• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

Watchmen

The graphic novel is easily the greatest comic ever written, by one of the greatest comic writers of all time. It's well worth your time to check out.
 
I just finished rereading Watchmen; the movie looks visually very, very close, but there's so much that happens in the book! How on earth are they going to fit it all in? I know "Tales of the Black Frieghter" is going to buy it...
 
Actually I believe they are going to release that as a mini-movie around the same time the movie proper is released, at least that's what Snyder was saying.
 
Crazy. But the joy of "The Black Freighter" was beautifully it lined up with the stuff happening right then. Take "Fearful Symmetry," where we actually see Rorshach in the background out of his costume, before his secret identity is revealed, while the newspaper vendor says "We see every damned connection" and the "Black Frieghter" comments "His eyes, his cheecks seemed individually familiar... but I could not piece it together into a face I knew." Oh, and the newspaper in the panel reflects the symmetry running throughout that issue. That's pretty darn dense for a one inch by two inch panel... I just don't see how they can recreate that density. The story, probably; but the sheer artistry of it?

Of course, this is the guy who filmed "300" from Miller's book by basically recreating all the iconic panels in front of a green screen, so maybe.
 
That kind of nuance in the book is going to be tough to reproduce although if anyone could do it, Snyder could.

Alan Moore has recently voiced his doubts about the film, but he is a bit of a grumpy old man when it comes to Hollywood, I love the work but wish he would just chill out when it comes to other media. I remain catiously optimistic about this, despite the CGI overload in the trailer.
 
Thread resurrection: a couple days ago Fox and Warner Bros. settled a deal to allow the movie to be released on time. March 6.

At 155 min -- and 190 for the director's cut -- I imagine a heck of a lot will get in (and the Black Freighter will be released with it on DVD, starring Gerard Butler). That's comforting. Especially as Snyder's saying he just geeked out on getting as much in as he could. And I don't care what Moore says, Rorshach needed to be filmed from Day 1.
 
Ending is different, half of it is missing and the rape scene is 'extended'. Not filled with hope about this really. Maybe Moore has a point.
 
Watched this last night. I thought that it was as good a conversion to film as we are ever going to get. The ending being changed was OK by me as it was thematically the same and we still got Ozymandias telling them that he wouldn't tell them all about his masterplan if he thought they could affect it's outcome and that he'd set everything off earlier.:)
 
I've never read the book and only like comic books sporadically- that is, if I'm in a silly mood or it has some cool actor (Iron Man starring Robert Downy Jr) or is some sort of Batman, so I didn't really care much about Watchmen while everyone was making a big deal about it .

Then I read a review which basically claimed that while the Batman movies try to be "dark" but are only so in a very superficial way (a viewpoint I share), Watchmen actually succeeds in being genuinely dark, and is the first comic book movie to do so. This intrigued me, so I would like to see this, though I'll probably just end up seeing it on cable.
 
I saw it the other day in IMAX. I liked it. Visually stunning; very violent; and yes, very dark in spirit (Even Batman himself in The Dark Knight believed in Gotham, and the Joker's ferry experiment proved it). There is the feeling that they are trying to shoehorn a huge story into a 2 hour and 40 minute film - that "tip of the iceberg" feeling. I'm sure if you didn't read anything about it in advance, you might wonder why the US won the war in Vietnam and why Nixon (goofy makeup) is on his fifth term as President. I know real Watchman fans bitched about having no "squid" in the ending, but I don't know what that means.

Jackie Earl Haley is great as Rorshack, even with his mask off - and I couldn't stand that little dirtbag back when he was in films like The Bad News Bears and Breaking Away.
 
B5_Obsessed said:
What? Too long?
Click to expand...

Yes!

Seven Samurai, Godfather, Malcolm X- the only 3 movies longer than 2.5 hrs I can think of off the top of my head that are worth it. I'm sure there are a few more but it's rare that a movie needs to be so long. Especially a comic book movie. I'm trying to be entertained here, not develop ass-sores and bladder infections.
 
Well I loved it, a great tribute to the original book. Any shorter, and it would not have worked imh.. 2, 40 is not really that bad for a film, I've sat through longer, and was hooked throughout. The straight comic book cartoon adaption out on DVD is six hours long. Ouch.

Really liked:
The intro. Great use of Bob Dylan, who usually gets on my tits.
Rorsachez. Done perfectly.
Comedian. Ditto.
Narration. Carried across perfectly from the comic books.
Sets, perfect recreations of the book. Visually amazing.
Direction. Mostly excellent. The tracking stuff in the cemetery was great.
Nixon. He ruled, especially in the war room that was straight out of Strange-glove.
Ass. Lots of it, plenty for boys and girls. And CGI blues ass. Win all around.
Owlship. Very cool.
Dr Manhattans' CGI wanger. How much money was spent on that ?

Not so sure on:
Ending change. Worked, made sense, but why really?
Some of the acting. Slik Spectre II was poor, but made up for it with a nice ass. See above.
Extra violence. The Rorachez murder scene was changed from the books. Not sure why it was added. Did not add anything to the movie.

Basically, it was great, a visually arresting and provoking movie. My comic book hating fiancee also really enjoyed it. We had a 2 hour chat about it afterwards in the pub, Never happens with X-men films. Very recommended, and very worth seeing.

GKE, you need to bring extra cushions to the cinema. I have a tiny bladder and it survived. (just)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 57 (members: 1, guests: 56)

Share this page

Back
Top