Very loosely inspired by the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, the film recounts how King Leonidas of Sparta defies an empire and leads three hundred elite warriors to hold back Xerxes's colossal Persian army in a narrow pass. Overwhelmingly outnumbered, the Spartans turn every inch of ground into a heroic carnage in defense of their land and their freedom. Zack Snyder adapts Frank Miller's graphic novel with a hypnotic, stylized visual style of blood, slow motion and comic-book aesthetics, transforming the feat into an epic, brutal poem about sacrifice and honor.