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Author Topic: Watchmen  (Read 16888 times)
wickednick
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« on: March 06, 2009, 06:03:56 PM »

I just saw this movie and was completely blown away. Its one of those rare movies that uses elements that we've seen in so many other comic book movies, and then completely brakes them. This movies long and there is a lot of story much of it wont make sense until the end. Lastly I would have to say this is one of the darkest movies i've ever seen, rarely do you see an ending as brutal as what you see in this movie.
I would say lots more about this movie but ive been awake for almost 24 hours and need to sleep. But see this movie.
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Zapranoth
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« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2009, 08:36:01 PM »

Someone who has read The Watchmen, and has seen the film, chime in.
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DoctorMcShocker
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« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2009, 10:32:33 PM »

I have not read any of the comics or the book, but i saw the preview and thought it looked bad*ss. I went to the midnight showing and let me just say that i was not disappointed. the only thing is that i did not know it was almost 3 hrs long so that caught me off guard. the movie was all around amazing. but the boob to penis ratio was bad. i understand that manhattan doesnt like clothes, but i do not need to see his penis four times in one scene. this didnt make the movie any worse i just thought it was note-worthy.
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WilliamWeird1313
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« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2009, 10:42:06 PM »


I've read Watchmen. Many times, in fact. And I saw the movie. So this is me chiming in.

Saw it. Thought it was great. I'm working on a review to put up on Bearded Weirdo Reviews as we speak.

If you're a fan of the comic, you will be disappointed. I'm warning you now. I repeat: you WILL be disappointed. There IS stuff that is changed. There IS stuff that is left out. But, you know what? All the changes and exclusions are understandable. And it's still a good movie. It's still extremely entertaining, and extremely true to the source material.

Unfortunately, this film does NOT prove that you can compress Watchmen into a 2-3 hour movie and not be forced to leave out large swaths of important stuff. But the film DOES prove that you can adapt Watchmen into a 2-3 hour movie that is a DAMN GOOD 2-3 hour movie that is true to the spirit of the original graphic novel.

I have a few criticisms, but overall, I thought it was fantastic. And it's the best superhero movie I've ever seen (and I've pretty much seen 'em all).

Some people who haven't read the comic might have a harder time with it, and people who are going to see it just based on the trailer, with no prior experience with the comic, who are expecting a big action-fest with lots of cool gadgets, off-the-wall superpowers, and badass catchphrases will definitely not have an easy time of it.

Personally, I'd give it either a 4.5. or 5 star rating (out of a possible 5).

This is Hollywood redeeming itself after The Dark Knight.
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Javakoala
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« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2009, 11:15:04 PM »


I have a few criticisms, but overall, I thought it was fantastic. And it's the best superhero movie I've ever seen (and I've pretty much seen 'em all).


You blaspheme!!!  Nothing could be better -- NOTHING -- than "Batman: The Movie" with Adam West!!!!!   Hatred Hatred Hatred



 BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle

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Torgo
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« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2009, 03:21:19 PM »

It's an impossible task to try to cram the 12 issue Watchmen series properly into a 2 to 3 hour movie but I have to give Zack Snyder credit for trying.  By sticking so closely to the source material though I really don't see this film having much appeal outside of people who have read the comic. I'm going to withold my final rating until the 3 hour 10 minute director's cut is released on dvd later on this year. I originally gave the theatrical cut 3 stars out of 4 but I'm going to stick with 2 1/2 stars for the moment.  I think that V For Vendetta was a far better Alan Moore adaptation because they kept all of the themes and ideas while succesfully updating the movie making it relevant to current times.
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« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2009, 03:23:28 PM »


I have a few criticisms, but overall, I thought it was fantastic. And it's the best superhero movie I've ever seen (and I've pretty much seen 'em all).


You blaspheme!!!  Nothing could be better -- NOTHING -- than "Batman: The Movie" with Adam West!!!!!   Hatred Hatred Hatred



 BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle



You're both wrong.
Red Sonja is the best  Wink
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Javakoala
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« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2009, 04:26:50 PM »


I have a few criticisms, but overall, I thought it was fantastic. And it's the best superhero movie I've ever seen (and I've pretty much seen 'em all).


You blaspheme!!!  Nothing could be better -- NOTHING -- than "Batman: The Movie" with Adam West!!!!!   Hatred Hatred Hatred



 BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle BounceGiggle



You're both wrong.
Red Sonja is the best  Wink

Umm, dearie, Red Sonja?  The sword-swinging hottie?  Okay, she had the power to make men stiff in certain places, but a superhero?  She's just a pretty sword jockey.

