Watchmen

[NowhereMan]

Alan Moore's a wizard!

[stray]

So was Rasputin. 

[Rasix]

One question for those that have seen it: is the Rorschach dog killing scene in it? Wife has a thing about domestic animals getting killed (especially dogs for whatever reason).

[Wasted]

One question for those that have seen it: is the Rorschach dog killing scene in it? Wife has a thing about domestic animals getting killed (especially dogs for whatever reason).

[IainC]

Alan Moore's a wizard!

Who worships a Roman snake god in his chaos magick rites.

[Velorath]

Went into work several hours early to put one of the prints together and watch it (then had to work a long shift since I couldn't leave until the last of the midnight showings dropped at around 3:00 AM).  Leading up to the movie's release, I got my boss and a couple friends I work with to read Watchmen and they all ended up test running prints too.  Everyone (including myself) came out of their individual test runs with the same idiot grins on our faces.

I could nitpick a number of things (my biggest complaint was the soundtrack), but on a whole I couldn't really ask for a better Watchmen movie.  There's a couple minor changes that bothered me a little (the lack of Squid surprisingly wasn't one of them) but they're all very small things.

I also have my concerns as to whether or not people who aren't familiar with the story will be able to get into it.  Reading the graphic novel, you obviously have time to digest what's going on, as opposed to a movie that's just under three hours and is throwing a lot at you the whole time.  I first read Watchmen when the individual issues were released, although I was around 7 or 8 at the time, so it took me a few rereadings over the years to really get it.  It's hard for me to get in the mindset of someone who hasn't read it and judge whether or not it's easy to follow.

[Jeff Kelly]

The whole movie over I had the feeling of somebody reading and showing the comic to me and thought that if I'd want that I wouldn't be sitting in a movie theater but would be reading the comic instead.

For the most part it's just a panel by panel reenacting of the comic. Even scene composition and dialogue being exactly as in the comic. Snyder only diverted from the graphic novel when the scene couldn't be done in excactly the same way as in the comic (e.g. backstory of the Watchmen). The only creative changes was the ending and some of the money shots (in the prison scene for example).

The movie felt a bit pointless to me. Why do a movie when you're just copying the comic to film and why should I pay $10 to see something that is ecxactly the same as the book I already own?

The fans will like it because it's 'just like in the book' but for me that is the biggest flaw of a very good production.

[Hindenburg]

Why do a movie when you're just copying the comic to film and why should I pay $10 to see something that is ecxactly the same as the book I already own?

Majority hasn't read the comic. Easier to listen than to read.

[Chenghiz]

Man, it was probably worth seeing, but I think they overdid the fanservice aspects of it. The violence was over the top of even the comic, and there was just no reason at all to show the whooooole sex scene in the owlship. It felt sort of like a teenager read over the script and then pointed at some parts and went "oh man, wouldn't it be awesome if they fight like twenty people here, instead of three?" Also yeah, the soundtrack bugged me as well. They should have gotten a cinematic score instead of borrowing popular songs. I can't count the number of times a new song came on and people in the theatre just laughed.

On the upside, they didn't fuck with the plot more than was necessary for a movie, and the casting was, for the most part, spot on.

[Wasted]

I thought the pacing was a little off in some places, and the way they would tableaux some stills to emphasis panels from the comic, or pause for effect after delivering a line from the comic stilted it a bit imho.  It was faithful, generally good and really good in some places (The prison break-out was excellent).  The thing they changed at the end was mostly cosmetic and I feel made the end tighter than the comic.

The violence was over the top of even the comic

I thought the fight scenes where one of the movies strengths, each punch felt solid and direct.

I'm another one that didn't like the soundtrack much.  It's like someone made a list best songs to read Watchmen to and they all thought it was cool and really over emphasized each track in the opening of the scene.  Like the song defined the moment.

[Abagadro]

Had never read the comic. I enjoyed the film although I am still ambivalent about parts of it. I actually really liked the soundtrack.

