I was impressed with the special effects and some of the fight scenes, but overall this movie was terrible. I've come to expect some historical inaccuracies in movies, which is fine as long as they are not too eggregious and the story is good, but this movie had them in spades. The movie "Gladiator" was flawed but was vastly superior and far more enjoyable than this flick. I was pleased that they got the Spartan training right, yet what was up with this film? Am I watching the re-telling of a true historical event or a cheap knock-off of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy? Every bad character was depicted as some kind of demon and there were monsters in this. Say what?!? The real story of the Battle of Thermopylae is one of the greatest from the ancient world, with real characters that still inspire people to this day. I hope someone else will take up this story and do a better job with it because this one stunk.