300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
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The story
Following the death of King Darius, his son Xerxes seeks to become a 'God-King' and avenge his father by declaring war on Greece. As the Persian forces advance toward Thermopylae, the Greek leader Themistocles convinces the council to provide a fleet to engage the Persians at sea. Themistocles must navigate complex alliances with Sparta and Athens while preparing for a massive naval confrontation. The story follows his journey to gather allies and prepare his forces for the looming conflict against the overwhelming Persian empire.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After Xerxes is crowned 'God-King' following a ritual in the desert, he declares war on Greece. Themistocles, the Athenian leader, gathers a fleet to confront the Persians at sea. During the Battle of Artemisium, the Greeks use tactics to trap Persian ships, but a chaotic explosion causes heavy damage to both sides. Themistocles is presumed dead by the Persians after being separated from his men. Following the news of the death of Leonidas and his 300 men at Thermopylae, Themistocles learns of Xerxes' plan to burn Athens. He manages to survive and reunites with his forces. The conflict culminates in the Battle of Salamis, where the Greek fleet, joined by a coalition of city-states including Sparta, faces the Persian navy. In the final confrontation, Themistocles defeats the Persian commander Artemisia in a duel, and the Greek forces ultimately secure a victory, forcing Xerxes to retreat.
- First release year
- 2014
- Runtime (minutes)
- 102
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Noam Murro
- Writers
- Zack Snyder · screenplay; Kurt Johnstad · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Sullivan Stapleton · Themistocles; Eva Green · Artemisia; Lena Headey · Queen Gorgo; Rodrigo Santoro · King Xerxes; Hans Matheson · Aeschylus; Callan Mulvey · Scyllias; David Wenham · Dilios; Andrew Tiernan · Ephialtes
- Genres
- epic historical action; war
- Themes
- war; sacrifice; vengeance
- Tone and mood
- stylized; gory
- Premise and plot tags
- historical fiction; naval warfare; sequel
- Source material / true-story basis
- comic book limited series Xerxes by Frank Miller
- Franchise connections
- 300
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews, with critics praising the action, music, and visual effects while criticizing the story and overstylized gore. It was a box-office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 45% · scale: percentage · review count: 197; Metacritic · score: 48 · scale: 100 · review count: 34; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled 300: Battle of Artemisium.; The score was composed by Junkie XL, the first in an ongoing partnership with Snyder.; The film was retitled 300: Rise of an Empire in September 2012.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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