The Corner Penthouse

Warner Brothers recently released the Watchmen, Chapter 1 (2024) 4K UHD. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

In an alternate world history shaped by superheroes, once-celebrated "costumed adventurers" have been banned by a society disenchanted with vigilantism. Now, in 1985, the murder of hero-turned-government operative The Comedian (Rick D. Wasserman) draws the attention of Rorschach (Titus Welliver), the last of the outlawed vigilantes. Rorschach's investigation embroils his retired colleagues Nite Owl (Geoff Pierson/Matthew Rhys), Silk Spectre (Katee Sackhoff/Adrienne Barbeau), Dr. Manhattan (Michael Cerveris), and Ozymandias (Troy Baker) in conflict with their pasts, with each other, and in a mystery that threatens their lives and a world on the brink of war.

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The movie is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:23:51. The movie has been rated R for violent content and some graphic nudity. Audio languages include English, French, Spanish. Subtitle languages include English SDH, French, Spanish.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

All of the content listed below can be found the UHD disc.

• Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Worldbuilding (9:02) - The legacy of the comic book and its place in history. In addition to interviews, there is a nice look at the original book's concept art, uncolored panels in progress, the fake advertisements created to flesh out Watchmen's mystique, and other stuff.
• The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story (9:50) - Adapting the original books into this animated feature, including several panel to screen comparisons, along with more interview footage.

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

A digital copy code voucher is included inside the standard one-disc black UHD case. A slipcover is included.

[ NOTES ]

Watchmen, Chapter 1 (2024) is available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. This is the first part of an animated two-part feature film, based on the acclaimed graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. Watchmen, Chapter II will be released later in 2024, and I'm super excited for it. This animated feature has a unique visual style that I didn't care for much at first. It's computer-animation that tries to mimic both hand-drawn 2-D animation and the style and linework of the original comics. As such, it originally came off as pretty basic and "simple" to me. Then I realized that it's trying to be more "comic-like", and I started to warm up to it. That's not to say that I'm a big fan of the style. Anyway, I never read the original graphic novel, but I did see some of the earlier filmed adaptations, and it seems like this new animated feature does a good job with retelling the story. That's not a surprise considering that this adaptation was written by J. Michael Straczynski of The Real Ghostbusters fame.

As I said, this is far from the first filmed adaptation of the material. First, there's Zack Snyder's well-known 2009 theatrical film, which exists in three different cuts: Ultimate Cut on 4K UHD, Director's Cut on Blu-ray, and Theatrical Cut on DVD. The "Ultimate Cut" is the Director's Cut with the Tales of the Black Freighter animated feature edited into it. The Blu-ray is also available bundled with the PlayStation 3 "The End is Nigh" video game in a Steelbook case.

The Tales of the Black Freighter animated feature (with Under the Hood) is available on Blu-ray and DVD. Another animated adaptation is The Complete Motion Comic from 2008, which is available on Blu-ray and DVD. In addition to the Zach Snyder film, another live-action adaptation is the 2019 HBO limited series, which is available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Finally, various items that I just listed are available in different bundles. The Black Freighter and the Motion Comic Blu-ray discs can be purchased together. If you want an almost-complete package, there's a Blu-ray "Collector's Edition" that includes The Ultimate Cut of the 2009 film (two Blu-ray discs + one DVD), the Motion Comic, and the original graphic novel. There might be more Watchmen media out there, but I think this is a pretty good list to get you what you need.

This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.