学文网翻译：洪馥芝
《斯巴达三百勇士》根据弗兰克・米勒（还记得同样改编自其漫画的《夜魔侠》和《罪恶之城》吗？）的漫画改编，而漫画本身则是依据历史上著名的温泉关之战创作的。没有大腕，却被誉为2007年最值得期待的电影之一。一起来看看它的魅力何在。
In 480 BC, King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) sends his massive Persian army to 1)conquer all of Greece. Against impossible numbers, Spartan King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) 2)assembles his army of 300 3)courageous warriors to lead Greece in the defense of the country. They will 4)engage the Persians in battle at 5)Thermopylae in a narrow canyon where the 6)invaders cannot take full advantage of their army of hundreds of thousands. The mission proves to be 7)suicidal after all, but it also proves to be devastating to the Persians and inspires the rest of Greece to unite and defeat the weakened enemy.
The History
The film 300 is based on the real-life Battle of Thermopylae, which is often cited as one of the most famous “last 8)stands”in history. Led by King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan men, an 9)alliance of Greek 10)city-states took on the invading Persian army that outnumbered them by a count of 200,000 to 7,000. Taking advantage of the 11)terrain, the Greeks blocked a narrow 50-foot-wide pass and prevented the massive army of Xerxes from 12)advancing. After two days of fighting, the Persians had suffered heavy losses. On the third day, a local 13)betrayed the Greek army and showed the Persians a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. King Leonidas 14)dismissed the rest of the army, but stayed behind with his 300 men to slow down the Persians as much as possible and to allow the rest of the Greek army to escape. It was a suicidal mission, but the battle alarmed Xerxes enough to 15)withdraw some of his troops. He only sent a part of his force to finish the conquest of Greece, which had banded by then and 16)subsequently defeated the Persians.
The Movie
To achieve their vision for the world of the story, the filmmakers have combined live action with 17)virtual backgrounds. Nearly everything was built and shot indoors in a blue screen environment, with a fully designed 3D background for each scene. The actors and some basic 18)foreground elements were the only real objects in the scenes. The rest is all 19)abstract terrains created by computers. The final result is something that 20)resembles an ancient combat in hell. Needless to say, it is a totally remarkable world and one that is as important as any of the movies actors.
Rather than a historically 21)accurate 22)depiction, 300 will be, first and foremost, a 23)decadent and amazingly violent movie that places far more focus on special effects and innovation than on realism. Frank Miller, who has been a hot item in Hollywood since Robert Rodriguez transformed his Sin City into an 24)acclaimed movie, created the amazing graphic novel 300. From the moment the first 25)footage was shown, the film has been praised as a masterpiece and has quickly become one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
公元前480年，波斯国王薛西斯（罗德里格・桑托罗饰）举兵欲征服整个希腊。面对这场力量悬殊的战争，斯巴达国王列奥尼达斯（杰拉德・巴特勒饰）召集三百名英勇的战士领***卫国，保卫国土。他们将在塞莫皮莱的一个狭窄的峡谷中与波斯大***交锋，因为这里的地形不利于敌***发挥其人数上的优势。虽然此战终究还是以卵击石之举，毫无胜算，但也对波斯的兵力造成了极大的损耗，并大大鼓舞了希腊其它地方的人民团结一致，击败已遭削弱的敌***。
历史回放
电影《斯巴达三百勇士》改编自真实的塞莫皮莱之战（即温泉关之战），此战在历史上常被称为“最后抵抗”的最著名战役之一。列奥尼达斯王及其三百斯巴达勇士率领各希腊城邦的人民，以七千之数抵挡波斯二十万大***。希腊***利用塞莫皮莱狭隘险要的地形，钳制了一道仅有50英尺（约15米）宽的关卡，阻挡了薛西斯大***的前进。持续两天激战后，波斯***队元气大伤。第三天，一个本地人背叛了希腊***队，指给波斯***一条可通往希腊***队后方的山道。列奥尼达斯王遣散了***队的余部，只留下三百名勇士留守阵地，尽量拖延时间，让希腊***队的余部得以逃脱。这无疑是一个自杀式的举动，但先前一仗已足以使薛西斯提高警惕，撤退一部分***队。后来他只派出了一部分***力去征服希腊，但其时希腊各地已经联合起来，随后击败了波斯人。
影片
为了传达他们对故事发生时的那个世界的看法，该片制作者运用了真人实景拍摄与虚拟背景结合的方法。几乎每一样东西都是专门制作的，并于室内蓝屏环境下拍摄，每一幕都配以一个精心设计的3D背景。场景中只有演员及一些基本前景元素是真实的，其余都是由电脑虚拟的地形。最后的效果就像发生在地狱里的一场远古战役。毋庸多言，影片所创造出来的这个世界令人惊叹，它在片中发挥的重要性丝毫不亚于任何一名演员。
《斯巴达三百勇士》并不是对历史的准确描述，而首先是一部带有颓废色彩然而激战场面动人心魄的影片，它更侧重于特效及创新，其次才是事实。这部绘本小说出自弗兰克・米勒的手笔，自从罗伯特・罗德里格兹将他的《罪恶之城》改编成广受赞誉的电影后，他就成了好莱坞的热门人物。自从第一段镜头曝光后，该片即被誉为一部杰作，随即成为本年度最令人期待的电影之一。