Monday, March 23, 2009
By: BC
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In retrospect, maybe it wasn't wise to wait three weeks to release Tales From The Black Freighter on DVD. The movie, while still more successful than a good chunk of comic based films (it has certainly out-grossed any other Alan Moore adaptation, as well as Sin City), was not quite as financially successful as Warner Bros may have hoped, and thus the fanfare they assumed would be greeting the March 24th release of the spinoff will mainly be limited to the same die hard fans that would have bought it whenever it came out. Luckily, for them and for new fans, it's a great disc. Read on for a full review.
Sometimes the extra features are better than the film itself, but I think that Tales From The Black Freighter may be the first DVD in history in which the bonus features are LONGER than the film itself. While Freighter, ostensibly the main feature (as judged by the DVD cover, which is 90% Black Freighter related), only runs 24 minutes, the disc also contains a 38 minute mockumentary based on Hollis Mason’s "Under The Hood" novel, as well as a making of featurette on both stories that runs about a half hour. Hell, the disc also includes the first issue of the Watchmen Motion Comic (reviewed HERE) which runs a couple minutes longer than Freighter as well.
That’s not to say it’s any lesser an effort. On the contrary, the Black Freighter story is well told with traditional hand drawn animation. Zack Snyder originally wanted to put these segments in the Watchmen feature, utilizing the same stylish greenscreen approach he used on 300, but budget/time concerns jettisoned that idea. I couldn’t be happier with that decision, as not only did it keep the movie from ballooning into a length that prevented the film’s point from getting across, but it also allowed Snyder to reconsider and give a job to old school 2D animators, many of whom are probably facing layoffs with the ever increasing focus toward 3D CGI animation a la Pixar.
Plus it’s a good story to boot. Like Rorschach and Veidt in the main film, the unnamed protagonist of Black Freighter is a guy who simply misses the forest for the trees, and ends up doing reprehensible things in order to do what he thinks is right. I thought that the panels presented throughout various issues of the original "Watchmen" series would be fleshed out into a more complete tale (such as, if nothing else, giving the guy a name), but if you’ve read the comics, there isn’t much new here in terms of the story. However, it’s far more exciting to see certain events, like the shark battle and return to Davidstown, in full blown animated sequences. Plus, Gerard Butler provides the voice of the main character, bringing a sense of gravitas that the Motion Comic (which also included the Black Freighter panels) lacked.
It’s also exceedingly gory. It’s rare to see a 24 minute DVD get an MPAA rating, but it certainly earns the “R for violent and grisly images” tag. Bodies are torn apart, folks are beheaded, seagulls are eaten in gory detail... it actually gives the film (itself gorier than I expected) a run for its money, in about 1/6th the time. Needless to say, anyone doubting that this tale belongs being reviewed on a horror site should know that it offers more gory violence than half of the films we cover. Also skeleton/demon dudes.
As said though, Black Freighter makes up less than ¼ of the disc’s running time. Of more interest to Watchmen (film) fans will probably be Under The Hood, which is a 60 Minutes style interview/documentary piece with Hollis Mason, as well as Sally Jupiter and several other Watchmen characters. Everyone who appears is played by their film counterpart (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie, etc), and it actually fleshes out characters who are only glimpsed in the final film, such as the newspaper vendor and Rorschach’s psychiatrist. I was really impressed by the level of detail they employed with putting it together; at several points you can “hear” edits in voiceovers, same as a real documentary would.
Listed as an “extra”, but just as compelling, is a look at how both of these “bonus films” were created. It gets a little confusing at times, listening to people talk about fake people as if they were real in terms of creating a “documentary”, but again, you will be left completely impressed by how much time and effort were spent putting these things together. Also, it’s worth noting that it’s the first time in any Watchmen movie related piece that Alan Moore is mentioned (per his wishes, his name is kept from the credits of the film, the motion comic, and the other things on this disc).
Rounding out the disc is a collection of trailers, including one for the lousy Watchmen: The End Is Nigh game for Xbox360. If you ever wanted to use Rorschach and Night Owl in a 3D version of Streets of Rage, then you will love it, but I got bored pretty quickly, not to mention was appalled at the $20 price tag (double the cost of the majority of XBLA games, many of which offer more depth and replay value). And, as previously mentioned, the first episode of the Motion Comic is included, likely to entice those who haven’t yet picked it up (which they should!).
All in all, it’s a pretty great package. While all of it is likely to be on some eventual mega edition DVD release of the film itself, it’s fun to have now. If you're a new fan (i.e. have seen the film but haven't read the graphic novel), you will definitely want to pick it up, as it will help paint a more complete picture of the Watchmen universe.
Black Freighter 7/10
Under The Hood 8/10
Audio/Video: 8/10
Extras: 9/10
Overall: 8/10
Read 2 User Comments
I just got the DVD last night. I haven't read the graphic novel. I will throw the DVD into my player tonight and see if thise review hits the mark or not as far as I'm concerned. |
Tales from the black freighter isn't that long in the graphic novel in the first place anyway it would be better to see this as part of the blu-ray release of watchmen with a 4 to 5 hour full version going over everything including tales |
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