Watchmen Motion Comic Download Free Fix
Marry Kirklin
Once you get past the fact that this is all voiced by one guy (why?), this is still really quite enjoyable, all the brilliance of the original comic is still there: the incredibly complex tone and characterisation; the fact that this is as enjoyable as it is sort of a testament to how fantastic a story it is.
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic is a 2008 American animated short film series of motion comics for web and television based on the DC comic book series Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.
In case you have not heard, Watchmen is considered to be the greatest graphic novel of all time, and actually one of the best novels of the century. The novel is supposed to have had a profound impact in the comic book world, paving the way for graphic novels that were more realistic and dark. I only recently read the novel and I can say that it is an excellent book, and even better on a second reading. The story is an analysis of the superhero concept and imagines it in a more realistic light, grounding the characters in our own world. It asks the question of how superheroes would actually be like if they lived in our world. What kind of person would don a mask and become a vigilante? In twelve brilliant chapters, writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins, create an alternate world at the brink of nuclear war where superheroes have been outlawed and the one person who can save the world doubts the value of saving humanity. Last year, in anticipation for the release of the movie in theaters, Warner Bros. Premiere Digital commissioned a series of motion comics, one for each chapter in the original novel to be distributed over the Internet. These episodes contained the original comic book designs with a narrator and minimal animation to simulate action. The result is a faithful adaptation of the novel that is sure to please fans of the original.
By now, the live-action adaptation of the book has come out and the reviews decidedly mixed. For years, fans of the original novel have deemed this story to be unfilmable. There were many reasons for this, including the length of the story and the sometimes poetic juxtapositioning of images and words that would be difficult to pull off on the big screen. There is an entire story within the story called Tales of the Black Freighter that is paralleled in action throughout the book and while it reads perfectly in the book, it is difficult to translate onscreen. This entire story is actually completely missing from the live-action adaptation, removing some of the subtext of the story. In the end, what is most difficult is turning the self-containing chapters into one seamless narration. Terry Gilliam, once attached to the project, once suggested turning the entire novel into a miniseries, but this also did not materialize. Each chapter deals with a particular theme, focusing on just a few characters at a time. They are mean to be appreciated on their own and this is where this motion comic succeeds.
The shorts were produced by Cruel & Unusual in partnership with Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin Productions, who also produced the live-action films (and the recent Hellboy movies). The animation, in this case, was done by San Francisco-based Juice Films who have done an amazing job at adapting comic books into motion comics. Directed by Jake S. Hughes, the animation is really brings the comic book to life while being faithful to the original designs by Dave Gibbons. In fact, Gibbons actually served as a consultant for the episodes. As mentioned, the original comic book frames are used in the episodes with minimal animation to create motion. The episodes are each featured in a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio.
With the release of the first chapter of Watchmen in July, things have quieted down for Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. With an initial promise of bi-weekly episodes of Watchmen and Batman: Mad Love back in the summer, that was inevitably altered due to the ongoing legal battle revolving around the film, and the insurmountable success of Dark Knight. Finally, after four months of waiting, a second chapter for Watchmen has been released on such platforms as iTunes, Amazon Video On Demand, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 for a small price. Warner Premiere also recently announced additions to their Motion Comic projects. Premiere has now stated that Mad Love will be attached as a DVD extra for the Dark Knight DVD later this year and that the Watchmen motion comic will be released every two weeks, continuing with chapter 3 on October 20.
Billed as "a new way for graphic novel fans to connect with their favourite characters and the stories they know and love", the comics take Dave Gibbons' original Watchmen artwork and make bits of it move and speak - with some nice music underneath.
Of course, you could also just pick up the original comic in paper form and move your head around a lot, bringing the book close to your face occasionally and reading out the dialogue in various amusing voices. When your girlfriend's out.
Synopsis: 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.
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Region Code: 2 (UK & Europe)
Cert: 15
Format: DVD
Sometimes pop-culture reporting can be perilous. For instance, I was preparing for the Watchmen movie last week by re-reading the original graphic novel. Then two new DVDs came across my desk -- a reissued documentary on Watchmen creator Alan Moore, and a 2-disc Watchmen "motion comic" that ports the original pages to digital format.
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic, issued and marketed in conjunction with the theatrical film, is a fascinating specimen that offers a third option for those debating the merits of the film versus the graphic novel. It is an attempt, essentially, to apply film language to the comics format and sell a DVD version that you can watch instead of read.
Nevertheless, there is a lot to like with the motion comics strategy, at least in terms of visuals. Comic book and film geeks will enjoy analyzing it all in a meta sort of way. The pan-scan-and-zoom approach necessitates certain creative choices as to where to direct the viewer's attention, and it's occasionally expanded to more useful ends. For instance, a panel in the print comic shows a brief glimpse of a static flowchart detailing corporate skullduggery. On the DVD, the flowchart is expanded and animated, giving more heft to a critical plot point.
What hasn't been written about controversial comic writer Alan Moore and artist David Gibbons' 1986 genre-bending jaw-dropper, Watchmen? Not only did the 12-issue miniseries subvert the rosy superheroics of its comicbook brethren, it satirized the politics and socioeconomic practices of the era, stunned industry insiders and outsiders with its bleak vision and shocking developments, and won lofty praise from respected publications like Time magazine and The New York Times. The series' legacy only intensified over the years, earning the graphic novel a coveted spot on Time's 2005 list of the best English-language novels of the century. Perhaps one of the only comic stories to ever reach legitimate literary acclaim, Watchmen is nothing short of a masterpiece.
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Still shots are gorgeous, but seeing it all in motion is often breathtaking...
For anyone not in the know, Watchmen tells the sprawling, brooding tale of a group of grim-n-gritty superheroes whose aid has been rejected and outlawed by society at large. Set in an alternate '80s America (where Richard Nixon is serving his fourth term as president after relying on a particularly powerful hero named Doctor Manhattan to end the Vietnam War), the story opens with the murder of the Comedian, a government-employed superhero whose death draws the attention of several former colleagues. The first to learn of the Comedian's death is a borderline-psychopathic vigilante named Rorschach, a Batman-esque crime fighter operating beyond the boundaries of the law. As he sets out to warn other ex-heroes -- a washed-up Nite Owl, a perpetually victimized Silk Spectre, a financially successful Ozymandias, and Manhattan himself -- of a possible conspiracy being mounted against them, he encounters far more than he bargained for.
When the oft-labeled "unfilmmable" miniseries finally gained traction in Hollywood with 300 director Zack Snyder at the helm, fans began to revisit Watchmen, demanding new ways to experience the now-classic series. Warner Brothers responded in 2008 with a collection of Watchmen: Motion Comics, stirring productions that reinvigorated the original print format with animation, narration, sound effects, and a musical score. More than a simple cut-and-paste presentation, the motion comics featured intensive overhauls of every panel, intricately mapped character movements, shifting perspectives, and imperceptible CG renderings, all produced under the watchful eye of Gibbons himself. The results are nothing short of staggering -- each panel springs to life, virtual cameras descend flights of stairs, viewpoints push over characters' shoulders to gaze at every locale, word bubbles drift alongside their sources, and ink blots swirl on Rorschach's mask. The Blu-ray edition of Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic collects all twelve chapters of the animated production in a tidy package that fans and newcomers alike will find to be easily accessible and thoroughly engrossing.
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