There are plenty of movies out there that take bits and pieces of history and apply them to different contexts, but nobody really picks apart WWII movies which are based off of a real event but the stories derived from the soldiers that fought in it.

The point is to tell a story that will resonate with the audience's emotions, not to be literal retellings of the source material unless advertised as such. "300" was marketed as an action film "from the mind that brought you Sin City" not "A factual depiction of the Battle of Thermoplyae."

I've scene it and I've enjoyed it because it is an excellent action film. Friends of mine seem to dislike it because it wasn't on par with the likes of Gladiator in the depictions of it's battles. I can see why people dislike the movie, but saying that you don't like an apple because it doesn't taste like an orange is just absurd.

did u guys get pissed at the superman comics tht showed him helping in ww2? cus well tht isnt historicly accurate either but most ppl seem to be fine with it

The cinematography was good, but I wouldn't prefer it.

Evil, gay? All BS.

Yes, Xerxes was portrayed as effeminate. The 300 (along with 2700 other non-Spartan warriors) were the guys who saved Western Civilization and prevented the Persians from entering Europe. The Spartans were the best warriors of their time. Spartans knew that you fight better if you protect your lover fighting by your side and don’t want to look weak in front of him at the same time. If we had more warriors like the ancient Greeks, we would be GLORIOUS in the fight on terror.

Don’t the Islamic terrorists look effeminate anyway in their long robes? Same actually counts for the pope and Catholic clergy as well, who have been shamefully implicated in the greatest cover-up of child sexual abuse in the 20th century.

You are some sick people.

That said, actual Spartan society was more brutal and probably more horrific than anything shown in the film. Homosexuality was seen as a way to build strong bonds between men, and the Spartans believed it was one more element that helped to make for a very fierce warrior. Unlike the Athenians, Spartans left no monuments, wrote no plays or poetry, and despite a valiant battle at Thermopylae, it was the Athenians who finally defeated Xerxes in the naval battle at Salamis. While the violence in the film seems over the top, actual close-quarter battle must have been very violent, out of necessity. To Snyder’s credit, there are some anti-war elements in the film, as when he shows Leonidas’ and his soldiers’ reaction to the loss of their comrades.

Not surprisingly, “300” is doing very well in Greece. The Greeks love their long history with its many heroes and stunning accomplishments.

Whould you expect a story based on Odysseus or Hercules to be historically accurate? Because this is the same thing; it's the re-telling of a myth. Just because this myth is a lot closer to its historical roots doesn't make it any less of a legend; a what-should-have-been or a what-could-have-been rather than a what-really-happened.

The Frank Miller 'graphic novel' is a shallow and duplicitous entertainment, which bears only a shadow of resemblance to the momentous event it attempts to tell the story of.

I thought the movie was highly entertaining, at no time did I think it was a commentary on today's world, at no time did I think the author had a "message" to get across.

Given the true nature of Spartan society, I thought the author did an awesome job in painting the Spartans as the "good" guys.

I immediately knew what the author meant from the line "those philosophers and boy lovers in Athens", he meant that the Athenians were not militarists like the Spartans were, but that the Athenians were more interested in intellectual pursuits and the pursuit of pleasure than in becoming fighting machines like Spartan men. I think it is a really big leap to call that line "homophobic". I certainly didn't take it that way. Also, i think if anything the phrase "boy lover" would be a slam against pedophiles, so whoever made the comment about "homophobia" needs to get a grip.

I dont' see why the author is being held so critically to a standard of being "historically" accurate. The movie 300 is enterainment. Pretty good enterainment too, I thoroughly enjoyed the harem scenes!

1) About the armor - The spartans were depicted as wearing little to no armor, but what did you expect? plate armor did not show up until the 14th Century and many went to battle with little more then cloth, the german's (i know thats not what they were called at the time) had similer war garb.

2) About the "subliminal messages" - To my knowledge Iranian people are not the same as persians, there has been a MAJOR culture change since then, it would be like Americans getting upset at a film dipicting native Americans as ruthless people.

3) History - Any true history buff can tell you that there is always three stories to any true occurance, the winners, the losers, and the people that were not involved. Its happening right now and it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell who is telling the whole truth without you actualy being there. Xerces was found as both a "great leader" and "ruthless conquerer" in history, just because one peice of history says one thing you cant cancel out the rest.

4) Boy-Love - im straight (just to tell you where my scew is comming from) and i thought of the line as pedofile love is bad, not homo love is bad, i can see how some would see it that way, but remember that spartan children were treated much differntly then athanian, they thought of their boys as something to prove trying to forge them into warriors, not coddeling them.

i enjoyed the movie very much, and deeply sorry if it offended anyone, but if your world can be turned up-side-down over a movie, do something with your life to make it right again.

Things like the boy-lovers line and the freakazoid Persians and all the bellowing about freedom only annoyed to the extent that they show wussy writing. Kind of cowardly, really. It would take a writer of greater depth than Miller to present the Spartans as they were and still make them the heroes.

Gerald Butler is the new Brian Blessed.

Who knows what really happened? History's been written by those who won, and each one of those who lived to watch the real battle actually had his own truth.

I love history, but I know how to draw a line between a history and stories. As others said so well, it ain't a History Channel program, nor a National Georgraphic article...

Enjoy the story for what it is : a jewel of imagination, inspiration, and a moving portrait.