The comic is a fictional retelling of the battle of thermopylae and the events leading up to it from the perspective of leonidas of sparta. A technically exciting videogame of a film, 300 loses touch with a critical and moving event in greek history. Based on the ancient stone carvings, xerxes actually looked more like that. How did xerxes differ in actual history compared to the. Xerxes, the persian king, played by rodrigo santoro, attempts to ply leonidas, played by gerald butler, with promises of wealth and power if leonidas spartan troops surrender, in the film 300. The film was an insult to iran, said one of ahmadinejads spokesman. In around 480 bc at the battle of thermopylae, the army of the city state of sparta, held off the persian army lead by xerxes. Adapting frank millers graphic novel 300, snyder takes a hyperstylized visual approach to depicting the famed battle of thermopylae, where king leonidas gerard butler and his 300 elite personal guards defied their oracle and the odds to wage war against xerxes huge, unrelenting persian army.
The hit films depiction of the ancient persians is being seen in iran as. It is a sequel to the 2007 film 300, taking place before, during, and after the main events of that film, and is very loosely based on the battle of artemisium and the battle of salamis with considerable altering of historical facts. Its a terrible misrepresentation of all parties involved, full stop. King leonidas of sparta and a force of 300 men fight the persians at. Herodotus, the father of history, told many good stories, but there are few tales in his repertoire that surpass his narrative of the lastditch stand of the greeks against numerically superior forces at the pass of thermopylae in august, 480 b.
The fall of the house of darius and the rise of alexander. The film was directed by zack snyder, while miller served as executive producer and consultant. When king leonidas and his 300 spartan warriors fell to the overwhelming persian army at the battle of thermopylae, the fearless actions of the noble fighters inspired all of greece to stand up. Rise of an empire eva green commands the screen and a large persian naval fleet in the highly entertaining notquite sequel to zack snyders 300. So says a stone epitaph in thermopylae, greece, commemorating 300 spartan warriors who sacrificed their lives in an epic battle against the invading forces of the persian king xerxes in 480 b. Rise of an empire butchers greekpersian history time. Spartans were not heroic sprayon abdominal gods incapable of defeat and heroically fighting for dem. He is big badmain antagonist of the film 300 spartans and bigger badsecondary antagonist of the sequel 300 spartans. Other persians in the film are also black, including a persian general executed by xerxes and a persian emissary sent to communicate with leonidas the latter role being played by talented actor tyrone benskin marked man, 1996. It is a fictionalized retelling of the battle of thermopylae spartans. Vincent regan captain was in troy 2004, another film about ancient greece. Actor rodrigo santoro portrays the 9foottall xerxes in the film. Vastly outnumbered, the greeks held back the enemy in one of the most famous last stands of history. King leonidas of sparta and a force of 300 men fight the persians at thermopylae in 480 b.
Is the xerxes of the movie 300 the same xerxes in the. This is tha amazing scene from 300 where king leonidas say the imfamous phrase and then kicks the persian messenger down a hole. He never went to the front line at the battle of thermopylae as his character does in the movie 300. There were several instances where the director should have stuck to the real historical accounts. He was the son and successor of darius the great r. The film was directed by zack snyder and stars gerard butler as leonidas i revered king of sparta, lena headey as leonidas wife queen gorgo, dominic west as the traitorous councilman theron, david wenham as diliosone of the 300 spartans that. He is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of persian king xerxes in the. How persian king become a god 300 rise of empire youtube. Was the persian king xerxes really bald and 9feettall. The real persian king xerxes had a beard and was much shorter. He wanted to rule the entire world and conquer greece, especially sparta. Xerxes i is most likely the persian king identified as ahasuerus hebrew. The film 300 took more creative liberty with the past than that directors cut of braveheart where mel gibson punches out king john wearing a mirrored tuxedo. Were probably all familiar with the battle of thermopylae thanks to the 300 film franchise.
With gerard butler, lena headey, david wenham, dominic west. Based on a graphic novel by frank miller sin city, 300 mythologizes and immortalizes these. Rise of an empire pits themistokles against the massive invading persian forces led by mortalturnedgod xerxes, and artemisia. He has appeared in many successful movies, including brainstorm 2001, carandiru 2003, love actually 2003, che 2008, i love you phillip morris 2009, and rio 2011.
Pictures action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by frank miller. The movie 300, directed by zack snyder tells the story of the courage and solidarity of king leonidas gerard butler and his army of three hundred spartans who fought the army of king xerxes rodrigo santoro and his colossal persian. With sullivan stapleton, eva green, lena headey, hans matheson. In frank millers original 300 comic, it takes the persian king xerxes and his army of thousands three days to destroy the small spartan force led by king leonidas and go on to successfully. Although the spartan army is obviously outnumbered, leonidas plan is to lead the persians into the narrow mountain pass of thermopylae where their numbers dont count. The plot revolves around king leonidas gerard butler, who leads 300 spartans into battle against the persian godking. He is the main antagonist of 300 spartans film series. Athenians were not weakwilled, cowardly, when the going gets tough types. Rise of an empire is a 2014 american period action film written and produced by zack snyder and directed by noam murro. Greek general themistokles leads the charge against invading persian forces led by mortalturnedgod xerxes and artemisia, vengeful commander of the persian navy. He wanted to rule the entire world and conquer greece, especially. Both are fictionalized retellings of the battle of thermopylae within the persian wars.
So then you probably assumed that all the cheesy one liners growled by gerard butler during the film were the brainchild of some hack hollywood writer. Rise of an empire is a 2014 american action film written and produced by zack snyder and directed by noam murro. Rise of an empire gore, glamour, and a goth warrior maiden in a semisequel to 2006s 300, a naval battle between the greeks and. You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. Yes, it was a true story, although the movie wasnt historically correct on some points, it was a more of a glorification of the actual event.
In both the films produced thus far, the villain of the story is the giant, heavily bejeweled persian king known as. The greeks spartans and allies knew they were outnumbered and hadnt a prayer, so it was no surprise that the persians won the battle of thermopylae. It was filmed mostly with a superimposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the. The 300 spartans is a 1962 cinemascope epic film depicting the battle of thermopylae. Rodrigo junqueira dos reis santoro portuguese pronunciation. Made with the cooperation of the greek government, it was shot in the village of perachora in the peloponnese. It stars richard egan as the spartan king leonidas, sir ralph richardson as themistocles of athens and david farrar as persian king xerxes, with diane baker as. In the battle of thermopylae of 480 bc an alliance of greek citystates fought the invading persian army in the mountain pass of thermopylae. Turns out, slavery in the achaemenid dynasty he was the 3rd king of that dynasty was a way better gig than we normally associate with the term slave, and was. In spite of the heavy fantasy influence, the story is based on real eventsthe battle of thermopylae in 480 bc during the second greco persian war, as described by the ancient greek historian herodotus. Xerxes, the persian king, played by rodrigo santoro, attempts to ply. Faced with the choice of submitting to xerxes brazilian lost regular rodrigo santoro, rendered. According to herodotus, she cautions the persian emperor xerxes against fighting the disastrous naval battle at salamis, which, in the film, is an engagement she pursues with a furious mania.
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