King Xerxes waited four days for the Hellenes to be frightened and eventually surrender and was quite astonished by his opponents' complete apathy. The great historian Herodotus, possibly exaggerating, states that there were 1,700,000 Persians (their true number could have been anywhere from 100,000 to 1,000,000) against 7,000 Hellenic hoplites and slaves, including the 300 men of the Spartan King elite guard. This passage was, at that time, 12 meters wide. It is then decided that a small force should block Xerxes' way to southern Hellas in the Thermopylae passage. A year earlier (481, BC) a Panhellenic consortium of all southern citystates had already recognized the superiority of the Spartan army (the best organized and trained army at the time) and had declared King Leonidas as supreme commander of the combined Hellenic army.
In Sparta, King Leonidas consults the local oracle, who gives two options: Either a spartan king will have to be sacrificed, or Sparta will be burned to the ground. But the people of Athens and Sparta, the largest Hellenic powers at the time, feel quite insulted by the Persian emissaries' request to surrender to Xerxes, and so slay them. The previous Persian invasion and diplomatic attempts have already turned most northern Hellas tribes and states to the Persian side. The performances, the script and everything else falls into line in supporting the graphic novel feel of the film and, although I would like to say I favour substance over style, it is hard not to like when the style is this well done.It is spring 480 BC, Persian King Xerxes, continuing his father Darius' master plan to conquer the Hellenic citystates, arrives in Hellas. The design and the look is the all but fortunately it delivers in this regard really well. Overall this is an effective but superficial film. The rest of the cast are appropriately muscular and heroic and fit in with what the script is trying to do.
Headley and West have the harder job back home to provide some interest in the politics behind the battle they do well enough (particularly The Wire's West, but I'm biased) but the script does rather leave them to their own devices. Butler is strong in the lead and he convinces in the role of Leonidas. The cast don't really have characters so much as presence and mostly they deliver in this area. The lack of substance was a bit of a problem but to be honest the film does sweep you along in the moment of the battle and mostly this is all you care about. Snyder's direction matches the effects and he wallows in every macho swing of the sword, doing really well to capture the action in a way that is engaging and clear. The mix of effects with live action brings the action to live and is as suitably overblown as the legend. In this regard it is visceral, violent and visually stunning. The plot is simple and, although there is a little bit of politicing back home, the film is all about the stand of the 300 against countless others. With 300 though this selling continues across the entire film because, holding close to the graphic novel roots, the visual design is the all here. You can see the selling point on the DVD cover or the poster because it is in these places where any film visually has to sell itself. Although I am surprised to see this film so highly rated on IMDb, I can understand why it is so because it does deliver a powerful experience, almost powerful enough to carry it through its lack of real depth or substance. With the council unwilling to release soldiers until after the religious festival, Leonidas sets out with his 300 strong personal army to meet Xerxes' men at a narrow pass knowing they must hold off the approach for as long as they can until the army arrives even if it means their deaths. As the countless armies of Xerxes approaches, King Leonidas petitions the ruling council to meet the army with whatever men can be found. In the year 480 BC, King Xerxes of Persia set in motion his enormous slave empire to crush the small group of independent Greek states the only stronghold of freedom still remaining in the then known world.