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Original Movie: 300

[@andrewjodon1433]

"May you live forever" is basically an insult to a Spartan. They were bred to be warriors, and to die in battle is the greatest honor to them.

[@SilentBob731]

"It is a good day to die." -- The Philosopher Worf

[@ChrisB-k7b]

smart people know that.

[@Fsindu]

Well thats not really the meaning behind those words.

[@hardyharr9377]

it also means that may the hunch back live with the guilt for the rest of his life

[@liamclarke91]

Basically another way to say "you're not worth killing"

[@djyanno]

I worked on the film. It was not filmed like this, it was mostly filmed on blue screens

[@Madbandit77]

And in an old train factory in Quebec.

[@djyanno]

@@Madbandit77 I still remember the first we received the footage and some people worked on it. It really wasn't that good looking. VFX et Color Grading did a masterful work on this movie.

[@travisanderson77]

The father of Alexander the Great, Philip of Macedon, sent a message to the Spartan army in 345BCE: "You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city." The Spartans sent back a reply: "If"

[@anangelcalledtoday8750]

Philip II of Macedon once called on the Spartans to surrender, sending them the following message: "if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city”. The Spartans, sent a reply containing just one word: “If" which I think is so bad ass 😂

[@StefanRachev]

That movie is the cinematic version of a comicbook '300' by Frank Miller. He watched a movie called '300 Spartans' as a kid, that inspired him to do the comicbook.

[@AnimusArcus]

For Spartans there where only 2 deaths with full honors and worthy of a remembrance (grave marker / monument), death in battle or during childbirth.

[@thetalkinganvil8366]

If you haven't watched this in a Greek theater, then you haven't watched shit. The audiences were going fucking nuts. When Stelios says "Then we will fight in the shade" you could hear the whole country creaming their pants.

[@jimmy8213]

13:26 that wasn’t a spartan he was talking to, he was an Athenian. Different culture

[@goblin2bis707]

The movie, so the scenes, are from the comic books 300 from Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, 1998. This movie is the adaptation of these comic books. Totally exaggerated !!!!!but the battle of Thermopylae pass near the sea (480 BC) is true, 7000 greeks the first day, around 2100 the third day with 300 Spartans (King Leonidas), 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans) against the persian big army of the King Xerxes (between 70 000 to 300 000 soldiers according to different writers). The greeks all died but slowed down the persian army allowing the Greece to prepare its defense. They finally won at Salamis (naval battle 480 BC) and Plataea (479 BC). That's one of the most famous and heroic battle in history.

[@gobknobbler3465]

The whole movie is exaggerated. Spartans were basically leisure citizens who all owned slaves. And in reality they were only maybe slightly more militaristic than the other city states

[@rabidmaddog4130]

Based on the comic that was roughly based on history. Very Watchmen-esque.

[@chibangin007]

The sequel I slept non-stop.

[@marc-alainmiller8453]

17 year old me loved this in theaters. I'm getting old.

[@christopherpoet458]

9:16 - relatable comment. I can find them acceptable if the buildup is done right but they often are not. Lets me real, it is usually a marketing ploy. But... one in a blue moon, it can be just as rewarding as a kiss. And, if done right, it can also be character development. How people handle intimacy is a character trait. But that also only works if the development of the character emotionally or with intimacy matters to the plot. Having a sex scene for the sake of nudity to attract a market demograph is just cheep exploitation. It is my one and only complaint about these films.

[@JudoGeoff]

Alrighty, V -- if you want to know about accuracy, you're better off just checking out a sort of play-by-play from historians than looking for specific inaccuracies to be mentioned in the comments here, because there are A LOT. Practically everything is heavily exaggerated or outright fabricated beyond basics like "Spartans existed, there was a dude named Leonidas, there was a battle at Thermopylae against massive Persian forces under Xerxes, a collection of 300 men were probably involved in some way, etc." It's still a fun film (I saw it at the theater 3 times), so I'm not trying to take away from its quality in that regard -- merely trying to speak to the accuracy for those interested. I really liked this video that has an expert (good ol' Roel Konijnendijk, whose commentary I've always enjoyed) going through the film and weighing in on all kinds of things: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWfSeqN5fceUgKM&pp=ygUWaGlzdG9yaWFuIDMwMCBhY2N1cmFjeQ%3D%3D From my recollection, topics include: - the Spartans' standing compared to other Greek city-states in terms of warfare, food, rights, martial prowess - whether those teacher-student "relationships" were as common as believed - how Delios was perceived and treated after Thermopylae - the Greeks' treatment of messengers leading up to this battle - actual numbers of people who were likely present at Thermopylae - likely reasons for the numbers brought by Sparta - Spartan government & society (including who the ephors really were) - rights of Spartan women - kinds of weapons, equipment, and tactics likely used during the battle - who Ephialtes was - treatment of Spartan children - how Xerxes is depicted Hopefully you and/or someone else can find it interesting. It really was a fun watch.

[@ALIEN3966D]

The rise of the 300 is also a great film part 2 👍😁

[@craigmorris4083]

Frank Miller is an artistic genius.

[@craigmorris4083]

Oh and the guy who said that they will fight in the shade....that is Michael Fassbender. :)

[@craigmorris4083]

We know the Greeks won. We have this story to tell, the story of the great Battle of Thermopylae.

[@artembentsionov]

A false god who speaks in an unnaturally deep voice. Hmm, sounds familiar. Any eyes flashing there?

[@Fleshtotem]

"May you live forever" I always took this as a form of insult. Having to live forever with the guilt of his betrayal. He will also never get a true, honorable spartan death as he desired.

[@robbob5302]

Exactly what he meant. No room for translation there.

[@Herik_]

Exactly, beat me to it

[@scotthadden9816]

That is EXACTLY how the Spartans used it.

[@mikaelson1194]

Because it is curse, worst ever curse that spartan could say Even today ephialtes name is used by greeks as meaning of nightmares

[@ziusthefirst5387]

That's right!

[@WilliamKnox-ql3qx]

"May you live forever" This would have been a curse for a Spartan. To die in battle was the highest honor.

[@johnbernhardtsen3008]

im pretty sure I read that the wounded were allowed to live as gardeners, to keep Sparta pretty and bountiful!

[@nkscou9008]

Please, stop reproducing this fad! The only reason was that, now persecuted, he'd have to live with the shame and regret of betraying his people. Was also offered a reward for his death and thus exiled himself. When years later he returned to his homeland, apparently feeling safe, he was assassinated. Ephialtes is perhaps the most hated of the entire Greek world. And Ephialtes couldn't fight for Sparta anyway.

[@Taraka1]

Actually i think its a nod to how the historical Ephialtes name became a word for traitor in greek.

[@johnbernhardtsen3008]

@@Taraka1 dang!thats harsh!being remembered that way is so mean!

