The Battle of Thermopylae is still taught at West Point ( US Army Academy) as an example of how to fight a battle against an enemy with superior forces.

"We've been sharing our culture with you all morning." God I love that line.

that "lay down your weapons"/"come and take them" line is an actual quote, according to Plutarch, an ancient Greek historian.

Love this movie. Stayed faithful to the graphic novel rather than the actual historical event but there really was Sparta and the 300 really did take a stand. Awesome movie though!! I'm up to watch it anytime.

The mistake Xerxes made was thinking Leonidas wanted power, he went there for only one reason he was 60 years old and in a year he would have to stop being a soldier, and one thing he wanted was a beautiful death. The highest honor in his culture.

"Molon Labe" Literally "Come and take" in Greek, the words spoken by Leonidas (As reported by Plutarch) and, to this day, the motto of the Greek 1st Army Corp. Epically Badass.

I like how the movie is told as a story around a fire. Explains all the weird stuff you see as it is more of a tall tale than reality.

I love it when guys react to this for the first time. Everyone gets pumped up 😂

Fun fact, but the quotes like "Tonight we dine in hell (hades)", "We will fight in the shade" (in reference to arrows), and the Spartan adage about "Come back with your shield or on it" are all historical, as are many other elements about the battle in this film. In fact, short witty comments being called laconic in English comes from Laconia, the province that Sparta is in, and comes from their habit of making short smartass remarks and comebacks. Also, discarding babies and beginning brutal military training at a young age were all very real. Of course, Sparta was a slave society which is how they could have a totally military society, as they didn't need other professionals and they needed to be able to resist a slave uprising.

"2006 quite a while back". Holy crap I'm old. I can do 16 yrs standing on my head

"He's not a god, just a lanky dude with a gold fetish" - I am DYING. Such beautiful visuals, and I don't know if I've seen anyone as compelling as Butler playing Leonidas, and the woman playing his queen (Gorgo?) definitely leveraged this when she played Cersei in Game of Thrones.

When she said "come back with your shield or on it" Was something Spartan mothers would tell their sons going off to batel. Because they were heavy and if you were to run away you'll haft to drop them. Thus you were a coward, but if you stood and fought to the death they would carry you home on it. Naturally, if you lived you would carry it home. So "come back with your shield or on it"

I remember watching this in Toronto, and most of the people were quiet and not that into it, but down in the states people were cheering and screaming lol

As for the Captain and his son Astinos..Astinos was his favored son, the one he saw himself most in, which is why he chose him for the march. They are a hard people who don't show much sensitivity, but Spartans loved as hard as they lived. Edit: Leonidas didn't just return because that would be complete defeat that would turn Spartans to slaves of Xerxes. If he stays and dies, all of the Spartan military MUST go to war, which is how Greece (all of Greece, not just Sparta) repelled Xerxes and the Persian Empire from their home.

They still teach Thermopoly in the US Marinecorps as an example of using the terrain to cancel your enemies advantages - by using a narrow pass the Spartan Heavy armoured elite troops could fight one-to-one without getting overrun by enemy numbers

At the end the "most that go" are the Athenians (Arcadians). One Spartan is sent home to tell the story, the remaining of the original 300 stay to fight. Great reaction; this film is storytelling at its finest.

I still remember walking around shouting 'This is sparta!'

Xerxes’ actor and Leonidas’ actor are about the same height. They used tricks to make him look huge. I love the obvious embellishments/fantasy elements that the storyteller put in there to motivate their troops! It actually makes perfect sense why a real historical event would be so mystical... it was told to troops as a motivation so the actual story was embellished and made richer, etc.

@16:30, I was just about to say “We still do” but you caught yourself. Scenes like this (minus the spears and colorful robes) have been taking place around the world throughout human history. Heck it’s happening right now as I write this. It’s just that the last 4 generations of the Western world have lived in such relative peace and plenty we forget. All of this was paid for by the ultimate sacrifices of many people that we will never know.

This and Sin City are both based on Graphic Novels from Frank Miller. Both are extremely faithful to the source material, if you haven’t seen Sin City check it out.

One of my favorite movies ever. Never experienced anything like this still in theatres, it stood out from everything else when it came out.

