300

The real-life Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 elite warriors from the militaristic city-state of Sparta held off an invading Persian army numbering hundreds of thousands for three days, gets a dizzying cinematic treatment from Zack Snyder's slavishly faithful adaptation of the graphic novel by "Sin City" creator Frank Miller. Snyder's film, like "Sin City," drops live actors into sets and settings literally painted by pixels of computer generated imagery, but Snyder's execution is both more visually entrancing (every frame is a vivid piece of graphic art etched in charcoal and crimson and bronze and fire) and more cinematically fluid and flowing than its predecessor. It's also a perverse glorification of military culture turned fetishistic fantasy, with men marching into battle wearing nothing but a scarlet cape, leather boots and Speedos, all with impeccably cut pecs and biceps, like an army of Mr. Universe finalists in a gay-pride parade. Forget realism, this is Greek history as "Lord of the Rings" myth and spectacle, with thousands of gigabytes of black CGI blood spilled and spattered across the screen. Gerard Butler leads the charge as King Leonidas, and Lena Headey is his loyal warrior queen. David Wenham narrates, and Dominic West, Vincent Regan, and Stephen McHattie co-star.

In addition to the commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes and webisodes of the previous special edition release, this new, limited edition features the exclusive 30-minute "To the Hot Gates: A Legend Retold," a making-of documentary from history to myth and comic book to movie adaptation. Also features a bonus digital copy, six postcard-sized collectible cards, a Lucite display with motion film image, and a 52-page hardcover book with film stills, production art, images from the original comic book and disc trays (it doubles as the DVD case) all boxed up in a handsome, sturdy slip-sleeve.