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LTTP: Watchmen (movie)

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It really loses a lot of its greatness if you read the novel afterwards.

It's a great movie, but a bit shallow and standard compared to the novel.

Still a great movie.
 
Fudgepuppy said:
It really loses a lot of its greatness if you read the novel afterwards.

It's a great movie, but a bit shallow and standard compared to the novel.

Still a great movie.
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I think the people who disliked him culling some superfluous elements are probably the same people who thought it was unfilmable. You can only stuff so much into a movie, without it spewing out of the sides.
 
I didn't like these things:

1. Veidt was severely miscast imo or given bad direction. He's supposed to be a charming, likable Bruce Wayne-esque figure in the comics which makes his turn that much more dramatic, but in the movie he already looks bad from the get-go. There's no way anyone in theaters was surprised when it was revealed he was pulling strings behind the scenes.

2. 99 red balloons and the other song that played during the sex scene in the ship. 99 Red balloons was just awkward but the other song completely ruined an important scene in the comic (at least to me). Night owl was finally able to get over his insecurities and I thought it was a nice tender moment in the comic that was important to the 2 characters, the movie made it into this cringe worthy corny soft porn stuff, everyone in the theater was laughing. It was just so bad.

3. There was something changed in the ending (not the squid stuff which I thought wasn't a big deal). In the comics Veidt asks Manhattan if what he did was right and Manhattan gives a vague response that makes Veidt question himself and whether his actions were justified or not. This is the most important part of the comic imo and it's completely missing from the movie, I don't understand why.

4. There's a deleted scene where the audience disappears after Manhattan says leave me alone like in the comics, I don't know why it wasn't in the theatrical version. It's really cool and it's not like it wastes 5 minutes or anything it was only 30 seconds, weird cut especially since they already did the visual effects for it.

5. The ink blot interview with Rorschach is cut from the theatrical version but is in the directors cut. Feel like this should've been in the theatrical too, it's unnecessary to the overall story but if I had final cut I don't know how I'd want to get rid of this scene.

6. So much stupid unnecessary slow mo, this is obviously a Snyder thing so it's not an uncommon criticism but it was just over and over. The prison break out was the worst because of this shit.

7. The back and forth between Spectre and Manhattan on Mars was just ...off completely for me. It followed the comic but the acting from the woman just wasn't there to make it as good as it could've been.

8. The color of Veidt's pet tiger cat thing was changed, why?

Great things:

1. Dr. Manhattan, Rorscach and Comedian were all absolutely amazing. Their monologues, the actors, loved all of their scenes.

2. The opening fight sequence was the shit. Snyder's song choices are a mixed bag, I hated 99 red balloons and the other song but unforgettable during this scene was so cool. Lots of other great scenes like when Rorschach is cornered in the house.

3. Was actually faithful to the comic for the most part or tried to be, not as copy paste as say Sin City but it translated well I thought. Dr. Manhattan's monologue about the photograph then transporting to Mars gave me goosebumps. The setting, atmosphere etc were all great.

4. Visuals in IMAX were amazing. I wish I could see it again at a theater I would in a heartbeat. Makes me excited to see how Man of Steel will look.

It's definitely up there on superhero movie rankings, easily in the top 10. The dumbest shit people said about this movie was constantly referring to Manhattan's penis/balls though as if they shouldn't have shown them. In the middle of the theater there were chuckles and people just started talking about it while the movie was going on, then on imdb forums that's all people mentioned. I don't understand why adults can't be mature about a body part. Just really weird.
 
I loved the movie. The animated motion comic is still better, but only because it is exactly the novel. I don't really like the movie ending better than the book ending, but I can definitely see why it was done. The book ending might be very odd and out of place in a movie.

I feel like the major reason some people didn't like the movie was the fact that this was their first exposure to the story. The movie doesn't necessarily do any favors to people who haven't read the original. I know it is probably the movie's job to explain everything on its own, but for anyone who actually knows the story, it was a fantastic adaptation with notable flaws (which Angry Fork hits on perfectly).
 
