Tales of the Black Freighter (R; 25:38)
DC Comics; IMDb; Wikia; Wikipedia; World's Finest

This animated short film was released on DVD on March 24, 2009, about a month after the theatrical release of the live-action movie Watchmen (which itself was an adaptation of the 1986-87 graphic novel of the same name). The comic books included excerpts of a comic-within-the-comic, called "Tales of the Black Freighter." There wasn't room to include that in the movie itself, so it was released separately. I must have gotten the DVD sometime in like 2010 or 2011, I think, and while I had been anxious to see it well before I got it, I somehow didn't get around to watching it until 2016. (I guess there's a special edition of the "Watchmen" movie that has "Tales of the Black Freighter" woven into the movie, but I haven't seen that.)

Anyway, the story is about a sea captain (voiced by Gerard Butler) whose ship had been destroyed by the Black Freighter, which is apparently crewed by damned souls, or something. The captain was the only member of his crew to survive the destruction, and he decides he must make his way back to his home of Davidstown, to warn the people about the Black Freighter. He has little hope of making it there before the Freighter itself, but he's desperate. I don't want to reveal any more of the story, except to say it's extremely gruesome, and it involves a descent into madness. I should also say I don't actually remember how much I liked (or understood) the story when it appeared in the original comics, but it probably makes more sense seeing it as its own story, here, rather than being split up the way it was in the comics. (And therefore I'm not sure how much I'd like it if I did see it woven into the "Watchmen" movie.) Still, I do remember being somewhat disappointed by its not being included when the movie first came out, and looking forward to seeing it in this format. And I do think it was pretty well done (though I'm sure some people wouldn't have the stomach for it). I'll also say I've read that the story of the sea captain is meant as a sort of parallel to some of the things that happen in the main story of the Watchmen comics, though personally I don't quite see it. (It's possible I saw a connection when I originally read the comics, but I don't remember.) Anyway... I'm glad to have finally seen this short film. Oh, and I also really like the fact that Nina Simone's cover of Pirate Jenny plays over the end credits. It's very fitting, which isn't surprising, considering the song was one of the inspirations for the Black Freighter story in the original comics. (It also appears on the soundtrack of the Watchmen movie, with an asterisk in the liner notes mentioning that it's used on this DVD.)