The multiple Amazon links are shameless, but you can’t blame a boy for trying.

§ December 22nd, 2009 § Filed under watchmen Comments Off on The multiple Amazon links are shameless, but you can’t blame a boy for trying.

During my Christmas shopping excursions, I’ve been sorta looking at various stores’ DVD selections trying to spot the Watchmen: Ultimate Cut DVD set since, if I’m going to buy the thing, I’m going to want the whole enchilada. And I have yet to see it in an actual store anywhere. I realize I can buy it online, and probably will end up doing so, but mostly I just find it curious that nobody seemed to carry it, or carried so few copies that they already sold out and haven’t bothered to reorder. Or, of course, it could be a huge hit and stores just can’t keep it in stock…but that doesn’t seem terribly likely.

The version of the movie I’ve seen the most is the single disc “Theatrical Cut” version, mostly at low, low “please, for the love of God, take these off our hands” prices. Some stores had stacks of them, which possibly could account for the lack of stocking of the Ultimate Cut.

I have seen a few copies of the two-disc “Directors Cut” here and there, and as it came out at the same time as the single-disc version, this seems to be the version people wanted and the reason why the single-disc ended up being a shelf-warmer. I realize some people don’t care about special features and deleted scenes and all that stuff, but if you had to choose between the single disc version and the double disc which has extra stuff embedded in the film itself, that’s a little different. ‘Course, I know some think any extra run-time on the Watchmen flick is no bonus at all, but they’re not likely to be buying any of these. And it doesn’t have as much extra material as the Ultimate Cut anyway.

I happened to spot this version at Best Buy, which appears to be an exclusive edition of the Director’s Cut packaged in…um, a Rorschach head complete with a cloth mask. I put a wee little picture of it to the side, there, but you can see a great big picture of it right here. It’s just a tiny mask which you can’t remove and wear, I think, which is probably just as well.

I haven’t really looked at the stock on the Blu-Ray edition of Watchmen since I’m still using plain ol’ DVDs because I’m a dinosaur. Please do not mock my tiny brain or useless forearms.

I can report that the actual Watchmen graphic novel appears to be selling again…of course, not nearly at the levels it was before the pre-film excitement started and the local demand for Watchmen was really oversaturated. But that we’re moving any copies at all is a bit encouraging. I even had a collector express interest in the original issues, which is something that hasn’t happened in a while.

Also, there’s a part of me that wishes the Watchmen film had been an enormous hit, enough so that a sequel would have been inevitable, and that even possibly new comic book follow-ups and tie-ins would have been published. Because really, the fanguish that would have caused would have been epically awesome.

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Speaking of movies, the film I can’t wait to see is Sherlock Holmes, because 1) you had me at “new Sherlock Holmes movie,” and 2) it’s Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock, which promises to be fantastic. I suspect some…liberties will be taken with the interpretations of the characters and the sorts of situations they’ll find themselves in, but after over a century’s worth of Sherlock pastiches and parodies, what’s one more?

And I haven’t made it to Avatar yet simply because I haven’t had the time. But I have to say, it does look pretty, but I’ve been hearing some pretty dire things about it story-wise. What say you, internet pals?

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