Watchmen movie

[Sandman]

Lets face it Jackie Earle Haley made the movie.

You're crazy.  His was a worthy contribution but this was an ensemble piece from start to finish, and every single participant brought home the bacon.  I don't care how much money this flick does or doesn't make, it is what a comics adaptation should be.

I am?...Cut me a little slack i've only seen the movie.

[gordonblu]

 I was very disappointed.  All of the moments that had so much impact in the comic played flat onscreen. At some points, it was too faithful to th point of, oh yeah, THAT moment, at other points it veered away too much; the way Rorshach deals with the kidnapper for example had much more poetry in  the book and was kind of stupid and gratuitous in the film.The attempted rape wasn't disturbing like it was supposed to be, Jackie Earle Haley sounded like he was trying to do Christian Bale's Batman voice through most of the movie, and there was an over emphasis on sex and violence. yes those were elements in the comics, but Snyder went overboard on both to ludicrous extremes. Billy Crudup was upstaged by his own *ahem* overexposure. The one moment where you are supposed to be shocked and horrified in the comics is changed by having the victims vaporize instead of having all of the blood and carnage averywhere.


I did like Matthew Good as Ozymandias. The early buzz where he was concerned wasn't good, but I thought he really nailed the part. Patrick Wilson was also very good, as was Jeffery Dean Morgan. My favorite though was Matt Frewer as Moloch, I wish he had more screen time. The use of Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence was particualrly effective. The use of Ride of the Valkyrie was pretty awful, but that was trumped by the horrid Hallelujah. I liked the song when it was used in Shrek, but it was absolutely inane where they used it in Watchmen!

I wish somebody else had made the film with more of an eye for subtlety so when something fantastic does happen it actually is fantastic.

[thecolorsblend]

I am?...Cut me a little slack i've only seen the movie.

Dude, remember who you're talking to here.  I think everybody in the entire world is CRAZY except for me.

[Dark Knight Detective]

I think everybody in the entire world is CRAZY except for me.

We're all crazy! And this includes you, Colors.

BTW, I'm calmer than you are! 

[Sandman]

I am?...Cut me a little slack i've only seen the movie.

Dude, remember who you're talking to here.  I think everybody in the entire world is CRAZY except for me.

Im not crazy YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

[thecolorsblend]

BTW, I'm calmer than you are! 

Talk is cheap and bullsh.it runs the marathon. 

Watched the Director's Cut the other night.  I'd warn against spoilers except that if you haven't read the comic by now, well, there's really no excuse for you.

I (much like the rest of the free world) am and have been an admirer of Watchmen for some time now.  But I'm not the most rabid fan in the entire world so I'd like to think that affords me some measure of clarity when it comes to discussing the pros and cons of adapting this series into a film.

I never had a major problem with the theatrical cut of Watchmen.  Oh sure, there are maybe a few things I would've changed (eliminating Bubastis entirely given the context of the different ending for the film) but largely Watchmen under Zack Snyder's deft, capable hand is better than I would've ever thought possible.  It's definitely better than what any other director would've come up with, I can tell you that.

Still, Watchmen is only really accessible to fans of the comic.  I don't think it plays as well to the unread masses (all three of 'em).

That said, it would've been nice to have the origins of Rorschach's mask reincorporated into the film.  I understand why it was cut, from an editorial point of view it makes all the sense in the world, blah blah blah, but the Watchmen fan in me would've appreciated it.

The big winner in the director's cut is undoubtedly Hollis Mason.  This is what makes the director's cut a worthy upgrade over the theatrical version.  Mason is sort of the invisible glue that binds first and third acts confidently into a better, more textured whole.

Specifically, we're talking about the reinstatement of his death scene (and the aftermath thereof).  It gives Mason himself some extra depth and resonance but it also plays out (get your stones out now) better in the film than it does the comic.  I realize that the two sequences are similar to one another but the film allows you to see how good Mason really was, and is.  He fought the good fight.  Sure, he lost, but his assailants didn't get it for free.  And if they hadn't ambushed him, he might've done better for himself.  Plus, the scene plays out better in the vocabulary of "life flashing before your eyes just before death" than it does in the comic.  Don't get me wrong, the comic carries that some heft and power, it's simply more apparent in the film.

To me, Hollis Mason is the primary reason to get the director's cut.  In general, I'd say the director's cut is as good as the theatrical cut, only moreso but the Mason stuff is what really puts it over the top in my mind.  That extra .5 point rides strictly on Mason.  He earns it pretty much all by himself.

Sure, there are several other sequences that clarify on the characters and the narrative somewhat but for my money Mason and Mason alone is the main reason to go for this director's cut upgrade.

I can't remember what else I've written in this thread and I'm too lazy to check so allow me to say that Watchmen is in the top five best comics adaptations of all time.  Snyder relied heavily on the comics to make this film and every single frame comes straight from the heart.  In terms of what we got, there's not a single frame I'd change (be it the theatrical cut or Snyder's cut).  How often in life do you watch a film and think "I wouldn't change a thing"?

One of my favorite movies is American Beauty... and there are a few things I'd change with that.  Little nips and tucks with the dialogue, maybe leave the camera running a little longer in certain sequences, etc.

