Official Watchmen movie thread

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jalaram

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
12,920
2
81
Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
* WHY did the guy go back into that chamber? There seemed no real logical reason for it...

I mentioned why he did this in the comic earlier. His father was a watchmaker by trade and Jon wanted to follow in his footsteps. When the atom bomb was developed, Jon's father refused for him to be a watchmaker and told him he had to become a nuclear physicist, because that was the future and not watches. That time when they were out at the carnival getting their photo taken, Janie's watch strap broke, the watch fell onto the ground and a fat guy stepped on it. Jon fixed it for her after a couple weeks. When she inquired about it, he realized he left the watch in his lab coat, which was in the chamber. He went to go get it and the thing locked him in.

During that part of the comic, there's a lot of talk about causality and how the fat man stepping made him that way... how the watch made him that way, etc.

YA!! i was bummed out they left that part out. They completely took out Dr. Manhatton's point of view. He views everything in his life simultaneously, and i think they failed to show that in the movie.


I also didn't like how Roschach killed that child-murderer. In the comic, he had the guy handcuffed, gave him a saw, and lit the place on fire. In the movie, he just whacked his head.

Maybe people who hadn't read the book would think that they stole it from Saw. ;)

 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: ducci
I didn't read the book.

The movie was mediocre.

The soundtrack was terrible.

The sex scenes were terrible.

It just seemed like the movie didn't know what it wanted to be. It had some really gritty moments which were done great. Rorschach in particular was very interesting. His scene in the prison was probably the highlight of the movie - from the interview with the psychiatrist to his encounters with other inmates. Very well done.

But then it had very whimsical and fantasy scenes that weren't done well at all. Most of the scenes with Dr. Manhattan were done this way and it was completely uninteresting. To top it off, the soundtrack to the entire movie was ridiculous and felt completely out of place. It was like they just licensed some songs from that era and threw them in wherever.

And as I mentioned before - the sex scenes were awful - particularly the one between the Silk Spectre II and the Nite Owl II in the ship. Yes, she's naked! Great. Big deal. It was tacky and done in poor taste. It completely contrasted (and not in a good way) the rest of the movie. And to top it off, the ridiculous ending of the scene - with the fire shooting out of the ship - I would have loved to been in the storyboard meeting for that one where everyone agreed that would be a good idea. If that was detailed in the book, then it was either one of those things that works in print but doesn't translate well into film - or more likely, was just as absurd in both forms.

It felt long. It was long. But it was decently entertaining. I would like to have seen Frank Miller direct this. I think he has a better grasp of the comic film-noir genre.

Some of the soundtrack was straight out of the actual comic book. Dylan and Hendrix for instance. You are the second person with this argument, and sorry you are wrong.

Miller would have never touched this. It would be like asking Picasso to paint Rembrandt.

The fire shooting out at the end of the sex scene is straight out of the comic.

There were a lot of scenes straight out of the book.


Personally, I was expecting it to be good, maybe even pretty damn good. I knew it was going to be really close to the book and I knew it was going to have to cut and change somethings. I thought it was really going to bother me, but surprisingly only one or two things really stuck out and overall I thought it was great.

As a long time fanboy of every comic Alan Moore has written (V for Vendetta, Prometh, League of Extra, From Hell, Swamp Thing especially John Constantine, and Killing Joke [who Ledger's Joker was based on]) with watchmen being my favorite, I have to say that this is by far the closest we could expect to have of Watchmen released as a movie. NO other way about it. It will get that much better when they release it with extended scenes including the News Stand and the Black Freighter. It will be pretty sweet.

 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: dbk
Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure
Originally posted by: dbk
The camera work was terrible..constant zooming out and all the cgi slow mo stuff.

What the hell was the deal with Ozymadias' dog?
What about Rorschach's hood/mask. It was constantly changing, but how?

