I know some people were out of sorts because Zack Snyder cut the Tales of the Black Freighter, comic within a comic bit from the Watchmen movie, but I think we can all agree that the final product worked fine without it. But having said that though, I think Snyder did a very smart thing by giving The Black Freighter its own separate berth on DVD. The animated tale is now featured on the disc of the same name along with a faux documentary called “Under the Hood.” Both are kind of fun and offer interesting insights into the main story, however only one kind of succeeds at being something more than supplement material.

Tales of the Black Freighter is about a marooned sea captain (voiced by Gerard Butler) whose ship and crew are lost to a freighter manned by monsters. He washes a shore on a deserted island and is consumed by his own inner demons as he struggles to find a way home and save his seaside town from the villains of the Freighter. As he heads back out on to the high seas on a grotesque, makeshift raft, he finds himself drawn more and more into his own fears and anxieties. The story is meant to parallel the “real world” events perpetrated by Adrian Veidt, but there are also some comparisons between Black Freighter and the experiences of Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.

I have to say, I was kind of impressed by the artistry of Black Freighter, when Snyder could have probably phoned it in and still won some kind of acclaim for making the presentation of the story a priority. The art kind of reminded me of the work of Yutaka Minowa, a Japanese animator famous for contributions to Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D. The colours are rich and the tone is dark. The story draws you in easily and effectively, and it’s powerfully with a pronounced impact on the viewer. But it’s not for the squeamish. Still, considering all that praise, it’s hard to get over the feeling that you’re looking at something worthy enough to stand on its own. Perhaps when it’s integrated into the special edition version of Watchmen, I’ll feel better about it.

Which brings us to Under the Hood, and no matter what, there’s really no way I can get into it as something above and beyond what should be included in the special features section of a DVD of the main movie. In fact, it kind of reminded me of those Mike Engel bits from The Dark Knight DVD. Set-up as a segment of a TV news show called “The Culpepper Minute” it’s a supposed, in-depth look at the original Nite Owl Hollis Mason (Stephen McHattie) and his “then” new book Under the Hood. It’s kind of interesting, and we get expanded looks at characters only touched on in the film like Moloch the Mystic (Matt Frewer), Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino) and Mason himself, but the enterprise feels cheap and forced; as if Black Freighter couldn’t stand on its own.

Fair enough, Black Freighter’s rather brief to spend $25 on for the DVD, but it would have been nice if the thought and artistry of the animated segment, even in part, had been granted to the live action story. But the disc as a whole still feels like it was taken out of a future Watchmen DVD box set and marketed on its own, which is not a great feeling at this point because so much DVD bonus material now feels kind of staid and retread unless treated in a unique, new way. Obviously, fans will get a kick out of this disk, but I don’t think the fervour translates to even the moderately interested. Some fascinating stuff for sure, and I look forward to seeing how it’s all worked into future cuts of Watchmen, but stand alone? Leave it be.