Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
Starring: Tom StechschulteDirector: Jake Strider Hughes, Brian Stilwell
Studio: Warner Home Video
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Animated, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: 325 minutes
DVD Release: March 3rd 2009
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DVD Review
Watched any great books lately? Now you can. The most celebrated graphic novel of all time that broke the conventional mold continues to break new ground WATCHMEN illustrator Dave Gibbons oversees this digital version of the graphic novel that adds limited motion, voice and sound to the books strikingly drawn panels. All 12 chapters of the story are here nearly 5 hours spanning everything from the mysterious demise of the Comedian to the crisscrossed destinies of loosely allied superheroes to their fateful impact on the world. Be in the know. Be watching. With Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic.
User Reviews
An audiobook DVD! - Rating: 5/5
This version of the WATCHMEN is wonderful. It is not a movie, but a comic that is read to us by master narrator, Tom Stechschulte. We can read while we listen if we choose, or we can simply get lost in the amazing artwork. Animation is minimal. It is heartening to know that the words and their original illustrations still stand alone. As a comic book lover and a purist with respect to this classic, I found this DVD to be almost as good as holding the original 12 issues in my hands. NOT for children.
The weakest link - Rating: 2/5
I am a large fan of the Watchmen franchise. I like the new movie that just came out, and I love the book. But the motion comic, I did not enjoy.
People are correct that there is one person doing all the voices. This, however, is what did it in for me. None of the characters sounded anything like I thought. Although not detrimental at all points, there are chapters that were painful to listen to, especially any that had dialogue for Laurie. The same voice for all the characters, plus his lack of good voice-acting at key moments of emotion, makes this, at the end of the day, a failure.
The animation is lovely, but it is esentially the scenes from the book strung together.
Out of all the material in the current Watchmen franchise, I feel this is the only one that falls short. I am no purist, but since this is essentially just a man reading out of the book, I thus recommend spending the money, instead, on purchasing a copy of the book and reading it for yourself.
However, if you would like to sit back and have someone read to you the whole comic, then this fits that purpose.
Great product, should have used a female voice over - Rating: 4/5
Motion comics has been around for a while, but having something this complete and with voice over is a nice offer. Motion comics does not equal to animations you see on TV. It is meant to be viewed like an actual graphic novel, page to page, and in this case, added a book on tape narration with it.
I enjoy the voice acting a lot but DC could have easily get a female voice to do the female parts. It will add so much more dimension to the final product at very little added cost. I think the producer really dropped the ball on what could have been a masterpiece. I would give it a 5 star otherwise.
Hope they can release more titles like this!
Best Motion Comic DVD - Rating: 5/5
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic I recently purchased this DVD for my 16 year old grandson's birthday. He liked it so much that it is now the most valued treasure in his room. I give this DVD 5 stars and I got 5 stars from my grandson for buying it. This is a must have!!!
Another disappointment from DC Comics and The Watchmen - Rating: 1/5
To say that this is animation is really stretching the definition. Imagine someone cutting out images from The Watchmen graphic novel and then taking some glue and attaching them to popsical sticks and them moving them around on a cheap background and you know what you are getting if you buy this product.
If you are a really hardcore fan and you want to be able to listen to the story and see some of the still images on the screen while you do -- you might like this -- but then again you still might not like it. You are going to have to be pretty hardcore just to sit through this thing. To enjoy it you are going to have be an off the charts fan.
This is the second time DC Comics has disappointed me with products relating to The Watchmen. The first time was when they released Tales of the Black Freighter as its own DVD instead of making a special feature for the motion picture. You can see my review about that DVD if you would like.
I love The Watchmen graphic novel and the motion picture so I do enjoy The Watchmen story.
