300

Plot synopsis:
Spartan customs are harsh. The Spartans inspect each infant born to ensure it is whole - if it is deformed, the baby is abandoned to die. They raise their boys in the school of hard knocks, the agoge - in combat training, a small boy's loss of his weapon earns a bloody lip from the hand of his own father. At age 7, each young boy is torn from his mother and makes his own way in the wilderness, to return a man. Even the King endures this rite of passage. At age 15, young King-to-be Leonidas (Tyler Neitzel) lures a wolf into a narrow passage so that he can kill it. He returns home to be crowned King.Years later, messengers visit King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) requesting Sparta's submission to King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). Insulted by their attitude, King Leonidas kicks the messengers into a well. Acknowledging the threat of Xerxes's invasion force, he visits the Ephors (priests) to obtain their favour before sending the Spartan army in battle. He proposes to repel the numerically superior enemy by using the terrain of the Hot Gates of Thermopylae, funneling the Persians into a narrow pass between the rocks and the sea, where their immense numbers will "count for nothing." The Ephors, wary of the plan, consult the Oracle (Kelly Craig). In her drugged trance she decrees that Sparta must not go to war, lest they interrupt the sacred Carneian festival. Leonidas departs in anger, and the priests receive their bribe of Xerxes' gold from the Spartan traitor, Theron (Dominic West), for their negative response.Leonidas is reluctant to defy the corrupt clergy outright, but his wife (Lena Headey) encourages him to think outside the box. Leonidas elects to take 300 of his best soldiers as his "bodyguard" on a leisurely walk to the strategic Hot Gates location. His wife says goodbye, telling him to come back "with his shield or on it", and gives him a necklace.On the road they meet some allies, who are shocked that the Spartans are sending such a small force. Leonidas asks the professions of the allied army, who are craftsmen and artisans. He points out that he has brought more soldiers than they. Joined by Arcadians and other Greeks, they arrive at Thermopylae. In sight of the approaching Persian army, they construct a wall to contain the Persians' advance. Strong storms destroy some of Xerxes fleet, but it is only a small percentage of the massive army they will face.A horribly disfigured man, Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan), comes to see Leonidas to warn him of a disused goat path at the rear of his position. Ephialtes claims that his parents fled Sparta at his birth to save his life. He hopes to redeem them by fighting for Leonidas. Leonidas explains that each Spartan warrior is a key part of the phalanx, and asks Ephialtes to show that he can lift his shield high enough to properly defend his fellow warriors. When it becomes evident that he cannot, Leonidas gently tells him to care for the fallen instead. Ephialtes' fondest hopes are crushed.A Persian emissary arrives, and finds that the corpses of the previous scouting party now make up part of the large rock wall. The Persian states that their arrows will blot out the sun, and the Spartans agree they will simply fight in the shade. The emissary's party is killed.Prior to the battle the Persians demand that the Spartans drop their arms and surrender. Leonidas refuses and challenges the Persians to come and take their weapons from them. With their tightly-knit phalanx formation, the Spartans funnel the Persians into the narrow terrain, repeatedly rebuffing them and inflicting heavy casualties.Xerxes, impressed with Spartan fighting skill, personally approaches Leonidas to persuade him to surrender. He promises Leonidas wealth and power in exchange for his loyalty. Leonidas declines, promising instead to make the "God King" bleed, and turns to rejoin his army.Dismayed at the refusal, Xerxes sends his masked personal guard, "The Immortals", which name the Spartans also prove false. The battles continue, with the Spartans prevailing over soldiers and animals drawn from the vast reaches of the Persian empire: from Mongolian barbarians and Eastern chemists to African rhinoceroses and Indian war elephants. However, some of the brave Spartan warriors are killed, and it becomes clear that more will follow.Ephialtes goes to Xerxes, and agrees to show the goat path to the Persians in exchange for a uniform, along with promises of women and wealth. Xerxes will grant Ephialtes his wish if he will kneel before the god king.Back in Sparta, Queen Gorgo has been trying to convince the council to send help to Leonidas. A friendly councilman