DVD Review: Tales of the Black Freighter/Under the Hood
By Chance
March 26, 2009 at 12:10AM EDT
DVD Review
Title: Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood Starring: Gerard Butler, Ted Friend, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie Bonus Features: Story Within a Story: The Books of Watchmen Documentary, Watchmen Motion Comic Episode 1; Green Lantern First Look
Even after re-reading the book recently, then seeing the movie four times, I still can’t get enough of Watchmen. DC and Warner Brothers must have anticipated this, so they’ve released an animated version of the comic book-within-a-book Tales of the Black Freighter, along with a faux documentary featuring Hollis Mason and his Under the Hood tell-all. Both short films add important subtext and backstory to the Watchmen saga. Let’s start with Black Freighter. (More…)
More than a few comic book enthusiasts have told me they skipped the Black Freighter stuff in the book, which shocks the hell out of me, because the Black Freighter comic is one of my favorite parts of the book. Needless to say, I was disappointed to learn it wouldn’t make it into the movie. To me, it’s such an integral part of the story, I couldn’t imagine how they could convey the complexities of the story without the Black Freighter material. The animated version they’ve created is extremely faithful to the source material. The prose is both evocative and heartbreaking, and hearing sexy Gerard Butler perform the poetry and power of Alan Moore‘s words is a wonderful sensory experience. The fluid animation captures the darkness and mood of the graphic novel beautifully. The design of the characters is somewhat stylized, but works well with the story’s twisted view of human nature. My only complaint is that I miss the powerful interaction of the Black Freighter story with the Watchmen story. It’s integrated so seamlessly in the book that it lacks a certain amount of power viewing it on its own.
To turn the book excerpts from Under the Hood into a visual experience, the filmmakers have presented its contents in the form of a newsmagazine segment on Hollis Mason and the masked adventurers of his time. In addition to the biographical information we get about Hollis, the segment also brings in appearances by Silk Specter, The Comedian, Silhouette, Captain Metropolis and the rest of the gang. It’s interesting to note that Captain Metropolis’s sexuality is discussed pretty openly in the segment. The interviews with Hollis and Sally Jupiter are especially well done, and they provide the most information in terms of character backstory and development. The Veidt commercials and the period ads from the 80s lend an air of authenticity to the production values. It’s difficult to fake news reports without doing a parody of them, and while there are a few clunky moments (especially the interview with Rorschach’s psychiatrist), overall it’s a good effort and fits well in the Watchmen film universe.
The bonus documentary, Story Within a Story, offers excellent insight into how each of these pieces affect the whole, including the revelation that the Black Freighter story was inspired by the Threepenny Opera song “Pirate Jenny” by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The Black Freighter segment ends with Nina Simone’s version of the haunting classic. Someday, I would love to see both Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood integrated into the Watchmen film. I don’t know if the extended version of the film due out in September will include any of this material, but hopefully future special edition releases of the DVD will collect and combine everything into one, complete Watchmen movie experience.
On the FBOTU Scale of Fabulousness, I give Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood 4 out of 5 smirking emoticons:
DVD Review: Tales of the Black Freighter/Under the Hood
By Chance
March 26, 2009 at 12:10AM EDT
DVD Review
Title: Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood
Starring: Gerard Butler, Ted Friend, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie
Bonus Features: Story Within a Story: The Books of Watchmen Documentary, Watchmen Motion Comic Episode 1; Green Lantern First Look
Even after re-reading the book recently, then seeing the movie four times, I still can’t get enough of Watchmen. DC and Warner Brothers must have anticipated this, so they’ve released an animated version of the comic book-within-a-book Tales of the Black Freighter, along with a faux documentary featuring Hollis Mason and his Under the Hood tell-all. Both short films add important subtext and backstory to the Watchmen saga. Let’s start with Black Freighter. (More…)
More than a few comic book enthusiasts have told me they skipped the Black Freighter stuff in the book, which shocks the hell out of me, because the Black Freighter comic is one of my favorite parts of the book. Needless to say, I was disappointed to learn it wouldn’t make it into the movie. To me, it’s such an integral part of the story, I couldn’t imagine how they could convey the complexities of the story without the Black Freighter material. The animated version they’ve created is extremely faithful to the source material. The prose is both evocative and heartbreaking, and hearing sexy Gerard Butler perform the poetry and power of Alan Moore‘s words is a wonderful sensory experience. The fluid animation captures the darkness and mood of the graphic novel beautifully. The design of the characters is somewhat stylized, but works well with the story’s twisted view of human nature. My only complaint is that I miss the powerful interaction of the Black Freighter story with the Watchmen story. It’s integrated so seamlessly in the book that it lacks a certain amount of power viewing it on its own.
To turn the book excerpts from Under the Hood into a visual experience, the filmmakers have presented its contents in the form of a newsmagazine segment on Hollis Mason and the masked adventurers of his time. In addition to the biographical information we get about Hollis, the segment also brings in appearances by Silk Specter, The Comedian, Silhouette, Captain Metropolis and the rest of the gang. It’s interesting to note that Captain Metropolis’s sexuality is discussed pretty openly in the segment. The interviews with Hollis and Sally Jupiter are especially well done, and they provide the most information in terms of character backstory and development. The Veidt commercials and the period ads from the 80s lend an air of authenticity to the production values. It’s difficult to fake news reports without doing a parody of them, and while there are a few clunky moments (especially the interview with Rorschach’s psychiatrist), overall it’s a good effort and fits well in the Watchmen film universe.
The bonus documentary, Story Within a Story, offers excellent insight into how each of these pieces affect the whole, including the revelation that the Black Freighter story was inspired by the Threepenny Opera song “Pirate Jenny” by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The Black Freighter segment ends with Nina Simone’s version of the haunting classic. Someday, I would love to see both Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood integrated into the Watchmen film. I don’t know if the extended version of the film due out in September will include any of this material, but hopefully future special edition releases of the DVD will collect and combine everything into one, complete Watchmen movie experience.
On the FBOTU Scale of Fabulousness, I give Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood 4 out of 5 smirking emoticons:
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