The Watchmen DVD

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A system of cells interlinked
Yes, it is a bit early to be posting about this, but I ran across some info on the disc that I thought people might find interesting.

Source: Collider

Zack Snyder : The Black Freighter version of the movie, which we call the final cut or the ultimate cut – it has a marketed name that I don’t know exactly what it is. That version of the movie, because when we were up there we physically shot the in’s and out’s, scenes at the newsstand that go into the movie. There’s like scenes where our characters pass the newsstand and then we pick up action at the newsstand and it gets us into the Black Freighter….with shots that go into it and it comes to life and you follow the Black Freighter story and then come back into the movie. That version of the movie is the director’s cut with the Black Freighter intercut. That version sort of traces the structure of the Black Freighter that's integrated into the comic book… So that version is the 3 hour and 25 minute version. So you have all those in’s and out’s…but the director’s cut includes the Hollis death stuff, that’s just a lot more connective tissue…it’s hard for me to even remember exactly what’s in it. But it’s just a lot more.

Debbie Snyder (Wife/Co-Producer) - Debbie: I think on one of them, I don’t know if it’s the Blu-ray, I think it does exist together. But don’t hold me to it. We also did the craziest thing ever called “The In-Movie Experience” for Blu-ray which I’ve never seen before…where Zack actually…it’s like a director’s commentary but it’s him and there are all these boxes and they’ll play the movie and he’ll point to a scene and they’ll deconstruct the scene on all these monitors behind him where you can see the green screen version of it. Or if it’s Dr. Manhattan you can see some great effects. It’s kind of like “Minority Report” as it feels very futuristic. And then there will be, I believe, in the fall the Ultimate Watchmen cut which will have the Black Freighter thread through the film which includes the ins and outs that we shot at the newsstand so that’s pretty fun. And another thing is we finished all the versions and it was an enormous amount of money because of Dr. Manhattan. Because if you think about it, it was an hour difference between the theatrical version, so it’s a lot of visual effects on Dr. Manhattan and we finished it at the same quality so we were really excited that they let us do that.


Ok, so... I am mixed on this. I don't think I care for the idea of not having a regular DVD release with both cuts of the film. Two separate versions on two separate DVDs seems like a money grab, to me. Meanwhile, I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on the extra content.

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\m/ Fade To Black \m/
I really hope there isnt two version's on two diferent disc's it is a complete money grab totally agree with you
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Just to interject with what Sedai posted. I found the following on filmschoolrejects.com ....

Summer/July: Director’s Cut. This cut will feature “99% of what we shot,” footage which Zack Snyder said he liked. The run time on this edition will be just over 3 hours long, compared to the 2:35ish run time of the theatrical version. It will be more violent, more sexy, and have more naked Dr. Manhattan. Also included will be entire scenes excised from the movie for time.

Fall/Last Quarter: The Black Freighter Edition. This title may not be the final title, but it is how Snyder identified it. He told us that they shot all the Ins and Outs of The Black Freighter pieces from the comic book, which for those of you who haven’t read it, mostly revolve around a boy and newsstand salesman. You can see these characters in the film, but they don’t have an impact on the story. The big news is that The Black Freighter, the animated movie, will be cut into the film. The animated film is said to be 22minutes long which, with the In and Out shots, will bump the presentation to about 3hours and 25minutes. Snyder referred to this release as the “fetishistic and kind of crazy” release, as it is so complete.



Release date of July 21st.
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No amount of adding, subtracting, chopping, re-editing etc is likely to change the fact that the theatrical film was overblown & not very interesting.
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I read and liked the graphic novel, wouldn't mind seeing what they did with it for the movie and as I avoid movie theaters I'm looking forward to its DVD release.



A system of cells interlinked
No amount of adding, subtracting, chopping, re-editing etc is likely to change the fact that the theatrical film was overblown & not very interesting.
Says you - I definitely disagree. I think Snyder & Co. did a bang-up job on the film, capturing the essence of the source material. Aside from some clearly unnecessary scenes of over-the-top violence and gratuitous boot knocking, it's a fantastic, well-paced film.



That movie was pretty over the top. The marketing of it was brilliant though the way they made it mass appeal to everyone like it was an epic film.

The reality is, the movie wasn't that great and catered to a niche audience.



Says you - I definitely disagree. I think Snyder & Co. did a bang-up job on the film, capturing the essence of the source material. Aside from some clearly unnecessary scenes of over-the-top violence and gratuitous boot knocking, it's a fantastic, well-paced film.
I don't know or care if they captured the essence of the source material; I've never read it and never will. I didn't find any violence over the top or anything sexual to be gratuitous. I just found it to be a big, loud, grand spectacle that went absolutely nowhere and - here's a mark of a film failure - got less and less interesting as it progressed. Some bad casting, unfocused storytelling and (perhaps worst of all) dull action sequences quickly toppled the whole house of cards.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Aside from Malin Akerman, I thought the film had a terrific cast and all nailed their roles. The action sequences were there to cater to a film audience, as the source material had very little action in it.

