This document provides a comparison of the 1962 film "The 300 Spartans" and the 2007 film "300" in their depictions of the historic Battle of Thermopylae. While "The 300 Spartans" more accurately follows the known historical facts, it includes a fictional romantic subplot and does not realistically portray hoplite warfare. Both films take creative liberties for dramatic effect rather than strict historical accuracy. The document also discusses the societal contexts and budgets of the two films.

1. 300 Spartans is still considered to be a ‘Historical Epic’ as it is based on real historic events
from nearly 2500 years ago in 480 BC. The cast and crew of the film had even used the
actual locations of where the ‘Battle of Thermopylae’ had taken place to reflect the scenery
of the time. The armory used as well were properly put together for the warriors as well as
the average people to portray the realism of the film making it fall under the genre of
‘Historical Epic’. On the other hand, 300 is a film that’s a hybrid between Action and Fantasy
genres as even though the film itself is based on the ‘Battle of Thermopylae’, it is also based
on Frank Miller’s comic book series from 1998. It is also considered an Action film as there is
a lot of blood and violence used in this film while actors look aggressive and strong language
is slightly used. It is also considered a Fantasy film as there are mythical creatures shown
during the battles which do not exist in real life. The creatures were also used as I mentioned
the film 300 took inspiration from miller’s comic.
Most people assume that 300 (2007, dir. Zack Snyder) was the first movie made about the
battle of Thermopylae. But in fact there is an earlier version of the story, The 300 Spartans
(1962, dir. Rudolph Maté). Frank Miller was deeply impressed by the latter film when he saw
it while growing up, so in some sense his 300 is an homage to Maté’s film. And from a
standpoint of basic accuracy, it’s a better film.

2. The 300 Spartans does a fairly good job of following the facts of Thermopylae as we know it.
The film opens with the Persians marching into Thrace. Xerxes (David Farrar) has a chat
with the exiled Spartan king Demaratus (Ivan Triesault) in which some of the dialog is draw
straight out of Herodotus. In fact, the film repeatedly uses famous Spartan comments
reported by the Greek historian, which right there puts it a whole level above Snyder’s work
in terms of basic accuracy. And there’s a good deal more concern to depict the Persians
wearing things actual Persians wore (although there are a lot of generic Hollywood belly-
dancers too).
Where the film digresses is with the insertion of a invented Hollywood romance. Whereas in
300, the love relationship is between Leonidas and his queen, Gorgo, in this film, it’s
between Gorgo’s niece, Ellas (Diane Baker) and Demaratus’ son Phyllon (Barry Coe). They
want to be married, but because Demaratus has been accused of helping the Persians,
Leonidas refuses to allow Phyllon to marry or fight with the other Spartans. This sets off a
tedious sub-plot in which the two lovers chase after Leonidas’ army, and then stumble
across an elderly couple whose lecherous son Ephialtes falls in love with Ellas, thus
providing him with a motive to betray the Spartans to the Persians by showing them how to
get around the pass at Thermopylae.
Meanwhile, Xerxes is consorting with Queen Artemisia (Anne Wakefield). In contrast to Eva
Green’s man-hating fury, Wakefield’s Artemisia is a fairly traditional evil woman for the
period. She uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants, and Xerxes’ libidinous dalliance
with her is used to demonstrate that he’s a lousy ruler who ignores the good advice of his
generals. But this Artemisia isn’t that important to the plot; once the fighting starts she is
almost completely forgotten.

