This thing hit the market pretty quick, no? 4-1/2 months. Coraline was also released on DVD today, and its theatrical release was exactly one month earlier. I don't keep up with new movies that much, so I don't know if this is common. I thought it was usually six months minimum, except for examples where the box office take was very weak and the studio just wanted to be done with the film so dumped it to DVD more quickly.

I have heard theories that movies will eventually be released in the theaters and DVD simultaneously. I don't know what the abbreviated wait time on the DVD for Watchmen is attributable to. Probably so they can sell it again in a 5-disc version in December.

Anyway, it's 24 minutes longer than the theatrical release. Coupon included for ten dollars off the "ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION" 5-disc version. That version is the one with the Black Freighter edited into it.

Starting to watch it now. Back in three hours or so.

I think that the day of simultaneous theatrical and DVD releases may not be too far away. If it happens then most likely the DVD would probably only be of the film itself without any extras. Or perhaps a one time download of the movie would issued with your movie tickets. Then six months later a "Special Edition" DVD boxed set complete with loads of extras would be released. And then the "Directors Cut" edition would soon follow.

Interestingly enough FOX recently released the DVD boxed set for season 7 of "24" the day after the last episode was broadcast on television.

I'm waiting for the "ULTIMATE" one. At least paying to see a movie in the theater is for the big screen experience, but paying for the same movie on dvd more than once is getting pretty old.

It's bad enough replacing vhs copies of classic movies.

I heard the theories about simultaneous releases, it sounds interesting. The idea is that everyone is going to watch a movie the way they want to watch it eventually, people like myself are now choosing to wait for the version they want, so why not release them all at once and save money on the promotional costs. It's cheaper to have one ad blitz than one with every different release, from theatrical on.

Plus I heard they think that like the music industry learned, if people have a legal alternative they are more likely to choose it.

I'll be curious to see which kinds of movies will work better as simultaneous releases and which ones will be targeted to people who will buy multiple versions.

A couple of new scenes added, as we were expecting. At least one of which is not from the comic — an odd interrogation scene of Laurie after Doc leaves the Earth — but mostly the extra run time is a bunch of little inserts of action and dialogue that were cut from the comic. I saw the movie in the theaters twice, so I think my memory of that cut is fairly accurate. Strangely, most of the added material features the F-word or people smoking.

My concern about the 5-Disc version is that it would need to have all three cuts — Theatrical, Director's Cut and the Black Freighter cut. Five discs, you'd hope they'll include all three. It's going to have the Under Hood doc, the video journals, probably the doc about the comic that's on the second disc of this one, and all the crappy "motion comic" episodes in it, so who knows.

I just want the one extended version with all the material edited together.

Well, I want all three.

Have you seen the Black Freighter? I could change my mind when it comes out, but I think adding that in is going to be a mess. Without the island and the squid, it only makes about half the sense that it should.

I'm still pissed they cut the last part out of LOTR.

I've only seen the first movie, in the theater. I thought that trilogy was a popularly accepted adaptation? (I haven't read the books, either) A friend of mine is a big Tolkien buff and his only complaint (that I can recall) was the tree things moving too fast.

In The Return of the King book, (SPOILERS) there is a whole ending section where the hobbits return to the shire after the war, to find it's been taken over by a minor villain, now that they are experienced warriors, they get to be the bad asses in their hometown, instead of just being the supporting cast and comic relief. It's a pretty significant payoff. Some argue it would have been anti-climactic, but I think it could have at least have been a really cool epilogue included in the stinking high priced extended boxed set.

What's the status on the Hobbit movie? Might get a mention there if that gets made.