For the first half of the movie, i was so pissed off at the music choices. But having "All Along the Watchtower" in there made me really happy because of the title of Chapter 10. Having that song stand alone would have been really strange, so i guess they felt they had to ease audiences into it.

3/6/2009 3:25:57 AM

IMO:

Best parts - Opening credits, Comedian flashbacks during the funeral, jailbreak, conversation on Mars
Worst parts - leaving out the extra characters that gather around the newsstand (except for seeing them explode), leaving out Hollis' murder, and I didn't care much for the sex scene inside Owl's ship (I liked the one in 300 but I don't feel like this one was done well)

^I liked the music choices except for Hallelujah during the sex scene. I especially loved the placement of "The Times they are a Changing" during the opening credits.

[Edited on March 6, 2009 at 3:29 AM. Reason : -]

3/6/2009 3:27:15 AM

ok, "times they are a changing" worked for a few reasons. it was a montage sequence showing the history of the minutemen and how crimefighters were changing into the watchmen. it also gave a shoutout to Dylan who originally wrote "All Along the Watchtower" and kind of gives him credit whereas the graphic novel gives him credit in chapter 10. But really, "Hallelujah"? that was awful. everyone in our theater was laughing. and i like a lot of the songs from the movie like "sound of silence" and even found my foot tapping to "99 red balloons" but they just didnt fit with the movie. it became so distracting. and when they played "flight of the valkyrie" (an obvious allusion to Apocalypse Now) during the vietnam scene, i just shook my head. all that being said, it was an excellently made interpretation of the literature and besides some shitty music choices, it was well made.

*^wait, i dont know if you changed your post or i read it wrong, but im glad you agreed on the sex scene.

[Edited on March 6, 2009 at 3:43 AM. Reason : ?]

3/6/2009 3:41:54 AM

I've talked to about 30 people who have seen this and the verdict is

about half thought it was awesome.
quarter thought it was ok, decent
quarter thought "just read the book instead"

Personally, I liked it. And I thought it moved pretty fast. Being practically the same length as The Dark Knight I didn't think this movie felt as long.

3/6/2009 3:46:30 AM

Lots of blue penises.

3/6/2009 5:37:23 AM

http://www.twondemand.com/videos/?CLU=107&CLUName=Raleigh%20Durham%20/%20Fayetteville&videoId=0b36d10bd349166117665d0170a5186b89dcb6c5

the motion comics are all on twc on-demand now

3/6/2009 10:31:59 AM

I really enjoyed it, obviously the book is better, but I thought they did a good job. The sex scene was a bit much, but hey, this movie was going for graphic, haha.
Some of the music choices were a bit odd, but none really just bothered me.

Overall a really good movie, the R rating will probably hurt it in the box office, but I'll get it on DVD.

3/6/2009 11:58:28 AM

Quote :

"ok, "times they are a changing" worked for a few reasons"

wasn't this song mentioned in the novel as well? its been a while so i can't remember, but i felt like this and sound of silence were both in there.

3/6/2009 1:56:16 PM

The musical choices were indeed strange in places. The opening credits, however, were money.

I was laughing quite hard when I saw S.Q.U.I.D. during the launch sequence.

3/6/2009 2:35:23 PM

I kept hearing all these rumors about the end being different from the novel...but it seemed the same to me except for a few choice lines of dialogue.

3/6/2009 4:28:41 PM

Was anyone else waiting for Moloch to say, "Szalinski!"

3/6/2009 7:25:42 PM

^I thought he was familiar.

Just got back from it. The sex scenes were a bit tacky, but I liked how they (mostly) stayed true to the novel (it's very rare for movies to stick to the source material). I thought the revised ending was handled very well, and I'm glad the producers didn't chicken out and go for some hollywood happy-ending bullshit. In fact, I'm really pleased that they kept the movie at an R rating, instead of giving in to pandering to as many people as possible.

It was a bit long, but there's a ton of shit in the novel, so it's to be expected. All in all they did a good job of trimming the extraneous stuff out (though I was a little disappointed that they didn't show Hollis's death). I don't expect very many people to have the patience to sit through this entire movie, and admittedly I might have gotten bored with it about two hours into it had I not read the novel beforehand. On the other hand, there was tons of awesome gore effects to keep even the lowest common denominator entertained.

The only minor thing that irked me was how Rorshach simply butchered that child murderer to death. I liked the graphic novel's version better, where he leaves the butcher knife for the guy to cut his own hand off to escape the handcuffs while the building is on fire. I just thought that was very Rorshach-esque. But like I said, this is a minor thing, and doesn't do anything to actually break the movie.

I might have some more to say, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. All in all, I give it a 9/10.

[Edited on March 6, 2009 at 11:11 PM. Reason : blah]

3/6/2009 11:11:08 PM

I just saw it.


