Product Description

This spectacular two hour documentary tells the amazing true story of the 300 Spartan warriors who so selflessly defended their country against the mighty Persian army, estimated at being a million strong for almost 7 days. This is the real story of the most famous last stand in history. At the height of the Persian-Greek war, Xerxes, King of Persia, intent on conquering all of Greece, led his mighty army into battle. But what awaited them was not to be anticipated . For seven days the King of Sparta Leonidas accompanied by just 300 Spartan warriors and a number of Greek regulars held off the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, so that the Greek army would have time to mobilise. Against impossible odds, the Spartans held the narrow pass, inflicting shocking casualty numbers on the Persians untill every last Spartan was slain. This program is visually stunning with breathtaking dramatisations and graphics helping to bring the true story of the Spartans last stand to life and tell the real story behind what happened at the pass at Thermopylae, which is still used in military academies and by tactitians around the world today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11369 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-21
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Synopsis
Documentary detailing the captivating battle in which 300 Spartan Warriors stood their ground, defending themselves against a legion of marauding Persians - estimated at over a million men.

Customer Reviews

Effective and informative retelling of an incredible 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.

A noble sacrifice, but not as often told.
The story of King Leonidas' 300 troops holding back an immense Persian invading force is historically accurate - up to a point. Why 300? That was the standard troop bodyguard of either Spartan king (oddly, there were two at any given time, and they were subject to magistrates, Ephoroi.) Theirs was a fine achievement, deliberately gaining time for the mainland Greek forces (480 BCE) to marshall and prepare, although the 300 must have known well they would never return. It was the utmost disgrace for a Spartan to return defeated. However, there were more than 300. Each full Spartan (a homoios) had a retinue of several helots, regarded as of lesser status. So the true figure of the defenders of the pass of Thermopylai was at least 1,000. There's almost contemporary evidence of this, around 445 BCE, from the historian Herodotos, who recounts in full the earlier attempted Persian invasion (490 BCE) and who must have had some nearby contemporaries of the event, or their children, to interview. He tells us a stone lion was set up in Thermopylai after the final defeat of Persia, at Plataia in central Greece. There's no mention of a depiction of King Leonidas himself, so that the present-day representation of him on the statue set up in the general area where the defence is believed to have taken place is no more than guesswork.

What is accurate is the depiction of the horrors of Spartan childhood (on which, incidentally, the British public (=private) school system is based.)

Brilliant High Quality DVD
this is a wonderful DVD, full of great effects, packed full of information....some people bought it thinking it was the film and gave one star, how silly is that!, its a great great DVD, esp for the low price, an excellent gift idea, and wonderfully boxed and packaged