In the year 480 b.c the Persian Empire has amassed the greatest army the world has ever seen and marches toward Greece. When Persian emmisaries arrive in Sparta, the King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his Queen, Gorgo (Lena Headey), refuse to bow to Persian rule, leaving the country to prepare for war.
Due to a sacred national festival, however, the corrupt Spartan ephors refuse to sanction a war against the Persians, leaving Leonidas to lead a select three hundred men to the strategic location of Thermopylae. There they hope to fend off the Persian army, lead by the self proclaimed God-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro).
Comparing 300 and Troy – From The Iliad and The Histories
Let’s first look back at that other Greek Epic adaptation from 2004 – Troy. While both these films focus on two of the greatest stories ever told, Troy is a sham and 300 is outstanding. Naturally, they have to be compared somewhat with their source literature.
With Troy there were forgivable exceptions to certain facts of history, for instance that Greece would be called Greece (the term didn’t exist at the time of the Trojan war around 1250 b.c.); that the film would include the Trojan horse (which doesn’t appear in the Iliad, being accounted for in the Odyssey) and that there would be an absence of influential deities (giving it a richer story as the gods plot against each other according to which side they favour – even appearing on the battlefield themselves).
What was unforgivable, however, was how Troy's creators had thought the term ‘Mycenae’ to be beyond the intellectual grasp of it’s audiences and so substituted it with the better known ‘Sparta’ – a nation that wouldn’t exist in the Grecian Peloponnese until centuries later, arguably having no common relationship with the Myceneans whatsoever.
Then add to that the very long list of changes and pure inventions that ultimately make Troy a $180 million formulaic travesty and you’re left with a film whose every copy should be burned and the cast and crew roundly slapped in the face (despite having a good cast, they shouldn’t have consented to such a poor adaptation).
On one hand no film can match such a priceless piece of literature – on the other hand if there has to be a film version of the Iliad, it had better make the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan seem like a warm-up. Nevermind Wolfgang Petersen’s directing or David Benioff’s screenplay. They’re rendered as irrelevant as the cast against the shortcomings of the film.
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The only story, in this reviewer’s opinion, that’s greater than Homer’s Iliad is the story of the Persian War, as told by Herodotus in The Histories. Of course, the sub-plot of the 300 Spartans (and these are the actual Spartans now) form just a small, though critical, piece of the overall epic that rightly begins with Cyrus the Great, his conquest of Babylon and the rise of the Persian Empire into the world’s first superpower – in itself one of the great stories of history.
This film also takes many liberties with the subject matter – from the twisted Ephors (who were little more than a council of elders), to the portrayal of Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan) as a grossly deformed figure (which, at least, is fitting given his contribution) as well as that of Xerxes as a larger-than-life figure and the Persians in general as near-inhuman.
Moreover, the 300 Spartans were not alone. Many city-states supplied a number of troops that saw some five or six thousand Greeks defending the pass, while only the Spartans and some 1100 Thespians and Thebans stayed to meet their inevitable demise. And no, Leonidas never drew Xerxes’ blood, but the Spartans did, indeed, prove that Xerxes was no god at the Battle of Thermopylae.
So why can these innaccuracies – and more besides – be forgiven for 300 and not Troy? Simply, because 300 is a crackingly good film based, not so much on the work of Herodotus, but on the work of Frank Miller and his graphic novel of the same name.
For anyone familiar with Frank Miller in comicbooks, they’ll know that he likes his stories dripping in testosterone. The magnificent Sin City film, also based on Miller’s work, is not only a prime example, but confirmed that his style translates into something rare and longed-for on the screen. Miller’s take in 300 is so stylized that it would be ridiculous for anyone to interpret it as a literal representation of the history.
It’s all about style and 300 has plenty of that.
300 Director, Cast, Music Score and Summary
Director Zach Snyder does an admirable job, though with much of the film based closely on the graphic novel (in many cases following it panel-for-panel) it was always going to be difficult to give him full credit. Nevertheless, Snyder deserves a nod of the head for not imposing himself too strongly on the visual style of the story, which is one of it’s finest points.
The cast members, despite some harsh criticism, are perfectly passable and enjoyable, with Gerard Butler shining as King Leonidas. The script is somewhat limited, but it’s simplicty is effective and offers plenty of memorable quotes. Criticizing a film like this for it's unrealistic presentation of characters and themes would be as pointless as doing the same for something like the irrepressible Starship Troopers - they're all part of what makes these films such great cinematic experiences that will always entertain.
The film’s soundtrack, composed by Tyler Bates, is also a great addition, having several standout tracks such as those used for the scenes of the Oracle and Xerxes’ tent, as well as using the talent of Tehranian vocalist Azam Ali.
In short summary then – Troy Bad. 300 Great.
- Producer: Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Bernie Goldmann, Jeffrey Silver
- Director: Zach Snyder
- Screenplay: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, Michael B. Gordon
- Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro, Andrew Tiernan
- Released: March 2007 by Warner Bros.
- Running Time: 117 min.
