8. King Leonidas – 300
Extra points here for being something akin to a real-life Badass. History teaches that he really did tell the Persians to “come and get them” when asked to throw down their weapons, though probably not with a Scottish accent. His seeming indifference to his impending death, beyond the pleasure of losing his life in glorious combat, his lack of fear in the face of hundreds of thousands of advancing Persians, his squaring off against an absolute giant of a man who takes a sword through the arm in his stride, his refusal to retreat, surrender or allow being outnumbered to cause his intent to waver. Leonidas is a towering Badass amongst 300 utter Badasses.
Although going down in an almighty flurry of arrows is pretty spectacular, the Badass high point of the film must be Leonidas’ statement of intent the first day – “no Spartan dies today”. He was right.
Most Bad-Ass Moment – This is where we hold them. This is where we fight. This is where THEY die. Give them nothing. But take from them everything.
