300, the movie

I finally got to watch 300 the movie. Shame on me I didn’t watch it earlier – but I was receiving my military training in Sparta. Ironic isn’t it? Yes ladies and gentlemen, the reason I haven’t been around as much lately is that – I am in the army now. No, it is not a career change, it is simply part of being a Greek man (see Conscription in Greece). It is quite an experience though. The first part of training is done and over with, quite an experience as I said, yet luckily not as it was in ancient Sparta. Soon, I’m off for the second part of my training to a combat unit which should last another 5 months. So, if my blog posts lag behind again – you’ll know why.

Anyhow, back to talking about the movie now. I first read about King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans in history textbooks as a young student at a Greek elementary school. Such an exciting story, and to know it’s not fiction made me think everything is possible if you put enough will into it.

Of course the movie, similarly to Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae is mostly fiction – based nonetheless on a true and remarkable act of courage.

Honestly though, reading history accounts on the Battle of Thermopylae and King Leonidas’ 300 requires very little imagination for one to acquire a mental image of what it would have been like. And most of the battle images in the movie came very close to what I had thought it’d be like. The acting is good, the fighting sequences are impressive, as are the special effects. The entire movie was well worth the admission price and I would definitely recommend watching it if you like this kind of movies and haven’t visited a theater near you already. You can watch the trailer below.