I went to see 300 Rise of Empire today

Spoiler alert. 

Jordan and I went to see 300 today. It was a reasonable action movie except:

1. The Themistocles was a warrior rather than a general.
2. Hoplites did not fight bare chested. The movie showed no greaves or cuirasses. 
3. The Athenians did not have axeman at Marathon. (Check Prestags!)
4. The Athenians did not dance around like gladiators on ecstacy when attacking.
5. Darius the Great was not at Marathon. Neither was Xerxes. 
6. Themistocles did not know how to shoot an arrow and probably would never touch a bow as it was the weapon of the Scythian mercenaries who policed Athens
7. They left out the famous run back to Athens
8. The Greek Bireme was a clumsy affair and was not more maneuverable or better at ramming than the Phonecian (Persian) craft.
9. Themistocles was famous for badgering the Athenians into building triremes. There were none in the movie.
10. Themistocles won no engagements at Euboea. That naval battle was inconclusive but a storm blew up and damaged the Persian fleet. 
11. The Parthenon had not been built at this time. There was no colossal statue of Athena
12. The Persian admiral was not a woman or a Greek
13. The Battle of Salamis was not fought in open water.
14. The Spartans did not have a fleet at this time.
15. Spartan queens did not lead armies. (That's one reason that they had two kings!)

I did like the obvious dislike and distrust between the Spartans and the Athenians and some of Themistocles' orations.

Despite the video game like gore and a decided weird sex scene, it was a reasonable sequel to 300 and clearly leaves open a further movie on the Peleponesian War.

Comments

[PythonMagus]

Apparently the movie is all about Themistocles, not about Pheidippides. He just had to bde in almost every scene. I'll bet if he ever got ostracised, he would spit the dummy and change sides!

[Paul]

Nice pictures. How can they leave out the great marathon run back to Athens.

[Thygocanberra]

so it was a fantasy movie? >:-o