**Spoiler**

I never liked the alien stuff in the novel, but I'm not sure I like how they pinned the blame on Dr. Manhattan, either. In the former, the alien itself was too out-there for the tone of the story. In the latter, it seems unlikely that an American nuking the world would unite the world.

3/6/2009 11:18:00 PM

Did they ever claim it to be an "alien?" I thought it was a genetic creation like Viedt's pet. I do feel like changing that to an actual bomb took away from the original story, because now you don't have the disappearance of the artist guy and the other celebrities on the island. That part of the story had a lot of symbolism to it that would have made the movie a lot deeper.

I feel like they cut out some of the wrong parts. I would rather do away with the sex scene and put Hollis' murder back in.

3/6/2009 11:53:50 PM

saw it earlier tonight, REALLY good. I loved the first 1:45, the last hour wasnt that good, LOTS of holes... opening montage was badass

3/7/2009 12:59:36 AM

Quote :

"it seems unlikely that an American nuking the world would unite the world."

To be completely fair, a couple of American cities were destroyed as well. America would have been pretty swift to disown Dr. Manhattan, and fall in line with the rest of the world to unite against him. But I think I see what you're saying.

Quote :

"I do feel like changing that to an actual bomb took away from the original story, because now you don't have the disappearance of the artist guy and the other celebrities on the island. That part of the story had a lot of symbolism to it that would have made the movie a lot deeper."

I remember that part from the novel, but the symbolism flew past me. What was the symbolic significance of that part?

Quote :

"I feel like they cut out some of the wrong parts. I would rather do away with the sex scene and put Hollis' murder back in."

I think I could get behind this opinion.

My only other complaint about the movie was that there was a bit too much p33n and male ass. But I think that was also symbolic of Manhattan's further withdrawal from human affairs; he became so disinterested in humans that he started ignoring every human construct, including clothing.

Quote :

"the last hour wasnt that good, LOTS of holes"

What plot holes did you notice?

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 1:14 AM. Reason : blah]

3/7/2009 1:12:29 AM

just got back... long, but good. very faithful to the source. didn't mind the little variations (especially the ending)


i did enjoy seeing rorschach being a bad ass.

3/7/2009 1:12:31 AM

^^ they claimed he coudlnt get to all the missiles at once, but he could just make an infinite amount of himself to stop them all, or just destroy all of them at once and not even worry about it

if he knew everything he would have sensed them building the device that kept him from sensing the future before it was operational

he would have realized his "energy project" was really a weapon

the last shots show the city being rebuilt so you assume its years later, or at least months later, and the mail hadnt even been checked at all? everything was still in that basket years/months later?

no one notice these pyramids being built in Antarctica? Manhatten wasnt like "hmmm whats up?"

and the password was just corny



dont get me wrong, it was still BY FAR the best comic book movie I have ever seen, but just kind of fell apart a bit in the last hour. Before that it was a drama that just happened to be about super heros, after that, it was a comic book movie

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 1:30 AM. Reason : d]

3/7/2009 1:22:34 AM

really my only complaints deal with the music and how much it seemed to be emphasized. some of it was awesome (times they are a changin) others (owl ship!) left me thinking wtf. either way i really enjoyed the movie and am really interested to see if they release an extended cut that integrates the black freighter storyline.

3/7/2009 1:32:48 AM

I loved the music, loved that they let the whole songs play for the most part

3/7/2009 1:37:56 AM

^^^Part of that is explained by Dr. Manhattan's vision of the future being obscured by Veidt's technobabble.

The other part of it is that Dr. Manhattan's perception of time reinforces his notion of determinism. For example, he had the power to stop Comedian from murdering that pregnant woman, but he failed to do anything. He possesses god-like powers and could basically reshape the world in his own image, yet he chooses to do nothing because he believes that the future will unfold whatever way it does, regardless of his influence. So even if Veidt had not tricked him, in all likelihood he would have still stood by and did nothing, believing that the plan would come to fruition no matter what he did.

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 1:42 AM. Reason : blah]

3/7/2009 1:41:43 AM

but it wasnt a question of if he would or not, the "smartest guy in the world" said he COULDNT... which didnt make sense... and if he was so deterministic, why did he even do anything at all (like work on the energy device)? Going by what you said he would have thought "it would be developed anyways, no matter what I did"


and what the hell was that thing on mars? why would a being like that need randomly spinning shit?

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 1:49 AM. Reason : d]

3/7/2009 1:45:33 AM

I'm just going by my understanding of Dr. Manhattan's overall symbolic meaning for the story.

3/7/2009 1:48:53 AM

like I said, I really really liked it, but just seemed to get a bit lazy in the last hour or so... really loved the character development portions

3/7/2009 1:50:12 AM

Worst Nixon EVAR!

