2006 • 15 • 117 mins • £23.99 • 1 October

Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey

Rating:
Extras rating:

A cynic might suggest that the reason there’s so much slo-mo in 300 is to pad out its meagre plot to two hours. Certainly on a script level, 300 is, well, spartan. But complaining about its lack of psychological insight is like carping about a lack of politics in Road Runner. This is cinema as a fireside storyteller, retelling heroic tales handed down through the generations. And while a fireside talesmith would embellish the tales his way, 300 embellishes the tale in a way only cinema can – through spectacle. The poetry is in the visuals.

In this respect, 300 is a dazzling success, riffing off Frank Miller’s sublime comic book retelling of the battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans stood up to the Persian army. Using stylised virtual backgrounds, it’s a refreshingly unique film with an authentic mythical feel. The fight scenes are brutal and beautiful, a guilty pleasure for a civilised audience.

At times it goes too far, bludgeoning you with credulity-stretching action seemingly designed purely to make Beavis and Butthead go, “Cool!” But love it or hate it, at least it’s different.

DVD Extras
The commentary (by the director, scriptwriter and director of photography) is an entertaining, fact-packed deconstruction of the film. A second disc contains a surprisingly brief Making Of (six mins), two easily-digestible historical documentaries about Thermopylae (24 mins) and the Spartans (five mins), an interview with Frank Miller (15 mins) and 12 short webisodes. Plus, three deleted scenes and a surprisingly watchable short montage of backstage footage set to music.

Dave Golder