WATCHMEN CHAPTER I (2024)
Label: WBDHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 83 Minutes 51 Seconds
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Brandon Vietti
Cast: Matthew Rhys Katee Sackhoff, and Titus Welliver, with Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau, Corey Burton, Michael Cerveris, Jeffrey Combs, Grey DeLisle, Kelly Hu, John Marshall Jones, Max Koch, Phil LaMarr, Yuri Lowenthal, Geoff Pierson, Dwight Schultz, Jason Spisak, Kari Wahlgren, Rick D. Wasserman
Watchmen Chapter I (2024) is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, a 12-issue run that literally redefined the superhero comics when it debuted in the mid-80s, offering an alternate Cold War era America, set in 1985, where the murder of a government sponsored superhero leads to a world-shattering discovery of a mind0bending conspiracy. In this reality superheroes have been outlawed except those sanctioned by the government, one such vigilante superhero, Walter Joseph Kovacs/Rorschach (Titus Welliver, Titans), a sort of ultra-violent sleuth investigating the death of government sponsored supe The Comedian/Edward Blake (Rick D. Wasserman, Green Lantern: Beware My Power), which leads him to believe there's a serial killer offing supes on the loose. Other main characters include the god-like master of molecules Dr. Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan (Michael Cerveris, Stake Land), the genius billionaire Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Troy Baker, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One & Two) who has super-strength and speed, the very Batman-esque Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Matthew Rhys, TV's Perry Mason) who has a cool flying vehicle and gadgets galore, plus Laurie Juspeczyk, Silk Spectre (Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica), who is both a love interest of Doctor Manhattan and Nite Owl II. We also get the voice talents of horror icons Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog) as Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre, and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) Edgar Jacobi, Moloch) for you horror fans out there.
Watchmen Chapter I (2024) is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel series by writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, a 12-issue run that literally redefined the superhero comics when it debuted in the mid-80s, offering an alternate Cold War era America, set in 1985, where the murder of a government sponsored superhero leads to a world-shattering discovery of a mind0bending conspiracy. In this reality superheroes have been outlawed except those sanctioned by the government, one such vigilante superhero, Walter Joseph Kovacs/Rorschach (Titus Welliver, Titans), a sort of ultra-violent sleuth investigating the death of government sponsored supe The Comedian/Edward Blake (Rick D. Wasserman, Green Lantern: Beware My Power), which leads him to believe there's a serial killer offing supes on the loose. Other main characters include the god-like master of molecules Dr. Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan (Michael Cerveris, Stake Land), the genius billionaire Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Troy Baker, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One & Two) who has super-strength and speed, the very Batman-esque Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Matthew Rhys, TV's Perry Mason) who has a cool flying vehicle and gadgets galore, plus Laurie Juspeczyk, Silk Spectre (Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica), who is both a love interest of Doctor Manhattan and Nite Owl II. We also get the voice talents of horror icons Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog) as Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre, and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) Edgar Jacobi, Moloch) for you horror fans out there.
It's great to see WB Animation looking like it's firing all all-cylinders here after a fairly fizzle-worthy 3-part adaptation of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths event that wrapped up the 12-film Tomorrowverse arc. This first chapter covering books 1-6 of the original series, I am happy to report that it's pretty spot on faithful to the comic with some with certain minor elements dropped but overall quite faithful, with some restructuring for the animation format, which I think worked. Thankfully WB are not taking many liberties with the source material like they did with their animated The Long Halloween and Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptations, they seem to really be sticking to the story as originally written, though what happens in Chapter II is yet to be seen, my fingers are crossed. The animation work is quite striking, straying from the original Dave Gibbons original artwork but also striving to maintain the vibe with lots of secondary colors and character designs that are faithful. The animated digital line work looks terrific, efforts are made to replicate the look and feel of comic book textures with grain and paper textures, you can tell there's a reverence to the source material, not so much mimicking the comic art as trying to bring that vibe to the animation form, they even replicate the Tales from the Black Freighter comic withing the film panels, which actually look like direct lifts of the artwork rather than newly animated.
Watchmen is a comic that has had a couple of stellar adaptations through the years, and I am in the camp that thinks Zack Snyder's live-adaptation is pretty fucking cool, and while we didn't get the space-squid it's still an epic adaptation and is easily in my top 10 superhero flicks of all-time. Also cool was the Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic that is pretty much the comic book brought to life through the magic of motion-comic animation, which if you're into motion comics enthusiast (I know it's a niche thing) is also pretty fucking cool. But here we are, and I am also pleased to see it get the full WB animation adaption here with a full voice cast as opposed to the motion comic which was entirely voiced by audio book narrator Tom Stechschulte (Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Me audiobook). This is only Chapter 1 with a second Chapter set to be released sometime in 2025, and I for one and pretty excited to check it out!
Audio/Video: The Watchmen Chapter One arrives on region-free 4K UHD from WBDHE, presented in 2160p UHD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen with WGC HDR10 color-grading. It look terrific, the digital colors and linework look terrific, I didn;t notice any banding so we have a great looking encode, and the HDR gives primary and secondary colors a nice blush with excellent contrast and deep blacks.
No Atmos audio for this one, but we dot get a terrifically immersive English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. The sound design pulls you right into this world, the seedy cityscapes are nicely realized, dialogue from the voicecast sounds quite pleasing and the supportive score by Tim Kelly has a nice showing in the mix.
Disc extras include the 10-min The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story, and the 9-min Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Chapters I-VI, that explore the groundbreaking comic run and this new animated adaptation, featuring clips with comic co-creator Dave Gibbon, DC's Jim, comic editor Barbara Kesel, producers Jim Krieg and Cindy Rago and art director Jonathan Hoekstra, storyboard artist Danica Dickison, and character designer Dusty Abell.The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, and a Slipcover with the same artwork. Inside there's a redemption code for a Digital Copy of the film.
Special Features:
- The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story (9:50)
- Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Chapters I-VI (9:02)
Buy it!
- The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story (9:50)
- Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Chapters I-VI (9:02)
Buy it!
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