'Watchmen', Director's Cut only, 7/21...

According to HDD, 'Watchmen' will be coming to BD day and date with the DVD. One catch: only the Director's Cut will come on BD, which is 25 minutes longer than the theatrical release.

Warner Announces 'Watchmen' Blu-ray | High-Def Digest

Re: 'Watchmen', Director's Cut only, 7/21...

By that do you mean the DC is a BR exclusive? In which case... crap.

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I enjoyed Watchment a great deal, but I'm not sure that another almost half-hour of material will benefit it. I'm quite interested in seeing the director's cut, but I hope the theatrical version materializes on Blu-ray as well, at some point.

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I'm sorry but this Facebook integration is the dumbest thing I have heard of in a long time.

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Waiting for the "Ultimate" cut (whenever that comes).

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You mean the one with the additional 24 minutes added to the 25 already additional minutes, and the nifty packaging that includes the reduced format graphic novel?

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What's this about Facebook? I didn't see any mention of it in the HDD article to which David linked.

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Yeah, what's this Facebook thingy?

Oh, I just left an obscene comment on the Facebook HTF wall, for all forum members. (No relation to the question asked above.)

Re: 'Watchmen', Director's Cut only, 7/21...

there will be a 2 disc set of watchmen that will include the directors cut on standard dvd.

Watchmen (US - DVD R1 | BD) in News > Releases at DVDActive

Jacob

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Hmm... a slight conflict here. They're also saying July 28 instead of July 21. From their description though, it specifies 2-disc BD Director's Cut, whereas the DVD is specified as being available with both cuts.

I guess it's wise to wait for the actual press release, which Ron is good about posting on a regular basis.

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Yes, there is going to be an edition released later on with parts of the Black Freighter edited in.

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I want to see that version but to me, The Black Freighter stuff seems like it could stop the movie in its tracks every time they go to it. Obviously, these 25 minutes could do the same thing but I think adding material relating to the main characters will improve it (and not in the "It's longer so it's automatically better" way).

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Gizmodo - The Watchmen Blu-ray Will Sync with Facebook - Watchmen blu-ray

Facebook info

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So viewers can watch the film simultaneously with their Facebook friends. Sounds neat. What's so "dumb" about it?

What interests me more from that article is the claim that the Blu-ray "will feature a normal and director's cut of the film." I hope it's true.

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Awesome, and July is just around the corner.

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I missed it in theaters. Just couldn't get out of the house, so I'm looking forward to this one.

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Now apparently there will be a version with the longer movie and the video game as a ps3 exclusive game.

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Looks great can't wait for this

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I still want to know--has the extended, extra-long mega-edition been announced for release yet? The one with the extra footage AND the Black Freighter material edited into one big, massive, honkin' Peter Jackson-sized movie?

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I loved this film. Saw it twice in the theater and I'd be surprised if it didn't end up being my favorite film of the year. I'm very excited about the blu-ray.

I'd like to think both the DC and theatrical cut will be available on the blu via seamless branching. This should be a no-brainer by now. But I guess we'll have to wait for detailed specs.

I'm intrigued by the new material. While usually I feel less is more, I do think that some early portions of the film might be improved with a bit more breathing room, to thin out the dense exposition. But we'll see. Either way, I definitely want the original cut.

I don't know about the Black Freighter material. Has anyone here seen it on the standalone disc that was released earlier this year? If so, what did you think of it? It's hard for me to imagine it not being jarring if it were integrated into the film, no matter how strong it may be on its own.

--Jefferson Morris

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No it hasn't been announced but right now it's speculated around Nov/Dec. As far as I know, ALL of the BF material won't be in the deluxe version, but also just a guess here.

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That's my concern (for lack of a better word) too. It works in the comic but I think in a movie, it may be a strange detour that slows the movie to a standstill.

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I Netflixed the Blu-ray Black Freighter a while ago. The animation and production values are on par with your standard DC animated feature release, albeit it is darker in tone. It reminded me a great deal of watching an animated Twilight Zone episode or something akin to an old EC comic. I think your reservations are legitimate, but the fact that Zack Snyder had this material produced in the first place with the intention of incorporating it into his feature release, I'm guessing he also had a plan to make it all come together. I do agree that if the Black Freighter story unfolds as it did in the graphic novel (i.e. a side story occurring at the newsstand) it may interrupt the main narrative. I have to say that it does work well as a stand-alone though, so even if it's not incorporated into the main film (as long as it's included as a special feature) it is not a deal-breaker for me. By the same token, I hope that the "Under the Hood" mock-documentary (also on the Black Freighter disc) makes its way onto this Blu-ray too.

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Also, as I said earlier, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that not all of the Black Freighter standalone content will be included in the "Deluxe" cut of the movie, but a shortened version. Makes sense.

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Who am I fooling? I'll snap up every high-def version they see fit to release, whether TotBF is cut into the film or not. And you're right that Snyder did intend to cut the stuff in at some point--he filmed the transitions at the news stand for this express purpose. I hope it works, although the visual style of the cartoon--from the snippets I've seen--doesn't much look like the garishly colored, EC Comics-style visuals drawn by Dave Gibbons. We'll see.

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It's very difficult to make a horror animated movie in "comic book" style. Considering what he achieved, I think he did a very good job.

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As a longtime EC comics fan, I think that in motion, it works pretty well. I also think that the enveloping audio sound track helps the overall animation presentation a great deal (in terms of EC ambience.)

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A little OT, but as long as we're on the topic of EC Comics, the movie "Creepshow" is on HDNET Movies this month (Oh Ted Danson, how long can you hold your breath?).

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So DVDActive put up the back cover and it apparently has DTS-HD Master Audio instead of TrueHD. Good news for those of us tired of switching to the better audio track after the movie has started.

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Ooooh, Watchmen Amazon Exclusive: Owl Ship. If only this was the "Deluxe Edition" I might consider it.