The Battle of Thermopylae is probably my favorite Last Stand story in history. It wasn't limited to just 300 Spartans; it was actually more of them than Leonidas' 300 personal guard; there were also Spartan helots as well and in addition to the number of Arcadians there were several other groups of Greeks to join them like the Phocians, Boetians, Thebans and Thespians. I believe it was a total about 7,000 actually at the Hot Gates facing the Persians. At the very end the Spartans did not stand alone either. While the other forces left before getting cut off so they could fight another day, about 700 Thespians (along with @ 900 Spartan helots and @ 400 Thebans, and a smattering of Boetians) chose to stay with the Spartans that were left of the 300.. The best novelization of the event I've ever read is the book GATES OF FIRE. More historically accurate than the movie, its a great read. Also, the Spartans hoplite infantry was heavy infantry, not loinclothed bodybuilders. Bronze Corinthian style helmets, bronze cuirass, bronze greaves and a 30lb. bronze covered wooden shield (the aspis or hoplon) made these hoplites walking tanks compared to the light Persian infantry with wicker shields. The 8-9ft dory spear with a deadly leaf-shaped bronze head at one and a "lizard-sticker" point at the other end (the length allowed for the spears of the first 3 os so ranks to project over the shoulders & shields of the front rank while the front rank generally used their dorys under the shields- making the front of the phalanx a terrifying meat grinder) and the Xiphos short sword rounded out the gear. Their strength was in the phalanx and not generally individual combat. They also had a well-developed system to rotate the front ranks to the rear to rest as fresh hoplites are brought to the front. It was necessary as combat by such heavy infantry was quickly exhausting. I absolutely love 300 but it is more a faithful adaptation of the graphic novel than an accurate historical account; although many quotes were historically accurate like the "fight in the shade" and "come and get them". Lastly, they also used a sort of early "dog tag" utilizing sticks...they would make marks on the sticks and break them in half, putting one half in a bowl and carry the other half on their person. After the battle the pieces were reunited and casualties counted and most quickly identified... though not after the Last Stand, obviously.

If you ever go to Greece, stop at Thermopylae where the battle took place to see the statue of Leonidas. Below the statue is written ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ come and get our weapons. Also the the Spartans telling the visitor to go to Sparta and tell them that "Here we lie faithful to their laws!"

Yes, that is why Spartan’s were such a tough race. The only thing missing from the story is that even the females were taught to fight. This is loosely based on a true story. It was through this battle that Greece became united.

It’s like Frank Millers graphic novel jumped onto a movie screen. How the studio was able to make this movie and shoot the movie is astonishing. Most movies shoot fight scenes close so you feel like your in the middle of the action but at the same time you watch and get lost as to who is hitting or stabbing who. This movie pulls back and you can see and follow everything, and that slow-mo into ramped up full contact fighting is absolutely visceral and somehow beautiful at the same time. Again the studio did a masterful job with the camera work which was mind blowing. Then you have the dialogue and delivery of the dialogue which was absolutely amazing and gave me chills throughout this Epic film. Speechless when I first saw it and it’s one of my favorite movies. And the Cinematography which I almost forgot to mention was like nothing I have ever seen before. Great review 👍

Lmfao!! 'He's just a lanky dude with a gold fetish' 😅😂 thats hilarious bro

The Zingers were part of real Spartan culture They were taught to be roast the fuck out of eachother and thats as awesome as the combat.

Dope movie man! Remember watching it with my dad when it first came out.

*Kabir* one of my FAVOURITE movies EVER.!!!

We saw a documentary on the making of The 300. It was about the fighting. Those guys seemed to be sweating blood, they were working so hard. Lots of CGI of course but the actual hands on fighting kicked ass. Loved the movie!

