My viewing of history documentaries on YouTube has lately been impinged upon a great deal by the trailer to the sequel to 300, which has a subtitle that is poor enough that I still fail to recall it after five viewings. I viewed the original 300 four times, and liked it every time, despite the fact that it was a fanciful mangling of the historical record. It was fun.
Some of the grotesque inaccuracies included elephant troops, rhino riders, maimed and chained Frankenstein-like troll men, the complete lack of national regiments of troops drawn from the diverse corners of the empire, and flying masked ninjas with double swords to replace the bearded immortals with their bows and golden-apple butted spears.
I liked the bizarre unnatural backdrop, and I think the ancient Greeks would have liked it too, seeing it more as a battle of gods than of men. The spear work in the pass in the early stages of the final battle of the 300 in the original movie was really well done. Of course the Spartan heroes then had to break ranks and fight like some Hong Kong cinema idol.
All I can tell of the sequel is that the story line obviously revolves around the Battle of Salamis, which the Spartans actually played but a small role in. I think the movie makers would have been better served to do a prequel to 300 based on the psychotic Argive versus Spartan battle of the 600 Champions, in which the 300 best men from each army fought until but three remained.
Instead we appear to have Xerxes fighting in the battle rather than watching from his hilltop throne as he did. The Athenians and the Aginetans were the main players in this Greek victory. My guess is the Spartans will take the lead in the movie and the Aginetans, who were later abandoned by their Spartan allies and exterminated by the Athenians, will not be mentioned.
There is one bit that does intrigue me: the inclusion of Queen Artemisia in the Persian ranks. This Greek lady did fight on behalf of the Persians, as many Greeks did. She was credited with a heroic ship-to-ship engagement that caused Xerxes to say in disbelief, “My men have become women on me, and my women, men!”
The unspoken irony is he had tens of thousands of men, and only one woman, fighting.
Although Artemisia was credited as a cunning captain who escaped from a tight spot through quick thinking, I am sure, in the film, she will be depicted as a flying man-slaughtering whirlwind of death. I also would not be surprised if you see horses fighting at sea, as well as more than one nod to Tolkienesque monstrosities. Nothing else would make sense to the modern American audience.
Unfortunately for the ancients, things were all much nastier than what Zach Snyder has and will bring to the screen.
So, wanna go see it when it comes out? My treat!
Absolutely, perhaps we'll run into Artemisia.