Watchmen film discussion (Spoilers!)

How would you rate Watchmen?

  • Total voters
    43
Planet-man said:
I'm really interested in that, but the between-chapter excerpts are so good I'd probably just read them in between every part anyway. Are there different people doing voices, or is it all one guy like a book-on-tape?
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It's one guy, and yes, it's extremely well done.

I watched the last two chapters of it last night (it's out on Blu-Ray and DVD now) and one complaint I have is one that I had with the movie - they altered one of my favorite lines in comic history..."Dan, I'm not a republic serial villain..." But other than that it is fantastic, and better than the movie.
 
E said:
It's one guy, and yes, it's extremely well done.

I watched the last two chapters of it last night (it's out on Blu-Ray and DVD now) and one complaint I have is one that I had with the movie - they altered one of my favorite lines in comic history..."Dan, I'm not a republic serial villain..." But other than that it is fantastic, and better than the movie.
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Indeed. I fully endorse this product and statement.

Granted, its one guy doing the "book on tape" thing......but other than the female parts (which you honestly don't even notice halfway thru the second chapter) its superb.

Each chapter is like 20 minutes long (give or take several minutes).
 
Victor Von Doom said:
Indeed. I fully endorse this product and statement.

Granted, its one guy doing the "book on tape" thing......but other than the female parts (which you honestly don't even notice halfway thru the second chapter) its superb.

Each chapter is like 20 minutes long (give or take several minutes).
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I can't understand why they treat it as a book on tape, but Doom is right - the voices are all very well done and I would bet that a good number of people wouldn't even be able to tell it's one guy except for when he tries to do the women's voices. That is distracting, but it's not like it ruins anything.
 
Victor Von Doom said:
"I DID IT!"
-- Ozymandias


"I DID IT!........Kinda."
-- Zack Snyder
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HA! More than kinda but I loved how you opened with this.

And it's true. Other than giving us fanboys a 12-episode miniseries on HBO, with verbatim script, plot, and details…this is the best onscreen Watchmen we're ever gonna see in our lifetime. For good or for bad.

Zack Snyder DID deliver to us Watchmen…but it was not Alan Moore's Watchmen. Instead, it was Zack Snyder's "homage", if you will, to Alan Moore's Watchmen. Yes he changed the opening. Yes he changed the ending. Yes he changed some things in the middle. But you know what…with the exception of a few minor quibbles I had, I loved it.

At times it felt like I was watching Watchmen come to life, and at times I felt like I was watching Zack Snyder do a repeat of 300 and The Matrix. I mean for anyone to say they hated the opening credits, is just plain stupid. I mean that. Whether you liked the film or hated it, I know blatant name-calling and whatnot is prohibited here…but if you can stand here and say you didn't like the opening credits, well then….**** you retard! Yeah, I said it. And I meant it.

On one hand you have the beautiful creation of Dr. Manhattan reassembling himself for the first time after the accident…….and on the other hand you have Silk Spectre kicking a thug clear across an alley just by kicking him in the calf. Sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad.

Everyone here has valid points and opinions, but one I'd like to specifically call out is MWOF's statement that Alan Moore should bow down and kiss Snyder's feet.

People-----MWOF has a point. Seriously.
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I want to buy you a beer.....A Guinness---right now.


The Bad
A lot of the fighting. Other than a few parts in the film like the Prison Riot and a Rorschach's capture, the fighting seemed to be completely unnecessary and too over the top. None of these people had superpowers…so why do they all hit like The Hulk? I can see The Comedian (one of the world's best killing machines) punching thru a drywall-based wall once or twice. I've done it myself. But breaking concrete mantles? Ozymandias gorilla-pressing Comedian up over his head and over the couch and thru the window? Come on Snyder. Really. This isn't an action film. There's a reason there was practically no fighting in the book.[/QUOTE]Come on!!! It wasn't like the buildings shook... They were above ordinary human's with peak strength. We're talking about a world of "comic book heroes" they're overly tough without being able to blow things up with their minds. You know? And the added fights like Rorschach not just getting caught was to make the movie more adaptable to the G.A. I thought it made it better...

Silk Specter. Meh. She wasn't horrible. But she wasn't good either
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. She was a dumb broad. Which is basically what her character was... and she was smokin'.

A lot of small but important details in each character. Snyder seemed to gloss over certain key points. I understand the time constraints might not allow for repeated psych sessions with Rorschach in prison…but you shouldn't have changed Rorschach's origin. He did not cleave the killer quickly and repeatedly. He gave him what he deserved. He watched the killer and his Kovac's persona burn away in the fire. THAT is when he became Rorschach. Snyder also downplayed the fact that Ozy was the "perfect human" to the point where he could catch a bullet. Instead we got that slo-mo scene of him dodging bullets in the lobby…and then that brief shot at the end with Silk Specter. That was a key moment for the character as far as proving to the others that he IS far superior to them.
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The biggest disappointment in the movie for me. They cut the two best dialogues in the movie for me *And anyone who is facebook friend's with me can attest* Rorschach and The Thermodynamic Miracles speeches...



The Ugly
Matthew Goode's portrayal of Ozymandias. Just poor all around. I can buy Goode as Mothman maybe…but not Ozy.
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Comparing him with Mothman makes me think differently than I originally thought but, I've stated that I think he played the toughest role here so I need to disagree. Definitely the worst of all of them though.

