The 300 Spartans (DVD)

...epic that was released in the 1960's (the age of the epic with Ben Hur and Spartacus) however was never as high grossing as the other two mentioned. I could watch this film over and over again, it is just amazing

Note: This review does give away the ending (however as the story is two and a half thousand years old)

--- Background ---

The story is based around the battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. Thermopylae ...
...side and high cliffs on the other (Thermopylae meaning 'hot gates' referring to the hot sulphur springs). To protect the Greeks from a possible Persian naval attack the Greek fleet was positioned off Artemision so as to command the straits of Thermopylae. Here the Greeks lead by the Spartan king Leonidas fought the Persians lead by their king Xerxes.

The Persians vastly outnumbered the Greeks (contemporary records vary between 100,000 ... more

This film is an absolute masterpiece. It is based on a true story that took place in ancient Greece. An epic that was released in the 1960's (the age of the epic with Ben Hur and Spartacus) however was never as high grossing as the other two mentioned. I could watch this film over and over again, it is just amazing

Note: This review does give away the ending (however as the story is two and a half thousand years old)

--- Background ---

The story is based around the battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. Thermopylae is a small pass in central Greece with the see on one side and high cliffs on the other (Thermopylae meaning 'hot gates' referring to the hot sulphur springs). To protect the Greeks from a possible Persian naval attack the Greek fleet was positioned off Artemision so as to command the straits of Thermopylae. Here the Greeks lead by the Spartan king Leonidas fought the Persians lead by their king Xerxes.

The Persians vastly outnumbered the Greeks (contemporary records vary between 100,000 to 5 million men in the Persian army, with the Greeks having a maximum of 5,200 men). The Greeks were unable to provide more men because of the annual festival of Carnaie (also many Greek city states were unwilling to provide men as they had entered into a truce with Persia). However in this narrow pass man power was unimportant, instead the longer spears and better training of the Greeks and primarily the Spartans were to prove decisive.

The battle took three days, and initial attacks by standard Persian troops were easily repulsed. Xerxes, using knowledge gained from a Greek deserter, sent his immortals (elite troops) up through a mountain pass to outflank the Greeks. The Spartans realising what was happening offered the remaining Greek forces the opportunity to retreat. By the time the Persians attacks on 300 Spartans and 1000 other Greeks remained. They formed a defensive circle on high ground and were massacred.

There is great debate as to why Leonidas did not retreat with the other Greeks. Firstly it was against Spartan institution to do so. An oracle had earlier stated that either Sparta or her king would be killed, consequently by dying, Leonidas saved his city. By making a final stand he allowed the remaining Greek troops to retreat allowing them to make a defensive stand later. This battle proved to be decisive and lead to the eventual defeat of the Persian army shaping western civilisation dramatically.

--- Plot ---

The plot follows the historical retellings of Herodotus almost to the letter. Unsurprisingly the story is largely based on the Spartan contingent and Xerxes central Persian harem. The main plot of course follows the three day battle (however in this retelling the other Greeks don't seem to do much).

The battle scenes are amazing if only for their immense size, using thousands of people in a scene always makes it pretty good. They do look somewhat stiff when compared to the fluid choreography of the 21st Century.

There are several sub plots, mostly based around some form of love interest. The main love interest is between Ellas (Leonidas' Niece) and Phylon which was supposed to be considered taboo. They feel largely tacked on, and tend to be lost in the huge battles which tend to swamp any other kind of plot.

The films rigid historical retelling is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. It gives the film a great plot on which to base the film, however it leaves little scope for character development.

The plot ends the same way that most historical epics seem to. The good guys lose, and seriously. When they are surrounded on the high ground they are completely massacred which just tends to cut me up (no pun intended). Why do the good guys have to die it just makes it really tough to watch knowing that that's going to happen.

--- Characters and Performances ---

The characters that lead this film are historically colossal and two of the greatest leaders of the pre-roman age. Xerxes, the king of Persia, commands the largest army on earth and controls the largest empire of the time. Played by David Farrar he gives a great performance and really plays up the villain role. He uses all the scope that he is give and is able to create an epic performance to match the real man.

