Posted by Martin:
Grades:
Audio: A
Video: A
Extras: C+ (Includes commentary track and second disc)
300 has of course come to DVD
and Blu-Ray
. I have just finished watching my shiny new copy of the 2 disc regular DVD, there is also a one disc version available as well.
I write about the movie here, my original review of the movie can be found here.
Audio
The feature disc comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 with a commentary track. There is no DTS track here, and I am almost always disappointed by that, but the Dolby Digital track is very good and location within the surround speakers is also excellent.
Video
The video transfer is excellent. I have seen in some forums discussing this movie that there is too much film grain in the movie. But that was the intended look of the movie, the "film grain" is added. Most of the movie is CGI, from complete frames of CGI to added backgrounds and extra Spartan warriors added in the background. So the film grain is just part of the look that Zack Snyder was going for.
Extras
The commentary track included director Zack Synder, Director of Photography Larry Fong, and . But the commentary is 99% Synder talking. As commentary tracks go this is a good one, Synder talks mostly about the technical aspects of the scene, but he will also focus on other aspects of the production. There is no "oh this person is sooooo wonderful!" back slapping that goes on in most commentary tracks.
Personally I have come to find commentary tracks to be a very ineffective way of telling how a movie was made. Things come and go so quickly that there is no time to discuss a certain element with any depth. One of the best commentary tracks I have come across the track for "Finding Nemo" simply because the guys at Pixar were smart enough to add in additional elements for their track.
What are your opinions about commentary tracks?
Bonus Disc
The second disc includes two "talking head" documentaries about the actual historical Spartan 300. In short, yes this is true story from about 2500 years ago, but what is even more interesting is that lines from the movie are actual historical lines pasted down from ancient historians. My favorite being "Then we will fight in the shade!"
The first two documentaries are good, but they could have been combined into one. But if you really want to learn about the 300, watch the history channel, The Last Stand of the 300
is superior to anything on this disc.
There is a third documentary about Frank Miller and his work, but don't get this expecting to learn more about Frank Miller. There are other documentaries out there about Frank and his work that go into more depth.
There is a very short featurette about the making of 300, I was disappointed in this. It is very basic and simple, my thinking is that people who are buying the 2 disc set are film nuts who want to know specifics about the filmmaking process of 300. But you won't find that here, look to the commentary for better information.
A "music video" is added as well called "The Making of 300 in Images". It is shots of 300 being made in time lapse photography, and it goes so fast and was so disorienting that I turned it off. This was a waste.
And lastly there is the webisodes that were on the internet, which can probably still be found on the net.
The single disc
will suffice for most people, really only history buffs need to pick up the 2 disc set.
Click here if you would like to see what else I have written about the making of 300.
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