Who watches the Watchmen?

[MiniFiend UK]

In my continuing watching of the Watchmen, I found the new trailer that is supposed to show before Quantum of Solace:

Watchmen Trailer 2

This movie's gonna rock. Period.

Ohh loving it that trailers great!

I think it could be a great movie as long as it don't deviate from the novel to much. As for which will make more money of the gritty hero movies Trekker 42 covered it perfectly in his post so I'm not even to bother

[NorthRaider]

Rorschach is short.

Anyways, I wonder if everybody who was bitching about Batman's growl will now bitch about Rorschach's voice. I dig, myself. Kind of think Manhattan should have a more "otherworldly" voice, but. . .also, there appears to be a fairly major spoiler in that trailer. Surprised to see it there.

Yikes, I can definitely see what you mean about the possible complaints about Rorschach's voice. When you first hear him say those signature lines in the very first teaser trailer it immediately registers as really cool, but now hearing him sound like that all throughout the film might be a dangerously grating experience. But hey, it's not like the dude was meant to be all butterflies and roses, right? Now I SO can't wait to see how they pull off that scene of

Rorschach's sessions with the prison psychiatrist

on the big screen.

As for Dr. Manhattan, for some reason I was hoping he would sound just like the Silver Surfer. Damn, why did they have to look so eerily similar?!

Is the spoiler you're referring to

that huge explosion that engulfs New York

? Also, the part in the trailer where

Silk Spectre and Nite Owl kiss against the backdrop of that giant mushroom cloud

is NOT in the original comic, so that must've been one of the big changes they made to the ending.

[Bob Harris]

Oh mein Gott!

This new trailer even beats the first one. Maybe it's just because I watched the first one way too much already, I don't know. As much as I loved the Smashing Pumpkins song for the first, I really do apreaciate the Muse song in this one. (Although I don't really like both bands that much.)

I guess the big difference between Dark Knight and Watchmen is, that the first one is this franchise thing - which worked pretty well for the Dark Knight movie, but was horrible in the "and Robin" interpretation - and Watchmen has this one original story. And this story is so amazing, complex, thrilling, multilayered, humorous, astonishing, critical and unsettled, that every change in its plot and it's order and way of telling it, might be a fatal mistake. Moore is a brilliant storyteller and knows how to evolve and display his characters as well as his story, so I hope Snyder will stick to the comic as close as even possible. (He should as least be as close as Jackson was at the Lord of the Rings; if he can, even closer.) I guess one of the major mistakes might be - and I don't know if I'm the only one feeling that way - to introduce too much action sequences, because Watchmen hasn't that much in it and doesn't live from those moments. And don't having the Black Freighter in it is something I don't really indorse. And I don't see the Under The Hood excerpts - I really love those chapters, because it really sounds pretty authentic when Hollis Mason discusses e.g. the pros and cons of wearing a cape!) in it as well...

So, sticking to the original story, this movie will be a blast even for a non-funnybook audience.

Anyways, I wonder if everybody who was bitching about Batman's growl will now bitch about Rorschach's voice. I dig, myself.

If you were already bitching about the "original" Batman's growl - so did I - you better shouldn't listen to the German dubed version. That was even more awful as the Bale original. I do hope that I'll find a cinema that shows Watchmen in the English original version somewhere around here.

[karamazov80]

Is the spoiler you're referring to

that huge explosion that engulfs New York

?

Yes. Don't read if this if you don't want to know of a pretty big spoiler differentiating the film from the graphic novel. . .you were warned:

supposedly, they replace the alien in the movie with a nuclear-type explosion, and this appears to be what they are showing here

.

If you were already bitching about the "original" Batman's growl - so did I - you better shouldn't listen to the German dubed version. That was even more awful as the Bale original. I do hope that I'll find a cinema that shows Watchmen in the English original version somewhere around here.

I would love to hear how the growl was recorded for different languages. I bet some will be funnier than others. Let's hope we get multiple language tracks on the DVD. Regarding the dubbed stuff, here in the U.S. a fair number of our imports at the theaters that I go to are captioned, not dubbed. Given the stereotypical American who doesn't like/know how to read, this may be surprising to some. But then, the kinds of people who want to see foreign flicks are typically not those who "don't wanna read when I go see the movin' pitchers." Even big releases like Pan's Labyrinth were sub-titled (or at least the one that I saw at the theaters was).

