20 Biggest Blockbuster Movie Showdowns Of All Time

18. The Battle Of Thermopylae - 300 (2007)

While many would dispute the 'visionary director' tag that has accompanied his name in the marketing materials of his more recent efforts, there is no doubting that on a visual level at least Zack Snyder is one of the best in the business. 300 is loaded with two-dimensional characters, one-note performances and wooden dialogue, but it didn't ring up over $450m at the box office because of the narrative. People went to see some stylized, visceral clashes between warring armies and on that front, the movie definitely delivered. With a plot that could be summed up in one sentence, 300 needed to provide some solid action to avoid becoming a flop. Which it did, thanks to half of the movie being solely dedicated to the numerous violent scraps between Gerard Butler's titular Spartans and the numerically-superior Persian forces. Utilizing the relatively new digital backlot technique, Snyder shot the entire movie on bluescreen to faithfully recreate the panels of Frank Miller's source material. Adding his own stylistic flourishes, the director incorporated slow-motion, speed-ramping and torrents of CGI blood into the mix to create an extended battle sequence that offered plenty of violent spectacle in amongst the dazzling visuals.