Here's yet another example of why it is I never throw my hat in the ring with “blockbuster” flicks, as, almost invariably, I find that films that make the huge profits and spawn massive followings ultimately leave me cold; case in point - Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300.
While many of my friends praised 300 for its rousing action and dreamlike visual style, what I saw was a slow moving and strangely sterile action movie that had all of the emotional resonance of a Nike commercial.

The film opens with a narrator explaining just why it was that the Spartans, ancient Greece’s warrior class, were such a fearsome lot. We learn that babies born with even the slightest of imperfections were tossed off of cliffs, children were forced to fight adults, and adolescents were made to hunt wolves. We also learn that, when they grew older, the Spartans would speak only in loud clichés tinged with Scottish and English accents, fight in slow motion accompanied by a throbbing industrial/metal soundtrack, and then all sort of stand around and wait for the next wave of slow motion fisticuffs and Nine Inch Nails music.

Frank Miller’s graphic novel interpretation of the tale of the 300 Spartans is a strikingly illustrated piece, and, director Snyder recreates Miller’s work with studious accuracy, but, as with most of Miller’s stuff, the dialogue is of the uber-macho variety, and, while it worked on the pages of a comic book, the translation to film makes for a clumsy (and, at times, laugh-out-loud-in-the-most-unintentional-of-ways funny) script that lacks any sort of emotional punch.

Then again, 300 really only exists as a vehicle for its many intricately staged battle sequences, and, to that effect, it's an unqualifed success, as well as a visually striking example of the potential future of action cinema.

Warner's Blu-ray release of 300 looks as good as should, and handles the film’s earthy, sepia-toned color palette wonderfully. There are no signs of blooming or artifacting, with a picture that is crisp and vivid (save for the computer generated soft edges and depth of field effects that are intentional).

The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD mix is a bit of a mixed bag, however, as the dialogue sounded a bit faint to me, and the differences in volume between the action sequences (with their throbbing industrial-metal soundtrack) and the film's quieter moments (of which there are, admittedly, few) is a bit jarring. Still, it all looks and sounds fantastic when 300 does what it does best.

HD Extras include "Frank Miller's vision realized in film "; "300 Spartans - Fact or Fiction?" ; "Who were the Spartans?"; as well as deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary by Zack Snyder, interviews with Frank Miller and Zack Snyder, "webisodes", trailers, and much more.

If you like loud, dumb, and violent flicks (which, oddly enough, I usually do!), then 300 is right up your alley, and a great “showcase” disc for your BD setup; however, if you want anything more than what amounts to a compilation of half-naked men beating each other up with sticks, well, you may want to look elsewhere.