Oh god, thanks for reminding me of the awful soundtrack. It's rare when a song pulls me out of the movie, but many songs on Watchmen did. Even the Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" bit. The only song that worked was the bob dylan opening.
 
Messofanego said:
Oh god, thanks for reminding me of the awful soundtrack. It's rare when a song pulls me out of the movie, but many songs on Watchmen did. Even the Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" bit. The only song that worked was the bob dylan opening.
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Didn't even like the opening music :/
Loved the movie and for me it is good as the comic. Soundtrack wasn't good but that's pretty much only bad thing I have to say about it.
 
The movie was basically a clone from the comic book, which is what most people wanted I guess, but it kind of felt hollow at times. Maybe because it moved so quickly despite being almost three hours. I enjoyed it, but there's something indescribable about the film that kept me from loving it.
 
My favorite superhero movie alongside SM 2. People complain about the music but I loved it. In the 99 Lufballons scene the song is timed so well to Dan seeing Laurie I can't help but smile. And the sex scene is supposed to be kind of lame and awkward in both media. Complete with orgasm activated Archie flamethrower. This is not some romantic pair finding each other. These are seriously messed up, violent individuals. Nite Owl and Silk Spectre are only nominally better than Rorschach and The Comedian.

And the ending of the movie is better than the comic. First the movie didn't really have the time to set up the whole "where are the scientists and artists?" mystery. Second it makes more sense as a unifying threat.
 
The poor adaptation of a single character normally doesn't upset me (hell I enjoyed XM First Class despite only liking two characters), but Veidt ruined this movie for me.

The main beats of the story depend on Veidt, and with a weak Veidt, I see a weak Watchmen movie.
 
Also:

Synder slomo > any other slomo.

I agree that it's usually pretty awful, but he just nails it. I love it in his movies for some reason.

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Salvor.Hardin said:
The poor adaptation of a single character normally doesn't upset me (hell I enjoyed XM First Class despite only liking two characters), but Veidt ruined this movie for me.

The main beats of the story depend on Veidt, and with a weak Veidt, I see a weak Watchmen movie.
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I agree that Veidt was terribly miscast. I almost wish the Tom Cruise rumors were true. Or that Fassbender was cast instead.
 
I really need to give it a re-watch at some point. Last time I saw it was at the cinema. Is it worth watching the Ultimate cut of the film or just stick to the theatrical?
 
shorty_symd said:
I really need to give it a re-watch at some point. Last time I saw it was at the cinema. Is it worth watching the Ultimate cut of the film or just stick to the theatrical?
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you really should watch the directors cut, its a big improvement over the theatrical version. not a fan of the ultimate cut, its too long and the comic scenes are not well done/animated.
 
I really like Watchmen, maybe because I have never read the comic, but from reading a description of the comic I like the movie ending better. The opening credits and the Dr Manhattan origin are both brilliant.
 
cashman said:
To this day I still think that the trailer was better than the actual movie.
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I think that trailer has been the single greatest filmed adaptation of anything from comic books.

It's a shame the movie was so disappointing, in my opinion.


Adding to everyone else's beefs, I absolutely hated how apparently everyone was a superhero capable of throwing people through marble countertops. This completely undermines the specialness of Veidt's bullet catch, or how Watchmen are still a part of human-kind and Manhattan is something else.

And then you get a little of it in the regular movie, but in the director's cuts Nite Owl and Silk Specter main and kill several Top Knot members, and giggle about it afterwards. Rorshach was supposed to be the blood thirsty one, why are these two so psychopathic all of a sudden?

