A few words about...™ Watchmen -- in Blu-ray

Not being at all familiar with the Watchmen graphic novel, I was somewhat at a loss going in when viewing the Director's Cut (23 minutes longer), and didn't feel that I was on solid ground until well into the second hour.  What I didn't realize at that point was that in reality I wasn't on solid ground.

Watchmen is a long film that tests the limits even beyond that of The Dark Knight at 152 minutes.

Short on the details of plot, Watchmen seems to move at its own pace, but in the end packs more of a visceral wallop than allowing for one of the "aha!" moments, when one realizes that it all comes together.  In the end, I found it an enjoyable ride.

Fully digital, and laden with effects, Watchmen also has its own style.  Color, densities, black levels are what they are, and all are gorgeous.  The uncompressed audio is guaranteed to clean the lint from one's speakers.  Those who impatiently await Warner's Watchmen on Blu-ray, and find that the days don't pass quickly enough until a copy is in hand and in your Blu-ray player, will find that a wonderful treat lies ahead.

Visually and sonically Watchmen is a Blu-ray masterpiece and doubtless will be the current poster child for digital perfection of the Blu-ray kind.  At three hours and six minutes Watchmen also proves once again the power of Blu-ray and its ability to handle data.

As a three disc set, inclusive of the film, a second BD disc filled with extras and a digital copy, Watchmen is definitely Recommended.

RAH


 

Looking forward to it. Thanks, RAH!

EDIT: RAH, if you're ever going to read a comic book, Watchmen is the one to read.
Edited by TravisR - 7/10/2009 at 02:46 am GMT

I absolutely loved the film when I saw it earlier this year.  I can't wait to get my hands on this director's cut.  Glad that it was done justice on Blu-ray.  I'm counting the days....

Such an amazing film. Looking very forward to the DC.

The icing on the cake is that Warner has switched to 'DTS HD Master Audio', atleast for this release.

I've been hoping for a quick word of this one from you Robert, very good to hear that this turned out so well!  I'm looking forward to this one a lot.  I also haven't read the graphic novel, but I loved the movie and can't wait to see the director's cut of it.  Plus, I love having new excuses to turn up the volume. :D

I have the graphic novel, but for some reason I never saw the film in the theater. The Blu-ray however was a blind preorder (is that even correct? :)) for me because of the comic. The reviews and Robert Harris' words finally made sure the film is on the disc how it's supposed to be.
My copy was already shipped, hope to get it next week, and I'm very looking forward to it.

I actually prefer the theatrical cut.  None of the added 24 minutes are really essential and the film is a bit of an endurance test as is.  The "be-all end-all" edition with the integrated Tales from the Black Freighter animation is due in December according to an insert in the SD DVD.

Regards,

So who will be seeing this in a theater.
4 of them accross the country will have this.

Has anyone been to the Sunshine theater on Howard in New York?

Black Freighter wasn't great, and would probably be a distraction more than anything else. i don't want it in my version of the movie.

To get this version or wait for the 5-disc set....  decisions, decisions, decisions....

Well, I for one have canceled my order in anticipation of the December release. The only problem is that the combination of the words "Warner" and "Ultimate" usually means "highly overpriced with a lot of useless collectible stuff I don't want".

I'll probably get both versions.....Best Buy in Canada has the discs housed in a case shaped like Rorschach's head....gotta get that.

^ best buy U.S. has that too in addition to a br version in a Dr Manhatten head.

Not necessarily. The Blade Runner set wasn't too expensive, and came in at ~$30 street.

you'd get that over FutureShop's Steelbook case?

Got to admit.....the steelbook looks very good.  If the BB exclusive looks cheap when I see it in hand, I may go for the steelbook instead.

That was then... this is now. But here's hoping.

I am one of those people counting the days until this is out next week. Although I have hopes that a friend of mine who works at USA Today may be able to slip me their review copy this week. I am that impatient.

This is still my favorite film of the year so far, by a wide margin. And now I'm considering upgrading to lossless audio sooner than I had expected--my deadline was LOTR day, 11/3, but now I may crack sooner and pick up a new receiver.

--Jefferson Morris

I just watched the first hour and love the little bits that have been added in.
image looks great too.

I love this blu-ray so far.

I'm hoping the new bits will let the film breathe a bit. That first hour almost seemed a bit too compressed in the theatrical cut, I thought. Usually I don't think more is better, but hopefully this is an exception.

--Jefferson Morris

Same here (especially about more not always being better). I understand that the movie was pretty long and they needed to keep their focus on the main story but there were elements of the movie and comic book that I wish had been more thoroughly covered.