300 Movie Review

  Battle of Thermopylae

The number 300 is so popular because of Frank Miller’s epic graphic novel named as simple as possible, “300”. The story of this number begins in antiquity once with a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. The 300’s history continues now in 2007 when maybe more than a quarter of the Terra’s population awaits for the newest historical movie brought to you by Warner Bros. Pictures.
This is not the first version of the movie; other version was released in 1962 named The 300 Spartans, and informed the population about “life in antiquity”, about Spartans and Persians.

This movie is brought to you by Warner Bros. Pictures in association with Legendary Production and Virtual Studios, and is a Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari production. “300” is directed by Zack Snyder who also directed “Down of the Dead”. The film stars are Gerard Butler, we know him from “Phantom of the Opera”, Lena Headey from “The Brothers Grimm”, David Wenham from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and others.

The director of photography Larry Fong joined Snyder in his work to bring us the most interesting historical movie, and they were helped by production designer James Bissell, and Willinam Hoy as editor. At last the movie was rated “R” because of the “graphic battles sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.”

As I said in the opening paragraph 300 is based on a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. The Persian King Xerxes lead into Greece a 100,000 men army where met the Spartan King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans. King Leonidas was helped by 700 Thespians and other Slave soldiers. In fact the battle is a suicide mission, meant to gain time for the rest of the Greece to prepare for the big battle. The Persian king waited 10 days for Leonidas to surrender because this one has no other option. After those 10 days Xerxes attacked the Spartan army that fought with bravery and gave a good example to Greece. The battle last 3 days... after which all 300 Spartans were killed. The Spartan defeat was not the one expected as a local shepherd named Ephialtes defected to the Persians and informed Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians could use to outflank the Greeks

In their honour there is an epitaph on a monument erected at the site of the battle, which quotes Herodotus’ work The Histories (7.228), to the Spartans:

„Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.”

So this is the story of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae where „...few stood against many...” and where Greece learn to fight and unite against Persian empire, by drawing a line in the sand for the democracy.


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