[@BmoreCelt]

​@@Taraka1if I remember right his name came to become the modern Greek word for nightmare

[@Mr.Ekshin]

The whole "over the top" style of story telling was not intended to be a historical account. It was in fact the story as told to the troops at the end of the film by Dilios. He was the narrator throughout this entire film, and it was him inspiring the troops in the final battle (the one where Greece finally drove out the Persians for good). When Leonidas sent his lieutenant Dilios home from Thermopylae (missing one eye), he chose him not because he was wounded, but specifically because he had a gift for story telling. So the epic tale of their battle was told by the skilled orator Dilios, and the imagery you see is what he conjured in the minds of Spartans. When Dilios told the grand story of the fate of the 300, most of the Spartan soldiers had never seen an elephant... or a rhino... or even a Persian soldier for that matter. In his story telling, when he says Xerxes was tall with a deep voice... the men imagined him standing 8 feet tall, and having some supernaturally deep voice. When he says the sun was blotted out by their arrows, they imagined the sky becoming dark with millions of arrows.

[@jakebaca264]

Dilios was also considered a coward by the Spartan army for coming back alive you

[@Nolimit_Lou]

Exactly this is what I've been telling people since the movie released. I am a history buff and have many friends who are also history buffs and they couldn't comprehend why the Persians were depicted as literally monsters in the film. I simply told them two things one the description of the Persians in the film was being told by the orator Dillios, and two it's Hollywood.

[@scabbarae]

True, although he was said to have redeemed himself by fighting hard and dying at Plataea.

[@baradiusdecimon]

​@scabbarae Actually, he didn't. Since he was shamed by coming back alive, he was considered a coward and wanted to redeem himself. So he broke formation and charged the enemy at the battle of Platea which he did die in. However it was against Spartan law to break formation so. He shamed himself again in his attempt to redeem himself.

[@babarjaputak2314]

@@Nolimit_Lou it's a cool interpretation, but both you and OP are incorrect. The answer really and truly is "it's a fun Hollywood movie". Why? Because at the end, Dilios and the Spartans are still wearing underwear instead of armor. Your theory falls apart right there. It's not that deep, and there's no need for it to be. It's a fun movie meant to entertain viewers. It doesn't need a lit professor hyperanalytical interpretation of why it's so over-the-top. It just is and that's fine

[@robbob5302]

“Why did they think 300 was enough?” They didn’t. But it was the maximum number Leonidas could bring. 300 is a king’s escort. 301 is an army. The ephores forbade Leonidas from sending any armies anywhere.

[@7kortos7]

my question has always been, he's KING Leonidas. who was stopping him from doing anything

[@DavetheGrue]

In real life they had thousands of other troops with them. When the pass around the Greek position was betrayed to the Persians, the Greeks had to retreat. The "300" of history was Leonidas and his personal guard, who volunteered to stay behind and fight a rearguard action to prevent pursuit by the Persians.

[@Aughtel]

@@7kortos7 the people who can garner support and outnumber him, physically. I used to think the same thing why kings would care who gets what title and deed, and whoever would think about it. I'm King, sit down and eat your cereal. But then you think those people can buy mercenaries and thugs, sway popular opinion and what good is a king if the people think he's a sham. In medieval times an army was that of a vassal's, and the King calls upon his vassals with their armies - so he's going to want to keep the vassals happy lest they decide a new king would be better. of course, i'm thinking about normal societies. Sparta was a creature all on its own so I don't know how much it'd apply lol

[@clementtibeau7771]

mwahahah They are one hundred spartian..... give me your book about the spartan law, i'm interessted

[@sikox209]

⁠@@7kortos7He’s *ONE* of the kings of “Sparta” ( Lacedaemon ) . Sparta had a two kings system. It’s the only reason why Leónidas was even able to go to Thermopylae. The reason that there’s so much emphasis on the 300( I think we should also remember the 700 thespians and 400 thebans that decided to stay) is because most of the Greek forces decided to turn back. King leonidas gave them that option. This was intended to be their last battle. They achieved their goal of slowing down the Persian army and they also bought more time for Greece. This was, arguably, The greatest last stand in all of human history.

[@thomasbeauchamp3781]

They only took 300 because they couldn't legally bring the Spartan army. It did allow them to slow down the Persians until the Greeks could mobilize. Also, the Persians morale was shook seeing what 300 Spartans could do, so when they saw thousands at the later battle, their confidence was shattered.

[@SisyphusOfSodom]

Not "what 300 Spartans could do", they were somewhere around 7000 Greeks who fought at Thermopylae. 300 were spartan CITIZENS, but there was thousand of helots from Laconia (Sparta) that were brought as well.

[@coyotefire69420]

@@SisyphusOfSodom Thank you for the correction. This movie is fun but historically not even close lol

[@cameirusisu1024]

they only took 300 as it was against custom to march an army during a festival....also, there were many many more greeks there than the 300 spartans, all of similar martial skill and equipped....Thebes eventually defeated sparta at Leuctra despite a nearly 2:1 advantage for the spartans....remember, this film is not at all historically accurate, its a rousing tale before a battle to hype up the spartan army....

[@coffeeninja8128]

@@SisyphusOfSodom There were about 30.000 support troops and forces allied to the Spartans, apart from the alleged 300. For the Spartans non-Spartans did not really count.

[@R3WIRED]

@@coffeeninja8128 7000 allied to the Spartans when they only had 300 at the battle of Thermopylae, not 30,000.

[@sharkdentures3247]

"Did Leonidas just tell him to go have sex?" Yes. He quite literally told him to go "F**K OFF!". (Politely) LMAO

[@coldflamebluedragon196]

I love hearing the story of Butler screaming “This is Sparta” and the whole crew laughing their asses off. They thought it was absolutely ridiculous until they watched the dailies

[@Spikeelsucko]

I can imagine a "soft" delivery also working, but that kind of quiet dignity with explosive violence might come across as too "cerebral", Athenian if you will. If anybody wanted to be perceived as 'over the top' it's definitely the Spartans. I don't have a copy anymore but Im curious to check the graphic novel and see how this scene/line was delivered originally, I can't recall if he shouts or not.

[@ameliawalker1046]

Hilarious story because the director originally told Gerard Butler to whisper the line…

[@MyOpinionish]

The Sparta line was a retake from Butler. He gave a last chance and Snyder loved it.

[@JeremyBarretta-yv8ep]

He did invoke the spirit of Leonidas

[@danieldickson8591]

Butler had tried several ways of saying the line, then asked Snyder if he could just go for it. When he asked Snyder if that was over the top, Snyder told him, "Yeah, but it was awesome!"

[@OrionBlarg]

"Tell me what is exaggerated." Literally EVERYTHING

[@JudoGeoff]

I figure it'd be a lot easier to put together a postcard list of items that are somewhat accurate as opposed to the novel-sized list of things that aren't. Cool vid on the topic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWfSeqN5fceUgKM&pp=ygUWaGlzdG9yaWFuIDMwMCBhY2N1cmFjeQ%3D%3D

[@TheGoIsWin21]

Fun fact: the word "laconic", which means to speak or write while using very few words, is named for Laconia, the region of Greece Sparta was located in. Thats because of their absolutely legendary propensity for outrageous action movie one-liners 😂 My favorite example is when Philip of Macedon was threatening to invade Sparta, and demanding that they surrender. He asserted that if his army invaded, they would burn pillage and destroy everything. The Spartans reply was simply "if". Also, "it almost feels like they took genuine pages from the comic book, and recreated it" They pretty much did exactly that, lmao. A lot of shots from the movie are EXACT recreations of frames from the comic, and the whole movie is practically shot for shot a copy of the original comic book. Zach Snyder would literally photocopy the book and use the sheets to figure out how to set up his camera

[@JakkFrost1]

You say that last bit as if Snyder cheated, and it wasn't the entire point of the movie.

