The Plot:

  Set in 480 B.C.E. Xerxes, the so-called ‘God-King’ of Persia, makes demands on the several Greek city-states for submission to his rule. However, the Greeks of Athens and Sparta are not so willing to give up without a fight. After tossing Xerxes’ envoys into a well, King Leonidas of Sparta (Gerard Butler) seeks to head off the inevitable Persian retaliation by fortifying the only passage through the mountains surrounding Sparta. 
  Because of political pressures from the Spartan clergy, Leonidas is forbidden from sending Sparta’s entire army to face Xerxes. Instead he leads a small band of only 300 Spartan warriors to impede the Persian attack.
  Leonidas’ troops are joined by a large force from Athens as the two armies cooperate to defeat the menace from Persia. They know that to defend the mountain pass may cost them their lives, but for soldiers born into a culture obsessed with war and fighting death is just another day on the job.

The Point:

  Let there be absolutely no doubt that this movie is extremely violent. The predominant color in the otherwise sepia-toned movie is red. With lots of bare-chested men carrying sharp pointy spears and swords it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out why blood flows by the gallons in this movie. 
  However, the violence and gore has cause and purpose–war. War is not a pretty thing and as anyone who has seen frontline combat in a war zone will tell you, it can also get pretty messy. But the war is not frivolous. Leonidas and his fellow Greeks are defending (not attacking) their homeland from a tyrant and an invader. This movie may not be pro-war exactly but clearly the protagonists are fighting for a cause almost anyone will see as just and necessary. Yes, the Spartans are depicted as perhaps being a little ‘blood crazy’ but the story also tells us that war, senseless as it may seem to an individual, is sometimes necessary for the freedom of many.
  If you are an advocate for historical accuracy in movies you may get a mixed reaction from this one. Most of the characters, history and even some dialogue, if Greek writing is to be believed, are historically on point. But no doubt many of the ‘monsters’ fighting for the Persian horde have clearly been fabricated to make the film visually interesting and its audience down right queasy. They do a good job, too.
  The violence, and to a lesser degree the sex, in this movie is graphic. For the benefit of the audience the hacking and slashing is even slowed down so as to provide an even closer inspection. This movie is not for children. Of course that did not stop some pretty irresponsible parents from bringing a three year-old to the show I watched. A pox on people that do this, if someone brings an inappropriately aged child to a violent movie about 300 half-naked men that look like pro-wrestlers, then those parents deserve any lost sleep as a result of the ensuing nightmares of their progeny.