Hundreds of Heroes

Rating: 8/10 (23 September 2013)

300 tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, a battle fought between the Spartans and the Persians. King Leonidas leads soldiers into a battle where they are greatly outnumbered, and there is no way for them to come out of the battle alive. Along the way they battle many different groups of powerful warriors. These battles are what the movie focuses on. It's filled with action from the beginning of the movie until the very end. The way these action scenes are made makes them seem so real and adds to the greatness of this movie. The special effects are done in such a way that brings the movie to life and makes you feel like you are right there on the battlefield. The battlefield is made to look very real as well. The acting is also very well done. You feel as if these people are actual soldiers fighting a real battle. You also cannot help but admire the courage that the soldiers have to go out and fight a battle that they cannot win. That's why the main thing that makes this movie worth watching is the heroism portrayed throughout the entire movie.
The first example of heroism is through the Spartans facing an elite group of warriors called the Immortals. These warriors were known to be so powerful that no one could defeat them. The Spartans even saw the destructive power of these warriors early in the movie when they came across a village that was attacked by these fearsome warriors. The village was destroyed with no survivors except one young child that collapsed into the King's arms. Despite that, the Spartans bravely faced them and even proved that these warriors were not immortal after all. One of the Immortals was a giant monster-like creature, that was so dangerous they had him chained up until they needed him to fight. The giant even took out some of his own people when he was released. The King fought this giant and showed no fear doing so. When he was losing to the giant, another Spartan bravely jumped in to help his king. The King also fought this giant without a weapon.
The next display of heroism that I saw in the movie was that the 300 Spartans agreed to go fight the battle knowing that they would die. They knew that there was no chance of them returning from this battle and yet they still went out and fought. Some of the Spartans that fought were still very young. One warrior sent his own son to the battle. Leonidas even notes at how young the man's son is early in the movie. The soldiers did not even show any fear when going into the battle. In fact, they were excited to go and battle for their king and their country. One soldier even hoped that one of the enemy soldiers would be able to kill him because he has hoped to be killed in battle for a long time. In the end when they face the enemies for the last time, the Spartans ran into the battle without any fear.
I felt that this movie had a very important meaning. The meaning is that you should always fight for what you love. The soldiers loved their country and they wanted to protect it with their lives. They fought and died to protect it. They also not only fought to protect their country, but also to protect the pride of their country. They were challenged by Persia and they could not just sit around and do nothing. They had to protect their pride and meet Persia's challenge. It took a lot of courage for the soldiers to go out into the battlefield and fight for their pride. The great heroism shown in this movie is just one of the great things about this movie. It was a joy to watch, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that enjoys heroic tales or history movies.