300: The Complete Experience - Blu-ray Review - CLIPS ADDED!

DVD Reviews

By Jeff Swindoll Jul 22, 2009, 16:12 GMT

Zack Snyder’s vision of the Watchmen is hitting Blu-ray this week, so it shouldn’t surprise that 300 is also being re-released. This edition does manage to finally include the HD DVD content missing from the previous Blu-ray release.

The Persian king sends messengers to Sparta to demand their fidelity and subservience. Instead of succumbing to those demands, King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) drops the messengers down a well. This action basically guarantees war.

However, the priests will not allow Leonidas to have the full Spartan army battle during a religious festival. To get around the orders of the priests, Leonidas decides to go on a stroll and take 300 of his “bodyguards” with him. His plan is to take the 300 to an area known as the “Hot Gates,” a narrow pass that the Persians will have to pass through to attack Sparta. Meanwhile back in Sparta, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) has to convince the Spartan senate to send reinforcements to keep this small force from being slaughtered.
This will be the third time I’ve reviewed 300 (and the fifth copy of the disc I have if you count the HD DVD and the previously released Blu-ray) so I’ll not go much into the content of the film. I will say that the movie is a stylized, CGI wonder full of action and compelling characters. When 300 hit HD DVD, Blu-ray was lacking in the ability to provide picture-in-picture commentaries so that special feature was relegated to the competing format. With the demise of HD DVD, it was hoped that a new Blu-ray release of 300 would include that commentary and it’s come to pass. Warner Brothers also adds some new content in addition to the old picture-in-picture commentary so it’s all good. 300 is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). 300 is given the digi-book treatment by Warner Brothers so you get a 40 page book built into the packaging as well as a digital copy in a separate sleeve. Warner also appears to be making up for lost picture-in-picture time since it includes three new tracks. The “comprehensive immersion” tracks include “Creating the Legend” focusing on Miller’s graphic novel and turning it into a film, “Bringing the Legend to Life” is about filmmaking techniques, and the “History behind the Myth” is about the historical events that inspired both. Each has trivia, featurettes, and other extras that pop up in their own window.

You will need a player capable of playing picture-in-picture tracks though (profile 1.1). It’s from the HD DVD but the other picture-in-picture track shows you the bluescreen footage to the finished film, hosted by director Zack Snyder. Snyder also provides a separate commentary and is joined by writer Kurt Johnstad, and director of photography Larry Fong. The following special features are presented in high definition: the 24 minute “300: Fact or Fiction” details the historical aspects of the Spartan culture, the 4 minute “Who Where the Spartans?” looks at their society, the 6 minute “Preparing for Battle” describes how the graphic novel was prepared for film, the 14 minute “Frank Miller Tapes” is all about Frank from both himself and his pals, and 3 minutes of deleted scenes introduced by Snyder. These are in standard definition: the 6 minute “Making of 300,” the 3 minute “Making of 300 in Images,” and 38 minutes of Webisodes. I may have several copies on several formats in my collection, but this Blu-ray does a good job of distilling them down into one.

300: The Complete Experience [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.CLIPS ADDED:

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Ðåìîíò îôèñîâ è ñòðîèòåëüñòâî êàðêàñíûõ äîìîâJul 24th, 2009 - 15:15:09

Íà ñòðàíèöàõ èíôîðìàöèîííîãî ñòðîèòåëüíîãî ïðîåêòà ÐÅÂÅÐÑ ñîáðàíû îòâåòû íà âñå èíòåðåñóþùèå âîïðîñû èç îáëàñòè ñòðîèòåëüñòâà è ðåìîíòà çàãîðîäíûõ äîìîâ, âíóòðåííåé îòäåëêå ïîìåùåíèé è àðõèòåêòóðíîãî äèçàéíà ôàçàäîâ çäàíèé è ñòðîåíèé.

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300: The Complete Experience - Blu-ray Review - CLIPS ADDED!

DVD Reviews

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