arranges for her to speak, but explains that she will need Theron on her side. Theron agrees to help her if she will sleep with him - so she does.At the Hot Gates, the Spartans learn they have been betrayed, and know their fight is doomed. The Arcadians retreat in the face of certain death. The Spartans refuse to follow. Leonidas orders a reluctant Dilios to return to Sparta and tell of their inevitable deaths.In Sparta, Queen Gorgo makes her appeal to the council. Instead of supporting her as promised, Theron betrays her, accusing her of adultery. Enraged, Gorgo snatches a sword and stabs Theron, rupturing a bag of gold hidden in his robe. As the coins stamped with Persian markings spill onto the ground, the Council realizes Theron's treachery and agree to unite against Persia.At the Hot Gates, as the Persians surround the Spartans, who have created a dome out of their shields. Leonidas stands along in front of the dome. Xerxes's general demands their surrender, declaring that Leonidas may keep his title as King of Sparta and become Warlord of all Greece, answerable only to Xerxes. Ephialtes urges this as well, to which Leonidas remarks, "May you live forever," an insult from a culture valuing death and valor in battle. Leonidas drops his shield and removes his helmet, seemingly bowing in submission. Stelios then bursts out of the dome and leaps over his king and kills the general. A furious Xerxes orders his troops to attack. As Persian archers shoot the remaining Spartans, Leonidas rises and hurls his spear at Xerxes, ripping open his cheek, thus making "the God-King bleed." Xerxes, visibly shaken by this reminder of his own mortality, watches as the remaining Spartans perish beneath the combined might of his army. Leonidas himself marks his final moments by telling his wife aloud that he loves her. A rain of arrows falls upon him and the screen goes black. Back in Sparta, Dilios gives the necklace to Queen Gorgo and tells her of her husband's fate.Concluding his tale before an audience of attentive Spartans, Dilios declares that the 120,000-strong Persian army that narrowly defeated 300 Spartans now faces 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 Greeks. Praising Leonidas's sacrifice, Dilios leads the assembled Greek army into a fierce charge against the Persian army, igniting the Battle of Plataea.

Tags: cult, violence, atmospheric, historical fiction, action, humor, comic, historical, entertaining

Review:
What is more important, to portray a fictional setting for the sake of giving people a mind blowing visual experience or to amuse and amaze them with clever plot twists and intelligent dialogs?First lets analyze what exactly this film is made of.
There isn't a great amount of character development because this movie is about a battle, ONE battle, THE battle for the continuance of the Western world, and yes, IF the Spartans had been simply overwhelmed from the start, and if their Athenian allies hadn't completely CRUSHED the much larger Persian navy at sea, the West simply could not have existed in any similar manner as it has.
And yes, the Western world is guilty of arrogance, overextending it's boundaries to the point of imperialism, however, it has given our world a plethora of all-too-important philosophical ideals that are simply irreplaceable if we want to live in a free society.I realize I spent a great deal of my time being critical of other reviews, so I would like to take the time to apologize for perhaps wasting the time of someone who was simply searching for a detailed point of view on the film.
With the council unwilling to release soldiers until after the religious festival, Leonidas sets out with his 300 strong personal army to meet Xerxes' men at a narrow pass knowing they must hold off the approach for as long as they can until the army arrives even if it means their deaths.Although I am surprised to see this film so highly rated on IMDb, I can understand why it is so because it does deliver a powerful experience, almost powerful enough to carry it through its lack of real depth or substance.
Zack Snyder, inspired by the graphic novel, has brought a 2487 year-old news story to life with people you really care about who are faced with choices between compromise and war that are all too familiar today.The breath-taking CGI images are flawlessly integrated with the live action.
The score was recorded by the London Phil with a full chorus and is beautiful to listen to, but is very reminiscent of 'Gladiator' which detracts from the otherwise total originality of the film.This movie integrates the potentials of film-making and story-telling in a wonderful new way that is the best of both entertainment and artistic achievement..
