This is SPARTAAA.....

[Kamui]

http://nessparta.ytmnd.com/

:D

[CHRIST]

well that movie really was amazing

[Tomahawk]

300 is a movie you MUST see in theaters. Very brutal and very good.

[Kerry2]

I must say, that movie was amazing. I just saw it tonight with my wife and it was well worth the $16. If any of you are looking for a good action movie to go watch you should go see this one.

[RIZZO]

Yea i must say this was a great movie. I really loved the fight scenes. Those 300 were some real badasses. And um is it just me or am I the only one that lost count on how many heads rolled on the floor? lol Well newayz its def a movie i recommend to go check out.

[Kamui]

I saw 300 the previous weekend andI really liked the movie alot.It gave off that God of War feeling.Overall I thought it was rad how they pulled of tactics with 300 men.Makes you want to reflect this onto certain things*cough*.

[FLATLINE]

I went to see it the other night with my girlfriend. She said she never seen battle look so beautifull. I gotta say I have to agree. I also found it very inspirational. I dont know how true the story really is but judging by the coverage the History Channel has given the story im sure it pretty close. Funny thing is about this movie is that decendents of the Persians like people living in Iran say they are deeply offended by the way the movie portrays thier ancestors. Why do persians always get offended by the truth. They were barbarians back then and much of the Middle east is filled with them now.

[Deslock]

Yeah, but how many here know that this new movie about the 300 is actually a re-make?:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055719/

I have the original, and prolly not as loaded with special efffects, lol, but the story is very true. Well truth be told, it's not 'actually' a remake, but a new re-telling of the same story. As military tactics hold, it was a stunning move, and there is a statue there IRL that's dedicated to their immense skill and bravery. They literally saved Greece and Athens from being run over by the Persian Empire. Lord only knows how many people they saved from slavery, or certain death. They held the line. And paid for it with their very lives.

Leonidas:

Spartans! We have reached Thermopylae. The orders are: From this wall, we do not retreat!

[Kerry2]

The movie employs some poetic license but the majority of it is true.

Sometime in the 5th century bc, Xerxes led an army estimated around 1.5 million troops to dominate greece. Most greek cities submitted to him, some resisted and were crushed. Athens and Sparta were the two major greek cities that were left to defend. The messengers that were pushed down the well at the begining of the movie were actually sent by Xerxes' father Darius many many years before the battle as he had tried to lead the same campaign once before.

Leonidas, hand picked 300 spartans who had sons to carry on their name, to defend Thermopylae ( the hot gates). They were joined by a ragtag force of greek "volunteers" that boosted thier numbers to around 4000. Upon arriving at Thermopylae they did rebuild the wall as shown, though maybe not with dead bodies, and they did learn of a goat path that lead around their flank to wich they sent most of the other greek fighters.

The line about the persian arrows blotting out the sun and the Spartans fighting in the shade was actually spoken but it is supposedly a conversation between one of the spartan commanders and a scout, not the action scene portrayed in the movie.

The Persian navy was crippled by a great storm on the first night but the majority of the force made it to ground. The battle lasted for three days as the Spartans and Greeks held a pass that was only about 50 feet wide. They repulsed the first wave of attacks as shown in the movie, reaping heavy casualties on the persian army and suffering almost none of thier own. The second day Xerxes sent his "Immortal" troops who were decimated as well.

A greek traitor named Ephialtes showed Xerxes the path that flanked the spartans. It is not said though whether his is the disfigured hunch back shown in the movie. The Persians moved in the night and overran the greek force guarding the pass and encircled the spartan force. Lenoidas sent the majority of his force back to prepare for a future fight while he kept his 300 spartans and 700 Thespians to hold the Persian force and allow the retreat.

The fight did not end in the giant arrow volley that was shown in the movie though. Reportedly the spartan force fought fiercly until the last man, delaying the persians for hours. Leonidas reportedly fell mid way through the battle and was dragged away by the persian attackers. Xerxes is said to have ordered his body beheaded and displayed.

In the end it was estimated that the Spartan force took a toll of approxamately 20,000 causualties on the Persian army though Xerxes reportedly tried to hide this by having most of the bodies quickly buried.

That's all for todays history lesson boys and girls. I had to do a little refresher research but the battle of Thermopylae has always been on of my favorite military history lessons. The tactical genius of Leonidas was amazing and though his force was destroyed in the end he effectively inspired the rest of Greece to come to arms and stand against the attack.