In reality, the reality wasn't too off . It was a dual front with the 300 Spartans fighting alongside 10-15 thousand other Greeks against 300k-about a million Persians at The Battle of Thermopylae that was occurring at the same time just as across the peninsula, the Battle of Artemisium (similar numbers although the Persians worst case didn't have nearly the numbers advantage on land. Sizable, not outrageous like the land battles' highest possible number). The plan was to fight them as long as possible by both land and sea, but if either force was to fall that the other was to immediately retreat. The land forces were eventually overrun, but Leonidas volunteered his personal force and a few thousand volunteers to fight to the death to buy time send word to the fleet and to evacuate the main bulk to the force to fight another day. These battles were not just about fighting Xerces off, but buying time for not only forces from ALL OVER the Greek world to fight and mass, but for civilians to evacuate cities like Athens etc. Not only did the success in battle, but volunteers heroic work and success after the fact slowed his army down enough that the civilians were safely evacuated from the countryside and cities meaning there wasn't widespread civilian death but also allowed the Greek fleet to flee/armies to meet up and launch a gigantic offensive afterwards that drove Persia back en mass. Looking at "that" side of history much of it is correct. The traitors giving up the senate/goat path. His personal bodyguard of 300. Their strategies focusing on the Hot Gates/Euripus Strait was much the same. Create a chokepoint and fight using the terrain of Greece itself. Also, it easier for a time to hold ground rather than take it (both literally and figuratively. Like basing out and making a tackle or defending a wrestlers shot, or Persians pushing against a shield) but at a certain point you'll give out/you can move forward longer. In real life, it's being calculated it's something like 3 times more difficult fighting UP terrain, i.e. a force a 3 men firing down a hill is equal to force 3 times as big. But in Vietnam battles were 500 Americans fighting 10,000 Viet Cong uphill meant the Americans were "outnumbered" 60-1. There have been some truly nutty battles in history were a group of a dozen or so have held off thousands because of a fixed position with an ability to fire DOWN ON an impossibly sized force.

“Then we will fight in the shade!” Greatest line in this movie imo

this movie has such a good narrative and aesthetic

23:09 "μολὼν λαβέ" The most legendary quote in legend, in my opinion.

I've got the DVD. One of my all-time favorites. This movie made combat look like ballet. I kept watching the fight scenes over and over.

Yep, it had a comic book aesthetic because the film is based on the Frank Miller graphic novel. (Same bloke who did the Sin City series, The Spirit, and I believe The Watchmen as well.) But the battle was indeed a historical event. The Battle Thermopylae where 300 Spartans held off thousands of Persians, at a choke point along the coast of Greece and the Malian Gulf. It has been said that this war between Greece and Persia at the time was the defense of the idea of democracy. Greece defending democracy, while Persia being the Authoritarian Empire. Had Greece lost this war, democracy as we know it today may not have come about. Learned this point through my classes in college (History degree) and documentaries I've seen since.

I just wanted to come say you edit your movie reactions wonderfully. I had to turn off another reactor not even 5mins into a movie reaction. You do a GREAT JOB! Request....Boondock Saints 💜

There is a famous story told about Spartans, specifically a Spartan youth during the agoge, he had stolen a fox and hidden it under his shirt. He was apprehended and questioned, and while being questioned he suddenly dropped dead. After looking at the body of the boy they found the fox he had hidden, it had eaten it's way through his stomach into his internal organs, and not once did he cry out. Spartans were tough as old boots and harder than coffin nails, but apparently not very good at finding foxes that are literally right in front of them.

Spartans are Greeks. At the time, specifically, the Athenians were called Greek. This movie is very accurate in depicting Spartan society. Yes, they would discard the sick and all children belonged to the state,, not their parents.. The Athenians thought the Spartans were brutal and uncivilized. The Persians are depicted as caricatures.

The movie is a true story about the the one eyed dudes retelling of the last stand of the 300, to psych up the soldiers. That's why there events are exaterated.

Lmao "He's just a lanky dude with a gold fetish" - Kabir 2022

Kabir there is a saying in the military - Its not the size of the fighters but the size of a fighters heart that will always be victorious of the masses my man. Great review Kabir of this movie. Peace my fellow brother. Good will always triumph over evil.

Leonidas knew that the Spartans needed time to prepare for the war. Leaving Thermopalye meant certain defeat of Sparta. That's why he stayed.

I first wached "300" in early 2007. Was drafted to the Polish Army and there was organised saturday trip to the cinema. I tooked it and i'd end up watching the film in the cinema hall full of dudes in Polish Army fatigues :) Quite an entourage :D !

