300 SPARTANS

I had the pleasure of seeing, THE 300 SPARTANS, STARRING Richard Egan, in 1962. It was a wonderful presentation of this same material, driected by Rudolph Mate, who also made the 1950 classic -- D.O.A. The new technology, allowing an intermix of reality and graphic characters, makes a sincere effort to bring this story to the screen for a new generation. While the narration is over-done, I can't fault them for trying to put things in context for those who don't know of the legendary Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. This film is a milestone in the development of this new technology of reality and graphic art functioning as one. A film llike this must be a especially difficult for the actors and the director, so I would like to praise Gerald Butler as King Leonidas, Lena Headey as his Queen and Dominic West as the evil Theron, a traitor to Sparta. Zack Snyder was the director. For all its virtues, please don't forget, this is a story of bloody and outrageous violence -- you have been warned