3. One thing The 300 Spartans shares with 300 is a general disinterest in recreating actual
hoplite warfare. Both the Spartans and the Persians are dressed more accurately in The 300
Spartans (for example, the Persian Immortals are correctly shown carrying wicker shields),
but when it comes to combat the film either doesn’t know how to depict a hoplite phalanx in
action or it simply doesn’t care. The Spartans just stand in long lines, single file, with the next
line standing 30-40 feet behind them doing nothing. Instead of showing how the Spartans
successfully employed the hoplite system to maximum effect for the terrain available (and
chose Thermopylae because it would maximize the power of the phalanx by negating the
Persian advantage of numbers), the Spartans in this film are just better fighters.
They repeatedly repulse waves of Persians who employ ludicrous tactics. In the first attack,
Xerxes orders his cavalry to advance behind the concealment of his infantry. The plan is that
at the last minute the cavalry will ride through the infantry, catch the Spartans by surprise
and capture them all so Xerxes can publicly execute them. None of that makes much sense,
and it doesn’t fool the Spartans at all. When the cavalry charges, the Spartans just fall down
and let the cavalry ride over them, and then stand up and turn around to trap them between
two groups of Spartans. The fact that the front row of Spartans are now standing with their
backs to the Persian infantry is just ignored.
Then Xerxes sends in chariots, which the Spartans defeat with arrows and javelins. When
the Spartans use their spears, it’s mostly to throw them, and they prefer to fight with what
look to be Roman short swords instead. Then the Immortals get sent in and the Spartans
trick them into advancing past a flammable pile of hay which they then light on fire, trapping
the Immortals. The film exhibits absolutely no idea about how phalanxes actually worked.
But there is one nice detail I have to commend, when the Spartans are finally outflanked and
surrounded at the end of the film, refusing to surrender Leonidas’ body, Xerxes does the
smart thing. He doesn’t send in his infantry to fight them. He lets his archers pick them all off,
because a unit of infantry in stationary formation is vulnerable to missile fire.
The 300 Spartans has not aged particularly well. The acting is the usual turgid 50s style, the
female characters are good for nothing except being love objects, the soundtrack is
obnoxious, and the stunt-work is thoroughly unconvincing.
The Spartans were not as 'good' as the movie portrays them to be. Greeks, including the
Spartans, conquered neighboring areas to acquire more land and to build their slave labor
force. Many of the Greek soldiers, who fought with the Spartan elite at the Battle of
Thermopylae, were forced to fight because they were slaves. Frank Miller, author of the

4. graphic novel 300, talked about the nature of the Spartans in an interview, "The Spartans
were a paradoxical people. They were the biggest slave owners in Greece. But at the same
time, Spartan women had an unusual level of rights. It's a paradox that they were a bunch of
people who in many ways were fascist, but they were the bulwark against the fall of
democracy. “I didn't want to render Sparta in overly accurate terms, because ultimately I do
want you to root for the Spartans. I couldn't show them being quite as cruel as they were. I
made them as cruel as I thought a modern audience could stand."
The movie 300 presents a strong willed Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), who advises her
husband on both military and political matters. At one point in the film, a Persian messenger
insults the Queen after she offers her input during a political discussion. The Persian felt that
the Queen (a woman) should not speak on such matters. The film's depiction of the role of
Spartan women is accurate. The relative freedom and empowerment of their women helped
to further set the Spartans apart from other cultures. The empowerment of Spartan women
could be compared to the freedoms of modern day American women versus the restricted
roles of many present day Middle Eastern women. Headey suited the role of the Queen as
she is an attractive woman and a capable actress to portray a powerful Queen and present
women different than the ones in 300 Spartans. Another more significant role showing
‘power for women’ was the scene where King Leonidas asks permission from his wife,
showing once again women are equally important. Women weren’t just shown important in
the film 300 verbally but physically as well. This is shown as we see Queen Gorgo stab the
guy who kept harassing her showing her being courageous. This also influences women in a
way showing them if they stand up for themselves then they’ll feel better.

5. In the film, 300 Spartans, Men are shown to be far more superior than women and this was
to show just how women were displayed and treated back thousands of years ago. Women
were seen to live at home, cook, clean and raise children. In the film (1962), women have
very less or speaking roles and there are far more men casted on set than women. These
same views on women and men being more superior existed within the 1960’s and honestly
till today although society is now open minded. Also the way women are spoken about in the
film is showing how men believe that they are inferior species. For example, when Xerxes
says “A woman’s tongue is deadlier than a sword”. What Xerxes is trying to say a woman’s
words can hurt even more than a deadly weapon.
There was the use of the ‘male gaze theory’ as women had no part in relation to the actual
plot. This portrayed how poorly women were treated and were needed for men to look at.
There are not any children shown in this film as well to mirror society in the 60’s as well. This
is as children had no say whatsoever in the issues that were occuring. It’s also due to the
fact that children had no part in war except for training for war which we see in the film 300.
Filming back in the 2000’s when 300 was being produced, matching views on society was
still being used and so the men casted had to look fit and muscular. This was due to fitness
trends at the time and can actually be used to show as a form of equality. This is as along
with the ‘male gaze’ theory, the ‘female gaze’ theory is used too. The ‘male gaze’ theory is
noticed when Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) is naked when with King Leonidas (Gerard
Butler).

