300: Rise of an Empire (Blu-ray)

A heap of bodies only partially explains the seven-year wait for a follow to 300, Zack Snyder’s ancient Greek affair in which Gerard Butler and 299 beefcake bros nakedly took on multitudinous Persians with only their swords and sweat. Butler’s Spartan King Leonidas and his men achieved “a beautiful victory” — not to mention great box office — but sadly lost their heads. A prequel seemed the obvious path, but then Butler went sitcom soft and Snyder opted for stories of super dudes in leotards. So the mere existence of 300: Rise of an Empire is worthy of note, especially the inventive means by which the story has been advanced. Neither prequel nor sequel (maybe we should call it equal), it looks at the other Greeks versus Persians clash that was happening around the same ancient time as 300’s Battle of Thermopylae. As any history book (or Google) will tell you, this is the aquatic skirmish on the Aegean Sea. The Greeks are once against vastly outnumbered by invading Persians, and here we meet the secret weapon of Rise of an Empire: women. This highly stylized account, drawn as before from a graphic novel by Frank Miller but under the direction this time of Israel’s Noam Murro, has a vibrant lead in Eva Green, best known as Bond girl Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale. As Artemisia, commander of the Persian navy, she dresses Goth but acts Amazon. To say she takes no prisoners is like saying Godzilla doesn’t have a calling card. Presented with an unworthy male, she summarily beheads him, theatrically kisses the severed noggin and then flings it contemptuously away. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially one packing two lethal blades. And although Artemisia is of Greek blood, she’s seeking payback against her countrymen for the raping and pillaging visited upon her family and town in her childhood, and for the killing of Persian King Darius (Igal Naor), the man who rescued her and trained her as a warrior. Darius took a fatal arrow fired by the Greek warrior Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), an event so important to the movie, Murro shows us the flashback twice, in case we missed the point. (Snyder and his 300 co-writer Kurt Johnstad penned the screenplay.) As fate would have it, Themistokles now leads the Greek naval resistance against Persia, and Artemisia aims to seduce, corrupt and kill him, not necessarily in that order. And she’s great, giving Rise of an Empire some badly needed energy beyond the endless grunting and sepia-toned blood-spilling of the rest of the picture, which does manage to make good use of widescreen 3D. Heads split, breasts bulge, bodies slam and ships collide with authority. The estrogen-enriched production also includes the return of Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey as Spartan Queen Gorgo, aggrieved widow of Leonidas, who also swings a mean knife but gets considerably less screen time than Green. Together they help make up for the absence of Butler, who is seen only in flashback, and for Stapleton’s serviceable yet unmemorable portrayal of the top Greek seaman. Making even less of an impression, apart from a sartorial one, is Rodrigo Santoro as returning god-man Xerxes, the heavily pierced peacock who watches the action mainly from the sidelines while Artemisia does the heavy lifting. We do get to see how he became a god while visiting a spa, but it inspires snickers rather than shudders. None of the men in Rise of an Empire are a match for Artemisia’s tongue, which is sharper than her twin blades. Given the choice between hearing her withering assessment of your sexual prowess, or having her shove a sword into your guts, you might just go for the sword. Ouch!

Fun watch

I enjoyed the video. It was not as good as the first, however, it was a nice sequel. I would recommend people watch thee 330 movie first and then the sequel. I hope they have another movie......Great war scenes.......thanks to taking some liberties on real world action....although, entertaining.....and good special effects..... Did Artemisia really have a hunger for warfare? Yes. Herodotus, also known as the "Father of History," makes numerous references to Artemisia as he recounts the events of the Greco-Persian war. He describes her as a ruler who did not lead passively, and instead, actively engaged herself in both adventure and warfare. "…her brave spirit and manly daring sent her forth to the war, when no need required her to adventure. Her name, as I said, was Artemisia..." -The Histories Was Artemisia really known for her cunning tactics and intelligence in combat? Yes. In exploring the 300: Rise of an Empire true story, we came upon the works of Polyaenus, the 2nd century Macedonian writer. He describes an example of the real Artemisia's intelligence in combat. He tells of how she would carry two flags on board her ship, one a Persian flag and the other the flag of her enemy, Greece. Artemisia would fly the Greek flag as she approached an unsuspecting Greek warship. Once she was upon her enemy, she would then unleash the full force of her Carian fleet. Were the Greeks really angered that a woman had taken up arms against them? Yes. According to Herodotus, the united Greeks even offered a reward of 10,000 drachmas for Artemisia's capture. Was Themistocles really responsible for Greek's strong navy? Yes. Themistocles always believed in building up the Athenian navy. After his political obstacle in the form of his rival Aristides had been voted into exile, Themistocles got his wish for a stronger navy. Knowing that a Persian invasion was imminent, the Athenians voted to build even more ships than Themistocles requested, leaving Athens with the most dominant naval force in all of Greece. http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/300-rise-of-an-empire/ Watch it! If you don't enjoy it...let me know....Happy viewing!

