This Is Spartaah screams Gerard Butler (King Leonidas of Sparta) as he kicks an emissary from Rodrigo Santoro (King Xerxes of Persia) and throws him down a well. This kicks off The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. in which 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas opposed massive armies of King Xerxes numbering about 2 million or so (as per popular legend). The movie itself is based on Frank Miller’s interpretation of The Battle of Thermopylae so it does not stick to the original version per se. The movie 300, however, does rock with great action, cinematography, stunning visuals, etc. and I enjoyed it thoroughly like I did Frank Miller’s Sin City (I am still waiting for Sin City 2 in fact).
The story of 300 goes thus – King Xerxes of Persia is on an all conquering mission and even thinks of himself as God and not human. He sends messengers to Sparta asking for some Spartan earth and water as a token of Sparta’s submission to his divine self. King Leonidas is not amused by this and not following protocol kills all the messengers throwing them all down a well saying “you will find plenty of earth and water down there” along with the roar of “This Is Spartaah” meaning this is how we do it in Sparta. This done King Leonidas prepares for war with the Persians, but before that needs the backing of his senate and more importantly the Oracles who keep the old ways (some mumbo jumbo for the Spartan version of high priests). The Oracles have been bought by the Persians for gold so they make up a prophecy about Sparta falling and inform King Leonidas not to go to war with the Persians. Even in the senate King Leonidas has opposition in the form of Dominic West (Theron) who is a politician and not a warrior and also in cahoots with the Persians. Predictably King Leonidas is denied permission to go to war with the Persians by the Oracles and the Senate. King Leonidas then takes 300 of Sparta’s best soldiers as his personal bodyguard and departs on a walk into the country, but in reality makes his way to the “Pass of Thermopylae” where the Persians have to enter into Sparta through a narrow passageway with mountains on either side. King Leonidas wants to hold the Persians at the Pass of Thermopylae since it is narrow and only a limited number of Persians can pass through it at a given time which means their advantage of huge numbers amounts to nothing. The battle takes place at the Pass of Thermopylae and 300 Spartan soldiers led by their King Leonidas make the Persians pay dearly for 3 days. In fact they hold 2 million Persian soldiers at bay and King Xerxes of Persia is at his wit’s end since nothing he throws at the Spartans seems to have any effect. The Spartans are however betrayed by their own and King Xerxes and his army are shown a secret passageway which allows them to circle the Pass of Thermopylae and come up behind the 300 Spartan soldiers and King Leonidas. King Xerxes offers to set them free and even offers to proclaim King Leonidas Warlord of entire Greece only if Sparta is willing to submit to his lordship and if King Leonidas kneels before him. The Spartans were trained as warriors’ right from childhood and were trained never to surrender or retreat, only to seek glory in the battlefield by either winning or dying and so the 300 Spartans along with their King Leonidas lay down their lives fighting to the last man. This sacrifice of King Leonidas and his 300 does not go in vain for it prompts the entire Spartan Army and the rest of Greece to take on the Persians and in the ending the Persians have 10,000 of Sparta’s best soldiers descending on them along with the rest of Greece.
Historical significance aside, 300 is worth a watch for the high octane action it delivers and 300 chiseled bodies ably led by Gerard Butler (King Leonidas) and for the stunningly pictured battle sequences which will make you hold your breath. Lena Headey plays Queen Gorgo, wife of King Leonidas and Queen of Sparta who takes it upon herself to convince the senate to send in reinforcements to the aid of her husband and the 300 soldiers. These reinforcements, however, turn up too late to aid King Leonidas and his brave 300 soldiers who are all killed in battle. Even at his last living moments, a dying soldier states it is an honor dying with King Leonidas to which the dying King Leonidas replies it was an honor living with him.
Gerard Butler impresses with his muscular and well toned body. I remember him last from his cameo in Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. He does a great job as King Leonidas, and lives the part, both in the action sequences and in the parts where he has to lead from the front unlike the Persian King Xerxes who hides behind his army. The rest of the cast of 300 perform adequately, but the highlights of the movie are the stunning visuals and the beautifully shot actions sequences much like poetry in motion. 300 is worth a revisit and the price of a DVD rental with popcorn and coke alone for company. I am not complaining since I had them along with my wife who too enjoyed the ride.
