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Just got back from seeing it. Without saying it's a good or bad thing, I'm surprised to hear so many people say it's loyal to the source material. There were a bunch of changes I could count, ranging from really small to really major.

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Like Dreiberg visiting Veidt instead of Rorshack, the alternative energy conversation between Vedit and the oil execs that never happened in the book, and of course the ending where it's not Dr. Manhattan but an alien invasion Vedit stages that scares Earth into truce.

But, I think this is more the critics fault instead of the filmmakers. I think with a comic book as rich in detail and dialogue heavy as Watchmen, you have to make some cuts and changes in order to make it into a movie. Still, I think the critics are wrong to talk about how loyal it is to the source material.

As for the movie itself, I thought it was OK. I thought for sure the best thing about it was the visuals. The soundtrack is awesome too even if it seems out of place sometimes. The acting was disappointing. Jackie Haley was the best by far as Rorshack. I feel like the rest of the actors failed to capture the essence of the characters. The Comedian, who was one of the best characters in the book, was the best example of this. You get a sense of how unhinged the character is through his plot points but not through the acting.

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The best example I can think of is when he shoots the pregnant woman and then is essentially standing in place delivering his lines. In the book, Dave Gibbons illustration makes the Comedian look enraged at that point, holding a hand to his cut face and screaming at Dr. Manhattan.

So, overall, I had a good time watching it, but it certainly didn't leave me feeling as it was a great movie. A waiter at the restaurant we went to before seeing it told me it was better than Dark Knight, and I definitely can't understand that. This is an entertaining movie, but I don't think it's going to revolutionize the comic book movie in any great way.

Not to play devils advocate, but I think the music was very poorly chosen. I also think that the acting was all around amazing. Characters in a book or novel are never exactly what everyone wants them to be on the big screen because, people impose emotions on them regardless of what the author intends or what is actually written. I think the movie was as faithful as you could ever hope it would be. Some things didn't make sense in the novel.

Like...

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The sex scene in Ozymandias's "arctic lair"

Some things were just kind of unnecessarily depressing that I'm glad were omitted.

Like...

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The original Night Owl's death.

The thing that really disturbed me which I wish they would have omitted was...

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The constant Blue Penis shots from Dr. Manhattan

I do however agree that Rorschach was the best actor and stood out. I kind of felt like he was the main character in the novel even though it was meant to be about all of them. Honestly a great movie. It shouldn't be compared to super hero movies, because most of them are not "super." Its a great story about people who rose up to do whats right, and its very humbling and human how everything turns out. That my 2 cents.

This post has been edited by Basch on 8th March 2009 20:19

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The fact that people are getting in a tizzy over the big blue's Big Blue I always find funny when the movie has him wearing underwear at points and in the comic, he's rocking out with his **** out the entire time. For myself it was never a distraction.

That aside, I though visually the movie was terrible. It's a beautiful looking spectacle of a movie, that I don't argue. But that slick looking style is completely out of sync with the kind of story Moore was telling. Those constant slo-mo shots are fine if you're making a Cable and Deadpool film, but it has no place here. At no point did it look or feel like this was set in 1985, so much so as to make the pop songs feel out of place.

Also, the violence was over the top. There were points where I appreciated the fact they didn't shy away from the blood, but there were just as many points where the gore was completely unnecessary and exploitative. What was the point of seeing the remains of the gangsters on the ceiling and since when did mild-mannered Night Owl shove bones out the arms of street thugs? In the end, this just looked like another over-budgeted superhero movie and not like the gritty character study of the original.

I still enjoyed it mind you. By simply staying so close the source, I was able to enjoy it on a fanboy level. I should also point out I thought the change made for the ending was an absolute improvement over the original. Moore's version almost took me out of the entire story he was telling.

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I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were quite a few things about it that fell flat with me, but that mainly had to do with cutting what they needed to cut. The overall plot of the movie was too linear. In the book, you are flooded with background information and mythology, and you are following several disconnected plot threads that come crashing together at the end. The movie played more like one plot filled out with flashbacks for character development.
I would have liked the subplots of the civilians for the sake of putting the heroes' stories into context (and making the ending catastrophe more serious). I also preferred the original ending, but I still respect the new one. It would have required the subplot of the missing scientists, writers, and artists to make sense (and enough time devoted to said subplot).
There were really only two things that irked me. The first was placing the blame on the near war between the US and USSR squarely on Nixon's shoulders. It originally wasn't about Nixon's personal paranoia, but about the situation the Cold War put both countries. There were a lot of things that were changed because of what had to be cut, but this change seemed just unnecessary.
The second was how the smartest man in the world seemed to have an overly-simplistic view on war (all war is caused by greed and alternative energy is the key to world peace) and the conversation with the business moguls. In a story as full at Watchmen, you remove stuff and change stuff, you don't add things. Especially not things about modern issues when the story is set in the past.