Sorry.  Not trying to highjack the thread. I swear.
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AnubisVonMojo
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« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2009, 04:31:24 PM »

I've read the maxi-series and like William said, I was disappointed. The problem with adapting anything into a movie is that you can never live up to everyone's expectations. In my mind, certain things were different in the book than they were on screen and they kinda bugged me. When I read the book, I imagined Dr. Manhattan would have a very strong, Godlike voice to go along with his remade superman body, not the same meek voice he had as a scientist. I understand making Manhattan more sympathetic to the audience, but I always thought of him as this "above silly things like humanity" that didn't need sympathy. Moloch also wasn't what I was expecting. I like Matt Frewer, but I always pictured Moloch as being a washed up old ex-Nazi type of villain, not a whimpering wiener. And Ozymandias? I feel like the movie-makers dumbed down his role in everything for... well, I can't say anything else without spoiling it for people who haven't read the story or seen the movie yet, but Ozy was my biggest unhappiness with the whole thing. I didn't like the opening scene, because I think expanding it gives away too much in the way of clues as to who Comedian's killer was. Again, I won't explain why. The biggest problem though is that it's a movie that attempts to introduce multiple characters and as such each character gets their own "origin" bit and character appropriate piece. In the comic that's fine because you can dedicate entire issues to each character and it works, but in a movie there's almost no way to do that without it coming off as disjointed. Just when you're getting into one character, the focus shifts to someone completely different for 20 minutes.

On the plus side though, I thought the guys playing Nite Owl and Rorschach were perfect and most of the time I thought the guy playing the Comedian was also great except for a few lines he delivered that just sounded so badly scripted. A few lines didn't translate well from the comic onto the screen and distracted from the scenes. They sounded cheesier. Some people say that this was intentionally done for the cheesy effect, but if it was, I think it hurt the movie for the sake of some stupid *wink*wink* gags. I do approve of the changed ending though. Originally I was deflated when I heard of the change because the originally ending is so appropriately "comic booky", but the new ending still fits great and works better as a "movie" ending.

Overall I thought it was good. The 3 hour run time didn't bother me and I didn't regret giving up my $10 to see it. I give it a 4-out-of-5.
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Jim H
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« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2009, 05:05:58 PM »

Quote
If you're a fan of the comic, you will be disappointed. I'm warning you now. I repeat: you WILL be disappointed. There IS stuff that is changed.

Not a knock on you William, but people with that attitude towards comic adaptations irritate me.  I have a friend who is sometimes like that.  I mean, people are p**sy about the changes in the Watchmen film.  But, of course, Watchmen is one of the most literal comic book adaptations EVER.  The only one even close to as literal is Sin City, which is super duper literal.  I might add - I think BOTH of these films were TOO literal.  Both formats have their advantages, and I think things SHOULD be changed between them.  You're just begging for trouble if you don't. 

Watchmen, for example, I think would feel far more disjointed and harder to keep up with if you haven't read the comics.  I'm not sure how it should have been handled, but the movie is so densely packed with origins, back stories, and sidebars I imagine it must be frustrating at times for those who haven't read it first.  The comic has breathing room - a lot of small asides with minor characters, little bits from the news and normal people, etc - for pacing reasons.  The movie is missing all of this, and is also missing a variety of small character moments. 

All that said, I still think it is a good film.  Visually gorgeous, great acting from Jackie Earle Hayley (it's hard to imagine ANYONE being a better Rorscach now). 
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dean
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« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2009, 09:10:30 PM »


Great movie.  As someone who likes the source material I can say that there were a few bits that irked me slightly, but none that detracted too much from the awesomeness of this movie.

I disagree with Anubis's assessment about the opening scene, though I agree it could have been done without the little clues etc. As someone who knew the story well, it was an obvious hint, but the few people I've talked to about it who haven't read the novel didn't pick up on it.

My only disappointments stem from the fact that there are cool plot lines I enjoyed missing, and due to some of that they cut down some of the emotional scenes which largely lost their power, such as Laurie's 'emotional scene' and Nite Owl and Rorschach's 'moment' as well.  By sticking too closely to the novel's dialogue, those scenes lost their power by deleting some of the scenes that preceded them.

