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300 (Widescreen Edition)
Warner Home Video Product Details |
Product Description
Based on frank millers graphic novel this concerns the 480 b.C. Battle of thermopylae where the king of sparta led his army against the advancing persians: the battle is said to have inspired all of greece to band together against the persians & helped usher in the worlds first democracy. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/11/2008 Starring: Gerard Butler Lena Headey Run time: 116 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
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
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300 (Widescreen Edition)
- DVD: 0 pages (2007-07-31)
- Publisher: Warner Home Video
- Label: Warner Home Video
- Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Vincent Regan
- Director: Zack Snyder
- Encoding: Region 1
- Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1,
- Rated: R (Restricted)
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
- Run Time: 116
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 1099 reviews
- Sales Rank in DVD: #536
Avg. Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Gorgeous cinematography! 2008-12-02
Comment: Gorgoeous cinematography! Wonderful story line of strength & courage! And came right on time as promised. LOVE THAT~!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awesome Film 2008-11-24
Comment: This film is freaking great!
I have the Limited Collector's Edition, with the digital copy... the only thing is I can't get the digital copy without the 25 digit authorization code! I can't seem to find it... anybody else experiencing the same thing?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: wish I'd known what to expect 2008-11-22
Comment: I didn't know much of what to expect--just that it was a historical war movie.
I tell you this so you'll understand why I was underwhelmed for the first quarter of the movie. The monochromatic filming, mostly in sepia tones, but then occasionally in blues, got pretty irritating. And then there was the Heroic Music and the Ominous Music trying to get me all excited or worried about characters I didn't even know yet. And that was really irritating.
It starts off with voice-over narration and a little boy going off to be trained as a Spartan warrior. Complete with a weird-looking CGI wolf. I couldn't figure out why they couldn't use a real wolf. Lots of scrawny kid skulking around being shadowed by a goofy looking wolf with the dramatic music. In sepia.
Truthfully, I was tempted it to the males and go off to the computer or a book.
But it's a good thing I kept watching. Once the boy grew up, he became King Leonidas (Gerard Butler). Xerxes of Persia invades, and Leonidas goes to the Oracle to get... well, basically to get permission to repel the invasion. But the priests are paid off and they advise against it. So Leonidas takes 300 men for a walk.
There's intrigue back home as the Queen tries to send reinforcements, but mostly, it's battle scenes. The fighting did really remind me of the Alerans in Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, Book 4)--the shieldwall type of fighting and the disciplined soldiers were very familiar.
The cinematography continues, with the colored filters and a somewhat dizzying switching between slow motion and fast forward. Here's where knowing what I was getting into might have helped. I've since discovered that 300 is based on a graphic novel that's based on a movie that's based on history. And then it made sense--the cinematography gave it that stylish, surrealistic feel that fits with the graphic novel.
It also made the violence much easier to take for this squeamish viewer.
So, 4 stars, but if I'd known what to expect, I'd probably have enjoyed it a half-star more.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: I loved this movie 2008-11-18
Comment: I originally had to view this movie for a history class on history on film. This movie blew me away. You have to keep in mind that it is based on a comic book so the coloring and graphics are going to look exactly like a graphic novel, which is actually one of the best parts because it is so unique. The movie is a little gory but that's because it is depicting one of the most famous battles of Ancient Greece. The acting is amazing. Also, while you are watching it, you can see a lot of intentional parallels with America and its involvement in the war in Iraq. When the Spartan Queen goes before her "congress" she speaks about how the war is being fought for all the reasons America goes to war. So this movie is actually oddly relevant.
This movie will have you rooting for the 300 spartans and will have you on the edge of your seat. It is non-stop action and fairly historically accurate. It also follows the graphic novel to a "T". I highly recommend this for any history fans, graphic novel fans, and fans of war & actions movies. Word of warning, it is a little graphic and there is a scene where the King and Queen of Sparta are "intimate" so it is not for young viewers.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Visuals, Over-the-Top Performances 2008-11-17
Comment: "300 - The Limited Collector's Edition" is a deluxe repackaging of the feature film with mountains of bonus extras. The plot focuses on the Battle of Thermopylae, when armies of the Persian Empire were hot to conquer Sparta. The macho Spartans have been indoctrinated since birth to never surrender, never retreat. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) leads 300 of his bravest men to lure the Persians into a narrow gorge where the enemy's huge numbers will be of no advantage. However, traitors are working to undermine Sparta's attempt to maintain its independence.
Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller ("Sin City"), "300" is a bloody movie filled with over-the-top, intense images and a stylized manner of acting in which performers are given to shout and bluster, delivering every line as if it were vitally significant. This tends to get tired pretty quickly. But the movie is fun, if only for the wild visuals combining live action and CGI animation and the film's muted color palette. In its clear demarcation between good and evil, "300" is hardly subtle and in many ways is a throwback to films of the 1950's when the audience knew from the get-go that the star was the one to root for. This is simple story-telling embellished with breathtaking visuals, the true attraction of the movie.
The Limited Collector's Edition contains the previously released two-disc Special Edition along with the new documentary, "To the Hot Gates: A Legend Retold," a look at the process the filmmakers followed to take a graphic novel's treatment of an ancient legend and realize it as a feature film. There are also a digital copy of the movie, a 52-page hardcover art book, a lucite display with motion film image, and six photo cards.
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