In the annals of Western warfare, many names play on the tip of the tongue: Alexander. Hannibal. Napoleon. Wellington. Lee. Patton.

One that certainly deserves to be among them is that of Leonidas, one-time king of ancient Sparta. His is a tale that needs little romanticizing; under invasion by the mighty Persian empire, Leonidas and a force of 300 picked Spartan Hoplites, along with a few thousand other brave Greeks from various of her city-states, marched north to the coast and a narrow mountain pass referred to in local vernacular as “The Hot Gates”. There, they met a Persian host estimated by modern historians at somewhere between 250,000 to 400,000 men - and held them for three days, until the treachery of a fellow Greek proved their undoing.

Three days. Outnumbered at least 50 to 1.

While many of the Greek forces chose retreat when scouts informed them of Persian encroachment around and to the rear of their forces via a hidden “goat path”, the Spartans, along with a handful of Thespians, chose to remain, likely to cover the retreat of the remainder of the Greek forces. To a man, the Spartans and their king died, yet not in vain: The Persian war machine was ground to a stop, giving the main Greek land forces time to assemble and march. Persia, ultimately defeated at land and sea, was forced to retreat, abandoning its conquest of Greece. Greece would go on to lend many elements of art and philosophy to the Roman empire which, of course, would begin the evolution of what we know today as “Western Culture”.

(You can find a good Wikipedia page on the battle here.)

This epic moment in time is handled reverently by Frank Miller and the rest of the cast and crew of “300″.

The tale is, of course, classically Miller. It is outsized, yet boiled down to simpler elements that a modern moviegoing audience can easily relate to. He creates a toweringly heroic hero in Leonidas, a decadent and nearly androgynous villain in Xerxes (the “God-King” of Persia), and then washes the movie in blood.

Certainly, many elements of fable are injected into the plot, not the least of which are a giant rhinocerous-as-siege-weapon, a grotesquely deformed hunchback (Ephialtes, the historical betrayer of the Greek forces), and Immortals who appear to be something other than human underneath their cold bronze masks. As I said, the movie is outsized and classically Miller-esque. Historical purists are bound, perhaps, for disappointment.

For the rest of us, the film is gorgeous, compelling and inspiring: Gerard Butler, as Leonidas, gives us a hero we can love, who reminds us that life is not all Blackberries, lattes and TiVo. The themes at play in the movie would have, at a time in civilization, pass for the norm: Freedom is not free; sacrifice of one’s life is the highest form of nobility; decadence is defeated by discipline. Freedom is the forte of good, tyranny the embodiment of evil. Glory in war, for those who fight in a just cause. Fighting not the fights you can win, but the fights that need fighting.

They are old values, and I daresay that it’s not a bad thing that each generation of young men in this country be reminded of them from time to time.

These messages are not subtly rendered; on the contrary, they’ll be in your face from the moment the screen begins rolling the the end credits, and any viewer with the comprehension of a particularly dense child can’t help but miss them. Yet, if you’re so inclined, all of Miller’s artistic license with particulars won’t take away form the song the film will sing to your soul, as it calls to something older inside each of us - that part of us that drove Leonidas and 300 Spartans to their death and glory 2,500 years ago, and which drove America’s “Greatest Generation” into suffering, death and ultimate victory against Nazism a mere 66 years ago. You will, truly, find yourself moved.

Unless, of course, you’re inclined to look at any war as unjustified, and a militarist philosophy as barbaric, illogical and unbefitting the modern, rational age. If this describes you, 300 will just be another hokey war story meant to rile teenage boys into the nationalist militarism that you detest. Casual cuts at homosexuality probably don’t help, either.

You can find a longer review at Protein Wisdom which is definetely worth the read. Predictably, much of the extrme-left of the blogosphere is in a lather to ridicule or denounce the film - some pundits even going so far as to openly wonder if the Bush Administration is somehow behind the funding for the film. While I will admit that, as a propaganda piece, this would rank as Goebbels-esque (particulary given the timing, when support for the War on Terror is flagging badly), the fact that Miller’s “300″ graphic novel (upon which the film is based nearly frame-for-frame) was released during the Clinton Administration should (but won’t) put this sort of nonsensical speculation to rest.

And by the way, go see the goddamned movie. I have half a mind to go back tonight, myself.