Though typically being something of an early adopter, I have stayed away from HD video disks to date, due to the format war that is going on right now, between the two “standards”: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

For those of us old enough to remember the original format war of VHS vs. Betamax, this is deja-vu all over again.  Like that conflict, one format has slightly better technical specifications, but the other is more industry friendly, and less expensive.  In the first format war, VHS eventually won out, even though Betamax was a superior format, with better run times on smaller tape catridges, with superior resolution.

In essence, the technical differences in HD formats (like most things) boils down to size… or at least capacity:  HD-DVD (dual layer) stores about 8 hours of HD video; Blu-Ray stores about 9.  Now, there are various tweaks being looked at, like triple or quad layer, but these would end up being Data functions, not Media for entertainment purposes.  Unless you wanted to put the entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (extended versions) on one Disk…

And, to date, HD-DVD players are less expensive, even though there are more manufacturers supporting Blu-Ray at this time.

But what is really going to tip the scales for HD-DVD is Porn (courtesy of Yahoo/Reuters):

James McQuivey, a principal analyst at technology research firm Forrester, said in the VHS-versus-Betamax war, porn provided a significant boost for the winning format.

He also noted the adult entertainment industry has often paved the way with new uses of technology — such as streaming video on the Internet — and said porn could help tip the scales in the current DVD format battle.

“If the porn industry wanted to break the logjam of HD-DVD and Blu-ray, it could,” McQuivey said. “If they said ‘We are going to go with HD-DVD’ you would see a few million homes immediately go out and buy HD-DVD players. They have that power.”

It is a potential weapon that one side, at least, has ignored. Instead, Blu-ray backer Sony Corp.(6758.T) blocked manufacturers from producing porn DVDs in that format — a move that some say has pushed adult film studios into the camp of HD-DVD camp led by Toshiba Corp. (6502.T)

So, for those of you still on the fence, start looking for HD-DVD players.  Blue-Ray will end up being an oddity in entertainment, only found on the Playstation 3. 

Wow.

First, on an artistic and techincal level, this is the finest merging of CGI and live action I have seen to date, and sets the bar high for future competitors.  I would recommend this movie for the sheer spectacle, if for no other reason.  Visually, the film is wonderfully detailed and imagined, and almost feels like a Boris Vallejo painting come to life. 

*SPOILER ALERT*:  Last night, leaving the theater, I think I heard the only person alive that didn’t know they story, actually admit that to a friend.  In case you, too, are totally ignorant of this event, READ NO FURTHER.

The story itself is a retelling (though it is dangerously close to a ‘reimagining‘) of the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans, and some 4000 other greeks from various citiy-states, battled the host of Xerxes, king of the Persian Empire, in 480 B.C.  While the Persians eventually won the day, through shear force of numbers, the moral victory for the Greeks was enormous, and the Persian army was finally defeated in 479 B.C. at Platea, and forced to return home.  This loss was a psychic wound for Xerxes and Persia, and the empire began it’s decline, until it was conquered by Alexander the Great, and his Greek army, in 333 B.C.

Frank Miller’s take on the story makes some rather interesting changes.  The Spartan’s, while still the masters of battle, and hard men and women that they truly were remains intact, he completely wipes away the Helot’s, and their contribution to Spartan society.  It was the lab or of the Helot’s (much like a medieval Serf) that enabled Spartan citizens to devote themselves to the art of war.  The clearest example of Millers changes is the test of manhood that Leonidas faces.  In reality, the test included the undetected murder of a helot, not a wild animal.  Miller’s Spartans are both the ideal warrior, and lovers of freedom and liberty.

The Persians, in contrast, become even darker and more alien to the Greeks than they really were.  Accompanied by mishapen and misfigured creatures, as well as wild beasts, and twisted bodies.  And more jewelry, studs, ring, and piercings than a San Francisco Gay Pride parade.

But the feeling and thrust (sorry) of the story is the same as the history is retells.  A small group of men, holding the line, bleeding the enemy, to buy time for their people, and strike a blow against darkness, and tyranny.

One warning though, for younger folks, and the squemish.  This film does not make any attempt to make any attempt to mask the effects or battle in the days of spear, sword, and arrow.  Blood flies with abandon.