I have the Ultimate Edition (or whatever it's called) of The Watchmen on Blu-Ray. I'd say that if you have a choice, I'd certainly go for the full package. You also have the option of watching either cut of the film - so it's kind of like buying both versions at once.

It's been some time since I've watched it all the way through, but as I recall there's a couple of additional scenes. The most notable addition is that the Ultimate Cut has the Black Freighter cartoon edited into the movie (along with additional scenes of the kid and newstand owner.) Anyone who's read the comics will tell that's a pretty integral part of the story insofar as the subtext of the overall narrative is concerned.

Both the cartoon and the Under the Hood faux-documentary (which isn't edited into the film if I remember rightly) are also available on their own as bonus content. I think it also has a weird kind of "full motion comic" version of the graphic novel, as well.

Honestly? I thought it was pretty cool to see it all cut together like that. However, as "a movie," it didn't feel as cohesive. It just overall feels too dissimilar from the rest of the movie, visually - and you can also kind of tell that the live-action portions from the Black Freighter were shot by the "B" crew.

I'd say it's worth spending the money for the Ultimate edition, just for the bonus features, though.

Personally, I really enjoyed the movie as a companion to the graphic novel. Your enjoyment is really going to depend on what you expect to get out of a film adaption of a comic book like this. Obviously, it's not as "good" as the comic (which I rate as a high point of literature, not to mention solely the realm of sequential art,) but I still think it was pretty darned cool. The opening sequence alone I really enjoyed.

This. I had to read that comic book as part of my Contemporary Literature class.

I too have the Ultimate Edition, and it's worth it. In addition to the movie you get the motion comic which is the entire graphic novel and clocks in at 6 or 7 hours. That alone is worth the buy IMO. The other special features are great too, especially the Under the Hood documentary.

There are three versions of this movie on dvd/blu ray:

The theatrical cut which is about 2 1/2 hours, the director's cut which is about 3 hours, and the ultimate edition which is 3 1/2 hours and includes all the new scenes from the director's cut plus the Tales of the Black Freighter woven into the movie.

I think the movie is good. I only have two nitpicks with it: as others have said, I don't like the slow mo. What's good about the comic is these are real people, not superheroes. They're just real people thugging it out, and it hurts to get punched/throw a punch. You lose that in the movie with all the slow mo and Matrix fighting. My other nitpick is the comic had a darker tone. All thoughout it there were news reports in the background talking about the impending nuclear war and things kept building and building. One news report in particular sticks in my memory. It was instructing people what to do in the fallout. If a family member dies from the radiation, wrap them in a garbage bag and deposit them on the street and a garbage crew will come pick them up.

I too thought the movie's ending with Dr. Manhattan was better.