[@TheGoIsWin21]

@@JakkFrost1 I didn't say it as if he cheated, I just said it because it's literally what he did. I was acknowledging his effort to match the frames from the comic. How on earth would that even be "cheating" anyways? How do you "cheat" at cinematography, lmao

[@phillipribbink6903]

@@TheGoIsWin21 And honestly, it's so rare that directors have such a perfect resource to draw inspiration from for their shots. Why wouldn't he use it?

[@TheGoIsWin21]

@@phillipribbink6903 Right? I wasn't criticizing at all, it's a really interesting way to piece together a film

[@danieldickson8591]

Movies routinely prepare for filming by making what's called storyboards, drawings of what the shots in a scene are supposed to look like. By working from Frank Miller's graphic novel, Zach Snyder had almost the entire movie already storyboarded.

[@kevinnorwood8782]

That "pit of death" is just a well. The event of the Spartans throwing the Persian messengers into a well actually happened ten years before Thermopylae. The Persian messengers came asking for earth and water, and the Spartans replied "Go dig it out yourself!" before throwing them into the well to die. At the same time in Athens, the Athenians did the exact same thing to Persian messengers sent to Athens, except they threw the messengers into a pit used to execute condemned criminals.

[@olddog330]

Vkunia's confusion is understandable. The 'well' seems to be portrayed here as a cesspit.

[@chrisleebowers]

3:20 - "I wish that you could tell me what would be exaggerated vs not..." -Spartans didn't fight naked, they had some of the most sophisticated and high-tech armor in the ancient world. Frank Miller knew this, all of the "inaccuracies" in the graphic novel are artistic license choices, he was inspired when he visited Thermopolye and saw a statue of Leonidas in the nude except for his cape and helmet. He found the image evocative and thought that in his mythologized version they should fight shirtless, barbarian hero style. 24:55 "And the choreography is out of this world!" IRL, they never broke that formation you saw at the beginning of the battle if they could help it. (And the fact that they held the pass against an endless supply of Persians indicates that they never broke formation at that battle) By staying together in a tight "phalanx" where each soldier, as he described to Ephialtes, shielded the man next to him, they were like a big impenatrable metal human tank with spears stabbing out at you. The Persian slave army had shields and helmets made of wicker and no armor. 30:00 "May you live forever" - that's a curse. Dying in battle is the highest honor, dying of old age or never dying at all is the fate of a coward. -There was no conspiracy to bribe the monks. Spartans were as religious and superstitious as everyone else in the ancient world and really thought they couldn't send more than 300 guys. The subplot with his wife wasn't even in the comic and was added for the movie. Without the added material, Gorgo only had one scene. Spartan women enjoyed an exceptional level of freedom and social agency for the ancient world and they wanted to showcase that and give Lena Heady more screen time and more to do. -Nearly all the city-states sent soldiers, not just the Arcadians mentioned in the movie. They did represent the largest contingent, but in total Leonidas had about 5000-7000 men under his command. -It was a two-front amphibious batte. Along with The Hot Gates, The Athenian Navy was holding off The Persian Navy at a similar choke point several miles up the coast. Both fronts had to hold or else Xerxes could get behind the other front and cut them off. These events are depicted in the sequel "300: Rise of an Empire" (Not as good but worth seeing. Eva Green as Artemisia alone is worth it.) -Xerxes was a normal sized guy with a beard, not a Navi-sized top-to-bottom waxed super-twink. His army was indeed estimated to be a million strong, although some estimates place the number as low as 300,000. He did NOT have elephants, rhinos, ninjas, orcs, whatever that knife-handed guy was, or "magic"... (black powder wasn't invented for another 1400 years in China.) He did have cavalry but he couldn't get them up to the choke point, part of why The Spartans chose to fight there. He is actually pretty well known in history, especially in The Middle East; He expanded The Persian Empire to it's largest territorial boundaries and completed several massive multi-generational construction projects. His defeats in Greece however were believed to begin The Persian Empire's decline. -When the goat path was discovered, Leonidas began a phased retreat of the Greek forces under cover of night. It is not clear if Leonidas planned to stay behind with a token force to cover the retreat or was simply going to retreat last after everyone else and was attacked before he could finish.("Spartans NEVER retreat!!!" - that's nonsense. Spartans WIN. They have no problem retreating when it is the most tactically advantageous or only option) At the time of the last stand, several hundred *Thebans and Thespians* were still with the remaining Spartans, (seriously done dirty by Frank and the movie) althogether totalling about 1000 men. Fighting lasted all day. Leonidas was killed in the early afternoon and his soldiers fought to keep his body from the Persians until the last man fell in the evening.

[@mrborgeusborg1541]

Great comment but I want to add 1 detail. The Spartans asked the Oracle in delphi that gave this prophecy. "For you, inhabitants of wide-wayed Sparta, Either your great and glorious city must be wasted by Persian men, Or if not that, then the bound of Lacedaemon must mourn a dead king, from Heracles' line. The might of bulls or lions will not restrain him with opposing strength; for he has the might of Zeus. I declare that he will not be restrained until he utterly tears apart one of these." Either Sparta will fall, or Sparta will mourn a dead king.

[@joekellyou]

I think the storm was meant to be the Athenian Navy here. The wanted to save their introduction for the sequel, so they just subbed out the Navy for a storm for the Army seeing Persian ships sink and cheering scene. The end speech I would assume was at Salamis where the allied Greeks finished this round of Persians.

[@SisyphusOfSodom]

Would have been a decent comment if you didn't add "slave army", which to me suggest your understanding of this history is as shallow as a Wikipedia page and the information you just shared is not from you, but likely a mere copy/pasted "fun facts" from a dubious source.

[@righthandoftyr947]

@@joekellyou There was a storm actually. Xerxes' plan was to build a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont to allow his army to the cross (and to maintain supply lines once they were in Greece), but the first bridge was wrecked by a storm and he had to rebuild it. Salamis was a naval battle at sea, and the subject of the sequel movie. I assume the battle they were preparing for at the end was Plataea, where they wiped out the contingent Xerxes left behind when he was forced to pull the majority of his army back to Persia.

[@christopherpoet458]

@@SisyphusOfSodom And you would have had a decent comment if rather than spending half of it insulting someone because you don't like what was said or how it was said and maybe contributed with a clarification. Or shall I assume you are a troll and don't know what you are talking about because of your lack of information as you have decided you can rightfully assume and judge the previous comment?

[@degov5]

Having Dilios as the narrator was actually brilliant. It instantly fixed any concerns of why the Immortals and others in the Persian army look like demons/monsters, since its Dilios retelling the story, and exaggerating some things as storytellers do

[@Lloyd00]

Speaking of, I really liked Immortals

[@onekill31]

Just like the ancient people tell of the things that are beyond their comprehension. Those monsters that they told are animals that looks new to them. Even today, we discover new species and some people still call it differently.

[@danieldickson8591]

@@Lloyd00 Called Immortals because if one of them fell in battle, he was replaced almost immediately, so there would always be 10,000 of them.

[@rollmops7948]

the one eye Spartan telling the tale is Faramir from "Lord of the Rings"

[@mikaelson1194]

For real? I didnt know about it

[@nimz8521]

And Michael Fassbender is in here too, before he became a star.

