As Gorgo, meanwhile, Headey is a terrific adult beauty who conveys credible intelligence as well as smoldering sexuality. He possesses enough strength and tenderness to satisfy all of the demands of his character, and yet defines the film within terms that will have audiences swooning over his personal stage presence for countless roles to come. Butler, a reliable Russell Crowe-like leading man who hasn't yet enjoyed the success he deserves, finally finds his Maximus in Leonidas.

Thankfully, the acting also plays directly to this seeming juxtaposition between classicism and modernism. Notwithstanding a sex scene that almost surely ranks as one of the hottest and most beautiful in recent memory, theirs is a partnership that reflects mutual understanding and shows the sort of commitment that is to be aspired to in real life as much as on the silver screen. Best of all, Leonidas' relationship with his wife Gorgo offers a rare display of tenderness and devotion that is seldom seen in 'guy movies' like this one, and provides some of the film's most profound and lasting emotional underpinnings. While they do in some way provide the latest cinematic iteration of Schwarzeneggeresque musclemen - not one of them is built less than Ford tough - they are not without thoughts and feelings, which are applied liberally to their efforts to protect one another and, by extension, their Spartan homeland.

At the same time, however, there is a palpable humanity to Leonidas and his men. Indeed, this sequence not only explains everything one needs to know about the hero, but reveals the origins of his masterful battle strategy… not to mention the Spartan philosophical ideals upon which it is based.

For example, the film's opening sequence introduces rather simply the cultural tradition that inspired larger-than-life figures like Leonidas: Great men are born and bred, nurtured in their natural abilities and trained to serve a specific purpose. Rather than languishing in the details of military strategy or inundating audiences in the subtleties of Spartan politics, director Snyder renders Miller's story in big, broad strokes. The simplicity of the plot is the film's greatest virtue.

Super game 300 dvd