300 4K UHD review

Oct 04, 2020- Permalink

Zack Snyder’s 300, based on the Frank Miller comic series of the same name, is a unique looking epic action film that was screaming for a 4K release. Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has answered fans’ wishes with a combo set that takes us back to the battle between 300 Spartans and a massive Persian army. WBHE provided us with a review copy of 300, but the views below are my own.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265-encoded HDR10 is presented in the theatrical release’s 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s an upscaled 4K release as the digital effects were mastered in 2K but it looks great. The detail is fantastic with good looking skin, hair, and textile textures. It’s a very stylized film, with a graphic novel look and the colour palette and added grain reflect this. The HDR10 colour grading adds further oomph to the movie’s stylish look. Black levels are deep and don’t crush and there’s no evidence of digital artifacts. This is the sort of movie you could watch with the sound down just to take in the visuals without distraction.

On the audio side, your ears get a choice between English Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 tracks as wells as English Descriptive Audio, French (Canadian), French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Thai in Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles are present for English SDH, French, Spanish, German SDH, Italian SDH, Dutch, Mandarin, Korean, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Thai. Those with an Atmos setup will love the great use of the height channels while the rest of the surround speakers are given such a good workout they’ll probably hit the showers afterwards. Your subwoofer will add some solid low frequency oomph to the proceedings. The score is clear and dynamic, and dialogue is clear, centred, well-prioritized. Just an excellent presentation.

On the extras side, the set also comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code. Except for an audio commentary by director Zack Snyder, screenwriter Kurt Johnstad, and cinematographer Larry Fong, all the other extras are on the Blu-ray disc, which is identical to the 2007 Blu-ray release. They include The 300: Fact or Fiction?, Who Were the Spartans?: The Warriors of 300, Preparing for Battle: Test Footage, Frank Miller Tapes, The Making of 300, Making 300 in Images, production webisodes, and deleted scenes.

A visually stunning presentation with amazing audio makes 300 in 4K an easy add to your home entertainment library.