Watchmen

Zack Snyder delivers perhaps the most faithful adaptation of the landmark graphic novel by Alan Moore (uncredited on-screen, as is his tradition) and Dave Gibbons that anyone could hope for. The story of costumed superheroes in the real world of global politics and complicated (and at times psychotic) psychologies offers a visual spectacle to be sure, but it emphasizes the "novel" in graphic novel: narrative complexity, character dynamism, the density of fiction and history and commentary swirling together. More compelling than exciting, it swirls with metaphysics and meta-storytelling, and those dimensions come through even better on home video, which is well suited to longer narratives filled with novelistic detail. The director's cut, which runs 24 minutes longer than the theatrical version, delves even deeper into the characters and the culture of their world.

The theatrical version is available in a single-disc edition with no supplements, and the longer director's cut is on the DVD special edition and the Blu-ray edition. The three featurettes are well made but not as interesting or detailed as the film's fans might hope for (and, of course, author Moore is absent from any and all supplements). Much more special is the Blu-ray exclusive "Immersive WB Maximum Movie Mode," which adds a twist to the familiar interactive audio-video track of little featurettes, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, storyboards and comic book panels popping in the screen. This mode is most effective when Snyder literally steps into the frame to discuss a scene in depth, at times stopping and rewinding to pick out details and illustrate his points. Watch for a more substantial special edition of the film coming for Christmas.