I like watching movies with you, Kabir! And this was a good one. I don’t remember all the technical stuff, but it was a groundbreaking way to shoot a film when it was made. You may be interested enough to look into it. Well done, as always! Peace from Ohio …

Yes, for the most part the intro about Spartans was correct... They were taken into warrior school at 7 and to graduate, they had to slip unnoticed into the neighboring slave town and kill a slave without getting caught... Their phalanx formation was legendary...a lot of nations didn't have standing armies so Sparta had the advantage in professional soldiers who had professional cohesion... historians think the Persians numbered 100k to 250k, which is still crazy... Although I must add that historically, armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands was normal for Eastern / Asian armies and combat in those theaters while in the east, tens of thousands was the usual number of soldiers any given western power had...

Sparta had two Kings who served at the same time. They developed the concept of citizenship, and the checks and balances of Constitutional government.

This movie was based on true events. Spartan warriors were the elite of the elite, more like a combination of American Delta Force, Navy Seals and other elite fighting forces combined. Good movie but with a lot of dramatic effects which is what made it great. I love ancient history. Leonidas is right up there with Alexander the Great and Hannibal in my book.

Your best line: “I gotta get to the gym!”

i love how much you love this movie, feels like im watching it for the first time again.

Even though this is an artistic-comic take of the real story they kept many things real. Here are some random facts: The "big well" is called Kaiadas, the Spartans were throwing in there all the "problematic"/weak newborns after inspection. Ephialtes (the traitor) is not a name anymore, it turned into a word and it literally means nightmare. It's the Greek word for nightmare. At the scene at 25:25 that's actually Gerard Butler. They were actually hired a stunt double but Gerard got so passionate with the role that he decided to learn the "dancing" moves and the director got informed about it right before the scene. He crossed his fingers and thankfully they let him do it and turned out epic! Those special Asian forces were actually called Immortals due to the fact that they were a vast number of really good warriors that each time one of them dropped dead their position was immediately replaced by an other one, thus the name. There was the impression like no one has ever died. On the last stand, Leonidas died somewhere in the middle of the fight and Persians tried to take his body several times. The Spartan warriors managed to retrieve it each time until they all fell. Dilios' (the one who returned to Sparta in the end) actual name was Aristodemos. There was an other Spartan that had almost completely lost his vision called Euritos. Leonidas commanded both of them to return to Sparta but on the way back Euritos decided to turn back on the battlefield and die. Aristodemos on the other hand went to Sparta and its arrival wasn't received well. They started calling him Aristodemos the coward, "dilos" is the actual Greek word for coward now. He fiercely fought in the The Battle of Plataea but, even though the other Spartans gave him lots of credit, he still didn't quite redeem himself due to his suicidal approach on the battlefield. Spartans respect brave warriors but also the cautious ones who love life. He survived that battle too nevertheless.

10:08 - 'how is it blasphemy?' Hospitality towards guests which the Greeks called 'xenia' was a hugely important ethic in the ancient world, so much so it was believed to be a divine law upheld by the gods themselves. It was even believed that Zeus the king of the gods would sometimes come down to earth from mount Olympus and disguise himself as a weary old man needing shelter just to make sure people would treat him accordingly (and punish them if they wouldn't). So even though the ancient world was more chill about killing in most contexts, violating that precept to the extent you actually kill your guest would be seen as blasphemy and that scene (like almost all of this film) is certainly not historical

Given the Spartan's strong bias against weak or sickly people (in the context of this story), it's not surprising that Leonidas refused Ephialtes' petition to join them. Even allowing him into the camp would have caused problems with his men.

Fun Facts and History facts: Leonidas was around 50 - 60 years old at the time of the battle yeah he was jacked. Despite the massive army not one Spartan died at the first day of battle. It wasn't unusual for Spartans to embarrasse they're enemies with one-liners. If you noticed the Persian king steps on his people, but in the end of the movie Stelios steps on Leonidas to kill the persian commander just shows the difference between them. Actual historical quote "Molon labe" said by King Leonidas "come and get them" when the Persian told them to give up they're weapons.

