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300 Director Delighted by DVDs
August 6, 2007

I spoke to 300 director Zack Snyder a few weeks back as he was scouting locations for his upcoming, much buzzed-about big screen adaptation of Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons famed 1986 graphic novel. But Watchmen took a backseat to 300 as the affable filmmaker was even more excited to gush over Warner’s July 31 release of the film on Blu-ray, HD DVD/Combo and standard DVD formats.

 

VB: We imagine you’re psyched about the 300 DVD.

SNYDER: Oh yeah! I think 300 is one of those rare movies that’s awesome in the theater, but in some ways, it’s made for DVD. I always say that so much of it is digital that it almost plays better at home if that’s even possible when you compare it to how freaky it is onscreen.

VB: What’s your favorite supplemental feature on the disc?
SNYDER: Well, overall, the most interesting thing about the DVD is that you know how you get extras about what goes on behind the scenes? We have things that really are behind the scenes. There’s a reason to look behind the curtain on this movie because the curtain is so friggin’ huge! In the HD DVD /Combo format, the bluescreen picture-in-picture version runs the entire time! Check it out and you’ll really be seeing behind the curtain.

VB: The three formats—HD, Blu-ray and standard—each have exclusive features.

SNYDER: Yeah, the extras thing is hard right now with this whole Blu-ray versus HD thing. It’s like Betamax versus VHS all over again. [The studios] need to decide. It’s hard for me when I’m making the thing and I’m thinking ‘Okay, this one will be for this disc and this one will be for the other disc.’

VB: The days of just throwing on a making-of, at least for production spectaculars like 300, appear to be over.

SNYDER: They really are. I love the fetish quality of DVD. If you want to just watch the movie, that’s great, but if you really want to take it apart, that’s also there for you. As a film fan, you can just geek yourself into oblivion trying to get to the essence of what it took to make the movie.

Posted by Laurence Lerman on August 6, 2007 | Comments (0)