Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The
Icon Below!
Title:
300: Two-Disc Special Edition
Region:
One
Genre:
Action
Stars:
Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, and Dominic West
Writers:
Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Michael B. Gordon
Based
On The Graphic Novel By: Frank Miller and Lynn Varley
Director:
Zack Snyder
Feature
length: 116 Minutes
Extras:
Feature Length Audio Commentary, Additional Scenes, Frank Miller’s Vision
Realized On Film, 300 Spartans – Fact Or Fiction? Featurette, Who
Were The Spartans? Featurette, Webisodes
Languages:
English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired, and English, French, and
Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Single Sized Two-Disc Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 36
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2007/DVD Release: 2007
Theatrical
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Shortly
around the time of Frank Miller’s Sin City theatrical release, photos
from the set of 300 began appearing on various websites. The images
looked as though they were ancient Greek art come to life and then the
anticipation began to grow as more information began to appear in media outlets
on and offline and then finally the spectacular teaser trailer appeared online
and on demand on digital cable, which showed 300 would take what Frank
Miller and Robert Rodriguez accomplished together in Sin City and take
the art of adapting a graphic novel to the big screen to new levels that had
never been seen before. George Lucas deserves mention here because his
pioneering team at Industrial Light & Magic not only changed the way we all
have been watching films for more than a decade, but the use of “the digital
backlot” in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy showed filmmakers all over
the world what is possible when technology and the imagination work hand in
hand. Thus 300 can be realized on the big and now small screen in a way
that was not possible or simply prohibitively expensive back when the graphic
novel was first published back in 1998.
Inspired
by the legendary battle of Thermopylae as well as the classic Fox film The
300 Spartans, Miller crafted a mythic interpretation of the story that still
resonates today, more than two thousand and five hundred years since Spartan
King Leonidas and his personal bodyguard of 300 of the best Spartan warriors
fought to the death against King Xerxes and the thousand nations of the Persian
Empire, which at the time was what might have been considered a super power much
the way Rome would inherit that mantle in later ages. So right there viewers
should know that this is history taken to the level of legend and all legends,
while they have some root in truth, undeniably are larger than life so anyone
expecting anything along the lines of a History Channel documentary
really should understand that even the earliest accounts of this story were
based upon stories recounted verbally over time. Fortunately the film’s teaser
and theatrical trailer proved that audiences got more than they expected and 300
earned more than $200 million in US box office alone.
300
has made American viewers ask “Who is Gerard Butler?” much in a way people
asked “Who is Mel Gibson?” when Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior was
released both theatrically and on home video.
Gerard Butler has appeared in a number of feature films and television
programs that have included the USA Network miniseries Attila, Wes
Craven Presents Dracula 2000, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life,
and Joel Schumacher’s big screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musical The
Phantom Of The Opera. Mr. Butler is enormously talented and while I’d
rather see John Carpenter and Kurt Russell make Escape From Earth instead
of a remake of Escape From New York, I will admit that I am interested in
seeing how Butler handles his interpretation of the American dystopian sci-fi
antihero Snake Plissken. However as King Leonidas, I think Butler will always be
remembered for his portrayal much in the same way the Spartan King is remembered
today. Sort of like for that brief moment while making the film, he was King
Leonidas. The casting for this film is truly excellent with Lena Headey holding
her own believably as Spartan Queen Gorgo, a role expanded upon appropriately
for the film by Director Zack Snyder. She commands respect and authority and yet
she is distinctly beautiful and sensual in appearance. The kind of woman I
imagine others may look it in Sparta and not covert her so much as admire her
like a work of art.
Andrew
Tiernan in heavy makeup and with the assistance of CGI still manages to bring
some pathos to his character as the traitorous Ephialtes though to me the true
phantom menace in the bosom of Sparta and Greece is perfectly embodied by
Dominic West. Rodrigo Santoro carries off certain calmness to his villainy as
the nine-foot tall King Xerxes and the dialogue exchange between Xerxes and
Leonidas is one of the best in the film. In fact the screenplay has many great
dialogue exchanges throughout and yet maintains a certain primal nature about it
so that the dialogue never becomes just a series of too cool for the room quips.
David Wenham’s narration and character portrayal as Dilios is inspiring and
yet at the same time it drives home the idea that this is more of a legendary
interpretation that is larger than life rather than a fact based historical docu-drama.
