15 Most Epic Last Stands In Movie History

3. Leonidas Takes All The Arrows - 300

300 Leonidas Death
Warner Bros.

An epic last stand rooted very, very loosely in reality, King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) manages to get one over on King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) in his final moments, wounding his face with a spear which proves his mortality.

After this, most of Leonidas' remaining men are quickly cut down, and realising his death is imminent, he defiantly stands up to Xerxes' soldiers, who have their arrows at the ready. He longs for his wife ("My Queen...my wife...my love"), as the arrow barrage is fired in his direction, and it's all over.

Gerard Butler's gutsy performance, Tyler Bates' emotive musical score and, yes, even Zack Snyder's knack for entrancing visuals, combine to make this one of the most memorable and iconic heroic send-offs of the 21st century so far.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.