300 [Blu-ray] [2007]

I think people who point out that the film is not historically accurate are missing the point. This is a dramatisation based on real events, as are very many excellent films around similar topics (Zulu, anyone?). It is not historically slavish in its approach, and makes absolutely no pretence in being so. If you want the best in historical accuracy (as we know it - much of which is still guesswork and supposition) then watch the History Channel programme 'Spartans - The Last Stand of the 300'. However, if you want a spectacular, stylised, extremely well acted action movie then 300 fulfils that role perfectly. It does take all of the key historical elements as ingredients - the pass at Thermopylae, the wrecked Persian fleet, the shaky intra-Greek alliance, the Delphian Oracle, the suspected betrayal by a fellow Greek - but each is skillfully embellished and stylised to enhance the look and feel of this epic experience. Yes, there is a great deal of macho posturing, yes, there are seas of rippling abs, yes, there are a many snarled lines of dialogue from Gerard Butler. The point is that of all the races which have ever existed on planet Earth, the elite of the Sparta were *the* most likely to have actually looked and behaved in just such a manner. All Spartans trained from the age of 7 to be the strongest, toughest, and most fearless men imagineable, and these 300 were the very pinnacle of that ideal. To me, their representation in 300 is entirely believable. Remember that this is taken from a graphic novel, and part of the directoral guidance would be to make the movie look and feel like a graphic novel. With its extreme contrast and muted colour look, it achieves this every bit as successfully as does Sin City. I have seen this movie many times, and each time I manage to take somthing new from it. It is richly detailed, emotionally engaging on almost every level, and fantastic in the true meaning of the word, without being unbelievable. The movie is true to itself, true to its source subject matter, and when viewed in this context, it is utterly immersive. Fantastic. Absolutely top marks.

Excellent

300 has been a go to movie for me since the day I saw it in the cinema. The story of how the Greeks fought off the Persians at the battle of Thermopylae is stuff of legend and has been adapted into one of the most enjoyable action films of the last twenty years. The film was originally released in 2007. It is inspired by Frank Miller/Lynn Varley comic book of the same name. This in turn was inspired by the real battle of times past. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, features a screen play by Snyder/Johnstad/Gordon and cinematography by Larry Fong. The cast of the movie includes Gerard Butler as the legendary Spartan king, Leonidas. His wife Gorgo is played by Lena Headey, Persian ruler Xerxes is played by Rodrigo Santoro and there's a number of actors from the time scattered through out. I have always felt that 300 didn't quite get the praise it deserved. The story is pretty basic, that I understand. It doesn't need to be complex and it keeps it about as simple as it could be without being down right stupid. It's not entirely accurate to history either, a common complaint. But it's never been advertised as such. The visual effects, the art style, the music and the condition that the actors got in for the film has really got to be commended. There's some incredible style choices that we've come to expect from Snyder found in this movie that has only worked in this film. For whatever reason, all the slow motion, the CGI backdrops, blood splatter etc has aged a lot better here than it has in any other film of his. Not only that, but it looks absolutely stunning in 4k. My original bluray already looked stunning, as did the sequel film. But when I saw it at discount, I wasn't going to pass up a chance to buy 300 for a tenner. A great price for this film in 4k, if you ask me. It was a great idea for sure. I originally bought the Blade Runner movies (which look incredible) and 300 sits alongside them in terms of visual and audio quality quite easily. The image is clear, sharp, strong and the sound is extremely immersive. It's a bare bones disc but it really counts where it needs it. 300 has its fans and those that don't like it will never consider the 4k disc. But those that like it, they should definitely pick this up for the extra visual depth. It's an incredible looking movie that has aged surprisingly well. It's the ultimate sweaty violent masculine experience and we need more films like this!

