Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut: The Complete Story
Directed By: Zack Snyder (w/ Daniel Delpurgatorio and Mike Smith)
Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Stephen McHattie, Gerard Butler
| Studio: Warner Year: 2009 Rated: R Film Length: 215 minutes Aspect Ratio: 2.4:1 Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish Release Date: November 10, 2009 |
Last spring and summer saw an avalanche or Watchmen related DVD releases, and by "avalanche", I mean four (five if you count 4:3 full frame presentations of widescreen theatrical films, but I like to pretend they do not exist). Roughly coincident with the film's theatrical release the first week in March was Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic. This was a lightly abridged rendering of the graphic novel created by adding voiceover narration and applying limited animation treatments to the original comic artwork. Three weeks after that saw the release of Watchmen: Tales of The Black Freighter/Behind the Mask which included an animated rendering of Tales of the Black Freighter which was a "comic within the comic" in the original Watchmen graphic novel, and Behind the Mask, a faux TV documentary that mirrored excerpts from a "book within the comic" from the source graphic novel. On July 21, The Watchmen feature film was released on DVD in two variants, one being a bare bones presentation of the Theatrical Cut, and the other being a Director's Cut Two-Disc Special Edition featuring an extended cut with 24 minutes of new material as well as numerous behind the scenes extras and a digital copy of the theatrical cut.
This Ultimate Cut pulls together all of the material from those previous DVD releases by intercutting Tales from the Black Freighter into the Director's Cut of the film extending its running time by an additional 29 minutes, including Behind the Mask, The Complete Motion Comic, and all of the extras from all of the previous Watchmen-related DVDs. In addition, it also includes two featurettes that were previously exclusive to the blu-ray release of the Director's Cut and two brand new full-length audio commentaries from Director Zack Snyder and Watchmen graphic novel artist and co-creator Dave Gibbons respectively.
The Film ***½
Zack Snyder's Watchmen is a cinematic adaptation of the celebrated graphic novel from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Set in an alternate 1985 where costumed vigilantes operating since before World War II have changed the course of American history (e.g. Vietnam was a victory and Nixon is President for his fifth consecutive term). It opens with the murder of Edward Blake aka The Comedian (Morgan), one of the first generation of costumed crime-fighters. When the single-minded borderline sociopathic Rorschach (Haley) investigates, he becomes convinced that someone is targeting costumed heroes, all of whom except for Rorschach have been retired since their vigilante activities were banned in the late 1970s. As Rorschach continues his investigation, the audience is introduced to his former crime-fighting associates including the reclusive Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl, the original Nite Owl Hollis Mason (McHattie), the wealthy philanthropic industrialist Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias (Goode), the god-like nuclear powered superman who is gradually losing interest in humanity known as Dr. Manhattan (Crudup), his girlfriend Laurie Jupiter aka Silk Spectre, and Laurie's mother Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre. The murder and ensuing events trigger a complex series of feelings and memories spanning two generations and 45 years that come to a head as the investigation reaches its surprising conclusion.Almost since the mid-1980s release of the original graphic novel, there has been talk of making a Watchmen theatrical film with a revolving door of writers and directors rumored to be attached to the project only to abandon it for one reason or another. A general consensus seemed to be developing that the project was unfilmable. Enter director Zack Snyder hot off the box-office success of an adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel 300. Snyder was determined to not only make the film, but to be as faithful as possible to the spirit of the book, embracing rather than streamlining the thematic and structural complexity via his adaptation in collaboration with screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse. To his credit, he comes awfully close to succeeding.
Starting with the good, Snyder and his collaborators do an impressive job of adapting the graphic novel: appropriating strong images, suggesting complexities that they did not have time to fully dramatize, and employing a non-linear cinematic narrative structure that approximates the graphic novel's decades spanning storytelling techniques using the psychology of the characters to provide a through-line despite frequent jumps backward and forward in time. The production design seems to be filled with more details than the viewer can actually see, creating the sense of a real time and space. Much of the cast is quite good, with Jackie Earle Haley being a particular stand-out as fan-favorite character Rorschach.