The soundtrack. It just didn't fit with the film. I know it's kind of a period piece so certain songs and sounds will help immerse the viewer into the time. But that wasn't the case here. I mean Jimi Hendrix on the way to Karnak? No. They should've just kept the score instead. If they were gonna have a soundtrack, then it should've been instrumentals to ominous sounding songs much like the previews. Sorry Snyder….fail.
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No. I'm sorry I'm fed with people saying the score sucked. The people I know who saw it and didn't like it even liked the soundtrack. I was impressed with everything I heard. It was different and a breath to hear actual music and not just instrumentals. I mean you read those final lines at the end of every chapter in the comic and you wonder how that would attach to these scenes... well, there it is and personally I loved it.

The gratuitous sex scenes. Not needed. We already knew that Watchmen was rated R for giant blue penis. We knew that Nite Owl and Silk Specter get busy in Archie….but we didn't need to see it. It was wasted screen time that could've been used for something else important that got cut.
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Blue penis was a given. You knew it was gonna happen. You were either gonna just censor it or let it hang. It was there, it was natural. As for the sex scene in archie... It was definitely the most awkward moment in the theater for everyone in there... but it was pivotal for Nite-Owl's story. It was his comeback and triumph. It probably could've been better but I thought about it with care and I don't think it was completely unnecessary. Could've been shorter though.
 
OzymandiasActionFigurecopy.jpg


This is only me photoshopping, but seriously.... why could that not have been the costume?:(

Even if it were just one of the "variant" action figures, I'd buy it.
 
Victor Von Doom said:
On a sidenote, for all of you have not seen the motion comic----YOU NEED TO!!! It is Watchmen...animated...verbatim. The only thing missing is the between chapter excerpts. But it still has the Black Freighter and all that. I love it so much.
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I bought that the other day; still haven't gotten a chance to watch it. I thought it was a little expensive though....$24. It's on OnDemand for free though.



Planet-man said:
OzymandiasActionFigurecopy.jpg


This is only me photoshopping, but seriously.... why could that not have been the costume?:(

Even if it were just one of the "variant" action figures, I'd buy it.
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What all did you change on the costume?


And the thing about the blue penis(es). They were a bit distracting. In the book, Dave Gibbons drew Doc Manhattan with "understated" genitals (like a classical sculpture) so the reader would not initially notice the nudity. After seeing the movie, almost all of the people I've heard from have talked about the either blue dong or Ozymandias' lynx.
 
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Langsta said:
What all did you change on the costume?
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The turquoise parts purple and the burgundy parts gold. Here's the original. - http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/Watchmen_OzymandiasAF.jpg

And the thing about the blue penis(es). They were a bit distracting. In the book, Dave Gibbons drew Doc Manhattan with "understated" genitals (like a classical sculpture) so the reader would not initially notice the nudity. After seeing the movie, almost all of the people I've heard from have talked about the either blue dong or Ozymandias' lynx.
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I don't think they were that overstated in the movie. I think it has more to do with it just being a live-action actor and not a cartoon.
 
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Langsta said:
What all did you change on the costume?
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I think he just made the suit purple instead of black.


Langsta said:
And the thing about the blue penis(es). They were a bit distracting. In the book, Dave Gibbons drew Doc Manhattan with "understated" genitals (like a classical sculpture) so the reader would not initially notice the nudity. After seeing the movie, almost all of the people I've heard from have talked about the either blue dong or Ozymandias' lynx.
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Yeah, I think they probably should have done without the penis altogether. Give him the whole "Ken" thing.
 
I really don't get the complaints about The Manhattan Dong.

I barely noticed it. Was everyone else just staring at it for the like, ten total seconds it was on screen?
 
I heard the director's cut will feature 17 minutes of never before seen Dr. Manhattan dong.
 
moonmaster said:
I really don't get the complaints about The Manhattan Dong.

I barely noticed it. Was everyone else just staring at it for the like, ten total seconds it was on screen?
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I really didn't notice it but I know a lot of the people in my theater did. For a general audience I think it was a bit distracting. I mean they're like children.
 
I realize I am in the minority here, but I thought the actress playing Silk Specter was very good. I think she had terrific chemistry with Nite Owl (sorry, just not up on all the actors' names!), and for me, she totally "sold" the idea that she sensed how important the "superhero" thing was for him. She is really taking a beating in many circles, and I just can't see it. But hey, to each his or her own!

I saw the movie last Friday, and it STILL continues to come to mind often. I am looking forward to seeing it again... it really surprised me. The only part I have SOME misgivings about is the altered ending. I realize that has been discussed in HUGE depth here and elsewhere, and it wasn't a showstopper for me. While I don't find the "framing Manhattan" plan to be as convincing as a world rallying point as the threat of an interdimensional/outer space race or monster, I think I would have been much happier, even with that change, if Manhattan had delivered the "nothing ends" line to Veidt, and if Veidt had reacted as he did in the comic book series.

AND...I continue to wonder why, in a movie that certainly wasn't shy about showing how ugly violence is, the aftermath of the attack on NYC was so "clean". It certainly wasn't in the comic book, and I think that really forced the reader to contemplate, in a very real way, exactly what Veidt's plan "cost". In the movie, I found the NYC scene strangely antiseptic and unreal. It was just too clean, too neat...yes, lots of rubble, etc, but it just didn't have the "oomph" of the book. I really wonder if they consciously wanted to avoid any 9/11-like imagery.

But overall, I was genuinely "WOW"-ed. I found the movie to be surprisingly powerful, surprisingly thought-provoking (and I mention the surprise factor mainly because I have read WATCHMEN many times, so I had no expectation of BEING surprised by what I saw on screen).

And yeah, Rorschach just ruled...

Shadow
 
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