The ending was a good change from the novel: I think it needed to be changed slightly for certain reasons due to other movies passing vaguely over the same plot before, and the change that was made was acceptable to me.  Ozy was also a bit of a fizzer in some ways, but I didn't mind it.

Rorschach and Nite Owl were great.  Spot on casting, and Malin Ackerman sure is fine to look at.


I still find it funny that there had to be someone whose sole job was to make sure Dr Manhatten's penis moved correctly.  That's gotta be odd for the resume.

So all up, other than a few gripes with script and some little character moments, I thought it was a wonderful film.

I should think that though, I've seen the bloody thing twice in two days...  Thumbup


Go see it, it's worth it.
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sideorderofninjas
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« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2009, 12:59:20 AM »

I'm not the only one who has re-read their copy Watchmen trade paperback before seeing the movie which is very helpful to keep track of what's going on....There's no way the movie could have been exactly like the comic book version.  Hold the raging comic book geek in check..Most of the changes made sense and helped moved the movie's plot along. 
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« Reply #12 on: March 08, 2009, 10:13:58 AM »

I caught the film at the midnight premiere Thursday night.  I'm a big fan of the source material and I went into the film with fairly low expectations. 

Watchmen was good.  Hell, it was REALLY good.  There are a few changes to the story, one which bothered me like crazy as it's a key plot point.  Still, the changes didn't hurt too much as the story was still cohesive and works over all.

The acting in the film is what really pushed it to a level that I hadn't imagined.  Jackie Earle Haley is Rorschach.  When I first saw him without his iconic mask, I got chills.  He's identical to the character in the graphic novel.  I cannot imagine anyone else playing this character.  There is so much ferocity and anger in the role.  Perfect.

Overall, it was really good.  I had worked 12hrs that day and ended up being awake for over 22hrs just to see the film.  I'm hoping to catch it again sometime soon.  Sure, it's almost 3hrs long, but it goes by at a quick clip.  It's one of those rare films that doesn't sugar coat anything for the audience and dares them to keep up with the story.  I admire it for that. 
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trekgeezer
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« Reply #13 on: March 08, 2009, 12:08:08 PM »

Spoilers ahead for the graphic novel, not the movie.


The movie is great, and they did what they usually have to do with densely written source material. Somethings are shortened, others left out or changed to make movie flow.

My one big disappointment was when Rorschach was in prison.  Those sessions with the psychiatrist are some of the best writing in the comic, especially the bit  when he explains what drove him to leave Kovacks behind and he truly became Rorschach.  I didn't like them changing the way he dispatched the kidnapper.   The speech he gives about the nature of life is some great stuff and gives terrific insight into how the guy thinks.

Maybe this will inspire some that haven't read the graphic novel to run out and get a copy.


" Stood in the firelight , sweltering. Bloodstain on chest like map of violent new continent.  Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night.  Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone.

Live our lives lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later.

Born from oblivion; bear children , Hell-bound as ourselves; go into oblivion.

There is nothing else.

Existence is random, has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose.

This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs.

It's us. Only us

Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning it's illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl own meaning on this morally blank world.

Was Rorschach. "



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« Reply #14 on: March 08, 2009, 01:12:42 PM »

Having read the graphic novel and watched the movie, here's my chime.

I love both. 

I went into the theater recognizing that it would not be a literal panel-by-panel recreation of the comic book.  Alan Moore writes comics with the intent of them remaining as comics, as there are things he can do in that medium that he feels cannot be done well in media such as film. 

I was slightly disappointed that so much of Rorschach's therapy sessions were cut out, particularly the explanation that he first put on the mask in reaction to the Kitty Genovese rape/murder. 

I was disappointed by the lack of Lovecraftian "alien" at the end.  But I feel like the ending they used works well anyways, as it (in my eyes, at least) emphasizes how frightening and alien Dr. Manhattan is to the rest of humanity. 

Overall, I see it as a sort of "Rashomon" effect -- in the graphic novel, we have "Watchmen" from Alan Moore's perspective.  On the screen, we have "Watchmen" from Zack Snyder's perspective.  We, as the readers/viewers, further interpret those, creating our own version of "Watchmen."


To those fans who complain about the film not being a panel-by-panel recreation of the book, I say this: "Do you enjoy the book less knowing that this film adaptation exists?" If the answer is no, then there you go.  Enjoy the book.  If the answer is yes, then I feel sorry for those fans. 
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