I saw the movie after surviving a a great traffic struggle(read:Battle) of my own and the experience of this movie on the big screen is a visual treat for the movie goer appreciating the graphical nature of the movie.
It is a period flick based on the gallant battle of Thermopylae that ensued between the "Evil" persians and the NOBLE Spartans led by their King Leonidas(Gerard Butler with washboard abs!) that occured in 480 B.C.
The Plot:
It shows the brutal and cruel laws in sparta which trains the children to survive in the extreme harsh conditions and only the fittest of them can exist.A persian emissary is sent to Sparta for asking the King Leonidas to surrender in submission to the great persian Emperor/God Xerxes.the king refuses this offer and kills the emissary thus incurring the wrath of the mighty Xerxes.Leonidas is denied permission to fight the persian troops by the elders after consulting the local Oracle(an intoxicated beautiful redhead). From that point onwards the movie goes on to show the actual battle between Leonidas’s men and the persians.
Must see moments:
Leonidas’s fight with the wolf.
The excellent blue back ground tint which completely provides a good contrast with the red Spartan uniforms.
The war cry of the Spartans "HHAAARROOOOOHH" sends chills down ur spine while viewing the movie in a movie hall with a reasonably good dolby surround.The overall movie score plus the extravagant locales and beautiful cinematography keeps you glued to the movie.
4.The fights between the spartans and persians in the narrow passes using actual army formations with really cool SFX and slow mo’s throughout with good transition into Black & White.
The Let-Downs:
The movie falls short of its expectations for an actual history enthusiast because it shows many storyline and factual errors.Also the depiction of the Persian forces and the Effimiate potrayal of Xerxes.Also the ending is depicted wrongly which shows Leonidas being able to hurt Xerxes.
Other than the factual errors and the potrayal of Persians in a poor light the movie seems to keep the unbiased viewer interested in it because of Synder’s excellent direction.The real good feature of the movie is that it prompts you(like Myself) to interest yourself in the history of the actual battle that happened a long time ago.
Hope u find this review useful and please give me your honest opinions on it.