300 - the movie: More than just a movie.

What would you do to protect your people, your land, your queen from an invasion which is destined to destroy you? What would you do when you have only 300 men against a hundred thousand? What would you choose between running away to see your love one last time and standing firm knowing it would be the last time you'll ever stand in your life?

You need courage to answer those questions. You need an unshakable character, a mind without a hint of any doubt or disbelief, you need to have passion for your country and you need to be mad as mad can be. That was what King Leonidas was. Plus a lot more. He led his group of 300 brave warriors against an apparently endless army led by the Persian Emperor Xerxes who tried to conquer Greece.

One of the things I didn't mention above about Leonidas is that he was very intelligent as well. He had a very good plan to hold the Persian army back. He planned to hold the enemy at a mountain pass, which made it a whole new game where numbers didn't matter at all. If it was not for a stupid Greek who led Xerxes through a 'back-door', Leonidas would have had a much better chance of winning the war. But nevertheless, his story of glory was an inspiration to the entire Greek army and an year later, after many battles, the Greek defeated the Persians in the Battle of Plataea.

Well, so much for history. Now, a not so well known fact about this piece of history is that there have been a couple of movies made on it some time ago. But the latest one is actually based on Frank Miller's graphic novel "300". There are so many things about this movie which I really liked- its screenplay, choreography, direction, acting, dialogs, the backdrops, the sets, even the color of the print !! All of this made the movie more authentic and realistic. I do understand that most of the scenes were a direct copy from the novel, and when I say direct, I mean direct, without any modification! It makes sense- why do you want to do something else, when the graphics in the novel are so appealing and so perfect?



Gerard Butler, who played King Leonidas, was a wonderful fit- he had the charm, the strength, the shape and all that it takes to play the mighty Spartan king.





There wasn't a second throughout the movie that I did not enjoy. I just loved the movie - start to finish, every second of it. Well done Zack (Snyder)!

Few of my favorite scenes from the movie:

The Spartans look at the dead 'pinned' to an old tree. the 'Immortals' butchered harmless villagers without any mercy and....



Leonidas personally delivers his answer to the Persian Messenger. This is when the fun begins and the King says "THIS IS SPARTA!"

The Persians were no match for the mighty Spartans. They simply fell off, very literally, into the sea.