Watching the Watchmen

Just out (in the UK at least) is Watchmen on Blu-Ray. It is shameful to admit but I have never read the comic and I missed the film at the cinema (double shame.. I’m sorry) but I have been waiting for the release on Blu-Ray and I can tell you my wait was not in vein.

I’m not going to review the film, there are plenty of other sites out there who have done a great job. They know the story a lot better than me, so I will let them do it. All I will say is this is a great film, subtle and nuanced, that is more to do with the source than it is the quality of the production, but that is not a let down either. All in all a great film, very well done.

I wanted to look at the technical side of the release. What is included and how does the disk stack up in our new HD world.

Sight beyond sight

The first thing that stood out was the quality of the transfer. This has to be one of the first films I have watched and not thought “Look at all that noise in the blacks”. Blu-Ray has amazing colour depth, but if the blacks are filled with dim dots of other colours then you are losing that impact. “Watchmen” is as good as you are going to get in this department.

The film also has to deal with some tricky lighting situations. Silk Spectre’s black and yellow outfit or Dr Manhattan’s glowing blue skin could cause real colour bleeding and banding problems. But these are almost non-existent, and it really helps the look and feel of the film.

It has to be heard to be believed
I was expecting a standout action film, which I got. But more of a surprise to me was the background music. This is a film you have to watch with surround sound, TV speakers will just not do it justice. Beside the classic songs that really add to the feel of the film, the low-key background music just lifts this film from being great to amazing.

Low Frequency Effects are used to great effect to underline key moments in the film. At various times in the film there is a heart beat effect that really adds weight to what you are seeing, but without a good surround set-up I think you would completely miss it.

Extras

This is where the release is very disappointing. On the second disk there are quiet a few interesting items. the talk about the phenomenon that is Watchmen was interesting, but the others less so. A discussion about vigilantism in the real world was just boring, except of the couple of nutters who actually dress like superheroes and apparently “kick-ass”. I’m not sure I believe that bit. The other videos are sometimes interesting looks behind the scenes, but nothing special.

But there is no directors commentary, let alone the movie-max mode available in the American release that cuts to the director for key scenes so he can explain how they were made. I was also expecting more from the menus and general presentation of film. With such a rich source I thought they would have gone all out to show more, but they have stuck to a very plain (but well styled) layout.

Conclusion

Buy this film. The film alone is worth the price, the extras are just a nice addition. There is going to be another edition at some point in the future. That should mean the features of the American disk and the extra running time make it back into the UK release. But I don’t think that is really a deal breaker for such a great film.

Dealing with the film itself for a moment. At 2 hours 45 minutes its a long film, far too long for a lot of people. But if you enjoy story telling and a lot of complex back story to understand, this is the film for you.