At yov's hint, I'm copying and pasting this from the Yak-Yak thread...
Saw 300. Imagine the battle of Pelennor Fields, feature length, gorier, and more skin - the Spartans wore red capes and leather diapers. And helmets. They also spoke with British accents, while the Persians by and large looked and sounded like Africans (except Xerxes - he sounded kinda American, and looked like a transvestite). Those that didn't look like Orcs or Trolls, I mean. The gore got a point where I was having a hard time taking it seriously, and at one point I seriously turned to my boyfriend and asked "Where's Legolas?" There was also a seriously gratuitous sex scene. But the cinematography was interesting. It was based off a graphic novel, and they did something with the lighting that made it look fantastical, which helped send the gore over the top and out of the "to be taken seriously" realm. During one battle scene (and they were thrilling, I'll give them that) my boyfriend commented "This looks like a game for a Playstation."
I'm sure people are loving to read political messages into it. Personally, I had a hard time taking Spartans going on about freedom and liberty seriously. Sparta was the first fascist state, and every fascist state since has aspired to be Sparta. That doesn't make their courage at Thermophylae any less, but it does temper the rhetoric.
I'd like to add that I did some quick reading on Wikipedia. I suggest everyone who's seen the movie do the same. Spartan society, and the Battle of Thermophylae, aren't quite what was depicted in the movie. Of course, one of the big problems with Sparta is Spartans weren't too keen on writing things down, so most accounts of Spartan society were written by contemporary, outside observers who probably had their own biases. Still, I recommend doing some reading before taking the movie too seriously (or literally).
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"He attacks. And here I can kill him. But I don't. That's the answer to world peace, people."
-Stickles Shihan