Remember, the whole movie is being told through the eyes (or eye) of the one-eyed soldier they sent back, so there are embellishments and dramatizations (like the giant and the guy with blade arms). He’s retelling the story like this to hype up the rest of Sparta and to stress how brave and invincible (or nearly) the 300 were.
The average height is 5'9. But there are guys who are 7'2. Would you not consider that a giant? Could you not put blades onto the forearms of a large, rotund fellow? Obviously, there are always exaggerations throughout history (how tall was Paul Bunyan?) But, I'm sure that big guys were forced into armies back then. I don't think ppl should outright dismiss all aspects of stories.
@@Tantalus010 he filled it in. That’s what I mean: The story being told isn’t exactly what happened. It’s a campfire tale to hype the Spartans up as they enter the war vs the Persians.
the worst insult a Sparten could utter, it was a horrible curse, and of all the men who have lived and died, few are as hated as him, and his name is still an insult.
He lived, but in a different way. After this betrayal, this name changed its meaning and no Greek gave this name to his children. In the English language, when you see a very bad dream you say "I had a nightmare". In the Greek language they say, "I saw a Ephialtes"... Eternal disgrace, at least as long as the Greek language exists.
Ephialtes is said to have fled to Thessaly where he was eventually murdered in an unrelated event. The murderer was celebrated by the Spartans... a sign they wanted him dead and not alive. There is no evidence that this "curse" even existed in the real Sparta. It is a dramatic invention for the Frank Miller's graphic novel/movie. I'm not criticizing the movie (it's great), but it needs to be taken with a very large grain of salt. The idea that Sparta was a death-seeking warrior cult is mostly the invention of Athens as a means to de-humanize them. Athens was was their primary rival. They acknowledged Sparta's military prowess, but the cost was that they were heartless monsters. Athens would always be superior because they had the moral high ground... Spartan males joined the military at age 20 and served until age 30. They lived full time in military camps and had little if any contact with their family. At age 30 they left active military service, became full citizens, raised a family, and pursued other careers. Spartan men seeking nothing but death in battle is certainly a myth... It was a military centered culture. They would certainly have been instilled with a strong sense of duty and willingness to sacrifice (like in any professional army). But I'm pretty sure most of them looked forward to quitting the military at age 30 and raising a family like any normal human being.
Another face (or voice) you might have missed is David Wenham, who played Faramir in Lord Of The Rings. He is the narrator and one of the 300 that loses his eye, Dilios.
One thing i feel like most people who watches 300 are missing is that leonidas said ''The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.'' So he did what he said he was gonna do
One thing I feel most people who make comments like this are missing is that there is not one single actual quote in this movie. That is not what Leonidis said, it's what a writer wrote for dramatic effect. Before you start being critical of people 'missing things' that you picked up on, stop patting yourself on the back for being so observant and start realizing this (and most) movies of this genre are about 98% writer, 2% actual history.
26:00 - "Oh, you really are expecting to die." Leonidas went to Thermopylae intending to die. It's not included in this movie, but the Spartans consulted the Oracle of Delphi to seek advice on what to do about the Persian invasion. The Oracle told the Spartans that either Persia would sack Sparta, or a Spartan king must die. Leonidas knew he had to die in order to save Sparta. And in dying, Leonidas and the 300 proved the superiority of Greek hoplites (heavy infantry) against the lighter-armed troops of Persia. Greek hoplites were not the nearly naked guys in leather Speedos shown in the movie. They wore heavy bronze breastplates, greaves and helmets which, along with their large shields, made them nearly impossible to injure. In most battle of ancient Greece the winning side had very few casualties. The loser's high losses only came about when their lines broke and the men started running away. Then they'd be slaughtered when they weren't really capable of defending themselves with a shield wall anymore.
Very true. Modern accounts figure it was usually when one side had lost about 10% of their strength is when their morale started to break, once they started to rout the rest would be cut down. Although there is a lot of accounts of after losing 10% of their strength the losing side just called it a day and surrendered.
"may you live forever" is the worst insult a Spartan can give someone. To them, the greatest glory is to give your life fighting for something, saying that you hope one lives forever is to say 1. that they are a coward, but mainly 2. that they will never have something they would care enough about to sacrifice themselves for, or never be able to. I just imagine it as "may you find something you'd sacrifice yourself for, and not be able to do it"
People joke that this movie would be 20 mins shorter without all the slow-mo. I believe it really adds to the stylized comic book feel since it was based on a graphic novel. This movie has so much visual personality and a very distinct look.
It definitely is there to capture those images from the book without them being still images, like a book. If you really want to see a bad movie that completely over-used slow-mo, watch Ecks vs Sever (or don't, it's pretty awful and could've been a youtube short if you took out all the slow-mo)
@@CYB3R2KWtf are you talking about you absolute buffoon? Man Of Steel literally has no slow motion scenes, Dawn of Justice too barely has any slow motion.
This was a wonderful realization from the writer of the graphic novel Frank Miller. Obviously the story is based on history and inflated beyond belief! Yes, Leonidas had 300 Spartans with him. He also had 900 helots, 400 Thebans (from Thebes), 700 Thespians (from Thespa), and about 7400 free greeks to fight off about 300,000 Persians. Leonidas was in command of all of the greek soldiers. After the third day dawned, a runner told him that the pass had been discovered. Xerxes had sent his remaining immortals (about 10000 of them had already died at the gates) to the mountain pass. Realizing that they could be surrounded and slaughtered, Leonidas' hoplites (Spartans) and 2000 soldiers stayed to guard the retreat while the rest went through the pass. It was this and his strategy of fighting them in the narrows of the Hot Gates (Thermopylae) that earned his recognition as a Greek hero. His moves saved thousands of Greek lives!
And to call something "based on history" based on cliffnotws is a loooong stretch. Have you seen a single Spartan slave in the film? Nope. But you did see that bad guys wear Mascara.
@@j.m.w.5064 Snyder has said that he crafted the film as a battle hymn and legend told from the Spartans perspective. A legend to encourage their armies before battle, which is why our loremaster bookends the story. Obviously biased and exaggerated, but intentionally so.
I like how Addie kept using the word "We" in her reaction. Its as if she identified herself as a Spartan warrior. I guess the real Addie has now emerged!
Very interesting angle regarding the insult "Ephialtes, may you live forever." I kind of interpret this figuratively. By saying that, Leonidas tells him his name and his treason will live forever in history. And it ended up being true. More than 2 and a half millennia after the battle of Thermopylae, and we still can find from the books (or this movie) that the name of the Traitor was Ephialtes of Trachis.
300 is based on a graphic novel, which is based on a 1962 film called "The 300 Spartans," which is based on Herodotus' accounts of the Greco-Persian Wars called "The Histories." It's mean't to be stylized, but that's what makes it entertaining.
"The 300 Spartans" was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and even now I'll watch it every year or two for nostalgia sake. A simpler and less epic movie, but it was still very compelling to a young boy. As I got older I also recognized that it was something of a cinematic metaphor for the Cold War going on at the time, with the Spartans and their allies representing the free countries of the world, and the Persians representing the hordes of Communist powers.
The reason they were called the immortals wasn't because they couldn't die, it was because when one of them did die in battle, he was immediately replaced. The number remained 10,000 at all times. The battle of the 300 was brutal and they certainly earned their place in history. Historians argue over how many casualties they caused but it was somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 out of the 200,000 estimated in Xerxes' total army. The Athenians put about 1500-2000 men on the line in the battle of the gates, and they caused quite a bit of damage too. Spartan Krypteia (the 300) were the finest trained soldiers in the world though so they contributed the bulk of the persian casualties. They're trained very similarly to Army Rangers today, but even more brutally punished for wrong-doing and were EXTREMELY dangerous men. Modern military training is similar to Agoge
I still remember seeing this in theaters with my mom. She was sitting next to 3 teenage girls. In the scene when the men were running at the camera she said they were like "Oh God I want that one on the right" and "The guy on the left, I want his baby!!!" She was sitting there cracking up.
