Written by Fumo Verde

Available exclusively at The History Channel Store, The 300 Ultimate Collectors Set contains 300 (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) and The History Channel's feature-length documentary Last Stand of the 300.

Seeing 300 on the big screen when it came out was amazing. Being able to sit in my living room and watch it on my new plasma flat screen is even more incredible than the movie house. Like Frank Miller’s comic book, the movie is dressed in beautiful artwork via blue screen, green screen, and CGI. To see this in HD would really blow you away, but even in its standard form, the DVD is still awe inspiring, and so is The Last Stand of the 300 brought to us by The History Channel (my favorite channel). An hour and a half of who, what, and how the tiny Spartan force held up the mighty Persian army, and why this story still resonates today.

My feelings about 300 have not changed since I first saw it, and I still believe that this was one of the best movies to come around in a long time. Sure it was over the top, gushing testosterone at every level, but who do you think comic books and graphic novels are made for, 96-year-old women? The vision director Zack Snyder had was to bring to life the images and ideas Miller gave us in panels and to do so took a lot of time and talent of which the cast and crew of this movie gave heartily. The picturesque landscapes and the gruesome, bloody battles brings us back to a time where heroes gave us hope and courage meant standing up for something that you felt was right. This movie affected me so much that even now while surfing when I take off on really big waves I yell out, “THIS IS SPARTA!!!” in hope that if I die at least I had the courage to charge it. Though this story has been told a million times over, Snyder’s interpretation of Miller’s take on the story portrays it in a way that King Leonidas would have been proud to watch.

Disc 1 of 300 has the movie along with a few other extras that includes director commentary, which is always interesting. Disc 2 has the making of the movie from beginning to end with interviews with Snyder, Miller, and even some of Miller’s comic book mentors. The disc also includes a five-minute collage, which, if you watch carefully, you can see them make the whole movie from the first shot to the final wrap. I thought this was cool because you see how much work truly goes into making a movie.

For anyone interested as to what happened and why it still affects our world today, The History Channel’s The Last Stand of the 300 gives great insight. Loving history as I do, I will now shamelessly promote this DVD because I think we all need to understand history. Last Stand takes some of the premier scholars of Greek history and lets them tell us the story while deconstructing the movie 300. By doing this, we get a great historical lesson that is interweaved with an exciting and energetic film. Though some film myths are disposed such as Leonidas killing a wolf to become king and Ephialtes being deformed, most of the professors agree that Miller’s description was the way they would have told it, embellishments and all.