3/7/2009 2:05:37 AM

i didnt get the thing on mars either, and i assume you have to read the book to understand why he had the rare blue horned tiger?

but

Quote :

"they claimed he coudlnt get to all the missiles at once, but he could just make an infinite amount of himself to stop them all, or just destroy all of them at once and not even worry about it"

that was said by him early, then afterwards owl pointed out that if it wasnt for ozy's actions, dr would have been there to save the world. i think, despite being the smartest man on the planet, he could never comprehend dr, as dr says at the end, comparing him to a tick.


also, who was "osterman" or did i hear something wrong?
after dr came back, it sounded like he said, "it didnt kill osterman, did you really think it could kill me?"

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 2:08 AM. Reason : a]

3/7/2009 2:07:57 AM

needed more tits.

other than that, good stuff.

3/7/2009 2:08:08 AM

haha yeah that nixon was awful. especially considering how well they did with kennedy, kissinger, etc.

3/7/2009 2:08:18 AM

also seemed like he would have known "hey, there is nothing coming from me that causes cancer, this is bullshit"

you run into a lot of problems when you have an all-knowing character haha

3/7/2009 2:15:19 AM

he wasn't all-knowing. he stated that a few times throughout the film (and graphic novel).

Quote :

"also, who was "osterman" or did i hear something wrong? after dr came back, it sounded like he said, "it didnt kill osterman, did you really think it could kill me?""

jon osterman is dr. manhattan.

Quote :

"they claimed he coudlnt get to all the missiles at once, but he could just make an infinite amount of himself to stop them all, or just destroy all of them at once and not even worry about it"

first, people speculating he couldn't get to the missiles at once were saying that if he got 99% of them, the world would be gone. they weren't saying dr. manhattan couldn't do it, just if he didn't. second, it all goes back to a) dr. manhattan's belief in determinism, and b) dr. manhattan's growing apathy for humans

Quote :

"if he knew everything he would have sensed them building the device that kept him from sensing the future before it was operational"

i thought they did a pretty good job of repeating over and over again how ozy had interfered with dr. manhattan's precognition. apparently it didn't get through to you. he experiences his own timeline simultaneously, it's not that he knows what everyone is thinking. he can see what he is doing years from now, not what everyone else is doing.

Quote :

"he would have realized his "energy project" was really a weapon"

see: interference

Quote :

"the last shots show the city being rebuilt so you assume its years later, or at least months later, and the mail hadnt even been checked at all? everything was still in that basket years/months later?"

seriously? you're calling this a plot hole?

Quote :

"no one notice these pyramids being built in Antarctica? Manhatten wasnt like "hmmm whats up?""

dr. manhattan and, probably, the us government were both aware of what veidt was doing in antarctica. he's a scientist working on renewable energy. i don't really see what your gripe is with this.

anyway, most of your complaints are just you missing something.

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 3:04 AM. Reason : fuck, i'll just tackle all of them]

3/7/2009 2:54:02 AM

he said he could see the future and the past

3/7/2009 2:59:04 AM

read it

3/7/2009 3:05:13 AM

so he couldnt see that he would work on a device that would block his own powers? that makes no sense.

and the newspaper thing is a plot hole, pretty obvious one. And same thing with the pyraminds. Of course Manhattan knew about it, but wouldnt he also know that pyramids were a rather odd design for an antarctic research lab?

3/7/2009 3:28:21 AM

Quote :

"I remember that part from the novel, but the symbolism flew past me. What was the symbolic significance of that part?"

The artist was part of a group including authors, actors, and musicians. The common denominator being that they were all creators. More than that, the most well known and influential creators. With their disappearance from society, without their creations, all that was left was destruction. Their ultimate creation was, unknown to them, used as a means of destruction. The Comedian learned about what was going on when he flew over the island where all these people were. I missed it in the movie if/when they explained how he knew (hence why he had to die and knew he had to die).

Quote :

"i did enjoy seeing rorschach being a bad ass."

I always viewed Rorshach as a bad ass. Its Owl that surprised me. I was not expecting him to kick so much ass during the jailbreak but he got down to it.

Quote :

"i really enjoyed the movie and am really interested to see if they release an extended cut that integrates the black freighter storyline."

I believe a separate DVD of just the Black Freighter is being released starring Gerard Butler. Still, I was very disappointed that we only saw the nes stand guy and the comic book boy as they were getting blown up. I also hate that we never saw the psychiatrist's wife.

Quote :

"if he knew everything he would have sensed them building the device that kept him from sensing the future before it was operational"

Quote :

"Going by what you said he would have thought "it would be developed anyways, no matter what I did""

Quote :

"you run into a lot of problems when you have an all-knowing character haha"

Quote :

"he said he could see the future and the past"

Let's set the story straight about Dr. Manhattan. They left out a part of the conversation on Mars where he tells Laurie that she's going to tell him about her affair with Dan, and then when she brings up again later in the conversation, he is surprised and acts like its the first time he's had any idea it was happening.

