It often reminded me of something present day Scottish folk hero John Smeaton might say : ' Dinnae come tae Sparta, we'll set aboot ya up here ' But despite these very noticeable flaws this is a truly memorable movie down to the jaw dropping visuals and it's the visuals the film will be rightly remembered for.

The Spartans don't really come across as real characters from ancient times, more of a crowd of wise cracking macho cyphers and let's be honest here, with the exception of voice over the dialogue is rather poor. Unfortunately by concentrating on the visuals there's other aspects lacking. This is cinema strictly for adults only Fans of ancient history and classical studies will find a lot to criticise because it's not an accurate depiction of ancient Greece but you should always make the legend according to John Ford. Did I say this film is like a painting come to life ? In some sequences it looks like a nightmare come to life and this stylish formalist type of cinema will send a chill down your spine.

The battle scenes are entirely different from those seen in LORD OF THE RINGS or KINGDOM OF HEAVEN but are no less impressive and some of the battle sequences, most notably the ones featuring the immortals are terrifying. Sometimes prejudice can get in the way of judging a film of its own merits because 300 is one of the more memorable movie moments from last year and one that seems unforgivably ignored at the more prestigious film award ceremonies Being based upon a comic book you could say in all honesty that the visuals mirror those of a graphic novel, but I would claim it goes far, far beyond that and say it's like watching a painting come to life. Also I was very unimpressed with director Zack Snyder's previous film the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD which is a pale imitation of a superior movie. Hearing that 300 is based upon a ' graphic novel ' which is a pseudo intellectual phrase used to describe a comic book I didn't go out of my way to watch this because the present Hollywood movie making factory spends too much time and money bringing these type of stories to the screen.

300 spartans full movie 2006