I really wanted to just rent this, but that wasn't an option. Still, I'll probably watch it again. As noted in the Trivia and Goofs in this 2d installment, the story is a bit convoluted, but still interesting. If you ever saw the "original" "300 Spartans", you saw Leonidas and Themistocles working to defeat the Persian fleet, which that story alludes to. Here, in "300: Rise of an Empire" we finally see how this happened. Of course Themistocles didn't kill King Darius II with that arrow, but regardless, this just allowed us to see Xerses become ruler and vow vengeance upon the Greeks, specifically Athens. In fact, Xerses isn't mentioned that much in this version as it focuses more on the two main adversaries, Themistocles and Queen Artemisia. She has her own agenda. The story starts out with Themistocles trying to gather the Greeks to support him and his navy to confront the Persians. The Spartan Queen Gorgo is reluctant as her husband and his bodyguard have left to battle the Persians. For about half of the movie, there are references made to the 300 Spartans holding off the Persians at Thermopylae. We are finally told they have been defeated. Following that, the Athenian fleet is nearly destroyed and Persia begins sacking the Greek states. But like the Phoenix bird, the Greeks rise up, putting their faith in Themistocles, but with only a small fleet (6 vs 1000's?) but rejected by Queen Gorgo of Sparta, having already sacrificed her husband and his '300'. What more did Greece want? Well, they needed the Spartan fleet which Queen Gorgo refuses. I liked the sea battles, but some just seemed over the top with computer graphics, especially near the end when Themistocles rides his horse across sinking ships to reach Artemisia. Finally,in true hero spirit, the Spartan fleet shows up and basically saves the day and the Persians are defeated in their quest to rule the Greeks.

great movie for the price

Good movie

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE is a frustrating, but fitfully entertaining companion piece to 300. I say companion piece, because the events of this film take place before, during and after the events of 300. As such, this movie can't really stand on its own and suffers by comparison to the original, which was a much-better-told story. To put it another way, this movie is essentially the same underdog story as the first, only transplanted to the sea. A few characters from the previous film are carried over, and even those that aren't have analogues in this one. The plot revolves around Themistocles and Artemisia, who represent Athens and the Persian empire, respectively. Themistocles is a legendary warrior who reportedly killed Darius at the battle of Marathon, and Artemisia is a Greek woman who was rescued by the Persians and rose to command their navy. Their dynamic is what is supposed to drive the movie, and it largely fails to do so, with the exception of a hilarious sex scene which takes place midway through the film. These two try their best, but they are largely unable to make up for the absence of Gerard Butler here, creating a sort of charisma vacuum. Where the original was kind of tongue-in-cheek when it came to the jingoistic and ham-handed dialogue, this one takes it mostly seriously. Not only content to suck the joy out of the ridiculousness of seeing perfectly ripped men kill the mess out of each other, the early battle sequences are oppressive and borderline repulsive in the level of digital blood and gore on display, as if increasingly stylized violence could make up for the lack of investment in the story. Granted, the visuals are impressive, and an improvement over the original, but it just felt soulless and empty. There was also overuse of slow motion, and 10-15 minutes could have been shaved off if they'd shown most of the battle sequences at normal speed. The only sequence which I was truly interested in was the final one, and by then it was a little late to make me care in what was happening onscreen. As far as acting is concerned, nobody really gave a bad performance, but nobody was really that great either. Eva Green was the standout, and did a good job of chewing the scenery, but she never really let loose until she meets face-to-face with Sullivan Stapleton's Themistocles. There was also some palpable energy with her performance in the final moments of the film. Returning from the original film are Lena Headey as Queen Gorgo, and Rodrigro Santoro as Xerxes. However, Lena Headey is relegated to being the "Queen of Exposition" and narrator for most of the running time, while Xerxes is largely absent due to his being occupied with the Spartans at Thermopylae. Still, they are each given a moment where they can shine. On a technical level, the film is incredible. There was an incredible level of detail, mostly augmented by CGI, but still beautiful to look at nonetheless. The battle sequences, this time involving ships, were also well-filmed and easy to follow. The only negative I can draw here is, again, the overuse of digital blood. There was a lot in the original 300, but there's fountains and geysers of it here, almost to the point of nausea. On the other side, a positive I can find was the score, which hit all the right beats and fit the movie quite well. I also liked the use of "War Pigs" in the closing credits, which was also used for one of the promotional trailers. Overall, the film more than a mite disappointing, given my affection for what preceded it. The story largely failed to be engaging, and often felt like a rehash, and it tried to compensate for that with even more outlandish and stylized violence, to the point where I felt like it glamorized it. Still, as visual spectacle, it was second to none. Would I recommend it? No. There simply isn't enough going on to warrant spending your money, and when it finally kicks into gear in the final act, it's a little too late.