I did enjoy the music, though. The songs were placed in a way that places the events in certain eras. Loved Dylan in the opening sequence.

Here's to looking forward to the Director's cut.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
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Quote (Narratorway @ 9th March 2009 12:14)

I should also point out I thought the change made for the ending was an absolute improvement over the original. Moore's version almost took me out of the entire story he was telling.

I agree completely. I loved the book, but I felt like the ending was kind of silly. This ending made a lot more sense, in my opinion.

It's interesting that with all my friends that haven't read the book, the biggest complaint is "not enough action." I think the balance struck was OK. I noticed when action was added for the sake of action, but I never felt like it took away from the plot. I'm definitely going to go back next weekend.

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Quote (Gears @ 9th March 2009 21:19)

I loved the book, but I felt like the ending was kind of silly. This ending made a lot more sense, in my opinion.

Yeah, I can sympathize with that. I thought the ending to the book was ridiculous. So glad the movie had a more sensible and (to me) less "slapped together" ending.

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Climhazzard is the timeless evil robot who runs some of the cool stuff at CoN (mostly logging chat, since there are no quizzes at the moment), all the while watching and waiting for his moment to take over the world. -Tiddles

I liked the book way more than the movie, as usual. The action scenes and sex-scene were silly. For some reason they decided not to include Rorschach busting out of the fridge when they easily could have. Would have been action gold. Don't really think this ending was better than the book one, but I didn't mind it. The important part, that millions had to be sacrificed to put the world at peace (and that most of the 'heroes' go along with it) was still there.

I laughed for about 30 seconds loud in the theater when 'Mickey' the midget from Seinfeld showed up to play the tiny criminal boss dude. All I could think of was him and Kramer wrestling over who was going to get gonorrhea.

Quote (DoILookLikeAWaiter? @ 19th March 2009 11:30)

I laughed for about 30 seconds loud in the theater when 'Mickey' the midget from Seinfeld showed up to play the tiny criminal boss dude. All I could think of was him and Kramer wrestling over who was going to get gonorrhea.

Man, that's ok LOL. At least you didn't disrupt the theater. There was a guy when I went to Watchmen, every time Doctor Manhattan's penis came on screen he was like, "eeewwww!!! Uuuuugghhh!! Oooohhhh Nasty!!!!" It was so annoying.. I was ready to pull out the armlets of pimp slap.

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Climhazzard is the timeless evil robot who runs some of the cool stuff at CoN (mostly logging chat, since there are no quizzes at the moment), all the while watching and waiting for his moment to take over the world. -Tiddles

I think Rorschach was the only thing keeping me watching this. I saw it last week but I thought I'd post once I've let it sink it a little and I can look back from a more balanced point of view. I really tried to enjoy it but it was like the film didn't want me to like it; just when I was slipping into the groove and appreciating the characters, something utterly stupid would happen, like Dr Manhattan winning the Vietnam war. What on Earth was that all about? It's like whoever wrote the books didn't understand the Vietnam and Cold Wars, so just plonked the book in that period of history for the sake of it.

And as for the music, yes I'm sure they were trying to put it in an era, but even then they couldn't help but ruin it just at the point where I was starting to enjoy myself. I agree DP, I did enjoy Dylan at the beginning, until they repeated the opening verse again! 'Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam.' Apparently Dylan didn't get enough of an audience on his first time through the song so he had to start it again. The other songs were just shoehorned in.

I haven't read the book, so maybe I'm just not visionary enough to understand the ending. All I can say is that it's totally unbelievable (even for a comic book) and once again ruins a perfectly fine run of form in the film: finding out about that woman's father was quite interesting. Apparently the world extends to America and Russia. Forget every other country, they'll be more than happy to stop all wars as long as America says so. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think the writers are really clueless about the world outside of American television. To say that the film's ending is better than the book has pretty much annihilated any chance of me reading it.

Still, like I said before, Rorschach was brilliant. It's a shame they didn't let him have even more time on screen. I don't know why I have such a problem with Dr Manhattan. I just didn't care about him. He can go and be God or whatever, I'm not at all bothered. I'd rather be entertained by a down-and-out gruff detective.

