20 DVD Commentaries You Need To Hear Before You Die

By Sam Heard /

8. Watchmen

Participant(s): Zack Snyder It would be reductive to say that s Snyder€™s €œultimate movie experience€ (as he describes it) is just an out-and-out commentary. The clear amount of thought and analysis which has gone into the film companion really does make it feel like you€™re reading a piece of literature with exhaustive, insightful footnotes. Watchmen is doubtless not the finest superhero film you€™re ever going to see but if anything elevates the experience it€™s watching it alongside the directors €œIn-Movie Experience€ commentary. Facilitated by Blu-ray technology, the experience starts with Snyder literally walking onto the screen and outlining his goals for the companion. He then leaves and a minimized box enlarges to show the start of the actual film. Contrary to the belief that Snyder is a director guilty of prioritising style-over-substance (he did after all direct 300), the commentary reveals how many bits and pieces he crammed in Watchmen to please fans of the comic books. There are even frame-by-frame comparisons between the original comic book panels and film footage, showing how dedicated Snyder was in doing justice to the source material. With this in-depth analysis improving the original film immensely, Zack Snyder really raised the bar in terms of how a commentary companion should be treated as a separate documentary-style piece.