The Ephors consult the Oracle, who decrees that Sparta may not go to war during the Carneia. His plan involves building a wall in order to funnel the Persians into a narrow pass between the rocks and the sea: negating the Persian advantage in numbers, and giving the Greeks' heavy infantry the advantage over the vast waves of Persian light infantry. Leonidas then visits the Ephors, proposing a strategy to drive back the numerically superior Persians through the Hot Gates. Dilios's story continues and a Persian herald arrives at the gates of Sparta demanding ' earth and water' as a token of submission to King Xerxes-the Spartans reply by throwing the envoy and his escort into a deep well. In 479 B.C., one year after the Battle of Thermopylae, Dilios, a hoplite in the Spartan army, begins his story by depicting the life of Leonidas I from childhood to kingship via Spartan doctrine. A sequel, titled Rise of an Empire, based on Miller's previously unpublished graphic novel prequel Xerxes, was released on March 7, 2014. Grossing over $456 million, the film's opening was the 24th-largest in box office history at the time. The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising its visuals and style but criticizing its depiction of the Persians, which some characterized as bigoted or Iranophobic. Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy.ģ00 premiered at the Austin Butt-Numb-A-Thon on December 9, 2006, and was released at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 14, 2007, before being released in both conventional and IMAX 8 in the United States on March 9, 2007, and on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and HD DVD on July 31, 2007. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios ( David Wenham).

As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo ( Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The plot revolves around King Leonidas ( Gerard Butler), who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian 'God-King' Xerxes ( Rodrigo Santoro) and his invading army of more than 300,000 soldiers. It was filmed mostly with a superimposition chroma key technique to replicate the imagery of the original comic book. The film was co-written and directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. Both are fictionalized retellings of the Battle of Thermopylae in the Persian Wars. 300 is a 2006 American epic historical action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley.

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