Watchmen?  Wouldn't change a thing.  Any of it.  The cast, the production design, the color pallete, the rock solid directing, the script, the costumes, the score/songs, the editing, the effects, leave 'em all alone, they're perfect just the way they are.

This film is best appreciated with at least a surface awareness of the comic.  If you're one of the three people in this world who haven't read it yet, you're going to want to check it out.

And allow me to recommend DC's Absolute Watchmen.  Because if it's worth doing, then by Ral it's worth doing right.

The theatrical cut of the film is great.  The director's cut is great, and then some.  Both are winners.

EDIT- By the by, I thought about posting this in a new thread but since this is a perfectly good thread, why not use it?

[The Dark Knight]

Well, at least you like it colors. That's all that matters.

Me? I've got no time for it. I saw it once in cinemas. I don't see myself adding to that tally either. Watchmen is a joyless piece of junk and the first movie in a long while I felt like walking out of. I thought it lacked pace and charm and had no joy. I just wanted it to end...and when it did, I felt cheated by the story.

I have never read any of the graphic novel(s) and so had no pre-conceived notions of the film. Perhaps I was expecting something either fun or profound and found neither.

So, now we supposedly intelligent folk have to have read the novels first in order to watch/enjoy/appreciate movies? What happened to the idea of a movie being a movie...as opposed to having to watch a movie only after you've perused the 'source' material? It's certainly the makers' failing, no question about that.

Look, obviously many love it...which is perfectly fine...but I am venting and not criticising those who enjoyed the movie. Horses for courses, right?

[Paul (ral)]

Because if it's worth doing, then by Ral it's worth doing right.

did you...did you just use my name as a subsitution of a deity?  

The use of Ride of the Valkyrie was pretty awful...

i thought it was a homage to Apocalypse Now and i dug it for that.

[thecolorsblend]

I may end up revisiting this later on.  We'll see.

Anyway.  Finally watched The Ultimate Cut the other night.  It's basically the director's cut with Tales of the Black Freighter reinstated, plus a scene or two extra revolving around the Bernies at the news stand (which aren't specifically TOTBF-related).

Honestly?  This doesn't play as well as the theatrical or director's cuts.  You lose something with scene continuity.  Keep in mind, I watched this bad boy with Snyder's commentary running (and boy is this one helluva technical commentary!) but it felt like scenes were just tossed together without too much thought put into context.  Like I said, I may revisit it but it felt like you'd get a night scene, another night scene, a broad daylight scene with the Bernies and some TOTBF stuff, back to another night scene, wash, rinse, repeat.

If you're a Watchmen nut, it's probably worth checking out just to see how cleverly Snyder incorporates the TOTBF stuff but the scene continuity along with the increase run time really don't strengthen the film.  It's still good, it's still in my top five best comics adaptations ever... but it feels like this here Ultimate Cut missed the mark in some places.

I haven't finished off the Gibbons commentary yet but more and more I wonder that editing his remarks (which is really all they are; I hestitate to call it an out and out commentary) into the Snyder track might've been the smarter play here.  Or maybe getting those guys together to record commentary together.

More broadly, I would've liked some more in depth extras.  Sure, the Ultimate box includes the Ultimate cut itself along with the commentaries (you get the idea I like commentaries?) but, really, what else is there?  A digital version of theatrical cut?!  Been there, done that and could make my own if I wanted to.  The Watchmen motion comics?  Interesting, I guess, but never really my thing.  I have trouble getting a hold of the entire concept, to be honest.  Comics don't move.  You have to mentally fill in the camera movements, the characters movements, the voices, the sounds, the smells, the score (if any), etc.  That's sorta the whole point!  But whatever.  Then there's the fluffy EPK type extras we got from the director's cut release.  A documentary equivalent of Mason's book and some short little featurettes that are worthy of any Speilberg DVD.

Yawn.

Good (but not better) extended cut of the movie, pretty decent commentaries, shady (and mostly redundant) extras.

Just thought you'd want to know.

[johnnygobbs]

I've just watched 'The Watchman' movie for the first time on dvd in the full director's cut, including 'The Tales of the Black Freighter' segments incorporated into the film, and I must say that as someone who has read the graphic novel I'm with Colors on this.  I honestly can't see how the filmmakers could have made a more faithful adaptation (other than the ending which in my opinion actually made more sense in the film). 

I love Terry Gilliam, and hold him in high regard as one of my favourite filmmakers of all time, but I'm so grateful he wasn't able to adopt this film since he would have inevitably shaped the original story to his own sensibility almost beyond recognition.  He's not a director who likes to be hemmed in by a pre-conceived story.  Zack Snyder by contrast, managed to make a wholly faithful adaptation of the source material, whilst still managing to stamp his own signature style.  I wasn't the greatest fan of '300' but I suspect that had more to do with the source material (i.e. Frank Miller, who's semi-fascist take on the world is not one I can easily relate to) than Snyder's technical rendering of the original graphic novel.

All in all I was hugely impressed by this film, although I do think it helps if one is already familiar with and a fan of the Watchman graphic novel, and whilst I could make a few quibbles here and there (mainly to do with the casting, although each actor managed to do a great job even when they weren't necessarily the best choices for their respective roles) overall I certainly felt the film was a triumph.