Australian actor David Wenham has called on movie-goers to see gory war epic 300 with an open mind, because it is just entertainment.

The film - based on Frank Miller's graphic novel - is about the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.c., where a small Spartan army survived attacks from a massive Persian force for three days.

And though the Zach Snyder movie has received mixed reviews in the Us, Wenham insists fans view it only as a means of entertainment.

Speaking at the movie's premiere, he says, "I don't really read the reviews; I haven't paid any attention to it. At the end of the day, it's entertainment based on a comic book so we didn't really think about that when we made it."

And his co-star Lena Headey, who plays Queen Gorgo to Gerard Butler's King Leonidas, admits she didn't think about how 300 would be received either.

She says, "For me it's a process because you never know what the outcome is gonna be and we just had fun doing it.

"And when you see it on screen it's just big and loud and it's great!"