The heroic warriors of Sparta, despite not being portrayed in a Zack Snyder-directed hack-and slash action film that was testosterone-heavy and stylized, romanticized the movie, were already considered some of the most terrifyingly macho people to have ever lived. I think my favorite story is from the time when an enemy army — led by the father of Alexander the Great — was just outside the city-state of Sparta, and they sent the Spartans a warning note. Basically saying c’mon guys, just surrender. If you and your people get in, you’re going to be in for a lot more pain than good. I’d like to imagine that the Spartans didn’t even blink when they sent back the most passive-aggressive yet supremely cool one-word reply: “If.” Snyder, for his part, depicted similar examples of bad-assery like that one in 2007’s 300(which can be viewed on Netflix).
Just like the time an advancing enemy decided to shout across a battlefield to the Spartans: Drop your weapons, guys! I’m paraphrasing, of course. Neverthess, the verbatim reply from Sparta’s King Leonidas turned into a famous battle cry: “Molon labe.”So, that’s it. “come and take them.”
300Zack Snyder movie now available on Netflix
The majority of the attention should be during 300 is spent on dramatizing events immediately leading up to and during the Spartans’ loss at the Battle of Thermopylae. This was the scene of one of the most iconic massacres in military history. A Spartan-led Greek force of only a few hundred soldiers covered the retreat of an even larger Greek force. The movie shows how the Spartans managed to defeat a Persian army exponentially larger than the Greeks.
In Snyder’s 300 FilmGerard Butler, a very dark Scottish actor portrays Leonidas. As such, he is able to deliver some memorable lines. Leonidas is warned about the dangers of confrontation with the imposing Xerxes. “It isn’t wise to stand against me. Imagine what horrible fate awaits my enemies when I would gladly kill any of my own men for victory.”
Leonidas: “And I would die for any one of mine.”
It is important to note that very few historical events have been so well-suited to the Snyder treatment.
Reactions and reviews
The movie was loved by audiences, as you can see from this content. Use Rotten TomatoesThe 300 movie has a 90% audience score. This is a remarkable score. This is even more impressive when you consider the score was calculated from over 250,000 user ratings.
Critics found the film to be surprisingly less entertaining. The film received a 61% Rotten Tomatoes score based on 236 reviews. As this oneRoger Ebert, the late Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun-Times. He groaned. “300 has one-dimensional caricatures who talk like professional wrestlers plugging their next feud.”