300: The Complete Experience (Blu-ray)

Buy this DVD at Amazon.com

Rating: R

Starring:

Gerard Butler as King Leonidas

Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo

Dominic West as Theron

David Wenham as Dilios

Vincent Regan as Captain

Michael Fassbender as Stelios

Tom Wisdom as Astinos

Andrew Pleavin as Daxos

Andrew Tiernan as Ephialtes

Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes

Giovani Cimmino as Pleistarchos

Special Features:

Bluescreen Picture In Picture

300 Spartans – Fact Or Fiction

Preparing For Battle: The Original Test Footage

Who Were The Spartans

Frank Miller Tapes

Webisodes

Additional Scenes

Audio Commentary By Director Zack Snyder

Additional Features Via Warner Bros. Blu-ray Live

40 Page Book

Includes Digital Copy Of 300 For Portable Media Players

Other Info:

Widescreen (2.40:1)

Dolby Digital True HD 5.1 Surround Sound

French and Spanish Language

French and Spanish Subtitles

Running Time: 116 Minutes

The Movie:

The following is the official description of the film:

“Prepare for Blu-ray glory and immerse yourself in the 300 experience as never before possible. The Complete 300: A comprehensive immersion”

“300” is rated R for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity.

Mini-Review:

“300: The Complete Experience” has all the same features as the “300 Two-Disc Special Edition” which was released on DVD back in July 2007 (as well as many of the features on the previous Blu-ray release). It is being re-released at the same time as “Watchmen” to take advantage of the Zack Snyder and comic book movie connections. There are three big differences this time around. First of all, they offer a digital copy of the movie. iPod owners will enjoy that. It also includes a small hardback book that holds the DVD. You don’t exactly buy Blu-ray sets for books, but it’s here if you want it. That leaves the final new feature – the “Bluescreen Picture-in-Picture”.

This bonus feature had me using buttons on the remote I had never used before. It actually took a few moments for me to figure out how to use it. In this feature, you press the green, blue, or yellow button as the movie plays to access different features. Yellow gets you “Creating The Legend” which discusses how Frank Miller created the comic. Blue gets you “Bringing The Legend To Life” which talks about making the movie. Yellow gets you “The History Behind The Myth” which covers the actual history of the battle at Thermopylae. Watching these will pop up trivia windows, audio commentary, and picture-in-picture ‘making of’ featurettes. You can also hit some icons and get kicked out to an entirely separate featurette. It’s certainly an interesting way to watch the movie and it allows you to focus on just the areas you are most interested in.

If you haven’t bought “300” before, this is the definitive edition. I don’t think they can add much more beyond this. But if you already own the DVD on some earlier version, it’s probably not worth the additional money unless you’re a really big “300” fan.

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