Who watches the Watchmen?

[cfos]

I remember waiting each month of the next issue to come out. Yes, I am that old. I've heard that rumors that they changed the ending. I hope they didn't. I stopped collecting comics after this series ended. Now I can't wait:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4blSrZvPhU
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[Sal]

it's got Smashing Pumpkins in the background, so i like it already.
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i have no time for anal love

[Ipsa]

I'm glad that they at least cast a little guy for Rorschach.
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"Yeast devil! Back to the oven that baked you!"

[Smiley]

The trailer looks fancy, but I know it's going to disappoint me. There are some properties that should never be made into movies, and Watchmen is one of them. There's just too much story there to cram into a Hollywood film. This movie is going to suck, and I'll tell you why.

REASON 1: The tone of the book seems to be very much the "real world." People can be unattractive. The weapons and tech were mostly normal, aside from the many advancements brought on by Doc Manhattan. It seemed almost mundane by super hero comic standards. That's why Watchmen is so good. It shows how it would be if the real world and super heroes weren't as flashy as they are in comics. This trailer went in the opposite direction. If these were the Avengers it would be great, but not as the Watchmen. This is Watchmen with a boob job and a bikini wax.

REASON 2: These were supposed to be home-made heroes. Individuals who were rough around the edges and flawed, and playing at being costumed adventurers. The costumes in this movie just look too polished and perfect. Not to mention they're out of character. Hell, Night Owl is a pudgy forty-something guy, a sad, pathetic shell of his former self, not this young buff dude they're showing in the tight, sculpted suit. Silk Spectre 2 is supposed to be just past her prime, not so young as she's portrayed here. Ozymandias looks ridiculous. He looks like a villain for crying out loud. The Comedian seems to look alright, but you only see him in flashes. Only Doc Manhattan really looks like he should, but I'm betting his role in all of it will not be nearly as profound as it was in the book.

REASON 3: The complex, multi-layered undercurrents which give the book its unique edge will be thrown aside for time constraints: the newspaperman who keeps a running commentary of the state of things paralleling the young man reading the Tales of the Black Freighter, the time-shifting non-linear way which Doc Manhattan experiences life, the flashbacks which profile the Comedian's exploits in Vietnam and later, all of that will be lost. As will the depth and care given to Rohrschach's back story. His troubled childhood, his violent descent into psychosis, I don't see them having the time for it. His sessions with the psychologist which were the primary means by which his story was told will most certainly be left out.

REASON 4: Zach Snyder's god awful slow-motion action sequence bullshit. There was too much of it in 300 and there'll be too much of it in this movie. A few scenes like that could have worked for accent, but his overuse of the technique just gets boring and repetitive. And lame.

REASON 5: No input from Alan Moore. He swore long ago that he would not be involved with any Hollywood adaptation of his work. Thus far the movies based off his stories have been less than stellar.

So, yeah, I'll go see it, but I'm really not expecting much.
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"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
-Gallileo Galilei

[cfos]

Valid concerns. Perhaps, I'm a little more optimistic. honestly, when I first hear about how Peter Jackson was going to film LOTR, I felt the same way. I think he pulled off a good set of flicks.

Re: your reason 2. The scene showing the Nite Owl. How do you know he isn't pudgy in the film? There is only about one scene where you see him land and it isn't the jail scene. Perhaps, it is a flash back to the riots leading up to the passing of the Keene Act of '77. At that time, he is buff. During the Jail scenes, we don't get a full view of him. Same could be said about the Silk Specter. Not sure the scene we see in the trailer is "current" (Jailbreak) or a flashback. Besides -- she fit into her costume in the book, so...

Re: your reason 3. And there was no Tom Bombadil in LOTR and Liv Tyler had a much larger role that the two lines of dialogue in the books. I guess, I won't pass judgement on these until the movie is released.

Again, not looking to pick a fight, I'm just more optimistic.
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[Smiley]

The early promo photos of The Comedian show him in costume with gray temples and more wrinkles, but the Night Owl photo definitely has him looking young and strapping. You're right about the prison break scene - you only see him from the back as he jumps and kicks that convict - but I have a feeling your average moviegoer who never read Watchmen might be put off by a pudgy older guy trying to be heroic.

I am pretty juiced by the Jonathan Osterman atomization scene. That looked about perfect. The Owl ship looks perfect. I think Rohrschach's costume is really well done, if a little too clean.
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"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
-Gallileo Galilei

[cfos]

I haven't seen those shots that you describe (Comedian). I do think, like you've stated, that some things will be redone to make a "better" movie. What most concerns me is that early reports had the ending something drasticly different. I think they've gotten Osterman perfect.
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[Smiley]

These are really large so I'm only posting the links to them, not the images themselves. These are the earliest promo pics from the studio.

Comedian

Nite Owl

Ozymandias

Rohrschach

Silk Spectre

And so you'll understand my consternation better...there are nipples on the Ozymandias costume.