300
is being released on July 31st 2007 on DVD in both anamorphic
widescreen and pan and scan full screen single disc versions, an anamorphic
widescreen two-disc special edition DVD set, an HD DVD and DVD combo format
release with exclusive HD DVD features and a Blu-ray Disc version too. Watching
the anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) version that comes within the two-disc
special edition made me salivate with wonder at just how much more gorgeous 300
will look as a reference quality 1080p HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc high definition
release because upconverted to 1080i, the standard definition DVD looks stunning
and yet I know from experience that no matter how great a regular DVD might look
upconverted to near high definition resolution, nothing can compete to true
native high definition picture quality presentation. So I want to follow up with
reviews of both the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions once they are made
available for review. The standard definition DVD does not disappoint in picture
or in the enveloping English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack, which is
included on the DVD along with French and Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Soundtracks. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired as
well as English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded onto the
first disc as options and an element I like very much is that the feature length
audio commentary with Director Zack Snyder and members of the crew also has
it’s own separate English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired because
sometimes when one listens to the commentary one can miss something said or
misunderstand what was said and thus reading along while listening is a feature
I appreciate. Buena Vista Home Entertainment does this for their DVD and Blu-ray
Disc releases and I hope Warner Home Video and other studio distributors will do
commentary subtitling on all media releases regardless of the format from now
on.
Snyder’s comments are screen
specific, but clearly I think he could have benefited from two commentary tracks
because the discussion is just not fast enough to keep up with the film’s
action and I still have questions about the film that I hope will be answered on
the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions. It is interesting to note that the arrival
of the Persian messengers on horseback is the only scene in the entire film that
was actually shot outdoors. The second disc contains a series of featurettes and
some additional scenes deleted for various reasons with short explanations by
Director Zack Snyder. For the DVD edition, the deleted scenes are presented in 4
by 3 letterboxed (3:32). There are only three scenes and I agree with the
reasons why they were deleted. Two include Ephialtes and are unintentionally funny in a gallows humor sort of way
and would have ruined the dramatic flow of the film. The third scene with
monster giants holding dwarf archers is simply too over the top even for a
stylized interpretation like this film.
300
Spartans – Fact Or Fiction
(24:33) is a very interesting look at the film by historians to show how even
this graphic novel adaptation carries the ring of truth within it and also
discusses additional interesting tidbits regarding the Phalanx and how Spartan
soldier training also included intense study in logic, mathematics, song play,
dance, and even humor because a Spartan warrior was taught to use his wits and
of all the most difficult forms of expression, comedic or humorist thought
requires the most attention and talent and thus as a genre, comedies are in my
opinion the most difficult to write and I admire the wit some comedians have and
their ability to think on their feet as the best and even not so best often do.
There is a short featurette on Frank Miller’s vision that inspired the film
(14:33) and a montage of behind the scenes footage presented in 16 by 9
widescreen (3:39). A letterboxed making of short (5:50) and the 12 webisodes,
which can be viewed individually or as one reel (38:21) and are presented in a
letterboxed aspect ratio wraps up the bonus features directly related to the
film in this two-disc set. English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
and French Language Subtitles are included for bonus material on disc two as
well.
What
really disappointed me was the fact that unless they are hidden as Easter eggs,
the fabulous teaser and theatrical trailers for 300 are not included on
this DVD release. I would have jettisoned a few of the previews to have them on
all home video versions of this film. Disc one features a reel of letterboxed
previews (7:36) for an upcoming Jodie Foster feature film, the 300 PSP
game, the 300 CD soundtrack, the Superman Doomsday animated
feature DVD release and the theatrical trailer for Trick ‘R Treat. The
second DVD has 16 by 9 previews for Warner Home Video’s upcoming release of Bladerunner:
25th Anniversary Edition on DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc and
a Warner Home Video high definition HD DVD/Blu-ray Disc spot (3:39). The main
menu on disc one is animated while the subsequent menus are standard interactive
still frames that are easy to navigate. Some of the menus feature music from the
film too.
Before
closing this DVD review I’d like to recommend as an excellent companion to
whichever home video version you might buy is Dark Horse Books’ 300: The
Art Of The Film, which looks very similar to the panoramic graphic novel and
can be purchased on and offline now from book and comic book shops too.
300:
Two-Disc Special Edition
will debut on DVD-Video at retailers on and offline on Tuesday, July 31, 2007
courtesy of Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2007 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The
Icon Below!