In Snyder's (partial) defence...

http://www.jigsawlounge.co.uk/film/content/view/593/1/

Kurosaw-a-Thon! You're more than invited!

http://www.filmsquish.com/guts/?q=node/2862

I am going to have to heavily disagree with the author of the above linked article, mainly because:

The Spartans in "300" are not like contemporary Americans or Europeans (kids unfit for war are not killed in US or Europe, most wealth is produced in these states through legitimate, non-imperial/non-military businesses, there's no slavery, & all male citizens are not constantly training for war - we've got volunteer armies made up of a small fraction of the population instead - at least in the US), and also the Spartans in "300" are not like the Afgans or the Iraqis or the Palestinians. Also, neither side in the current conflicts resemble the Persians with whom the Spartans battle in "300". The story of the 300 Spartans is just an old & interesting-to-some story, told through the movie, with very little relevance to the modern conflicts. The reason that it (the movie) got made now are (most likely) = it's a good plot/story for an action movie, in fact a movie version of the story was made & released in the 60's I believe, the comic was popular & Hollywood is in the habit of making good comics into movies. I guess if you see yourself as a slave holding war machine or canon fodder for an imperial sovereign (sp?) or an emperor you might see a reflection of yourself in the movie 300, but most people living in the current times will not identify with the people in 300 - neither the Spartans or the Persians - both sides are very alien, very different, than the people who are now living in US, Europe, the Middle East, Iran, Afganistan and the ideas/philosophies that motivate all these people are far different than the ones that moved the Persians and the Spartans. Anyone who sees 300 and wants to identify with one group in the film will choose whoever they think is heroic, just as they would do the same when they watch Spider Man or a Star Wars movie, and there won't be too much outside of that desire to identify with a heroic symbol for that action.

300 is just a tragic war story - it would have been wiser for the Greek king to retreat with his troops, regroup & fight on later, which is what a modern US or European miliatry unit would do (I don't recall there ever being a suicide mission of such scale being undertaken by a US or European military unit in the last 100 years). Most likely the Greek king's decision to stay & fight & die was heavily influenced by his religious beliefs (I think it is reported that an oracle told him something like either a king dies or the city burns or something - so said the History channel). An expert on Spartan military strategy said (in a History channel show on the battle) the decision to go suicidal was not something usually practiced or advocated by Spartan military strategy, that what king Leonaides (sp?) did was highly unusual.

Also, there was most likely 1300 Greek warriors at the final battle - 300 Spartans & 1000 other Greek soldiers from another state.
And the two days prior to that final battle - when the Spartans/Greeks won the battles, there was close to 10,000 Greek warriors facing the Persian army - with the Spartan 300 in the lead. Once the Persians discovered a route over the mountains to get behind the Greeks, much of the 10,000 Greeks strategically retreated to fight later. Leonidas (sp?)/the Greek king stayed, most likely heavily driven by his religious convictions - hardly good military strategy. Again, I got all that info. from a History channel show about the battle of the "300".

Also, a historian I've talked with told me that the ancient Greeks were not very good at calculating exact numbers of enemy troops involved in these battles. So I would not take the tale of humongous odds against the Spartans & the other Greeks (the exact number of Persian soldiers assembled against them, as told by ancient Greek story tellers) too literaly.

Re: Afgan & Iraq wars: US attacked Afganistan as a direct response to the 9-11 attacks. Re: Iraq: invasion of Iraq is now viewed by many in the US as a mistake, initially it was propelled by fear of Hussein having weapons of mass destruction. These situations are not similar to the conflict the ancient Persians had with the ancient Greeks, or the battle told of in "300".

Sometimes a movie is just a movie. Made because it tells an easy story, or is based on a popular comic book, or, as an epic action spectacle, is bound to draw a lot of ticket buyers.

- Sujewa

Could anyone explain to me what Dabashi is trying to say? I've heard of him before: beware, the guy's armed, and dangerous... with big words. First, for thinking that his opinion on this movie is needed, and second, for thinking that that's how people talk and write. Dabashi, well aware of his status at Columbia as assistant professor, has chosen to write a paragraph so festooned with ornate words that its collapse seems imminent. If anyone can explain to me what "albeit the muscularity of its sculpted takes on military prowess bespeaks a bit too noisily the moral obesity it seeks to hide and yet manages to expose even more obscenely" means, I will be grateful to them. Dabashi is just another scholar whose only claim to fame is standing on the sidelines, haranguing and heckling. That he is an Iranian tends to bring out these parts even more wonderfully.

B Jelinek