This movie is based on the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller, the author of The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, Daredevil: Born Again, The Wolverine and Ronin. Frank Miller may have lost his touch recently but his work from 1975 to roughly 1995 is legendary. The guy was a master of hyper stylized noir.
Oh Addie. I actually visited Thermopylae back in 1995 as I studied a fair amount of ancient history. But, I knew about this from the comic book. But damn, this is a beautiful movie... Post watch: great editing Addie, loved your post view addendum.
If you liked this movie, here’s a few others to watch: - Troy (director cut) - 300: Rise of an Empire - Kingdom of Heaven: extended director cut - Oliver Stone’s Alexander
29:01 -"You There, Ephialtes, May You Live Forever" Aye! it`s a powerful line, but is not only a great insult, Leonidas pointed him with his Spear, This is also a Sentence dictated from a King.
if you like the stylized vision for this i recommend Sucker Punch. it's a stellar movie that is super interesting and not gory. i could tell the violence and graphic nature of 300 wasn't your favorite but you did a great job reacting to it and it was fun to see.
Sucker Punch is underrated. Some people say it's because of the stylization but I think it's because of the subtext of the story. It's one of those stories that presents something rather dark people don't like but also don't like to acknowledge unless it becomes blatantly obvious. If anything I'd say it's impressive the story touches on the issue but not being heavy handed about it.
I Luv how this movie was shot! The slow motion the color grading were awesome and added to the feels of the movie! The Spartans were the top warriors of the day! You were a brave soul to tackle this movie Addie! I know it has a lot of blood and guts flying around but you handled it like a true warrior! This reaction should be call 301! That's including you Addie! Aaahuu Aaahuu Aaahu... Luv ya Addie ❤️💛
A bronze statue of Leonidas was erected at Thermopylae in 1955. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: "ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ" ("Come and take them"), which was Leonidas' laconic reply when Xerxes offered to spare the lives of the Spartans if they gave up their arms.
"After you struggle, get them" For those interested in the linguistic side of the thing. A whole "poem" fitted in 2 words, this is why some consider the Spartans the true philosophers of ancient times.
I don't know if it was intentional, but if you didn't know this, phrases like this are the origin of the word laconic. It comes from Laconia, the name of the region of which Sparta was the capitol.
A word about the supposed "discarding" of "inferior" infants, theres actually no archaeological evidence that they did that. The gorge where legend says the babes were thrown into has so far only yielded adult skeletons so it likely was a site of execution of some sort but not for that reason. That legend was likely started either by their enemies to discredit them or even by the Spartans themselves to increase their fearsome reputation. However they did leave their newborns outside in a basket unattended their first night and if it survived then it was brought back in and accepted into the family. They were a hard, brutal people in a hard, brutal time.
There's another explanation about Leonidas last wish/curse towards Ephialtes. Even today in Greece the name Ephialtes is a synonym for a traitor plus for horrible dreams. So basically Leonidas cursed Ephialtes to remain known for his treachery eternally.
THIS IS SPARTA, Addie! I just watched 300 (2006) last night and I enjoyed it. IMO, I would DEFINITELY rewatch this movie. The color grading was done by colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3 and the film grain was from the movie being shot in the Super 35 format.
29:06 What Leonidas actually meant is, may his treachery be remembered until the end of mankind. And it will be. His name, Ephialtes, is used in the greek language for 'nightmare'.
Facts: 1. King Leonidas was around 60 years old when he fought this battle..!! 🔥⚔ 2. Efialtis (Εφιάλτης) (The traitor who told Persians the secret passage), actually means "Nightmare" in Greek 3. The phrases below, were actually told by Spartans in that battle a) Get back with your shield, or on it. (᾿Ή τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς) b) Then we will fight in the shade. c) Come and get them. (Μολὼν λαβέ)
A fantastic reaction, Addie. Make sure you see and react to the sequel. Might not be as good, but definitely worth the watch. I saw this one in theaters. That was epic. See you later!
Loved that you reacted to this movie.Addie. Great Great movie.. one of my favorite.. ending get me teary-eyed all the time every time I watched it.. thank you 😊... do "Troy" you'll like B.Pitt in that one too..
and I almost forgot the hunchback who wanted to join the Spartans was not a hunchback in general, he was a local peasant who really showed the way to the Persians because the Spartans rejected him and something else related to the other Greek soldiers and they also wore armor only made of leather (Linothorax) unlike the Persians, who did not wear armor but clothes and cane shields
Loosely based on a true story. Very cool. I used to teach small unit tactics and this was a great example of a smaller army using force multipliers such as terrain to gain advantage and hold ground…for a bit anyway lol
The Spartan hoplites where very strong men wearing heavy armor and big shields and long spears. So the nakedness' of course is a comic addition but strangely when Leonidas meats Efialtis in the movie he actually explained how those soldiers historically fought very accurately. They even got it quite well at the start of the battle but then unexplainably they ruined it by having them go all solo hero fighters and breaking ranks. That was quite the inconsistency in the movie. Sure maybe for entertaining purposes they decided to make them show some cool fighting moves etc but if they wanted to go that route why bother put that Efialtis dialogue where Leonidas basically rejected the guy because he wouldn't be able to hold into the formation. He even told him that a single weakness in their formations will mean disaster and that they fought like a single unit by each man covering the men next to him etc and then they went "F3ck it, lets have them run around and do cool sword moves" making the dialogue during the rejection of Efialtes seem silly.
"May you live forever" is indeed what one might call a backhanded blessing that's actually a curse, much like the (alleged) old Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times". I don't know if you remember, but you may have noticed people in Firefly using "interesting" with negative connotations a few times.
The unspoken moments between the King and Queen are the most impactful. When she nods her head before Leonidas yells 'This. Is. Sparta!" she knows what will happen if he kills the messenger.
"I suppose I'll head north" "The hot gates.." You'd have to cross 6 other city states to even get there, but yea of course "going north" would totally mean that one particular place that's way further than just north of Sparta
32:30 The 300 died, yet it was after they had caused so much damage to the enemy, that Xerxes had to postpone his campaign anyway. This gave time to Sparta and the other Greek city-states to organise and demolish him in the sea battle of Salamis (that's in the sequel) and the battle of Plataea (the one we see in the end of this movie).
When it first came out I loved this movie because it had some incredible action scenes. Now that I'm older and wiser I love this movie because of its subtle narrative cues, like how Leonidas almost lost his left eye, then Dillios (David Wernham aka Faramir from LOTR) loses his left eye in battle, and he just happens to be a talented orator, so Leonidas sends him back to tell the tale, and then he leads the combined army of Greeks at Plataea, much like how Leonidas led the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Yes, the look & feel of the movie were taken directly from the five issue series. Miller wrote & drew the work, and Lynn Varley was the colorist. She colored a lot of Miller's work. Simonides of Ceos wrote an epitaph for the 300, interpreted in various ways: Go, tell the Spartans, thou who passest by, That here obedient to their laws we lie.
Fun fact: In japanese, the word "Kamikaze" can be separated/translated as "Kami" (Divine) and "Kaze" (wind) ... And it relates to some major invasion that they were about to have, but a typhoon took out most of the invading (enemy) fleet in their nearby seas. (Look it up, I fell asleep after that part of the class).
