Hollywood comes to Thermopylae.

Rating: 4/10 (28 April 2007)

I admit that I do not comment on movies that I have seen but do not like and this one is the exception that proves the rule. Diane and I watched this thing yesterday at a commercial megaplex and I am writing this comment because what I saw should not have been seen. As a general rule I love sword and sandal movies and do not even need to have seen nor read anything about the film to draw me in.
My dabbling in ancient history is usually secure enough for me to judge a film's basic truth and this film , at least by my minimal standards, passed that minor test. However, it is not the historical fundamentals that put me off while I watched but the terrible Americanizm that blanketed the film in enough places to put me off entirely. I have not the slightest idea how Spartan soldiers acted before going into battle but I will wage my last dollar that they didn't give out simultaneous howls like a bunch of testosterone fueled Jarheads before laying waste to Mosul.
Hollywood's take on ancient history always leaves room for humorous reflection. Remember Caesar's guard in Gladiator; remember how we knew they were the bad guys because they were dressed in black iodized armor--like a Roman version of the Nazi SS?
I can put up with historical inaccuracy as long as it is not bathed in ridiculous 21st century Californian smell-nice.
The whole thing was too goofy for me to remember and like Baz Loman's fin-de-siecle stinker Moulin Rouge, I feel that I must write , for my own peace of mind, a negative comment about 300.