With so much going for it, the film stumbles in a few key areas that prevent it from achieving greatness. One of the oddest is the unconvincing wigs and make-ups applied to characters both to make them look older/younger than they are, and to make them look like real-world personalities such as Richard Nixon and Lee Iacocca. They look and act like sketch comedy show caricatures rather than the people they are supposed to be playing. Additionally, the film’s soundtrack is filled with lots of popular music, much of it distractingly inappropriate. For every instance where the song makes a point (such as the opening “The Times They Are a-Changin’” montage) or establishes the era, there are strange choices such as having a 1985 funeral scored to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence” or a sex scene set to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. That particular moment has to be one of the least sexy sex scenes ever captured on film. It is staged awkwardly, goes on way too long, and ends ridiculously. Whatever minor chemistry existed between the actors/characters involved somehow seems to evaporate by the time the scene has played out. Finally, the casting of Matthew Goode in the key role of crime-fighter turned philanthropic industrialist Adrian Veidt was a big mistake. He does not physically fit the part, he gives a completely unconvincing performance, and his accent is distractingly inconsistent from line to line, let alone scene to scene.
Snyder caught a lot of flack for changing the ending of the film, but in truth, the changes he makes are still thematically consistent with the original. The real problem with the ending is the fact that, just like the source graphic novel, it goes on seemingly forever and is 90% expository dialog. The fact that a good chunk of this exposition is being delivered by Goode does not help matters.
The Video ***½
I am happy to report that the film looks about as good as I could expect a three hour and 35 minute film encoded across a single dual-layered DVD to look. Unfortunately, I am also saddened to report that it suffers from most of the problems I would expect a three hour and 35 minute film encoded across a single dual-layered DVD to have. Starting with the positive, detail is usually above average. Shadow detail is rendered quite well for this very darkly lit film although certain sequences seem to have intentionally crushed blacks. The main weakness of the presentation stems from compression issues resulting in MPEG artifacts that cause mosquito noise and detail obscuring digital grain during scenes with a lot of motion. Camera pans and zooms are generally the worst offenders. There were also a handful of instances where I notice blockiness in dark areas of the image which affected the otherwise excellent shadow detail. It is not so bad that I would characterize the DVD as unwatchable, but it is a pervasive mild annoyance that makes me wish that the film had been split across two discs.The Audio ****½
The English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack presents the mix with its dynamics completely intact, resulting in many whisper to scream moments, particularly when violence erupts on screen. The opening sequence where The Comedian is attacked by a mysterious assailant is one such moment that conveniently lets you set your system to appropriate levels to avoid complications such as divorce or neighbors calling the police with noise complaints. The mix is aggressively directional when it makes sense and LFE enhancements frequently add to the fun as appropriate. Unfortunately, during the moments where all 5.1 channels are engaged aggressively, the fidelity seems to suffer, likely due to to the relatively low 384 kbps bitrate used to encode the soundtrack.The Extras ****1/2
The film itself may be viewed by some as a special feature since it is an extended "Ultimate Cut" with 53 minutes of additional material from the Theatrical Cut. 24 of these minutes were included in the previously released Director's Cut and the remaining 29 minutes unique to this cut consist exclusively of the Tales from the Black Freighter material as well as certain live action footage set around a newsstand that is used to frame it. Most of The 24 minutes of material added for the Director's Cut comes in the form of scene extensions including bits of business like a fight between Rorschach and two cops after his visit to the Comedian's apartment or some minor plot beats such as establishing that government agents follow Sally Jupiter because of their concern that Dr. Manhattan stay happy. The most significant addition has to do with a scene involving original Nite Owl Hollis Mason. The scene is directly from the source graphic novel, is very well played, and is editorially interesting, but ultimately not crucial to the plot or characterizations. In my review for the Director's Cut last summer, I stated my preference for the Theatrical Cut, and that still stands. I would have preferred to see most of the Director's Cut additions as deleted scenes. At the time, I stated that while none of the additions is particularly harmful on its own, the collective effect is to make a film that already felt a bit long at two hours and 42 minutes seem almost interminable at over three hours.Needless to say, adding an extra 29 minutes to accommodate the animated Tales from the Black Freighter material did not make the film seem more streamlined, but I actually think it improved on the Director's Cut. The animated segments are a change of pace that require a certain amount of reflection by the viewer to figure out how they thematically relate to the movie proper. I found that when they appeared, they actually allowed me to mentally gather up a "second wind" while enduring the three and a half hour plus cinematic marathon. My preference for the Theatrical Cut remains, but if one wants to see the extended cut material, this Ultimate Cut with the Tales from the Black Freighter segments would be my recommended choice.
