‘300’ is a film of visuals effects. For that reason, the film flows slowly with realism. Computer generated images will jump out at you from the screen.

What makes this film is the lack of colour. By enhancing the colour saturation, the screen is vibrant with orange, greys, creating dark and atmospheric scenes. The only vibrant colour is the red cloaks belonging to the 300 Spartans. The red is prominent over the grey scenery causing the Greek soldiers presence to stand out.

The first ten minutes of the film is a narration by David Wenham (Lord of the Rings) who tells the story of Leonidas played by Gerard Butler (Reign of Fire) how the boy, the future king of Spartan, becomes a man. At the age of seven, Leonidas is taken from his home and begins his training to become a Spartan warrior. At this early age, he learns to fight to the death, show no fear, and learns to tolerate pain. He is taught to become a king, worthy of the Spartans legacy.

The Persians are marching towards Sparta, intent on enslaving the Spartan people, even so, the council (Ephors) refuse to go to war. Leonidas will not stand by and watch his land taken and his people enslaved. He is a warrior, and was born to fight, as were all Spartan men. Therefore, not to break any laws and to upset the Gods, he takes 300 men, leaving the Spartan army behind, and leaves to fight the million strong Persian army. When questioned, he declares “I am going for a long walk and these men are my bodyguards”.

The one liner’s in the film are priceless, causing you to smile and even laugh aloud.

The soldiers of Spartan take killing thousands of Persians in their stride. In one scene, Leonidas stands on a pile of dead bodies and casually eats an apple. The relaxed attitude of the 300 Greeks is laughable but just adds to how valiant they were, and inserts needed humour to the seriousness of the plot.

Gerard Butler (Leonidas) gives off a comical but powerful presence on the screen. Beefed up as muscle rippling, Spartan king. As a fearless warrior, he plays the roll well. Lena Headey plays (Gorgo) Leonidas’s queen. Lena’s ability flows naturally without having to put on a forced accent and royalty airs, her beauty, and power shines in all her scenes.

The battle scenes play out in slow motion. Blood flies over the screen in clots, heads and arms spin and float slowly across the screen. The Spartan’s battle formation plays like a choreographed dance. Each movement of attack or fighting stance is unionized making it a beautiful thing to watch. The Greeks display so much power and strength in their physical and mental abilities that the Persians cannot help but admire their adversary’s courage.

Rodrigo Santoro plays the role of the Persian king. (Xerxes) Xerxes is a rich, egotistical man, who thinks himself as god. With gold painted skin, makeup, and covered in gold jewellery, Xerxes looks more like a drag queen than a god. Rodrigo gives an arrogant performance.

What spoils the film if the constant interruption of narration. The narrator doesn’t enlighten us to anything we hadn’t already worked out for ourselves, or seen on screen. The story warrants narration at the beginning and the end of the film, but interrupting important scenes adds nothing.

The final battle for Leonidas is very disappointing. The 300 Spartan warriors have fought day and night, slaughtering thousands of Persians, with hardly any serious injury or death to their own men. Then, within five minutes, the Spartans are destroyed, not by a bomb, or a magical weapon, but by spear and sword fighting, the same actions that kept them alive for days. It’s as though the cutting room decided the scene was too long.

‘Lord of the Rings’ had characters you cared about, even loved. ‘300’ has characters you will admire. Their bravery and courage will stay with you long after the film has ended.

‘300’ is 1hr and 17 minutes long. With exciting visuals, amazing cinematography, and a storyline that will have you glued to the screen, ‘300’ will not disappoint.

---

Karina Kantas originates from the UK, but now resides in Greece. She has work published in numerous electronic magazines, and printed publications, as well as a novel, In Times of Violence, published by Meadow books and available on Amazon. A contributor and moderator to many writing sites, and when her imagination is working over time, she writes thought provoking/dark flash fiction.

---

© 2007 Laura Hird All rights reserved.