Last night I watched 300 for the second time (I saw it in theaters back in 2007). It was just as kickass as I remember it. Bunches of scantily clad guys, all of them with eight-packs, running around Greece with spears and swords....yay :) I'm not a fan of Leonidas' beard but those abs make up for it.
The movie may be based on a comic book but parts of the story are true. There were 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian Empire under Xerxes I. There were also a couple hundred other Greeks, but 300 Spartans makes a better movie.
Leonidas did have to deal with five Ephors, Spartan elders, but they were elected annually and likely not as disease-ridden as depicted in the movie.
My reaction to Xerxes I the first time I saw it in theaters was priceless. I must have blinked and missed the initial full-body shot, I only remember seeing the closeup. "That chick looks like a dude" was my reaction....until they panned out. "Oops, maybe that dude looks like a chick". What is extremely impressive, however, is the transformation undergone by the actor.
This is Rodrigo Santoro, the guy who plays Xerxes I.
This is Xerxes I in 300. He's quite fabulous.Apparently Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took issue with this movie. I suspect that he wishes he could look that fabulous, or that he started running out of things to complain about. After all, he has a reputation to uphold.
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