[@Fred-vy1hm]

No it's Sean Bean, who portrayed Boramir in the LOTR trilogy. Faramir was portrayed by David Wenham.

[@danieldickson8591]

@@Fred-vy1hm Dilios is indeed played by David Wenham, not Sean Bean.

[@phoenixdzk]

Michael Fassbender looks like he really enjoyed his role Also the actor who got heel-kicked into the pit is Peter Mensah. He played Oenomaeus, Spartacus' trainer in the series who's visuals were inspired by 300

[@danieldickson8591]

This was Fassbender's first feature film role, an important step in his career. Can't speak to his enjoying the role, but I know none of the principle cast enjoyed the intensive training to get their bodies so epically ripped.

[@DarthTach]

"Come back with you shield, or on it." Is taken from Spartan culture. The shields were quite heavy so if someone fled they wpuld drop ot to move faster. If they came back with their equipment then they fought with honour. Or on it , meaning they died with honour.

[@bcn1gh7h4wk]

-"What happened to those warriors of Thermopylae?" -"Dead to the last man."

[@SpartanG062]

Trivia: The real Leonidas was 60 years old when he died at Thermopylae.

[@DavetheGrue]

Frank Miller's work has always been about masculinity and heroism. He said that when he saw the 1962 film "300 Spartans" as a boy it changed his creative life, as he stopped thinking of heroes as guys who always won (e.g. Superman) but rather someone willing to die for something important. So it was inevitable he would do his own "300" comic.

[@Lloyd00]

Favorite movie of all time is Sin City. I have the collector's edition which came with the graphic novel and it's basically a perfect adaptation

[@j.m.w.5064]

He also made a Batman comic with Batman overseas fighting Ises, which was so over the top nationalistic and gung-ho "Murica!" that even in the states DC wouldn't publish it so Miller changed the costume by taking off the ears and the bat logo and published it anyway. Miller is a weird guy, Ultra nationalistic and always been flirting with fascism. No reason to applaud him at all. On the other hand, the 300 novel is very simple and all the fascist crap was inserted by Snyder. So that's that.

[@kevinnorwood8782]

The ultimate honor for a Spartan IS to die in battle, but at the same time, they have no issue with growing old and dying of old age. To a Spartan, growing old meant that you were unkillable on the battlefield and no one could challenge your skill. There's a story from Greece about an old man who wanted to watch the Olympic games, but no one was offering him a seat. He kept searching throughout the stands, but could not find an empty seat, or someone willing to offer him their own. When he reached the section of the stands where the Spartans were seated, the moment they saw him, EVERY single Spartan present IMMEDIATELY stood up and let him pick a seat of his choosing. The old man was deeply moved by this gesture, and the rest of the spectators were completely in awe as well. He turned to the rest of them before choosing his seat and said, "Only in Sparta does it pay to grow old."

[@theemperormoth5089]

I remember in God of War (PS4) Kratos assumes the norse Hel is exclusively populated by criminals and the dishonorable, but when he's told the elderly and those who died a straw death were also put there he's clearly confused. "It is dishonorable to grow _old_ ?"

[@dramatticdevon4741]

Which spartan told you that? I havent met any in a while

[@theemperormoth5089]

@@dramatticdevon4741 Mimir tells Kratos that the dishonored dead go to Hel, which Kratos presumed to mean criminals but Mimir elaborates that it also includes the elderly and those who die of illness, which Kratos doesn’t understand.

[@juanmanuelocampo5630]

The greatest honor of a Spartan is to die in battle, say may you live forever is like wishing him the worst curse.

[@PROVOCATEURSK]

Proceeds to live forever in stories.

[@chiefcrash1]

Keep in mind: the entire story is told from the point of view of a soldier trying to inspire troops before a battle. So like most campfire stories and fishing tales, elements are exaggerated and fantastical...

[@nickvanachthoven7252]

nah, we all know its 100% historically accurate

[@danieldickson8591]

I often compare this movie to Troy starring Brad Pitt. That movie treated mythology as though it were history, while 300 does exactly the opposite.

[@znaim88]

Read more books then ​@@nickvanachthoven7252

[@ramonacosta2647]

Ok, but the monsters were all real, right?

[@Xonslaught1]

This is probably the role that got Lena Headey the Cersei Lanister part. Even though Ephiltaes betrayed the 300, the Persians still made him look like a fool, and he didn't realize it

[@toxicrevenuegaming9415]

"May you live forever. " the greatest insult you can lay on a Spartan. As in, you will never have a glorious death.

[@nkscou9008]

Please, stop reproducing this fad! The only reason was that, now persecuted, he'd have to live with the shame and regret of betraying his people. Was also offered a reward for his death and thus exiled himself. When years later he returned to his homeland, apparently feeling safe, he was assassinated. Ephialtes is perhaps the most hated of the entire Greek world. And Ephialtes couldn't fight for Sparta anyway.

[@toxicrevenuegaming9415]

@@nkscou9008 no

[@JakkFrost1]

​@@nkscou9008why do you think it can't be both?

[@nkscou9008]

​@@JakkFrost1 Because the other one it's just the imagination of some commenter just based on a line of the movie. It is well known that "may you live forever" is a curse of living endless miserable years full of regret and shame. We can clearly see the shame on Ephialtis's face right after. After all, as I said, Ephialtis couldn't take part on any Spartan battle.

[@JakkFrost1]

@@nkscou9008 in a culture where the ultimate goal is a glorious death in battle, living forever is already a great shame. Dilios (the real one) purportedly faced that same shame, he was viewed as a coward for surviving, being sent home instead of dying beside his king. Ephialtes treachery would just compound his own shame. Not only did he not die in battle against a worthy enemy, he was also a traitor. He would have actually have been viewed better by Spartan culture had he at least died in battle fighting for the people he betrayed Sparta to. Vikings had a similar culture, wanting to die in battle in order to enter Valhalla, their version of heaven.

[@Aaron-io8vw]

This battle was essentially a attempt to delay the Persian army long enough for the Athenian General Themisoticles to rally the other Greek city states. Themistocles was successful and a combined Greek Fleet severely damaged the Persian fleet at the battle of Salamis shortly after Thermopylae. The battle at the end Plataea a year later would be the final battle in the War, where 75,000-85,000 greeks(Spartans, Athenians, Megarans, and Corinthians)defeated 100,000,-150,000 Persian and Persian allies. 200 years later Alexander the great would successfully do the opposite of what Xerxes tried as Alexander Conqueored the Persian Empire

[@Frangorra1210]

Something about the Immortals: Athanatoi in greek, Anusiya in persian (meaning "the comrades"). They were 10.000 precisely, and if someone died, fell sick or wounded, they were promptly replaced, in order to be always ten thousand; that gave the name Immortals. And of course they were not dark ninja zombies. They were an elite infantry chosen among pure Persian or Midian warriors, proficient in spear, sword and bow fighting.

[@danieldickson8591]

Full-time soldiers, unlike most of the Persian army made up of conscripts.

[@noah_ncl0223]

Spartans! What is your profession? HAOUW HAOUW This is Sparta!!! For tonight we dine in hell! These scenes are so iconic ❤💪

[@eatsmylifeYT]

It sounds more like "AHOOO, AHOOO!" than "HAOUW, HAOUW".

