WATCHMEN - TOMORROW - JIZZ PANTS
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Zenimus
Zantetsu's Blade Sharpener
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Unpopular opinion?
I'm not at all familiar with the original book, and I don't know very many people who are. A glowing blue man? A lady dressed like a bumblebee? Some guy with a paper bag over his head?
Will it be a good movie? I don't know, but the trailers they've been showing look really stupid and cliche. If the movie does well, it will be because of good word-of-mouth feedback, not its marketing department.
I'm not at all familiar with the original book, and I don't know very many people who are. A glowing blue man? A lady dressed like a bumblebee? Some guy with a paper bag over his head?
Will it be a good movie? I don't know, but the trailers they've been showing look really stupid and cliche. If the movie does well, it will be because of good word-of-mouth feedback, not its marketing department.
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The characters are all analogs of characters created in the 1960s at a company called Charlton. In the mid-1980s, DC Comics bought the rights to the characters and hired famous comic writer Alan Moore (V For Vendetta, From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Batman: Killing Joke, etc.) to write a new series introducing these characters to DC readers.
But when DC saw the story Moore was writing, they realized that most of the characters were going to be either dead or completely unusable by the end of the series, making having bought them kind of a waste of money. So they had Moore change the names, "creating" characters that did not exist before and have not appeared since the original Watchmen comic in 1986-1987.
I don't know if you read comics at all, but the characters in Watchmen are more recognizable in the alternate versions DC uses: The Question, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, etc. Outside of comics, The Question and Captain Atom both appeared extensively on the Cartoon Network 'Justice League Unlimited' cartoon. Of course, it's very possible you neither read comics nor watch cartoons, in which case, never mind.
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Caught an advanced screening this past Tuesday. It's nice to have a roommate who religiously buys comics and can snap up passes from the shop before they disappear.
Basically, if you've read the book, you've seen the movie. As for the ending, don't worry about it. It's not bad at all. That's all I'll say, until most folks here have seen it. And the opening credits sequence is long, but fucking so bad-ass. We all had a lot of fun seeing it and it's definitely a repeat viewing in theatres for me. I'll wait until it calms down a bit, though, before I see it in IMAX. The only time I saw something in IMAX where it wasn't crowded was Speed Racer. XD
Basically, if you've read the book, you've seen the movie. As for the ending, don't worry about it. It's not bad at all. That's all I'll say, until most folks here have seen it. And the opening credits sequence is long, but fucking so bad-ass. We all had a lot of fun seeing it and it's definitely a repeat viewing in theatres for me. I'll wait until it calms down a bit, though, before I see it in IMAX. The only time I saw something in IMAX where it wasn't crowded was Speed Racer. XD
payment_due
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Zenimus
Zantetsu's Blade Sharpener
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I never really grew up with comics, so outside of familiarity from TV and movies, I'm just a regular blue-collar slob in that area. If I'd never played Marvel vs. Capcom 2, there's no way I would know who Cable or Omega Red are.
So, I appreciate the history lesson, even though question marks were swirling in my head as I read it.
Commercials are acting like Watchmen is some hugely famous series... but is it really? Outside of two of my comic-nut co-workers, I haven't heard anybody talking about it.
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Yeah, it was....no good.
I just got back from the midnight show.
This is one of the best book to film adaptations ever made. The character development is all there and adapted to film gracefully.
This movie is insanely violent. The gore is at times mind boggling, but never felt excessive or uncomfortable i.e. saw and other gore porn movies.
The movie is sexed up. The sex scenes are really instense and much more revealing than any hollywood blockbuster I can think of.
The soundtrack. is. perfect.
The intro might freak diehards out as it seems to give a lot away. But the story is brilliantly executed. Rorschach's narration (complete with butchered grammar) is spot on - and there is no weak link in the acting or any of their voices.
I can honestly say that I have not enjoyed watching a movie this much since the first time I saw Akira, aged 10 or so on Sci-Fi Saturday Anime.
I'm going to see it again in theaters which is something I almost never do. I could go on and on and on talking about the subtleties that this movie got right but I must sleep. It really is a masterpiece though.
This is one of the best book to film adaptations ever made. The character development is all there and adapted to film gracefully.
This movie is insanely violent. The gore is at times mind boggling, but never felt excessive or uncomfortable i.e. saw and other gore porn movies.
The movie is sexed up. The sex scenes are really instense and much more revealing than any hollywood blockbuster I can think of.
