Fantastic visuals and stunning battle sequences

Rating: 8/10 (20 March 2007)

300 is based on history and deals with the Battle of Thermopylae which took place in 480 B.C. During this battle the King of Sparta led an army of 300 against over 100,000 Persians led by Xerxes. It was a battle that was said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians and defeat them. Enough with the history lesson. Lets talk about the movie shall we.
The story comes from the graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City fame) and is filled with violence and fueled by testosterone. Gerard Butler plays the King of Sparta and leads 300 of his best into battle against the Persians whose overwhelming odds were stopped for three days and probably more if not for a betrayal which led to the death of all 300 Spartans, including King Leonidas himself. There is no real spoiler here because everybody knows how it turned out, after all it is based on history.
The story is not as memorable as the visuals and battle sequences though which show limbs being hacked off and blood spraying. Most of the violence is done by computer graphics though, so it is not too horrific. It is the action and gore which kept me glued to my seat the whole entire 2 hour run. It also proves that an R rated movie can still raked in the millions as this movie has done for the past two weeks.
The film is not great, but it was entertaining and kept your interest. I'm not sure this movie will be one of those that sticks with you for years, but it sure was gruesomely entertaining.