The key of Zack Zinder's epic style of film was to take the action event and turn it into a mythology He wanted to get to the essence of the Spartans, and to show us the story of a handful of soldiers willing to risk all for a larger western concept of freedom and liberty "300" is an interpretation of a complex historical event, the collision of cultures that continues to this day Spartan warriors and Persian soldiers were probably the most extreme cultures of that moment They were interesting elements of truth in Zinder's movie: The Spartans were not like the Athenians They lived under more barbaric rules Every Spartan was a soldier They fight as a specialized unit ("That's the source of our strength!").
They were raging soldiers ("Give them nothing but take from them everything!") But at the same time they had an absolute code of honor on the essence of being a Spartan And it's cruel, very cruel When a boy was born, he was inspected If he's been sick or deformed, the child is murdered From the time he could stand, he was taught not to retreat, never to surrender He was taught that death on the battlefield in service to Sparta was the greatest glory he could achieve in his life At the age of seven, all the boys were taken away from their mothers and plunged into a world of violence, turning them into growing men, ultimate warriors the world has ever known King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) was a legendary hero, somebody special His name was the descendant of lions He was very powerful, very thoughtful and perhaps in the film far more human than he is even in the graphic novel...
Leonidas was a practical man whose life is matched by a straight road to one gleaming moment in destiny and that day, he couldn't meekly swallow the insult of Sparta's submission to the world of Xerxes "This is Sparta!," as he shouted to Xerxes' emissary, affirming that there is no softness, no place for weakness, and only the hard and strong may call themselves Spartans What I loved about Leonidas was his needs, in his moment of indecision, of a back-up, maybe a second opinion, some assurance of his wife Queen Gorgo So we see him, both times, looking to his wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) was a great character not only in the film but in history She was sexy and beautiful and above all tough and aggressive There was intensity, elegance and ability in her Also a kind of femininity in her nobility...
There's only one moment when she loses it at the end and it was not a breakdown We know lot of Queen Gorgo thanks to Herodotus, the father of the history, who chooses to write about her which clearly demonstrate she was significant Spartan women were special anyway, they were incredibly beautiful and Sparta was the land of beautiful women They were beautiful because they were physically fit, because they were allowed to exercise They were not repressed and were considered incredibly potent Gorgo could speak among men because as she affirmed it before the Persian emissary: "Only Spartan women give birth to real men!" Gorgo's one love scene with Leonidas and the dialogue beforehand, was powerful: "It is not a question of what a Spartan citizen SHOULD do nor a husband, nor a king.
Hearing that 300 is based upon a " graphic novel " which is a pseudo intellectual phrase used to describe a comic book I didn't go out of my way to watch this because the present Hollywood movie making factory spends too much time and money bringing these type of stories to the screen .
Sometimes prejudice can get in the way of judging a film of its own merits because 300 is one of the more memorable movie moments from last year and one that seems unforgivably ignored at the more prestigious film award ceremonies Being based upon a comic book you could say in all honesty that the visuals mirror those of a graphic novel , but I would claim it goes far , far beyond that and say it's like watching a painting come to life .
Let's forget for a moment that the battle of Thermopylen has been used for centuries as a sign of European superiority over Asian "Barbarism".Let's keep aside the fact that the story is presented as the story of a single man (king) with a mission to defy the Asian hordes ignores his own laws (enforced by bribed bureaucrats in form of priests) and goes to war for what he considers a greater good.Let's concentrate on the way this pseudo-historical story is presented.We have the noble Spartan warriors with their perfect abs, their beautiful women, we have the more human looking Arkadians, the allies of Sparta, then we have the corrupt priests, all grossly disfigured and the Persian army with their freaks and monsters.This all resembles more fantasy movie than a historical one about ancient Greece.