You will HATE the final scene. These people are amazing!!! Their influence spanned time and carried on for centuries Think of early United States. I am glad you liked it!!! The wife was very special, as were the Spartan women!!!! They were bad asses!!!
Molon Labe, “Come and take them” was King Leonidas reply to the demand by Xerxes I that the Spartans surrender their weapons. The exchange between Leonidas and Xerxes occurs in writing, on the eve of the Battle of Thermopylae. This battle cry has since been used in many wars and battles!
I read a real story of a young Greek-Cypriot hero during their fight against the British occupation where he was found and surrounded by the British in his little mountain hiding place built by rocks. He was a single soldier fighting them alone and lasting for days, they even threw grenades inside his little bunker and he somehow managed to throw them back before they explode and continue shooting at them. In the end they told him to give up his arms and surrender before they are forced to take drastic measures and he replied back with "Molon Labe". After that they covered his whole little bunker with flammable oil etc and lit the whole thing on fire. He still didn't come out and kept shooting while getting burned alive. After the flames ended they found his burned corpse inside with a gun in hand. I imagine a few British soldiers had to open an Ancient Greek language book to get what the reply meant or someone there knew his ancient Greek history.
Spartans are infamously known for the laconic phrase, named after their region of Greece called Laconia. They were terse to the point of absurdity. Philip II of Macedon (Alexander the Great's father) wrote their council, the ephors (who were not, in fact, disgusting priests), asking if he should come as friend or foe. Their response? A single word - "Neither." Philip became angry and wrote back "If I invade your lands I shall turn you out" and other assorted threats. The Spartans again responded with a single word: "If." Thermopylae is literally translated as "Hot Gates" in Greek. The response to the Persians call for them to lay down their weapons, μολὼν λαβέ (molon labe), means "Come and take them!", and has been the slogan of the Greek army ever since, right up until today. "Leonidas" is Greek for "son of the lion", and he definitely earned that name. Spartan hoplites also did not wear capes and leather thongs into battle lol. They were the Classical era equivalent of a main battle tank, armored from head to foot in bronze with a cuirass, greaves, bracers, helm, and that famous shield, which was just as much a weapon as a defense. Getting punched in the face with the rim of that thing would definitely take you out of the fight :P The Phalanx formation is one of the longest enduring and successful military tactics in human history, employed to great effect by Alexander, the Romans, the Vikings, all the way up to riot police now. The Persian Immortals were an elite force 10,000 strong, immediately replacing any who fell to keep their number at 10,000, giving the illusion of immortality, that no matter how many you killed, it seemed like they just didn't die :P The Persian infantry were also armed with shields made of wicker, which was useful in stopping arrows (a large part of the forces they would fight against in the east), but the Greeks hardly used toxotes (bowmen), opting instead for mostly infantry with cavalry auxiliaries (hippeis, or hippikon), so those shields did exactly nothing, as you can see.
'The Spartans again responded with a single word: "If".' Not only did the respond saying "If". They just took that piece of Philip's letter that contained the word "if" and they sent it back to him.😂😂😂
This movie is (very loosely) based on the historic Battle of Thermoplyae in 480 BC. As you can imagine, the added a huge amount of fantastical elements to the historical narrative. While the Spartan training portrayed in the movie is broadly accurate in its brutality, they left some things out. The boys in training were deliberately underfed, so that they'd learn how to survive on their own. While stealing was not forbidden, getting caught while stealing was punished viciously. Also, one of the last things a Spartan had to do before they completed their training in "the Agoge" was to murder a Helot, which was one of the slaves the Spartan's kept. In fact, the Helots were one of the main reasons the Spartans were so militaristic, the Helots actually outnumbered the Spartans, and they were worried about a slave uprising. As for the Spartans, a major inaccuracy was what the Spartans are wearing. In real life they did not run around bear chested wearing nothing but leather speedos, though the red cloaks are accurate. They would have worn Bronze body armor known as a cuirass, bronze armor on their legs called greaves, a bronze helmet, and a large wood and bronze shield. Their primary weapon was an 8 foot spear and they carried a short sword as a secondary weapon. In fact most of the Greeks were to a certain extent, equipped in this manner, and it was one of the reasons the small force of Greeks did so well against the massive Persian army. The Persians were generally equipped with much lighter armor and generally fought in a much more skirmishing style. They were very unprepared for the much more face to face up close and personal combat the Greeks favored. The movie is right that there were only 300 Spartans present, but there were also 4000-7000 other Greeks from various City States also defending the pass with them, but acting under Spartan command. As far as the Persians go, their were no monsters in their army, just men. Even the Immortals, who did actually exist were ordinary men, The name Immortals came from the fact that there were always 10,000 of them. If they lost men in combat, their numbers were always restored to 10,000. As far as the numbers go, the Greek Historian Herodotus, who was the first to write about the battle, puts their numbers as over a million. Historians to this day debate this claim, that perhaps it was exaggeration. Some Historians place the Persian numbers as low as 100,000-200,000 men, which, to be fair would still massively outnumber the Greeks. The fact that the Spartan army was barred from marching at the beginning due to a religious festival did happen, but what went down with the Oracle went a little differently, according to Herodotus. He states that the Oracle predicted that either Sparta would fall, or Sparta would lose one of its Kings. Leonidas thought the king the Oracle refereed to was him, (Sparta was ruled by two kings,) and so led 300 Spartans to Thermoplyae. Initially, the battle went very well for the Greeks, with the Greek infantry holding the narrow mountain pass against the Persian army. They were aided in this endeavor by an Allied Greek Navy led by the Athenian fleet who, despite being outnumbered, held the Artemesium straight against the Persian Navy. This prevented Xerxes from landing Persian forces behind the Greeks by sea. Ultimately though, the Greek position was betrayed by a man named Ephialtes, however he was not a Spartan. Herodotus describes him as a local goat herder who showed the Persians the goat path that led behind the Greek position. The name Ephialtes later came to mean nightmare in Greek. The Greeks did get wind of it before it was too late though, so Leonidas ordered the bulk of the Greek army to retreat, while he would stay behind wit the 300 Spartans to act as a rear guard, buying time for the rest of the Army to retreat. 700 Greeks from the City State of Thespia, and 400 Thebans also chose to remain behind for the rear guard. They were all killed to the last man. After the battle, the Persian Navy would be decisively defeated by the Athenian/ Greek navy at Salamis, and later the Persian army would be decisively defeated at Platea by a Spartan/ Greek army as the movie portrayed. This ended Xerxes attempt to conquer Greece. A well known epitaph, atributed to the Poet Simonides was placed on a stone at the site of the battle. Roughly translated it states "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie." Unfortunately, the original stone does not survive, but a new one was placed there in 1955.
Am i the only one who saw the scene in the beginning with the wolf he killed because he lured him into the narrow passage as a parallelism to the fight with the persians in the narrow passage of the hotgates?
Nope but people that don't know the history of Thermopylae couldn't get the reference at that point because it was at the start of the film. Those who knew got it fast.
For anyone who would like to take a deeper dive into the battle in 300, I'd recommend the novel "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield that came out in 1998. As a novel, there's a lot more background into Spartan culture and society. It's a great book. From what I remember from back then, there was some early talk of making a movie out of it. Then 300 came along and got made first, and interest in Gates of Fire faded. There was also a movie, "The 300 Spartans"(1962) that was something of an early version of 300. It had much the same story, but obviously not so epic and styled. It was something of a cinematic metaphor for the Cold War going on at the time, with the Spartans as the brave defenders of the free world, and the Persians as the Communist hordes.