I'm sorry that you thought it got less interesting as it went on, is the destruction of entire cities boring to you? The fight for survival, or giant blue people crashing through ceilings bore you? I wonder what you think interesting actually is.

Unfocused storytelling is a cop-out, since the one film adapts 12 issues of the comics. Each one with it's own story, intertwined into the big picture. I guess you missed the big picture, or only care for one simplistic story that goes from point A to point B. Did you like The Dark Knight? It had 3 stories going at once.

On a side note.









Where's Ozy???



Wow, the cover looks awesome. Can't wait until this comes out.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
They should really have Ozy on there, having him not there is like having "And Kevin Spacey as Keyser Soze" on the cover of Usual Suspects, IMO.



I'm sorry that you thought it got less interesting as it went on, is the destruction of entire cities boring to you? The fight for survival, or giant blue people crashing through ceilings bore you? I wonder what you think interesting actually is.

Unfocused storytelling is a cop-out, since the one film adapts 12 issues of the comics. Each one with it's own story, intertwined into the big picture. I guess you missed the big picture, or only care for one simplistic story that goes from point A to point B. Did you like The Dark Knight? It had 3 stories going at once.
Is the destruction of entire cities, a fight for survival, or giant blue people crashing through ceilings automatically interesting? Of course not. Your implication is that I should be thrilled by such things, but I wasn't, simply because of how it was done. Is putting 12 issues of comics into a film automatically good - ie not "unfocused" storytelling? Because I thought the narrative was a mess, that's a "cop-out"? When a film tries for something larger, a "big picture", is that automatically good? Because I didn't like the film I "missed the big picture"? I only "care for one simplistic story that goes from point A to point B"?

What horribly condescending & illogical things to say.

And if The Dark Knight having "three stories going at once" is now the benchmark for a complex narrative, cinema is in worse shape than I thought.



He didn't say The Dark Knight was the benchmark for complex narratives (though I'd say it certainly has one), or even exceptionally complex. He simply asked if you liked it, and pointed out that it had a lot going on at once.

Also, I don't think TUS said that adapting 12 comics makes the film good, merely that it can only be so focused while remaining faithful to such dense source material. Thus, if you find it unfocused, some of your complaint is inherent in the decision to adapt them at all, and not as much in the execution.



He didn't say The Dark Knight was the benchmark for complex narratives (though I'd say it certainly has one), or even exceptionally complex. He simply asked if you liked it, and pointed out that it had a lot going on at once.

Also, I don't think TUS said that adapting 12 comics makes the film good, merely that it can only be so focused while remaining faithful to such dense source material. Thus, if you find it unfocused, some of your complaint is inherent in the decision to adapt them at all, and not as much in the execution.
And I didn't say he said TDK was now the "benchmark" for complex narratives, but it was obvious from the context of his comment/question that he thought it at least had one and thought it worthy. Again, in the context of the discussion, he was not simply asking if I liked the film; it was specifically related to the overarching discussion about more complex stories.

And, no, I don't have any problem with Snyder & co. deciding to adapt something like Watchmen despite its complexity - my problem with it was entirely in the execution. As I said before, I haven't read the book, so naturally my problem was entirely with the execution: I don't have anything else to go on. Maybe they did a great job given a difficult task, but that shouldn't matter; film & literature are separate mediums, and a film adaption needs, on some level, so stand on its own as a coherent & interesting work. I thought it was pretty disconnected.



I also asked what do you find interesting....I want to know.
The films I love best tend to be dark, enigmatic, rich with subtext, psychologically engaging, and open to interpretation. On a related note, your comment that "I guess you missed the big picture, or only care for one simplistic story that goes from point A to point B" is especially off the mark when you're saying it to someone who counts films like INLAND EMPIRE and Persona amongst their favorites.

Suppose I said "oh, I can tell by your username that you think The Usual Suspects is some sort of classic. Clearly you can't appreciate a straightforward classic crime film that doesn't rely on a cheap twist ending to make itself memorable. I bet you haven't even seen Le Cercle Rouge." Condescending and baseless, no? But you didn't seem to have any qualms about passing a similar judgement on me.

As for The Dark Knight, there has never been a film in existence I've been so utterly sick & tired of hearing about, so I'm not even going to discuss it. Suffice to say I thought it was alright, but ultimately nothing special.