In a word, it's ridiculous.You hardly see a "free man" (Spartan that is) die, they are cracking jokes while slaughtering their enemies.This fiesta of violence is underlined by a macho sounding narrator repeating words like "freedom", "bravery" etc.I'm certainly not opposed to violent movies, but this senseless display of violence probably for the purpose to dehumanize Asians appalls me.If the message of this movie weren't so dangerous, I would call it a "Baywath of violence" with all its slow-motion scenes of cut off arms, legs and heads.I have rarely seen such a huge piece of bullshit in a movie!.
I downloaded this film to my DVR recently knowing nothing about it except that it was claimed to be an adventure movie centering on the Greek's defeat at the hands of the Persians at the battle of Thermopylae.
There is really nothing impressive about the ultra super imposed grainy look given to battle sequences, the MTV fast-slow quick camera movement that has become cliché in the last few years of bad movies, and the horrible use of music throughout the film.
What I'm getting at is that this film is a poor man's 'Gladiator' with sped up camera changes, blaring guitar music that is supposed to 'elevate' the tension of the fight scenes (it doesn't) and actors supposed to look mighty and tough, but only look like homo-erotic male strippers.
The best way 300 can be described in a single sentence is 'The Lord of The Rings' filmed in the style of 'The Matrix.' It is a fantasy of epic proportions.Reading some of the comments other users have left, many cite the film as being "pretentious", "offensive" and "badly directed", though I believe these people are wildly mislead.The direction of the film is fantastic, capturing every essence of the brutally artistic vision of Frank Miller's comic.
Gerard Butler, the protagonist, has a particularly strong performance, belting out some quite fantastic one-liners, "We're in for one wild night." Some criticise the film for its portrayal of the Persians and the beasts used thereof, such as a Rhino and an Elephant, neither of which look anything like the real thing.
Wow. If ever their was a cinematic phenomena for how pathetic the human race has become (or perhaps always was) then the success of 300 is proof of just that.If you liked seeing Sylvester Stallone in Rambo, half-naked, covered in sweat and mud, and blowing away communists like a five year-old lost in his own fantasy world shooting invisible bad guys then imagine that, dumbed down and visually amped up a hundred times and you've got 300.The noble(sarcasm), admirable(sarcasm) and sympathetic(sarcasm) Greek nation of Sparta who enjoy murdering their physically imperfect babies so readily it would make Adolf Hitler green with envy, and yet who still worship and are under the rule of a group of old deformed leprous wise-men who live on top of a mountain molesting underage girls they have put into a stupor with some sort of primitive date-rape drug (it seems like its okay to be born a physically imperfect Spartan as long as you're a pervert), are put in the dubiously honorable disposition by their hot-headed king when (after getting permission from his queen to act all psycho like the little mama's boy man-b***h that he actually is) he kicks some Persian messenger into a bottomless well and thus declares war on Persia before anyone else - the nation that is relegated to a military footnote by this decision between King psycho man-b***h and the cowardly wife-Queen hiding behind him - or the corrupt senate that has somehow turned against its own nation (gee I wonder why) despite its collectively physically perfect attributes - can bat a lash, say a word against it or hose their warhorse-of-a-king down to stop him from slitting all their wrists.This movie has to be a joke.
And supposedly using a battle strategy attributed to the mindless panicking of cattle was not obvious enough for the Persians, an insurmountable army that was already sweeping through the land conquering everything it came across.If you want to know how dangerously gullible, stupid and pathetic people have become in the Microsoft age then the success of this moronic feat of CGI overkill made by one of the most glorified film-making hacks out there, Zack Snyder, possibly Uwe Boll's illegitimate brother, is overwhelming proof that if you make something shiny, polished and pretty enough it doesn't have to work at all in any other way to get sold on the open market to the idiot masses..
300 comes way of Frank Miller, the ultra-famed comic book artist and author (behind the neo-noir Sin City), and Zack Snyder, who brought us the remake of Dawn of the Dead (not a shame nor not a necessity from the original), and it's what movie audiences probably salivate for when it comes to action epics from a time period dozens of centuries ago.