[TM2 Dinobot]

I'm jumping in here, and I'd like to stay spoiler free if I can help it (hence why I don't peruse this thread much) but I've never read Watchmen. I've only heard of it from comic geeks who say "best EVAH!" and my ethics class discussion of it was interesting. I understand there's a corilation to politics there which i find cool.

However, I've yet to hear one person tell me WHY this book is so great. Why are the toys so sought after? Is it really all that great? Is it better than Y: The Last Man?

I'm not being cynical, I honestly want to know. When this movie was announced, I went "who?". I had more knowledge of The Spirit than Watchmen.

[karamazov80]

Is it better than Y: The Last Man?

Yes. Y isn't dung on Watchmen's ass, frankly (and yes, I do like Y: the Last Man quite a bit). As you probably know, comic fans like to complain and argue with each other about near everything, but there isn't much debate in those circles as to whether this is either the best, or amongst the best, comics ever written. But it isn't fair to try and describe it. You really need to just buy it and read it. You will not be disappointed. Alan Moore is the greatest comic book writer there is--everything he does that I have read is not just good, but great--and this is his masterpiece.

[NorthRaider]

Oddly I am quoting my own intro thread post here:

... May not exactly seem like groundbreaking material story-wise, but to quote another forum post it's kinda like the Citizen Kane of contemporary superhero comics: along with The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen could very well be the one that started it all.

I also find it pretty cool how it's all contained in one single book (okay... twelve issues compiled into one book) and still works as a nice and compelling story. This also makes it more accessible to casual readers who don't have the time or patience to sift through a protracted storyline like Secret Invasion or Infinite Crisis. Lastly, it is noteworthy as one of the earliest graphic novels to feature fully-realized "flawed" characters/anti-heroes like Rorschach, The Comedian or Ozymandias.

[Trekker 42]

Rorschach is short.

Is the spoiler you're referring to

that huge explosion that engulfs New York

? Also, the part in the trailer where

Silk Spectre and Nite Owl kiss against the backdrop of that giant mushroom cloud

is NOT in the original comic, so that must've been one of the big changes they made to the ending.

Yes it was. It was a dream sequence after

Spectre screws Nite Owl

Look it up.

Is the spoiler you're referring to

that huge explosion that engulfs New York

?

Yes. Don't read if this if you don't want to know of a pretty big spoiler differentiating the film from the graphic novel. . .you were warned:

supposedly, they replace the alien in the movie with a nuclear-type explosion, and this appears to be what they are showing here

.

My spoiler will kick your spoiler's ass.

Apparantly the

explosion is a duplication of Dr. Manhattan's powers and he gets blamed for it. So Ozymandius' plan is to frame Dr. Manhattan

And did you notice Ozymandius' German accent in the trailer? That's how I thought he'd sound! Every aspect is perfect so far!

[NorthRaider]

My spoiler will kick your spoiler's ass.

Apparantly the

explosion is a duplication of Dr. Manhattan's powers and he gets blamed for it. So Ozymandius' plan is to frame Dr. Manhattan

And did you notice Ozymandius' German accent in the trailer? That's how I thought he'd sound! Every aspect is perfect so far!

Wait, if THAT'S gonna be how they change the

cause of the devastation of New York

, then does that mean we might not get on film that scene in the book where

Ozymandias detains all those scientists and artists like Max Shea on the island and then blows up their boat

?

Okay, now I'm really worried.

[Trekker 42]

My spoiler will kick your spoiler's ass.

Apparantly the

explosion is a duplication of Dr. Manhattan's powers and he gets blamed for it. So Ozymandius' plan is to frame Dr. Manhattan

And did you notice Ozymandius' German accent in the trailer? That's how I thought he'd sound! Every aspect is perfect so far!

Wait, if THAT'S gonna be how they change the

cause of the devastation of New York

, then does that mean we might not get on film that scene in the book where

Ozymandias detains all those scientists and artists like Max Shea on the island and then blows up their boat

?

Okay, now I'm really worried.

Actually, we might. Who would

build the machine to replicate the powers

Ozymandius himself?