6. In the movie 300 Spartans, Diane Baker played the role of Ellas who was a young woman in
love. She was very much on the same level as Egan as she had a big name in Hollywood in
the 60’s. She appears to be innocent than the other characters in the film. In the 60’s era,
most individuals within society were strong believers in freedom, love and peace. This is
known as the ‘hippie movement’ and so it was often encouraged and grew in popularity. The
film 300 Spartans released in 1962, the right time as the film itself helped promote freedom
and democracy, agreeing with society. Before the release of 300 Spartans, other Historical
Epic films were released which were all based on similar historical wars and events. These
films were Spartacus (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Bun Hur (1959). The release of
300 Spartans was also good as it was clear the audience and people at the time enjoyed
these forms of entertainment.
The movie depicts a small group of European freedom fighters holding off a large army
of Iranian slaves. Although people might draw comparisons to modern day conflicts,
Zack Snyder said that he did not intend to create the movie to be a commentary on
current events, "Someone asked me, 'Is George Bush Leonidas or Xerxes?' I said,
'That's an awesome question.' The fact they asked tells me that this movie can mean
one thing to one person and something totally different to another. I clearly didn't mean
either. I was just trying to get Frank's book made into a movie."
The Iranian government was not happy with the movie's depiction of their culture just
two days after 300's U.S. release, on Sunday March 11, 2007. Javad Shamqadri, an art
advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, charged that the movie was "part of a
comprehensive U.S. psychological war aimed at Iranian culture", said the report.

7. Shamqadri was quoted as saying, "Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood
and cultural authorities in the U.S. initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian
culture," adding, "Certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies." The movie's
effort would be fruitless, because "values in Iranian culture and the Islamic Revolution
are too strongly seated to be damaged by such plans", said the Iranian official.
During the 1960’s, society would rebel and fight for causes such as freedom, peace and
love. During that era, there were two main countries with power around the world after the
Second World War which were USA and the USSR (America and Russia now). As the Cold
War was going on, the public wanted to be free and wanted to live a life they currently are
today. Both films were indirectly based around what was happening in society and tried to
get them involved for them to find the film appealing. For example, the word ‘freedom’ was
used a lot repeatedly throughout the film to emphasise society’s issues. Furthermore, in 300
Spartans, King Leonidas was the main protagonist in the film who was fighting against the
huge army of Persians and ‘power’ indirectly portraying society’s views. This was when the
King approached the councilmen to warn them how they must fight as the Persians were
preparing for battle but as it was a religious holiday in Greece, they were not allowed.
However, King Leonidas still rebelled by taking along with him 300 strong men to fight for
what he believed in. Yet at the same time, the romantic ‘love story’ between Ellas and
Phylon (Barry Coe) was to attract a young, light hearted audience at the same time who
were attracted to ‘romance’ and ‘dreams’. Both films had a sense of democracy , with the
clear message. However, due to different periods of time, the message came across in a
way that was more suited to viewers at the time. The film 300 yet showed you have to be
more aggressive to fight for the things you believe in.
The armory used in 300 Spartans included the metal helmet, metal chest plate the covered
the whole torso, as well as the metal shin pads. However, in the film 300, the Spartan
soldiers fighting nearly naked without any form of body armor protecting them. Body armor

