The other day I finally got to pick up the director's cut DVD of Watchmen. I say finally because I waited until midnight Monday, only to have Wal-Mart employees tell me that the only version they had for the midnight release was the single disk theatrical cut DVD. Needless to say I, and a few other fans that had been waiting left unhappy...
The Film
Now, I loved the movie in the theater. I was really surprised to see just how faithful to the Graphic Novel it was. The extended cut uses 24 minutes of new footage to be even more faithful. As a fan of the comic, it was nice to see little bits of dialogue added in to mirror the comic, as well as the death of Hollis Mason. The extra footage isn't all whole scenes. Its more little bits of extensions to existing scenes throughout the entire movie, making it feel like there's much more than there is. Overall this is a much better version of the film and I love it even more.
Special Features.
This is where the DVD dissappoints. I guess I'm going to have to upgrade to Blu Ray soon because it seems like the industry just no longer cares about those of us still holding on to DVD. I'm actually surprised that this extended version was released on DVD at all.
Disc 1
There are no features on this disc t all. Not even a commentary.(reserved for Blu Ray that basically has Snyder sitting in your living room, pausing and stepping onscreen to give insight and behind the scenes info. So I've heard...)
Disc 2
Almost everything on this disc is already available right here on the internet. We have the Desolation Row Music video, really? You can "Immerse yourself in All 11 Watchmen Video Journals". Which, if I'm not mistaken, can be found in the news archives on this very site. The only redeeming piece is the nice little documentary, The Phenomenon: The Comic that Changed Comics, which focuses on the comic more than the movie and also includes excerpts from the motion comic which I haven't seen yet.
All in all, the extended version of the film is great, worth the price alone, although it is five bucks more than the theatrical cut. They could have dropped all the features, thus the five dollars and made it more worthwile. I felt jipped to pay more for things that I had seen before, but I think the ultimate slap in the face was the ten dollar off coupon I found inside for The "ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION" DVD with five disks and "Black Freighter" woven in due to be released in December. Just what the hell did I buy this for if your going to taunt me with this. Seriously, "Here, you can buy another version of the movie you just bought, later"
Overall, this is a great movie and I am happy to add it to my collection, but if you haven't bought it yet and have the extra cash, I say wait until December and pick up the TRUE Watchmen DVD experience.