300/Trivia

• Adaptation Sequence: Actual events —> unreliable historical document by a man who was taking a break from writing about giant ants —> Movie —> Graphic Novel —> Movie —> Video Game
• Banned in China: This film is banned in Iran because of the rather negative portrayal of Persians in this film (even though by an Unreliable Narrator).
• Beam Me Up, Scotty: Two minor examples:
  • There's a good twenty-second pause between the ambassador saying "This is madness!" and Leonidas responding with his famous line. Understandably, people usually omit the long pause when they're quoting the film.
  • Leonidas full quote is "Spartans! Ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight we dine IN HELL!", though it's commonly shortened to "Spartans! Tonight we dine in hell!" as it is in the trailer.
• Dyeing for Your Art: The movie is a gigantic parade of special effects. The monsters, the blood, the surreal colors, none of it is real. But the ludicrously chiseled bodies of the Spartans? Quite authentic. The actors playing the Spartans, as well as the stunt crew, went through Training from Hell in order to earn those abs the hard way. For a sense of solidarity with his actors and to "feel like a Spartan" himself, director Zack Snyder did too.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Discounting the main cast, the Persian messenger is Hammond from Dead Space, and Xerxes is, of all characters, Paulo from Lost.
  • Speaking of Xerxes, he was the Brazilian voice of Stuart Little.
  • Jimmy McNulty as Theron continues with his philandering ways.
  • And Stelios is a young Magneto
  • Dilios was once known as Faramir.
• Recursive Adaptation: The film was based on a Frank Miller comic based on his view of the film The 300 Spartans... as in he loved it when he saw it as a child, later saw it as an adult and hated it, so he wrote a comic using his childhood memories as the basis - he actually used a Nostalgia Filter to enhance the work! The reason it hits the Rated "M" for Manly button is because it's based around that integral process!
• Star-Making Role: For Gerard Butler.
• Throw It In: The Oracle's words are actually just ad-libbed gibberish by the actress who played her. Zack Snyder was delighted that she worked the word "Carneia" into it.

• The film had an Unreliable Narrator, and fans love it for what it is. If you're curious, though, this article lists every inaccuracy regarding the film's portrayal of Persians.