Review of The Movie: 300 (2007)

Starring: Gerard Bulter, Rodrigo Santoro, Lena Heady and Dominic West

300 movie based on the graphic novel ‘300’ by Frank Miller & Lynn Varley.

General Bulter is performing King Leonidas’s role that was born in 540 B.C and Sparata Greece was his birth place, while he died in 480 B.C in the battle of Thermopylae fatally wounded by arrows in the battle.

Rodrigo is performing the role of Xerxes, who was born in 519 B.C in Persia and assassinated by political advisor Artabanus.

Immortals by Frank Miller’s are disfigured as Imperial soldiers who fight behind the shiny masks using a martial arts like fighting style. In Persian history Persian rulers were protected by Immortals.

There are few amendments from the original story to fascinate the display, e.g. for Spartans body armor protection tool was very valuable assets but in movie Spartan soldiers are fighting nearly naked without any form of body armor protecting them.

History of 300 Spartans by the historians is that battle took place in 480 B.C and whether it happened in August or Mid-September of that year. 

Spartans were not as ‘good’ as the movie portrays them to be, many of the Greek soldiers who fought with the Spartan elite at the battle of Thermopylae, were forced to fight because they were slaves. They were biggest slaves owners in Greece, but at the same time Sparta women gad an unusual level of rights.

The biggest problem with the movie is that film leaves the audience believing that the Spartans were the only Greek force to lead against the Persian. Similarly, King Xerxes role was exaggerated, he wasn’t a tall man. No, Persian didn’t bring any charging elephant or rhinos to the battle of Thermopylae.

‘The movie depicts a small group of European freedom fighters holding off a large army of Iranian slaves. Although, many draw comparisons to modern day conflicts. . On Sunday, March 11, 2007, two days after the 300’s U.S release, Iran FARS news Agency reported that the Iranian government wasn’t happy with the movie’s depiction of their culture.

Zack Synder the director said that he didn’t intend to create the movie to be a commentary on current events.