I couldn't stop laughing when you said " i guess he travels is style " out of all the react videos your the only who said something like. perfect comment
29:23 - For Spartans, die in battle by a great glory. Life forever meaning "you never get a glory, only shame". And all know name of traitor from Thermopile for tooday.
It was glorious to watch in the cinema as I did. Very entertaining movie. I have heard it's very close to the comic book, which I never read. The story is of course based on a real story, though for obvious reasons not everything is 1 to 1 accurate. Surprised to see you do a reaction of this, but glad you did.
"That was quite the satisfying death I must say, good for you!" Even the most squeamish of people really enjoy Theron getting his just desserts. Bloodthirsty Addie is best Addie... X D
Fun fact - Leonidis was in his 60s when this battle took place, which makes him even more badass. Fun fact 2- They still teach this defense in military schools around the world. You should also watch Sin City if you haven't already seen it.
Many people miss the significance of the scene at 12:41 when Ephialtes (who was Trachian, not Spartan, BTW. Wasn't deformed either.) throws his shield off the cliff. The Spartans saw their shields in much the same way the samurai saw their katanas. It was the most significant part of their kit and to lose your shield was unforgiveable. By throwing his shield and yelling at his deceased parents he is essentially abandoning all that it means to be Spartan. This is a nice piece of foreshadowing of his coming betrayal.
Remarkable how 80% of the people know this story from this movie based on a comic book that has little and nothing to do with the original story, the Spartan hoplite wore heavy armor, they were armored tanks, they would never be with their torso uncovered
Even though it might not have been your usual type of movie, it was really fun to see your reaction to one of my favorite movies. Some harp on the historical and cultural inaccuracies, but this great piece of art still stands on its own.
Ephialtes actually was a wealth hungry local who wanted quick money not a deformed spartan escapee and Leonidas actually perished first and then the rest of the Spartans and the thespians that stayed fought to take his body and ultimately died
Come back with your shield or on it was something my father (a history teacher) shared with me as a young man. The idea being, either you finished the fight and took your time leaving (didn't drop your shield and run), or you were put on your shield like a litter and carried home dead. It's extreme but I think the idea is poetic
I recommend you watch the original "the 300 Spartans" filmed in the 60s on location at the very spot where Leonidas & the 300 faught & died. Where carved in stone "Parser by tell them that by Spartan law here we lie" ( there are so many variations lie, lye, liy ect )
There is a sequel called 300: Rise of an Empire. It shows the battle on the sea as this is being waged at the Hot Gate. You should definitely review that one as well.
aside from this movie and the picture it paints of Xerxes, as you know it is based on actual events, and it shows up also in the book of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible. Esther was a Hebrew girl brought up in Persia, who was chosen to become Xerxes new queen, and with Xerxes' help, was able to save the Hebrew population there in the Persian empire. The Jewish people now celebrate that event in Yom Kippur. there was a movie made about that story of Xerxes and Esther called One Night with the King; a love story.
At 17:32, Actually, if not for the "Prince of Persia" video game series, all of which are pure fantasy, No one would even remember Persia these days. But EVERYONE knows Sparda. Leonides's strategy is STILL TAUGHT in military schools around the world. EVEN TODAY .....
The Spartans were masters of one liners and trash talk… Many quotes from them have survived through history. Several that are said to be from this event in history made it into the film. My favorite one from history… A rival of Sparta sent a message saying that… “If I march my army into Sparta, I will raise it to the ground and enslave the population” (paraphrased) The Spartans sent a simple one word reply… “If”
They always used few words like that which is why laconic speech now our days translates to saying something with fewer words as possible. It comes from the word Laconia which was the name of the area Sparta is located.
Entertaining as this movie is, around the time it came the History Channel did a documentary about the actual events (as close as they can be pieced together from surviving sources), which is actually even more interesting. The film really leans into the comic book style, since it's based on a graphic novel, and part of that is leaning into the idea that it's a story being told by a Spartan, so it's "punched up" to be more engaging story, hence Xerxes being nine feet tall and his army consisting basically of orcs. But it's all based on a real event, where relatively small numbers (not as small as in the movie -- many other Greek city-states supplied troops, but the Spartans obviously only care about the 300 Spartans) held off a far more numerous enemy through training, discipline, better equipment, and choosing the right place to fight.
For a Spartan, to live forever would be the worst curse and punishment. You wouldn't receive "eternal glory". And of course his name was written in history, to the point that today it means "nightmare" in Greek.
Remember, the whole movie is being told through the eyes (or eye) of the one-eyed soldier they sent back, so there are embellishments and dramatizations (like the giant and the guy with blade arms). He’s retelling the story like this to hype up the rest of Sparta and to stress how brave and invincible (or nearly) the 300 were.
Exactly! What we are watching is the campfire tale, told to hype up the soldiers and build up the legend of Leonidas!
The average height is 5'9. But there are guys who are 7'2. Would you not consider that a giant? Could you not put blades onto the forearms of a large, rotund fellow? Obviously, there are always exaggerations throughout history (how tall was Paul Bunyan?) But, I'm sure that big guys were forced into armies back then. I don't think ppl should outright dismiss all aspects of stories.
But how did he know about the parts he wasn't there for?!!
My one-eyed soldier gets over excited sometimes too
@@Tantalus010 he filled it in. That’s what I mean: The story being told isn’t exactly what happened. It’s a campfire tale to hype the Spartans up as they enter the war vs the Persians.
I'm so happy you recognized the insult of "may you live forever"! Many reactors miss that!
the worst insult a Sparten could utter, it was a horrible curse, and of all the men who have lived and died, few are as hated as him, and his name is still an insult.
Ephaertes' name will also live forever as the one who betrayed the Spartans.
He lived, but in a different way. After this betrayal, this name changed its meaning and no Greek gave this name to his children. In the English language, when you see a very bad dream you say "I had a nightmare". In the Greek language they say, "I saw a Ephialtes"... Eternal disgrace, at least as long as the Greek language exists.
@@Hydrogen-Hyperoxide I didn't know that. That's vicious. Thanks for the enlightenment.
Ephialtes is said to have fled to Thessaly where he was eventually murdered in an unrelated event. The murderer was celebrated by the Spartans... a sign they wanted him dead and not alive. There is no evidence that this "curse" even existed in the real Sparta. It is a dramatic invention for the Frank Miller's graphic novel/movie. I'm not criticizing the movie (it's great), but it needs to be taken with a very large grain of salt.
The idea that Sparta was a death-seeking warrior cult is mostly the invention of Athens as a means to de-humanize them. Athens was was their primary rival. They acknowledged Sparta's military prowess, but the cost was that they were heartless monsters. Athens would always be superior because they had the moral high ground...
Spartan males joined the military at age 20 and served until age 30. They lived full time in military camps and had little if any contact with their family. At age 30 they left active military service, became full citizens, raised a family, and pursued other careers. Spartan men seeking nothing but death in battle is certainly a myth... It was a military centered culture. They would certainly have been instilled with a strong sense of duty and willingness to sacrifice (like in any professional army). But I'm pretty sure most of them looked forward to quitting the military at age 30 and raising a family like any normal human being.
When I first saw this in the theater, I said to myself "Every frame of this movie could easily be a work of art hanging in a museum."
Apart from the script, which would be in the drawer of every nazi propaganda office. 😊
Another face (or voice) you might have missed is David Wenham, who played Faramir in Lord Of The Rings. He is the narrator and one of the 300 that loses his eye, Dilios.
I knew he looked familiar but couldn’t place where I knew him from! It’s definitely time to watch LOTR again 😎
@@AddieCounts can never go wrong with that trilogy. Love your reactions 🥰
Can't remember if you watched Van Helsing, the one with Hugh Jackman, but he is great in that as well.