[@noah_ncl0223]

@@eatsmylifeYT Sorry, I wrote with « french sounding » 😅

[@enigmamz]

I expect someone already mentioned this, 750 comments = TL/DR, but the actor who was the narrator was also Faramir from LOTR.

[@swordmonkey6635]

Nearly EVERYTHING in 300 is exaggerated compared to what happened historically. It's about as accurate as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" was to the real man. In real life, Persia was more open and progressive than Sparta. Persian women could own businesses. Countries defeated by Persia could practice their native religion, keep their language and culture. Persia only wanted taxes, and conscripts if war broke out. Persia didn't consider Xerxes a god. They were strongly monotheistic and worshiped Ahuru Mazda. The misconception that Persians worshipped their king came after Greek emissaries noticed Persians bowing to their king out of respect. In Greece, man only bowed to gods and never to another man... so they assumed they thought Persians treated their kings as gods. The Persian "Immortals" got that name because there were always the same number of Immortals (replaced as they died). From the outside, it looked like they survived every battle.

[@abeartheycallFozzy]

In the movie, Leonidas calls the Spartans "free men". Yeah, about that, no Spartan citizen had a job. That would be a disgrace. They lived entirely off their land holdings and the slaves who did all the work. The slaves had zero rights, Spartan.men could and did do anything they wanted to their slaves, their only worth was monetary.

[@Littlewing1977]

@@abeartheycallFozzyPersia allowed slavery as well even though Zoroastrianism didn’t condone slavery.

[@Aaron-io8vw]

Xerxes grandfather Cyrus the Great is honoured in Jewish tradition as a righteous gentile(non jew) for ending the Babylonian Captivity , The Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Kingdom of Judah(the sole remaining part of the Kingdom of Israel after the Assyrian empire had conquered the northern kingdom, this conquest and th he destruction of the northern kingdom is why modern Jews are called Jews as the tribes that lived in the North disappeared from history due to assimilation and intermarriage with the Assyrian conquerors) and forced a large portion of the population to live in other parts of the Babylonian empire.. 70 years later later the Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews descendants of the original Jewish exiles to return home and gave them money and supplies to repair the Temple in Jerusalem.

[@swordmonkey6635]

@@Aaron-io8vw Most modern theologians believe the Hebrews gained religious concepts and ideas that were later integrated into the Bible (Satan being a true bad guy, the Garden of Eden etc).

[@Aaron-io8vw]

Leonidas was also 65 years old when the battle happened.

[@krisgoss6682]

May you live forever is basically the biggest insult one spartan can say to another

[@Aaron-io8vw]

The whole idea of a Phalanx(the formation the Spartans used) is to push with the shield and then stab and move a step forward. The formation is a threshing machine when The enemies are the wheat.

[@danieldickson8591]

The phalanx was a superior battle formation to how the Persians organized their troops, and the Spartans were almost unique in the world in this era in being trained all their lives to fight in formation, and to hold their lines against all attacks. Most of the Persian army was made up of barely-trained conscripts who would break and run when a battle turned against them.

[@phoenixdzk]

Assassins Creed Odyssey took the iconic "This is Sparta" heel kick and turned it into the most effective move in the game

[@VegetaLF7]

Dude, I was killing mercenaries far above my level with that kick

[@benschultz1784]

To the point they kept it in the following game and renamed it "Kick of Odin" or something like that.

[@randallshuck2976]

You are getting a full dose of Testosterone with this one. The guy who didn't want to die was one of the other Greek soldiers. A Spartan would never admit that if he even thought it. Good reaction.

[@Retrovorious]

0:52 This is directly based on the comic “300” by Frank Miller and not directly based on the historical events. It’s not historically accurate.

[@redviper6805]

If the Greeks made breakfast commercials: THIS IS SPARTA A COMPLETE BREAKFAST!

[@Spikeelsucko]

nobody is sure why, but Black Broth Crunch just never took off outside the Peloponnese

[@dklounge7082]

His kid makes fun of him because whenever he's handing out stuff on July 4th, he insists on saying "THIS IS A SPARKLER!!!"

[@scope40k]

Please google "this is scrumptious" and "robot chicken" 😃

[@redviper6805]

Easier to put those words in KZbin search engine. That was funny!

[@kevinnorwood8782]

King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans weren't alone at Thermopylae. There were a total of 7,000 Greeks holding that pass, but they were still VASTLY outnumbered by the Persians, who brought an expedition force ranging from a quarter-million to half a million soldiers (250k-500k). Leonidas WANTED to take more Spartans, but the Oracle at Delphi told him that if he did so, he would bring bad luck to Sparta because a major religious festival was going on at that point. The Oracle also told Leonidas that Sparta was only allowed to fight if it was prepared to suffer terrible losses, and if its king was prepared to die, because he would not survive.

[@klausbrinck2137]

OK, but most of them left after the betrayal ... The Spartans (have brought only 300) stayed, and another 700-1000 from the cities just after Thermopylae, that would surely burn, after the enraged Persians reach them, so, they decided to stay too, and support the 300... There were far more than 7000 at the begin (15-20k), but still, vastly outnumbered...

[@atieh3000]

I’m frankly sick of this. “300” is a prime example of how ancient Persia is used by the racist Western media and it seems to still be okay in 2024. While Western museums “acquire” artifacts like the giant wall of Immortal Persian guards from Persepolis and the Cyrus Cylinder, they portray Persians as less than human in their movies. They perpetuate stereotypes by making Persians appear brown, disabled, disfigured, and homosexual-traits deemed negative in the West when the movie was created. People argue that it’s fictional, but if that’s the case, why not create entirely fictional cultures and characters? Stop distorting real history and cultures for selfish entertainment. Please and thank you.

[@ricktaylor5397]

Gerard Butler was asked if he ever uses his Spartan voice in real life. He related a story about being delayed in an airport for several hours. Finally the gate attendant announced there would be free meals and beverages on the flight. In his best Leonides voice, he bellowed “Tonight we dine in hell!”.

[@cjvan713]

If you want to learn more about what really happened here. I very highly recommend listening to "Dan Carlin's Hardcore History". Specifically episode 56-58, King of Kings. It's worth it and the man is one hell of a storyteller.

[@katymorgan327]

just the fact we still remember them and this battle in great detail 3400 years later tells you the truth about their ability as warriors , this battle stuck in the mind of man all these years and has been pass down and written about for 1000s of years !

[@thewonkyembouchure]

We remember it because of the embellishments made by Herodotus.

[@garygauvin5933]

Exactly, like any great story. Look at any book worth reading, any story worth repeating. The story of, he was born and then he die is factually correct but boring. I rather read this story than watch any real house wives of.....

[@Siddharth-94]

2400 ish

[@jeffroskywalker]

Look closely and you’ll see many famous actors. Michael Fassbender is among them. The training these actors went through is unbelievable. Molon Labe “come and take them/it” has since been said in battles and wars

[@TheMule71]

"May you live forever" = "You'll never have a Spartan death" Hearing that, he knew what was about to happen. He knew they (the Spartans) would never submit. This is totally inspired by the comic book, which has little to do with real history in the first place. For sure spartans weren't going into battle half naked. Hoplites were relatively heavy armored soldiers. They became famous for their laconic humor (named after them), so they are basicly the grandfathers of all one liners in action movies.