Dr. Manhattan does not SEE the future. He lives it at the same time that he lives the present. Yes he knows what is going to happen, but since he has already lived the future (or is living it currently, however you want to look at it), he cannot do anything to stop it. He can't change the past, and since to him the future and the past are interchangeable, or in another point of view nonexistent and irrelevant, he cannot change the future either. On top of that, he only sees his own life as simultaneous time and not other people. He already knew the interview was going to happen and that the cancer thing was going to come up and that he was going to see Janey again, but when it did happen, he was still living it for the first time and therefor reacted as if he didn't already know. If he already knew he was coming back to Earth anyway, then he wouldn't need Laurie to talk him into it. That's why he couldn't stop any of the mess from happening.

3/7/2009 3:46:55 AM

hmmm... so what was the thing on Mars?

3/7/2009 4:08:23 AM

It was essentially a giant glass watch. Osterman's father was a watchmaker, and taught him the value of intricate parts coming together perfectly to accomplish a task. That's the same principle that allowed Osterman to reassemble his quantam particles after his original human body was obliterated.

Quote :

"and the newspaper thing is a plot hole, pretty obvious one."

This is one of the problems that's associated with switching from a squid to bombs. The squid destroyed everything in its immediate area, which was something like one or two million people (I honestly don't remember), but the rest of the city was basically unharmed. Since The New Frontiersman is a right-wing paper, they're not too concerned with the main story of the day/week, that we're making friends with the Reds.

I think the lack of attention paid to the devastation in the movie (the book gives six splash pages to the squid's destruction) fails to show its true scope, and as a result it's not clear that the scene at the paper is the next day/sometime in the next week.

3/7/2009 9:44:50 AM

It's not like the entire city was leveled, it's possible that the news place was outside of the blast radius.

3/7/2009 9:47:39 AM

Right, but because of the way the devastation was treated (we just see a giant hole, we have no idea what NYC looks like twenty blocks from the blast), it'd be easy to assume that most of the city was destroyed. The squid doesn't suggest total devastation in all directions like a bomb does.

3/7/2009 9:57:34 AM

Going to see it tonight w/ my brother! yay!

3/7/2009 2:51:40 PM

Quote :

"a result it's not clear that the scene at the paper is the next day/sometime in the next week."

I dont think it was the next week at all... they showed a lot of reconstruction, signs about working together with the USSR etc. No way all of that reconstruction could have been done in a week. It was at least a year later I would guess. Hell, the WTC site still hasnt been rebuilt 8 years later



and what was the point of the giant watch thing? a being like that wouldnt seem to be into trivial symbolism type shit.

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 3:15 PM. Reason : f]

3/7/2009 3:14:42 PM

And, hey, why did Dr. Manhattan decide to wear clothes at some points and none at other? ZOMG, huge plot hole.
And like, the sky was blue during the day and black during the night! Dr. Manhattan could have changed that, so why didn't he?

Holy crap, dude you pick on some really stupid stuff.

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 5:03 PM. Reason : ]

3/7/2009 5:02:28 PM

Veidt had it all planned out to start reconstruction by his own company as soon as the trauma settled. He also had new product lines ready to go out so that he could profit off of everything that was happening. That's why his name was on the side of almost every building that was being put back up. He made billions.

3/7/2009 5:04:10 PM

Rorschach's voice was just like I imagined it would be.

3/7/2009 5:15:31 PM

yep. although I'm still trying to decide what I think about manhattan's

3/7/2009 5:17:10 PM

I liked Manhattan's voice. It sounded enlightened and detached at the same time, which basically characterizes him as a whole. He had that one outburst when he was trying to get the reporters to leave him alone, but overall he sounded like he was merely a passive observer of the events around him.

3/7/2009 5:33:48 PM

I thought the casting was perfect, the whole way through.

3/7/2009 6:33:57 PM

i thought it was a good movie. i hate that they basically made some of the biggest parts a synopsis of the book. and i thought the soundtrack was too mickey moused.

i think its funny the confusion people will have if they didn't read the book.


"what the fuck is that giant cat with the ears??!"

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 6:56 PM. Reason : ]

3/7/2009 6:54:09 PM

To be honest,

thought it was rather boring.

I never saw the comedian as this huge asshole they wanted him to be. And they didnt make me care about most of it.

3/7/2009 7:03:37 PM

Saw it last night. I had no prior experience with The Watchmen aside from reading about the history on Wikipedia. I thought it was a spectacular movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Two questions though:

A) What was that blue tiger thing that Ozymandias had?
B) What was the "hood" that Rorshach used to cover his face? How did it keep changing image?

3/7/2009 7:41:12 PM

Quote :

"what the fuck is that giant cat with the ears??!"

I didn't read the book...so someone please explain this to me.

3/7/2009 7:44:19 PM