Whether you are a super fan or a modest admirer of the Watchmen series you more than likely were engaged by the interwoven shorts Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood.
If you were wondering or excited to see what Warner bros was going to do with these well you may be pleased to know that they have created them and are releasing them directly to dvd this Tuesday. I found it cheapest to pre-order it on Amazonand get it for almost 12 bucks cheaper.
The dvd features the animated Tales of the Black Freighter about a shipwrecked pirate played by the voice of Gerard Butler from Frank Miller’s movie 300. In addition there is Under the Hood, the live action tell-all of Nite Owl.
I am suprised they didn’t incorporate Under the Hood into the full length Watchmen movie but with Zack Snyder already pushing 2 and half hours I can understand why they didn’t. If you have not seen the trailers I posted them for you below.
If you can’t help yourself and you want this dvd then I suggest doing what I did and pre-order it at Amazon and save almost 12 dollars. But hurry up the dvd release is tomorrow and after today the savings will be non-existant.
I read Watchmen when I was seventeen years old. Like most people who have read the seminal graphic novel, Alan Moore’s groundbreaking achievement had a profound effect on my life. I could easily sit here and sing Watchmen’s praises without much effort. This is why I wish I never saw the movie. This isn’t to say that Snyder’s Watchmen wasn’t a perfectly passable movie. I saw the film with three people who had no prior relationship with Moore’s text and each one liked it just fine. I’m sure this sentiment will be shared by most people who never had the pleasure of reading the original work.
I didn’t even dislike Snyder’s movie. I was captivated, waiting to see how he would pull off many of the things that made Watchmen a transcendent comic. I must say, aside from certain aspects that were clearly “Hollywooded” up, he remained faithful, dropping or altering a few scenes to make the story more palatable for the big screen.
That said, the movie has tainted my experience of reading the original master work. Alan Moore argued that film is easily digestible. It fails to challenge viewers by force feeding images and performances down their throat. Watchmen, the text, worked so well, because you were inclined to insert your own narrative voice. You had to imagine a six foot tall, walking fluorescent light bulb capable of seeing forward and backward in “time” simultaneously. You were able to fill in the blanks. Create your own universe. Alan Moore just provided the topical decoration. The AV Club finished its review by saying that “when we look in the sky, we don’t see a bird or a plane…we see a mirror.” That exemplifies Moore’s text perfectly. We see ourselves in those characters. We love Rorshach because sometimes, in our darkest moments, we wished to see life in simplistic, contrasting terms. We understand even respect Manhattan’s continual detachment. Veidt’s plan, while horrifying in scope and vision, is also not without merit. Even Laurie transformation from a fatherless, unwilling hero, seems complete and perfectly book ended.
I love Moore’s Watchmen. So much so, that I love letting myself imagine that possibilities that existed in a world that I will never know or inhabit. Only the best pieces of art do that. While I hope that Snyder’s movie does well and receives positive critical press, and I can’t help but hope that people seek out the original work, and experience Watchmen in the medium it was supposed to exist in . Only then will that proverbial mirror be as polished and revealing as it should be.
In case you missed this a couple days ago, I got and posted here. This is a great look at the making of the movie. It goes into the transformation of the comic into a movie. It also has cast and director commentary. Pretty much it is just plain cool as hell. ENJOY!
If you haven’t heard that the arguably the most influential comic book ever made will converted into movie then you probably have been eating lead paint chips for way too long and I am sorry to say I can not help you.
Alan Moore’s “The Watchmen” is set to debut this weekend and once again enforce its impact among the people young and old alike. It will break records and cross to mainstream with ease creating a wild fire like buzz. If you are an avid comic book fan and are nervous about the adaption to a movie, fear not, Zac Snyder is at the helm. The director of Frank Miller’s 300 has said with the help of famous inker Dave Gibbons and a copy of the 12 issue series at hand he will definitely not disappoint nor stray from the orginal message and beauty of the paper and ink bound medium.
I wait in great excitement and anticipation at the complete sensory battering display that will take place in the theatres this weekend.
