmatrix (talk) 22:57, 12 November 2016 (UTC)Beadmatrix

"the beach house of one of Laura's professors" - I believe this is an error. The beachhouse is where the car registration points to, the car they are tailing, because its the car the man who picked up the public phone got into after the public phone call. Plus, they know the professor and his address. In the movie, they have to wait for the police computer to bring up the address of the beach house on record for the car's registration.

Additionally, my understanding is that while occasionally the Secret Service does sometimes protect others than just current and past Presidents and vice Presidents (and their families), and top Presidential candidates, only the President's children would warrant the kind of response shown in the film (helicopter landing in a stadium at night, murdering one of the convicts in a prison transfer just to get close to one of the leaders of a slavery ring, etc.), and only the President's daughter would be so recognizable and so noticeably missing from class come Monday - Most people couldn't accurately name all the children of the past 4 Vice Presidents, nor recognize them on site, nor would anyone bat an eye at them not showing up for a college class....

But what I want to know is where that ultra-weird dialogue/way of talking came from? And all kinds of people are talking like that, from the female bartender to everyone at the stadium.... Anyone have a line on that? I have never heard such a thing, even among SOCOM. But I am hardly an expert. Anyone know? — Preceding unsigned comment added by ShannonMcCoven (talk • contribs) 19:31, 25 April 2020 (UTC)