Frank Miller's 300 is a beautifully rendered picture book come to life about one of the most celebrated battles in history, wherein a small band of Greeks defended a narrow passage against the onslaught of a Persian army in the Battle of Thermopylae.

Weaving ancient and legendary history into its own modern myth, 300 is an exciting heroic fantasy filled with unforgettable characters and indelible images.

The creators of 300 have produced a film whose look owes more to the sensual impressionism of Frank Frazetta than the stark, comic-book style of Frank Miller, but Miller's grim storytelling and his celebration of sacrifice in a cruel world make 300 uniquely his own.

By giving free rein to creative art direction and character development over historical accuracy, the film is more akin to The Lord of the Rings than to Ridley Scott's Gladiator or the 1962 film The 300 Spartans which greatly influenced Frank Miller as a boy. The appearance of David Wenham, who played Faramir in The Lord of the Rings movies, adds to the visual reminders.

The battle scenes are choreographed and presented in real-time and slow motion like a deadly ballet, and blood spatters freely throughout like crimson in a Jackson Pollack.

Zack Snyder, the director and co-writer of 300, is best known for his 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Not surprisingly perhaps, 300 contains a number of grotesqueries that also could have been at home in a horror film, including the leprous Ephors, keepers of a beautiful young oracle, and the historical character of Ephialtes (whose name in Greek means 'nightmare') who appears here as a horribly deformed outcast with dreams of fighting for Sparta.

Gerard Butler is perfectly cast as King Leonidas, the embodiment of the warlike ideals practiced by the Greek city-state of Sparta. Lena Headey (The Brothers Grimm, The Cave) is finally given a role in a movie worthy of her, and she is outstanding as Leonidas' proud and devoted queen.

300 was created in the manner of Frank Miller's Sin City with the majority of scenes filmed with live actors in computer generated environments. It's another brilliant success in a revolutionary style of filmmaking.