Shay

may not be there, but the boat probably will and the ones on it will be those working for Ozymandius.

[karamazov80]

Wait, if THAT'S gonna be how they change the

cause of the devastation of New York

, then does that mean we might not get on film that scene in the book where

Ozymandias detains all those scientists and artists like Max Shea on the island and then blows up their boat

?

Okay, now I'm really worried.

I'm sure you would still need a number of scientists, etc. to create such a thing. It would be too bad if there were no "psychic backlash," though. I always liked that part of it.

[NorthRaider]

I'm sure you would still need a number of scientists, etc. to create such a thing. It would be too bad if there were no "psychic backlash," though. I always liked that part of it.

Me too, I really wanted to see

Hira paint the giant alien thing

myself. I'm still really bothered by the possibility of

Shea not appearing in the movie

since that would sort of diminish the contextual relevance of

Tales of the Black Freighter

as far as the moviegoers are concerned.

[Trekker 42]

I'm sure you would still need a number of scientists, etc. to create such a thing. It would be too bad if there were no "psychic backlash," though. I always liked that part of it.

Me too, I really wanted to see

Hira paint the giant alien thing

myself. I'm still really bothered by the possibility of

Shea not appearing in the movie

since that would sort of diminish the contextual relevance of

Tales of the Black Freighter

as far as the moviegoers are concerned.

First off, why is Tales of the Black Freighter a spoiler? Seondly, Tales will not be in the film at all. It will be produced seperately with a documentary on the characters of Watchmen called, of course, Under the Hood. This will be direct to DVD around the time of Watchmen's release to generate excitement I guess. And third, Tales never really was a big part of the story, it was a mirror to Adrian Veldt's corruption and madness. So even if Tales was in there, its symbolic presence would not be lost. Oh, and a final cut is being considered for Watchmen's DVD release that incorperates Tales of the Black Freighter. Now why is all of this in spoiler tags?

I honestly don't know.

[NorthRaider]

Now why is all of this in spoiler tags?

I honestly don't know.

Because we're taking our chances against complete Watchmen newbies who might hate us for divulging too much info? :biggrin:

Hmm, personally I still hope TOTBF

does make it into the film, if not in full then at least in a few carefully-chosen snippets interspersed throughout the New York scenes if possible

... but in the end this is still just a film adaptation, and the "compromising" of certain parts of canon should be expected, I guess. Here's hoping Zach Snyder pulls off a decent hit next year (okay, is this Understatement of the Century or what?)

Also, the part in the trailer where

Silk Spectre and Nite Owl kiss against the backdrop of that giant mushroom cloud

is NOT in the original comic, so that must've been one of the big changes they made to the ending.

Yes it was. It was a dream sequence after

Spectre screws Nite Owl

Look it up.

Oh, right. Looks like I completely forgot about that. My bad.

Edited November 15, 2008 by NorthRaider

[Bob Harris]

However, I've yet to hear one person tell me WHY this book is so great. Why are the toys so sought after? Is it really all that great? Is it better than Y: The Last Man?

but in the end this is still just a film adaptationt.

That's the point. You already refered to Citizen Kane in movies, which was able to extravagate, to push things forward in ways usual movies wouldn't go, because nobody knew of those possibilities. In that way, Watchmen was a milestone even more than Miller's Dark Knight was in my opinion, because Moore - like brother karamazov80 already pointed out - is a visionary just like Orwell or Kurosawa were for the movies, or Joyce and Dostojewski were for the novels. He introduces not only a very (post-)modern way of looking on heroes and embedding them in a very realistic (political) context and

showing off very different, alarming and provocative ethical and political perspectives on humanity

, but also makes use of unusual ways of narrating the story (

the parallelism of the actions taking place in "reality" and the Tales of the Black Freighter; the way he deals with time and perspective especially in chapter 4

) and the inclusion of non-comic parts and themes in his story (

e.g. Under the Hood or the newspaper articles

). And of course, the ending,

beeing not a closed narration, but given an open end which isn't the popular way of telling a funnybook theme. At least not in that way.

I don't want to be too theoretical - of course I really just do love some of the characters, especially the Comedian -, but these aspects just blew me away.