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
The two-disc DVD release of Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic is included in its entirety in its original DVD packaging. My detailed review is available at this link.The rest of the extras are spread across three DVDs as follows:
Disc One
In addition to the entire Ultimate Cut of the film, disc one includes the following two special features:Audio Commentary from Director Zack Snyder - Snyder provides a detailed and relentless commentary for the film's complete 3-1/2 hour plus running time with very few gaps, even continuing speaking deep into the closing credits. He focuses primarily on production details, including lots of specifics having to do with how shots were accomplished (e.g. what is real versus CG) and how sets and back lot locations were re-worked to create different environments. Most of the topics are pretty dry and technical, but Snyder delivers them with conviction as the whole enterprise is still clearly fresh in his mind. Other useful information imparted includes pointing out select shots and scenes that were not included in the Theatrical Cut and lots of minute background details, many of which I missed on previous viewings and some so inside to the production team that I never would have caught them in a thousand viewings.
Commentary from Watchmen Graphic Novel co-creator and artist Dave Gibbons - Gibbons' track is not quite as chock-a-block full of production detail minutiae as the one from Snyder, but being the co-creator of the source graphic novel, he has a unique perspective on the film adaptation and how it relates to its source. Fans of the original comic will definitely be interested in this perspective, which is largely appreciative and impressed by the work put-in by the filmmakers. Were it not for the fact that Gibbons always sounds both intelligent and well-reasoned, this would come across as over-fawning, but he generally seems sincere. His biggest vice as a commentator is a tendency to lapse into narrative descriptions of on-screen action.
Disc Two
Disc Two extras consist of the following series of featurettes and a music video. All are presented in 4:3 letterboxed video with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound with available English SDH or French subtitles unless otherwise indicated below:The Phenomenon: The Comic that Changed Comics (28:45) Looks primarily at the original graphic novel, how it came to be, and what made it so unique. On camera interviews are intercut with still photographs, film clips, and clips from the "Motion Comic" of the graphic novel. It is divided up into chapters identified by the following on-screen titles: How it Began, Genesis, The Books are Unleashed, Breaking Conventions: Post-Modern Reflections, Breaking Conventions: The Anti-Superhero, Breaking Conventions: Moral Ambiguities, Breaking Conventions: Abuse of Power, Breaking Conventions: Science Fiction and Alternate History. Breaking Conventions: Non-Linear Time, and The Unfilmable is Filmed. Topics covered range from how the project evolved from an initial attempt to revive super hero characters from the Charlton Comics, to the working methods of Artist Dave Gibbons and writer Alan Moore, to a deconstruction of various aspects of the graphic novel. On-camera comments are provided by Malin Ackerman, Jackie Earle Haley, Carla Gugino, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Journalist Lev Grossman, Billy Crudup, DC Comics Senior VP & Creative Director Richard Bruning, 1981-2002 DC Comics President and Publisher Jenette Kahn, Zack Snyder, Producer Deborah Snyder, DC Comics Senior VP & Creative Director Gregory Noveck, Watchmen Artist Dave Gibbons, Former DC Comics Editor Len Wein, Watchmen Colorist John Higgins, DC Comics President and Publisher Paul Levitz, Producer Lloyd Levin, Watchmen and Philosophy Editor Dr. Mark D. White, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Co-Producer Wesley Coller.
