Watchmen

Someone is killing our super heroes. The year is 1985 and super heroes have banded together to respond to the murder of one of their own. They soon uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger. The super heroes fight to stop the impending doom, only to find themselves a target for annihilation. Watchmen poses the question: if our super heroes are gone, who will save us? Based on the graphic novel co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics.(Gary Reber)

The three-disc edition contains the director's cut of the film (186:28), a special features disc, and a digital copy of the film. Special features include Warner's Maximum Movie Mode, with Director Zack Snyder as host for director walk-ons with scene analysis; picture-in-picture video from the cast and crew; side-by-side comparisons of the graphic novel and the film; timeline comparisons of our world events to those from Watchmen; photo galleries of production stills and storyboards; three featurettes: The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics (HD 28:46), Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes (HD 26:17), and Mechanics: Technologies Of A Fantastic World (HD 16:49); My Chemical Romance's "Desolation Row" music video (HD 03:15); plus up-front previews.

The 1080p VC-1 picture quality is outstanding! This is a dark picture, but contrast is excellent, with deep, solid, inky blacks and deeply revealing shadow delineation. To view this film at its best requires a dark, preferably black viewing environment, to fully appreciate the dark shadings. The imagery has a slightly desaturated, stylized look, with a bit of sepia shading, to impart a dated feel. At times the scenes look perfectly natural, with rich and warm hues. The cinematography is wonderful, with an impressive dimensional and moody look enhanced with dynamic lighting and creative production design. Resolution manifests in a very sharp and clear picture, with finely resolved facial features, clothes, and objects, especially in close-ups. This is a visual masterpiece that is candy for the eyes and is captivating throughout. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is superb, with a sensational enveloping holosonic® surround presence. Surrounds are often aggressively directionalized, with sound effects that are localized throughout the soundfield. Dialogue sounds perfectly natural, with excellent spatial integration within each scene. The narration is perfectly balanced, with the sound elements not sounding too forward, yet intimate. The music score is varied and nicely recorded and is presented with a wide and deep soundstage that, at times, extends deep into the surrounds. Fidelity is superb as well. Bass extension, at times, is deep and energized in the .1 LFE channel, imparting a solid foundation to the soundtrack. The ending scenes are deep-bass challenging for any system with power SPL dynamics. This is a stimulating soundtrack, with numerous soundscapes that enhance the elaborate storytelling and provide a captivating sonic experience. (Gary Reber)