Watchmen: ‘Tales of the Black Freighter’ and ‘Under the Hood’ on DVD Tuesday
The Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter animated DVD is scheduled for release this coming Tuesday, March 24! Also on the DVD will be Under the Hood, a live action adaptation of the original Nite Owl’s autobiography! Hot dog!
To watch the trailer for either, click here and then select Tales of the Black Freighter.
For those of you who haven’t read the actual Watchmen graphic novel, Tales of the Black Freighter was a comic-within-the-comic. This story actually appeared within the pages of the Watchmen graphic novel as a comic book read by a young man in New York City. Tales of the Black Freighter tells the story of a young mariner’s journey to warn his home town of the coming of the Black Freighter after he survives the destruction of his own ship. During his journey, the young seaman is “forced by the urgency of his mission to shed one inhibition after another” and experience horrible events along the way. The turbulent events the sailor endures seem to mirror those in the world of the Watchmen, specifically the events surrounding Adrian Veidt.
The Tales of the Black Freighter comic-within-the-comic was very reminiscent of the old E.C. Comics. The art and colors were very rich; the story dense with a sense of foreboding. If you love those old E.C. Comics, then you’ll go nuts for Tales of the Black Freighter.
The Tales of the Black Freighter DVD features the voices of Gerard Butler (300) and Jared Harris (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and is directed by Daniel DelPurgatorio and Mike Smith and written by Alex Tse (Watchmen) and Zack Snyder.
Under the Hood, Hollis Mason’s tell-all autobiography, chronicles the events in Hollis Mason’s life that led to him to become the masked avenger Nite Owl and discusses how the Minutemen were formed. It features the original Sally Spectre, the Comedian, Moloch the Mystic, along with Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl.
Under the Hood is directed by Eric Matthies, written by Hans Rodionoff and produced by Eric Matthies and Wesley Coller. Stars Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear as their characters from the theatrical Watchmen film in this live-action documentary style special.
This DVD looks awesome! I’m especially excited about the Under the Hood segment. I’m a sucker for golden age/silver age superheroes. I can’t wait!
I haven’t seen the Watchmen movie. Loved V for Vendetta the comic, was bored by the movie. Fearful of being bored by Watchmen, especially since I found the comic not as good as the V for Vendetta comic. Hopeful on account of the movie looking cool, but it’s hard for me to like ANY 3 hour movie (LOTR excluded), especially when, as I’ve heard, there are some questionable editing choices present.
That said, the Black Freighter, which I cared nothing for in the comic, could probably make a pretty enjoyable DVD.
I’ll get you, Captain America!
Very curious about “Under the Hood” but not so sure an animated Black Freighter sounds very appealing. It wasn’t a very pleasant story after all.