[Grimwell]

I read the graphic novel last fall and enjoyed it but yeah -- 20 years later it wasn't revolutionary though I could understand why it was in the 80's.

Watching the film actually made me appreciate the comic more. Having actors carry the lines instead of the voices in my head added a lot to the writing and helped me see the emphasis points.

Mind you I loved the movie -- what I say up above does not mean it sucked so bad that the comic was better. The alternate ending worked just fine for me. To be honest, the comic book ending left me all "wtf?" and I felt this was a cleaner solution to the same problem.

[Margalis]

I think part of the point of the ending of the comic book is that in the end it is very much a stereotypical crazy mad scientist nonsense comic plot that actually kind of works, at least for a little while.

[Abagadro]

Holy shit, I just was looking at the imdb and saw that Rorschach is the guy who played Kelly in the Bad News Bears movies.  He was really good in this.

[naum]

Just got back from theater — a really good movie, but it wasn't great…

/agree on the pacing, and too heavy on the sex scene, I almost thought for a minute it was turning into a porno flick… …movie could have easily been cut to 2 hours…

Some of the acting was really awful, and Ozy is miscast, at least from my remembrance of reading the comic book^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H graphic novel…

The soundtrack I liked, but the the score of the battle scene(s) at the end were amateur hour stuff…

[angry.bob]

and Ozy is miscast, at least from my remembrance of reading the comic book^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H graphic novel…

I haven't seen the movie, but from the visuals I've seenyou are correct. Ozymandias wasn't anywhere in super-buff territory, but the dude in the movie looks like Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred Jones playing Ziggy Stardust. 

[Grimwell]

Re: the sex scene

I wasn't as bothered by this, or  over boobies... it didn't feel awkward though. It was an opportunity to show that at the core we are watching very normal people in very odd situations. One of many such opportunities, but one none the less. Had they gone for a five second "They are going to do it!" and fade to black, that would have felt more awkward and "Why bother?" ish to me.

Perhaps I'm more comfortable with sex than others? It fit in nice with the rest of the film for me. Not awkward, not out of place, just another very adult and very human thing happening to 'super heroes' that aren't the Justice League.

[cmlancas]

The whole movie over I had the feeling of somebody reading and showing the comic to me and thought that if I'd want that I wouldn't be sitting in a movie theater but would be reading the comic instead.

For the most part it's just a panel by panel reenacting of the comic. Even scene composition and dialogue being exactly as in the comic. Snyder only diverted from the graphic novel when the scene couldn't be done in excactly the same way as in the comic (e.g. backstory of the Watchmen). The only creative changes was the ending and some of the money shots (in the prison scene for example).

The movie felt a bit pointless to me. Why do a movie when you're just copying the comic to film and why should I pay $10 to see something that is ecxactly the same as the book I already own?

The fans will like it because it's 'just like in the book' but for me that is the biggest flaw of a very good production.

So the movie is just like a really, really great book?  Awesome!

All jokes aside, I thought the movie was great.  The only out of place scene is the ridiculous, gratuitous sex scene in the middle.  Okay, I get it; they did it.

[Evil Elvis]

Perhaps I'm more comfortable with sex than others? It fit in nice with the rest of the film for me. Not awkward, not out of place, just another very adult and very human thing happening to 'super heroes' that aren't the Justice League.

It wasn't that they were naked, it was the o-faces, the music, and the owl ship ejaculating that put it over the top.

[rattran]

I thought leaving out the newsstand guy and comic reader, just having them as random people killed in the blast robbed the ending of a lot of the punch. Sure nuking NYC is bad and all, but having characters that the audience knows die is more meaningful. Like having the Old Night Owl reminiscing scene in, but no death scene? Just odd.

[naum]

Perhaps I'm more comfortable with sex than others? It fit in nice with the rest of the film for me. Not awkward, not out of place, just another very adult and very human thing happening to 'super heroes' that aren't the Justice League.