Snyder has really good and creative ideas of adapting and visualizing a story into a movie, but I guess he is not firm and well-versed enough to put all of this visionary work into a film. For that, we'd need someone comparable to Welles' genius. But after all, if he just sticks to the comic, that movie will be awesome!

Edited November 15, 2008 by Bob Harris

[Trekker 42]

Tales has been confirmed NOT in the film. Don't get your hopes up, it's not happening.

Period. The End.

[Jad]

The new trailer is sweet.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/watchmen.html?showVideo=1

Anyone know what song that is? I dig it.

[luke314pi]

I suppose a slight change to the ending wouldn't be too bad, as long as it doesn't change the meaning of it.

And the new trailer is awesome.

[Trekker 42]

The new trailer is sweet.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/watchmen.html?showVideo=1

Anyone know what song that is? I dig it.

I believe it's called "Take a Bow" by Muse.

[Deadpool]

So, merchandise has started to come. I've already bought a poster and a hoodie, and my girlfriend bought a poster and a shirt. Alan Moore can roll over and die, I'm just happy to have Doc Manhattan's blue ass on my wall.

[NorthRaider]

This movie is gonna do for Comedian's blood-splattered Smiley badge what V For Vendetta did for Guy Fawkes masks. Every kid from here to the Falklands is gonna have the damn thing on their backpack without recognizing it's from Watchmen. Paging Che Guevara!

Nah, just kidding. I wouldn't mind merchandise. I just envy my friend, who actually has his own Rorschach mask.

[Trekker 42]

Well Fox won the lawsuit and Watchmen may be delayed due to legal reasons. I'm off to Petitionland!

I'm NOT joking, it happened, and it may be delayed or not even released. God I'm pissed!

[karamazov80]

Well Fox won the lawsuit and Watchmen may be delayed due to legal reasons. I'm off to Petitionland!

I'm NOT joking, it happened, and it may be delayed or not even released. God I'm pissed!

Yeah, Fox are a bunch of scumbags. They had the rights for 25 years and did nothing with it, then waited until the very last minute before the film is actually released to file suit. But, I'm more pissed at Warner Brothers for being stupid enough not to shore up any rights they needed to before making the damn thing. My guess is that WB will end up paying Fox whatever they want to get it released (the losses in merchandising costs alone from the movie not being released would probably justify getting it out of the way sooner rather than later), but this is by no means guaranteed.

[TM2 Dinobot]

However, I've yet to hear one person tell me WHY this book is so great. Why are the toys so sought after? Is it really all that great? Is it better than Y: The Last Man?

but in the end this is still just a film adaptationt.

That's the point. You already refered to Citizen Kane in movies, which was able to extravagate, to push things forward in ways usual movies wouldn't go, because nobody knew of those possibilities. In that way, Watchmen was a milestone even more than Miller's Dark Knight was in my opinion, because Moore - like brother karamazov80 already pointed out - is a visionary just like Orwell or Kurosawa were for the movies, or Joyce and Dostojewski were for the novels. He introduces not only a very (post-)modern way of looking on heroes and embedding them in a very realistic (political) context and

showing off very different, alarming and provocative ethical and political perspectives on humanity

, but also makes use of unusual ways of narrating the story (

the parallelism of the actions taking place in "reality" and the Tales of the Black Freighter; the way he deals with time and perspective especially in chapter 4

) and the inclusion of non-comic parts and themes in his story (

e.g. Under the Hood or the newspaper articles

). And of course, the ending,

beeing not a closed narration, but given an open end which isn't the popular way of telling a funnybook theme. At least not in that way.

I don't want to be too theoretical - of course I really just do love some of the characters, especially the Comedian -, but these aspects just blew me away.

Snyder has really good and creative ideas of adapting and visualizing a story into a movie, but I guess he is not firm and well-versed enough to put all of this visionary work into a film. For that, we'd need someone comparable to Welles' genius. But after all, if he just sticks to the comic, that movie will be awesome!

Okay, see I read the thing and what you described I totally didn't even get. The only thing I saw were people pretending to be heroes with unpronounceable names who, when faced with reality, bend to the will of it instead of being the heroes they claim to be. the Batman knockoff with the mask is the only one who was even remotely interesting, and that's only because he was nucking futs. I don't understand when people say it's a political commentary in comics, I fount TotBF to be wasted space, and yeah, maybe it came before everything else, but today there are bigger and better things, and I'm not entirely sure it shouldn't be left in the past. I mean, it's a comic book that two guys did where they didn't WANT anyone to understand. They just wanted people to go crazy thinking thy "get" it.

