David,
Well... let's not sell the Greeks short. They did develop the first forms of a democratic government, pushed art and theoretical thinking to new heights and provide the groundwork for a civilization that would follow them and do even more over the next 800 years (the Romans).

Even the history channel show remarks that if Xerxes HAD conquered the Greeks it would have been a crushing blow to the future of western civilization.

Cheers,
Jim

But it wasn't a fight for freedom, it was a fight to not be crushed by Xerxes, a type of situation which had surely been fought thousands of times before.

Im with Jim on this one, the movie was pretty good for the 1st hour, then, all of a sudden the zoo just lost control of thier animals, the aliens escaped thier flying saucers and the hunchback of Norte Dame somehow ended up at Thermopylae. . But the pictures of the battle ground, before mother nature changed it, does not look wide enough to have supported any type of elephant charge, calvary at a limited use yes, but not the elephants or rhinos. Could not get into the in-fighting within the Spartan Council, the 300 were Leonidas's personal guard, to do what he wished, yet the movie made it seem, to me, that they were not. It was entertaining nonetheless.. Felt they should have made it less " MARVEL/D.C. Comic's " oriented.

Anyway, I recommend it to all.

I the movie in my opinion was backwards, they were the ones who were savaged who enslaved the people they conquered. The Persians did not enslave people and i believe when king Cyrus defeated the Assyrians he gave the enslaved people there freedom. The Greeks were selfish buffoons who for there stupidity were brought down. Or maybe i am just being so protective because i am Persian

My girlfriend and I saw it lastnight. I went realizing that it was not historically accurate. Frank Miller himself said that it was never intended to be taken as accurate. More of a comic book take on it. Which is exactly what it was based off of. It was more fantasy then history. Which was fine by me. I honestly don't think there has ever been a "historically accurate" movie. Things are always changed in movies. Its just a fact of life. You have to remember that if a movie is totally accurate then it usualy bombs at the box office. There just isn't the demand for that. Just my two cents on the subject

I really liked the movie. OK I have also had the benefit of seeing the original and the long and detailed History channel rendition, as well as having read into the History of the battle. It showed a bit of the Battle of Salamis whch was not mentioned in the original movie , this was shown by the storm wrecking part of the Persian fleet. I also think newbie modeler is being a bit protective because he is Persian. They (Persians)not only enslaved people, but at Thermopolyea the first troop that went in were the conscrits from conquered nations. But hey, the Spartans used slaves...they were called the healots. So the point is kinda moot.. I t was how things were done back then. I give it a thumbs up for entertainment and enjoying the visual. I'll give it a C- for accuracy

Movie wot movie??????????????????????????????//

Havent even seen the adverts for it yet.
Thats what happens when you live in god zone

chris 1

Haven't seen it yet, but will look forward to it. just wished they'd based the film on steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" instead of a comic.

BTW, the pass wasn't just held by 300 Spartans. I think there were upto 600 other Greeks. The Spartans were the final rearguard. So there might have been some infighting amongs the brass.

Most impressive.

Hi All,
If you want to read a novel of the battle Try
,Gates of Fire' by Stephen Pressfield.
It tells the story of a boy from childhood through to the battle. A very good read, but some wierd names to remember .
I have read other books from this author but this is my favourite.
Tom

Just finished seeing this with my son at the matinee.HIGHLY recomended for action content and inspiration value!
I wouldn't bother renting or buying the DVD unless you have a 60" or greater wide screen Really is best to see at the cineplex!
Sure,some Hollywood flavoring to the story,but so what? Could easily turn into a trilogy like LOR or Starwars and STILL have more factual history in it since Braveheart.
Worth it to see again!
cheers for "NO prisoners!"

I saw the movie last saturday, and while I liked it, I have a little mixed feelings, especially when compared to Sin City.

While a good movie on it's own, I prefer Sin City over 300 when talking about films based on Frank Miller's comics.
Not having read the graphic novel, I can't comment on the adaptation, but the film drew influence quite heavily on some recent films. Zack Snyder has apparently watched the battle scenes from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy very carefully. The Matrix films have been under the looking glass as well, judging from the bullet time slow-motions and stuff. I can't say they aren't impressive, but some originality couldn't have hurt.
And those flashback-parts with the Elysian fields where relatives and loved ones meet fallen warriors, come on, that has been done a million times since The Gladiator.

On the other hand, you can't go much wrong with massed battles, a dramatic soundtrack and lots of good old medieval violence (or in this case, ancient)!
But then, I missed the memorable characters, twisted dark humour and great dialogue (there's no comparing the blandish narrator of 300 to Marv's inner dialogue of SC) , very distinct style and overall coolness of Sin City.

Btw, did anyone else feel the oracle quite familiar somehow?
"We've been expecting you"
That line combined with the withered looks, there's no question about, that's Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars!
But perhaps even more than Palpatine, the oracles' appearance reminded me of this album cover by Ed Repka: Leprosy
Quite a similarity, isn't it?

My son and i saw it the first night it was out, was glued to the chairs. When back and saw it again. I put my history degree to bed early. Damn fine movie. listening to the soundtrack right now as i am surfing.

IMO:

300 is a proverbial breath of fresh air for the sword-and-sandals genre. You gotta hand it to Frank Miller, he made it as realistic (though surreal) as it can get.

When the 300 Spartans went to battle with hardly anything on, I said to myself, that's as spartan as it can get. And if there's one more cliche that is appropriate here, Leonidas went out with a "few good men."

OK, finally watched it on DVD this weekend. OK, but wasn't reaally impressed. Most of the battle scenes followed older cliches from "Braveheart", "Gladiator", and "Troy". Also, the whole surreality that came out of being shot on blue screen might've been faithful to the comic (which I''ve not read) but took away from reality and made it seem like a fantasy. Dialogue was atrocious too.

"Gates of Fire" would've made a brilliant movie, but I guess that'll never happen now.

I saw it and thought it was alright. Not great, but not bad either. It all felt terribly chliche to me. Just a bit more trite than I really expected.