Except for Hollywood throwing in some romance here the story is very authentic to history. There were about four to five thousand Greeks holding a small pass in Thermopylae against a large horde of Persians numbering somewhere from 250,000 to 2 million Persians in the 5th century BC. 300 of these Greeks were Spartans and they did most of the fighting. King Leonidas was the Spartan King who was the head of the Greeks and his 300-man bodyguard. The King of Persia sent an emissary to the Greek King Leonidas. The emissary told the Greeks that he would grant their lives if they would lay down their arms. King Leonidas replied, "Molon Labe!" (Come and take them) Then the emissary said that soon the arrows of the Persians would blot out the sun! King Leonidas replied, "Then we will fight in the shade!" The Spartans and other Greek fought well for three days and won many battles again with the Spartans doing the brunt of the fighting. If it weren't for a Greek traitor, the Greeks would have held the pass. Yet, the traitor told the Persians a way through the mountains where they could surround the Greeks. The Greeks learned of the betrayal and ordered the Greeks to retreat. All of the Greeks retreated except the Spartans and the Thespians. They numbered around one thousand. King Leonidas knew that the Greek states were not united in this war. He also knew if they were killed in battle they would be martyrs and would unite Greece against the Persians. The Spartans and Thespians died almost to the last man. Their deaths did unite Greece to defeat the Persians. There is a monument to the 300 Spartans in Thermopylae. At the bottom of the monument is a inscription that reads: "Stranger, go tell the Spartans we lie here obedient to their word!" Also, about 150 years later after this battle, Alexander the Great attacked and conquered all of Persia and other parts of Asia and Africa. The Battle of Thermopylae was a battle that showed what good men could do when confronted with tyranny. It also was a battle to protect civilization. If the Greeks had been beaten by the Persians, the world may have never been the same as it is today. I have a BA in history!
Reviews
2 Reviews
Flight of Black Angel
(1991 TV Movie)
Ecellent story, well acted
23 November 2006
This is an excellent story of United States Air Force Pilots that could possibly happen. All parts in film are well acted and believable. The only bad feature of film is parts of the film that were shown that were supposed to be in Western part of the United States looked like they were filmed in Israel. The movie keeps you in suspense because when you see it you have no idea what is going to happen next. I give the movie a 7 out of a 10 because of the non-authentic scenery. If it wasn't for that, I would have given it a 9. Peter Straus plays his part well but William O'Leary plays a very complicated part and should have received some kind of film award for his part!
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