there're a few you cant blame for...

Rating: 1/10 (18 March 2007)

that this movie will probably be remembered as...? no, unlike the real battle of Thermopylae, this "film" wont be remembered at all.
but no, you cant blame Zack Snyder for it. for me "directing" a movie means, to make actors balance on the thin red line called story and to guide them on their way. and sorry, from this viewpoint there's no directing at all in 300. take away the decent special effects and there's not a whole lot left. yes decent special effects, not groundbreaking at all. "the terminator 2" was "groundbreaking" in effects and so was "jurassic park" at its time. but 300 didn't show anything that hasn't been done at least a dozen times before... so does the music.
neither you can blame paramount for it. all they did was, what most of the big studios do these days. they jumped on the money-train without really taking care about, what this comic book is about.
also Gerard butler isn't responsible for that "300" is nothing more than a waste of money and time. actually he's the only character in this so called epics, who leaves the 1st dimension at least in a few scenes. he acts as good as it gets under this circumstances.
but yes, there's one person you can blame for this movie: frank miller. and if its now "300" or "sin city", his world obviously is only black or white, good or bad, day or night... no shades between. and yes, this comic IS full of racism, prejudices and whats worst, disrespect for history. and as stated by others, this film is pretty close to the original comic book. so what else to expect? certain comics tried to approach historic events or periods and as seen in aster ix and a few others this can be done, if the author of the story shows respect to the events that happened. and herein lies the problem. obviously miller has a lack of respect for those who fought and died those days. yes, exaggeration in comics is a valid way to tell a story, playing with racism and prejudices isn't.
bottom line, neither from the viewpoint of a comic book.based movie nor from the historical viewpoint this film is worth to be seen. the effects and visuals don't carry it at all. neither does the acting of the cast. and whats left from the original great story of the battle of Thermopylae is as deformed and unreal as the Persian warriors.
actually there's only 1 thing that could have made this waste of celluloid even more ridiculous...
Charlton Heston, with a NRA bumper sticker on his butt, jumping out of a burning bush shouting...
FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS! while lightnings out of his hands kill Xerxes and company whilst hunchback, rhinos and elephants sail into the sun on Noah's ark and live happily ever after.