Gritty battle Film

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2007)

Kudos to Gerald Butler & Lena Heady who bring off their roles as King & Queen of Sparta really well. They get some capable support but they are the two lynch pins that hold this film together well.
This is based upon the same story as The 300 Spartans in 1962 & is very well done. The computer efforts here look much better than the remake of King Kong's effect did just a short time ago. I enjoyed this film, as it is unpretentious about being an action film. The film is exactly as advertised.
The action takes place in the 5th Century BC, when 300 Spartans held off thousands of Persians for 3 days in order to give the rest of Greece time to mount up their defenses. After this battle, the Atneian Navy used a similar strategy of luring the larger Persian Navy into a smaller water area and soundly thrashing the Persian fleet.
The sex in this film is mild & artfully crafted, not something you need to worry about taking a teenager too. The violence, if brutal & if you have a teen who does not like violence such as be-headings, this might not be a film for them. This film knows where it is at & does a fine job of bringing it off. One of the better film remakes in quite a while.
Would highly recommend the tale of King Leonidas fighting to extinction to slow the invading hoards from Persia from conquest of Ancient Try & Greece. The Persion Leaders all seem to have a lot of body pierced hardware on. Almost looks like some of the modern day body piercing. Not sure how well this look fits historically, but it is not that important in how the film is staged & how the story is told.
For someone into gritty battle films, this is a must see.