It wasn't that they were naked, it was the o-faces, the music, and the owl ship ejaculating that put it over the top.

That.

And it went on for way too long. Considering that it only occupied a frame or two in the book or even if I am recalling incorrectly, it was something you just kind of grokked and went on reading (unless you really salivated over the comic pr0n…)… …didn't need the O-faces and yes, and the "ship ejaculating" was, well… :(

…except for twist and few minor minor bits (which I'd say more but not going to SPOIL it…), it followed the book like no other movie adaptation I can remember and I was thinking as I was exiting the theater if that, while I liked they stayed true to the story, wondered if that is why books are indeed "dressed up" for the screen. Especially for a comic book where they did capture certain scenes (and I think they were dead on with Rorshach and judging from audience response, captured his character brilliantly, although I'm certain that the Batman vocal comparisons are annoying to some…)… …but other scenes seemed tedious…

[UnSub]

In short: a near-literal conversion of source to screen that shows off the weaknesses of such an approach. I really liked some of the changes, but wondered why others were made. It didn't help my favourite two parts - Rorschach's 'conversion' to full-on sociopath and the "it never ends" from Manhattan to Ozymandais - got reworked for the film. (Seeing Rorschach's dialogue / narration on screen really also helps bring home that Frank Miller has been only working that vibe ever since and how hollow that is).

Of the changes I liked, the change from giant squid to something else worked really well, the flashbacks through photographs (especially the intro) and that Dr Manhattan did seem more dependent on people.

Also: I saw more penis in "Watchmen" than I see in some porn films. Well done to Snyder for bringing cock back to the screen.

Double also: whoever did the fight choreography for "Watchmen" needs to be brought in for the next Batman film - hell, any superhero film with costumes. It mostly looked excellently executed and appropriately brutal.

EDIT: re-reading this, it makes it sound like I didn't enjoy the movie. I did - it's easily 4 out of 5. But the gaps were very noticeable and I wonder if I hadn't read the source if I'd have got this film to the same extent. "The Dark Knight" is a better film than "Watchmen" ... as is probably "V for Vendetta" which showed off the benefits of making changes to improve the context of the narrative. "Watchmen" being set in 1985 presented me with a bit of a gap at times that made me wonder why they had to keep mentioning it.

[HaemishM]

Ummm, guys, the ship ejaculating scene was directly from the book. Yes, they lingered a bit long on the hip thrusting, but it's not nearly as over the top as some of you are making it out to be. Boobies = teh gud.

In my mind, it was a fantastic execution. No, it wasn't perfect... there were a few bits that were left out that I'd have like to have seen (more of the prison shrink, the Hollis Mason death, a little more in-story time between Rorschach getting caught and the break out, the future prophecy through television that Ozy spouted at the end, and the kid and newsstand guy) but overall, a fantastic adaptation. They skipped a couple of my favorite lines (when Manhatten is blowing up mob guys the narration says something like "The intrinsic value of my actions escapes me"), and there were parts that felt a bit rushed like the prison time. But they did a better job than the book, IMO, of making the nuclear war more threatening. In the book, it was more subtle. They might have hit the audience over the head with it but it felt more claustrophobic and imminent. Maybe it was the addition of the Nixon scenes.

At first, I thought Matthew Goode was a bit off in the casting of Ozymandias - not pretty enough. But I think he worked, just not as well as the other characters. Silk Spectre was smoking hot, Nite-Owl had the perfect arc from awkward to confident. Rorschach was particularly good and Crudup as Manhatten had the proper detachment.

The change to the ending was a good one. I think on reflection, it actually makes MORE sense than the book, and would be a more airtight motivation for the characters to follow.

As for the soundtrack, if you read any of the additional material or interviews Moore did at the time, a lot of those songs were chosen SPECIFICALLY because they were quoted in the book. The title of each chapter is actually part of a larger quote, usually a song. "All Along the Watchtower" was definitely one of them. The recognizable songs they chose were most likely because they were the titles of chapters in the book. I thought they mostly worked.

