300 Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

superb

this film is superb, and my 12 year old son loved it.

it is spring in 480 B.C. Persian King Xerxes, continuing his father, Darius', master plan to conquer the Hellenic city-states, arrives in Hellas.

The previous Persian invasion, and diplomatic attempts have already turned most northern Hellas tribes and states to the Persian side. But the people of Athens and Sparta, the largest Hellenic powers at the time, feel quite insulted by the Persian emissaries requesting their surrender to Xerxes and slay them.

In Sparta, King Leonidas consults the local oracle, which gives two options: either a spartan king will have to be sacrificed or Sparta will be burned to the ground.

A year earlier in 481 B.C. a panhellenic consortium of all southern city-states, have already recognized the superiority of the spartan army, (the best organized and trained army at the time) and have announced King Leonidas supreme commander of the combined Hellenic army.

It is then decided that a small force should block Xerxes' way to southern Hellas in the Thermopylae passage.This passage was at that time 12 metres wide.

The great historian Herodotus, possibly exaggerating, states that there were 1700000 Persians, against 7000 Hellenic hoplites and slaves, including the 300 men of the spartan king elite guard.

King Xerxes waited for 4 days for the Hellenes to be frightened and eventually surrender and was quite astonished by his opponents complete apathy who were following their daily program practicing and making their hair!

After that Xerxes tried to convince Leonidas to drop weapons, give up his position, kneel before him and live on as a local governor under Xerxes. King Leonidas replied 'molon lave', which means 'Come and get them'.

Then the 3 days battle began with the 300 Spartans, and 700 thespians, (the other Hellenes where sent by Leonidas to protect passages to their flanks), slaying thousands of Persians with minimal losses.

The whole Persian campaign would have failed, if the Efialtes had not showed Xerxes a secret passage to the Hellenic flanks.

After a final battle lead by king Xerxes himself, the Hellenic force was completely slain, and their heroism and glory was written forever in history.

From the beginning of the battle, the Hellenes buried their dead in the spot in which they fell.

The impact of the battle was enormous for both sides.

The Persians' morale dropped to zero, and the Hellenes lost their fear for the Persian conqueror, and organized their defense.

After several successful battles, the Hellenes ultimately defeated the Persian army, and repelled their invasion in the Battle of plataea in 479 BC.

well worth watching.

Miller does Mythology

300 is a film for action-fans who want to see the Battle of Thermopylae and the prowess of the Spartan warriors depicted with lavish amounts of screen time and style devoted to the conflict itself. The diversity of the enemy combatants and the sense of overwhelming threat forces the viewer to sit in tense chair-gripping tautness for much of the movie, hearts pounding as the Spartan’s pit their wits and their skills against wave after wave of exotic and threatening enemies. Long single cut scenes play out as Spartan champions lay waste to every foe in insanely ambitious battle choreography.

300 is overtly surreal, sometimes visually poetic as you stare upon scenes that look like ancient art come to life. Sometimes you wonder if it might not engage more without this graphic-novel approach, but without this artistic filter the extreme violence might be too brutally horrific to entertain. The soundtrack draws upon different approaches, but always compliments the exhilaration, whether creating a sense of mythic awe or heralding another deluge of violence.

I sensed at times there was a longer cut waiting to get out, whether it exists or not time will tell. Another approach would have devoted more screen time to the youth of King Leonidas. There were excellent ideas there worthy of more time and intimacy than the narrated prologue provided. Additional scenes to prologue the battle would have raised the tension even higher, but admittedly you feel keen to get to the action.

This films stays with you after the (stunning!) credits have rolled. It gluts the appetite for violent battle, but also leaves you hungry to get a closer look at the Spartans, their culture and the personalities involved.