Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/18/2008
Like Sin City before it, 300 brings Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's graphic novel vividly to life. Gerard Butler (Beowulf and Grendel, The Phantom of the Opera) radiates pure power and charisma as Leonidas, the Grecian king who leads 300 of his fellow Spartans (including David Wenham of The Lord of the Rings, Michael Fassbender, and Andrew Pleavin) into a battle against the overwhelming force of Persian invaders. Their only hope is to neutralize the numerical advantage by confronting the Persians, led by King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), at the narrow strait of Thermopylae.
More engaging than Troy, the tepid and somewhat similar epic of ancient Greece, 300 is also comparable to Sin City in that the actors were shot on green screen, then added to digitally created backgrounds. The effort pays off in a strikingly stylized look and huge, sweeping battle scenes. However, it's not as to-the-letter faithful to Miller's source material as Sin City was. The plot is the same, and many of the book's images are represented just about perfectly. But some extra material has been added, including new villains (who would be considered "bosses" if this were a video game, and it often feels like one) and a political subplot involving new characters and a significantly expanded role for the Queen of Sparta (Lena Headey). While this subplot by director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) and his fellow co-writers does break up the violence, most fans would probably dismiss it as filler if it didn't involve the sexy Headey. Other viewers, of course, will be turned off by the waves of spurting blood, flying body parts, and surging testosterone. (The six-pack abs are also relentless, and the movie has more and less nudity--more female, less male--than the graphic novel.) Still, as a representation of Miller's work and as an ancient-themed action flick with a modern edge, 300 delivers. --David Horiuchi
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Best BluRay:
Best movie you could add to your BluRay collection. Awesome fight scenes and amazing sound!
Do NOT buy the Blu-Ray. Settle for a widescreen DVD.:
I've seen this movie a thousand times on DVD. It is a geniusly orchestrated and well directed movie, full of action, romance and aesthetic beauty. But I will tell you I bought the Blu-Ray expecting it to be an even more breathtaking experience but was HORRIFIED from the result. The contrast was so high I could see the pixels blinking (more like dancing) in the cloudy backgrounds and on the actors skin. It was SO distracting, I could not concentrate on the movie's content. I tried messing around with... more info
educational standpoint:
As a high-school teacher for English foundations, I utilize movies as a visual aide supplement to help them connect with the characters, setting, dialogue... I only show clips of 300 when I'm teaching Conflict (man vs. man, man vs. environment, man vs. supernatural, man vs. self). I strongly recommend using this dvd to support your curriculum to teach on all levels of student learning (auditory, kinesthetic, visual).
Great "300" Package:
I'm a huge fan of "300" and I just had to have the "collectors edition" to include in my memorabilia.
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