Great reaction!😃👍🏼 One of the best I've seen on this movie 👏🏼 can't wait to see your 300 Rise of an Empire reaction 😃👍🏼 (new sub)

It’s definitely more stylized and action-y than most of the movies in its genre (though I love that the stuff like monsters and the comic book style makes sense in context because David Wenham’s character, the surviving Spartan is telling the movie’s events as a story to hype up the army before a battle), but if you like historical epics from the 90s & 00s, you should check out any of the following that you might not have seen: -Braveheart -Gladiator -Troy -The Last Samurai - Kingdom of Heaven (only the extended cut though, it makes the biggest difference in quality between a theatrical & extended cut of any movie I can think of, the theatrical had mixed reviews, but the extended might be Ridley Scott’s best late career movie)

King Xerxes was 7 ft tall , the actor Rodrigo Santoro who played him was around six ft but to make him look that big they used special effects ! It worked , cuz he looks gigantic ! Excellent movie , definitely one of my favorites !

The reason why the messenger said "this is blasphemy!" Is because Xerxes was known as a living god king. And yes. The depiction of his height is accurate. He was huge.

I saw 300 in the theaters. This film is the pure definition of epic. Great reaction bro! 👍🏿

I remember when this first came out. It was not well received. I loved 🥰 it. ‘Over used CGI’ ?? New. Purposely. GLORIOUS

Bold to call one of the greatest leaders in history with a "poor judgement."

Now you HAVE to watch the parody “Meet the Spartans.” 😭💯

I didn’t think I could love this movie anymore but your reaction was icing on the cake!!❤️❤️❤️

There's a second movie, that covers the naval side of this conflict, called "300: Rise of an Empire". It talks more about Xerxes rise to power and the fighting the other Greek states were doing.

Now that you've seen the original film, you gotta watch the sequel, 300: Rise of Empires, which isn't technically a sequel, as it takes place both concurrently with the original film, and afterwards as well. Remember the sea battle earlier on in the film showing the Persian ships wrecking in the storm? Well, that film shows what led up to that, and then what happened later. It tells the story from a naval point of view. It stars Eva Green as the Persian antagonist. She's just as intimidating and brutal as Xerxes was in this film.

One of my favorite movies ever loved your reaction Kabir

Yes, this is what it was like for boys who weren't discarded as infants. The field ration was so bad, that when a guest tried it ... he said he now understood why Spartans would rather die! The traditional corporal punishment was so severe, Sparta had a second life as a tourist destination for Romans who were into watching cruelty to boys! Most allies retreated to fight another day, the surviving Spartans, with two exceptions, stayed. The 300 Spartans and their allies, held for 3 days, long enough to evacuate Athens.

My favorite fact about Sparta: Philip of Macedonia (Alexander the Great's father) sent a message to Sparta saying "If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again.” The Spartan response? Their message said "If." Philip never attacked Sparta. Neither did Alexander, who otherwise conquered most of the known world.

I saw it with my husband and son. It was a blast. Such a good movie. Gerard Butler was great. Fassbender and was that Faomir (from Lord of the Rings?) with the eye bandage? Not sure. And the queen was Cersei from Game of Thrones. Pretty good cast. Good reaction Kabir. 😍😄

Note: When Leonaidas calls to the traitor; “Alfaetos, may you live forever “ is a total disrespect to him because all Spartans are supposed to die and receive glory by dying for their country

“Was Sparta like that?” Absolutely. For all the movie’s stylisation and exaggeration, that opening is very accurate, kids died in training and the attitude was “well, if he died in training, he wouldn’t make it in a battle anyway”. The Messenger was warned that while his message would be heard, the way he said it was on him. Showcasing the dead kings’ heads, insulting the Queen, making threats because he thought nobody would cross Xerxes, that’s on him.

