This movie, the best guy flick to come along in a while, was inspired by history and a graphic novel by Frank Miller, who was inspired by history and only he knows what else. It’s based on the war between the Persians and Greeks in about 480 B.C., and a particular battle, the Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartans and some fellow Greeks held off a much larger Persian army for three days at a narrow pass. They were defeated when a miffed citizen of Sparta betrayed them, telling the Persians how to find a back trail that would allow the 300 to be surrounded and defeated.

300 is based on Frank Miller’s 1998 graphic novel, which is a romanticized and fantasized impression of surprising historic accuracy. The characters look as if they stepped out of a Boris Vallejo painting. The women are all athletic and in very skimpy clothes, and the men are pumped to the max; it looks as if the extras might have been recruited from a weightlifting contest. The Spartans immediately call to mind the Marines. They have that same battle cry as they pound their spears on the ground, the same attitude that might will win the day. They also seem quite willing to die, and the women accept that. As King Leonidas departs for battle, his wife says, "Return with your shield, or on it."

As in Sin City, the actors did all of their work in front of green screens; the backgrounds were filled in later. The result is the look of a living comic book. It works. A scene in which a storm destroys a number of Persian ships particularly impressed me.

In 300, the battle is the thing. Brutal scenes are presented: Swords, spears, and arrows pierce skin frequently, and much comic-book blood is shed. Had it been real blood, or simulated real blood, I doubt that anyone would be able to bear the lengthy battle, but the cartoon blood mutes the gag reflex. During lulls in the battle, the Spartans spear to death the wounded Persians left behind as casually as the guy with the pointy stick who goes around piercing bits of litter after an outdoor concert.

The acting is stalwart, which is exactly what you need in this type of film. The actors aren’t particularly subtle. When they speak, I have the feeling that they believe what they’re saying rather than deftly interpreting lines. Gerald Butler, who played the title role in the film version of The Phantom of the Opera, puts on a different mask here to play Leonidas, the biggest bad-ass Spartan and most glorious warrior of all. He is convincing -- if this man gave you an order, you’d obey it without question. Rodrigo Santoro plays Xerxes, the Persian King, who fancies himself a god. He, too, is scary.

Some will damn the supposed politics of the movie. The Persians are made to look suspiciously Negroid, and some might take the film as blatantly racist: the white Marines against everyone who is not them. But to me, that seems a bit of a stretch. The story is narrated by a character who, we find out at the end, is the only Greek who survives the battle. He naturally slants things to his side, making the Persians seem as nasty as possible.

If you’re not bothered by gallons of cartoon blood, 300 will be a big rush. Try to see it now, on a big screen. Even in a fine home theater, it will lose some of its impact.

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