And it's such a weird decision to say "Oh, that squid ending is too much" but then "let's keep in Bubastis!"
 
i have nothing to add beside that i loved the movie and almost every zack snyder movie beside sucker punch and owl movie.. i will just add which i wrote in man of steel thread

Just watched Watchmen : directors cut last night and people may dislike the movie but it was shot beautifully .
Also one thing that i like about snyder movie is that even tough they are CG heavy they never look out of place. The whole world is built that way that cg thimgs fit right in unlike many other movies
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Fezan said:
i have nothing to add beside that i loved the movie and almost every zack snyder movie beside sucker punch and owl movie.. i will just add which i wrote in man of steel thread

Code: 
Just watched Watchmen : directors cut last night and people may dislike the movie but it was shot beautifully .
Also one thing that i like about snyder movie is that even tough they are CG heavy they never look out of place. The whole world is built that way that cg thimgs fit right in unlike many other movies
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You liked 300, but not Sucker Punch? I mean, they are both pretty much garbage, but at least SP is entertaining.
 
meltingparappa said:
And then you get a little of it in the regular movie, but in the director's cuts Nite Owl and Silk Specter main and kill several Top Knot members, and giggle about it afterwards. Rorshach was supposed to be the blood thirsty one, why are these two so psychopathic all of a sudden?

And it's such a weird decision to say "Oh, that squid ending is too much" but then "let's keep in Bubastis!"
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Understandable considering even a character as absolutely pathetic and pitiable as Rorschach went over the heads of the usual comics audience. As I said before Nite Owl and Silk Spectre are only nominally better than Rorschach and The Comedian.
 
I found it terribly disappointing. It didn't capture the essence of the comic for me, and the pacing was terrible.

And it really could of used an orchestral soundtrack.
 
NinjaBoiX said:
Polar opposite for me. 300 bored me to tears. SP was really fun, in an escapist nonsense kind of way.
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i may have bad taste then
But at least all of the movies were beautiful and loved the cgi effect because it was never forced and whole aesthetics of the movies were based around it
 
Without having read the graphic novel, I quite enjoyed the movie. Long, but fantastic.

That said, one of my main quibbles with the film is this:

Because Ozymandias has almost little to no interaction in the movie up until his antagonistic reveal, it was hard not to notice he was up to some shit
 
Pai Pai Master said:
Director's Cut is good. Ultimate Cut is bad.
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Oh really? Is the Ultimate Cut just the Tales of the Black Freighter video spliced into the Director's Cut version of the film? I read the graphic novel before watching the film but I haven't seen the Tales of the Black Freighter animated feature. Best to watch the Director's Cut of Watchmen and Tales of Black Freighter seperately then?
 
NinjaBoiX said:
You liked 300, but not Sucker Punch? I mean, they are both pretty much garbage, but at least SP is entertaining.
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300 had better action than Sucker Punch. One movie is clearly better than the other, even if they're both movies I don't like. In Sucker Punch, I didn't care for a single character, no one was ever harmed, and it had loads more baggage with the fake "feminism", Zack Snyder's statements about it, and many other issues. 300 had was weird homophobia with an evil dude being evil because he acts gay, but nothing on the level of Sucker Punch. The dream locations were generic and the dialogue was nowhere memorable like 300.
 
I only watched this again recently, and every time it comes up for discussion it makes me want to watch it again. I think I'm going to dig the book out first though, to remind myself of it.

I haven't seen the original cut, I just bought the directors cut on BR when it launched. Surprised to see that the ink blot tests weren't in the theatrical version.
 
Incredible, just incredible movie that I watch it maybe 3-5 times a year and I don't even own it, I juts rent it when I feel like seeing it.

Comedian was brilliant!
 
Veidt was easily the worse thing in the movie. Hard to understand him at times too. And after his plan succeeded with all the hard work he put into it, why didnt he have that crying moment like in the comic? The moment where it really hit him that he did it.

I thought that was a very important moment for his character. But in the movie he was like "meh. See? Told ja. No problem at all."
 
Raptor said:
Incredible, just incredible movie that I watch it maybe 3-5 times a year and I don't even own it, I juts rent it when I feel like seeing it.

Comedian was brilliant!
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How much does it cost to rent it 5 times a year? Just buy it!

I don't think I watched this movie closely enough. I can't remember Viedt before his reveal as a villian, that's news to me, and I have no idea what his grand plan was. I just thought he was the bad guy, so they kicked his arse. Meh.
 
