It isn't until King Xerxes (David Farrar, sounding a lot like Ian McKellan) lets a captured Spartan spy go free (so he can spread the word of impending doom) that we get to Greece, where the heads of the free city states debate the response to the upcoming assault. The production doesn't have the resources to show the scope of the invasion force so instead we get shot after shot of marching columns and discussions of the enormous size of the army to get the point across. The historical background is quickly sketched in via introductory crawls and stentorian narration while we watch the march of the Persian army through the ancient world. George (screenwriter) brought it to 20th Century Fox. This was shot in Greece, appropriately enough, not Italy, but given the credit for "original story material" to a quartet of Italian screenwriters, it's probably safe to assume this was initially developed as another Italian production before producing partners Rudolph Maté (who also directs) and George St. Made toward the end of a costume epic boom, it's a budget version of an ancient world epic, small by Hollywood standards (a cast of hundreds rather than thousands) but lavish compared to the cheap sword-and-sandal knock-offs pouring out of the Italian film industry. Their sacrifice serves to unite the Greeks, and a few months later the Persian army is annihilated at the Battle of Plataea.īased on the true story of the tiny force of Greek warriors led by Sparta's King Leonidas that held off the Persian invasion at the pass of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., the 1962 The 300 Spartans was Frank Miller's inspiration to create the graphic novel 300 (which Zach Snyder subsequently adapted into a hit 2006 movie). After sending Phylon and Ellas back to Athens to warn the Greeks and tell them of the Spartans' resistance, he and his men form a wedge of shields and hold their ground until they are totally overwhelmed by the Persians. Though warned of the imminent danger, Leonidas chooses to make a stand. But the Spartans are betrayed by a goatherd, Ephialtes, who tells the Persians of a little-known trail by which they can traverse the mountain and attack the Spartans from the rear. The Persians attack, and great numbers of their soldiers are slaughtered in the narrow pass. As they make their way to Thermopylae, they are followed by a young Spartan soldier, Phylon, who has been falsely accused of being a traitor's son, and his beloved Ellas, the niece of Leonidas. But Sparta's ultimate ruling body, the Council of Euphors, decrees that there can be no fighting during the religious festival in progress and Leonidas is left with only his personal retinue of 300 men. Themistocles of Athens calls an emergency meeting of all the Greek rulers and King Leonidas of Sparta suggests that his legions check the Persians at the narrow pass of Thermopylae, thereby giving the other Grecian states time to mobilize.
Emperor Xerxes of Persia plans a massive invasion of Greece. What, so now you want to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "Essentially true story of how Spartan king Leonidas led an extremely small army of Greek Soldiers (300 of his personal body guards from Sparta) to hold off an invading Persian army now thought to have numbered 250,000." 'The 300 Spartans' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on fuboTV, Spectrum On Demand, DIRECTV, Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, and YouTube.
Released August 1st, 1962, 'The 300 Spartans' stars Richard Egan, Ralph Richardson, Diane Baker, Barry Coe The PG movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 54 min, and received a user score of 63 (out of 100) on TMDb, which compiled reviews from 91 well-known users. Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty of how you can watch 'The 300 Spartans' right now, here are some specifics about the action flick.
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