Real Super Heroes: Real Vigilantes (26:16) This examination of vigilantism in both the real and Watchmen worlds previously appeared as an extra on the Blu-ray release of the Director's Cut and is making its SD DVD debut with this release.
The featurette is arranged episodically with an introduction that sets the stage for subsequent sections that alternate between profiles of the film and comics characters and their approach to vigilantism and profiles of real world figures such as The Guardian Angels, Bernard Goetz, and a couple of self-styled costumed vigilantes who appear to have whatever super-power it is that can make one impervious to embarrassment at their appearance. These profiles are interspersed with somewhat academic commentary on the subject of vigilantism, but it is little more than a cursory look at the topic. It weighs the multiple perspectives on vigilantism that came to the fore with the Bernard Goetz subway shooting, but does not turn such a balanced eye towards any of its other subjects. On-camera comments are provided by Snyder, Federal & Superior Court Qualified Deadly Force/Tactics Expert Scott Reitz, Professor of American History Dr. Thomas Spencer, Gibbons, Time Magazine Book Critic Lev Grossman, Alliance of Guardian Angels SE Coast Director William "Gladiator" Cruz, Alliance of Guardian Angels Founder & President Curtis Sliwa, Sunday Mirror UK Investigations Editor Graham Johnson, "Watchmen & Philosophy" Editor Dr. Mark D. White, Alliance of Guardian Angels Member Mary J. Gethins, Deborah Snyder, Haley, Crudup, Wilson, Tactical Training Seminars’ Spencer Weiss, and real life costumed vigilantes "Tothian" and "Ecliptico"
Mechanics: Technologies of a Fantastic World (16:47) - This look at he science behind Watchmen previously appeared as an extra on the Blu-ray release of the Director's Cut and is making its SD DVD debut with this release.
This featurette is built around comments from University of Minnesota Professor of Physics James Kakalios who was used as a scientific consultant for the movie. Kakalios had previously taught a class looking at physical sciences from the perspective of comic books, and was as such ideally suited to his role as an advisor on the film. In this featurette, he comments on various aspects of the film and comic and comments on their scientific basis and plausibility. After a brief introduction, the featurette is broken up into sections with the following titles: "The Miracle Exemption" (the idea that one must look at the scientific aspects of a comic or film from the perspective of allowing a given "miraculous" power or ability), "Is There an Intrinsic field?", "What is Quantum Mechanics?", "The Manhattan Project", "Dr. Manhattan's Powers", "Why is that Man Blue?", "Is Strontium 90 Real?", "Could an Owl Ship Fly?", "Seeing Like a Nite Owl", "Could a Man Catch a Bullet?", "Questioning Rorschach's Mask", and "Going Up?" (The plausibility of Rorschach's grappling hook gun). Kakalios comes across as a thoughtful guy and a good sport, even acknowledging that when the filmmakers had to choose between being faithful to the novel or being faithful to the laws of physics, they were right to give deference to the book.
