This is a review of the three new books released by Titan Books in promotion of the film, Watchmen. The three volumes are Watchmen: The Film Companion, Watchmen: The Art of the Film, and Watchmen: Portraits.
Collectively, these books offer tremendous information and imagery about the making the the film, the production, the characters, costumes, props, and art.
Watchmen: The Film Companion
Overview (from the publisher):
It is the most eagerly awaited comics-to-film adaptation of them all. The graphic novel that changed an industry is now a film from Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures, directed by Zack Snyder (300), and Watchmen: The Official Film Companion is the essential guide to this cinematic event. A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 in which costumed super heroes are part of the fabric of everyday American society. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present super heroes. Their mission is to watch over humanity… but who is watching the Watchmen?
Featuring exclusive interviews with the cast and crew, and scores of photos, this is the comprehensive guide to the new movie event.
Book Facts (from the publisher):
# Hardcover: 176 pages
# Publisher: Titan Books (February 17, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1848561598
# ISBN-13: 978-1848561595
# Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.9 inches
Example Spreads:
Watchmen: The Art of the Film
Overview (from the publisher):
Discover how director Zack Snyder (300) and his crew faithfully recreated the intricately detailed world and characters of the legendary graphic novel in the eagerly awaited film.
From the New York City of an alternate 1985 to the surface of Mars, the film adaptation of Watchmen is a triumph of design, filled with unique characters and layer upon layer of arresting detail.
Featuring scores of production designs, set photos, costume sketches, storyboards and other pieces of conceptual art, Watchmen: The Art of the Film is a lavish celebration of a comic book made real.
Book Facts (from the publisher):
# Hardcover: 256 pages
# Publisher: Titan Books (February 10, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1848560680
# ISBN-13: 978-1848560680
# Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.1 x 1 inches
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Watchmen: Portraits
Overview (from the publisher):
As the official photographer on the set of Watchmen, Clay Enos was there at every stage of production as director Zack Snyder filmed the adaptation of the legendary graphic novel.
As well as his day-to-day duties making sure there was a visual record of the production, Enos also made time to work on a very special project: a collection of black-and-white portraits photographs.
From the lead characters, including of course Rorschach, the Comedian, Dr Manhattan, Nite-Owl and all the other Watchmen, to supporting characters and even extras in the crowd, his lens captured them all. With its wealth of exclusive photographs, this stunning book is a unique look into the world of the film.
Book Facts (from the publisher):
# Hardcover: 192 pages
# Publisher: Titan Books (February 10, 2009)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1848560699
# ISBN-13: 978-1848560697
# Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 10.1 x 1.3 inches
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Written Content (The Film Companion 7/10 | Art of the Film 7/10 | Portraits 0/10)
Overall, “The Film Companion” and “Art of the Film” are more like two volumes of the same book. They are the same dimensions, close to the same page count (“Art of the Film” is longer), and resemble one another in terms of layout and art direction. Both are more about visual collateral that narrative/text, being comprised more of captions and summaries than anything significantly in-depth (“The Film Companion” offers more substance). So they both invite browsing and a linear read is not necessary.
Each are broken up into general categories, with “The Film Companion” covering “Pre-Production”, “World of Watchmen”, “The Characters”, “Production”, “Post-Production”, “Making Manhattan”, and closing with a “Conclusion”. “Art of the Film” includes “Introduction”, “Concept Art”, “Sets”, “Props”, “Owlship”, “Costumes”, and “Posters”.
So on the face of it, one would think “Art of the Film” might be of more interest to original prop and wardrobe collectors, but in my opinion both volumes include significant amounts of content of interest to hobbyists.
“Portraits” includes a one page foreward by director Zach Snyder. The balance of the book are one page photos of characters that appear in the film and a thumbnail visual index in the back – nothing else.
Visual Collateral (The Film Companion 9/10 | Art of the Film 9/10 | Portraits 5/10)
Both “The Film Companion” and “Art of the Film” include a wide variety of visual collateral from the film. Photos, artwork, stills, props, costumes, and everything else that you can imagine can probably be found somewhere within the two volumes. They really did a fantstic job producing these two books, which are nearly as good as it gets with these types of works.
“Portraits” includes beautiful black and white photography by Clay Enos, the official photographer for the film. Truly amazing work. However, I am unsure of the appeal of the book, in that the majority of it is made up of secondary and background characters, with all characters receiving equal treatment. So while the photography is beautiful on its on merits, a book with such a narrow focus I believe detracts from the overall mass appeal of the work.
Presentation/Quality (The Film Companion 8/10 | Art of the Film 8/10 | Portraits 6/10)
All three volumes are of very impressive quality. Hardcover (though there is a softcover edition of “The Film Companion” as well), quality paper, very vibrant.
Again, the “Portraits” volume, given it’s limitation of variety and narrow focus, makes it more challenging to evaluate.
As noted, “Art of the Film” and “The Film Companion” collectively cover nearly every facet of the production and include a very wide range of visual collateral, all well organized, so I would give top marks here.
Overall Value (The Film Companion 8/10 (hardcover) 10/10 (softcover) | Art of the Film 8/10 | Portraits 5/10)
Below are the retail prices and “online discount” prices (see Amazon.com) for these books:
The Film Companion (hardcover $29.95/$19.77 – softcover $19.95/$13.57)
Art of the Film ($40.00/$26.40)
Portraits ($50.00/$31.50)
Conclusion and Overall Rating (The Film Companion 9/10 | Art of the Film 9/10 | Portraits 6/10)
I really do enjoy the “Portraits” book, but given that it is very unique (i.e. limited appeal) and the most expensive of the three works, I rate it the lowest. If you are a big fan of the film (which is not yet released at the time of this review), and you are buying the other two books, the set of three collectively makes a great resource.
The other two books, “Art of the Film” and “The Film Companion”, I feel, are really more like two volumes of a comprehensive work, so I would highly recommend picking them both up. They make a great set.
If you are on a budget or have less of an interest in the film, the softcover version of “The Film Companion” at under $15 online is highly recommended.
These reviews are based exclusively on the books themselves, not having seen the film at the time of this review. I am a huge fan of the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Fans of the film are very fortunate to have three quality books available, in addition to the recently released “Watching the Watchmen”, which I give my highest recommendations to (but do not cover here as it is about the graphic novel, not the film, and therefore outside the scope of the focus of this website).
Jason De Bord
Jason DeBord, Original Prop Blog