Yeah I don't know why they didn't explain those things. I can't recall ozy's animal thing (Just think science and weird experiments made it) but about the mask. When Rorschach was younger he worked at a womans garment shop and a famous lady ordered a dress with a new material Doc Manhattan made with liquids in it that would mix but not combine. The lady didnt like the dress so she just left it there, then later on she was murdered and it helped show Rorschach how bad the world was. He took the dress home and made a mask out of it

I really need to read the comic then watch this again...
Hopefully a director's cut...jeez

His Cat was a genetically modified lynx. Veidt had did a lot of work in Genetics which was was he was able to make the Lynx, which apparently Alex the Great had one named Bubastista as well, and the Giant Squid that destroyed New York at the end of the comic.

The famous lady is supposed to be Kitty Genovese, which is a famous story that people hear in Psychology classes. She was the women who was raped and murdered near her apartment in New York City and something like 40 people heard her screams and watched yet no one called the cops or tried to help her. It is a pretty famous story and in the comic it is what inspired Rorschach to fight crime.
 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
* WHY did the guy go back into that chamber? There seemed no real logical reason for it...

I mentioned why he did this in the comic earlier. His father was a watchmaker by trade and Jon wanted to follow in his footsteps. When the atom bomb was developed, Jon's father refused for him to be a watchmaker and told him he had to become a nuclear physicist, because that was the future and not watches. That time when they were out at the carnival getting their photo taken, Janie's watch strap broke, the watch fell onto the ground and a fat guy stepped on it. Jon fixed it for her after a couple weeks. When she inquired about it, he realized he left the watch in his lab coat, which was in the chamber. He went to go get it and the thing locked him in.

During that part of the comic, there's a lot of talk about causality and how the fat man stepping made him that way... how the watch made him that way, etc.

YA!! i was bummed out they left that part out. They completely took out Dr. Manhatton's point of view. He views everything in his life simultaneously, and i think they failed to show that in the movie.


I also didn't like how Roschach killed that child-murderer. In the comic, he had the guy handcuffed, gave him a saw, and lit the place on fire. In the movie, he just whacked his head.

That was a prefect example. Rorschach wouldn't have outright killed someone unless he absolutely had to. He would have beat someone to an inch of their life and left them to die. He would have lit their house on fire and let them burn. He wouldn't have just killed them. He wasn't sadistic or evil; he was a moral absolutist and a sociopath.

The only other thing that bother me (aside from the lack of squidyness) was the Silhouette kissing the girl in the opening credits. It was a huge secret and controversy in the book. There was a whole story line talking about them kicking her out and making a huge deal when the world finds out she is a lesbian. A few weeks later she is horrifically murdered by a old nemesis who is embarrassed that he had been thwarted by a lesbian. Sally Jupiter actually comments on how she always felt bad about doing ostracizing her.
 

Minjin

Platinum Member
Jan 18, 2003
2,208
1
81
I haven't read the comic, am not a comic fan, and I thought the movie was excellent. 9/10 from me.
 

Koing

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
Oct 11, 2000
16,843
2
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I haven't read the book and I really enjoyed tv movie :)

I have got to get the book now :)

Koing
 

jalaram

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
12,920
2
81
After all the anticipation and hubbub, the weekend is coming to an end and the box office results are here: "Watchmen" (No. 1) grossed $55.7 million during its first frame, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers.

That's a solid sum, to be sure, although it's certainly on the low end of most projections. "Watchmen" premiered in more theaters (3,611) than any other R-rated movie in history, and it averaged an impressive $15,413 per venue, despite a potentially problematic long running time.

It also scored the biggest debut of 2009 so far. Nonetheless, the movie's $55.7 million take (including $5.5 million from 124 IMAX screens) is substantially smaller than the $70.9 million that 300, the last R-rated graphic-novel movie from director Zack Snyder, earned on its opening weekend two years ago.

Text
 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: jalaram
After all the anticipation and hubbub, the weekend is coming to an end and the box office results are here: "Watchmen" (No. 1) grossed $55.7 million during its first frame, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers.

That's a solid sum, to be sure, although it's certainly on the low end of most projections. "Watchmen" premiered in more theaters (3,611) than any other R-rated movie in history, and it averaged an impressive $15,413 per venue, despite a potentially problematic long running time.

It also scored the biggest debut of 2009 so far. Nonetheless, the movie's $55.7 million take (including $5.5 million from 124 IMAX screens) is substantially smaller than the $70.9 million that 300, the last R-rated graphic-novel movie from director Zack Snyder, earned on its opening weekend two years ago.