@@Connor_Arbuthnot that movie is so underrated. It's not the best movie, but it's really fun.
He was also the narrator for the tv show The Deadliest Warrior
One thing i feel like most people who watches 300 are missing is that leonidas said ''The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed.'' So he did what he said he was gonna do
Xerxes wasnt a tyrant though
One thing I feel most people who make comments like this are missing is that there is not one single actual quote in this movie. That is not what Leonidis said, it's what a writer wrote for dramatic effect. Before you start being critical of people 'missing things' that you picked up on, stop patting yourself on the back for being so observant and start realizing this (and most) movies of this genre are about 98% writer, 2% actual history.
@@Heathcoatman well duh
Spartan women who died during childbirth were honored the same way as men who died in battle because they gave their lives for Sparta
Apart from the slaves... who cares.
And you did notice that they kill messengers and discard babies in order of eugenics, right?
Addie is so adorable when she watches super violent gory movies 😂
#MoreViolentMoviesForAddieCounts
"Ooh! Ooh!! OOH!!!" 😅❤
26:00 - "Oh, you really are expecting to die."
Leonidas went to Thermopylae intending to die. It's not included in this movie, but the Spartans consulted the Oracle of Delphi to seek advice on what to do about the Persian invasion. The Oracle told the Spartans that either Persia would sack Sparta, or a Spartan king must die. Leonidas knew he had to die in order to save Sparta.
And in dying, Leonidas and the 300 proved the superiority of Greek hoplites (heavy infantry) against the lighter-armed troops of Persia. Greek hoplites were not the nearly naked guys in leather Speedos shown in the movie. They wore heavy bronze breastplates, greaves and helmets which, along with their large shields, made them nearly impossible to injure. In most battle of ancient Greece the winning side had very few casualties. The loser's high losses only came about when their lines broke and the men started running away. Then they'd be slaughtered when they weren't really capable of defending themselves with a shield wall anymore.
Very true. Modern accounts figure it was usually when one side had lost about 10% of their strength is when their morale started to break, once they started to rout the rest would be cut down. Although there is a lot of accounts of after losing 10% of their strength the losing side just called it a day and surrendered.
The exact wording was "Greece shall be ruled by the Sons of Persia, or Sparta shall forever mourn the loss of a king."
"may you live forever" is the worst insult a Spartan can give someone. To them, the greatest glory is to give your life fighting for something, saying that you hope one lives forever is to say 1. that they are a coward, but mainly 2. that they will never have something they would care enough about to sacrifice themselves for, or never be able to.
I just imagine it as "may you find something you'd sacrifice yourself for, and not be able to do it"
Not only that but his name is well remembered today as a traitor. In fact he live forever in shame
People joke that this movie would be 20 mins shorter without all the slow-mo. I believe it really adds to the stylized comic book feel since it was based on a graphic novel. This movie has so much visual personality and a very distinct look.
Only first time I've heard this.
It definitely is there to capture those images from the book without them being still images, like a book.
If you really want to see a bad movie that completely over-used slow-mo, watch Ecks vs Sever (or don't, it's pretty awful and could've been a youtube short if you took out all the slow-mo)
@@reyvynnightveil1706or any Snyder movie after this that isn't dawn of the dead. The slow motion is trash and excessive
@@CYB3R2KWtf are you talking about you absolute buffoon? Man Of Steel literally has no slow motion scenes, Dawn of Justice too barely has any slow motion.
yeah the visual style is everything for this movie.
This was a wonderful realization from the writer of the graphic novel Frank Miller. Obviously the story is based on history and inflated beyond belief! Yes, Leonidas had 300 Spartans with him. He also had 900 helots, 400 Thebans (from Thebes), 700 Thespians (from Thespa), and about 7400 free greeks to fight off about 300,000 Persians. Leonidas was in command of all of the greek soldiers. After the third day dawned, a runner told him that the pass had been discovered. Xerxes had sent his remaining immortals (about 10000 of them had already died at the gates) to the mountain pass. Realizing that they could be surrounded and slaughtered, Leonidas' hoplites (Spartans) and 2000 soldiers stayed to guard the retreat while the rest went through the pass. It was this and his strategy of fighting them in the narrows of the Hot Gates (Thermopylae) that earned his recognition as a Greek hero. His moves saved thousands of Greek lives!
EDIT: GG Arthur
@@d112cons Ah yes!! Thank you for that correction!! Frank Miller! I have made the correction!
Nope, the graphic novel is reduced to the battle. All that drivel about democracy and rape and evil effeminate traitors was added.
And to call something "based on history" based on cliffnotws is a loooong stretch.
Have you seen a single Spartan slave in the film? Nope.
But you did see that bad guys wear Mascara.
@@j.m.w.5064 Snyder has said that he crafted the film as a battle hymn and legend told from the Spartans perspective. A legend to encourage their armies before battle, which is why our loremaster bookends the story. Obviously biased and exaggerated, but intentionally so.
300: Rise of an Empire is a highly underrated sequel
Eva Green & Lena Headey are so good in this movie.
So true
Great sequel
Highly overrated. Terrible main actor and a lot of forced violence and visuals.
Nah bro, one of the worst sequel ever
I like how Addie kept using the word "We" in her reaction. Its as if she identified herself as a Spartan warrior. I guess the real Addie has now emerged!
Very interesting angle regarding the insult "Ephialtes, may you live forever." I kind of interpret this figuratively. By saying that, Leonidas tells him his name and his treason will live forever in history. And it ended up being true. More than 2 and a half millennia after the battle of Thermopylae, and we still can find from the books (or this movie) that the name of the Traitor was Ephialtes of Trachis.
it is also an insult in Greek and Macedonian.
300 is based on a graphic novel, which is based on a 1962 film called "The 300 Spartans," which is based on Herodotus' accounts of the Greco-Persian Wars called "The Histories." It's mean't to be stylized, but that's what makes it entertaining.
"The 300 Spartans" was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and even now I'll watch it every year or two for nostalgia sake. A simpler and less epic movie, but it was still very compelling to a young boy. As I got older I also recognized that it was something of a cinematic metaphor for the Cold War going on at the time, with the Spartans and their allies representing the free countries of the world, and the Persians representing the hordes of Communist powers.
The reason they were called the immortals wasn't because they couldn't die, it was because when one of them did die in battle, he was immediately replaced. The number remained 10,000 at all times. The battle of the 300 was brutal and they certainly earned their place in history. Historians argue over how many casualties they caused but it was somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 out of the 200,000 estimated in Xerxes' total army. The Athenians put about 1500-2000 men on the line in the battle of the gates, and they caused quite a bit of damage too. Spartan Krypteia (the 300) were the finest trained soldiers in the world though so they contributed the bulk of the persian casualties. They're trained very similarly to Army Rangers today, but even more brutally punished for wrong-doing and were EXTREMELY dangerous men. Modern military training is similar to Agoge
This is been long awaited. This interpretation of the battle of Thermopylae may be dramatized to the tee, but it's still epic.
I still remember seeing this in theaters with my mom. She was sitting next to 3 teenage girls. In the scene when the men were running at the camera she said they were like "Oh God I want that one on the right" and "The guy on the left, I want his baby!!!" She was sitting there cracking up.
Addie is so freakin cute with her facial expressions and random dancing.
Good pick and fun reaction. If you liked the style, Sin City(2005) is a must see. 🙂
Agree!
And Sucker Punch
Was thinking the same hehe
@@DaveTingwaldd I think Addie would LOVE "Sucker Punch"
See Black Hawk Down and Priwat Ryan note that Shot for kids and morons.
