Movie Review: 300

When I first wanted to go watch the movie "300", I wrote an email to the guys:

"I thought it would be good for us guys to go watch a manly movie... none of that sensitive crap! Anyone up for watching 300 today?"

Well, no manly men was up for the challenge that day. Instead, I got to watch it with my beautiful fiance, who happens to be more of a man than most men... yet still is a woman!

Joking aside, the movie was great! I do have to mention for those that get queasy over arms getting lobbed off that there is a lot of gore in this movie. Nonetheless, there is enough drama to keep all the action and violence together.

300 is based on the comic series by Frank Miller, which in turn is loosely based on historical events. Supposedly, it's true that a small contingent of Spartan Warriors, numbering about 300, took on the Persian Army. In the movie, the Persian Army is described as being one million strong. This, from what I've read, is an over exaggeration. Still, historians believe that the Persian Army still vastly outnumbered the Spartans, most likely being in the thousands. It is said that the advanced military techniques and equipment of the Spartans gave them the strength to keep the Persian soldiers at bay. One of these techniques is called the Phalanx Formation.

The movie itself was entertaining. The protagonist was King Leonides. He was a man of war and integrity, never shying away from danger and always did what was honorable. There were other mentionable "good guys", such as the storyteller and the captain. The "bad guys" were obviously the Persians, but there were also some other dudes that were less than honourable. I'll leave the details out for those who haven't seen it yet.

One thing that caught the attention of Melissa and I was when King Leonides said, "Prepare for Glory!" Actually, the word glory is used a lot in the movie. But as Christians, we couldn't help but think: Does King Leonides really know what is glorious? What is glory, and to whom does it belong?

Revelation 19:1
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God."

It's funny how we give honour to things like human victory or human success and call it "glory" or "glorious". God gave us words like that to honour Him.

With this caveat on the movie's portrayal of "glory", 300 was a great movie.