[@andrewpeppin4769]

Archaeologist here: yes, this movie takes a lot of artistic license and embellishes a lot. I wouldn’t call it historically accurate, but it got a few things right. The agoge, the training scene at the beginning, was somewhat accurate. The Spartans were known to discard infants deemed ‘undesirable’, and the whole ‘show that a god king can bleed’ was to show that Xerxes blood was red. In Greek mythology, the Gods would bleed mana, or a sort of liquid gold. Think of that scene in Thor love and thunder. Several others mention the ‘may you live forever’ line, yes, that was a major insult to true Spartans. Also, the line ‘come back with your shield or on it’ was a reference to a warrior in combat being carried back home on his shield having died in battle, or returning with his shield in victory. The alternative was to return without your shield, which was seen as dropping the heavy shield so you could run away from battle faster as a coward.

[@malelonewolf80]

Not an historian myself, but from a documentary I once saw some years ago, their numbers, depicted in the movie, were not accurate either. I do not remember correctly, but I think the documentary said that it was a few thousand spartans, and even more greeks. And Spartans also being quick-witted is supposedly true as well, as they had some scholaric training, thus being quick-witted. But Spartans were military to the core in other aspects. Which ulltimately was their downfall, from what I remember. But Spartans also had people / slaves in other professions as well while Spartans were primarily a militaric society.

[@CxOrillion]

This whole movie is actually is actually a meta production, in a way. The whole movie is Dilios (The one-eyed guy we see at the beginning, played by David Wenham who also played Faramir in LOTR) talking up Leonidas and all the metal shit they did to jazz up the spartan forces ahead of the battle at the end of the film.

[@danieldickson8591]

Interestingly, some of the lines in the graphic novel/movie are based on historical records. E.g. "We will fight in the shade," "Persians, come and get them!" and "Go tell the Spartans..." were all attributed to this group of Spartans at some point.

[@newrandomguy4218]

Ephialtes didn't just betray his people for a bit of fun - he betrayed the people who would have killed him by law as a child. He spent his whole life on the sidelines, envying the normal kids, knowing full well that he would probably never be one of them. - From his point of view, Leonidas has denied him his best chance of a life worth living. - You laugh at his betrayal for women and gold - but you don't realize that if you're so ugly that no one would ever want to have sex with you ..... that's worse than not being able to have children. Life then consists only of pointless and cruel suffering that gets worse and worse.

[@edgymurphy570]

Which is why they were discarted. It was a mercy kill

[@newrandomguy4218]

@@edgymurphy570 I have just seen a few seconds ago, that Donald Trump said: "People who are severely disabled should just die." I don't feel any mercy here.

[@kylebooker1987]

"May you live forever" is an insult.

[@Fsindu]

Darling, the line Leonidas throws at Ephialtes is hitting him into the heart because it has no good meaning. This guy is known in history as one of the biggest traitors of all time and seen aside men like Judas. So the meaning behind Leonidas words of "May he live forever" is very simply that no one ever forgets that it was him who betrayed his own people.

[@malelonewolf80]

Not so sure if that was the intended meaning behind the insult, and it was an insult as Spartans valued dying in combat above all else. To say, may you live forever, is thus the worst insult as it is a wish for the person to not optain what is valued most by Spartan society. I have read somewhere also that the word Ephialtes is considered a curse-word today, due to this betrayal. But that may be a tall-tale for what I know.

[@Fsindu]

@@malelonewolf80 It is not a "spartan only" thing, think a bit more about what is the greatest achievement. Like being immortal, how is that meant? Being remembered forever, this is the exact oposite of that so the meaning isnt about dying in combat.

[@malelonewolf80]

@@Fsindu True, it is not about just dying in combat, but dying honorably in combat. But it has been many years (about 25 years or so) since I read the book about the battle at Thermopylae and that book unfortunately have been lost over the years.

[@silverwingdragon4161]

Sparta was like if the U.S. Marines had their own city-state.

[@danieldickson8591]

And if those Marines also had a near-psychopathic approach to child rearing. And maintained a huge body of slaves to do most of the non-military work.

[@theblitz4481]

US Marines are overrated

[@chuckmanion1128]

While a lot of the movie is just cinematic entertainment, it is interesting the little bits of true history thrown in there. For example, the lines "our arrows will blot out the sun" and "then we will fight in the shade" were not made up. They were taken from the actual messages passed back and forth between the armies.

[@Camino377]

18:24 No, Xerxes never reached Sparta. Between the Battle of Thermopylae/Hot Gates, and the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes lost most of his navy. He became concerned about being trapped in Europe, and pulled most of his army back to Asia, leaving a small force to continue the invasion. Xerxes lost most of his remaining army to starvation on the way back to Asia, and the forces he left behind were wiped out at Plataea, the final scene of the movie. By the time he returned to Persepolis, he had lost most of his political influence, and was assassinated by his court about 15 years later. Given how much of western society has been influenced by the Greeks, it's interesting to think about how different the world might be had Xerxes succeeded.

[@paulatreides6779]

Interesting to think about.

[@Sabre22]

Gates of fire By Steven Pressfield although fictionalized is a very good book about the Battle. They started with a total of about 7000 defenders the final battle was fought by the 300 Spartans and about 700 Thespians

[@dongilleo9743]

Gates of Fire is a great book. I think it's better than 300. I think there was some preliminary talk about making a Gates of Fire movie, but 300 got made first and interest faded.

[@michaelpanagakos3826]

he said "may you live forever" because the greatest honour for a spartan is to die on the battlefield, it was an insult

[@chadlynch1551]

One of the things that this story leaves out is Sparta had a bunch of slaves, called Helots. The Helots did almost all the work, while the Spartan women usually supervised them. This freed up the men to do nothing but train for war and fight. There was also an unofficial tradition where young Spartan soldiers has to slip out and murder a Helot without being caught or seen. This helped prove not only their ability to fight, but also their stealth, intelligence, and ruthlessness. All Greek city-states had slavery at this time, but other Greeks looked askance at the Spartans because the Helots were themselves Greeks. Slaves in the other cities were all non-Greeks. .

[@danieldickson8591]

Honestly, the other Greeks considered Spartans rather crazy. I think today we'd characterize their society as almost psychopathic.

[@JadenTaylor-ud6dg]

That’s not a lot of people I could single handed lay fight every one of them 15:11

[@doctornick0]

"I'm assuming a few things in this movie are going to be exaggerated." Truer words were never spoken.

[@Dizzyruptor]

Ephialtes's name became a byword for traitor after his betrayal.

[@NandR]

This movie created so many men with "alpha wolf spartan" syndrome. Still see those Spartan helmets on cars, mostly trucks, usually with a dose of road rage.

[@TheGoIsWin21]

Molon Labe, Molon Labe everywhere. As someone who comes from a military background that shit was utterly inescapable for about a decade. It was exhausting.

[@NandR]

@@TheGoIsWin21 most men with those stickers would not last a day in the life of a spartan soldier. It was harsh and there was no cars for you to advertise your badassery.

[@lasselippert3892]

​@@NandRplus, most of them would most likely be busy clutching their pearls at all the Spartan dude-on-dude action.

