WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN? That’s the slogan splashed in red paint across a New York City shop window in the opening scenes of WATCHMEN.

That is also what Hollywood industry types had to be asking themselves after director Zack Snyder's film adaptation of the much acclaimed DC Comics graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons opened to a thunderous $55.7 million in the U.S. according to boxofficemojo.com and then dropped by almost 70 per cent in its second weekend.

Maybe it was the kidney testing 163-minute running time. Perhaps it was the bone-crunching violence, full-frontal male nudity and simulated sex (earning the movie a Restricted tag in the U.S. and limiting its audience to 18 years of age and older.)

Whatever the reason, Watchmen generated less than $200 million worldwide at the box office during its theatrical release which was probably just enough to cover its production budget and marketing costs. (By comparison the original "Spider-Man” earned $800 million globally during its 2002 theatrical run.)

All of which proves the world is made up of two groups: a) those who worship the book as the Holy Grail of graphic novels and b) those who have never heard of it.

TRUE CONFESSIONS: I decided to see the movie in the theatre (despite the fact I had not read the book) attracted by the huge pre-release buzz (largely generated by fanboys on the Net – once again proving this obsessive bunch has a power and influence wildly out of proportion to its actual numbers.)

I was impressed by the movie’s vivid use of color, painstakingly detailed production design, eye-popping action sequences and the energy and commitment of the performances. Yet for all its big screen pizzazz I felt as if I was on the outside looking in. It was like watching an elaborately produced homage to a movie I’d never seen or, to put it another way, listening to a lovingly crafted tribute to a classic rock album without hearing the original.

THE PLOT THICKENS: I was intrigued enough by the movie to buy the graphic novel upon which it is based and when WATCHMEN: DIRECTOR’S CUT was released on DVD a few weeks ago I bought a copy of the Blu-Ray disc.

I gotta admit that after reading the book I felt more connected to the movie when I watched it again on my home screen. I was also able to appreciate how faithful the movie is to its source material.

Put it into your DVD player and you are plunged into a world much like ours except that it`s 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his fifth term as U.S. President and costumed vigilantes with names like Nite Owl (Stephen McHattie), Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) have been fighting crime for decades.

When the original Nite Owl retires after 23 years to write his autobiography (Under the Hood) he is replaced by second-generation crimefighter Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson). When Ms. Spectre steps down her daughter (Malin Akerman) makes her mom proud (and delights fanboys everywhere) by donning a form fitting latex outfit as Silk Spectre II.

Most of the costumed crusaders retire after Congress passes an act outlawing masked vigilantes but that doesn’t stop Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) from prowling the streets and when the Comedian is tossed out of a high-rise window he figures someone is on a mission to kill his former teammates.

That would include Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) aka Jon Osterman, a nerdy nuclear scientist until a lab accident scrambled his atoms and transformed him in a blue skinned godlike being.

And here’s the catch: the Doc is the only one with actual superpowers. The other masked vigilantes are biologically human (although blessed with above average intelligence and fighting skills.)

THROWING THE BOOK AT ‘EM: Writer Moore refused to be involved in the project (calling his beloved comic "unfilmable ") but Watchmen co-creator and artist Gibbons praises Snyder in a DVD featurette as “a guy who clearly loves comics and realizes the importance of sticking to the original themes.”

Like, for example, what would possess a human to dress up in costume and take the law in his (or her) own hands? And what kind of psychological toll would that take?

Judging from the Comedian (basically a thug with a gun and a savage grin) and Rorschach (a feisty little sociopath sporting a mask with an animated inkblot) these characters are unlikely to be asked to join DC Comics’ Justice League of America.

"(The movie) is like a fully realized dream, " Gibbons raves.”The level of detail and texture is gonna have people running it over and over again in their DVD machine."

So if you wonder why your 14-year-old son hasn't left his room in the last two weeks he has either bought a copy of Watchmen: Directors Cut or he is, well ... never mind.

DVDetails: Maximum Movie Mode (exclusive to the Blu-Ray disc) raises the bar for DVD extras with the director actually walking onto the screen at selected intervals and giving us a shot by shot analysis of scenes as we watch them.

With the use of split screens Snyder can compare panels from the comic with corresponding frames from the movie. Pop up keys compare timelines for the Watchmen world and our world. Using picture-in-picture (PIP) technology MMM is able to weave cast and crew interviews into the fabric of the movie.

How do you turn Riverview Hospital (the movie was shot in Vancouver) into a 1950s nuclear lab in New Mexico? Production Designer Alex McDowell pops up in PIP to explain while we watch the scene in question. At various intervals viewers can break away from the movie to check out “Focus Points” on sets, costumes and special effects.

DON’T HAVE A LIFE? DON’T WORRY. YOU WON’T MISS IT: There is plenty to be obsessed with here. Even with 24 minutes of added footage the Director’s Cut still isn’t able to fit in everything.

For example, in the novel a kid at a newsstand is reading a comic called “Tales of the Black Freighter” about a doomed sailor obsessed with saving his family from a demonic pirate ship.

The story-within-a-story occupies a prominent place in the book but is only hinted at in the movie. We hear about Mason’s autobiography in the movie but in the book we can read excerpts “reprinted by permission of the author.”

The direct-to-disc WATCHMEN: TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER/ UNDER THE HOOD (62 mins. 18A) pairs an animated version of the pulpy pirate saga in all its gruesome detail (urp!) with a faux TV documentary on Hollis Mason (the original Nite Owl) talking to an interviewer about his days as a costumed crimefighter.

Then there’s WATCHMEN: THE MOTION COMIC which is like an audio book with actor Tom Stechschulte reading all 12 chapters of the original novel and doing all the character voices. Except this version has pictures and they move. Finally, just in time for Christmas there will be a 5 disc “Ultimate Edition”.

Rumor has it this set includes yet another new edit with “Tales of the Black Freighter” stitched into the Director’s Cut of the movie, the complete Motion Comic (all six hours) and Snyder and Gibbons teaming up for a new commentary track.

YEAH, BUT I LIKED THE BOOK BETTER: there’s nothing like the original graphic novel with its richly textured and breathtakingly ambitious 416 page combination of text and artwork. Everything you’ve just read about starts with that.