Yeah, I stated my views already, and I'll probably go see the movie. I still maintain it was boring and a waste of 2 good weeks of my life. I also understand that I am in the minority and I openly accept that.

Well Fox won the lawsuit and Watchmen may be delayed due to legal reasons. I'm off to Petitionland!

I'm NOT joking, it happened, and it may be delayed or not even released. God I'm pissed!

I'd laugh if people waited SO long to have this movie come out, only to have the project get scrapped at the last yard line. That's called irony right there.

Then again, it's be like something the unpronounceable villain would do; tease people with this, make a couple of faked trailers, get all this money, get people's hopes up, then drop the project, pulling off the greatest hoax in history.

Wait, maybe I did get something out of that book. Or maybe I always thought like that. I can't remember.

[murderofcrows]

However, I've yet to hear one person tell me WHY this book is so great. Why are the toys so sought after? Is it really all that great? Is it better than Y: The Last Man?

but in the end this is still just a film adaptationt.

That's the point. You already refered to Citizen Kane in movies, which was able to extravagate, to push things forward in ways usual movies wouldn't go, because nobody knew of those possibilities. In that way, Watchmen was a milestone even more than Miller's Dark Knight was in my opinion, because Moore - like brother karamazov80 already pointed out - is a visionary just like Orwell or Kurosawa were for the movies, or Joyce and Dostojewski were for the novels. He introduces not only a very (post-)modern way of looking on heroes and embedding them in a very realistic (political) context and

showing off very different, alarming and provocative ethical and political perspectives on humanity

, but also makes use of unusual ways of narrating the story (

the parallelism of the actions taking place in "reality" and the Tales of the Black Freighter; the way he deals with time and perspective especially in chapter 4

) and the inclusion of non-comic parts and themes in his story (

e.g. Under the Hood or the newspaper articles

). And of course, the ending,

beeing not a closed narration, but given an open end which isn't the popular way of telling a funnybook theme. At least not in that way.

I don't want to be too theoretical - of course I really just do love some of the characters, especially the Comedian -, but these aspects just blew me away.

Snyder has really good and creative ideas of adapting and visualizing a story into a movie, but I guess he is not firm and well-versed enough to put all of this visionary work into a film. For that, we'd need someone comparable to Welles' genius. But after all, if he just sticks to the comic, that movie will be awesome!

Okay, see I read the thing and what you described I totally didn't even get. The only thing I saw were people pretending to be heroes with unpronounceable names who, when faced with reality, bend to the will of it instead of being the heroes they claim to be. the Batman knockoff with the mask is the only one who was even remotely interesting, and that's only because he was nucking futs. I don't understand when people say it's a political commentary in comics, I fount TotBF to be wasted space, and yeah, maybe it came before everything else, but today there are bigger and better things, and I'm not entirely sure it shouldn't be left in the past. I mean, it's a comic book that two guys did where they didn't WANT anyone to understand. They just wanted people to go crazy thinking thy "get" it.

Yeah, I stated my views already, and I'll probably go see the movie. I still maintain it was boring and a waste of 2 good weeks of my life. I also understand that I am in the minority and I openly accept that.

Well Fox won the lawsuit and Watchmen may be delayed due to legal reasons. I'm off to Petitionland!

I'm NOT joking, it happened, and it may be delayed or not even released. God I'm pissed!

I'd laugh if people waited SO long to have this movie come out, only to have the project get scrapped at the last yard line. That's called irony right there.

Then again, it's be like something the unpronounceable villain would do; tease people with this, make a couple of faked trailers, get all this money, get people's hopes up, then drop the project, pulling off the greatest hoax in history.

Wait, maybe I did get something out of that book. Or maybe I always thought like that. I can't remember.

I swear to god I want to punch you in your face.

I get the fact the book is above your reading level...but for those of us, who see it for what it is...a true work of literature, that deconstructs the entire superhero mythos...please do us all a favor and shut up.

nuff said

moc847