This weekend Watchmen dropped down the box office chart again, and still hasn’t made its way past the $100 million mark. No doubt it will eventually make back the investment Warner Bros. made, even if it underperforms in the theatres. Whether you like the film or you don’t, I think few fans of the original graphic novel will dispute the fact that director Zach Snyder made Watchmen with the best of intentions, adhering amazingly close to its comic book origins. In fact, Snyder has been so reverential with Watchmen that he made sure to honour some core pieces of the text, even though they didn’t make it into the final product. That’s what we’ve got DVD for.
Also included on the DVD is Under The Hood, a live-action mock documentary that reveals the origin of the original Nite Owl (played by Stephen McHattie) and the Minutemen, the original superhero group which would eventually spawn the Watchmen. Under The Hood is a real gift to fans, as it expands upon the world only briefly hinted at during the opening sequence of Watchmen. Characters like Hollis Mason and Sally Jupiter, who were really just bit players in the film, are fleshed out, as is the Keene Act which sets so much of the Watchmen story in motion. Plus any chance to see more of Jeffery Dean Morgan as the Comedian, even if only just for a few seconds, is well worth the price of admission alone. I actually enjoyed this more than the main feature of Tales Of The Black Freighter.
Even if the masses aren’t gobbling up Watchmen the way many anticipated, Zach Snyder has made sure devotees to Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons work will be satisfied. And for them, picking up Tales Of The Black Freighter/Under The Hood on DVD or Blu-Ray is pretty much a no-brainer.