Leonidas and his brave 300 always pretty much knew that they were going to die, and were utterly prepared to do so - after all, there's no greater death for a Spartan than the glory of battle. He even gets a good lick in at Xerxes, injuring him on purpose to prove that "even a god-king can bleed". Of course, he probably could have made the same point by killing the son of a bitch, but that's neither here nor there. The real emotional kicker of the moment is that as he stands amongst the bodies of his men, looking up at the archers on the cliffside ready to finish him off, all he can think of is Queen Gorgo. It's the first real emotion we've seen from him in the whole film, thanks to the macho nature of the Spartan men. As tears fill his eyes, and he wistfully speaks the words "My queen... my wife." the audience understands; he's feeling regret. Regret at not saying anything to her before he marched off to war, regret at marching off to war in the first place. Regret at not being able to see her one last time. All that, from four words and a look in his eyes - it's a testament to Gerard Butler's acting within the scene. Beautiful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj11Pj2T7Bw
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