The soundtrack. is. perfect.
The intro might freak diehards out as it seems to give a lot away. But the story is brilliantly executed. Rorschach's narration (complete with butchered grammar) is spot on - and there is no weak link in the acting or any of their voices.
I can honestly say that I have not enjoyed watching a movie this much since the first time I saw Akira, aged 10 or so on Sci-Fi Saturday Anime.
I'm going to see it again in theaters which is something I almost never do. I could go on and on and on talking about the subtleties that this movie got right but I must sleep. It really is a masterpiece though.
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just saw it.
I was sold at the intro.
I loved that.
and after that it was basically the comic.
very well done. I think it pays homage to the original work very well.
changes that were made were minor and didn't take away from the story.
I reccommend it definitely. I think it'll be highly acclaimed, but will fall flat
with the mainstream. the original comic is anticlimatic at the end and so is the movie.
I wouldn't expect it to be anything else, but it's not the feel good movie of the summer
just like it's not the feel good comic of the 80s.
It's a human story with super heros and vigilantes,
and a pretty compelling story for grown ups.
grown ups that are willing to be exposed to about 20 minutes of blue glowing male genitalia.
I was sold at the intro.
I loved that.
and after that it was basically the comic.
very well done. I think it pays homage to the original work very well.
changes that were made were minor and didn't take away from the story.
I reccommend it definitely. I think it'll be highly acclaimed, but will fall flat
with the mainstream. the original comic is anticlimatic at the end and so is the movie.
I wouldn't expect it to be anything else, but it's not the feel good movie of the summer
just like it's not the feel good comic of the 80s.
It's a human story with super heros and vigilantes,
and a pretty compelling story for grown ups.
grown ups that are willing to be exposed to about 20 minutes of blue glowing male genitalia.
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Glad to hear the film is good.
I just had a sinking feeling that Watchmen the film was going to completely bomb, glad to hear it met/exceeded expectations as a comic to film translation.
I won't lie - i'm a douche, and haven't actually read Watchmen yet. I'll probably check out the film and then check out the book.
I just had a sinking feeling that Watchmen the film was going to completely bomb, glad to hear it met/exceeded expectations as a comic to film translation.
I won't lie - i'm a douche, and haven't actually read Watchmen yet. I'll probably check out the film and then check out the book.
DeadPixels
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My friends and I caught the midnight showing this morning and I'm sorry to say the I wasn't quite as impressed as some of the other members who saw the movie. While I agree the movie looked fantastic, with tons of atmosphere and some great, brutal scenes, as a fan of the comic there were a few decisions that left me scratching my head.
My main gripe is that Rorschach's monologues, some of the most powerful and important parts of the comic, were almost entirely omitted with the exception of the opening scene. These writings really did a lot to explain Rorschach as a character and to really show the reader how he views the world around him. Also, his descriptions of the comedian really helped paint a picture of just how bat-shit crazy the world had become. Sadly, leaving these things out, as well as pretty much any semblance of his childhood except for a ten second flashback of his mother whoring herself out, really made his back story seem a bit disjointed and shallow. Without any of that information it's hard to understand how he himself became a vigilante.
That said, with such little focus on Rorschach as a character, combined with the complete omission of the Frontiersman until the end of the film, it's hard to appreciate his journal ending up in the crank bin.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the movie, but I really feel we could have done with maybe two or three less scenes focusing on Night Owl's bare ass, and maybe replaced them with a mention of the Keene Act, or perhaps actually showing what happened to Hollis. These are two very important parts of the story that are for all intents and purposes completely absent. Also, the banter between the news vendor and the kid reading The Black Freighter did a great job of reflecting the attitude of two completely opposite everyday people caught up in the hysteria of a world gone crazy two ticks from nuclear Armageddon. Saving them for a quick, wordless cameo did a great deal to marginalize the human element of the story, saving all of that for Nixon and Ozymandias, who frankly, don't express those emotions quite as well.
That's my take on the film anyway. I sincerely feel that anyone who goes into that theater without first having read the graphic novel will be thoroughly confused and disappointed at this disjointed and unevenly-paced big screen adaptation. However, if you've read the book already and know enough to fill in the gaps, then I suppose the movie serves its purpose.
