Watchmen

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I really think my theory that they haphazardly cherry picked the book is accurate, and the movie suffers, especially for someone not familiar with the comic.

[SuperJerk 0]

This isn't Watchmen as much as it's how Zack Synder remembers Watchmen, which is similar to how Frank Miller remembers The 300 Spartans. It misses the subtle points and plots of Moore's original and chooses to focus on how awesome he thought superheroes were.

 

In response to this excellent post (the whole post, not just the spot-on conclusion I quoted), I'm going to re-state my opinion...and be less of a douchebag about it this time.

 

You make some really good points, because this movie is certainly an action movie version of Watchmen, rather than the psychological drama that Moore wrote. I'm left wondering what this movie might have looked like had Martin Scorcese directed it, or the late Stanley Kubrik had made this his next film after "Full Metal Jacket."

 

I disagree about Akerman's competence, though there were better women to play this part (I'm curious who others would have picked). Jude Law is Veidt would have been a really good choice.

 

I obviously enjoyed it a lot more than you did, because the things you didn't like--mostly valid criticisms--didn't bother me as much as they bothered you.

 

I think 3 or 3.5 out of 5 is a more realistic score for this movie. It was on par with earlier comic adaptations like Tim Burton's "Batman," but not quite the spot-on representation of the spirit and themes as "The Dark Knight." I don't dislike Burton's "Batman," but obviously "Dark Knight" was better. I don't dislike Watchmen, but it could have been better for many of the reasons you mention.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Just saw it this weekend.

 

Good, but I'm annoyed at the changed ending. I still think it's absurd to try and make the most faithful recreation possible and then change the ending. I hated the ending for all the same reasons I was angry when I first heard about it. Sure, that probably means I was biased going in, but I personally didn't feel that needed to be changed.

 

Also, I was quite disappointed when I realized that Rorsch's time in prison was over, with only that brief chat with the doctor. Yes, I understand that things needed to be cut for time, but why was I watching fights that never happened instead of seeing Rorsch actually explain his fucking character? Like, that pissed me off, especially since they stopped just shy of Rorsch giving the whole truth. They had the blood splashing up his face, even the "Walter Kovacs died" bit, but how could they have left out his speech about how there is no God, there is no anything, there is only us and nothing has any real meaning except for what we impose? And the whole talk of his mask? Again, I understand things needed to be cut for time, but for me, cutting that part out of Rorch's backstory is like cutting Krypton out of Superman's. It's the heart of the story!

 

Perhaps more will be in the Director's cut. I liked the movie other then that.

[dubq 0]

I'm not going to bother tagging crap. In the comic, Veidt's plan is a bit different...it involved using artists, special effects people, scientists, etc to create this alien monster. So Comedian saw the monster being made, found out Veidt's (absurd) plan, and then lost it.

 

Oh I know. But I'm asking, in the context of the movie, what the hell did he see?

 

I think he just somehow found out Veidt's plan. I can't remember but I think they explain it when Veidt is detailing his plot to Rorschach and Dan

[Zorin Industries 0]

I'll just add that I agree with everyone about the ending, I was enjoying the film up to that point put I feel they just cocked it up. Oh, and whoever they had playing Silhouette had my jaw dropping on the floor.

[Zorin Industries 0]

Oh, and that whole Ronald Regan bit at the end, I figured that was one last swipe at the Bush Era, what with the whole "No-one will ever believe a cowboy in the Whitehouse"

 

It should have stayed Redford though, loved that little reversal with the assumption that is was going to be the Democratic RR getting in rather than the Republican. If they really wanted the Cowboy line in they should have made it Clint Eastwood or something

[Jingus 0]

The cowboy line still would've made sense with Redford; his most famous part was the Sundance Kid, hell the biggest film festival on this continent is named after it. He's been in some other Westerns too.

 

Zorin, why don't you post more? You've been here forever, you're our only Northern Irish poster, and looking at Madame Adjani in your sig always makes me happy.

[Nightwing 0]

I'm fairly sure he changed it because most people wouldn't understand that Robert Redford = Movie Star, just like Ronald Reagan. Though, again, unless Reagan was magically de-aged, the new line makes even less sense in the context of things.

[At Home 0]

The line wasn't just "cowboy," it was "cowboy actor." The entire novel is anti-Reagan.

[Jingus 0]

So has anyone watched the various extras released on DVD? I just saw the Tales of the Black Freighter mini-movie, and ho boy that blew. It overplayed the melodrama of the pirate comic with hallucinations and gore to a laughable extent, and made some pointless changes to little bits here and there which devalued the whole experience. Plus, if you thought Moore's comic dialogue sounded goofy in live action, just wait until you hear this Vincent Price wannabe trying to dreadfully intone the castaway's narration. Now I'm reluctant to even glance at Under the Hood or the "motion comic" for fear that it might be more of the same.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

"It overplayed the melodrama...and gore to a laughable extent, and made some pointless changes to little bits here and there which devalued the whole experience"

 

At least it will fit in with the full movie.

[dubq 0]

So has anyone watched the various extras released on DVD? I just saw the Tales of the Black Freighter mini-movie, and ho boy that blew. It overplayed the melodrama of the pirate comic with hallucinations and gore to a laughable extent, and made some pointless changes to little bits here and there which devalued the whole experience. Plus, if you thought Moore's comic dialogue sounded goofy in live action, just wait until you hear this Vincent Price wannabe trying to dreadfully intone the castaway's narration. Now I'm reluctant to even glance at Under the Hood or the "motion comic" for fear that it might be more of the same.

 

Which DVD? I didn't think that the Black Freighter movie was out until the end of this month.

 

I thought that Tom Stechschulte did a great job with voicing the entire the motion comic, including the Black Freighter bits. The only place I thought he was off was when doing female voices.

[Jingus 0]

Black Freighter and Under the Hood are already pirated at the usual websites, though I don't know when they go on sale. You'd think they'd try to coincide that sort of thing with the release of the actual movie.

[SuperJerk 0]

Oh, and that whole Ronald Regan bit at the end, I figured that was one last swipe at the Bush Era, what with the whole "No-one will ever believe a cowboy in the Whitehouse"

 

It should have stayed Redford though, loved that little reversal with the assumption that is was going to be the Democratic RR getting in rather than the Republican. If they really wanted the Cowboy line in they should have made it Clint Eastwood or something

 

Redford, Eastwood, and Reagan all played cowboys in various movies.

 

To my knowledge, Redford never starred in a movie with a monkey, though.

[Zorin Industries 0]

The cowboy line still would've made sense with Redford; his most famous part was the Sundance Kid, hell the biggest film festival on this continent is named after it. He's been in some other Westerns too.

 

Zorin, why don't you post more? You've been here forever, you're our only Northern Irish poster, and looking at Madame Adjani in your sig always makes me happy.

 

Keep meaning to post more, but prefer lurking to be honest. Plus I only really get the chance to use the computer at the weekends now so i'm pretty busy on it with other concerns. I'll try and post more to give you Adjani fix, hows that?

[bob_barron 0]

I really liked Watchmen, though felt it moved too slowly at times. Look forward to reading the rest of the thread

[SuperJerk 0]

I really liked Watchmen, though felt it moved too slowly at times. Look forward to reading the rest of the thread

 

 

Should we warn him?

[Brett Favre 0]

I've never read anything on Watchmen, but I enjoyed the movie. I didn't like the message at the end though.

 

And I really liked Rorschach. My favorite character in the movie by far. Really only he and Ozy stood by what they believed in. I never really disliked Ozy till the end and even then he wasn't such a cop out like the other three characters seemed to be (even Dr. Manhattan).