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"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
-Gallileo Galilei

[Ipsa]

[cfos]

Hmmm... Definately not impressed with Ozzy. Of course, I felt that the guy who voices Martin in MW Oblivion game would had a great look for Ozzy. Don't remember his name but he was the "bad guy" in the Nick Cage movie National Treasure. Ahh... thank you IMBD... The actor is Sean Bean. Oh yeah, he was also in LOTR.
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[Sal]

wasn't Sean Bean a bad guy in every second movie ever made?

i cannot conntribute much to the discussion, as i'm not as familiar with Watchmen as i'd like, but the promo pics back up Smiley's arguments greatly. this is no home-made superhero kind of look.



and what the hell are the designers thinking with all the nipples?
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i have no time for anal love

[cfos]

Silk Spectre:

http://a2.vox.com/6a00cdf3ac0c23cb8f00e398b2e71a0001-500pi

Ok, the movie kinda sexys her up with the boots.

Nite Owl:

http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/photos/030608-niteowl-big.jpg

Ok, he is pudgy, but we don't know whether the shot in the movie could be a flashback where he was in his prime. Also, Dan did have the $$s so, he could afford a nice suit -- assuming he paid for the Owl Ship.
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[Azrael]

Okay, now this movie has caught my interest, particularly with the charater Rohrschach.
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Only the strongest will survive.

Married to SpideyGirl.

[Ipsa]

Book/movie art Hm.
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"Yeast devil! Back to the oven that baked you!"

[cfos]

I see they also re-released the comics, came out with new hardcovers and another "ultimate" edition. Hurm.
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[cfos]

So, I saw in the Sunday ads that there is a live-action comic version of the Watchman coming out on dvd and blu ray on Tuesday. Kinda weird. I went to xbox live (where you can alo down load it) and watched a preview. Not sure I like what they did with it. Anyone else familar with this?
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

[Satan Crime Wash]

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/485797
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[Frost]

I'm gonna see this movie in a few hours.
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You forget one thing: rock crushes scissors. But paper covers rock... and
scissors cuts paper... Kiff, we have a conundrum. Search them for paper... and
bring me a rock.
-- Zapp Brannigan

[Frost]

It was great. Not perfect, but great.

They fought way too well, and the fighting and gore was really overdone.
_________________
You forget one thing: rock crushes scissors. But paper covers rock... and
scissors cuts paper... Kiff, we have a conundrum. Search them for paper... and
bring me a rock.
-- Zapp Brannigan

[Ipsa]

Just got back from seeing it a little while ago.

I left feeling indifferent about it. There were only a few times where I thought the way something done was interesting or captured the mood of the novel well. I think that if I hadn't read the book, I'd probably be somewhat confused about some bits in the movie.
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"Yeast devil! Back to the oven that baked you!"

[Azrael]

I liked it. It was a pretty different superhero film, and I thought it was daring to make the film very faithful to the comic. Not without its flaws but still worth watching.
_________________
Only the strongest will survive.

Married to SpideyGirl.

[Frost]

Yah, there are a lot of people saying it's horrible. Not worth seeing. I gotta disagree there. I liked most of it.
_________________
You forget one thing: rock crushes scissors. But paper covers rock... and
scissors cuts paper... Kiff, we have a conundrum. Search them for paper... and
bring me a rock.
-- Zapp Brannigan

[Ipsa]

Hrm.
The more I think about the movie, the less I like it. I really really tried to watch it just as a movie and not think about the novel. Yet I still left feeling "meh."
Spoiler:

You can accuse me of being picky about this, but it's the little things about the characters that were left out that really bother me. E.g. Laurie being a smoker, being rather selfish, being concerned about the "mask killer" instead of dismissing it, the strained relationship with her mother--yes, it was sort of there, but a lot more could have been done with little effort. Rorschach's black-and-white morality could have been played out more; I felt his back story, along with Nite Owl's, was given less importance than the other characters. Why leave out or gloss over two central characters? Just felt like they didn't have that much depth. There were a couple of continuity issues that annoyed me, as well. Like when Doc Manhattan goes to Mars, doesn't tell anyone he's gone, and then Laurie says something about everyone knowing he's on Mars. Rorschach's being set up for arrest was rather weak, too. Bah.

Anyways. If you're older and really enjoyed the novel, I recommend waiting for the movie to come out on video or demand, unless you absolute have to see it, of course.
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"Yeast devil! Back to the oven that baked you!"

[Blaster]

I saw it last night, and I found it to be enjoyable. I guess one advantage of not having read the novel is that I can't complain about how they didn't do this or that properly, etc.
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Context is everything.

[cfos]

Older? Why thank you for thinking of me, Ipsa.

I was going to see this on Friday, but my Wiff guilted me into waiting for a convenient time for her.
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"If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."