Gerard Butler, Salli Saffioti, Siobhan Flynn

Bloated corpses buoy a castaway's life raft in TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER, a grisly parable taken from the pages of Alan Moore's WATCHMEN. One of the book's most riveting detours, the comic-within-a...( read more  read more... )-comic (read by one of the book's characters) ominously paralleled the main events of the graphic novel. Although the beloved story was cut from Zach Snyder's big-screen version of WATCHMEN, it's recast here as a standalone animated program aimed at mollifying completists and ramping up interest in the adaptation. Paired with the macabre take on ROBINSON CRUSOE is another lopped-off limb from the comic: UNDER THE HOOD, a mix of live action and CGI that looks back at the salad days of Nite Owl and the Minutemen.

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50% liked it

47,978 ratings

R, 26 min.

Directed by: Mike Smith, Daniel DelPurgatorio

Release Date: March 24, 2009

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DVD Release Date: March 24, 2009

Stats: 1,232 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,232)


  • May 25, 2009
    kool little animation, interesting story but Under the hood was tuff!!!
  • May 14, 2009
    Very clever little collection of extras that could quite easily be cut back into the main 'Watchmen' movie. Those familiar with the graphic novel will know the Black Freighter 'story within a story', and how it cleverly mirrors the sentiments of the characters in 'Watchmen' It's ...( read more)anime style and dark sensibilities lend to the main plot well and I would not be surprised to find a directors cut in the near future featuring this woven into the main plot. 'Under The Hood' is a great little documentary looking at the forming of the Minutemen, featuring actual members. A great companion piece to an excellent film.
  • May 9, 2009
    Well done, but not amazing.
  • April 20, 2009
    A mariner survives an attack from the dreaded pirates of the Black Freighter, but his struggle to return home to warn it has a horrific cost.

    REVIEW

    This was a very cool, well done little piece of psychologic...( read more)al 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 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 Watchmen.
  • March 31, 2009
    The Mariner: Exhausted, I slept atop the grave, dreams ringing with the horribly familiar screams of children. I saw the black freighter bearing down on all I loved...

    A neat little bonus for fans of the book Watchmen.

    The main story presented here is a story from Tales of the ...( read more)Black Freighter. In the book - Watchmen, a subplot involves a frequent look at a newsstand, where a young man reads from a comic book. Now in the world of Watchmen, where superheroes exist, superhero comic books wouldn't be of much interest, so Pirate comics are very popular, and this is one example.

    Some of the plot, themes, and some character references are reflected in this story within a story.

    The Mariner: A Buccaneer's whore deserved no pity.

    This tale's story involves a marooned sailor who fears that a dreaded pirate ship is headed for his hometown, threatening the lives of many, including his wife and daughters. The sailor, voiced by Gerard Butler, goes through drastic measures in order to make a raft capable of taking him back home. The thoughts of what he is trying to do combined with the distress of dealing his means of travel take an unexpected toll on him however.

    Its a neat little animated bonus, which will apparently be incorporated back into the deluxe edition of the Watchmen DVD director's cut.

    Another feature on this disc is a forty minute faux interview with the generation of superheroes that existed before Watchmen. Its another neat extra that opens up a little more of what is in the book but couldn't quite be squeezed into the film. It opens up the universe a bit more to a movie viewing audience.

    The Mariner: Gradually, I understood what innocent intent had brought me to, and, understanding, waded out beyond my depth. The unspeakable truth loomed unavoidably before me...
  • November 11, 2009
    Tales of the Black freighter was brutal and well animated. Under the Hood was an excellent epansion to the Watchmen universe and gives more depth to the Minutemen..As a whole both do very well to expand both the history and story of The Watchmen.
  • October 6, 2009
    I didn't get this movie at all
  • October 3, 2009
    Looking forward to seeing the cut of the Watchmen where Black Freighter is cut back into the film.
  • September 24, 2009
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  • September 23, 2009
    The Sound Of Silence

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