Text

Not surprised really. Most people have no idea who or what the Watchmen are. The novel isn't Batman, it isn't the Hulk, it isn't a name that your average movie goer will know right off. I have always assumed that this will do much better as word of mouth spreads especially once the fanboys start getting their friends to see it with them on their second time.

I went opening night and then again this evening with some friends. Some other friends are talking about going later in the week and my brother wants to go next weekend. I really held off telling people until I was able to see it and actually tell if it lived up to my expectations. Since then I haven't shut up and now people I know are actually going to see it.

I also expect this will be a big dvd release especially if it is the director cut with the Black Freighter added. That will be HUGE. It will be like LOTR. The movie was amazing in theaters but mindblowing with the extended additions. I kind of wish theaters could go back and release extended editions. Many fans would love to have that big screen experience with the whole movie.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
29,391
2,738
126
sigh.. the cam version is unwatchable.
the idiot had a smudge in the middle of his camcorder! :disgust:

looks like i have to wait 2months b4 the dvd is released (to get a good copy that is)
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
Originally posted by: JEDI
sigh.. the cam version is unwatchable.
the idiot had a smudge in the middle of his camcorder! :disgust:

looks like i have to wait 2months b4 the dvd is released (to get a good copy that is)

yay piracy

:disgust:
 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: JEDI
sigh.. the cam version is unwatchable.
the idiot had a smudge in the middle of his camcorder! :disgust:

looks like i have to wait 2months b4 the dvd is released (to get a good copy that is)

it is no more than 10 dollars you cheap scumbag fuck.
 

LS21

Banned
Nov 27, 2007
3,745
1
0
any prediction for weekend gross of this movie? im glad its here to blow away tyler perrys movie (HOWTF did that get #1?)

dr manhattan had virtually limitless power.. why couldnt he just have destroyed all the russian weapons/russians in a snap of the finger?
 

lokiju

Lifer
May 29, 2003
18,526
5
0
I enjoyed it and read the book.

My wife thought it was just OK and she didn't read the book.

I had to explain a lot to her...
 

FlashG

Platinum Member
Dec 23, 1999
2,709
2
0
Just got back from seeing the movie with both of my sons. It was well done especially in IMAX. But everyone?s question was why wasn?t it "X" rated for violence? I haven't finished the novel yet but was surprised that the movie was actually more gruesome.
 

Nightfall

Golden Member
Nov 16, 1999
1,769
0
0
I also enjoyed it and I read the book back in the early 90s. It was one of the best graphic novels I read back then.

As for the movie, I think it was a solid 9/10. They did the book justice, but the movie could have been longer if they added more from the graphic novel. Still, it was very good. See it in the IMAX if you can.
 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: FlashG
Just got back from seeing the movie with both of my sons. It was well done especially in IMAX. But everyone?s question was why wasn?t it "X" rated for violence? I haven't finished the novel yet but was surprised that the movie was actually more gruesome.

I too thought it was a bit more gruesome (that bone splitting sound) than the novel but I also don't think this is really that bad. Think about movies like Saw and Hostel. They are SIGNIFICANTLY more gruesome.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,741
456
126
Originally posted by: FlashG
Just got back from seeing the movie with both of my sons. It was well done especially in IMAX. But everyone?s question was why wasn?t it "X" rated for violence? I haven't finished the novel yet but was surprised that the movie was actually more gruesome.

I'm almost positive that you can't get an X rating for violence, that's specifically a sexual rating.
 

Joemonkey

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2001
8,859
4
0
i thought it did the graphic novel a decent amount of justice. i went to see it with a friend of mine that had not read the novel and he thought it was awesome but asked how rorschach's mask came to be and such, and i told him to read the book :p
 

Sedition

Senior member
Dec 23, 2008
271
0
0
Originally posted by: Joemonkey
i thought it did the graphic novel a decent amount of justice. i went to see it with a friend of mine that had not read the novel and he thought it was awesome but asked how rorschach's mask came to be and such, and i told him to read the book :p

Yeah that had to be one of the last things cut in the final purge to make it under 2hours 45 mins. because that is just so damn important to explain. Everyone I know who didn't read the book asked the same question.
 

