300 (2006)

King Leonidas and a force of 300 men fight the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers:

Zack Snyder (screenplay), Kurt Johnstad (screenplay),

Stars:

Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West

9 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gerard Butler	...	King Leonidas
Lena Headey	...	Queen Gorgo
Dominic West	...	Theron
David Wenham	...	Dilios
Vincent Regan	...	Captain
Michael Fassbender	...	Stelios
Tom Wisdom	...	Astinos
Andrew Pleavin	...	Daxos
Andrew Tiernan	...	Ephialtes
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Xerxes
Giovani Cimmino	...	Pleistarchos (as Giovani Antonio Cimmino)
Stephen McHattie	...	Loyalist
Greg Kramer	...	Ephor #1
Alex Ivanovici	...	Ephor #2
Kelly Craig	...	Oracle Girl

Storyline

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army in the mountain pass of Thermopylae. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the enemy in one of the most famous last stands of history. Persian King Xerxes lead a Army of well over 100,000 (Persian king Xerxes before war has about 170,000 army) men to Greece and was confronted by 300 Spartans, and several hundred Arcadians. Xerxes waited for 10 days for King Leonidas to surrender or withdraw left with no options he moved. The battle lasted for about 3 days and after which all 300 Spartans were killed. The Spartan defeat was not the one expected, as a local shepherd, named Ephialtes, defected to the Persians and informed Xerxes of a separate path through Thermopylae, which the Persians could use to outflank the Greeks.

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Plot Keywords:

persian | army | king | spartan | battle | 

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Taglines:

Spartans, prepare for glory!

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [fi]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 March 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

300: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

Icestorm Studios, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£4,746,071 (UK) (23 March 2007)

Gross:

$210,592,590 (USA) (6 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Legendary Pictures, Virtual Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gerard Butler pulled an arm tendon and developed foot drop during the making of the film.

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Goofs

Xerxes, or any Persian ruler, would never have referred to himself as a god or a god-king as an Egyptian Pharaoh would. It would be the highest blasphemy. Their title was roughly translated as King-Emperor which the British Monarch used during the height of their Empire. The Persians, specially the Persian kings, were Zoroastrians, who were monotheists with a single supreme Creator. Their god is considered, by many, to be the same as the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dilios: When the boy was born, like all Spartans, he was inspected.

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Crazy Credits

The opening Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures and Virtual Studios logos are made of stone and appear in front of a brown, cloudy sky.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.2 (2011)

User Reviews

Forget the Naysayers, 300 Delivers!

300(2007)

Review: 300 has been given lots of criticism. People like to view in the political way. That is not the way. Here's my take.

300 is an entertaining movie. This is all about the action and it's Spartans. The movie takes about the first 30 minutes to give us plot development before the Spartans take it to the battlefield.

The action is the key. The slow motion action is what really delivers. This is like a ballet of blood done so nicely. The action needless to say is satisfying. We are given lots of campy dialog and some good humor here and there that works. Gerard Butler is wonderful. He embodies the great king. Becomes him.

Now, on to the politics, 300 has it's own politics, but it was also based on a comic book written back in 1998. How can this be a pro-Bush statement? This is just like another Frank Miller picture, Sin City. The point is to make the comic book come to life. 300 was written by Frank Miller almost a decade ago and you think this is right-wing propaganda?

Listen to me. Take a deep breath and lighten up. Okay?

One last thing, this movie is NOT a history lesson. This is based on a graphic novel, similar to a movie made back in 1962, and is inspired by the battle in 480 B.C. This is not racist either.

The Last Word: 300 delivers what is was sent out to do. Action. Entertainment. Skin. Ignore the naysayers and enjoy. Excellent popcorn fun.