wow

Rating: 1/10 (30 January 2008)

Before you start criticizing me for giving this film such a low score, there are a few things that perhaps you should pay attention to. As a professor of ancient history at a medium sized U.S. university, I am absolutely stunned at how can someone spend so much time and energy to create a film based on a real event without any regards for picking up a history book. I teach freshman class classical history of ancient Greece. I don't like to make myself sound like I am know-it-all when it comes to ancient history of Greco-Persian wars, but i have studied it for eight years, with some professors that are nationally respected. This film is not serious in displaying one of the greatest moments in history, as it happened, but it attempts to show it through the eyes of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (comic book writers). First of all, nothing against Miller and Varley, as comic book artist. They bring a new taste of comic book art to film. The problem with this film is that it takes something that is considered sacred by many historians and butchers it to the end degree. Hollywood, as we all know, is after money, nothing else. But have some courtesy when you present history, especially the events that have been studied by every nation in the world and agreed upon, not to make a joke out of it. 95% of the film is falsely representing the Greeks, ancient warfare, culture, lifestyle, and lets not forget the Persians, who are apparently not even humans. If you want to know anything about the battle of Thermopile, read a book, a great one is "The Greek and Persian Wars 499-386 BC" by Philip de Souza.