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

wow how nice, i didnt buy the first release to wait for this.

I bought the 1st release blind. I really love the movie and enjoyed the comic. I'm tempted by this release and wonder how limited this will be.

Limited until they can think up some other gimmick for a triple-dip?????

When Watchmen was initially released on Blu-ray, I had planned to purchase both the U.S. and U.K. releases in order to get both cuts of the film, but decided to hold off, knowing that an extended version was coming and figuring that it'd probably be part of a comprehensive release.

I'm disappointed to see that this release does not appear to be that comprehensive release, as the above ad mentions neither the theatrical version (except as a "digital copy," about which I am completely apathetic) nor the director's cut. 

I wonder if the ultimate cut will add even more unnecessary footage, turning an already bloated and indulgent director's cut into a movie that can actually make time stand still. Or perhaps it can add in more scenes of giant blu penises, or make the disappointingly puncy bad guy even less intimidating.

Why bother with this dross when The Incredibles said everything it said, but funnier and much more efficiently.

Why bother?
because people want it.
I want it and will buy it.
I've watched the dir version 3 times and can't wait to see the next version.

Why bother, hmmm

this release doesn't claim to be comprehensive.
It claims to be the ultimate cut.
this release is exactly as advertised.

I think a better question is why bother posting in this thread at all if you didn't like the movie?

Looks good. I held off on the initial release for this. I had hoped a release would come that included Black Freighter and the motion comic.

I never said that this release is not what it claims to be, or that its advertisement was misleading.  I'm just disappointed that it's not what I'd hoped to get from the next Watchmen release.

Hasn't a movie ever annoyed you so much you felt like taking revenge on it? I felt the same way about The Usual Suspects. The more reasonable version of my previous post is is I felt the pacing of the director's cut was such that the movie lost steam about an hour in, for those of us who hadn't read the graphic novel; and I didn't care personally for the film, even though I tried very hard to like it. I guess I also posted here because I kind of feel bad that so many other people like the movie and I just didn't. At all. The director's cut made me worry that directors throw out all their good pacing decisions for theatrical cuts and create laboured experiences for home viewing which I often feel like turning off when they get boring... And I wish they worried as much about me doing that at home as they do in the theatre, because its much easier to turn a movie off at home than it is to walk out in a theatre. If anything, directors cuts are more appropriate at theatre and less at home for this reason. Just my two cents.

I admire your candor. A similar motivation cries out from a lot of posts that get made here, but you're the first person I can remember in eleven years at HTF who's willing to be up front about it.
Edited by Michael Reuben - 9/23/09 at 8:51pm

As much as I'd like to see this version, I would have preferred a seamless branching option with regards to the Black Freighter parts. I really enjoyed the director's cut, but I'm not sure which version I want to buy, and there's no room in the budget for both.

One report says this edition is limited to 70,000. Why? If people want to buy it, make more!

Some speculation: At that price point, I think this is mostly for hard core fans. That number sounds like it will meet demand, and making it limited creates a sense of urgency that will push people who might otherwise have waited for a lower price.

I really liked the Director's Cut, and was really looking forward to this.  I think the price will keep me away from this, and not feeling like I have the complete movie will keep me away from the previous blu-ray.  If it had all three cuts via seamless branching, I might have gone past my normal per-title spending limits and picked this up if it went down to a $30 street price.

I loved Watchmen, but I'm content with the Director's Cut.  I think it expanded the film nicely, but I've no desire to see the Black Freighter stuff tied back into the film. 

This one's an easy pass in my eyes.

While the November 3rd street date is nice that it is coming so soon, I'm a bit puzzled on Warner Bro's decision for that date.

In the directors cut disc there is a sheet that promotes a $10 off coupon for the ultimate cut.  It says that if you register on the WB rewards site by December 1st then they will email you the $10 off coupon.

Why a month after the release date?  If it's a coupon then you need to have it in hand before you actually buy the disc.  By releasing the disc a month before anyone gets the coupon, the consumer has to wait a month to get the disc if they want to qualify for the $10 off, and then they risk either the limited edition selling out, or the store raising the price back up to a point where the coupon is worthless, after the first loss leader week sales price expires.

Is this a slick move by WB so that they don't really have to honor any of the coupons they made themselves look good by offering?

I thought that this means you have to register before dec 1st just to get the coupon.
does it say you don't get the coupon before dec 1st?

Yeah, here is the fine print at the bottom of the flyer:

"Coupon expires 6/30/2010 and will be delivered by email to registered members on December 1st, 2009.  Restrictions apply."

maybe the coupon will be sent earlier, wasn't the release date not set when this coupon was first made available.

Does anyone know if this Ultimate cut adds anything other than the Black Freighter stuff?

And are there any new supplements, other than the commentaries? Seems like most of this stuff has been available in one format or another somewhere else.

I'm still tempted to buy, because I love the movie, but I was hoping for more original supplements. And I don't really have much interest in seeing TofBF cut back into the film.

--Jefferson Morris

Hopefully the coupon will be sent out earlier.  The flyer does say that the movie will be released in December, so it could be out of date.

Most of the stuff is available separately, but I didn't get any of it.  The inclusion of the "Under the hood" and the Complete motion comics makes this a must own for me.

I'll probably give this one a shot.  I thought the DC really improved the theatrical version, and I'm curious enough to see how the Freighter plays cut into it since viewed on it's own, it's a bit clunky.

I seriously can't believe more people aren't bothered by the idea of more material being added into this film. It was seriously forty minutes too long in director's cut form... Mon dieu...

^ Presumably, the people that feel the same as you aren't wasting their time posting about a movie that they didn't like.

I don't like this movie in the same way that I do like movies that are the right length. I'll be back for the Funny People Director's Cut, trust me.

It didn't feel long when I watched it on BD. However, I'm not sure cutting in more footage is a good idea. I'll probably rent this ultra-long cut just out of curiosity. I think cutting in "Black Freighter" footage is really going to be problematic when it comes to the movie's pacing; Even the graphic novel's pacing was affected when the focus switched to the Black Freighter story, and that was in a medium that was more suited for parallel storytelling of that nature. I don't think the filmmaking medium is very well suited to the kind of parallel storytelling that occurs in the graphic novel.

 Please stop thread-crapping, Ben.  If you didn't like the movie, then move on so that others can discuss it.

I'm not thread-crapping, I'm not a troll, I'm just a HTF member who is morally against adding in more footage to a film I already feel is too long. I'm putting up a front to the never-ending "ultimate more footage triple dip" versions of films that Orson Welles would never had changed after they were done!