300 - Rise of an Empire - Blu-ray

Movie: After the dramatic battle at Thermopylae, the war is far from over. As Leonidas and his brave 300 Spartans try to make a stand against the numerically superior army of Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), Greek general Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) tries to make his dream of a united Greece a reality in battle against the destructive armada of Xerxes` fleet commander Artemisia (Eva Green). But only a small band of fighters joins the erstwhile hero of the Battle of Marathon. Despite a few successful moves, Themistokeles must realize that he is no match for the hate-driven Artemisia and her army. But as news spreads of the heroic deaths of Leonidas and his men, the tide may yet turn...

The opening scene of 300 - Rise of an Empire picks up right where Zack Snyder's 2007 film left off. Still, it's not directly a continuation of the story, as the action takes place not only after, but also before and during the events of 300. Like its predecessor, this second film is once again based on a (yet-to-be-released) draft by comic book mastermind Frank Miller, which Zack Snyder turned into screenplay form. Snyder did not take a seat in the director's chair this time around due to his intense work on Man of Steel. That honor was given to Israeli-born Noam Murro, who, after his small indie debut Smart People, ventures here for the first time on a major production with blockbuster potential. The director change is hardly noticeable, though, as 300 - Rise of an Empire is very closely related to the first part, and not just stylistically.

If you want to put it in negative terms, then the term redundant probably sums it up best. Even though the fights have been shifted from land to water and Eva Green and Sullivan Stapleton engage in an erotic duel that is truly exceptional, the bottom line is that viewers aren't really offered much that's new. The action is a bit more intense, there is more CGI blood splattering, but there are no real surprises or something thrillingly different than in the first film. Even the decision to focus the action on Xerxes and Artemisia at first, which is very good in itself, and thus virtually reversing the perspective from the first part, doesn't change that much. After all, the 300 films take place primarily on a visual level, with the plot and even the acting performances being relegated to secondary importance.

That may not sound very appealing right now. But actually, 300 - Rise of an Empire does everything right, offering fans of the first part more of what made that over-stylized battle platter so successful. The battles are more epic, the comic book style more polished, and the brutality more over-the-top. If you enjoyed the Spartans' desperate struggle at Thermopylae, you'll be thoroughly entertained here as well. Sullivan Stapleton, known from the series Strike Back, can't quite hold a candle to his predecessor Gerard Butler. But with Eva Green they found an antagonist who is so wonderfully demon-evil and sexy at the same time that every scene with her is a real pleasure.

Whoever expects historical accuracy, sophisticated dialogues or a multi-layered dramaturgy will of course tear his hair out in despair after a few minutes. 300 - Rise of an Empire bristles with pathos, clichéd dialogues and overblown characters. But as a pure fun movie, Noam Murro has succeeded in making a more than worthy sequel that will drive fine minds into madness.Fans of the first film, as well as Frank Miller's original, will have a lot of fun with this one. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The 2D Blu-ray can fully convince in audiovisual terms. The picture is absolutely clean and features extremely high image sharpness, even in the darker sequences, which allows even small details to be seen well. A slight soft-focus effect comes into play in some scenes, which detracts a bit from the overall sharpness. However, this is a deliberately used stylistic device and should therefore not be seen as a weakness in the technical implementation. The colors are very coherently implemented and also the contrasts leave a consistently positive impression. The only downer of the good picture quality is that it makes the artificial character of the green screen shots even more obvious.

The sound is present as a very lively 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that really makes the home theater shake, especially in the numerous action sequences. The many sound effects are very well mixed and consistently bring plenty of dynamics to the surrounds. The dialogues are well balanced and understandable. Overall, there is for image and sound a more than deserved: very good!

Extras: The Blu-ray has just under 80 minutes of bonus material to offer. Let's get started with the four-part 300 - Effect. Here, Three Days in Hell (approx. 7:08 min.) highlights the connections between the two 300 films, while Brutal Acrobatics (approx. 9:08 min.) focuses on the look of the film and the 3D effects. A New Kind of Hero (approx. 4:49 min.) examines how the heroes of the two films differ from each other, and The Battle at Sea (approx. 8:52 min.) shows how the many scenes on the raging sea without so much as a drop of water were staged using green screen footage.

The featurette True Leaders and Legends (approx. 22:52 mins) makes it clear that the film is just a variation on a legend, which in turn is also just a free version of historical events. What the legend and historical events look like is revealed a bit here. The short documentary Warrior Women (approx. 12:22 min.) focuses on Artemisia and Queen Gorgo and their actresses Eva Green and Lena Headey. Barbarian Warships (approx. 10:36 min.) shows how fiction and authenticity were also mixed in the design of the ships. And finally, How to Become a Warrior (approx. 4:39 min.) takes a look at the tough training that the actors had to go through. Overall, a pretty comprehensive bonus package worth watching. Good!

Conclusion: 300 - Rise of an Empire may not necessarily convince with highly intelligent dialogues, a sophisticated dramaturgy or a sophisticated character drawing. But as a pure entertainment film, this comic book-esque slugfest is an absolutely worthy sequel to Zack Snyder's 2007 blockbuster. Featuring a great Eva Green, some impressive visual effects, and plenty of CGI blood, this stylish battle extravaganza provides just under 100 minutes of the best entertainment. The 2D Blu-ray is technically very well implemented and also has a lot of neat extras to offer. For this there is then also a clear: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp