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300 Blu-ray
Warner Bros. | 2006 | 116 mins | Rated R | Jul 31, 2007
300(2006)Action | Drama | History | War     In 480 B.C. a state of war exists between Persia, led by King Xerxes, and Greece. At the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas (Gerard Butler), king of the Greek city state of Sparta, leads his badly outnumbered warriors against the massive Persian army. Though certain death awaits the Spartans, their sacrifice inspires all of Greece to unite against their common enemy. Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City) and Lynn Varley. For more details about 300 on Blu-ray, see the 300 Blu-ray Review Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan Director: Zack Snyder 300 Blu-ray, Video Quality  My theory and general observation that CGI and digital postproduction flatten the picture is certainly borne out in this highly detailed BD. I don't mind the 2-D effect at all, given that director Zack Snyder wants us to see the pages of a Frank Miller novel. Certain elements of the visuals are extraordinarily three-dimensional. The spears and blood and occasionally the faces and bodies seem to form a visual stage of their own, popping out of the drab background. But the fact is that the picture looks flat compared to film that is not born from blue-screen and postproduced to death on a video workstation. Where Pirates of the Caribbean and Casino Royale show a depth that almost welcomes you to step in your screen, 300 is not welcoming in that way at all. But how much of the lack of depth is attributable to Snyder's vision and how much to the VC-1 codec that Warner favors over the MPEG-4 AVC used by Disney and Sony BDs? That is impossible to say, unless Warner someday sees fit to release an MPEG-4 version of 300. I suspect it would provide greater depth and realism. The amazing quality of 1080p video allows one to make these judgments at all. So let's get this out of the way right now: the 300 BD displays incredible detail, delivering resolution comparable to film. It may not be the movie I'd choose to demo my system for a friend new to HDTV, but it's not far down the list. Just look at the film grain itself, prevalent throughout 300, to get a sense of the resolution. I would be inclined to rate the video much more harshly if the film grain was missing or not adequately resolved. I notice much whining about film grain, but that is like whining about water being wet. If it isn't wet, it wouldn't seem like water. And if there is no film grain in the picture, it wouldn't seem like film. Another subject of whining: 300 is in an aspect ratio of 2.4:1. I enjoy this ratio, but those wary of black bars, be warned. 300 Blu-ray, Audio Quality While the video detail is impressive, I suspect Warner takes some shortcuts and lacks some of the attention to detail in producing blu-ray content compared to other studios that do not dabble in HD DVD. I also suspect Warner takes shortcuts in the audio production of its blu-ray titles, and here again 300 is detailed beyond standard DVD, but does not get the highest marks. The audio seems a bit masked and not as open, not conveying the same depth as other studios' BDs. Mastered at a relatively low level, 300 requires the volume to be pumped up about 6 dB compared to some other content. But the tones seem accurate and detailed. Often, the sound effects are outright adrenaline boosting and awe-inspiring. The common clank of weapons on shields or crushing into flesh was resolved convincingly and brought the action to life. The background score was sometimes a bit muddled or lacked detail, but the average listener should have no complaints once the volume is adjusted. Voices were a standout success, ringing out clear and with copious detail above the soundtrack and din of battle. Some HDTV fans are excited by Dolby TrueHD. I have been to Dolby Labs in San Francisco where I was invited by a friend from Sony Singapore to compare the TrueHD and PCM content of a promotional blu-ray disc. We heard a difference that audiophiles would describe as a more realistic resonance with the PCM. The instruments reproduced using TrueHD had less bloom, but on low-end systems, this may come across as an advantage, so I am reluctant to criticize Dolby TrueHD. Those with golden ears and a reference quality system will definitely want to opt for PCM, though. 300 Blu-ray, News and Updates• 300: The Complete Experience Blu-ray Announced - May 12, 2009 Warner Home Video has announced the Blu-ray release of '300: The Complete
Experience' on July 21 to tie in with the release of 'Watchmen'. Video will be
1080p VC-1 accompanied by a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. It will be presented
in a Digibook edition with ... • New Blu-ray Release of 300 Confirmed - June 26, 2008 At the Saturn Awards earlier this week, Collider.com managed to get an interview with producer Mark Canton, who worked as the producer on '300'. During that interview, he confirmed that they were working on a new Blu-ray release for the film. Given past information ... • Wal-Mart Offers Sub-$300 Player with Free $100 Gift Card and $15 ... - June 9, 2008 As we reported earlier, for this week only, Wal-Mart is offering a $100 gift certificate free with the purchase of any Blu-ray player (including the PlayStation 3) online or instore. This includes the Magnavox NB500MG9 which can be had for $298 (or less than $200 ... • 300, Casino Royale Pick-up Awards at HD 2.0 - December 5, 2007 High-Def 2.0 was a one day conference sponsored by Home Media Magazine in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter and the Entertainment Merchants Assn. As part of the event, awards were given out for the best high definition discs as part of the High-Def Disc Awards. ... • 300 Storms onto Blu-ray - May 15, 2007 Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has revealed that they will release the blockbuster action film '300' on July 31st. The film will come on a BD-50 featuring a 2.4:1 VC-1 1080p video encode and Dolby TrueHD audio. The Blu-ray version will feature 90 minutes of ... 300 Blu-ray, Forum Discussions
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