The 300 Spartans movie

I just watched "The Three Hundred Spartans" movie and my opinion is divided in 2 about it .

On one hand,I was enjoying it to the moment of the final battle . The pictures,effects and everything was marvellous . I can't imagine better .

But then,did Leonidas need to pretend he was kneeling for a moment ? Or did he really kneel in order to achieve a bigger goal -the death of Xerxes ? I couldn't say truely .And if he did kneel even for just a minute ,was it an honourable step that can be justified ? What must he have done ?

Besides I am interested to know whether the movie in this last part reflects the history . Are there some datas (anc .authors narrating about Leonidas kneeling ) or the movie makers made it up ?

So I still can't say was the movie good because of that .Help me form an opinion !

Excuse me, what movie did you watch? The movie about 300 spartans that is commonly just known as "300" or something else?

If you are refering to it, then I can tell you that Leonidas kneeling, along with like 80% of the rest of the movie was completely made up. Why? Because Leonidas and Xerxes never met face to face.

I think he's talking about "The 300 Spartans," which was an old film that inspired the newer one. I've never seen it myself, though.

And yeah, like Rapax said, they never actually met. Xerxes was sitting way over the battle, watching on his throne the entire time. Leonidas was down in the battle.

If you're talking about the newer version... there's really no point in even asking about its accuracy.

I think he's talking about "The 300 Spartans," which was an old film that inspired the newer one. I've never seen it myself, though.

And yeah, like Rapax said, they never actually met. Xerxes was sitting way over the battle, watching on his throne the entire time. Leonidas was down in the battle.

If you're talking about the newer version... there's really no point in even asking about its accuracy.

I too like 300 (the newer one), but if anything, the older "The 300 Spartans" was more accurate historically. The latest 300 was great fun to watch though, and besides, remember that the whole movie revolves around a veteran of that battle who survived telling other Spartans about it. He was that guy who lost an eye. Just remember that the battle as portrayed by that movie is his exaggeration of the Persians.

I am talking of the 300 new movie .I didn't know an older version exists . So you think Leonidas didn't meet Xerxes at all . But is the new movie good at that scene with Leonidas kneeling for some reason ? Is it a good moment or they screwed it up ?

Yeah, in the older "300 Spartans" movie, Leonidas never kneels before the Persians.

Regarding the newer "300" movie, I was entertained by it. I still think they could've done without monsters. I don't mind straying from history, but the monsters went a little too far.

In fact,the persians did make their teeth sharper with some pilling ..I read about it .And gave them a monstreous look .Almost all tribes on the border of Asia M did it at that time .Besides the ephores I think are also realistically represented . Only the figure of a fat man with some malformed hands is perhaps unrealistical .

But come on,comment the kneeling,did it underdo Leonidas' feat ? Should he have done without it ? In spite of that he could have killed Xerxes .

...but he never met Xerxes, so couldn't have killed him.

As for the filing, I thought that was a Scythian thing? Or at least that the Greeks believed Scythians did that (along with the scalp-clothing, etc)

Originally Posted by different_13

...but he never met Xerxes, so couldn't have killed him.

As for the filing, I thought that was a Scythian thing? Or at least that the Greeks believed Scythians did that (along with the scalp-clothing, etc)

You have to think like a literature thing .In the movie they meet . So in the hypothethic scene,is it an honour deed to kneel for to kill or not ?

I believe the tribes at the Iranian borders were pilling their teeth,but not only them.Perhaps the scythians also .People copy things from one another,you know .

In fact,the persians did make their teeth sharper with some pilling ..I read about it .And gave them a monstreous look .Almost all tribes on the border of Asia M did it at that time. Besides the ephores I think are also realistically represented.

Saying the movie was good is one thing, but saying that the monsters portrayed are "realistically represented" is going way too far.

So do you honestly believe sharpening your teeth will make you look like this?


What about Ephialtes the hunchback? He looks more like Quasimodo. Perhaps he was looking for Esmerelda?


There is nothing realistic about goatboy:


How about the giant Immortal boxer-berserker? (he does have sharp teeth though)

Only the figure of a fat man with some malformed hands is perhaps unrealistical .

You think he's "perhaps" shown unrealistically? "Perhaps?"

See, that's for all the people who kept telling us "but it's based on a comic book, no one's gonna take it seriously!".

Yup...almost no one.

The fat man with the knives for arms resembles a Mancubus from the old Doom games.

See I was fine with the movie but now everyone's so obsessed with Spartans it's annoying...

"omg can we see a spartan unit lols!"

**** NO GET OVER IT

Well on this forum everyone was obsessed with spartans anyway, it's rather the "this is sparta" wave that made it ridiculous.

You all must remember. Not only are we watching a fictional movie representation of the events. We are also being told the story through the words of a story teller on the eve of a great battle against the Persians.

Of course he's going to spin it that they are these gross fantastical heathens with animal like characteristics and that Leonidas had the final say with Xerxes. He wants his comrades to dispise the enemy, see them as less than human, and pump up the heroic nature of the Spartans that died at Thermopoly.

If all the Spartans died and all their allies had left the night before followed by the storyteller himself, the narrator is making the event up for stylistic and motivational effect.

Its a story within a story. Reality has nothing at all to do with it.

Originally Posted by Ramashan

You all must remember. Not only are we watching a fictional movie representation of the events. We are also being told the story through the words of a story teller on the eve of a great battle against the Persians.

Its a story within a story. Reality has nothing at all to do with it.

We already know that, but Dracula argued that the monsters were historically accurate. Although he concedes that the fat man with knife-arms is "perhaps" not too historically accurate.

We already know that, but Dracula argued that the monsters were historically accurate. Although he concedes that the fat man with knife-arms is "perhaps" not too historically accurate.

Ah, well, its just been an issue on my mind in reading many of the 300 posts and this is where it happened to come out.

It still plays into people even making the assumption that because its in the movie it must have a historical precident.

The 300 Spartans > 300.

The old film from 1962 is a much better film than that new shite I watched in the summer. I highly recommend it to everyone. The only problems I remember with it were that Richard Egan (Leonidas) didn't look Greek in the slightest (too much of an American matinée idol look) and they never get the hair and beards right for Spartiates (long hair, beard but no mustache). These, of course, aren't really major problems for enjoying a good film.

Interestingly "Zulu" was made only 2 years later and both have an oldish look to the film but are no lesser than any modern film.

Well, to answer your question... In the movie, he knelt because it was a part of the plan of Stelios jumping onto his back.

But here's something that can't be disputed: You don't ever want to use the movie as a historical source. Ever.

Well on this forum everyone was obsessed with spartans anyway, it's rather the "this is sparta" wave that made it ridiculous.

Exactly, even before the 300 movie, I was interested in Spartan culture and warfare. The "This is SPARTA" thing, well, I actually like that quote, I think it's going to become a classic movie quote in a few years.