The story of Spartan King Leonidas holding the Persian Army of Xerxes at bay at the battle of Thermopylae. As far as I can remember -- I was there but it's been a long time -- it's reasonably accurate historically although perforce some of the dialog must be fabricated.

If it has any redeeming social value it's probably that the kids who are the intended audience will learn that there was once a city called Sparta that wasn't in Mississippi.

But the photography and f/x are something special. Images are in high contrast and tinted a kind of gold except at night, when they're tinted a kind of blue. Not midnight blue but kind of a neon blue.

The acting is professional in caliber. Some of the monsters (for that's how they're depicted) overplay their roles, if that's possible. The women are attractive and it's interesting to see that the queen has been outfitted by Dior or somebody, wearing a dress cut perilously low on her iliac crests. The men are uniformly built. Their pecs are massive. Their abs are rock hard. In fact, they're built almost identically. Can you photoshop a group scene? If it weren't for the photography and f/x it could be a sword and sandal epic from 1958 filmed in Cinecittá starring Lance Sterling (née Guglielmo Gogliucci).

But the photography alone almost redeems the film. The skies are straight out of J. M. W. Turner, smoky and smudged, but slowly swirling.

It's thought provoking but the thoughts it provokes are primitive. There is no overlap between good (white Spartans) and evil (black Persians). This kind of binary thinking is dangerous because it's liable to lead us into believing that this is the way the real world works -- all good versus all evil -- whereas in fact God didn't make the universe in a way that renders it so easy for humans to understand.

Too bad they distilled Spartan culture into nothing more than a lot of heroes taking "drunk delight in battle with my peers." The Spartans certainly fought well and the battle scenes are impressive except when they lapse into very slow motion or are overcranked to lightning speed.

Sparta must have been a nice place to visit though you wouldn't want to live there. They periodically raided their neighbors, the peaceful Helots, for slaves. Older mentors adopted young boys as sexual objects. If a newborn was deformed or otherwise deemed unfit it was put down.

I was interested in seeing 300. After seeing it, did I like it? Sort of. Starting with the good things, it is visually, technically and stylistically amazing with wonderful costumes and sets. The battle sequences are superbly shot and quite realistic, and the music and acting(the protagonist played by Gerard Butler is very charismatic) are decent, as is the direction. Plus there are some compelling parts in the story, and the script has its moments. However, 300 is not very well paced, in fact for me it was quite slow and pedestrian in places, while there are one two many clichés and stereotypes, one or two them I agree bordered on offensive. Overall, it was an okay film but it didn't wow me. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Many critics have criticised this movie, because it's not "historically accurate". They're missing the point. 300 is NOT supposed to represent the ancient Battle of Thermopylae – instead, it's supposed to represent the 5-part comic book, released by SIN CITY creator Frank Miller in 1998. I've read the comic, and I'm delighted to say that 300 is utterly faithful to the storyline depicted therein, which is basically the historical story with added fantastical touches and plenty of coolness.

I'm a huge, huge fan of ancient warfare so I came to see this film with great expectations. All of them were fulfilled. 300 is a testosterone-packed movie with plenty to recommend it. 90% of the film was shot with green-screen backgrounds, so that the majority of backdrops and locations in the film are computer generated. They look fantastic; far from realistic, but beautiful all the same.

While the story of the film – fighting, corruption, betrayal ad infinitum – is simplistic and the scenes taking place at the royal court very much par for the course, where this movie really excels is in the battle scenes. The fights are plentiful and superbly staged. Nowhere else have I got a better idea of what it was like fighting on the front line than I have by watching this film. Hyper-stylised by director Zack Snyder (who previously directed the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake),the various battles are full of originality and very gruesome – just the way we like them. CGI blood splatters across the screen, limbs fly in slow motion through the air, and every male viewer will be whooping with delight.

The cast members are pretty good. Gerard Butler and co. might not look or sound like ancient Greeks, but they seem to be born fighters and their perfectly-sculpted bodies give the movie an added dimension that recalls the look of the old sword and sandal movies of the '50s and '60s. Butler nabs all of the best lines and enjoys some wonderful shouty bits – "This is Sparta!" etc., all stirring stuff. Vincent Regan is very good as his loyal, emotional captain and David Wenham (LORD OF THE RINGS) reminds us that his presence in fantastic epics is a given. The rest of the cast is also decent, whether it's Rodrigo Santoro's creepy Persian king Xerxes or Lena Headey's headstrong queen.

And so back to the battles, which take up roughly half of the movie's running time. We get Spartans battling Persians, as well as assorted creatures like elephants and a rhinoceros. The ninja-clad Immortals prove to be entertaining opponents and the movie benefits from plenty of grimness, like the wall of bodies built up by the heroes. My favourite scene by far is where Leonidas battles the massive giant, who seems to be as immortal as he is. The central theme of the movie concentrates on what it means to be a hero and the inevitable conclusion is moving while at the same time fittingly heroic. All in all, this is a wonderful battle film that works on many levels and is sure to go down as a minor classic.