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A new trailer for the film seeking to depict the epic battle of Thermopylae. I hear on the first day that the 300 slew 10,000 of Xerses men.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/300/trailer2/large.html

Gazelam wrote:A new trailer for the film seeking to depict the epic battle of Thermopylae. I hear on the first day that the 300 slew 10,000 of Xerses men.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/300/trailer2/large.html

Blood, guts, gore, lesbians, sex, cursing...

Are you sure a Mormon can watch such an appearance of evil in good faith?

Here is a similar one that actually happened.

Gazelam wrote:A new trailer for the film seeking to depict the epic battle of Thermopylae. I hear on the first day that the 300 slew 10,000 of Xerses men.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/300/trailer2/large.html

This is historically false. There were 300 Spartans at the battle, but there were another 6700 or so Greek allies. 10,000 Persian soldiers were killed the first day though. So it was actually 7000 Greeks fighting an army of 200,000+, not 300.

I have a feeling this movie, while visually thrilling, will be very inaccurate.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

I've scheduled to take the 300 release day off to go see it in the IMAX in SLC with a friend.

Bond...James Bond wrote:I have a feeling this movie, while visually thrilling, will be very inaccurate.

That's a "well duh" statement when you see the name "Frank Miller" in the title. It's based off of Frank Miller's graphic novel "The 300", not actual history.

welcome to the boards "mr coffee", and nice avatar. swordfish fan? me likey bigger guns, hehe

Sono_hito wrote:welcome to the boards "mr coffee", and nice avatar. swordfish fan? me likey bigger guns, hehe

Thanks for the welcome. The AV's a scan of a bumpersticker I got on my truck. Used to have one where the peace sign was made from a B-52's top down outline inside a circle, but I can't seem to locate it.

very cool. make sure to post it if/when you find it.

Your correct that the 300 werent alone. If I understand correctly, the 300 were Leonidas's personal guard, and the only ones he himself brought with him since he couldent get the bickering government to send a full force. I was also under the impression that the Spartans were the only true proffesional soldiers who were there, the 3,000 or so allies there with them werent as heavily trained as they were.

Whatever the details were, which even historians have scant information about other than the records of the persians, the story is amazing.
Some say that it was the reason that our democracy is here today. It is estimated that by the end of that week they had killed 80,000 Persians.

Also, after they killed the 10,000 they used the bodies of the dead Persians to strengthen their wall. : )



Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie - Engraved on the statue of Leonidas at the battlesite

Gazelam wrote:Your correct that the 300 werent alone. If I understand correctly, the 300 were Leonidas's personal guard, and the only ones he himself brought with him since he couldent get the bickering government to send a full force. I was also under the impression that the Spartans were the only true proffesional soldiers who were there, the 3,000 or so allies there with them werent as heavily trained as they were.

Yes, the 300 were actual Spartans who were trained from birth to be soldiers, and thus were the best in the land. But the rest of the Greeks were well trained as well. The major killing the Greeks did was based on weapon choice, armor, and tactics. The Greeks were heavily armored while the Persians wore lighter armor. The Greeks had the upperhand
in tactics and strategy. The Persian numbers is what won the victory.. And the Greeks totalled about 7000 soldiers.

Whatever the details were, which even historians have scant information about other than the records of the persians, the story is amazing.

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote on this issue (although he wasn't the most objective historian).

Some say that it was the reason that our democracy is here today. It is estimated that by the end of that week they had killed 80,000 Persians.

Since it was ultimately a defeat I doubt it was the reason for our democracy today. I'd call Thermopylae a delaying action with Pyrrhic consequences. I'd say the naval victory at Salamis Bay saved the Athenian principle of democracy. But Athenian democracy isn't really democracy today so...

I'd put the number of Persian deaths closer to 20000-25000. But still against 2500 Greek deaths that's a 10-1 ratio. Pretty good really.