This movie is based on the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller, the author of The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, Daredevil: Born Again, The Wolverine and Ronin. Frank Miller may have lost his touch recently but his work from 1975 to roughly 1995 is legendary. The guy was a master of hyper stylized noir.
I think his Daredevil: Born Again is his best work.
I just watched Addie's Gladiator reaction yesterday, and now I get a 300 Addie reaction. Nice. 👍
In the "Last Samurai" Nathan tells Katsumoto about this conflict
2:20 "Lots of skulls you got there, buddy!" Of special importance: those skills are all wearing crowns! 💀👑
Oh Addie. I actually visited Thermopylae back in 1995 as I studied a fair amount of ancient history. But, I knew about this from the comic book. But damn, this is a beautiful movie... Post watch: great editing Addie, loved your post view addendum.
If you liked this movie, here’s a few others to watch:
- Troy (director cut)
- 300: Rise of an Empire
- Kingdom of Heaven: extended director cut
- Oliver Stone’s Alexander
Those are great listed but forgot Gladiator.. 😊
@@y2k029 I thought she had reacted to Gladiator? Oh well, my bad…
@constantdvdcollector yes she did... I misread prior to your list i think of something completely different... no worries
@@y2k029 no problem!
29:01 -"You There, Ephialtes, May You Live Forever" Aye! it`s a powerful line, but is not only a great insult, Leonidas pointed him with his Spear, This is also a Sentence dictated from a King.
And he still lives to this very day. Giving us nightmares.
if you like the stylized vision for this i recommend Sucker Punch. it's a stellar movie that is super interesting and not gory. i could tell the violence and graphic nature of 300 wasn't your favorite but you did a great job reacting to it and it was fun to see.
Sucker Punch is underrated. Some people say it's because of the stylization but I think it's because of the subtext of the story. It's one of those stories that presents something rather dark people don't like but also don't like to acknowledge unless it becomes blatantly obvious. If anything I'd say it's impressive the story touches on the issue but not being heavy handed about it.
That movie is fucking trash.
director's cut made it better than the theater release@@CYB3R2K
It's a garbage movie.
So many people go into this movie expecting not to like it, very few end up with that opinion after it. That says it all.
I Luv how this movie was shot! The slow motion the color grading were awesome and added to the feels of the movie! The Spartans were the top warriors of the day! You were a brave soul to tackle this movie Addie! I know it has a lot of blood and guts flying around but you handled it like a true warrior! This reaction should be call 301! That's including you Addie! Aaahuu Aaahuu Aaahu... Luv ya Addie ❤️💛
That's Zack Snyder for you 🤟
Thank you ..I love this mov😢 and love the ending with the 10000 Spartans
A bronze statue of Leonidas was erected at Thermopylae in 1955. A sign, under the statue, reads simply: "ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ" ("Come and take them"), which was Leonidas' laconic reply when Xerxes offered to spare the lives of the Spartans if they gave up their arms.
"After you struggle, get them" For those interested in the linguistic side of the thing. A whole "poem" fitted in 2 words, this is why some consider the Spartans the true philosophers of ancient times.
I don't know if it was intentional, but if you didn't know this, phrases like this are the origin of the word laconic. It comes from Laconia, the name of the region of which Sparta was the capitol.
A word about the supposed "discarding" of "inferior" infants, theres actually no archaeological evidence that they did that. The gorge where legend says the babes were thrown into has so far only yielded adult skeletons so it likely was a site of execution of some sort but not for that reason. That legend was likely started either by their enemies to discredit them or even by the Spartans themselves to increase their fearsome reputation. However they did leave their newborns outside in a basket unattended their first night and if it survived then it was brought back in and accepted into the family. They were a hard, brutal people in a hard, brutal time.
To also add another dimension to the insult , he might meant that he wanted his name forever to be remembered as a traitor.
This is why nowadays the Greek word for "nightmare" is "ephialtes".
There's another explanation about Leonidas last wish/curse towards Ephialtes. Even today in Greece the name Ephialtes is a synonym for a traitor plus for horrible dreams. So basically Leonidas cursed Ephialtes to remain known for his treachery eternally.
I love the combination of addie's cuteness and gory movies
29:09 thank you! It was the highest insult you can give to a “soldier”. I don’t see many people address this.
That ending to 300 gets me every time. I was tearing up just even watching that last scene even on the reaction. It's so emotional
Fun fact I'm the U.S Army our drill sergeants have a badge saying 'This we'll Defend ".
THIS IS SPARTA, Addie! I just watched 300 (2006) last night and I enjoyed it. IMO, I would DEFINITELY rewatch this movie. The color grading was done by colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3 and the film grain was from the movie being shot in the Super 35 format.
Queen Gorgo was played by Lena Headey, who also played Queen Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones.
Very different characters.
the Spartans were known to use perfumes and bathe themselves before battle. they wanted their bodies to be perfect if they were to enter the afterlife
29:06 What Leonidas actually meant is, may his treachery be remembered until the end of mankind. And it will be. His name, Ephialtes, is used in the greek language for 'nightmare'.
Facts:
1. King Leonidas was around 60 years old when he fought this battle..!! 🔥⚔
2. Efialtis (Εφιάλτης) (The traitor who told Persians the secret passage), actually means "Nightmare" in Greek
3. The phrases below, were actually told by Spartans in that battle
a) Get back with your shield, or on it. (᾿Ή τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς)
b) Then we will fight in the shade.
c) Come and get them. (Μολὼν λαβέ)
Part of the prospective Spartan's final exam was actually to kill a "helot" (a slave) and not get caught.
The persian messenger played great as Oenomaeus in Spartacus!
A fantastic reaction, Addie. Make sure you see and react to the sequel. Might not be as good, but definitely worth the watch. I saw this one in theaters. That was epic. See you later!
Loved that you reacted to this movie.Addie. Great Great movie.. one of my favorite.. ending get me teary-eyed all the time every time I watched it.. thank you 😊... do "Troy" you'll like B.Pitt in that one too..
and I almost forgot the hunchback who wanted to join the Spartans was not a hunchback in general, he was a local peasant who really showed the way to the Persians because the Spartans rejected him and something else related to the other Greek soldiers and they also wore armor only made of leather (Linothorax) unlike the Persians, who did not wear armor but clothes and cane shields
“Are you not entertained!?”
I was indeed entertained.
😂
Loosely based on a true story. Very cool. I used to teach small unit tactics and this was a great example of a smaller army using force multipliers such as terrain to gain advantage and hold ground…for a bit anyway lol
The Spartan hoplites where very strong men wearing heavy armor and big shields and long spears. So the nakedness' of course is a comic addition but strangely when Leonidas meats Efialtis in the movie he actually explained how those soldiers historically fought very accurately.
They even got it quite well at the start of the battle but then unexplainably they ruined it by having them go all solo hero fighters and breaking ranks.
That was quite the inconsistency in the movie. Sure maybe for entertaining purposes they decided to make them show some cool fighting moves etc but if they wanted to go that route why bother put that Efialtis dialogue where Leonidas basically rejected the guy because he wouldn't be able to hold into the formation.
He even told him that a single weakness in their formations will mean disaster and that they fought like a single unit by each man covering the men next to him etc and then they went "F3ck it, lets have them run around and do cool sword moves" making the dialogue during the rejection of Efialtes seem silly.
"May you live forever" is indeed what one might call a backhanded blessing that's actually a curse, much like the (alleged) old Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times".
I don't know if you remember, but you may have noticed people in Firefly using "interesting" with negative connotations a few times.
The unspoken moments between the King and Queen are the most impactful. When she nods her head before Leonidas yells 'This. Is. Sparta!" she knows what will happen if he kills the messenger.
