300: Rise of an Empire – The Art of the Film

I remember sitting in the multiplexes eagerly waiting to watch 300 and by the end of the movie I was blown away and it made me cry out: “Spartans!” Well, now its 2014 and a sequel of sorts will be coming out to the movie theaters – 300: Rise of an Empire. Titan Books has released of a companion book to the movie with 300: Rise of an Empire – The Art of the Film. This 160 page beautifully over-sized hardbound art book will have everything you want from the 300: Rise of an Empire film.

Besides movie critic Richard Roeper, one of my other fave movie critics is Beyond The Trailer’s Grace Randolph and one her main points for a good flick is “world building.” Yes, what makes a good movie is the story, casting, and the actors, but also “world building.” Let’s take for example the Harry Potter movie franchise or James Cameron’s Avatar – those worlds were so believable that when you watched it, you felt you could be transported into that world, unlike, yes I admit I watched Princess Dairies 2, well because the first film was such a lovely film. But this Princess Diaries sequel, you could tell the budget was cheap and they shot this on Disney’s backlot and various soundstages. So, in this Art of the Film book it really showcases how the 300 film crew put lots of work into the details and building this 300: Rise of an Empire world.

In 300: Rise of an Empire, it follows warrior, master strategist and politician Themistokles. This time the battle is in the sea and Themistokles will need to lead his men to battle to defend Greece from the Xerxes and the powerful Persian Navy. The book features production art, photography, storyboards, costume designs, the various weapons, training sessions and much more. The book kickoffs with a message from director Noam Murro about the daunting challenges to make a sequel to 300. There is a chapter on all the various characters in this film with bios and actor information.

Acclaimed photographer Clay Enos takes lots of great production photographs and it just gives you the feel of how much work went into making this 300 film. 300 fans will definitely want to grab this incredible art book.