Gerard Butler Stars in 300 a 2007 Action Film

Live Action Adaptation of the Graphic Novels by Frank Miller

Sep 14, 2009

King Leonidas takes 300 of his Spartan Warriors to battle a million-strong army led by the man who belives himself to be the God-King, a megalomaniac named Xerxes.

Young Spartan warriors are sent out into the wilderness to learn how to fight and fend for themselves. Through hardship and starvation, the weak are rooted out and those that survive are the strong ones. Only they can grow up to become the fearsome and legendary warriors.

Dilios (David Wenham) serves as the narrator and is shown later as a Spartan Warrior. He recounts the story of the King of Sparta Leonidas (Gerard Butler). The tale includes stories from his days as a boy in the wilderness where he killed a wolf with a make-shift spear, to his fight with 300 hundred Spartan Warriors against an army of a million soldiers in a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. Leonidas is forced to challenge the army after Persians arrived and told him that if he did not surrender to King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) then he and his subjects will be wiped out. Not one to submit to threats Leonidas kills the Persians even knowing that his actions will result in a conflict.

According to tradition, Leonidas cannot take his army to war without the consent the Ephors, ancient priests. His plan is to lie in wait for Xerxes’ army using the terrain at Thermopylae (the Hot Gates) where the attacking army will be funnelled and their superior numbers will mean nothing. The Ephors consult their Oracle Pythia (Kelly Craig) and ultimately decide not to give their consent to go to war. Leonidas leaves and it is then revealed that the Ephors are corrupt and had been bribed by Xerxes to not consent to a war.

Leonidas decides to go ahead with his plan but is forced to leave with only 300 of his best warriors for what they all know is a suicide mission. During the journey to Thermopylae the 300 are joined by Arcadians and various other Greeks who wish to join them in their battle. King Leonidas is also approached by Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan), a hunchbacked Spartan whose parents fled Sparta to save their deformed son from being killed as a baby. He requests permission to join the 300 but Leonidas tells him that the key to Spartan tactics is that each soldier protects the man beside him and as Ephialtes cannot do that (because he cannot raise his deformed arm high enough) he cannot join them in the fight.

During the fight, the terrain Leonidas chose proves to be the perfect place to fight because the large numbers of Persians mean nothing as they can only attack a few at a time.

300 follows Leonidas as he and his 300 Spartans fight against the approaching army with a sub-plot following his wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) as she attempts to rally the Spartan council to send reinforcements.

Stylish and Visually Impressive Film

300 was made with the creator of the Graphic Novel series Frank Miller as a producer so the film and includes a number of sequences that were lifted from the pages of the Graphic Novel. The scenes in which Leonidas kicks a Persian into a well and the view of hundreds of ships being smashed to pieces in rough seas are perfect live action visuals inspired by the images in the novel.

Director Zack Snyder delivers a series of visually stunning fight sequences that are beautifully choreographed. Most were filmed against a blue screen, and show blood spraying across the ground in slow motion. The 300 Spartans do not seem to be overwhelmed and fight with a viciously efficient brutality covering one another as they battle. The cast are clearly enjoying themselves and Leonidas relishes any opportunity to goad Xerxes, the man who believes himself to be the God-King.

Like Sin City, 300 could almost be considered a live action comic book, and the visuals are a treat. However, because the majority of the film was done in front of a blue-screen the excessive use of CGI may be enough to put off potential viewers. CGI is a good thing when it is done well. Fortunately, 300 makes good use of the advancements in computer technology and allows the audience to believe that they are watching a live action comic.

300 is a brilliantly choreographed visual feast, fans of Sin City will want to waste no time in tracking down a copy. However, those who do not like CGI may want to give 300 a miss.

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