300

300

Gerard Butler, David Wenham, Dominic West, Lena Headey

In the 5th century B.C.E., what nation would hold sway over the future of western civilization stood in the balance, and it appeared that the Persians would soon be the dominant power. They controlled almost the entire known world -- Asia Minor, Lydia, Judah, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Although they had suffered a setback at the Battle of Marathon, there appeared no stopping the march of their two million man army on their path to conquer Greece. The thirty city-states in the central and southern part of the country had agreed to a mutual pact of the self-defense to try and stop the advancing Persian army. An army of 7,000 Greeks from the various city-states and 300 Spartans, under the command of King Leonidas, marched to meet this wave of humanity that was about to descend like a plague of locusts on them in 480 B.C.E. Given the geography of the area, Greek leadership realized that the invaders would have to pass through Thermopylae, a narrow valley, or take a significant detour inland, in order to enter central Greece. It was there, this “gate of fire” in the mountains, that they would make their stand; 7,300 against 2 million. While they probably did not know the exact size of the antagonist army they were about to face, each soldier as he marched had to know that he was moving one step closer to his death. Their goal was simply to delay the Persian army just long enough to allow the navy to destroy their opponent’s fleet. Thus causing the Persian army to starve or retreat, and give time for reinforcements to make their way to the pass. The Greeks wanted to rebuild a small fort and wall that had once been at Thermopylae, and wait for their adversaries to arrive, but Xerxes’ Persian army made their way to the location sooner than expected. Camping below the “hot gate,” Xerxes was shocked that this small band of defenders did not retreat or run away in fear. Instead the Spartans, who had taken up positions in front of the wall practiced their calisthenics and braided their hair. After waiting four days, the Persian King sent Medes and his men to attack their position. At first, it appeared that it was going to be a rout, the slaughter everyone expected. Engaging the foe, the Spartans retreated and appeared to be on the ropes, Medes’s men broke ranks to purse them. Just as suddenly, the Spartans turned and made their stand, beating Medes back. Xerxes in a rage then sent his best troops, the Immortals, to destroy the Greeks. The Spartans repeated the same tactic again and again for two days. Unknown to the brave defenders, the Greek navy had completely failed in their sea battle with the Persians. Also unknown to them, this heroic stand appeared to have become a fool’s folly because the Greek army had been betrayed by one of their fellow countrymen named Ephialtes. He informed Xerxes that there was a goat path that could take his army around the Greek position. Learning of this treachery, on the morning of the third day, they barely had time to pull back. Realizing that defeat was at hand, Leonidas told his fellow Greeks to return to their homes, the Spartans would remain there and make their stand. Some of the soldier, no more than 1,000, decided to remain with them. This small band of men set up on a small hill and watched the Persian army encircle them like a band of wolves surrounding a crippled fawn. In the savage fighting that followed, bodies piled up to the point that the Spartans even used them in spots as a makeshift wall. In the midst of the fight, Leonidas went down. Yet, the Spartans refused to abandon the dead body of their King, and against all logic, fighting like wild beasts, they survived until a hail of Persian spears and arrows killed the last of them. Only one man, Zeones, survived. Even though they lost, the Spartan stand had delayed the Persian army long enough to allow the Athenians enough time to reorganize and take control of the shipping lanes again. The courage of this last stand inspired their fellow Greeks, and some historians maintain that it took the taste for war out of Xerxes’s mouth. If the Greeks had been defeated, Western civilian and culture would never have happened.

Given the epic nature of the story, it was little wonder that it would be turned into a movie and was several decades back. It was called 300 Spartans. The movie so moved legendary comic book creator Frank Miller that he created a powerful and beautiful graphic novel devoted to the battle. With modern CGI and an award winning scholarly work by Steven Pressfield on the market, it seems that a new telling of the tale would be in order, especially because the original movie has not aged well. But things in Hollywood never move in a straight line. This film and a sister project called Gates of Fire languished in developmental hell for years, even though some major Hollywood heavyweights like Michael Mann, Bruce Willis, and George Clooney championed getting the Battle of Thermopylae to the big screen. At first Hollywood executives got cold feet because sword and sandal flicks were as out of style as petticoats until a film called Gladiator came around. Financiers were still leery of a project based on a graphic novel because of the special effects costs. Then director Richard Rodriguez took another Miller graphic novel, Sin City, and made it relatively cheaply using blue screen and modern CGI. For just $60 million, Miller’s Eisner Award winning graphic novel could be brought to life. The movie was finally green lighted with the success of Sin City and the Miller inspired Batman movie.

Like Sin City, the movie is a shot-for-shot adaptation of the gorgeous graphic novel with one exception. In real life, the Spartans were nude, naked, marching around with Mr. Happy out enjoying the scenery. No major studio is going to spend $60 million on a sausage party. So much like Jesus on the cross in almost every church, most, not all, of the naughty bits were covered up. Most of the liberties with history that Miller took remain in the movie. Still, it is an amazing movie. While the blue screen does not always look right, they were able to capture Miller’s eye. Miller fans will not have to wait long as other graphic novels of his will be out on film in the next couple of years, Hard Boiled, Sin City 2, and The Dark Knight (the sequel to Nolan’s Batman).

Verdict: Buy the Book and Go to the Movie