You should check out the Sullivan & Murphy version of Beowulf! [1]

Some excerpts from many translations, including the S & M and Heaney translations, can be found on the 'Net. [2]

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Longman-Cultural-Editions/dp/0321107209

[2] http://www.beowulftranslations.net/sull.shtml

Seriously, the patience behind comic books lies not in the reading of an entire story at once, but in the format that the traditional comic is published in.
Comics are generally published once a month, and I'd place a bet that I'm not the only one that's re-read all of the old issues in a story arc every time he got a new issue.
Not that I disagree with you. I'd take a movie version that well done over the comic version any day.

I think that a classic example of the emotion of a story coming out better in a movie than in literature is The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Tolkien can spin a great story, but he can't keep me entertained past The Two Towers.

Another good example of the format mattering is Beowulf. The greatest version of the story available today is Seamus Heaney's spoken word version [1]. The story was not designed to be read and was not intended to be hard to understand.

Ditto your thoughts on Lord of the Rings. I enjoyed the Hobbit, but could not get through even Fellowship of the Ring. But the movies were fantastic, and that's because of Peter Jackson's translation of Tolkein's source material into something very beautiful.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Verse-Translation-Seamus-Heaney/dp/other-editions/0393320979/ref=dp_ed_all/103-4783652-8254217?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

For example, take the Spartans' treatment of the Persian state-department flunkies [1] My eye reads the comic in much less than a second, and wants to see what happens next. However, the director is in control of the time I spend on the scene in the theater. Not only does the action take much more than a second, the camera lingers on the seemingly endless descent into the well.

If the movie is well made, that extra time is spent pondering the action. But in a comic, by the time the film scene ends I'm already on the next page.

I prefer unabridged audiobooks to physical books for the same reason. The time expansion can make the mediocre into the memorable (as in Bad Twin [2]), the good into the heartrending (A Painted House), and the great into the lifechanging (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

I think I've had one chance to compare all three media: Battle Royale. I can still feel reading the book in my chest and arms, and remember how excited and concerned I was during the film's intermission. But the comics cannot move me.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:This.Is.Sparta_GN.to.film.jpg
[2] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2006/06/02/review-of-bad-twin-by-gary-troup.html

Weighing in on what was said though, I think the movie is more popcorn than anything else. The ridiculous butt rock grinding away in the background, the 1-D characters and straightforward story. Sure, it's a visual feast, and one that I enjoyed watching… but only as an exercise in upping my admittedly subpar testosterone level. I'm actually kind of surprised that you enjoyed it as something more than just a good time at the movies.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you got something out of it, but I'm more pleased that it might give you a reason to dive more into the comics universe.

Just in case you were interested, it appears Snyder will be directing Watchmen as well, which is typically treated as the pinnacle point of evolution in superhero comics.

However, I'll admit that I read your review before seeing the movie. Walking out from the theater I thought that your closing statement,
“But instead, I will say this: If before the battle the Spartans had seen this movie, had known how their tale would be sung, they would be delighted.”

was very apt and eloquently stated.

How's so? I remember you saying the same thing about 2046.

I see Rand in it because of the Romanticism, the intense duality, characterization of meddling government interfering with the real men and the random breaks in action for monologues explaining how everything is done for freedom. I've still got 2046 in one of my Netflix queues… it keeps getting pushed back to make room for my obsessive quest to see every movie on every AFI list.

I had it pointed out to me that the Spartans could also represent terrorists. The end certainly seems like the 'propaganda of the deed' homicide bombers go for.

Which is where Rand makes her entrance.