Leonidas, the King of Sparta, is an equally immense character whose character is some what limited. Played by Richard Egan, this is not the larger than life character which we have come to expect from actors such as Kirk Douglas and Charlton Heston. His performance is not one that booms through history as one of the greats, and to be honest if he was my leader I might just mutiny myself. This is slightly disappointing because Egan is given some of the greatest speeches in film history; however he simply fails to really deliver.

The supporting characters feel somewhat underdeveloped and this is echoed in the performances that are given. In the battle scenes the performances are amazing, however in the times between battles the characters seem slightly wooden and not entirely at ease with themselves.

--- Direction ---

The direction is good, the film moves fluidly and without any moments of overall stupidity. There are no real goofs (such as continuity errors) which normally plague films. Rudolph Maté was a very experience director at the time of the film (having made 29 when he made 300 Spartans) and had already directed a major historical epic (The Barbarians).

--- Costumes ---

One of the areas that the film really excels in is the costumes. They are incredibly accurate on both the Persian and Greek side reflecting both the costumes and the amour that would have been worn at the time. There are only two things that are wrong with the costume; the first is that the Spartans never actually wore anything on their lower half in battle (however that would have dramatically increased the rating), and the second is that the Spartan officers actually wear Roman legionary helmets (that wouldn't actually be invented for another 200 years).

--- Script ---

The script is well thought out and well written. The language fits the contemporary feel of the film as well as being simple enough to understand but still having the complexity to get over all the issues raised by the film. As I said earlier the script has some of the greatest speeches in it (e.g. when Leonidas has to rally his troops). However, when watching the film the power of the script may not be apparent, this is due to some sub-par acting in some areas rather than the script. One of the lines that does come across really well is:

Hydarnes, Commander of the Immortals: When we attack today, our arrows will blot out the sun!
Leonidas, Spartan King: Good; then we will fight in the shade.

--- Cast ---

Richard Egan - Leonidas, Spartan King (our good guy and leader)
David Farrar - Xerxes, Persian King (our bad guy and leader of the largest army on earth)
Diane Baker - Ellas, Leonidas' Niece (the so called eye candy and love interest of Phylon)
Barry Coe - Phylon (the naïve young soldier not allowed to fight so he sneeks his way into the battle)
Donald Houston - Hydarnes, Commander of the Immortals (the over confident jerk of the film)
Anna Synodinou - Gorgo, Leonidas' Wife (the loving wife who understands exactly whats going to happen)
Kieron Moore - Ephialtes, Greek Traitor (they guy who ruins everything by betraying the Greeks)
John Crawford - Agathon the Spartan Spy (the Spartan informant dn Leonidas' good friend)

--- Tech Info ---

Run Time - 114 mins
Aspect - widescreen (16:9)
Language - English (Dolby 2.0, stereo)
Subtitles - English
Certification - PG
Director - Rudolph Maté
Writers - Gian Paolo Callegari, Remigio Del Grosso, Giovanni d'Eramo, Ugo Liberatore, George St. George
Year of Release - 1962

--- Special Features ---

Using limited to describe the special features would be an understatement. They consist of a theatrical trailer from the movie, as well as trailers for other historic epics of the time (Cleopatra, The Robe, and Demetrius and the Gladiators). To be fair though the trailers are quite interesting especially

--- Cost and Availability ---

This DVD has an RRP of £12.99, and when I checked everywhere seemed to be sticking to this value. The major stores such as HMV and Virgin both stuck to the RRP as did Amazon.

--- Overall Thoughts ---

A person's response to this film is dependant almost entirely on whether they like historical epics. I love them and I think this film has not got the recognition that it deserves. The story is superb and really does leap out of history. The script, direction, and costumes only compliment the story and add to the experience. The only down side to the film is the somewhat wooden performances by a majority of the cast, which is disappointing.

Overall though I would say that you should watch this simply so you know the story which is completely worth it. Hope this has helped.

Chris 

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