Charas-Project

Off-Topic => All of all! => Topic started by: aboutasoandthis on March 01, 2009, 04:20:45 AM

Title: The Watchmen
Post by: aboutasoandthis on March 01, 2009, 04:20:45 AM
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I just got back from a free advanced screening of The Watchman. I've never heard of this comic before. It was sortof an accident even seeing this movie (meeting old friend out of nowhere, walking down movie theatre street, just randomly walking in to find they had seats). I'm not sure what to think of the movie. There were a lot ot things I liked, and a lot of things I didn't like. The movie did get me interested in the overall story though. Is anybody a fan of the comic/going to see this movie?
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: fruckert on March 01, 2009, 04:22:36 AM
I'm going to go see this. Is at as good as the trailer makes it look?

And I've never read the comic either, so I've no idea what the stories about
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 01, 2009, 04:54:20 AM
I am indeed a fan of the comic, and I'm not too optimistic about this movie.

The comic is intelligent and subtle, the movie looks bold and lacking in substance. Of course, this may not be the case, but it's how I interpret the trailers.

One of my main complaints is the decision to make "Tales of the Black Freighter" a seperate movie altogether. For those who don't know, this is a story that runs parallel to the main plot in the comic. This is like tearing out every other chapter of a book and making it into a new book.
I would hazard a guess and say they probably removed the other side-stories too, and I don't even know if it's cinematically possible to include the between-chapter materials. I'm no purist, and I've nothing against cross-media adaptations. I just think that, in this case, it's going to be very difficult to achieve anything above mediocrity. Visually stimulating mediocrity.



Also, Silk Spectre is just... wrong.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: fruckert on March 01, 2009, 05:05:15 AM
Well...it is directed by Zack Snyder, who did 300, so it's definitely going to be very in your face
I don't know how it's going to turn out, but I am going to watch it, because I like the trailers, so...yeah
Going to see it when it comes out
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 01, 2009, 05:09:02 AM
That is precisely what I am afraid of. 300 is not the pinnacle of intellectual stimulation, is it?
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: arcaine91 on March 01, 2009, 05:19:55 AM
Depends. Will there be any auxilliary non-essential irrelevant sex scenes in the movie?
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: fruckert on March 01, 2009, 05:22:54 AM
That is precisely what I am afraid of. 300 is not the pinnacle of intellectual stimulation, is it?
No, it is not
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Strawberry on March 01, 2009, 05:55:58 AM
From what Snyder says, apparently he has tried to put as much as he possibly could, and was forced to shorten it from 3 hours long.

Other than that i've been a fan of the comics for all of my life and I can't wait for this movie.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: drenrin2120 on March 01, 2009, 06:04:58 AM
Actually, I'll be going to see this... Drive-in Theatre style! It'll be the first movie I've seen in a long time, disregarding Friday 13th as it is not even a movie at all. I'm kind of excited, but I have never heard of the comic before a friend read it and told me he loved it.

Though I've never read it, it's kind of expected that a movie version of any form of literature will either obliterate the story or, at best, only compliment it in the sense that "Hey, this movie was pretty good, I should go get the book."
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Ben on March 01, 2009, 07:30:48 AM
Im going to wait in line for hours to see this. I have three days booked off this week to be able to wait in line for the thursday midnight screens, and if i have no luck in line then, im going for the friday screenings.
I am a huge fan of the book.
It cant be a bigger let-down then spiderman 3 was.
If you havent read the book, you can buy a trade paperback of the series at any book store right now.

I am hoping to nerdgasm so hard I will geekjaculate on my dork-gland
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Archem on March 01, 2009, 07:27:51 PM
I have little-to-no interest in this film, but that's attributable to the fact that I've not read the more printed version.

I show a rather mild interest in that form.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: White Dwarf on March 01, 2009, 08:39:40 PM
I'm just gunna point you all to this post here: http://white667.deviantart.com/journal/23319394/

Rather than repeating myself.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 01, 2009, 08:47:51 PM
The fans wish for more, they shout for something equivalent to the beauty of their obsession. But they always look down in laughter; leaking slow snippets of a mediocre representation of our love online they look down and whisper:
“No.”

LOL
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Drace on March 01, 2009, 08:57:25 PM
disregarding Friday 13th as it is not even a movie at all

If I wasn't tired and wasted from moving to my new place the last few days, I would make a post regarding that statement. Though, like said before, I'm too tired to argue about it. I'm letting you slip, for now. *narrows eyes*
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: drenrin2120 on March 02, 2009, 03:06:29 AM
If I wasn't tired and wasted from moving to my new place the last few days, I would make a post regarding that statement. Though, like said before, I'm too tired to argue about it. I'm letting you slip, for now. *narrows eyes*

I meant the remake. Maybe I should have elaborated on that.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: ZeroKirbyX on March 02, 2009, 04:22:16 AM
I have midnight tickets so yeah.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Fortet on March 02, 2009, 06:00:18 AM
Very much looking forward to it, but I do agree:
Silk Specter = No

Also, I get a giant cardboard standee from my theater because I work there, bitches >:D
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 11, 2009, 04:12:32 AM
Saw Watchmen. Spoiler Time.