Before I saw it, a friend told me that it was rubbish. He said that it was very true to the original book, and it made him realise that he didn't like the book as much as he'd previously thought.

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I've never read the book, and I just watched the film for the first time last night (yeah, hard to see a movie like this outside of the big screen, but I've got a reasonably large TV ). Not having had the context of the source, I can't speak to that, but I was really very impressed.

Knowing now after the fact that the soundtrack was very specifically linked to the novel, it really made me enjoy it all the more, particularly the use of Dylan-penned songs. I mean, "The Times, They Are A-Changin'" is a fantastic song in and of itself, and works so well with the opening montage; beyond that, it's kind of impossible not to get an awesome action feeling with Hendrix' version of "...Watchtower," too. The use of the original Cohen version of "Hallelujah" was appropriate for the era, too, and kind of gives a very uneasy vibe to that scene, which seems in a way appropriate.

With regards to the action imbalance that Gears brings up from his friends, I can almost relate to that; I also agree, though, that the focus being less on action and more outside the action makes it more of a meta-hero story, which frankly is more interesting. And besides, if it had much more action, I'm pretty sure my wife would have had to turn it off - she'd had about plenty with Rorschach's kidnapper flashback and the escape from the prison!

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Quote (Rangers51 @ 30th August 2009 13:44)

Knowing now after the fact that the soundtrack was very specifically linked to the novel, it really made me enjoy it all the more, particularly the use of Dylan-penned songs. I mean, "The Times, They Are A-Changin'" is a fantastic song in and of itself, and works so well with the opening montage; beyond that, it's kind of impossible not to get an awesome action feeling with Hendrix' version of "...Watchtower," too. The use of the original Cohen version of "Hallelujah" was appropriate for the era, too, and kind of gives a very uneasy vibe to that scene, which seems in a way appropriate.

Agree completely. How can you not like Jimi's All Along the Watchtower?

I'd never read the book either, and so I didn't feel a particularly strong motivation to see that movie. I ended up seeing it just the other week by chance... and I liked it quite a bit actually. Man, superheros have problems.

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Quote (Death Penalty @ 31st August 2009 22:19)

Agree completely. How can you not like Jimi's All Along the Watchtower?

Well, since you ask, they could repeat the first introductory verse at the end of the song, leaving you with a niggling feeling that something wrong has just happened. Maybe they only would've done that with Dylan's version.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

I came into comics honestly as a kid as everyone else did... and I have read my fair share.... as a side note i hate alan moore... plain and simple i really despise him as a person and his works. he's a 60+ guy trying to dress like an up and coming goth wannabe and is the most pretentious guy on the planet and i feel that it shines very clearly though anything i read (the killing joke, and whatever happened to the man of tomorrow being the two i read before i gave up trying).... so i never read the book


I went to see this movie at a pre-screening the week before it came out because... well i had free passes and a ride downtown and was not expecting much. the movie starts and the attack on the comedian starts going and 'Unforgettable' by Nat King Cole is playing throughout the fight sequence and i thought to myself 'no aggressiveness to the music? no score-y uptempo piece to elevate this? that's a little messed up'. and then you think about the irony presented in the fight and how it goes down and it cruel-y fitting. and then Rorschach shows up. and from two lines into his monologue i'm hooked. and the movie is ridiculously long no doubts but i ended up loving it. (again having no source material) so really loving the movie i went out and read the book. and opening the book i was completely shocked how many shots in the movie are straight out of the book.... like exactly. and i've never seen that before. so i started reading and about 4 pages in the pretentiousness starts to sink in. '' but i finished it took me 5 hours to read but i finished. (a general 36 page single issue comic usually takes me no longer than 10 minutes.... so this is a long time)

a lot was left out of the movie that should have been in there. there was a lot in the book that shouldn't have been in there. i imagine with the write creator to take the two and mix them they could make the ultimate mix but. the biggest missing part was the newspaper stand. it was a very definitive part of the comic that explains a LOT of movie plot points. such as Rorschach giving the new frontiersmen his journal and the scene at the new frontiersmen at the end... and why the two guys look at each other and hug as they get blown up cuz that's the kid reading the comic and the shopkeep. i'm not saying to do the comic book in the movie cuz believe me that seems completely pointless (even after finding out that it's a metaphor for exactly what the main characters are going through ) but they needed that bit explained... they didn't explain rorschach's mask which they probably should have... etc etc.

still fantastic movie. okay comic... (not even close to the hype... or even in my top 50 picks of graphic novels) so the world is still at peace once more. and i actually can't wait for the Ultimate Edition to be released in december

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