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To mark the five year anniversary of the original theatrical release of Zack Snyder's WATCHMEN, I've updated WATCHMEN: MIDNIGHT.
With this revision, WATCHMEN: MIDNIGHT clocks in at 215 minutes. That's the same runtime as the "Ultimate Cut" available on DVD/Blu-ray, but with its closer treatment of the source material and further character development, I think WATCHMEN: MIDNIGHT has more soul. I'd still like to do an HD remaster of this from Blu-ray sources but it will have to wait until later this year.
Here are the major changes in this revision:
* Incorporating TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER segments into the film based on their appearances in the comics. Having restructured the plot line to unfold more like the original WATCHMEN comics, these two narratives are juxtaposed nicely and share character themes.
* With that additional material, all twelve chapters are represented in the film and there's no longer an intermission.
* New chapter inter-titles superimposed on screen, inspired by the appearance of the chapter titles in the original WATCHMEN comics.
* New color correction that reduces the blue tint in the film in order to restore natural skin tones and reveal some of the comic book inspired set designs and colors. Like many contemporary comic book/action films, the original WATCHMEN film has a "dark" aesthetic and is saturated with blue.
* New opening: the film now begins with the smiley face pin on the sidewalk like in the original comics.
* New "WATCHMEN" title over a shot of the NYC skyline.
* New closing for the film. The slow-motion credits sequence from the original film has been moved to the ending in order to erve as closing credits sequence. Music has been replaced by "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins. This song was used in the teaser trailer for the original film but it works nicely in the context of this elegy sequence. I've discussed some of the lyrical/visual significance for this in an earlier forum post. However, for this revision I concluded the sequence with the NYC protesters and the man throwing a molotov cocktail -- the explosion dissolves to a yellow screen, like a bookending motif.
With this revision, WATCHMEN: MIDNIGHT clocks in at 215 minutes. That's the same runtime as the "Ultimate Cut" available on DVD/Blu-ray, but with its closer treatment of the source material and further character development, I think WATCHMEN: MIDNIGHT has more soul. I'd still like to do an HD remaster of this from Blu-ray sources but it will have to wait until later this year.
Here are the major changes in this revision:
* Incorporating TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER segments into the film based on their appearances in the comics. Having restructured the plot line to unfold more like the original WATCHMEN comics, these two narratives are juxtaposed nicely and share character themes.
* With that additional material, all twelve chapters are represented in the film and there's no longer an intermission.
* New chapter inter-titles superimposed on screen, inspired by the appearance of the chapter titles in the original WATCHMEN comics.
* New color correction that reduces the blue tint in the film in order to restore natural skin tones and reveal some of the comic book inspired set designs and colors. Like many contemporary comic book/action films, the original WATCHMEN film has a "dark" aesthetic and is saturated with blue.
* New opening: the film now begins with the smiley face pin on the sidewalk like in the original comics.
* New "WATCHMEN" title over a shot of the NYC skyline.
* New closing for the film. The slow-motion credits sequence from the original film has been moved to the ending in order to erve as closing credits sequence. Music has been replaced by "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins. This song was used in the teaser trailer for the original film but it works nicely in the context of this elegy sequence. I've discussed some of the lyrical/visual significance for this in an earlier forum post. However, for this revision I concluded the sequence with the NYC protesters and the man throwing a molotov cocktail -- the explosion dissolves to a yellow screen, like a bookending motif.