300 (2007)
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Rating: R
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), Region A (BD)
Release Date: October 6th, 2020
Duration: 116 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 7.1, DTS-HD MA 5.1 (Blu-ray) with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (2.35:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Tom Wisdom, Andrew Pleavin, Andrew Tiernan, Rodrigo Santoro, Giovani Cimmino, Stephen McHattie, Peter Mensah, Tyler Neitzel, Eli Snyder, Robert Maillet
300 (2006) is based on the Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns) graphic novel of the same name, adapted for the big screen by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) who I still think did impressive work bringing the comic-based work to the silver screen. It's an ultra-masculine and sinewy film based on historical fact but embellished with the trappings of fantasy and mythical lore, of the unbending King Leonidis (Gerard Butler, Reign of Fire) and his troop of 300 soldiers during the historical Battle of Thermopylae, in which he and his loyal band of bloodthirsty warriors face off against legions of armies who fight for the Persian King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro, The Last Stand), who fancies himself a God among men, but Leonidis refuses to take the knee, instead raising his sword.
What ensues is a bloody in-your-face sword and sandal epic chock full of bloody sword-inflicted wounds, countless severed appendages, and heads being lobbed off at an alarming pace. Add to that monstrous warrior clans and giant bestial creatures armed to the tusks with savage weaponry, it all makes for a visual and violent feast that blew my hair back when I first saw it in the theaters, where I was forced to sit near the very front of the packed cinema, the blend of stunning visuals and ultra-loud sound design causing me to push back in my seat trying to get away from it to some small degree, it was relentless.
The flick is a sweaty, caucauphounous battle epic that still holds up in the age of UHD, the stylized look of the film so perfectly captures the source material in my opinion, even f some of the dated digital work does lag a bit.
Audio/Video: 300 (2006) arrives on 4K UHD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in 2160p UHD framed in the original 2.35:1 widescreen. This is a film that has a lot of digital effects on both the forefront and the backgrounds filling the screen, the visuals are highly stylized to bring the graphic novel visuals of the source to the big screen and with that CGI comes certain limitations, because when the digital artistry is filling the screen what we are seeing is basically an upconverted 2K source upconverted in 4K UHD, but that's not to say that the film doesn't look great, it actually does look excellent. Right off the bat you will notice that the film grain is more prevalent than the Blu-ray which I appreciate, we are watching a film, there should be film grain, and the close-ups of faces offers plenty of fine detail by way of pores and stray hairs. The scenes also look darker, the blacks are deeper but we also get more detail in the shadows with a much more nuanced presentation. The HDR10 color-grading is not an eye-popping difference over the 2007 Blu-ray but the highlights definitely get that extras push with the broader spectrum. While it doesn't have the wow-factor of an older 35mm film on UHD without the digital limitations it is still a pleasing upgrade with truer black and slightly increased HDR10 highlights with the increased resolution offering finer detail.
I found the audio on the UHD to be more impressive than the visuals, strengthened by an immersive Dolby Atmos remix that uses all the channels to their utmost, including the height channels during a particularly breathtaking scene of arrows darkening the sky. The bass is loud, the surrounds are filled with the sounds of battle, the score from Tyler Bates (Dawn of the Dead) is full of depth and bombast, it was quite a thrilling experience. If you're not Atmos-enabled it will default to a still potent Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix with optional English subtitles.
Onto the extras the UHD disc has the same audio commentary with director/co-writer Zack Snyder, co-writer Kurt Johnstad and director of photography Larry Fong that appeared on the 2007 Blu-ray. The Blu-ray disc that accompanies this release is the exact same disc as the 32007 release featuring the 1080p HD presentation with English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. The Blu-ray also feature the same commentary, plus a multi-part making-of doc, a series of webisodes, interviews with Frank Miller, an examination of the historical origins, and deleted scenes with an introduction by Zack Snyder.
Special Features:
- Commentary with director/co-writer Zack Snyder, co-writer Kurt Johnstad and director of photography Larry Fong (UHD & Blu-ray)
- The 300: Fact or Fiction (25 min) HD
- Who Were the Spartans? The Warriors of 300 (5 min) HD
- Preparing for Battle: The Original Test Footage (7 min) HD
- The Frank Miller Tapes (15 min) HD
- Making of 300 (6 min)
- Making 300 in Images (4 min)
- Webisode: Production Design, Wardrobe, Stunt Work, Lena Headey, Adapting the Graphic Novel, Gerard Butler, Rodrigo Santoro, Training the Actors, Culture of the Sparta City/State, A Glimpse from the Set: Making 300, Scene Studies from 300, Fantastic Characters of 300 (39 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction by Zack Snyder (3 min) HD
300 (2007) is still a thrilling and violent slice of escapist entertainment, the dazzling visuals and torrents of blood make for a suitably carnage-filled sword and sandal entry, and the new UHD is a decent upgrade if you're UHD enabled.