My main gripe is that Rorschach's monologues, some of the most powerful and important parts of the comic, were almost entirely omitted with the exception of the opening scene. These writings really did a lot to explain Rorschach as a character and to really show the reader how he views the world around him. Also, his descriptions of the comedian really helped paint a picture of just how bat-shit crazy the world had become. Sadly, leaving these things out, as well as pretty much any semblance of his childhood except for a ten second flashback of his mother whoring herself out, really made his back story seem a bit disjointed and shallow. Without any of that information it's hard to understand how he himself became a vigilante.
That said, with such little focus on Rorschach as a character, combined with the complete omission of the Frontiersman until the end of the film, it's hard to appreciate his journal ending up in the crank bin.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the movie, but I really feel we could have done with maybe two or three less scenes focusing on Night Owl's bare ass, and maybe replaced them with a mention of the Keene Act, or perhaps actually showing what happened to Hollis. These are two very important parts of the story that are for all intents and purposes completely absent. Also, the banter between the news vendor and the kid reading The Black Freighter did a great job of reflecting the attitude of two completely opposite everyday people caught up in the hysteria of a world gone crazy two ticks from nuclear Armageddon. Saving them for a quick, wordless cameo did a great deal to marginalize the human element of the story, saving all of that for Nixon and Ozymandias, who frankly, don't express those emotions quite as well.
That's my take on the film anyway. I sincerely feel that anyone who goes into that theater without first having read the graphic novel will be thoroughly confused and disappointed at this disjointed and unevenly-paced big screen adaptation. However, if you've read the book already and know enough to fill in the gaps, then I suppose the movie serves its purpose.
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I don't know why people keep saying this. You could probably say the same thing about a lot of books. How many movies are based on books that no one you know has read? probably a bunch.
Then add the fact that Watchmen is a comic book, and it becomes even more likely that no one you know has read it. So why do people keep mentioning it like it means something?
Lashujin
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subcons
I take no official position on the issue.,
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I'd imagine it's because we're all nerds and have read comic books at some point. I hadn't even heard of this comic before the movie.
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O_O
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Supposedly the director's cut will have A LOT of things that were left out of this.
I heard Dr. Manhattan's childhood wasn't even mentioned.
DeadPixels
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The only thing that was shown from Dr. Manhattans childhood was an extremely brief clip of his father telling him to put a watch back together by assembling the pieces in the proper order. So out of the whole back story as to why he became a scientist, just one solitary panel from the comic is shown.
I think it's a ridiculous that we have to wait for a directors cut to see this kind of stuff. Honestly, is the theatrical release just a glorified trailer for the complete film? It's understandable that while working with a limited time frame some things wouldn't make it off the cutting room floor, but for the director to choose so many trivial things to make it into the film, it's a joke that vital plot elements were left completely out.
Three hours.
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OK, new (weird?) question- anyone seen any of the "motion comic" that came out this week on DVD and BD?
I am quite tempted to pick that sucker up, but I'm kind of curious- is it, as I suspect it will be, 6 hours of dudes voice acting all of the lines from the book while the pages are turned digitally with some minimal "movement" added?
Sounds gimmicky, obviously, but kind of oddly cool. Only thing that might get to me is how damn long it is- I can read that shit on my own at my own speed, but 6 hours? Damn. Mindset that I'm watching a movie of some sort might work, I guess.
I am quite tempted to pick that sucker up, but I'm kind of curious- is it, as I suspect it will be, 6 hours of dudes voice acting all of the lines from the book while the pages are turned digitally with some minimal "movement" added?
Sounds gimmicky, obviously, but kind of oddly cool. Only thing that might get to me is how damn long it is- I can read that shit on my own at my own speed, but 6 hours? Damn. Mindset that I'm watching a movie of some sort might work, I guess.
There's some trailers online and on xbox live that should give you some idea of the amount of movement added. Unless they cherry picked only the scenes they added movement too, it seemed every panel was animated to some degree.
Supposedly, these episodes are available on itunes individually, so you can buy one individually to check it out.
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wow.
that's awesome.
I've only read through the comics once.
I kinda missed the part where Rorschach gets his mask.
I wished r's story was as fleshed out as much as the comic.
but I don't think it detracted from the story.
the whole bit about doc manhattan working with watches more
may have fleshed out some things like why he had a desire to make
a huge glass mechanical clock, but oh well.
me and my friends nitpicked what wasn't in the movie after the movie
but we all came to the conclusion they did a great job with the movie.
I figure there may be unused stuff in the dvd release.
they may have omitted stuff to cut down on the time. it was 2 hours and 40 minutes.