The Gladiator-esque cover; a fearsome warrior donning a rippling six pack, seemingly engaged in battle somewhat drew me in to 300, given that my knowledge of writer Frank Miller and his previous efforts, such as Sin City are still a mystery to me, although seemingly well-known to others.

Therefore, I sat down in front of 300 with no expectation, neither positive nor negative. The story begins as a narrative, telling of the birth and rise of the Spartan king, Leonidas (Gerard Butler). I was quickly drawn in as the CGI animation twist gave the film an instant edge, coupled with my intrigue regarding this period of history.

The film is acted well and is the typical underdog tale, although judging by the size of some of the Spartans, they are hardly the underdogs! Needless to say, the film follows said underdog pattern and is focussed around the ancient battle of Thermopylae, where only 300 Spartans took on the masses of the Persian army, led by Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro).

The story is uplifting and well crafted, with plenty of bloodshed and passion. The acting is pretty good, Leonidas is convincingly passionate and driven towards the legacy of Sparta, although to me, he sounded a bit Scottish throughout the film! There is little character building, only in the cases of Leonidas and his wife, the Spartan queen and in honesty, the villain, Xerxes is given short shrift by the producers.

The story is fairly easy to follow, the effects are decent and there are some opponents/monsters that are to gruesome for words. The film seems to encapsulate the time well, including plenty of mystery and darkness. However, I would not say the film totally engulfed me like a good film should. For example, after Gladiator, I am left wanting, almost to be Russell Crowe himself, and the same can be said of other films, such as Batman and Spiderman, where you are so taken aback that you crave to be the character within the film.

And by the end, while in awe of their ripped physiques, I didn't particualrly want to be a Spartan because I just didn't feel a strong enough connection with the film. So, while the story and cinematics themselves are good, it's not a movie that I will be rushing to watch again.

The second DVD includes additional scenes, commentary, Spartan character profiles and more.