A few facts and things about spartans and the movie. The thing with the babies is partially a lie, they did not throwed the "defective" (do not know a good word to use) ones off a cliff but they were harsh with the less favored, but considering they were a warrior kingdom and as you see with the hunchback if you were not fit for war you were shuned, also little extra fact they were like baptised in wine as babies and I love to imagine the image of a baby being sumerged in wine to check if ithey were going to be great spartans. They started military training from the 7 years of age, being taught to fight, steal to get food most of the time, but being beten if found, and other things. The "only womans give birth to real men" is partially true it was the spartan "queen"(there were no king and queen but similar role) and was with a woman of other kingdom wich asked why spartan womens were treated equal to man (funnny thing being that Atenas is consider the more advanced but was EXTREMLY misoginist) and the "queen" said "Only womans give birth to man" in reference that womans are as needed and importatn as mens. The war the movie is based of is mostly real in that they defended that place, but it has quiet a few differences, can´t remember how it really happend but yeah not pulled out of the ass completly. In what is real and not the oracle was actully something real, there were a few placces in ancient Greek where you could ask for an audience with an oracle, you had to bring gold or very valuable offerings so you will be permited but also mostly real. A few facts the main advantage the spartans had over the persas was the "technology" being the work in the armor and weapons, the spartans had bronce weapons and armors (yeah the thing of pecho lobo is not real obviously), the persiasn had iron (if I anm not wrong) weapons and les quality armor making them have a harder time actually killing the spartans. The spartans respecte a LOT the elders, beacuase to live in Sparta was to live for war so old equal lot of wars fought and victorious, also only dying in battle or in childbirth (for womans) was the only way to have a headstone in your grave if you died in your sleep "sorry no headstone for you my friend". I love how brutal they were no shits given.

300: Rise of an Empire is the sequel to 300. Must see.

@14:50, this is where this Spartan dad screwed up. It’s one thing to send your son to war thinking you may lose him. But to see him killed right in front of you. No parent is really ready for that. 😭

That last scene/speech still gives me serious chills!

a line from an Italian poem goes like this: there were 300, they were young and strong and they died ...

I am a SF nerd. I love Frank Miller graphic novels and actually liked the movies. I prefer 300 to Sin City because it embraces the mythic properties of the Spartan culture.

He stayed and he knew he would probably fail but he hadn't yet done the blow he wanted to do to xerxes...which was to show the people that Xerxes is just a man who bleeds like the rest of us.

You should also watch the second one “300: Rise of an Empire”, it tells the same story of this battle but from the Athenians Naval fleet POV. It has the same art style with new characters and a focus on the rivalry between the Athenian naval commander Themistocles and Persian Naval commander Artemisia.

The actor who narrates the movie also narrated the program Deadliest Warrior. In the scene where the Athenians leave, the movie doesn't show it but there were a few more armies that fought the Persian's and nearly all the Greek armies retreated from the final battle at Thermopylae apart from the Thespians and Thebans remained and fought until the end with Leonidas and his Spartans.

SPARTANS! what is your profession

What many don't know is the one Spartan sent back was labeled a coward since he did not die in battle. He was treated like garbage untill he died

You did a great job editing this. You conveyed the story so that is still properly told. Most reactions I watched on this film are an edited nightmare. Great job!

Great reaction! Glad that you enjoyed the movie! This was one of the best reactions to this movie that I've ever watched! Again, great job!

This was a GREAT reaction man!

It's true the Spartans were taken control of by the state at 7 to begin their harsh training. I'm enjoying your movie reactions.

Sometimes the movie audio is too loud to hear what you’re saying but otherwise this is a great reaction. I first saw this in Grade 9 Global History, our teacher was like “listen this movie isn’t very historically accurate or academically valuable but administration doesn’t need to know that, so you guys get to watch a cool movie the next two days” lmao

Love the graphic novel and I love this movie, and I loved the historical Spartans. With that said the history here is a complete lie. Xerxes was a good leader one of the few great one's of his age, and the real villain's here were the Athenians. They first involved the Persians by seeking them out for an alliance to fend of the Spartans who they were first worried most about. The Persians didn't even know who the Greeks were. But said if they would submit to Persian rule they would help. The Athenian envoys did so. Later they decided they did not like the deal, and when the Ionions revolted under Persian rule the joined them, but rather than attack a Persian Strong hold they attacked a relatively undefended and peaceful city of Sardis, which they burned to the ground in such a way as to inflict maximum loss of life to the civilian population. As soon as they faced resistance they fled. Many local regions were outraged and flocked to help the Persians put down what was essentially a 4-5 century BC act of "terrorism" as we would call it now. Xerxes had many nations with him because of the outrage of the region over the Greeks behavior. Sparta wanted nothing to do with Athens issues, which were in fact created by their original desire to involve Persians in the Greek rivalry with Sparta. However they would not abide a foreign army invading Greece. Truly the battle of Thermopylae is one for the ages. But I respect Sparta and the Persians here alike. perhaps much of our civilization does come from Athens, but so does our LAW which came from Persia....this was not the age of Islam, and at this time the Persians were among the most advanced, free and philosophical nations. Xerxes grandfather Cyrus had abolished slavery, and instituted freedom of religion, with laws that protected all citizens. At the time Athens was corrupt and rather fond of slavery and attacking it's neighbors in mercantile manor. Sparta should have made an alliance with Xerxes against Athens.

The fight continues in the next three hundred movie. It is really good as well and picks up where this leaves off. You should review that movie as well.

In the battle of Thermopylae, 300 Spartan's stood against more than 1 million soldiers of King Zerxes's army, and the Spartan's inflicted very heavy casualties on the Persians, however, the part of this fight which has largely been ignored, was the Naval battle that took place at the same time, when the Athenian Navy took on the Persian navy and although did not exact as heavy of a toll, did extremely well considered how badly that they were outnumbered, After King Leonitias and the 300 were slaughtered, the Spartan Senate got fully behind the war effort against King Zerxes and the Persians, about a year later, ALL of the Spartan army, along with the Athenian, Thessalonian and Photian Armies, numbering about 40,000 took on and defeated Zerxes and the Persians in the battle of Platea who numbered about 160,000, from that point forward the Persian Empire did nothing but decline

Humongous hole was a pit to throw people into where they would die of thirst or starvation if they survived the fall The pit is still there, if you visit Crete you can see it

While obviously, “why stay if you’re going to die”, is true, it also must be understood, between Thermopylae and Marathon were the battles we remember. The few versus the many. Similar to the Alamo. The Texans could have surrendered, but they didn’t. And when the other Texans caught wind of the actions of those few Texans in the face of sure death, instead of hurting, the population was emboldened. It’s arguable the Spartans holding and death at the hot gates was the “we can actually do this”. Moment. If 8300 can hold 90,000+ imagine a full army. Imagine full armies, banded together. And that’s what happened. Greeks stood, and did enough damage that Xerxes decided “alright, this isn’t worth it” Now, something I do genuinely hate with this movie, I understand it, but I hate it, is the depiction that the Persians were weak, talentless, poorly trained fighters. Reality is the Greeks adopted much in military tactics from the east. The Persians fielded Greeks, Nubians, anatolians, Syrians, and other places around the near east. They weren’t silly desert people sprinting to their death, these were conquerors with experience. But, anyways, arguably, the Persians, unimpeded, might have conquered more and more territory and potentially have won the war. But they didn’t, and instead we have stories of great heroes with names we still know in 2022. We still marvel at their actions. We still quote them, read and write stories, and place their emblems on things, in 2022. Nearly 2500 years later and still hold relevance. We probably wouldn’t remember them had they have fled.

Actualy the spartans never broke formation to go berserker they fought with an impregnable wall of shields and spears looking to break the enemy formation.

that giant hole they threw the messengers down was indeed a well. funny enough, in real life, both Athens and Sparta had the same response.

Loved your reaction! This movie has so much badassery in it, it makes you feel like you could conquer anything! Certainly one of my top 5 battle movies!

"SPARTANS!! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!!" "K" *chucks spear into chest* "You didn't say I had to lay it down over here!"

I read the graphic novel before the movie came out. I came to own that book and loved it.

For Glory that’s why, they will always be remembered in history.

It's true that Sparta was the most warlike Greek city-state, a culture of hardened warriors. Athens was the center of learning and culture. Athenians considered themselves superior, and Spartans had contempt for Athens.

Now, you NEED to react to the sequel ... the 2nd part of the story, 300: Rise of an Empire. It's just as Epic, maybe even more so in some ways.