Not that there aren't a good many memorable, bloody and exciting images that could only come from the f***ed up mind of Miller, but there is still the all-too basic qualities to the substance too.I know I shouldn't make too much of an issue with something like substance in a film that supposes right away what its audience is: men, more than women (although I wouldn't count them out as fans entirely) into seeing men be MEN, warriors out for the kind of glory that comes with legends.
There is even a scene in a rippling corn field borrowed from "Gladiator".At the end of the day, what makes the movie are the thrilling fight sequences with encounters in which the film is slowed down and then speeded up to give a video-game quality that is unlike anything you have previously seen on the big screen.
The Spartan level of defiance, commitment to the value of their lives over and above their lives themselves, Greek views of Xerxes and the Persians (source of much folklore) and the tremendous debt Sparta accrued from the rest of Greece.The excellent visuals - which include exaggerated deformities, African animals trussed up to appear as demonic monsters, and a variety of other bent truths - really bring home the mythic quality of the story (this is incidentally characteristic of Miller's art as well),and well suggest how many of the Greeks actually viewed the wonders of Xerxes vast host.The acting is good for what it is - a simple, very violent and graphic tale.
;)Although there was not much room for acting in this full of fighting movie, the convincing performance of Spartan king was probably the only thing that I liked about this film.I can see so much potential for this story to be successful but the director failed to put all the necessary ingredients together.I can understand that a lot of guys will be sucking for '300' because this is quite a macho story.
The inaccurate and derogatory depiction of ancient Persians that according to all historical data conducted warfare with mastery and dignity, and looked nothing like science-fictional monsters, is a depiction of how movie studios and authors sacrifice historical accuracy for would-be profits.The author Frank Miller and Warner Brothers Studios should understand that distorting historical data is unethical, and so is feeding ignorance to viewers and readers.
But I was wrong, because this movie has everything, an excellent story based on the comic 300,fantastic images that travels you in an other world in ancient times, very good cast and a very good music full of emotions.First of all I want to say that when you see the movie it is just like you read the comic, that means the director and the design art group tried to transfer every little detail of the comic to the big screen, and they did it successfully!
And at this point i totally disagree because if the most powerful nation of this planet wants to start a war it will do it without hesitating and without asking .Come on let's forget all about the conspiracy hidden behind the movie and just concern about the movie it's self.After all it is a combination of history and a myth but the result is marvelous.For example why should i criticize god of war (or god of war II) which is an excellent game and is inspired from the Greek mythology but it isn't based in true historical facts?
The story was non-existent, the characters had no dimension and I couldn't care less if the wanna-be heroic Spartans would be slaughtered by the bad bad weird looking bad guys that should have portrayed the Persians.The only good thing about this movie was the huge mass of well-toned, half-naked male bodies.
This film is the adaptation of a graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, and also the story of Leonidas and three hundred Spartan soldiers who fought at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC).
To: Warner Brothers Studios, 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91522 Your new movie called "300" opening on March 9th in theatres all over the United States and based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller portrays the battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fight against Xerxes and his Persian army.
There is nothing positive I can say about it but if you like porn action super hero cartoons, you MAY like this movie (300).The real historical story of this battle is nice but what I saw had nothing to do with that history!The animations and special effects seems so unreal so don't try to compare it to Gladiator or even Alexander but you can just consider it as a draft animation done as a practice.The battle scenes were poorly created, no details, no real sense and all you see is just blood pouring everywhere.BESIDES AND MOST IMPORTANT,it's shameful to show a nation, a great empire and civilization as beasts, monsters and strange creatures!
This scene, coupled with the corny narration, really stirs a generous chuckle from the audience.Also exaggerated are the battle sequences and the way the Spartans not only fight against Persians, but giants, men with giant blades for arms, and mutant men who look and sound more like the Urak-hai from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
This affects the film because, the audience gets so detached that you don't care for any character, or for the outcome of the scene.The film makes the terrible mistake of trying too much to impress with it's visuals, but they become so over done, that you don't feel like you are watching a movie, or getting a story, you feel like seeing a video game, and a bad one play out in front of you.It has been argued that the filmmakers wanted to make a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel.