Tales of the Black Freighter

I've been a fan of Watchmen ever since I first saw the movie in March.I have since read the graphic novel, bought a Rorschach poster and watched this short.I personally did not care for it when it was in the original graphic novel, so I was skeptical about watching this.It's a short 25min animated feature about a man who'se crew gets murdered by these evil demonic pirates on a "black freighter"(hence the title).The pirates then go to the hometown of the man, to slaughter the people there, which include this wife and child.So, he follows them, intent on saving his family and taking revenge on the pirates.The animation is the best part of this short. It's simply excellent.The story is kind of hard to follow, and I personally never saw how it fit in with "Watchmen".It's decent enough, if you're a fan of 300, Watchmen or any violent animation, then this is worth a look.Apparently, this short will be inter-sped into the "Watchmen" film for the Ultimate Edition DVD.

As someone who takes delight generally in the DC animations I was hugely impressed by Tales of the Black Freighter. There are a couple of instances where the action is a tad lacking in flow but even that's occasional. The animation is very detailed and atmospheric, with well-done character designs. The music is appropriately haunting and never overdone, while the writing is intelligent and thought-provoking. Most of the action is very well-choreographed and paced and the story is dark in tone, very compelling and quite suspenseful and even chilling. The characters are engaging, not stock and with a sense of conflict that gives them some dimension. Gerard Butler's voice work is superb, a perfect balance of gruff and sympathetic.

Overall, a simply great DC animation short, that more than stands up on its own. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Tales of the Black Freighter is set within The Watchmen universe but there are no superheroes to be found here.

With Gerard Butler as the voice talent we see a tale of a mariner who is the sole survivor of an attack on his ship by pirates and his efforts at survival and getting home to his family.

Standing at little over 20 minutes this little short actually manages to tell a story competently, but make no mistake it isn't a very nice one.

Grim, dark and harrowing this is a tale of desperation and a tale of madness and there was never going to be a happy ending here.

Depressing and hard hitting this is a watchable little piece but one that will stay with you afterwards and for all the wrong reasons.

Watch at your peril.

The Good:

Well animated

Very well written

The Bad:

Not the easiest viewing

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

This was an extra on the Watchmen (2009) dvd, I think it's better than the actual film

I do not know the graphic novel. But the mix of Edgar Allan Poe and Odiseus story works in fine way. In same measure the voice of Gerald Butler and the dark animation. The surrealism of story is another good point. So, a not bad exploration of the surviving ways and high price.

So I haven't seen The Watchmen yet, nor have I read the graphic novel.

This was a very cool, well done little piece of psychological horror.

In the vein of Hitchcock or The Twilight Zone with copious amounts of blood and gore, and with pirates. There is a very nice sense of tension throughout the story and there are more than a few shocking moments.

Even though animated, I still found myself unintentionally cringing at some points. The animation is done well, I'm glad its not done in an Anime style. It reminded me a little of Ralph Bakshi which was nice and the twist or climax at the end left me satisfied.

I will definitely be recommending this to everyone I know. Especially the ones who enjoyed The Watchmen. I was planning on seeing it soon and this has certainly added to my anticipation. But whether Watchmen turns out to be awesome or not, this is a great piece of animation and absolutely stands on its own. Even if you didn't like the movie this was extracted from you should check this out.