 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter
- Review Date: March 22, 2009
- R
- Genre: Fantasy
- 2009
Common Sense Media says
Sometimes-gruesome Watchmen extras best for fans.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this isn't a sequel to the Watchmen movie, just supplementary material. The balleyhooed segment on this DVD, an R-rated pirate cartoon, is hideously violent and thematically grim, with murders, dismemberment of rotting corpses, and a hero defeated utterly by evil. Even worse; it's short, just about 20 minutes long. The rest of the running time is devoted to a (PG-rated) faux documentary about "real" superheroes. Neither may mean much if you don't know the graphic novel and movie to which it gives background.
What's the story?
When the movie Watchmen came out, it was assumed that Watchmania would have built an audience for this straight-to-DVD release, a spin-off of added material from the original Alan Moore Watchmen graphic novel. The cartoon derives from a delicious idea in the book, set in a world where comics superheroes really exist: what would their comic books be about? Pirate stories, that's what, and the "Tales of the Black Freighter" cartoon short here is an exceptionally horrific sea yarn, in which the ghoulish buccaneers manning a dread Black Freighter destroy another boat, leaving only one survivor, the captain (voiced by Gerard Butler). Deducing the pirates will next massacre his seaside village and family, the captain rigs a macabre raft (using bloated corpses of his slain crewmen) and pursues the marauding vessel, his own sanity slipping away during the nightmarish ordeal. Sharing the DVD is "Under the Hood," a longer, milder (PG-rated) mockumentary, fairly lighthearted in tone, that pretends to be a TV news special on the lives, loves, and scandals of America's costumed heroes in the storyline, from 1938 up through their retirements in the 1970s, when one writes a hot tell-all memoir.
Is it any good?
Strikingly moody, lurid, poetic, and downbeat, "Tales of the Black Freighter" could well have come from the pen of Edgar Allen Poe or Ambrose Bierce (or an adult-content horror comic). Aye, there be hardcore fans out there, of Watchmen and fantastic graphics, who might consider the DVD worth viewing just for this short alone. But that audience is a minority compared to those who would wish this collection had been either incorporated into a worthwhile anthology (like the R-rated cult sci-fi animation Heavy Metal) or, better, bundled as a Watchmen DVD extra with the feature.
It's not really enough to carry a whole disc, and the accompaniments (including a trailer for a Green Lantern animated feature and the first chapter of Moore's Watchmen book) feel like promos (albeit somewhat clever ones) meant to ride the coattails of the big-screen blockbuster into the marketplace. Pirating, you might say, arrrr!
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the movie's downbeat, hopeless outlook and how it fit into the larger scheme of the original Watchmen graphic novel. Do you think it adds to the main storyline or detracts? How would it have worked woven into the movie version?
How does the violence in this movie compare to that in the big-screen Watchmen feature? Which has more impact? Why?
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AGE
I didnt really care for this part in the graphic novel, but I saw this short film recently. It's violent and bloody, but other than that there's nothing objectional. Unless you hate violence, anyone over 10 should be fine watching it.
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AGE
Great for older audeinces
It's very good, under th hood is quite appropiate but tales of the black freighter is extremley grusome and grisly. Best for adults.
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AGE
If you have a short attention span, DO NOT GET!!!!!!!
If you've read the book and seen the movie and are planing on a ggreat little addition to it, I'm sorry, but you are saddly mistaken. Rember in the book with the black freighter comic inside the graphic novle. Well the make about a 20 minute segment of that. Rmember the book "Under the Hood" by the character Hollis Mason? They have about a 40-50 minute segment of that. And trust me, if you have a short attention span, you'll lose interest very quickly. Then they have a 40 minute segment on them making the real movie, and a little part on making the black freighter. Then they show the first chapter of the "Watchmen Motion Comics." Then they show a ten minute segment showing of "The Making of 'THe Green Lanter.'" Unless your addicted to that you'll just fast forward. to Find out you wated $4-$25 to see about 20-60 minutes of what you really wanted to see.
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AGE
If you liked the Watchmen book or movie, watch half of this
I did enjoy the "Watchmen" book and I'm planning to see the movie. If you've read the graphic novel, you'll recognize the "Black Freighter" story as having appeared a piece at a time - and it was much easier to take that way. The animated feature is thoroughly disgusting. I recognize that "Watchmen" itself is very dark and violent, but it takes a sick mind to enjoy a feature like this one.
That being said, if you enjoy the super-hero story, rent this one for the "Under The Hood" segment. It's a "60 Minutes" style documentary about the characters from the movie that will give you some insight into their history, and is worth watching.
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AGE
Very good, but don't bother buying extras you can get on the Ultimate Cut DVD
I rented this DVD after viewing the Watchmen movie back in March, so my review comes a little late...but it will be more important now that the Watchmen: Ultimate Cut - The Complete Story DVD set is out. More on that later. Anyway, Black Freighter is a comic within a comic in the Watchmen universe that involves a man who tries to return to his home in order to tell people about an incoming killer pirate ship called The Black Freighter. On the other hand, Under the Hood is a documentary describing the history of the superheroes within the Watchmen universe (based on Hollis Mason [original Nite Owl]'s biography/expose). Both of these shorts are based on their respective texts in the graphic novel. The DVD also includes a documentary that details how everything is connected, episode 1 of the motion comic, and something about the Green Lantern animated movie. Sounds good, right? Well, you're halfway right, then. While these are definitely really good extras if you're a Watchmen fan, here's the thing: they are all available on the Ultimate Cut DVD set I've described earlier. Not only that, but in the new cut of the film (even longer than the director's cut), Black Freighter is woven throughout, as it should be. Even though the Ultimate Cut comes at a rather steep price (up to $50-70 at some places), it's worth it if you're a Watchmen fan, as the complete motion comic, a new cut of the film, and other features are included, as well as the extras here. Overall, get the Ultimate Cut DVD instead of this, especially if you're looking at buying the Watchmen movie as well.
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| Studio: | Warner Home Video |
| Director: | Daniel Delpurgatoria |
| Cast: | Gerard Butler, Jared Harris |
| Genre: | Fantasy |
| Run time: | 64 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | March 24, 2009 |
| DVD release date: | March 24, 2009 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | violent and grisly images |
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