The copy on the packaging for "300," released in a double-disc wide-screen edition (Warner), claims that this retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae "assaults the screen," and for once the hyperbole is on the money.

Using the same hybrid of animation and live action as "Sin City," which also was based on a hyper-violent Frank Miller graphic novel, "300" found a lot larger audience, not because it is a better film, but because the bloodshed here is in service of real legend.

It's the story of the city-state's stand against the invading Persians, when 300 soldiers held off an attack by hundreds of thousands at the "hot gates," led by King Leonidas (Gerard Butler, wiping away any memory of his softie turn in "The Phantom of the Opera").

To complain that this isn't history is churlish and disingenuous: This is the comic-book version, souped up with buff, half-naked warriors, a sexy queen (Lena Hedley) and gushers of blood, but its exaggeration works in its favor, working as a psychic safety valve against the carnage.

Thanks to the CGI animation world on which the actors do battle, "300" is also the most visually arresting movie of last year; even in its most graphic brutality, you can't take your eyes off the thing.

Extras include a commentary by director Zach Snyder, an Easter Egg featurette that traces the evolution of the film from comics to the computers to screen and a 25-minute "Fact or Fiction" debate with filmmakers and historians.

To get a better overview, try "Last Stand of the 300: The Legendary Battle of Thermopylae" (A&E), first broadcast on the History Channel.

ALSO NEW

The British team that brought us the hilarious zombie comedy "Shaun of the Dead" returned to the screen this year with a riskier, cross-cultural satire. "Hot Fuzz" (Universal) sought to marry the big-budget U.S. buddy-cop film to what the provincials call the English Garden Mystery, and the film failed to catch on. One suspects it will have far greater success on DVD. Film geeks will care less about logic than playing spot-the-source for the gags, which come as fast as fireballs.

Simon Pegg plays a straightarrow cop so successful he makes the rest of the London force look bad. He is shuttled off to a sleepy scenic village and partnered with the luckless son (Nick Frost) of the chief, who longs to be a hot shot. He gets the chance when residents start turning up dead in a series of "bizarre accidents" that aren't. The supporting cast is like a who's who of British cinema (Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Billy Whitelaw). If you look closely, you'll catch unbilled cameos by Peter Jackson and Cate Blanchett.

TV ON DVD

Television wasn't the original home for Max Fleischer's "Popeye" cartoons: The 60 strips contained in the great "Popeye the Sailor: 1933-38" (Warner) were created before TV was a staple of the American home and were shown in theaters and nickelodeons.

Some of these would be shown on TV in black-and-white and colorized versions (along with the more than 400 "Popeyes" produced specifically for TV).

But for the true Fleischer fan, this is the mother lode, digitally remastered versions of some of the most inventive animation of all time.

The set begins with the sailor man's first appearance in a "Betty Boop" cartoon, and we see his character firmly established in ensuing "Thimble Theater" episodes with telling titles like 1933's "I Yam What I Yam."

The spinach is eaten without its memorable musical cue until 1934's "Can You Take It?"

Extras include two special color two-reelers based on "Ali Baba" and "Sinbad the Sailor" featuring Popeye, Bluto, Olive Oyl and Swee'pea (who is introduced in 1936's "L'il Swee'pea") and a long and informative history of Fleischer and his best-known character.

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