[Zabka]

I haven't researched this bit of history in quite some time,but if memory serves, there are actually very few historical "facts" that we can attribute to this battle. it is believed that Spartans did hold off Xerxes, and as a result, the multiple city states of Greece united to fight the Persians.

The clothing, fighting, style, etc however, were all imagined and not based on any historical reality. In fact, the fight choreographer has been quoted as saying it was just a mixture of various martial arts that he used to make it look cool---and the outfits were something that Frank Miller found visually arresting, but not at all based on fact. I read an interview with him saying that apparently the Spartans dressed like beetles for battle. The article also described how he did a lot of historical research in preparing the graphic novel, but then disregarded most of it to fit into his vision.

Finally---the Persian empire was far from a warring horde of barbarians. They were quite an advanced civilization at the time...and to draw cues from a movie like this would be foolish. In fact, I have heard of some pretty barbaric practices of Spartans at the time. But of course people do that, so I too would be offended. For example, Miller made Xerxes the way he was simply to make him as skeevey to teenage boys (his target audience) as he could---not because it was intended to be any true representation of the king himself.

I still need to see the movie, because I hear that it is a lot of fun. But I hope that people don't mistake the movie, or the orig movie which inspired Miller, or even History Channel documentaries for true historical fact.

[Kerry2]

The clothing, fighting, style, etc however, were all imagined and not based on any historical reality. In fact, the fight choreographer has been quoted as saying it was just a mixture of various martial arts that he used to make it look cool---and the outfits were something that Frank Miller found visually arresting, but not at all based on fact. I read an interview with him saying that apparently the Spartans dressed like beetles for battle.

This is partially true. The scenes of the spartans running out into the open and hacking and slashing everything is very "artistic" but the fact that Spartan Hoplites fought in a Phalanx formation with their shields together and long spears extended has long been known as a historical fact. It was the main reason they were able to hold the pass against such overwhelming odds. They were better armored than portrayed in the movie, as I remember the typical hoplite wore a bronze chest plate, helmet, shin and forearm guards, carried a full bronze shield, a short sword and a long spear. The long crimson capes though were only worn for dress and removed for battle.

Finally---the Persian empire was far from a warring horde of barbarians. They were quite an advanced civilization at the time...and to draw cues from a movie like this would be foolish. In fact, I have heard of some pretty barbaric practices of Spartans at the time. But of course people do that, so I too would be offended. For example, Miller made Xerxes the way he was simply to make him as skeevey to teenage boys (his target audience) as he could---not because it was intended to be any true representation of the king himself.

Very true Zabka, the Persian empire was far from a horde of war mongering barbarians, though Xerxes did proclaim himself as a god king and based his campaign upon the vision of a phantom that supposedly visited him in his sleep. The persian army that invaded Greece was comprised of around 100 nations that were under Xerxes control. Xerxes was actually a fairly brilliant tactician himself at least when it came to troop placement and formations. He did make use of his archers by placing them at the rear and having them fire volleys into the enemy ranks to soften them up before they footsoldiers attacked. After the infintry went in, the cavalry would follow up and decimate any who remained. Xerxes was known to be a cruel king though, one account tells of how a storm destroyed a bridge that was built so his military could cross a river. He had all of the engineers that built the bridge put to death and the river was "punished" by whipping the water. It was also a custom of the persian army to crucify it's enemies after defeating them.

The spartans were also harsh people but that it also why they were the most feared and reveared warriors in all of Greece. They did discard deformed and weak children. At the age of 7 all boys were sent to military training and taught to fight. They did believe that the only honorable death was to be killed in battle and that to retreat was illegal.

The information about the battle of Thermopylae comes mainly from Herodotus but also from sources within Xerxes army itself. But the vast majority of it has been accepted as fact. They have even found evidence of the battle at the scene.

[Dioxin]

The wiki page for the real battle is very well written and informative. I suggest you give it a read. It shows estimated numbers of soldiers for both sides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

EDIT: They were grossly outnumbered, but it wasn't quite as bad as it was portrayed in the movie/graphic novel.

[CHRIST]

They did believe that the only honorable death was to be killed in battle and that to retreat was illegal.

"Either return with your shield or return on it"

It was really a good movie, I'm also hoping that my friend is gonna see it this weekend and I'll join him to see it again on the IMAX.

It's also cool because this movie was made entirely on blue screen so the effects are really cool especially the slow motion fighting scenes. There's actually a statue built for King Leonidas in Greece.

[sig]

re

Was good but I could have waited and watched it at home for the same effect. I really think hollywood is running out of ideas.

[norm]