300 is a highly-faithful adaptation of the comic book series by Frank Miller. Based on historic events, the movie is a fantasized version of the real-life Battle of Thermopylae during the Persian Wars in which 300 Spartans made a stand against the marching armies of king Xerxes.
Gerard Butler and Lena Headey star as King Leonidas and Queen Gorgo. Rodrigo Santoro plays Xerxes. Dominic West also appears.
The movie is most noteworthy for director Zack Snyder's visual style, which aimed to recreate the exact look and feel of Miller's artwork.
It was followed by 300: Rise of an Empire.