WHV Announce: Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (Blu-ray)

I know you're not a troll but, generally, the place for criticism about the movie is in the Watchmen thread in the "Movies (Theatrical)" section.

Then why does your post smell like shit? You've gone well beyond making your point. Besides, there's no such thing as a film that's "too long," there are only movies with bad pacing.

Actually, you're probably right about choosing an announcement thread to discuss picture Travis. Will remember for future. Still making teething mistakes.

Quote:

Thread-crapping is when you come into a thread just to hate on something you have no intention of watching, which is exactly what's happening here.  You hate the film--to a point that you want revenge(?!) on it--and for some reason are trying to convince others to hate it.  That's textbook thread-crapping.

There's other threads, such as the one in the film section that others pointed out, that you can discuss your problem with the movie itself. I understand your frustration with "director's cuts," and even sympathize with it to a certain extent, but again that's a thread for the film section.

OK, last time.

On the previous page, Ron Epstein made it very clear how to deal with a problem post. Saying that it "smell[s] like shit" was not part of the recommended approach. So here's what we're going to do.

Ben Cheshire, please move on to another thread. No further posts are necessary to acknowledge compliance with this instruction. The evidence of compliance will be the absence of any further posts.

As for everyone else, please cease responding to or commenting on Ben's posts in this thread. Again, no further posts are necessary to acknowledge compliance with this instruction. The evidence of compliance will be an absence of posts.

Anyone who cannot not comply with these instructions will be removed. Anyone who has an issue with them can PM me. Thank you in advance for your cooperaton.

So, has anyone seen this ultimate edition? I'm holding off til Christmas, but very curious to read others' opinions. I see that Amazon has discounted this substantially.

Reviews, please!

I was waiting for this, but I might just get the regular director's cut.  I haven't seen the movie at all yet (I do enjoy the book), and if this new cut is just the Director's Cut with the TotBF stuff added in, well, I'm not sure that the TotBF material has anything to add to the story in its movie incarnation.

What do fans of the book who've seen the movie think (no spoilers, please)?  Does the TotBF stuff really run 40 minutes?  And is it fully animated, live action, or "motion-comic" style?

(I suppose this really belongs in a disc review thread, but I don't know if there's going to be one.)

The impression I got was that it's just gonna be the already released "motion-comic" (in part or in whole) edited into the director's cut.  No idea how that's gonna play out.

I decided to just go for the "regular" director's cut upon release myself -- and maybe pick up The Black Freighter motion-comic separately from the used market or bargain bin at some point.  I doubt the ultimate edition version improves the film at all, and I don't really want the film to be much longer than it already is (as I have a hard enough time finding time to watch one of many quality long movies and hate the idea of splitting up a viewing).

_Man_

I thoroughly enjoyed the theatrical release, both in the cinema and on Blu-Ray

I also purchased The Black Freighter on DVD when it was first released, watched it once and traded it in at an exchange shop

I found the special features on TBF to be more interesting than the feature itself, and I am saying that as a Watchmen fan that first read the graphic novel weeks after it was released in the 1980s

I like the length and pacing of the theatrical release of Watchmen and am not sure if the inclusion of the animated TBF would disturb this

I loved the theatrical and director's cuts but I definitely wonder if the movie can handle having The Tales Of The Black Freighter incorporated. That being said, I'm definitely going to pick this up to see for myself. Even if I hate the new cut, I can't wait to hear the commentary and I never bought The Black Freighter, Under The Hood or the Motion Comics so I have no problem spending the $31 that Amazon has the Ultimate Cut for.

Just so there's no confusion, the "Motion Comic" and Tales of the Black Freighter are two separate things.  The Motion Comic was a twelve-episode (one per issue) adaptation of the Watchmen comic, using the original art with voice overs and limited animation.  Tales of the Black Freighter is a fully animated adaptation of Watchmen's comic-within-a-comic.  Both the Motion Comic and Tales of the Black Freighter were released individually on DVD and Blu-ray around the time the movie was released in theaters.  This new "Ultimate Cut" release incorporates Tales of the Black Freighter into the body of the movie itself, and includes the Motion Comic on a separate disc.

I purchased the "Motion Comic" on DVD before Watchmen was released on home format (DVD and Blu) and watched about 1/2 of it before becoming bored, and picked up my vintage 80's copy of the graphic novel, read that during a "duvet day" off work, and thoroughly enjoyed it, alot more than my enjoyment of the Motion Comic

I thought the Motion Comic was clever in terms of the voice overs, and where they used the limited animation technique, but the graphic novel was a much more involving expierience

I would actually rate the Watchmen film itself very close to the Graphic Novel in terms of quality....

Aaaah...  I stand corrected then.  I was under the impression that the Black Freighter was also done in similar style to the Motion Comic rather than be fully animated.

Still, at least for myself, I'd rather just keep them separate since the director's cut is already quite long -- and I hate to have to split up the viewing (of a fully integrated version) just so I can fit it into the usually limited time spans I have to sit down and enjoy a film that can't be shared w/ the kids.

For those who don't feel all that confident about it, I'd think the rent-first approach makes the most sense -- it's not like the Ultimate Cut is selling at some crazy bargain price to justify taking the extra risk afterall.

_Man_

Aaron, I had read the comic but did not catch the movie in theaters. I enjoyed the comic. I bought the 1st release blind really hoping the movie would deliver and in my opinion, it does! I really enjoyed it and have watched it several times. I was going to rent this edition but after seeing it on Amazon for just $30, I jumped on it. My copy is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and I can't wait!

Thanks, Brad!

I am actually now leaning toward the version that comes with the PS3 game, since that sounds like the sort of game that I enjoy.  :)

I figure that if I ever feel the need to see the Black Freighter material, I can get a used copy for under $10 online.  Then again, that new cut has those commentaries. . .

Travis,

Having watched this ultimate cut yesterday, I gotta say, this might be the best version.  For me, it becomes the best version by not simply adding the Black Freighter Tale but the newstand transition scenes.  Within those scenes, it does something both previous cuts didn't achieve and that was giving the audience a greater sense of the dread of nuclear war upon the rest of the world outside of the main characters. 

You feel the weight of the entire situation in this cut which I thought the director's cut did...but having looked back on it, it really doesn't. 

I still considering this whole Watchmen project an ambitious mess but this new cut, I feel, is the best version of it. 

As an aside, I think it would've been interesting had the Black Freighter Tale been live action.  I just have this feeling that had it gone that route, that version would've been the true definitive version of the Watchmen.

Hmmm...  Sounds like I should perhaps give it a rent -- and enjoy it, but hope it won't convince me to re-dip for the UC version.   Maybe it's a good thing I still haven't picked up a copy of the Black Freighter yet.

Does this UC release also allow viewing of the Black Freighter separately (for occasions when we'd want to just watch that alone)?  I'm assuming you can't just watch either the theatrical version or the director's cut sans the BF inserts, correct?

Thanks for the report!

_Man_

Nope.  Tales of the Black Freighter is integrated within the film.  No separate option on any previous cuts either.  You get the theatrical cut on a digital copy....

Also, and maybe my eyes deceive me and I know reviews have stated otherwise, but I felt this transfer was ever so slightly sharper in appearance than the director's cut.  It probably isn't but at certain points, it just looked sharper than I previously remembered.

That's good to hear. I got my copy from Amazon a couple days ago and will check it out tonight or tomorrow.