In addition to Kakilios, the featurette features on screen comments from Snyder, set decorator Jim Erickson, Production Designer Alex McDowell, Supervising Art Director François Audouy, and Crudup
Watchmen: Video Journals offer up a series of brief featurettes that were previously available on the web looking at specific topics related to the film’s production. On-camera and on-set interviews are mixed with film clips, on-set, and behind the scenes footage:
- The Minutemen (3:35) Looks at the 1st generation of super-heroes in the film’s world. On-camera comments are provided by Deborah Snyder, Haley, Stephen McHattie, Morgan, Gugino, Gibbons, Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson, Snyder, and Still Photographer Clay Enos
- Sets & Sensibility (3:55) looks at the film’s sets. In particular, the Prison, Carnac, and New York Street sets. On-camera comments are provided by Production Designer Alex McDowell and Snyder
- Dressed for Success (3:06) looks at costumes including the various periods represented in the film and how the graphic novel was used as reference. On-camera comments are provided by Wilkinson and Snyder
- The Ship Has Eyes (4:22) looks at the life size prop for the owl ship “Archimedes”. On-camera comments are provided by Zack Snyder, Wilson, McDowell, Head Sculptor Jack Gavreau, SFX Cordinator Joel Whist, and SFX Assistant/Electronics Andrew Verhoeven
- Dave Gibbons (3:24) Looks at Watchmen co-creator/illustrator Gibbons and impressions from his visits to the film sets. On-camera comments are provided by Akerman, Gibbons, Crudup, and Haley
- Burn Baby Burn (2:14) Looks at the prison riot sequence from the film and the pyrotechnic effects and stunts. On-camera comments are provided by Stunt Coordinator/Fight Choreographer Damon Caro, Canadian Stunt Coordinator Douglas Chapman, Fire Technician Colin Decker, and Fire Technician Dustin Brooks
- Shoot to Thrill (3:16) Looks at the cinematographic style of the film. On-camera comments are provided by Deborah Snyder, Director of Photography Larry Fong, Chief Lighting Technician Dennis Brock, and Zack Snyder
- Blue Monday (3:01) Looks at how the Doctor Manhattan character was realized on film. On-camera comments are provided by VFX Supervisor John “DJ” Desjardin, Crudup, Global Effects’ Chris Gilman, and Fong,
- Attention to Detail (2:55) Looks at how the movie’s props took their cue from the level of detail from the Graphic Novel. On-camera comments are provided by Deborah Snyder, McDowell, Property Master Jimmy Chow, Set Decorator Jim Erickson, and Co-Producer Wesley Coller
- Girls Kick Ass (3:06) Looks at the mother/daughter characters of Sally and Laurie Jupiter in the film with some extra emphasis on the action sequences involving Akerman. On-camera comments are provided by Akerman, Zack Snyder, Wilkinson, Gugino, and Stunt Coordinator/Fight Choreographer Damon Caro
- Rorschach’s Mask (3:45) Looks at the Rorschach character as well as how his morphing ink blot mask was realized via costume and visual effects. On-camera comments are provided by Zack Snyder, Haley, Wilkinson, and Desjardin,
My Chemical Romance “Desolation Row” Music Video (16:9 enhanced video - 3:14) finds the band applying a buzz saw guitar pop-punk treatment to the Bob Dylan Classic. It is a performance video with the band on stage in front of a Rorschach-themed backdrop while their riotous audience clashes with police and SWAT teams who eventually throw everyone in a Paddy Wagon.
Under the Hood (4:3 full-frame - 37:32) was originally coupled with Tales of the Black Freighter on a standalone DVD release. It is directed by Eric Matthies and features appearances from actors Matt Frewer, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprising their roles from the Watchmen film. It constructed as a faux episode of a 1985 television news program called "The Culpeper Minute". It presents the episode as a retrospective look back at a series of interviews the program conducted a decade earlier in 1975 upon the release of original Night Owl Hollis Mason's (McHattie) memoir "Under the Hood". The archival material is mixed with commentary and discussion by various experts and "men on the street" about how views on costumed heroes have evolved over the ensuing decade. Along the way, the program includes interview comments from retired hero Sally Jupiter (Gugino) and retired super-villain Moloch (Frewer). It even includes a cameo piece of news footage of The Comedian (Morgan) who is none too happy to have a camera stuck in his face.
