13 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Filming The Epic Movie "300"

“THIS. IS. SPARTA!” and “This is madness!”

Those lines have been repeated over and over to the point that the words have lost all meaning.

So I’ve decided to take a look back and unearth facts about the movie, 300, which is very loosely based on the historical Spartans’ last stand against a Persian army.

SPOILERS EVERYWHERE.

But mostly it’s a chance to show these glistening dudes kill some other dudes.

And just a tinge of racial insensitivity.

1. As a kid, the original writer was inspired by the Spartans because he learned that the hero didn’t always win and sometimes they had to sacrifice themselves.

He learned those lessons from Rudolph Maté 1962 film The 300 Spartans.

2. The line “Come back with your shield, or on it” was a SAVAGE real historical phrase that was popular among Spartan women. Turns out that they’d actually say it to their husbands and sons.

Turns out that it was also okay for soldiers to lose their swords but not their shields because it’d endanger other soldiers.

3. The reason the dudes look so jacked was because they underwent 8-week training program – the guy who trained them, Marc Twight, is a world-record-holding professional mountain climber and said it was the hardest he’s ever pushed anyone.

Gerald Butler said the training was the most difficult thing he’s ever done in his life.