The History Channel Presents Last Stand of the 300 - The Legendary Battle at Thermopylae (2007)

Sound and effective retelling of an amazing story

The battle of Thermopylae was one of the most decisive battles in world history, as well as being one of the most awe inspiring. If the beurocrats in Brussels truly want to forge a common sense of European identity then perhaps they should ensure that every schoolchild on the continent is at least aware of the story.

Sadly, the battle isn't really as well known as it should be, or at least wasn't until the blockbuster '300' came out last year. And here we have an American made documentary to companion that film, sticking fairly closely to the events as depicted there (and astonishingly as the events are widely agreed to have actually happened). In contrast to what other reviewers have written, I didn't find this to be particularly low budget. True, talking heads take up much of the time, often stating the merely banal and obvious, but the recreated scenes are effective if brief. In fact, they are so similar in style to the film that I'm sure a lot of the same extras and production team were involved.

Its such an astonishing story that its hard to tell badly and this documentary does quite a sound job. I'm far from an expert on Ancient Greece but I was suprised at the historians seemingly claiming that the battle of Thermopylae caused the birth of a collective sense of Greek identity which led directly to a united Greece under Phillip II and then the glory of Alexander's empire. Hmmm...I thought the subsequent war between Sparta and Athens (the peloponnesian) left all of Greece easy prey for the Macedonians (who for hundreds of years had never been allowed to participate in the Olympic Games because they were not seen as sharing in the common Greek cultural identity).

That quibble aside, a well made and effective retelling of an incredible story that everybody should know. July 7, 2008

Where few stood against many

The last stand of the 300 is one of history's greatest military tales of bravery, endurance, and valiantness. The history channel's rendition of this heroic battle between King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan soldiers against three-hundred thousand Persians on land was recreated with painstaking detail. But the battle did not take place only on land - Themistocles led the Athenian naval forces against Xerxes at Thessaly and finishing off the Persians at Artemisium.

This documentary does a great job of recounting the beginnings of the war between Persia and Greece - starting with King Darius the Huckster's defeat at Marathon by Callimachus. King Darius grooms his son Xerxes to exact his revenge which led up to the battle of Thermopylae. In 480 B.C. King Leonidas, with his 300 Spartans and roughly 6000 free men of Greece decided to make their stand at Thermopylae "The Hot Gates" (named after the hot thermal springs) It was at this narrow pass flanked on one side by steep mountains and on the other by the sea, the Greeks made their stand.

"Come and get them" were the words that launched this battle. In this narrow corridor, the Persian numbers counted for nothing - they were restricted from using the stableness of their cavalry. It wasn't until the third day when Ephialtes informed the Persians of a route that would allow them to outflank the Greeks. Now surrounded, the brave soldiers at Thermopylae were doomed. It is then that Leonidas was killed and a battle raged over his corpse - with Xerxes ordering that the head be cut off and stuck on a pike. June 2, 2008

Excellent historical review

If you liked the movie "300" as much as I did, you'll definitely enjoy the documentary. It goes into much greater detail that the comic book and movie simply glossed over. Bottom line, get this DVD to acompany your "300" DVD! May 30, 2008

Great Story

All I know of this subject is what I watched during this DVD. So...based on that I thought this film was good and the story unfolded in an educating way. I walked away knowing more about Spartans than I knew before, and now I am really interested. This DVD paid for itself when it drew my interest. May 19, 2008

More informative than expected

I saw the movie but this gives more meaning to the story. I had no idea how the battle got started. May 7, 2008

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