($36, two-disc set)

One of the most surprising stories to come out of Movieland this year is the blood-and-guts epic 300. The largely CGI film defied lukewarm reviews to conquer the box office two weekends in a row, raking in $208-million (U.S.) and filling pubs and lunchrooms alike with the cry, “This is Sparta!”

With just one previous feature film on his résumé (2004’s Dawn of the Dead), newbie Zack Snyder got the call to both write and direct this CGI extravaganza based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel. Not bad.

The story? Just a wee tale about the epic battle of Thermopylae, which pit the Spartans against the Persians in 480 B.C. Modern-day Iranians weren’t thrilled about the depiction of their ancestors, the Persians, as deranged, mutant, fighting machines, but that controversy passed quickly and seemed to have little effect on the film’s success.

Gerard Butler, a Scottish thesp with a surprisingly fanatical following, plays King Leonides, who leads his inferior army (in numbers anyway, there were about 300 of them) into a bloody battle, all the while finding ample opportunity to show off his admirable ancient six-pack.

The two-disc DVD set features a nice slate of bonus material, including the documentaries “Who Were the Spartans? The Warriors of 300,” “The Frank Miller Tapes,” “The Making of 300,” “300: Fact or Fiction” and deleted scenes with an introduction by director Snyder.

Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen

Director: Michael Polish (Northfork)

Story: Sort of like Field of Dreams, but with a Mercury rocket instead of a baseball diamond. Aptly named farmer Charles Farmer (Thornton) is about to lose his house and property to the bank. Why? He spends all of his free time and money building a 1960s-era rocket in his barn and plans to ride it into orbit. Madsen steps in as Farmer’s long-suffering wife Audie.

Stars: Chris O’Neil, Rhiannon Leigh Wryn

Director: Robert Shaye (Book of Love)

Story: Siblings Noah and Emma Wilder (O’Neil, Wryn) come across a strange black box filled with what appear to be toys, including a stuffed rabbit called Mimzy. But they’re not toys. They’re objects from the future that have been sent back in time to help save the planet from environmental annihilation.

Stars: Flex Alexander, Michael McMillian

Director: Martin Weisz (60 Seconds)

Story: A National Guard unit is sent into the New Mexico desert on a training mission. Unfortunately, it’s a part of the New Mexico desert inhabited by murderous mutants. Very bad things happen.

DVD Extras: alternate ending, deleted scenes, gag reel, “Exploring the Hills: The Making of The Hills Have Eyes 2,” “Mutant Attacks,” “Birth of a Graphic Novel”

Stars: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon

Director: Mennan Yapo (Soundless)

Story: Everyone who’s ever lost someone close has had that feeling — if only I could go back a day and change things. Linda (Bullock) has that chance when linear time becomes unstuck the very week her husband Jim (McMahon) is killed in an accident. First she hears the bad news, then she finds him drinking coffee in the kitchen, then she’s at his wake, etc. But will anyone believe her disorientation is more than just a product of her grief?

Stars: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle

Director: Mike Binder (Man About Town)

Story: After his wife and daughters die in the September 11th attacks, grief-stricken Charlie Fineman (Sandler) devolves to his college-era self and tries to deny that his family ever existed. But then he runs into Alan (Cheadle), his dental school roommate, who slowly and gently encourages him to come to terms with his loss. Liv Tyler plays Charlie’s very patient psychiatrist.

Stars: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce

Director: George Hickenlooper (Bizarre Love Triangle)

Story: This bio-pic of Andy Warhol’s (Pearce) wild and wealthy muse Edie Sedgwick (Miller) is told via flashbacks as Edie recalls the hip and happening years of 1965 through 1970 to her therapist.

DVD Extras: deleted scenes, director and writer commentaries, “The Real Edie and Andy,” Sienna Miller’s audition, Guy Pearce’s video diaries

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Danny Glover

Director: Antoine Fuqua (Training Day)

Story: Wahlberg plays former Special Ops sharpshooter Bob Lee Swagger, now retired and living happily in the country. But then an Army Colonel (Glover) comes for a visit and tells him there’s a plot to assassinate the President and Swagger’s the one they want to foil it. Come the big day shots are fired, and while the Prez lives, Swagger is framed for the attempt. Run Bob Lee Swagger, run!

DVD Extras: director commentary, making-of featurette, deleted scenes

Stars: Bruce Greenwood, Josh Hutcherson

Director: Todd Holland (Kippendorf’s Tribe)

Story: Kids, and those who just love watching dogs do funny things, are the target audience for this family film about a movie-star dog named Rexxx who’s used to being treated like a celebrity. But when a stunt goes awry and Rexxx becomes separated from his doting trainers he has to fend for himself. Fortunately, he’s adopted by a boy (Hutcherson) and his firefighter dad (Greenwood), who make him the mascot at their firehouse.

Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Director: Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead)

Story: The same group of Brits that parodied zombie movies with Shaun of the Dead takes aim at cop movies, particularly buddy cop movies, with this fast-paced parody. Nick Angel (Pegg) is so much better than his fellow cops at catching bad guys that his superiors, tired of being shown up, ship him off to a peaceful little town where the crime rate is less than nil. Or is it?

Stars: Karl Urban, Russell Means

Director: Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

Story: Step one: About 500 years before­ Columbus “discovers” North America the Vikings visit, battle hard, and leave behind a frightened child. Step two: A native woman finds, and raises, said child. Step three: Fifteen years later the Vikings return to wreak havoc on the natives, only to have the child they abandoned — now a young man played by Urban — lead the fight against them.