Watched it on a DLP digital projection screen for the first time. Holy fuck, what a difference digital projection makes. It was EYEGOUGINGLY SHARP. The movie looked gorgeous. I think Synder deserves huge kudos.

[Rishathra]

That opening sequence really was well done.  If the entire rest of the movie was shit it would have been worth it for that first bit alone.

[Abagadro]

That opening sequence really was well done.  If the entire rest of the movie was shit it would have been worth it for that first bit alone.

I'm with you there. Great marriage of visuals, short-cut storytelling, and song.

[UnSub]

For those who can't see the film, check out Watchmen: The Saturday Morning Cartoon. 

[Rendakor]

Having never read the comic, I went and saw this a few hours ago; good flick. I didn't mind the sex scene but I did facepalm at the ejaculating ship (true to the source or no).

[Velorath]

In my mind, it was a fantastic execution. No, it wasn't perfect... there were a few bits that were left out that I'd have like to have seen (more of the prison shrink, the Hollis Mason death, a little more in-story time between Rorschach getting caught and the break out, the future prophecy through television that Ozy spouted at the end, and the kid and newsstand guy) but overall, a fantastic adaptation.

I'm pretty sure Hollis' death was filmed, but cut due to time contstraints (and will probably make it's way into the dvd releases).

[Samwise]

I just got back from seeing this.  Zack Snyder is my new hero.  Someone get this man the film rights to Transmetropolitan.

The fight choreography was  .  Way more over the top than anything in the comic but it worked really well.

[Oban]

Apparently the Spanish version of this movie is very popular.

[Kirth]

Put me on the side of "It was alright..." jeff kelly from above summed up pretty much how I felt when I walked out.

on the ending

[Samwise]

They skipped a couple of my favorite lines (when Manhatten is blowing up mob guys the narration says something like "The intrinsic value of my actions escapes me")

I think it was "The morality of my actions escapes me", and he says something along those lines in the movie while he's blowing up the Viet Cong.

[Merusk]

Well, I've never read the GN and I just saw it.  I've got to say the movie leaves me cold.  It wasn't a bad film, but it left me with too many questions and a feeling that it was trying to run too many different types of movies at once.  An action flick, a morality tale, a mystery, a romance and a superhero/ alternate world story.  It was too jumbled and messy for me, uneducated in the source material, to really enjoy it.

  I spent too much time trying to figure it out and understand what exactly was going on, and why.  Then throw in the alternate-earth bit with Nixon getting elected and all I could think of every time I saw him was, how the hell would that happen, anyway?  It also felt very much like the story was way too old and outdated.

Now, overall it was visually stunning and well executed, but it wasn't a life-altering experience or a film I'm glad I saw in the theater.  I could have watched it on Netflix in a year and gotten the same out of it.

[Tannhauser]

Just saw it.  Great movie!  Great job squeezing 12 issues down to 3 hours.  You can tell our country was founded by Puritans by everyone talking about the sex scene and the blue junk.  How come you're not talking about the hideous violence?  Oh, right, violence is OK.

I remember back in '85 going to the comic book shop and praying the next Watchmen was in.  Oh yes, I was there.  Now I can say in '09 I was there again when the movie came out.  I can even say I agree with Snyder's change to the ending.  Works for me.  The score was uneven, Tyler Bates=over-rated.  Guy playing Ozy just barely made me believe him.  Malin Ackerman was hot even if her acting wasn't so much.  Rorshach and Nite Owl were spot on.  Same with Dr. M.

This movie is not Citizen Kane.  But it's a great film in it's own right, a great achievement.  Now I must go barbeque chicken!

[NiX]

I'm pretty sure Hollis' death was filmed, but cut due to time contstraints (and will probably make it's way into the dvd releases).

40 minutes is being added into the DVD/Blu-Ray versions. Time to buy a catheter.