Blu-Ray Review:
Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood
By Jason Gillard
*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
In the graphic novels of Watchmen "Tales of the Black Freighter" is like a comic within a comic. This was produced for Zack Synder to go in his extended cut for Watchmen. It tells the tail of a shipwrecked captain who goes to great lengths to stop a ship of demonic swordsmen from returning to his hometown. Using the bodies of his fallen comrades he straps them to a raft and sets off to save his family. Along the way he has to battle sharks, and gulls and his own madness. The imagery that is displayed in this tale is graphic and some may find it disturbing. I thought it was awesome. Wait what does that say about me? ;) The main character is voiced by Gerard Butler who I thought was a perfect fit for this character. The animation is well done and it serves as a great companion piece to Watchmen and especially if you have the Watchmen Motion Comic which was reviewed here. Under the Hood on the other hand is not so much an integral part of Watchmen. This is a mocumentary that looks like an 80's dateline. It features a journalist talking to the original night owl. There are clips of the other heroes woven in. You get a lot of back story on the various characters but it really is for fans of the graphic novel Watchmen. Both of these serve as great companion pieces for people who are fans of the graphic novels and the new film.
8 out of 10
Video
Tales of the Black Freighter is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. It comes across looking very sharp and colourful. It reminds me of recent Warner animation titles like Wonder Women. The colours are vibrant and really bring the story to life. Grotesque images jump off the screen such as rotting corpses bursting from built up gas inside. Black levels are at their inky best making the many dark scenes look excellent. Overall, the presentation here is quite impressive. Under the Hood goes to great lengths to make it look like a bad cable show. So it's difficult to rate this one. Noise, grain, and soft imagery are littered throughout this piece. But of course this is done on purpose to give the video age. This is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio again to make it look like old cable TV. I don't think there was any problem with the transfer and essentially this is what they were going for.
Tales of the Black Freighter
8.5 out of 10
Under the Hood
7 out of 10
Audio
Both include a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track. Tales of the Black Freighter obviously is the best of the bunch. Dialogue comes across crisp and clear. There is a lot of ambient sound coming from the surround channels like waves crashing etc. There are some sound effects that sound too real, like the tearing of flesh. The score also sounds really good and ends up enveloping the listener. Overall, it sounds really good and brings to life a really cool story. Under the Hood again sounds like an 80's' cable show. There is clarity here, but they again have gone to great lengths to make it sound like a show you would have seen on in the 80's. This makes it difficult to review since technically it sounds great, but intentionally is made to sound inferior.
Tales of the Black Freighter
8 out of 10
Under the Hood
6.5 out of 10
Extras
Here is what is included in the extras:
- Story Within a Story
- Motion Comic Chapter
- A First Look at Green Lantern
- BD-Live Exclusives
Overall there isn't much here. "Story within a Story" goes into how these to shorts fit into Alan Moore's Watchmen story. It's pretty in depth and lasts about 25 minutes. I should also mention it's in HD. There is also a lot of behind the scenes footage which gives us glimpses of set pieces that were not used in the movie. If you don't have Watchmen: The Motion Comic, they give you the first episode here. If this doesn't have you running out to get a copy I don't know what will. This is also in HD.
7 out of 10
Overall
If you're a fan of Watchmen this is a good disc to pick up. Good video and audio and a decent extra take you further into the world that was created in the pages of Moore's amazing Watchmen.
8 out of 10
The Black Freighter and Under the Hood Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com