"I suppose I'll head north"
"The hot gates.."
You'd have to cross 6 other city states to even get there, but yea of course "going north" would totally mean that one particular place that's way further than just north of Sparta
I will be clipping your comment about that "Insult" !! That was some good stuff!
32:30 The 300 died, yet it was after they had caused so much damage to the enemy, that Xerxes had to postpone his campaign anyway. This gave time to Sparta and the other Greek city-states to organise and demolish him in the sea battle of Salamis (that's in the sequel) and the battle of Plataea (the one we see in the end of this movie).
When it first came out I loved this movie because it had some incredible action scenes. Now that I'm older and wiser I love this movie because of its subtle narrative cues, like how Leonidas almost lost his left eye, then Dillios (David Wernham aka Faramir from LOTR) loses his left eye in battle, and he just happens to be a talented orator, so Leonidas sends him back to tell the tale, and then he leads the combined army of Greeks at Plataea, much like how Leonidas led the Spartans at Thermopylae.
Yes, the look & feel of the movie were taken directly from the five issue series. Miller wrote & drew the work, and Lynn Varley was the colorist. She colored a lot of Miller's work.
Simonides of Ceos wrote an epitaph for the 300, interpreted in various ways:
Go, tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here obedient to their laws we lie.
Fun fact: In japanese, the word "Kamikaze" can be separated/translated as "Kami" (Divine) and "Kaze" (wind) ... And it relates to some major invasion that they were about to have, but a typhoon took out most of the invading (enemy) fleet in their nearby seas.
(Look it up, I fell asleep after that part of the class).
You will HATE the final scene. These people are amazing!!! Their influence spanned time and carried on for centuries Think of early United States. I am glad you liked it!!! The wife was very special, as were the Spartan women!!!! They were bad asses!!!
Molon Labe, “Come and take them” was King Leonidas reply to the demand by Xerxes I that the Spartans surrender their weapons. The exchange between Leonidas and Xerxes occurs in writing, on the eve of the Battle of Thermopylae. This battle cry has since been used in many wars and battles!
I read a real story of a young Greek-Cypriot hero during their fight against the British occupation where he was found and surrounded by the British in his little mountain hiding place built by rocks.
He was a single soldier fighting them alone and lasting for days, they even threw grenades inside his little bunker and he somehow managed to throw them back before they explode and continue shooting at them.
In the end they told him to give up his arms and surrender before they are forced to take drastic measures and he replied back with "Molon Labe".
After that they covered his whole little bunker with flammable oil etc and lit the whole thing on fire.
He still didn't come out and kept shooting while getting burned alive. After the flames ended they found his burned corpse inside with a gun in hand.
I imagine a few British soldiers had to open an Ancient Greek language book to get what the reply meant or someone there knew his ancient Greek history.
Your reaction was great. Very visceral. I had a few good laughs. Glad you enjoyed it in the end, it is indeed a very entertaining film.
Spartans are infamously known for the laconic phrase, named after their region of Greece called Laconia. They were terse to the point of absurdity. Philip II of Macedon (Alexander the Great's father) wrote their council, the ephors (who were not, in fact, disgusting priests), asking if he should come as friend or foe.
Their response? A single word - "Neither."
Philip became angry and wrote back "If I invade your lands I shall turn you out" and other assorted threats. The Spartans again responded with a single word: "If."
Thermopylae is literally translated as "Hot Gates" in Greek. The response to the Persians call for them to lay down their weapons, μολὼν λαβέ (molon labe), means "Come and take them!", and has been the slogan of the Greek army ever since, right up until today. "Leonidas" is Greek for "son of the lion", and he definitely earned that name.
Spartan hoplites also did not wear capes and leather thongs into battle lol. They were the Classical era equivalent of a main battle tank, armored from head to foot in bronze with a cuirass, greaves, bracers, helm, and that famous shield, which was just as much a weapon as a defense. Getting punched in the face with the rim of that thing would definitely take you out of the fight :P The Phalanx formation is one of the longest enduring and successful military tactics in human history, employed to great effect by Alexander, the Romans, the Vikings, all the way up to riot police now.
The Persian Immortals were an elite force 10,000 strong, immediately replacing any who fell to keep their number at 10,000, giving the illusion of immortality, that no matter how many you killed, it seemed like they just didn't die :P The Persian infantry were also armed with shields made of wicker, which was useful in stopping arrows (a large part of the forces they would fight against in the east), but the Greeks hardly used toxotes (bowmen), opting instead for mostly infantry with cavalry auxiliaries (hippeis, or hippikon), so those shields did exactly nothing, as you can see.
'The Spartans again responded with a single word: "If".' Not only did the respond saying "If". They just took that piece of Philip's letter that contained the word "if" and they sent it back to him.😂😂😂
This movie is (very loosely) based on the historic Battle of Thermoplyae in 480 BC. As you can imagine, the added a huge amount of fantastical elements to the historical narrative. While the Spartan training portrayed in the movie is broadly accurate in its brutality, they left some things out. The boys in training were deliberately underfed, so that they'd learn how to survive on their own. While stealing was not forbidden, getting caught while stealing was punished viciously. Also, one of the last things a Spartan had to do before they completed their training in "the Agoge" was to murder a Helot, which was one of the slaves the Spartan's kept. In fact, the Helots were one of the main reasons the Spartans were so militaristic, the Helots actually outnumbered the Spartans, and they were worried about a slave uprising.
As for the Spartans, a major inaccuracy was what the Spartans are wearing. In real life they did not run around bear chested wearing nothing but leather speedos, though the red cloaks are accurate. They would have worn Bronze body armor known as a cuirass, bronze armor on their legs called greaves, a bronze helmet, and a large wood and bronze shield. Their primary weapon was an 8 foot spear and they carried a short sword as a secondary weapon. In fact most of the Greeks were to a certain extent, equipped in this manner, and it was one of the reasons the small force of Greeks did so well against the massive Persian army. The Persians were generally equipped with much lighter armor and generally fought in a much more skirmishing style. They were very unprepared for the much more face to face up close and personal combat the Greeks favored. The movie is right that there were only 300 Spartans present, but there were also 4000-7000 other Greeks from various City States also defending the pass with them, but acting under Spartan command.
As far as the Persians go, their were no monsters in their army, just men. Even the Immortals, who did actually exist were ordinary men, The name Immortals came from the fact that there were always 10,000 of them. If they lost men in combat, their numbers were always restored to 10,000. As far as the numbers go, the Greek Historian Herodotus, who was the first to write about the battle, puts their numbers as over a million. Historians to this day debate this claim, that perhaps it was exaggeration. Some Historians place the Persian numbers as low as 100,000-200,000 men, which, to be fair would still massively outnumber the Greeks.
The fact that the Spartan army was barred from marching at the beginning due to a religious festival did happen, but what went down with the Oracle went a little differently, according to Herodotus. He states that the Oracle predicted that either Sparta would fall, or Sparta would lose one of its Kings. Leonidas thought the king the Oracle refereed to was him, (Sparta was ruled by two kings,) and so led 300 Spartans to Thermoplyae. Initially, the battle went very well for the Greeks, with the Greek infantry holding the narrow mountain pass against the Persian army. They were aided in this endeavor by an Allied Greek Navy led by the Athenian fleet who, despite being outnumbered, held the Artemesium straight against the Persian Navy. This prevented Xerxes from landing Persian forces behind the Greeks by sea. Ultimately though, the Greek position was betrayed by a man named Ephialtes, however he was not a Spartan. Herodotus describes him as a local goat herder who showed the Persians the goat path that led behind the Greek position. The name Ephialtes later came to mean nightmare in Greek. The Greeks did get wind of it before it was too late though, so Leonidas ordered the bulk of the Greek army to retreat, while he would stay behind wit the 300 Spartans to act as a rear guard, buying time for the rest of the Army to retreat. 700 Greeks from the City State of Thespia, and 400 Thebans also chose to remain behind for the rear guard. They were all killed to the last man.
