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Watchmen Blu-ray News: UK Gets Theatrical Cut, Amazon Gets Exclusive “Nite Owl Ship” Packaging

By brenden ⋅ June 3, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

I don’t know how to feel about this news. It turns out that the Watchmen film has a different home video distributor in the UK - A distributor who is releasing the film in a completely different edition than the director’s cut we’re getting over here in North America!

Paramount Home Entertainment brings the Watchmen to home video in the UK in a two-disc Special Edition Blu-ray, featuring the 162 minute theatrical cut of the film and a host of extra content unavailable elsewhere. What the crap? This is completely unfair! I mean, I wasn’t that enthralled with the film in the first place but the completist nerd in me is really aggravted by the notion that the Blu-ray I’ll be watching in a couple of months will have so much content missing from it - Video Journals, Webisodes, Viral Videos and the goddamn Theatrical Cut of the film! From the looks of things though, if I had to choose one or the other, I’d go with Warner Home Video’s North American Blu-ray release. I’m curious to see if I’ll enjoy the film more in this upcoming extended cut and quite excited to check out the “Maximum Movie Mode” split screen commentary - a feature the UK bloggers will no doubt lament missing out on.

This leads me, once again to surmise that we’ll eventually see the release of a super-deluxe, extra-special box-set edition of Watchmen, including the theatrical cut, extended cut and final complete cut (with Black Freighter animation) of the film along with every single bit of bonus content ever created included. You’ll see. The double-dip will happen eventually. Just not any time soon.

In the meantime, if you find yourself needing a little bit more from your Watchmen Blu-ray purchase, hop over to Amazon and pick up their exclusive edition of the film packaged in a “Nite Owl Ship” disc case, with sliding trays to house the Blu-rays. WARNING: Purchasing this expensive Watchmen artifact may be hazardous to your wallet. Displaying it will certainly be hazardous to your social life.

WATCHMEN: TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION (UK VERSION)
(July 27, 2009 - MSRP £29.99)
162 minutes (vs. 190 minutes for Director’s Cut)
Video: 1080p VC-1
Audio: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD

Special Features:

• The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics
• Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes
• Video Journals (Webisodes): Minutemen; Sets & Sensibility, Dressing for Success, The Ship Has Eyes, Dave Gibbons, Burn Baby Burn, Shoot To Thrill, Blue Monday, Attention To Detail, Girls Kick Ass, Rorschach’s Mask
• Viral Videos: 10 Years Of Dr. Manhattan (1970: NBS Special News Report); The Keene Act & You (1977: US Public Service Announcement); Who Watches The Watchmen? (1983: Celebrity News Feature); World in Focus (1985: British Late Night Discussion Programme)
• Music Video: My Chemical Romance ‘Desolation Row’
• Trailers

Compare with WHVs North American Watchmen Blu-ray release, detailed previously at The Blu-ray Blog: Who watches the Watchmen on Blu-ray? Watchmen: Director’s Cut Detailed, includes Facebook Social Media Connectivity

Via: www.blu-ray.com

Tags: Paramount, U.K., Warner Home Video, Watchmen