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The battle at Thermopylae, perhaps the best example for the bravery and the boldness of the Spartans, is now in cinema as 300'. Here the bold king Leonidas and 300 Spartans with the help of some 3000 other Greek auxiliaries manage to withstand a massive assault of the Persian main force under the Emperor Xerecsis of Persia. The Hot Gates' where there only lies a narrow passage, the Persians met the Spartan worriers under King Leonidas. There they battled a war where the numbers counted for nothing. Even though it seems to have been the wildest of dreams of a boldest of the worrier kings, Leonidas may even have beaten the last of the Persian soldier in Thermopylae, if not to be for a traitorous work of a fellow Spartan.

However the movie 300 is not a correct recreation of what actually happened in Thermopylae. Here in the movie the Persian army had been showed as some barbaric force. In reality the Persian's were a civilized people of their own, who controlled a larger area in the Asia Minor. The movie there for had already been banned by the Iranian government and few other Islamic nations. The movie direction had clearly violated the historical details of the Persian Empire while giving the impression that the Spartans mainly fought on their own with such little auxiliaries.

However the movie is heavy with battle details and the Spartans ways of battling and their tactics. The movie also shows a good inside view of the Spartans ways of life. The political unrest between the US and Iran was greatly triggered with the movie. Many historians too blamed the movie for its historical violation. The cast too is pretty much American and the Greek touch is not to be seen throughout the movie. It would have been more ideal if the movie was in Spartans own tongue rather than in English. The movie is really embarrassed when the two Kings speak with each other in English, with no translators, even though they come from half a world away. (Actually it would have been more embarrassing if the translators were used to translate English to English.)

Finally if we are to summarize this movie it can be said a good movie based on a great battle in the Greek history. The great king Leonidas and his 300 of brave worriers must be honored by all this. What other battles we have heard in the blood drained history book of the human civilization, there had never been such bravery recorded. One can only imagine the bravery and the loyalty of the 300 Spartans to walk to certain death in command of their beloved king. King Leonidas himself must have been a worrier like none other to think of such a wild strategy. It only shows the bravery and the boldness of the Spartans who always thought them to be undefeatable. Even in 300, though King Leonidas and his loyal guard lie slain in Hot Gates, in the eye of the spectator, they are victorious after all.

Learn more about this author, Sharmal Kelambi.
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