Heroes not intimidated by our era's prejudices

Rating: 9/10 (31 March 2007)

You might well have thought Hollywood too loath to regard any tale of Spartan heroism and martial valor with anything but the extreme malice of the political left.
Yet here, monumental bravery is served up as if political correctness had never been born or has already been deposited on that ash heap of history to which it's surely destined.
Filmed through a surreal new-age lens that blends the historic with the artistic, this cinematic re-telling of the famous story of Thermopylae and its gift to civilization is sure to inspire and delight -- as its initial box office receipts have convincingly demonstrated. Allow much for the artistic license granted the film's director, and then be prepared to savor what this has added to the finished product.