DVD: Watchmen Tales of the Black Freighter
Review of Warner Premiere Animated DVD Features Under the Hood
Mar 17, 2009
Although Warner/Paramount's Watchmen has not become the all-out blockbuster those studios were hoping for, director Zack Snyder can rest assured that his film adaptation of Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore's landmark graphic novel is a stunning artistic success, and probably the best adaptation of an Alan Moore script ever put to film.
That the animated DVD Tales of the Black Freighter is equally is successful is a testament to Snyder's vision for the film. Paired with The Culpeper Minute: Under the Hood, these two films beautifully expand on the world created in the live-action movie.
Tales of the Black Freighter Stars Gerard Butler
The "comic within a comic" Tales of the Black Freighter follows a young sea officer (voiced by Gerard Butler) and his harrowing descent into madness. The sole survivor of an attack by the demonic pirate ship, the officer becomes obsessed with the idea that the Black Freighter is on its way to sack the port city of Davidstown, where his wife and 2 daughters live. His plan is to try and reach Davidstown before the Black Freighter and warn the townsfolk of the impending attack.
Committing increasingly brutal acts in order to carry out his quest – such as using the bloated corpses of his shipmates to build a raft – the officer finds himself losing his sanity, until the horrific realization of what the Black Freighter was truly after from the beginning.
The DVD's promotional literature makes it painfully obvious that the Tales of the Black Freighter storyline acts as an insight into the personality of Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias, another well-intentioned individual who tries to save the world on the backs of corpses.
Such club moments don't detract from the riveting combination of art and prose unleashed in this animated DVD. Butler, best known for chewing the scenery in Snyder's 300, accurately portrays the officer's character arc as he becomes what he abhors. Paired with the grisly images created by original artist Dave Gibbons and Reel FX Studios (this DVD is rated R for very good reason!), this story-within-a-story rolls along to its punishing climax. It's horrific, but never comes off as gratuitous.
Under the Hood Stars Stephen McHattie, Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Included with the DVD is another featurette entitled Under the Hood. It's a mockumentary of an 80's style news show, where the pompous host of The Culpeper Minute resurrects a 10-year-old interview with Hollis Mason AKA Nite Owl I (Stephen McHattie), discussing his autobiography.
Sally Jupiter AKA Silk Spectre I (Carla Gugino), Edgar Jacobi AKA Moloch the Mystic (Matt Frewer) are also featured in the program, plus a memorable cameo by The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
The attention to detail is nothing less than spectacular. Director Eric Matthies has accurately recreated the look and feel of a 60 Minutes-style news program, showing "vintage" photos and newspaper articles interspersed with "modern" interviews with the characters in the world of Watchmen. Under the Hood adds extra dimension to the events and characters portrayed in Watchmen, dimensions that had to be cut if the theatrical release was to stay under 3 hours.
DVD Extras
The big news here is the "Story Within a Story: The Books of Watchmen" featurette, which delve into the making of the two stories, and feature various people talking about Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood. Worth watching simply for the included scene where Culpeper asks Sally whether or not The Comedian is the father of her child.
(Oh yeah, and just in case the producers didn't drive the lesson home before, Tales of the Black Freighter is really about Ozymandias!!! Got that? Good.)
Warner Home video also included Episode 1 of the Watchmen Motion Comic plus a first look at Warner Premiere's Green Lantern: First Flight direct-to-DVD film.
The Final Analysis
Tales of the Black Freighter is a stunning accompaniment to Zack Snyder's film, delving deeper into Moore and Gibbons' multi-layered world. The care and attention that has gone into making this DVD a true companion for Watchmen is second to none.
Snyder has said that he would eventually like to include both Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood as extra features on the Watchmen DVD, or even weave them into a potential Director's Cut. Whether this happens remains to be seen, but certainly Watchmen fans should run, not walk to get this stellar companion to the live-action film.
It gets a 9/10.
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