Shortcut

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2003
1,107
0
0
Just saw it today. I'm glad I read the book before watching the movie, since the story would be fairly inaccessible otherwise.

That said, I liked that the movie was very faithful to the book. Janey Slater was fuckng hot! The writers showed good judgment with the scenes they left out in order to condense the story into 2.5 hrs.

The more I think about it, Watchmen would be a terrific candidate as a mini-series...that way they'd have time to spend on some of the really powerful stuff (e.g. the psychologist gradually transforming from a happy go-lucky guy to a completely disillusioned, dejected soul)

And Janey Slater was fucking hot!
 

Ballatician

Golden Member
Dec 6, 2007
1,985
0
0
I'm gonna write my thoughts here before reading the rest of the thread. These are my comments and some questions sprinkled in. I'm sure some have been answered which I will see when I read the thread.

I had never even heard of The Watchmen until threads started popping up here and there about the movie coming up. It seemed interesting enough to see so I went to see it tonight.

Overall, I'm glad that I saw it and was engaged the whole time (I don't think I should have seen it in IMAX though, didn't seem worth the extra $). It was odd at times but from hearing other peoples reaction, I'm glad they stuck closely to the book. I don't think it is the type of movie that a lot of people will like and it isn't going to be on my top 10 list or anything but it was very interesting to see Moore's perspective on life (assuming the movie is a good representation of his perspective) and was a good story.

I remembered reading that the author of the comic/graphic novel was very conservative and I think some of his ideology shone through in the film. I am already forgetting some of the things I wanted to bring up but Dr. Manhattan's whole spiel about how perfect it is that two people can produce a child, how it is a miracle, etc immediately made me think about the abortion debate especially in cases concerning rape. How the heck could Silk Spectre go and sleep with the Comedian after he tried to rape her anyway?
Also, the whole creating a disaster for the sins of humanity was maybe a Biblical reference?

Both SS's were hot as hell. Too much blue dong as said before. How did Dr. Manhattan draw that symbol on his head? Was it the hydrogen atom or something?

I wonder how he came up with this. I mean, we know now that there was no nuclear war with the USSR and that happened without millions of people dieing. The more I think about this movie, the deeper I realize it is. Good movie overall and definitely not a superhero film, not that there's anything wrong with that.

My seat kind of sucked but I don't think I'll watch it again until it comes out on DVD.

7/10
 

Ballatician

Golden Member
Dec 6, 2007
1,985
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Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Originally posted by: Queasy
I actually wonder how many unknowing parents are going to be taking their little tykes to see this thinking they are going to see a fun/typical superhero movie...

How many fun/typical superhero movies are R-rated?

There were way too many kids in the showing I went to, I mean like below 10 year olds.
 

9mak9

Senior member
Dec 3, 2007
494
0
76
I saw it last night, never read the books or really heard much about the story before. I was a big comic book reader and I love superhero movies but I just didnt get this one really.

I felt like they could have cut an hour in between and told the entire story the same...the first 2 hours or so you never knew what the plot was or where they were going with anything told. When the ending sequence happened, things fell into place more but it felt like the didn't explain things well enough. I feel they tried to create emotional connections with the characters because they focused on each of them at certain points but it felt thrown together and didn't have a very good flow.

One thing if someone could explain to me is, did they have superpowers? The guy that was talking about his book said they were cops who decided to dress up in costumes and take law into their own hands. It seemed to me that they were a little more than that.
 

Joemonkey

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2001
8,859
4
0
Originally posted by: Sedition
Originally posted by: Joemonkey
i thought it did the graphic novel a decent amount of justice. i went to see it with a friend of mine that had not read the novel and he thought it was awesome but asked how rorschach's mask came to be and such, and i told him to read the book :p

Yeah that had to be one of the last things cut in the final purge to make it under 2hours 45 mins. because that is just so damn important to explain. Everyone I know who didn't read the book asked the same question.

also bothers me how they left out the killing of the original nite owl

9mak9, no one had any superpowers except for dr. manhattan