If you read the amazing graphic novel by Alan Moore, in the past couple weeks, you probably have. You’ll receive no argument from me that The Watchmen was an incredible film, but as so often with beloved books-turned-movie there was a lot missing. Where is the pirate comic we all loved so much? And what about Hollis Mason and the excerpts from his book that gave us such a perspective on what it was like to be a masked crime fighter?.
Well, good news, folks. Warner Brothers is not letting us down. Today, on Blu-Ray, DVD, and On Demand you will find The Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter. In addition to the gut wrenching, often incredibly gory pirate tale that was the comic-inside-the-comic in The Watchmen novel, the disc will also feature Under the Hood, the back story on Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl.
Even if you haven’t read the graphic novel, if you loved The Watchmen as a stand alone film, I know you’ll want to have your hands on these two other short films. In the book, Tales of the Black Freighter serves as a vivid and sometimes sickening parallel to what is happening in the world The Watchmen inhabit, and Under the Hood serves as more than a back story on the character who only managed one little scene in the film, but a look inside the inner workings of a “masked-avenger”. Perhaps one of my favorite lines from The Watchmen graphic novel came from Hollis Mason’s book:
I’ve heard all the psychologists’ theories, and I’ve heard all the jokes and the rumors and the innuendo, but what it comes down to for me is that I dressed up like an owl and fought crime because it was fun and because it needed doing and because I goddam felt like it.
Okay. There it is. I’ve said it. I dressed up. As an owl. And fought crime. [sic] The Watchmen 1986, Alan Moore.
So there it is, I’ve said it. I’m going to buy The Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter. And you should too.
