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Parents' Guide to

300

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Bloody, fanboyish retelling of an ancient battle.

Movie R 2007 117 minutes
300 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 15+

Based on 35 parent reviews

doctora
doctora Parent of 5-year-old
June 15, 2022
age 17+

It's soooooo heavy handed

It's all here. The slo-mo and the ethereal singing that almost works here is completely overdone in the Snyder Justice League cut. 300 is heavy-handed in its set up, its narration, its cinematography, slo-mo, score and in crazed eyes views of Butler, over and over again. It all feels too obvious and too much in a film that is chock-full of stuff: props, yells, and gratuitous blood. There is enough splatter in this film to keep post-production busy for a long time. I cannot say it is all worth it, but considering it's popularity it is worth a gander.
2 people found this helpful.
Robert L.
Robert L. Adult
February 25, 2023
age 9+

Good movie

1 person found this helpful.
See all 35 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Adapting Frank Miller's graphic novel 300, Snyder takes a hyperstylized visual approach to depicting the famed Battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and his 300 elite personal guards defied their Oracle and the odds to wage war against Xerxes' huge, unrelenting Persian army. Faced with the choice of submitting to Xerxes (Brazilian Lost regular Rodrigo Santoro, rendered nearly unrecognizable in earrings and eye makeup) or waging war, Leonidas makes the only choice a warrior-king can: fight. Leonidas and his personal detachment, led by his captain (fine character actor Vincent Regan) and Dilios (David Wenham), discover that although they're grossly outnumbered, they can funnel the enemy into the Hot Gates (the literal translation of "Thermopylae"), a narrow pass where the Spartans' special-forces skills will crush wave after wave of the Persians. And, oh, how they crush. It's impressive and disarming to see the 300 delight in the "glory" of warfare. The Spartans, so drunk on warlust that they dismember, skewer, decapitate, and spear the enemy -- whether it's human, animal, or something in between -- are brave, but also a bit mad. What the Spartans want (unlike the Arcadians, a group of fellow Greeks that joins them) is not to survive but to "die a beautiful death" in battle.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (35 ):
Kids say (108 ):

At times engrossing and at times laughably over-the-top, 300 is entertaining as an extended war sequence. However, the film falls short of reaching the revolutionary Matrix-like status that the film's creators claim. The whole segment in Xerxes' lair, with its hedonistic sensuality, smacks of stereotypical Orientalism, not to mention some of the grossly depicted Persian soldiers and the disfigured hunchback who plays a central role.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the Spartans' upbringing and values. Why are 7-year-olds forced to fight each other -- and adults?

  • Xerxes offers Leonidas what sounds like a sweet deal; why does the king, facing certain death, turn it down?

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