[@joshuawells835]

So the film is based on a graphic novel (hence the comic book feel of the film), which is based on the 1962 film The 300 Spartans, which is based on the historical accounts by Herodotus, Father of History. •The hardcoreness of the Spartans has been exaggerated (particularly because of this film), but yes, Spartan citizens were legally forbidden from having any profession other than soldier. Professions were for the Helots (slaves). •Yes, the Greeks were more loose in regards to sexuality, so things that we would frown upon today were fine. So Leonidas referring to the Athenians as "boy-lovers" is a little hypocritical. •The "death-pit" is a well. •The Ephors were a council of 5 Spartan elders elected for annual terms and who held numerous legislative, judicial, financial, and executive power over Sparta. These men do not kneel before the Kings of Sparta. Even when elected, the Spartans would not call this democracy, as the Kings still held power. The Kings were in fact the chief priests of Sparta. •The reason the Spartans give for only sending 300 men to join the Greek Coalition at Thermopylae was because the battle occurred too close to the Festival of Carnea, during with the Spartans were not allowed to wage war. Leonidas got around this by taking a personal guard rather than the Spartan main army. However, I have recently seen historians and experts assert that this was an attempt to excuse the fact that at the time, the Spartans were only willing to send 300-1,000 men. •More than the home court advantage, the pass at Thermopylae would force the Persian Army, more accustomed to the open plains of Central Asia in which their cavalry can flank their enemies, must funnel itself into a pitched battle with the Greek infantry. It is said that with passes, a single man with a rifle can hold down an entire division. This is why nobody as ever invaded Switzerland. •Oracles were more of a Delphi thing, but the Greeks gave credence. What the Oracle of Delphi told Leonidas was that either Sparta would burn or mourn the loss of a king. When Leonidas left, some Spartans considered this to be a saving act and yet another reason to only send a token force that was doomed to fail rather than the entire Spartan Army. •"Come back with your shield or on it" means to either come home triumphant in battle or be buried having died gloriously in battle. •300 Spartans at the head of a coalition of 7,500 Greeks, fighting along side each other for the first time in their history, as opposed to against each other. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. •The Battle of Thermopylae took place around the same time as the Battle of Salamis, in which the Greek Navy defeated the Persian Navy. •The Spartans were the masters of witty comebacks, such as, "Then we shall have out battle in the shade." •The Persian estimates for this battle are 120,000-300,000, with Herodotus saying it was in the millions. •"Come and Get Them!" and this is why I think Texans are the modern Spartans. We have a flag with "Come and Take It" on it. •As stated, part of why the Greek chose Thermopylae was because the Persians couldn't use their cavalry, which was their preferred attack. •Contrary to the depiction in this film, the Kings of Persia were neither god-kings nor giants. They did call themselves King of Kings because of the many peoples under their rule, but they never claimed divinity. •The elite Persian Immortals get their name because the unit was always kept at 10,000 strong, immediately replacing any man lost due to death or retirement. I also believe the words you're looking for are, "They have a cave-troll." •Indeed, the Persians did not utilize war elephants or even war rhinos (if those are real) because they were not known for that. •Yes, it is on the third day of the battle that the Spartan lose because the Persians find the goat path that leads behind their formation. Whether the Greeks were betrayed (as is the popular rendition) or the Persians just found the easily found goat path is still up for debate. There were Greek troops stationed to guard the past, but they abandoned their position to defend their home city. Thus Leonidas ordered a strategic retreat, with the 300 Spartans and 1,000 Thespians and Thebans staying behind to hold off the Persians. •To return home from defeat is an act of shame amongst the Spartans, one that Dilios won't arguable be forgiven for until Plataea. •A coward and traitor who happily sold out his people to the Persians. •Generally speaking, in military settings, "May you live forever" is an insult. Warriors welcome a glorious death in battle. That's why the great captains of history, such as Frederick the Great or Daniel Daly ask their men in the heat of battle, "Do you want to live forever?!" •Yes, the Persians won Thermopylae, but lost the Greco-Persian Wars.

[@rogertemple7193]

📽️Awesome Vicky 300🎥

[@snarkdragon]

Much as I loved this movie, I always got a bit of a laugh every time the Spartans talked about 'freedom'. Historically, the Spartans had little regard for anyone's 'freedom'.

[@danieldickson8591]

With Spartan society so massively focused on militarism, they needed a huge body of slaves to do other work. Conversely, they needed such an army to keep all those slaves in line.

[@KommandeurMumm]

Just a small correction here: The movie is not based on the history of the battle of Thermopylae but on the Graphic Novel called "300" by Frank Miller, which is a fictional retelling of historic events. As such basically everything in it is pretty exaggerated. Leonidas told Ephialtes that he wishes him eternal life as a Dis. If he lives forever he can never have an honorable death worthy of a Spartan warrior.

[@Patte-chan]

And just a small correction there: _300_ is a graphic novel. Visual Novels are something else.

[@KommandeurMumm]

@@Patte-chan You are of course correct, thanks for the correction. Don't know how that happened. XD

[@PDilling]

Women wasn't exactly equal to men in Ancient Sparta (technically 300 doesn't take place in ancient Greece, but close enough). But they were greatly revered as mothers and as keepers of the household. Not in the sense of cleaning and stuff, but in the sense that they controlled and ruled over the home especially when the men were away. This role of household guardian also carried over to the political world, which we also see in the movie, where the wife held almost as much power as her husband through their marriage. This is actually not unique to Greece either, many cultures have revered women throughout history, often viewed them not as quals, but of great and irreplicable importance. Even in the 16th century, the priest Martin Luther, who had some "interesting" views on women, said that a wife was a co-ruler with her husband and equal in the eyes of God. Of course he said a lot of different other stuff about women that isn't very helpful, but these statements were actually also controversial all the way back then, and this the 16th century mind you. The idea that women have been slaves to men until the 20th century is actually a newer idea, and in reality history is much more nuanced and complicated than that.

[@AlejandroDiazadiaz201]

The movie is amazing, I had the pleasure of reading the comic first. But it is a fable, in reality, the Spartans had a lot more help and they also had a huge technological advantage in the fact that they had bronze and copper armor and weapons as opposed to patchwork of Persians who at the most, had wicker shields. Also the Spartans were a highly trained army, where Persians were a patchwork of different nations. There is an amazing book called "Thermopylae: The Battle for the West" that is a great account of this and the battles that followed, like the naval battle at Salamis, Palatea, Mycale, Sestos and Byzantium.

[@atieh3000]

In 2024, it amazes me how people still defend this movie cause it is fictional. This movie is incredibly offensive to my Iranian family, people, and my culture. Anytime it pops up I hear so much admirations and I can’t help thinking how other cultures are always misrepresented for your entertainment. ( Let the gaslighting and minimizing begin…)

[@shainewhite2781]

THIS IS SPARTA!!!!

[@Parallaxus]

I've seen Frank Miller's style both from this movie, Sin City, and seeing the covers of some of the stuff Frank Miller did in shops. He has a very distinctive art style that was used a whole lot in this movie, especially the end credits. He likes to keep things in two or three colors, usually black, red and white, with occasional yellow. The red splattering across black is very much a signature visual of his. I felt like it was very well used in 300 particularly. Absolutely loved this movie. So good. And great reaction! Enjoyed.

