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Rating: 3 stars

All movies seen on 07/30/2007

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Last Stand of the 300 (2007)

Directed by David Padrusch

Documentary

Overview

This is the true and astounding saga of the Spartans at Thermopylae. It is among the greatest tales of war ever recounted. All the glory and grit of these warriors’ last stand is captured in this exceptional documentary. It is almost impossible to understand how 300 Spartans managed to hold off the million-man Persian army for even a moment, much less seven days. To a man they paid with their lives but their stunning Last Stand assured that their sacrifice would resonate throughout history. Transporting dramatizations and incisive graphics put you in the heat of the battle and show the lay of the land. The complications and strategies of the conflict are revealed through careful analysis, and critical moments are reconstructed to show exactly what happened. Discover what the Spartans were fighting for, what made them capable of such heroics and what drove them to such sacrifice.

Rated PG | Length 90 minutes

Actors

Jeffery A. Baker | Brian Danner | Orion Barnes | Brian James | Tanya Donelly | Douglas K. Plamte | David C. Hernandez | Douglas K. Stuart | Erin Beinenfeld | Phil Brown | Leena Huff | Liam Jones | Anton Burman | Gabe Pallo | Nick Cornoch | Christy Hauptman | JB Gardnier | Joshua Bradley | TJ Cencula | Rusty Locke | Nathan Hedrick | Nick Cernoch | Barton Cramer | John Fairbairn | Tony Giacomelli | Chris Hartmann | David Hernández | Paul Jacobson | Kenny Kilfara | Kristopher Blount | Robert Greygrass | Matt Smith | Steve Perry

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

This originally appeared as a DVD review for PopSyndicate.com in 2007.

An army of Steve Guttenbergs holds off an army of Keanu Reeves-es at the pass. Who wins?

The History Channel has lined its coffers by riding on the coattails of historical epic movies through well-made documentaries that separate fact from the folk tales that blaze their way across the silver screen. Few movies of its ilk have been so myth-minded and when Frank Miller’s 300 hit theaters, that’s what so few seemed to understand: director Zack Snyder was not stringing together a documentary; he was weaving a fact-based myth.

With Last Stand of 300: The Legendary Battle at Thermopylae, The History Channel attempts to present the whole and complete story of the small Spartan force that helped hold off a million or more Persians intent on getting their revenge on Athens for supporting an Ionian rebellion. The golden tones of narrator Brian James (you’ll recognize the voice if not the name) take you through all of the key events surrounding the three days of the 300 at the Battle of Thermopylae, from the reign of Xerxes I’s grandfather Cyrus, to his father Darius I and the defeat in the Battle of the Marathon, through Xerxes reign through Thermopylae and the ultimate defeat by the unification of the Grecian city-states. Details about the weaponry of both sides is presented, along with the brutal realities of training of young Spartans.

With most THC documentaries, scenes and professorial expert dialogue is presented alongside slow pans over ancient pictures and relics, but what we get instead must be one of the most expensive documentaries they’ve ever put together. Instead of those old artifacts we get full-on battle scenes with real live humans and a low budget Zack Snyder visual flair. What’s odd is the difference between the Spartan and Persian casts. The Spartan cast is far from even the quality of a Lifetime abuse-fest, but they can at least show facial expressions. The Persians are all either masked or are interchangeable actors that refuse to show even a hint of emotion. The 300 in this doco are the army of Steve Guttenbergs versus an army of Keanu Reeves-es. And when that happens, we all lose. At least we would have if not for the battle scenes, which are well choreographed and as exciting as some successful TV shows out there.

The DVD itself is a strict bare-bones affair. There are no special features to speak of, but I can’t name a History Channel DVD special feature in my heart of hearts that I long to see. The most irksome nuance is that even though the doco was filmed in a 16x9 ratio, the DVD resolves itself best to a pan-and-scan widescreen 3x4 format.

The documentary is wonderful and as detailed as you would want it to be, but it doesn’t justify a purchase. Without any extra oomph in a low-resolution format, it would be better left as one of those Best Buy-exclusive edition packages or as a special feature on the extra-special, super-duper, double-unrated, director’s final cut edition that will be probably hit the shelves in 2009.

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