Ready for a war with Iran? Hollywood is, at least in the form of a new movie, 300.

The film is a wildly inventive, comic-book-y feast of ancient history, bloody swordplay and patriotic rhetoric, ringing with the politics of today. Spawned by graphic novelist Frank Miller -- who penned The Dark Knight Returns, reviving the Batman franchise in the ‘80s, and who also created Sin City -- 300 shows the Spartan good guys defeating the Persian bad guys at Thermopylae in 480 BC.

Oops, actually, the Spartans lost -- were wiped out, in fact. But the Spartans won a moral victory, and the various Greek city-states managed to unite long enough to defeat the Persians in the overall war. And we know all about it from Herodotus, the father of history, who started a pro-Greek spin that spins to this day, 2,487 years later.

It’s because of such books, and now movies, that we view these events as an epochal showdown between the manly and freedom-loving Westerners and the servile hordes of Asian tyrants.

The Spartan leader, Leonidas, was indeed a cool guy. Vastly outnumbered by the Persians, Leonidas and his 300 soldiers set a jaunty masculine tone that still informs the military ethos of grace under pressure. When a Persian emissary told him and his men to throw down their weapons and surrender, Leonidas shot back, "Come and get them!" Stirring words to live by -- and die by -- and to be remembered.

In 1835, for example, when the Anglo Texans rose in rebellion against Mexico, the Mexican commander demanded the English-speakers give up their lone cannon, to which the Texans, channeling the Spartans, responded, "Come and take it!"

Every young man who sees this movie -- and movies are mostly targeted at the young -- is going to get a triple dose of adrenaline, male-bonding and macho pageantry. Words such as "duty," "honor" and "glory" are heard constantly through the film. Indeed, if spears and shields were replaced by M16s and Humvees, 300 could be a military recruitment film.

Moreover, the Spartans are portrayed as strong, upright and conservative -- there’s even an image of Leonidas in the pose of a Christian martyr -- whereas the Persians are depicted as effete, weird and decadent, all kinky and body-pierced. No wonder, then, that the Persians were lousy soldiers, victorious only because of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and outright betrayal. Indeed, the most sinister figure in the film is a Spartan politico who specifically identifies himself as a "realist."

And so go the parallels today, where for many Americans "realist" is code for "cynical," "cowardly" or, worst of all, "French." These Americans believe the United States is destined to lead an epochal struggle against the forces of evil -- led by Iranians, aka Persians -- in the Middle East. In addition, they believe that Uncle Sam’s chances for victory in the ongoing war are being jeopardized by "cut-and-run Democrats" and "white-flag Republicans" in Congress and the media.

Indeed, a hawkish "These Colors Don’t Run Caravan" is scheduled to leave San Francisco today, arriving in Washington, D.C., on March 17 -- there to confront anti-war protesters, whom the pro-warriors consider to be "anti-American." Along the way, the caravaners might pause to see 300, because it’s a film for them; the message of "support our troops" has never gotten a better cine-endorsement.

But wait a just second here. Isn’t Hollywood liberal? Don’t lefty studio executives love to tear down America? Well, maybe they love, even more, making money, selling lots of tickets to big red-state audiences. Or maybe they, too, adore a rollicking story put on screen.

Or maybe even out in L.A. they know that Thermopylae is a touchstone of Western civilization, a sacred piece of our common cultural inheritance. And so it’s worth remembering what happened there, long ago, without regard to the transitory politics of the millennia since.