After the battle, the Persian Navy would be decisively defeated by the Athenian/ Greek navy at Salamis, and later the Persian army would be decisively defeated at Platea by a Spartan/ Greek army as the movie portrayed. This ended Xerxes attempt to conquer Greece. A well known epitaph, atributed to the Poet Simonides was placed on a stone at the site of the battle. Roughly translated it states "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie." Unfortunately, the original stone does not survive, but a new one was placed there in 1955.
Am i the only one who saw the scene in the beginning with the wolf he killed because he lured him into the narrow passage as a parallelism to the fight with the persians in the narrow passage of the hotgates?
Nope but people that don't know the history of Thermopylae couldn't get the reference at that point because it was at the start of the film. Those who knew got it fast.
Little Addie turned savage! I like it!
For anyone who would like to take a deeper dive into the battle in 300, I'd recommend the novel "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield that came out in 1998. As a novel, there's a lot more background into Spartan culture and society. It's a great book. From what I remember from back then, there was some early talk of making a movie out of it. Then 300 came along and got made first, and interest in Gates of Fire faded.
There was also a movie, "The 300 Spartans"(1962) that was something of an early version of 300. It had much the same story, but obviously not so epic and styled. It was something of a cinematic metaphor for the Cold War going on at the time, with the Spartans as the brave defenders of the free world, and the Persians as the Communist hordes.
I couldn't stop laughing when you said " i guess he travels is style " out of all the react videos your the only who said something like. perfect comment
I come here because you’ve got such a sensitive heart. It’s nice to see that clash with gory and/or intense movies.
Oh, yes.. She did whatever she could, allright..!
29:23 - For Spartans, die in battle by a great glory. Life forever meaning "you never get a glory, only shame". And all know name of traitor from Thermopile for tooday.
David Wenham, the one eyed guy, (and also Faramir in LOTR) is a really good orator!
So now you got to watch 300 Rise of an Empire!! Not as great as this one but great in its own way.
Brings the whole story to an end.
It was glorious to watch in the cinema as I did. Very entertaining movie. I have heard it's very close to the comic book, which I never read. The story is of course based on a real story, though for obvious reasons not everything is 1 to 1 accurate.
Surprised to see you do a reaction of this, but glad you did.
Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.
"That was quite the satisfying death I must say, good for you!"
Even the most squeamish of people really enjoy Theron getting his just desserts. Bloodthirsty Addie is best Addie... X D
There is a huge Lion granite statue where Leonidas is buried.... crazy to see in person...
Fun fact - Leonidis was in his 60s when this battle took place, which makes him even more badass. Fun fact 2- They still teach this defense in military schools around the world. You should also watch Sin City if you haven't already seen it.
Many people miss the significance of the scene at 12:41 when Ephialtes (who was Trachian, not Spartan, BTW. Wasn't deformed either.) throws his shield off the cliff. The Spartans saw their shields in much the same way the samurai saw their katanas. It was the most significant part of their kit and to lose your shield was unforgiveable. By throwing his shield and yelling at his deceased parents he is essentially abandoning all that it means to be Spartan. This is a nice piece of foreshadowing of his coming betrayal.
Now you must watch the 300 parody: “Meet The Spartans” while it’s fresh in your mind. So damn funny.
"Lots'a skulls ya got there buddy . . . "
Thanks, I picked 'em by hand!
my favorite part of movie is how strong Leonides wife is to support her husband 😁😁
Remarkable how 80% of the people know this story from this movie based on a comic book that has little and nothing to do with the original story, the Spartan hoplite wore heavy armor, they were armored tanks, they would never be with their torso uncovered
Even though it might not have been your usual type of movie, it was really fun to see your reaction to one of my favorite movies. Some harp on the historical and cultural inaccuracies, but this great piece of art still stands on its own.
Have you seen "Meet the Spartans" Yet? SUCH A FUNNY SPOOF of this =D
Ephialtes actually was a wealth hungry local who wanted quick money not a deformed spartan escapee and Leonidas actually perished first and then the rest of the Spartans and the thespians that stayed fought to take his body and ultimately died
Girls watching first few minutes: "What terrible villains! "
-no, no, they are good guys
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Leonidas was immortalized. So was Ephialtes, whose name means nightmare in Greek.
Last year I finally realized his men say AWOO AWOO AWOO like the wolf he conquered
Come back with your shield or on it was something my father (a history teacher) shared with me as a young man. The idea being, either you finished the fight and took your time leaving (didn't drop your shield and run), or you were put on your shield like a litter and carried home dead. It's extreme but I think the idea is poetic
I recommend you watch the original "the 300 Spartans" filmed in the 60s on location at the very spot where Leonidas & the 300 faught & died. Where carved in stone "Parser by tell them that by Spartan law here we lie" ( there are so many variations lie, lye, liy ect )
The writer of 300 also wrote Wonder Woman. Great movie and not as violent as 300.
There is a sequel called 300: Rise of an Empire. It shows the battle on the sea as this is being waged at the Hot Gate. You should definitely review that one as well.
aside from this movie and the picture it paints of Xerxes, as you know it is based on actual events, and it shows up also in the book of Esther in the Old Testament of the Bible. Esther was a Hebrew girl brought up in Persia, who was chosen to become Xerxes new queen, and with Xerxes' help, was able to save the Hebrew population there in the Persian empire. The Jewish people now celebrate that event in Yom Kippur. there was a movie made about that story of Xerxes and Esther called One Night with the King; a love story.
Me: Addie is watching 300? Oh this should be interesting...
Narrator: It was, in fact, very interesting.
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At 17:32, Actually, if not for the "Prince of Persia" video game series, all of which are pure fantasy, No one would even remember Persia these days. But EVERYONE knows Sparda. Leonides's strategy is STILL TAUGHT in military schools around the world. EVEN TODAY .....
The Spartans were masters of one liners and trash talk… Many quotes from them have survived through history.
Several that are said to be from this event in history made it into the film.
My favorite one from history… A rival of Sparta sent a message saying that… “If I march my army into Sparta, I will raise it to the ground and enslave the population” (paraphrased)
The Spartans sent a simple one word reply… “If”
They always used few words like that which is why laconic speech now our days translates to saying something with fewer words as possible.
It comes from the word Laconia which was the name of the area Sparta is located.
Entertaining as this movie is, around the time it came the History Channel did a documentary about the actual events (as close as they can be pieced together from surviving sources), which is actually even more interesting. The film really leans into the comic book style, since it's based on a graphic novel, and part of that is leaning into the idea that it's a story being told by a Spartan, so it's "punched up" to be more engaging story, hence Xerxes being nine feet tall and his army consisting basically of orcs. But it's all based on a real event, where relatively small numbers (not as small as in the movie -- many other Greek city-states supplied troops, but the Spartans obviously only care about the 300 Spartans) held off a far more numerous enemy through training, discipline, better equipment, and choosing the right place to fight.
29:06, I was not ready for that comment, but yeah, I was thinking the same. To live forever as the one who was willing to give up Sparta.
For a Spartan, to live forever would be the worst curse and punishment. You wouldn't receive "eternal glory". And of course his name was written in history, to the point that today it means "nightmare" in Greek.
30:36 Leonidas told Xerxes that before the end, he would prove that even a God-King can bleed. It was more about sending a message.