Movie Review: 300

Hollywood has a reputation for taking stories and glamorizing them in order to boost their appeal to audiences. Zack Snyder's 300 is no exception. Although it is based on a historical event called the battle of Thermopylae, many aspects of the movie are highly distorted versions of the actual historical account written by the Greek historian Herodotus. The film modifies history in order to present a much simpler theme of good versus evil. Rather than portraying many aspects of the actual event accurately, the story is altered to visually distinguish the heroes and the villains. There are also some omissions to the story as well as various additions which help to propel the notion that the Spartans are superhuman heroes. Although the movie is very beautifully made, it shows great bias towards the Spartans and falls victim to the big screen, sacrificing a good amount of accuracy for a great amount of grandeur.

While the basic storyline of how three-hundred Spartans fought to their very end against the Persian army is accurate, many factors regarding the overall Greek victory were de-emphasized. One such factor is the army size. The movie places great emphasis on the three-hundred Spartans as if they were the only ones fighting against the Persians. However, according to Herodotus' historical account, there were thousands of men from other areas that helped (Herodotus 202). The emphasis on the three-hundred Spartans makes the thousands of other allied troops seem invisible, even though they would have had to also do much of the fighting and deserve equal recognition. This choice of alteration is used to demonstrate the great amount of courage and honor the Spartans possessed. Omitting most of the other troops further glamorizes the Spartans and helps to highlight the importance of combat in their society.

Another detail, such as the very reason the tide of battle turned for the Greeks, was also omitted from the movie. The turning point of the whole battle is said to have been when the Athenian fleet held off the Persians at sea, preventing reinforcements from arriving (Lytle 2). This did not appear as a scene in the movie because it would have discredited the Spartans and it would have taken away too much from the whole focus of the movie, which was the physical combat and the sacrifices made by the Spartans.

However, not only were key players in the historical account left out in the movie, but many were also heavily distorted. For example, historically the Spartan warriors wore armor and plumed hats (Chasing 2). In the movie none of them wore any body armor and the only warrior who wore a plumed hat was King Leonidas. The lack of any body armor symbolized not only the Spartans' exterior strength and perfect physique, but also the confidence they had within themselves. Realistically, not wearing any armor into combat is very careless, but in the movie the Spartans' lack of armor did not play against their image. Instead, having no armor allowed them to display their chiseled bodies which exuded confidence in their battle skills. This helped amplify their overall image, making them seem larger than life.

The Spartans were not the only characters who were portrayed inaccurately. The Persian King Xerxes who led the Persian army at Thermopylae was also distorted. In the movie he is nine feet tall, has multiple piercings, bald, and very much androgynous. Historically, King Xerxes was much shorter, had a beard, and was not as god-like as he comes off to be in the movie (Chasing 6). These physical alterations were made to King Xerxes to make him seem larger than life - like a god. This was done on purpose to further the idea that the Spartans were at a huge disadvantage as well as to make villains out of the Persians. In 300 there is a scene where the androgynous King Xerxes comes face to face with King Leonidas. King Xerxes towers above the Spartan king, but Leonidas stands his ground, unafraid. King Xerxes' size is a reminder to the audience of the Spartans' bravery even in the midst of seemingly inhuman adversaries. This boosts the greatness of the Spartans by allowing them to confront gods without any fear.

King Xerxes is not the only Persian to be dehumanized for the sake of the Spartans' image. In 300, much of the Persian army was demonized not only in order to add to the fantasy aspect of the movie, but also to further distinguish a bias for the Spartans, portraying them as realistic human warriors fighting against evil in order to protect their homeland (Chasing 1, 5). First off, we have the Immortals. In the movie they are warriors in black with shiny metal demon masks who use martial arts to fight. Historically, Immortals did not wear such dehumanizing masks, instead, they wrapped cloth around their faces. Every time one of them dies, another replaces the fallen. This makes them appear immortal, dehumanizing them. Pitting the three hundred Spartans against the ten thousand Immortals conveys a classic good versus evil theme. Also, the Spartans are made to seem greater than they were by showing only them battling, as if they, without the aid of their allies, vanquished every last Immortal.

Another aspect of the movie that was added was the use of animals to fight on the Persian side. This makes the Spartans seem ridiculously powerful as they take down huge elephants and rhinos. In historical accounts there are no such animals used to fight. The only animals used were horses where the riders would do the actual fighting.

The overall purpose of putting the Spartans in such disadvantages as not having armor, having only three hundred men, and being put against inhuman adversaries is to create the sense of victory over immense levels of adversity. In order to enhance the sense of good and evil, the Persians were demonized, which also strengthened the Spartan image of brave men. These biases, as they were not actually historically accurate, serve to commemorate the Spartans and immortalize them as fearless combatants.