Conceptually, this faux documentary serves a similar purpose to many of the text pieces that appeared in the back of each issue of the Watchmen comic. These pieces usually took the form of documents such as excerpts from Hollis Mason's memoirs or press clippings about the early costumed heroes. The intent of these pieces was to create a deeper, more compelling world around the story told in the graphic novel. While less compelling as a standalone piece than Tales of the Black Freighter, the featurette does succeed in deepening the viewer's immersion into the world created by the film. It should be an entertaining experience for fans, although its rewatchability appeal is debatable.
Story within a Story: The Books of Watchmen (24:59) Originally a supplement on the Tales of the Black Freighter/Under the Hood standalone release, this is a behind the scenes featurette looking at both how Tales of the Black Freighter and Hollis Mason's Under the Hood were used in the Watchmen graphic novel, how those concepts were adapted into the filmed representations on this disc, and how Tales of the Black Freighter will be incorporated into a the Ultimate Cut of Watchmen. The featurette is assembled from behind the scenes footage, archival stills, and talking head interviews with actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Stephen McHattie, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Jesse Reed, and Jay Brazeau. Also commenting are Watchmen co-Creator and Illustrator Dave Gibbons, Producer Lloyd Levin, Co-Producer Wesley Coller, DC Comics Senior VP, Creative Affairs Gregory Noveck, 1981-2002 DC Comics President & Publisher Jenette Kahn, DC Comics President & Publisher Paul Levitz, Former DC Comics Editor and writer Len Wein, DC Comics Senior VP, Creative Director Richard Bruning, Writer Danny Fingeroth, Under the Hood Director/Producer Eric Matthies, Composer Tyler Bates, Watchmen Graphic Novel Colorist John Higgins, Production Designer Chris Watts, Production Designer Alex McDowell, and Additional Camera Operator Bill Dagleish. The closing moments of this featurette include an outtake from Under the Hood in which Gugino's Sally Jupiter ends her interview after being asked a too-personal question.
Disc Three
Finally, disc three contains a Digital Copy of the “Watchmen” Theatrical Cut (162 minutes). It is compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media. The iTunes version is presented at a resolution of 853x354 pixels and encoded at a bitrate of 1,960 kbps. It contains both stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks.Packaging
The five DVDs of Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut: The Complete Story receive a fairly deluxe packaging treatment. The Watchment: The Complete Motion Comic two-DVD set is present in its original packaging which is an Amaray-sized hard case with a hinged tray allowing for inclusion of both discs without any overlapping. The remaining three discs are contained in a separate five-panel digipack with three panels containing plastic hubs to hold the discs in place. The hard case and digipack are bound together inside a thick cardboard case with a double hinged cover that keeps them completely enclosed until it is opened. There appears to be a small magnet under the paper artwork of the front cover that keeps the front cover closed unless a slight pressure is applied to pull it open. The exterior case has graphics that try to combine the familiar Watchmen "blood-splattered smiley face" logo with pirate logos indicative of the "Black Freighter" material. I am not too crazy about the aesthetic result, but your mileage may vary. The only insert is a sheet with instructions and a code for unlocking the digital copy of the theatrical cut.Summary ***1/2
Zack Snyder's cinematic take on Watchmen manages to incorporate an impressive amount of the graphic novel's visual, thematic, and psychological complexity, but stumbles a bit due to some odd choices for music, make-up, one particular casting decision, and an unnecessarily drawn out conclusion that was also a problem with the book. It is presented on this five-disc special edition DVD set in an extended Ultimate Cut that incorporates the Tales from the Black Freighter animated footage into the body of the film and runs 29 minutes longer than the previously released extended Director's Cut. It still drags in places compared to the Theatrical Cut, but if one is going to watch an extended version of the film, it is more interesting with the "Black Freighter" material included. Audio is quite strong, but video suffers somewhat from compression related artifacts. Extras include every extra from previous Watchmen-related DVDs with the addition of two featurettes previously exclusive to the blu-ray edition of the Director's Cut and two brand new audio commentaries from Director Zack Snyder and graphic novel illustrator/co-creator Dave Gibbons respectively.Regards,
