300 Spartans Illustrated by Frank Miller

Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.

This is the most badass kickass movie of the year. The story is very simple, but the presentation is superb -- 300 He-Man action figures, high octane music, power moves, big armies with big bosses, spartan ladies, and a little comedy... combined together they deliver record levels of testosterone for a 2-hour movie. The movie is just so good that I have heard a good number of my friends watching it twice (includes myself).

King Leonidas also delivers some power quotes:
1) (to the Persian messenger) Madness... ? This... is Sparta!!!
2) (to Spartan soldiers) Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight we dine in hell!
3) (to Arcadian King) You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did.
4) (to Spartan soldiers) No retreat, no surrender, that is Spartan law. And by Spartan law we will stand and fight and die
5) (to Spartan soldiers) Prepare for glory!
6) (to Queen Gorgo) It will take more than a drunken adolescent girl's words to rob me of my desire for you.

And a power scene... (Spartans meet Arcadian soldiers)

The 300 Spartans come across an army of Arcadians on their way to the hot gates.

“Noisy Arcadians greet us with noisy complaints,” thought King Leonidas.

Arcadian troops muttered things like “can’t be more than a few hundred of them” and “we were told Sparta was on the warpath. Is this some sort of a joke?”.

The Arcadian King said to King Leonidas, “We expected Sparta’s commitment to at least match our own!”.

“Doesn’t It?”, King Leonidas responded and points to an Arcadian, asking, “You there, What is your profession?”, to which the Arcadian responds “I am a potter, sir.”. Pointing to another he asks the same question again, and gets the response “I am a sculptor, sir”. And as he points to more, he gets responses of “A Blacksmith” and “A Baker” and so on.

Finally he turns to his troops and says “Spartans, what is your profession?”

All the troops hold up their spears proudly in the air and yell something that sounds like "AOOO!! AOOO!"

He turns back to the Arcadian general and says “You see, old friend? I brought more soldiers than you did.”

Comic to movie comparison
And finally... see how well they did in bringing the comic to the screen... impressive!

Messenger Arrives in Sparta

To the cliffs!

Xerxes