I picked up Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter/ Under the Hood and watched it this evening.
Honestly, I just cannot recommend this DVD.
First, Tales of the Black Freighter is 26 minutes long, and Under the Hood runs 38 minutes. There isn’t a lot of content on this disc and it costs anywhere between $13 and $21 depending on where you get it. That’s a lot of money for a little bit of content.
The second problem is that Tales of the Black Freighter is a comic within a comic in Watchmen. It runs concurrently with the main story of the Watchmen. Divorcing Tales of the Black Freighter from the main story just didn’t work for me. It felt hollow.
I enjoyed Under the Hood, but I am a comic historian and I love the back story that Alan Moore built for the Minutemen. The manner in which it parallels the real history and development of super hero comics from the 1930s through the 1960s is damn cool.
At the end of the day, if you are looking to experience the full story of the Watchmen, read the book – It is a better, more complete experience.
The Geek Whisperer 