This is not Hollywood... "THIS IS SPARTA!" which sounds more intimidating when shouted in Gerard Butler's Glaswegian accent! If I have a complaint about this movie it would be that it's a little too stylised and unnecessarily populated with a couple of other-worldly type characters (monster caricatures being more accurate, which I still scratch my head thinking what were they about?) which is a shame because this is an awe inspiringly heroic story and it simply doesn't need it. But on the plus side, this movie never gets lost in overt Hollywood sentimentalism with gushy females slobbering over handsome heroes returning from battle to raise various sprogs in smiley peace and perfect harmony and thereby live happily ever after. (Oops, getting carried away, but you'll get the idea). Spartan women are every bit as strong in character as Spartan men... you wouldn't want to mess with either of them! For those unfamiliar with the graphic novel genre, like me, the sepia toned imagery takes a bit of getting used to but it's worth it for this movie. Narration appears throughout; verbally overlapping visual imagery which would take too long to depict dramatically, (though in reality it's probably a cost-saving exercise). At times I don't think it's needed at all but it's not heavy-handed and generally speaking it gets the balance about right. There is lashings of CGI in virtually every scene and it's used to create a sense of involvement with the storytelling rather than simply padding out scenes and the director works that feat effectively considering he's trying to depict a cast of 100,000's with a cast of dozens. As for the story itself? Unbelievably amazing! Can you imagine nowadays 300 men going into battle against a million? You wouldn't give much for their odds other than certain, rapid death, all done and dusted in seconds. Yet what the Spartans achieved was a kind of immortality for their story keeps getting told and re-told to the point it's become almost a myth. And for us in the West, it's even more significant because the self-sacrifice by these men paved the way for the feuding city states of Greece to unite and repel the invading hordes of Persians which ultimately and unwittingly led to the eventual rise of democracy in Europe. What this movie does so brilliantly well is in not aiming for Realism, but capturing the Spirit, the Character, and sheer Guts of the soldiers who fought in this famous battle from the ancient world. A number lines in the film are taken straight from quotes of Herodotus (the famous historian) e.g. On hearing that the Persians' arrows will be so many that they will blot out the sun, a Spartan remarks "that's good, because it means we can fight in the shade!" These guys didn't know the meaning of fear. 'Death with honour' was the only way to go. And as their wives said to them as they left for battle, "come back with your shield, or on it" you clearly see their culture had no room for battlefield compassion or cowardice. So okay, the 300 Spartans were buoyed up with a force of 7,000 Greeks as they fought to hold off the colossal Persian army's advance but they were still outnumbered by over 100 -1. They held them off for a few days and their valour could have been even more outstanding had they not been betrayed by Ephialtes, one of their own who acted like a precursor of Judas Iscariot. I saw this in the cinema with my teenage daughter and we both enjoyed it. Then I watched it on DVD with a friend who normally only watches rom-coms and even she was impressed, though she'd would have preferred there to be more romance! Even so, because of the pace of action in 300, the 111 minutes flew by quickly. Very entertaining.

I have studied the Spartans for educational purposes. The only grievance I would have with this film is that they made Xerxes a bit Julian Clarey due to the effeminate nature that is perceived to be part of the Persian attitude and dress at that time. When I saw this at the cinema I was not surprised to see people walk out because they thought they were going to see a hollywood epic. This is one of the best films I have seen in a long time although it falls shy in some respects to the actual story. Where they got the one eyed hump back from is to be queried and certainly does not fit with the story. Enjoyable definitely, action scenes are interesting and the overall sepia effect, very daring. Troy and Alexander were only perhaps, more watchable because of the "babe" factor concerning the lead men. If you had put some Joe Hope as the lead characters, chances are the films would have failed at the box office. 300 is slow going, but nonetheless, in my opinion an all time great. Congratulations to all involved in attempting to portray a very difficult subject and story.

We normally watch 300 at least once a month at home, so rather than catching it randomly on Sky, I decided to buy a copy, as we normally miss the beginning and watch from some random point. The story is very simple, but very detailed, visually stunning and inspiring. King Leonidas (Gerald Butler) is a Spartan King in Greece, which is being over taken by Persians, lead by King Xerxes. Although the Spartans numbers are much lower than the persians, they are incredibly skilled with little weaponry and outsmart the enemy. King Xerxes sends different groups, with different abilities, but King Leonidas and his men find and exploit their weakness. This was made by the same people who made Sin City. If the story was read as it was read by the narrorator it wouldn't take long to tell the story, but the breaks of visual detail are beautiful. Although incredibly graphic and gory, it is also very beautiful. Not to mention some of the cheesiest lines of all time are said during this film! But it adds to the brilliance. I appreciate some people are not going to like 300 - if you don't like blood, guts & violence its not for you. Anyone else I would recommend seeing it at least once!

This was the third flim in my blu ray collection as i have been a DVD collector in-till i got my PS3 and this is considered one of my favourite films , i don't buy films unless they are what i think are classics and this is a classic flim , audio and video / 10/10 and it comes with special features and the flim with 5.1 audio like expected from a blu ray flim and 5 stars for Amazon service.

Best film ever not a brilliant copy but an amazing film

Obwohl mir keine große Verbesserungen im Bild zur normalen Blu ray aufgefallen sind. Aber egal ich liebe diesen Film so sehr das ich Ihn mir bis jetzt bestimmt 10 mal angeschaut habe, und Er bestimmt noch mehrmals angeschaut wird als es ein Hammermäßiger Film ist auch Teil 2 ist Klasse mit Eva Green als Böse Flotten Anführerin der Persischen Flotte von mir aus gerne noch einen 3 Teil wenn es geht.

Desde su lanzamiento, la tengo en DVD, con la llegada de estas fiestas por fin a caído un Reproductor Blu-Ray, y como consecuencia he comprado una película que, para mi, no debe faltar a ningún aficionado al cine. A un precio de risa, tiene suficientes extras y el Audio es Español de España, para que no os quede ninguna duda.

Other 300 movies don't work in U.S. this one is excellent in quality. Recommend...

Un grand classique avec un Gerard Butler étincellent, son meilleur rôle pour moi. Et cette patte graphique de Frank Miller aujourd'hui en UHD, que du bonheur.

tres bonne qualité, claire...