Movie Trivia for 300
Memorable Movie Quotes
King Leonidas: The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and that before this battle is over, even a god-king can bleed.
King Leonidas: Immortals… We’ll put their name to the test.
King Leonidas: You have many slaves, Xerxes, but few warriors. It won’t be long before they fear my spears more than your whips.
Dilios: The old ones say we Spartans are descended from Hercules himself. Bold Leonidas gives testiment to our bloodline. His roar is long and loud.
Queen Gorgo: Freedom is not free, that it comes with the highest of sacrifices. The price of blood.
Queen Gorgo: [having stabbed Theron and while holding sword into his body] This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your Queen.
King Leonidas: My children, gather round! No retreat, no surrender; that is Spartan law. And by Spartan law we will stand and fight… and die. A new age has begun. An age of freedom, and all will know, that 300 Spartans gave their last breaths to defend it!
Trivia
The film was shot in 60 days.
The film was shot on blue and green screen in Montreal.
There are 1,523 cuts in the film, with 1,006 visual effects shots.
The work was photographed completely in Montreal, with the exception of two days of insert shooting in Los Angeles.
Ten visual effects vendors contributed to the film, spread over three continents.
The filmmakers used bluescreen 90% of the time, and greenscreen for 10%. They chose blue because it better matched the lighting paradigm (green would have been too bright) and because red garments (a la spartan capes) look better when shot over blue.
Body count: 585
The quote, “Then we will fight in the shade,” is an actual one from history, spoken by the Spartan warrior Dienekes when warned about the enemies’ arrows.
The flowing effect of the Oracle dancing scene was accomplished by filming the actress under water.
The word ‘Sparta’ and its derivatives (mostly the term Spartans) are used a total of 72 times. This means the word Sparta is used at least .62 times per minute.
Zack Snyder’s son plays young Leonidas in the child fight training scene.
The line “Come back with your shield, or on it” was a common phrase said by Spartan women to their sons and husbands. It was common Spartan practice to bear the dead soldiers on their shields.
Frank Miller was inspired by the original Battle of Thermopylae after viewing the 1962 film The 300 Spartans (1962) as a child. His perception of the ‘hero’ concept changed greatly after seeing the Spartans make their sacrifice.
The actor who plays Leonidas’ father in the film (Tim Connolly) was also Gerard Butler’s stunt double for the film.
In calling the site of the battle “the Hot Gates”, the film uses the literal translation of the name “Thermopylae” (“hot gateway”).
Warner Bros. originally pushed Zack Snyder to direct this film with a PG-13 rating as the goal. Snyder refused and ultimately the studio agreed to make an R-rated movie.
Shortly after its release, Iranian bloggers and journalists were outraged by the movie. With headlines like “Hollywood Declares War on Iranians”, they chastised the movie for its monstrous portrayal of the ancient Persians, ancestors of modern Iranians. A cultural adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called it “American psychological warfare against Iran.” Thus far, no mention has been made of the opening or closing scenes, which reveal that the Persians’ portrayal is a result of the story being told from a Spartan’s point of view, rather than an omnipotent, contemporary viewpoint.
The movie never claims to be historically correct. It is based heavily on Frank Miller’s 1998 comic book mini-series. Changes from history were made by Miller and director Zack Snyder so as to appeal to a wider audience and create a more exciting and visually stunning action movie, rather than a typical historical epic.
The line “Come and get them!”, said by Leonidas in response to the Persian demand for the Spartans to surrender their weapons, is also a historical quote (according to ancient historian Herodotus), which was adopted as the motto of the Greek Army’s 1st Corps.
The monologue said by the narrator when it shows Leonidas and his men dead is actually found on the tomb of the real King Leonidas.
The entire Senate subplot, including the rape of Queen Gorgo, was invented for the film and does not appear in Frank Miller’s original comic books. Miller’s comic book miniseries also has a lesser emphasis on monsters, with Ephialtes the hunchback and the holy lepers being the only “creatures” in the original story.
Goofs
The Persian cavalry is using stirrups on their horses’ saddles. The Battle of Thermopylae was in 480 BC. The earliest representation of a rider using paired stirrups is from a Chinese tomb dated to the 4th century AD. The first use of stirrups recorded in Europe is the 6th century AD, by the Swedish cavalry.
During the battle scenes, the blood never appears on the ground. In one scene, the blood hits the ground and disappears; in many it vanishes in the air. In another, the droplets fall and stick out of the ground like arrows. This is a stylistic choice to reflect the ‘graphic novel’ origins of the film.
Box Office Info In USA
Budget $65,000,000
Opening Weekend $70,885,301 (9 March 2007)
Gross $210,592,590
Filming Locations
Los Angeles, California, USA
Montréal, Québec, Canada