Epic about the battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 B.C. between a small contingent of Greeks, made up primarily of 300 Spartans, and a vast Persian army under king Xerxes. The Spartan king Leonidas (Gerard Butler) led his men, who managed to hold the Persian advance until they were betrayed and were surrounded and killed. Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel. Also with Lena Headey, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Regan and Dominic West. Directed by Zack Snyder. [1:56]

SEX/NUDITY 6 - A nude man stands at a window (his bare buttocks, back and legs are shown), he joins his wife in bed, they kiss and caress each other and have sex (we see thrusting and kissing from multiple positions and her bare breasts are visible).
► The nude, dead bodies of the residents of a city are attached to a tree with arrows and their bare breasts and genitals are visible. A woman wears very low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage, bare shoulders, part of her bare breasts from the side and bare abdomen, in many scenes. Men are shown bare-chested in many scenes, with a leather bottom covering.
► Scantily-clad women dance seductively (several are bare-breasted) and a couple of women kiss and caress each other; several women kiss and caress a malformed man whom another man is trying to bribe (the man promises him as many women as he wants).
► A woman drops her dress in front of a man (we see her bare shoulders), he slams her against a wall and prepares to have sex with her.
► A young woman wearing a sheer dress writhes on the floor, stands and continues to writhe, her dress falls open revealing her bare breasts, bare buttocks and thighs, and a man (with badly scarred face and discolored teeth) licks her cheek.
► A man makes a remark about a young man being too young to have felt the warmth of a woman.

VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - A man holds a large knife on a man, he kicks him into a deep well, and other men stab and slash several other men, who are also thrown into the well; we see blood spurt, and the point of a knife pokes through a man's back.
► A wolf with large fangs and claws and glowing red eyes snarls and circles around a boy, the boy walks into a cave, the wolf follows and lunges for the boy, but it is trapped in a narrow passageway and the boy stabs it through the mouth (we see the silhouette of the spear entering the wolf and we hear it whimper).
► A large army charges a smaller army, they clash, many men are run through by spears (blood spurts and we hear squishing), and the larger army is pushed back and slaughtered (one man is stabbed by three spears and the points push through his back, and one man's leg is hacked off at the knee and we see it separate).
► Another large army attacks a smaller army, many men on horseback are slashed and run through, horses are slashed and run through also, and blood sprays and spurts and we hear squishing and screaming.
► An enormous man is released from his chains and begins attacking many men (we hear crunching), and we see near strikes and slashes; the man throws an ax that nearly strikes a man in the head, and one man stabs him through the arm, the leg, then the eye, and finally cuts his head off (we see the head separate, fall to the ground and blood spurts from the neck).
► As punishment for losing, soldiers are placed on a stone and a man with crab claws for arms cuts their heads off (we hear a slash, blood splatters and we see a severed head floating in the air, with blood at the neck). A man on horseback cuts the head off another man (we see the head separate and see blood spurt from the neck).
► A man is stabbed by three spears, and he strikes each of the three men down before dying himself. Many wounded men writhing on the ground are stabbed with spears and killed. A man is struck through the chest by a spear and falls from his horse. Many arrows strike many men (we see bloody holes where they have been struck) and they fall to the ground.
► A woman stabs a man in the stomach, he lurches forward, and she pushes the knife deeper, twice (we hear crunching), and then withdraws it and the man falls to the floor. A man throws a spear that slashes another man's face (blood pours from the wound. A man with a large knife jumps toward a man who raises a whip, and cuts his arm off (we see the arm separate and blood splatters).
► A rhinoceros pierces several men and tosses them into the air, and a man throws a spear striking the rhino in the head and it falls dead on the ground. Many elephants rear and stomp near men, the elephants are frightened, they back up and fall off a high cliff.
► There are several dead men who have been speared up through their bodies and out the mouth. An enormous wall of bodies is built and pushed over and onto an approaching army. There are many dead bodies that have been used as "mortar" in a stone wall (we see blood on them).
► Many men come upon a city that has been attacked and has been left burning (we see a dead horse on the ground with large gaping wounds and flies buzzing around it) and a child approaches the men and tells them what happened; we see a large tree with the nude bodies of residents of the city attached to it with arrows.
► Flaming jars are thrown, they explode and send shrapnel everywhere (we see one man struck in the leg by a piece). Many men are pushed back to a cliff's edge and over it, falling onto rocks and the sea below. Many arrows are launched toward men who cover themselves with their shields. A man loses the use of his eye during a battle.
► A man grabs a woman by the throat and shoves her against a wall, he then turns her around, pushes her against a wall and prepares to have sex with her. A boy straddling another boy punches him repeatedly in the face (blood spurts, and the boy's face is bloody and bruised, as are the aggressor's hands).
► A boy is tied to a pole and lashed across the back repeatedly (he winces). A man whips men who carry him on a heavy platform. A man whips soldiers that are marching into battle.
► A man and a boy (they're father and son) fight with knives, the boy's knife is knocked out of his hands and the man strikes him in the face (we see his bloody lip); they then continue to fight. We see a boy being taken from his mother at the age of 7 (the mother struggles against two guards holding her, as does the boy). A woman slaps a man in the face.
► Thunder crashes and lightning flashes on a mound of skulls at the bottom of a cliff while a man examines a newborn for imperfections (we hear that imperfect infants are discarded). Men on horseback charge into a city, one horse rears and the rider holds a string of skulls (we are told they are the skulls of fallen kings).
► We see five men with badly scarred faces, and discolored and malformed teeth. A badly malformed man with a hunchback and scarring on his back and face is shown in several scenes. The mask of a man is knocked off and we see a grey-tinged face. Several people are shown with piercings on their heads and faces.
► Many ships are crushed during a heavy storm (we see the bodies of men sinking into the water and a few large wounds are visible). A man climbs up a sheer rock wall.
► A man grieves over the death of his son. A man talks about a group of warriors who cannot be killed or defeated. We hear about boys being trained to be warriors by being placed in extreme circumstances and left to fight for survival. There are several allusions to the fact that, once a country is occupied, its women will be raped and the women and children will be enslaved. A man is dismissive of a woman and questions her right to speak to men. A man threatens a man with death.

LANGUAGE 2 - 3 sexual references, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (swine, motherless dogs, stupid).

SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown drinking wine in a couple of scenes. There is smoke in the air in a scene and people act as if they might be under the influence of something, but it is not clear.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Warrior societies, freedom, slavery, submission, being tested, love, respect, honor, mercy, betrayal, reason, kindness, idealism, realism, opportunism, mortality, retreat, bribery, surrender, regret, hate, liberty, justice, hope, courage, choices, bravery, duty, remembering those who fall in battle, anarchy, hubris, glory, trust, adultery, fear, oracles, treason, tyranny, mysticism, death of a child.

MESSAGE - Trust reason before faith. Duty should be placed above all else, including life.