[@Bodyknock]

I love how Lena Headey has played the Queen of Sparta, Queen Mother Cersei Lannister, and Queen Guinevere. It's like she was made to be an impressive Queen on screen. (Not to mention she played Sarah Connor for a couple of years as well, so just in general being a bad ass fits her apparently!)

[@EricTD1995]

And Ma-Ma from Dredd.

[@atieh3000]

As an Iranian, while I always watch your content and I love them, I can’t watch this reaction. I really enjoy your content and appreciate your reactions to various movies. However, I wanted to share my perspective on “300.” As an Iranian, I find the portrayal of my culture and history in the film quite offensive. The movie, despite being based on a fictional book, perpetuates harmful stereotypes and misrepresentations. This kind of portrayal can be deeply hurtful, especially considering the rich and proud history of Iran. I understand that many people in the West might not realize the impact of such misrepresentations, but for us, it’s akin to having our heritage reduced to something less than human. I hope you can appreciate this perspective. Thank you for your understanding.

[@noah_ncl0223]

Zack Snyder is the best director making adaptations of comic books 🤩

[@ryanweintraub9448]

Never forget, the narrator/Dilios is Faramir from Lord of the Rings. Also the second movie, 300: Rise of an Empire, is 100% worth watching

[@SighDontWantAHandle]

The history is close, but a bit different. It was 300 Spartans and about 4000 soldiers from other cities. On the Persian side, they kept really good records. We know the Persian army was around 900,000 people at that point. The Spartans were able to hold Persia for a few days at the pass, until they grew frustrated and decided to sail their army, even though there was bad weather. They sailed their ships into the worst storm of the decade and lost an enormous numbers of people. The Spartan delay lead to the destruction of the Persian advantage by weather. Greek history was saved by a mix of pig-headedness and luck.

[@44excalibur]

Well, the movie did show that Daxos and his armies were helping the Spartans. It wasn't just the 300 in the movie either.

[@pieceofgosa]

You need to do more reading. Most experts believe the Spartans sent around 1000-1200 men to Thermopylae. Your confusion is due to a naming issue. In antiquity the region we now call Sparta was actually known as Lacedaemon, while Sparta was instead used to refer to the main settlement/capital of Lacedaemon. Herodotus states that there were 300 Spartan hoplites at Thermopylae (meaning those men came only from the main settlement) but also that there were 900 Lacedamonians & Perioeci present. That's another 900 guys from the rest of what we now call Sparta (Perioeci were the 2nd class, non-citizen residents of Lacedaemon). As for the Persians, modern scholarly estimates of their forces top out at about 120,000 and it's not even clear if Xerxes marched his entire force to Thermopylae. He may have left garrisons at Macedon & Thessaly. Regardless the Greeks were well outnumbered, likely somewhere in the region of 10:1. The Persians lost about 20,000 men over the three days of the battle, while the Greeks lost only 2000-3000. That's still pretty damn impressive.

[@aspetty]

Let me begin I love this movie. It's fun exciting and beautiful. But the Persians were actually a very kind people. If they conquered you they would and encourage you to keep your culture. T they believed a blending of different beliefs ideas religions and identity was a fantastic thing. It made a diverse and beautiful world. Just pay your taxes, which often were lower than they had been before, and you were good . The Spartans... They were a dictatorship. The boys you saw at the beginning were pretty much used as concubines for old warriors who hadn't died in battle. Many died in training it were murdered for standing up for themselves instead of being graped.

[@AB-nk5wv]

My biggest gripe about 300 and its sequels are how everyone has a British accent 😂

[@44excalibur]

That's classical theater for you. Blame the Royal Shakespearean Academy.

[@inspectre27]

Can you imagine Greek accents? I don't know if it would be epic or hilarious.

[@Eren-da-Jaeger]

Should they have been speaking American accent ? or Greek ? Isn't British accent the original? Or did you want some Greek, mother tongue influence(MTI) on their spoken English?

[@Yggdrasil42]

At least it wasn't American for once.

[@mb8132]

If that bothers you then boy, don't watch Chernobyl

[@aspetty]

Let me begin I love this movie. It's fun exciting and beautiful. But the Persians were actually a very kind people. If they conquered you they would and encourage you to keep your culture. T they believed a blending of different beliefs ideas religions and identity was a fantastic thing. It made a diverse and beautiful world. Just pay your taxes, which often were lower than they had been before, and you were good . The Spartans... They were a dictatorship. The boys you saw at the beginning were pretty much used as concubines for old warriors who hadn't died in battle. Many died in training it were murdered for standing up for themselves instead of being graped.

[@MetastaticMaladies]

The Spartan Mirage is always present in the comments of reactions to this film. Lots of historically inaccurate things people like to comment, thanks to centuries of myth and propaganda. And films like this (though it is classified as entertainment, some still think it holds many truths) only help to propagate those myths. It’s a fun movie, but the comments always get a shake of the head from me. The biggest irony of this film though, is how often the characters talk about freedom, while being a slave state themselves. Always thought that was funny.

[@GaParanormal]

Iv been to Greece.. been to the pass , they have a statue of a lion where Leonidas body was found ... and the sign is still there ...." go tell a Spartans passers by that here by spartan law we lie "

[@alexanderdario]

This movie is the transposition of the visual novel made by Frank Miller (the same author of Sin City). The story and thestyle is largely inspired by his graphic novel... Just to give credits where it belongs

[@wilgarcia1]

HEY VEEE looking AMAZING. Happy Sunday. Great film! Back when Men where Men

[@alaneskew2664]

Three things, the guy who played the Storyteller also played faramir in The Lord of the Rings. The guy that played the captain of the 300 is also the same guy that plays GARP in the one piece live action. And the only way for you to have your name on your tombstone in Sparta is as a man to die in battle four as a woman to die in childbirth. That's also how they honored their women Spartan women were trained in Warfare and we're considered incredibly competent Hoplites. Easily the equal of any regular Hoplite unit from any other city-state.

[@Corvette1997]

90% of soldiers on midevil battlefields didn't want to be three just as much as any animals. Professional soldiers were few and far between most were conscripted leves who really want to go back to their farm alive. And not get executed for desertion.

[@GiRR007]

The whole Greece and young boys thing is a VERY heavily over exaggerated concept.

[@CitizenPain_p90]

It's Based ON, vkunia, not "based OFF". Stop shredding the English language.

[@TrashGamer2024]

The “Spartans“ who left weren’t Spartans. I’m pretty sure they were either Thespians, Thebans or Arcadians.

[@davidgalvez5341]

"What's the purpose of sex scenes?" That's a very American (as in the United States) kind of question. The purpose of sex scenes is the same, in principle, as the purpose of any kind of scene, that is, to show a slice of life: a sample of our human condition, of which sex, ideally, makes a significant part. That is not to say, of course, that quite a few movies make use of gratuitous sex scenes, just for titillating purposes, but that's a separate question. A better question would be, in my opinion, why so many American movies show us couples who supposedly are intimate with each other, walking around the bedroom after sex covering themselves with sheets...? It's so ridiculous, that the filmmakers would be better served by just leaving such scenes out of the movie altogether. 🤔

[@M.H.I.A.F.T.]

Quite so. It's bizarre that a country that elected a philandering sex-offender as a president in 2016 can be so prudish.

[@fghfghfghfgh9412]

She's one of those "Down with the patriarchy!" Cringy chicks that swallowed the woke pill.