The first Persian invasion of Greece, during the Persian Wars, began in 492 BCE, and ended with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. The invasion, consisting of two distinct campaigns, was ordered by the Persian king Darius I primarily in order to punish the city-states of Athens and Eretria. These cities had supported the cities of Ionia during their revolt against Persian rule, thus incurring the wrath of Darius. Darius also saw the opportunity to extend his empire into Europe, and to secure its western frontier. The first campaign in 492 BCE, led by Mardonius, re-subjugated Thrace and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia. However, further progress was prevented when Mardonius's fleet was wrecked in a storm off the coast of Mount Athos. The following year, having demonstrated his intentions, Darius sent ambassadors to all parts of Greece, demanding their submission. He received it from almost all of them, except Athens and Sparta, both of whom executed the ambassadors. With Athens still defiant, and Sparta now effectively at war with him, Darius ordered a further military campaign for the following year. The second campaign, in 490 BCE, was under the command of Datis and Artaphernes. The expedition headed first to the island Naxos, which it captured and burnt. It then island-hopped between the rest of the Cycladic Islands, annexing each into the Persian empire. Reaching Greece, the expedition landed at Eretria, which it besieged, and after a brief time, captured. Eretria was razed and its citizens enslaved. Finally, the task force headed to Attica, landing at Marathon, en route for Athens. There, it was met by a smaller Athenian army, which nevertheless proceeded to win a remarkable victory at the Battle of Marathon. This defeat prevented the successful conclusion of the campaign, and the task force returned to Asia. Nevertheless, the expedition had fulfilled most of its aims, punishing Naxos and Eretria, and bringing much of the Aegean under Persian rule. The unfinished business from this campaign led Darius to prepare for a much larger invasion of Greece, to firmly subjugate it, and to punish Athens and Sparta. However, internal strife within the empire delayed this expedition, and Darius then died of old age. It was thus left to his son Xerxes I to lead the second Persian invasion of Greece, beginning in 480 BCE

Especially playing 300 on a laser 3d capable projector, on a 120 screen, the movies simply sinks me in, in every adventurous scene. Cinematography, acting and dialogue, blended together, I can't help but being pulled in on the story full of heroism, love of family, comrades and country. I don't how many times I've watched this in 3d, had this for a year now and still can't get enough of it. Highly recommended, it's earned 5 stars plus 1 if possible.

J'aimerais plus de films comme ça

worth getting on bluray high quality video and audio...a good prequel and sequel to 300 movie...well made action sequence and movie historical sets..the bluray has good behind the scenes feature...

Edición alemana en perfecto castellano y un STEELBOOK muy bonito .

watch out for the arrows flying , you need a 3D TV and blu-ray to play this type of disc