"300" Review Essay

The graphic, gory, vile, and intense movie called 300 is about two opposing armies constantly battling each other. On one side is the sinister Persian army with thousands of soldiers ready to clobber any foe. On the other side are the audience?? heroes, the Spartans. The Persians, led by Xerxes wish to conquer all of Greece. However, the city of Sparta is in their path and the soldiers of Sparta are known for their extraordinary performance on the battlefield. With the Persians wanting to conquer and destroy Greece and the Spartans ready to defend their city, many gruesome battles take place in what is now known as the Battle of Thermopylae.

I believe this movie is accurate according to the historical event that took place in 480 B.C. The film gives a good impression of how much more massive the Persian army is compared to the Spartan army. Also, the Spartan army is known for their strong army and this is greatly expressed through out the movie. The strongest characteristic about the movie are the special effects which enhance the reality of the battles. Some of the scenes are so strongly portrayed such as disembodied body parts, obscene pictures, and disgusting images of facial expressions that it is hard to watch at times. There is one view about the movie that does not compliment the past historical battle. There were actually many Greek city-states that united to fight the Persians. In the film 300, the plot revolves around primarily on the Spartan soldiers and a little on the Arcadian soldiers. In 480 B.C. there were many other Greek city-states involved in the battles and it wasn?? until the very end of the war that Sparta was the only army left standing and willing to fight. Of course, creating a perspective of a desperate attempt to save a city by one army instead of many is much more interesting to watch in my opinion.

The two stories of the movie 300 and the play Oedipus, contain the theme of hubris. However, the theme is not displayed the same way between the two stories. Oedipus believes he can conquer any foe, but because of his mistakes in the past he is brought to wreck and ruin in his prime as a king. King Leonidas, the leader of Sparta, also believes he can vanquish any adversary. The difference between these two men is that King Leonidas thinks before he acts. He does not let his pride over take him and become foolish in his decisions. Both men are similar because each of them has a sense of pride with in them. However, they are both different by how they each choose to lead through with their decisions.

Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie. From the film?? portrayal of the story I could clearly sense the horrid environment the soldiers of that time lived in. There were many special effects added to create a world that was perceived as palpable, but sometimes they were often used too much. This was a fun movie to watch; it has shown me the horrors and the beauties of the world?? past events.

[/b]