A Good epic film about the Battle of Thermopylae 480 BC

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2007)

This is a good new type of epic film!, Zack Snyder directing is well adjusted for a type of film that needed a new fresh type of movies, this movie is almost a piece of art, stylish battles and good camera shots, along with characters well obtained and developed by actors that will surely make you feel the anger of the epic Hellenic-Persian battles. The movie is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller, it don't try to resembles accurately the historical facts, but that's on purpose, because it can admirably put a bit of "mythologycal characters" in the story, that makes it more entertaining, incredible and really "epic". Although, if we see how the ancient stories were told to our ancestors, the mythological and fantastic facts appear in order to create a sense of admiration and fantasy that moved the patriotism of people.
The film, based on Miller's novel, shows the events in Greece, at the pass of the Thermopylae, when the king Leonidas of Sparta fought the Persian Empire against an army that vastly outnumbered them. Leonidas fought with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian against an Persian army of almost 250,000 leaded by king Xerxes I, blocked them their way to reach Sparta and conquer it; the events that are presented in the movie were true (year 480 BC) and they were written by Herodotus. And show a great deploy of military strategies and combat techniques in this battlefield.
About the acting: Gerard Butler, great!; The Leonidas character is strong, furious, brave and shows his leadership as something admirable. Rodrigo Santoro, great also!; as king Xerxes I, he shows weakness, fear and leadership. The other Spartans character roles are great too (specially Deelios, Astinos, Steelios and Captain) 8/10!