Watchmen was very good, it's the only type of film I trust Synder on. Stuff where the material is already written for him (and is quality) and he can have his main focus on the visuals. 300 and Watchmen versus Sucker Punch and you can see what happens when he is too much involved with a film (script, producing, directing etc). Superman is going to blow, though a lot of that will not be Synders fault due to a terrible cookie cutter Hollywood Super hero script.
 
I like and agree with Patton Oswalt's opinion on Watchmen:

Tell you what — before you go and see THE WATCHMEN, plunk down and watch CATWOMAN, GHOST RIDER and DAREDEVIL. And use those seven hours (and don’t pretend like you don’t have seven free hours in your day) to get out all of your disgust and the-world-owes-me-my-daydreams-made-real attitude you strut around with.
Because Zack Snyder STEPPED UP, motherfuckers. THE WATCHMEN was going to get made, one way or another. And instead of bleating on his Facebook status updates or Tweeting about how shitty the upcoming adaptation’s going to be, he TOOK THE BULLET and tried to do it right. Yes, THE WATCHMEN should be a limited series on HBO and blah blah blah IT WAS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY. Zack delivered a 2 1/2 hour, honest attempt, and broke his ass cranking out tons of free extras. Hell, he even animated The Tales of The Black Freighter for you chumps. Plus, he gave you a kick-ass DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, plus 300, plus whatever else he’s got coming down the pike. He’s the best friend the Nerd Mafia’s had since Joss Whedon and Brian Michael Bendis, so everyone please crack the tab on a frosty can of Go Fuck Yourself and go see the movie version of THE WATCHMEN.
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I just do not understand the criticisms from the comic fans. I mean, talk about a bunch of ungrateful man children. This is why we can't have nice things. Not only did it get made, but it was even rated R, and used that rating to great effect. The adaptation was as slavish as one could ever hope for, veering away from the comic only when it made sense. It was masterfully crafted from casting to costumes and set design. Dr. Manhattan is just incredibly realized. Hell, the entire comic universe is amazing right down to the colors used.

The movie has good with a few moments of awful mixed with a surprising number of fantastic. Overall it is a marvel when you stop and think about all of the work that went into every detail in every single scene. Manhattan's scene on Mars is inspired. It is a movie within a movie. The character was amazingly tragic.

I also believe that the film ending was infinitely better than the comic version (which was shamelessly stolen from an Outer Limits episode titled "The Architects of Fear"). It kept every single thing meaningful about the comic ending. Reading some of the opinions that state otherwise, I wonder if you watched the same movie I did. You think it missed the point of the comic?!? I mean, holy shit. I couldn't possibly disagree more. I think it upped the stakes a great deal and the payoff was so much better that it makes one realize how silly the comic ending really is. Hell, Alex Jones feels the movie's plot is the straight up real life design of the Illuminati.

Here's my 5$ Black Friday deal at Best Buy. It's my "3 Great Movies That Comic Fan Boys Hate For No Fucking Reason" trilogy.

2AE2C92D-A13D-4F5C-88AD-36EEE27BEF18-845-000002632C423A24.jpg
 
I read the comic before the movie, then saw it in a theatre, prefer the film over the comic. Comic ending was pretty dumb (
nuclear blast>squid
)and I didn't like how the final scenes played out (
nite owl and silk spectre fucking after everyone knew Dr Manhattan was going to kill Rorschach. Nite Owl witnessing his death was much more effective.
).
As to Snyder's slo-mo, I don't know if it's just me, but I'm so tired of films having a blur of color and calling that action. Slowing down to show case an amazing dodge or satisfying kill just feels great as a viewer. In terms of slo mo during the Watchman, I loved how it emphasized some of the great stills of the comic (such as the Comedian going through the window).
I'm not a fan of super hero films or comic books, but Watchmen convinced me that some could be great.

Edit: Totally agree with the above Oswalt quote
 
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