8. was a valuable asset to the real Spartan soldiers and underwear style shorts. This was most
likely to show the cunning, courageous side of the warriors in 300 not to mention the ripped,
muscular physique such as the torso (pecs and abs) probably to attract female audiences. It
also proves how the spartans in 300 are shown as if all the do is work out day and night,
training for war since children. The movie 300 has the Spartan soldiers fighting nearly naked
without any form of body armor protecting them. Body armor was a valuable asset to the real
Spartan soldiers. 300 author Frank Miller commented on this alteration in an Entertainment
Weekly interview, "I took those chest plates and leather skirts off of them for a reason. I
wanted these guys to move and I wanted 'em to look good. ... Spartans, in full regalia, were
almost indistinguishable except at a very close angle."
The main character in 300 Spartans is acted out by Richard Egan. The role of King Leonidas
was very suitable for Egan as he was well-known in the Hollywood industry by a lot of
cinematography viewers and loved both by men and women in his time. King Leonidas is
also loved by all his people despite being king and and is also very well-known till this day.
The role was also suitable as the audience can cheer for King Leonidas even more as a
character in the film as he is already the favourite character. Meanwhile for 300 the main
character was played by Gerard Butler who is known for his aggression in other roles as well
as masculinity. Before 300, his name was not the biggest within the industry and I believe he
was also chosen for the role as the producers wanted to save money for the new CGI
technologies as they were already spending a lot.
The given budget for 300 Spartans was $8.5 million US dollars ($8,500,000) which was a
high budget film that was being produced than any other released at the time. A few reasons

9. for this was because, due to wanting to film at real locations, the producers had to pay for
using Greek land. Secondly, the whole cast and crew including equipment had to be flown
out to Greece along with paying for their accomodation and the catering which must of been
costly due to the amount of hungry actors (300+) on set. Lastly not to mention, the well
respected actors had to be paid for their share in the film and was obviously not going to
cost cheap as there were pretty big names starring in the project. Another reason for the
budget being so high is due to the making of props and sets which were built from scratch to
create verisimilitude. Not to mention paying for the film’s promotion such as printing out
posters and advertising the trailers in cinemas. 20th Century Fox who are both producers
and distributors of the film had given such a high budget for the film also because at the time
there were other Historical Epic films released that made a lot of money, so they probably
decided if they were to invest more money in the film, they would gain more back.
The total amount of gross revenue 300 Spartans made was an incredible $76.5
($76,520,000) million US dollars meaning about $68,000,000 million US dollars was pure
profit. The reason for this being is because, the audience wanted to watch their favourite
actors (as mentioned before) and the use of real locations attracted the audience even more
as well as the genre being so popular at the time. Also back then, the only platform available
to watch films was the Cinemas, so people would have had to purchase a cinema ticket. It
wasn't until later years when technology advanced and people were able to watch films
comfortably at home on VHS.
The film 300 had a budget of $65 million US dollars ($65,000,000) which was mostly used
on the cast and crew (actors, producers, director, etc). Having a director such as Zack
Snyder, who is highly respected in the film industry would not have come cheap yet costly.
Icestorm Studios had taken a lot of money for hire in Canada where the whole film was
produced. Another portion of the budget had been used for marketing trying to promote the
film. There were film trailers that was aired internationally as well as on television and
cinemas and an actual website set up. Not to mention, Comic-con was another way of
promoting the film and was clever as there are thousands of people who are fans of fantasy
genre games, films and more. Most of the budget would have been spent on CGI effects as
well as the editors at the time had skills(s) to do so.
Given a huge budget for the film, the investment was definitely worth it as the film had a
gross revenue of an outstanding $456.1 million US dollars ($456.100.000). This means the
film had made a whooping profit of $390 million dollars ($390,000,000). One reason for the
film being a huge success is due to the huge advertising campaigns that took place
worldwide.
To film The 300 Spartans, a 35mm analogue film camera was most likely used which is a
camera that uses film rather than storing digital moving images. When it came to editing, a
Moviola or steenback were most likely used as well as they were the first technologies to
advance in editing from the simple ‘cut and paste’ trick.
During the 2000s, society were using advanced, new modern technology such as
smartphones, handheld cameras and other devices.

10. Bibliography
https://prezi.com/-qztu3ky3uor/300-film-analysis/
http://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/1246.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film)
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/history/us-history-ii/from-nixon-to-carter-
19681980/america-in-the-1970s
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Thermopylae-Greek-history-480-BC