Bad Stuff;
While the "hidden" references to 300 were irritating, perhaps the most irritating reference of all was the combat itself. Snyders ZOOOM SLLOOOW PHWOOOM POOOW fight scenes feel shoehorned in. The Watchmen are accomplished fighters, but they're not in the ****ing matrix. And violence. Too much stupid needless violence. Mostly all of the violent scenes in the movie are either ridiculously exaggerated or completely fabricated. It was, once again, needless and cheap.

Weeding out all the subplots, as beforementioned, ruined the context of the novel. The novel follows a number of side-plots, some of which reccuring, which track the day-to-day lives of non-super people. It might sound boring, but it brings important focus to normal humanity and how the events of the main story affect them.

Veidt
[spoiler]
was supposed to be a beautiful, chiselled and charming man. An athletic and wealthy aryan masterpiece who nonetheless is unquenchably compassionate. He is SUPPOSED to be attractive. Instead we get this weedy little prick with a smarmy grin and a lofty manner of speech. He's so clearly the villain. And this, ultimately, belittles the moral dilemma he faces.
In the novel, he is a genuinely sorrowful and empathetic character. He is a man who knows what must be done in the name of the greater good, but who is still shaken by the damage he causes. Sure, in the film he pays lip service to self-disgust, but he does it with a cold and unconvincing tone.

It felt like they just missed the point entirely. There are no heroes, nor villains, in watchmen. Each of the characters is flawed, and Veidt can be seen as either the savior of humanity or a monster of hitleresque proportions. The point is that it's your choice. Sure, the film does leave the choice open, but it does it with a few nudges and winks.[/spoiler]

Good Stuff;
Rorshach. He was wonderfully cast and acted, his voice was great and his ever-morphing mask is one of the few things that plainly come across better in film than in print (Although the origin of the mask was removed, making it seem arbitrary) The hard-cut idealism of this right-wing darker-than-dark-knight translated better into the film than the other characters.
In fact, I wanted more of him. Which I guess comes under Bad Stuff. I wanted to see more of his crucial scenes. The one that most readily comes to mind is his lecture to Veidt about his prostitution. And then his subsequent gay comments. What happened to the gay stuff, man?

People say watchmen is faithful. It was faithful insofar as a snakeskin is a snake. Sure, it bears outward resemblence, perfect likeness in some areas, but is missing something deeper. It wasn't a wasted experience. But I don't know if I'd want to see it again.

tl;dr: I'm a whiny bitch, you'd probably like it tbh.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: ThexXtremeXx on March 11, 2009, 06:29:20 PM
lets look at it in an UN-geeky way.

the movie had alot of talking, i wish it had more fighting, the ending ruined it.

I give it a 3.9 out of 5.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Moosetroop11 on March 11, 2009, 08:22:24 PM
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS:


I love the comic, it's amazing. The film was pretty faithful except the endrape... And I'm not just talking about them changing Veidt's plot, which was fair as they couldn't have set up the alien thing properly with the artist and everything. They did some really pointless things... Like Rorshach's death. In the comic Rorshach can't deal with injustice so he continues walking despite the fact that he knows he'll be killed, and he dies alone, and no-one really cares. It's the end of the old way. In the film, Dan runs out and watches Rorshach and Dr Manhattan talk, and Rorshach starts crying, and then when Dr M kills him, Dan let's out a hollywood "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" XD I mean, he murdered that bit so needlessly.

My final complaint is with Silk Spectre's actress. She's terrible. Half the time she was supposed to be sounding unsure of herself but she sounded like she'd forgotten her lines >.>

One thing I loved was the comedian. He certainly looked the part, anyway. Every scene with him in was done right.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: lonewolf on March 11, 2009, 11:47:52 PM
The Watchmen is this any good ?
as i was going to see it with 20 kids next weekend
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: SaiKar on March 12, 2009, 01:31:21 AM
I liked it. You can probably dismiss most of the complaints of this topic as people that knew the graphic novel just being bitter. I didn't and went into the movie cold and liked it a lot.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Fortet on March 12, 2009, 03:23:34 AM
Yea, Silk Spectre (I and II) were just... Horrible.
I understand Sally was supposed to... "Hot-for-Teacher"-esque, but they just made her look like a slut. A cheap slut.
And the sex scene in Archie was just so overdone. There was no point to how long it was. It the comic, it was short and got the point across
[spoiler]about how dependent Dan was to Night Owl[/spoiler]

I was geekishly annoyed about how much had been taken out, like the entire Black Freighter subplot, and Dr. What's-his-Face (Walter's Psych).

Other than that, I do have to admit they did a great job making the characters look like they were straight from the comic. Except Laurie. That was just pathetic.

I'm not bashing, BTW. It was still a decent film. I guess my expectations were just a bit too high.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: ZeroKirbyX on March 12, 2009, 03:56:39 AM
I liked the Watchmen comic.

