I greatly enjoyed it as well, and I think most FReepers would, if they don't mind the blood and gore. While the movie is a bit of a Rorshach test, it's hard not to see the parallel to W of a lone leader and his loyal followers taking a courageous stand against a Middle Eastern tyrant to protect their freedom.
[slight spoiler]
BTW, the oracles or elders or whatever they are--inbred, lecherous and corrupt--seem like stand-ins for the Mainstream Media. Not sure if it was intentional or not, but that was all I could think
...with their "advise and consent" role, I saw them as Senators Reid, Clinton, Shcumer..et, all....selling their souls for gold, sex and power.... sweet!
300 was first published by Dark Horse Comics in May 1998.
It was collected as a hardcover graphic novel in 1999.
... a few years prior to the War on Terror.
It is a great movie, and I enjoyed it immensely. The message about freedom & sacrifice & strength are as old as the battle itself. Thermopylae was an inspiration to our own Founding Fathers at the birth of our great nation.
I saw the Oracles as more like The UN, no Spartan King could go to war without their consent, etc. Though they were corrupt, Persian emiisaries and the traitorous Spartan politician paid them off so as not to give Leonida permission to go to war to defend Sparta against the Persian forces.