I liked the Watchmen movie.

The Watchmen movie is not the Watchmen comic, it's the Watchmen music.

People need to get off the trip and just appreciate it for the entirely different thing that it is.

Except the first Hulk movie my god.

Also, the music was a poor choice.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: fruckert on March 12, 2009, 04:34:29 AM
The Watchmen movie is not the Watchmen comic, it's the Watchmen music.
Might want to fix that

BTW, still haven't seen this
Still want to though
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 12, 2009, 05:29:27 AM
They did some really pointless things... Like Rorshach's death.

Know exactly what you mean. You know, most of the problems with this movie come from the submission to movie conventions. The need to force "emotional" scenes like this, or to blatantly point out who you're meant to consider the villain. Throwing in arbitrary violence and fight scenes to keep the airheads happy. I found out recently that Terry Gilliam turned down making the watchmen movie, saying it would need at least a 5-hour miniseries to do it justice. We can only dream.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Rahl on March 12, 2009, 06:26:00 AM
I really liked it, got to watch the midnight showing. Other than the fact that it was an absolute sausage fest (with exception of a wonderful scene) and that it seemed a little long and drawn out, I loved it.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 12, 2009, 02:54:40 PM
I liked it. You can probably dismiss most of the complaints of this topic as people that knew the graphic novel just being bitter. I didn't and went into the movie cold and liked it a lot.
What's wrong with that? If they made a movie out of the Great Gatsby without the themes of class and materialism, or One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest without mental illness, it would be abhorrent. It would be blasphemous, regardless of how technically good the movie. Would you "dismiss" critics as being "bitter" over the novels?
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: SaiKar on March 12, 2009, 06:58:09 PM
What's wrong with that? If they made a movie out of the Great Gatsby without the themes of class and materialism, or One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest without mental illness, it would be abhorrent. It would be blasphemous, regardless of how technically good the movie. Would you "dismiss" critics as being "bitter" over the novels?

I'm not saying it's okay to gut the important parts. I'm saying that, no matter how much the movie crew does to try to turn a book or a comic or a play or whatever into a movie, fans of the original media are always going to be pissed about one thing or another. As Kirby sort of tried to say, movies are movies and not books or comics. Things have to get changed for silver screen. If fans expected an exact replica of the graphic novels, word-for-word and scene-for-scene, they were kidding themselves in a rather stupid way.

It happens with every movie like this. Fans complain that this or that isn't perfect. I have no patience for it anymore.

If anything, I'm GLAD I haven't read the novels, because that way the movie can't let down my expectations.

As a fan, shouldn't any sort of movie adaptation make you happy, no matter how much stuff they screw up? At least they're out there, trying to deliver to your more content. And if you decide the whole thing is just irredeemably awful, you can dismiss it as a "well, that's just their take on it. Oh well" kind of thing.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Ben on March 12, 2009, 07:52:19 PM
Sai, I agree with you, but since this is the internet, you have voided all e-cred by saying
Quote
I have no patience for it anymore.


the soundrtack was used quite poorly.
The DVD release is supposed to include the black freighter, and the ' "Under the hood" by Hollis Mason ' snippets
The ending was a let down, but i expected as much. I have had moistened panties for the book for years now. I expected them to rape the ending. The same resolve was reached in the end though, they cant leave the viewer to assume rorsach died, or some idiot would figure there was gonna be a sequel.

Lets not kid ourselves here though....they did a pretty fuckin' bang up job of everything, considering they had 3 hours to cram it all in. A movie like this is just going to make more people read the book. Ive seen people reading it at the subway station, and at my workplace, SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THIS MOVIE. You cant tell me thats a bad thing.

The music was hooribllleee.
Rorsach was bang on...with one exception. they made him sound like batman. His voice is supposed to be emotionless and monotone...
not angry-batman and monotone. And If you remember, at the end of the book, he throws the same crying hissy yelling spaz as he does in the movie, only in comic panels you cant see tears falling.
It sucks that they didnt go into the masks origins, but thats more content for the DVD fanboy release.

If you want to relive the book in full motion, download a torrent of the motion comic. Its awesome, and rorsachs mask is even better




The Theater release was not for the fanboys, it was for the sales.
The DVD release if for us. Theres going to be nearly an hour of additional content in that.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Moosetroop11 on March 12, 2009, 09:56:19 PM
I remember Rorshach yelling for Dr M to kill him, but not quite like that... But it was the presence of Dan that I was annoyed about, it kinda changed the entire dynamic of the scene.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the film. It was good- waaay better than I expected, actually. It's just easier to describe the little bits you didn't like than go through all the other scenes and go "that was pretty good. That was pretty good too."
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Red Giant on March 12, 2009, 10:44:26 PM
I'm not saying it's okay to gut the important parts. I'm saying that, no matter how much the movie crew does to try to turn a book or a comic or a play or whatever into a movie, fans of the original media are always going to be pissed about one thing or another. As Kirby sort of tried to say, movies are movies and not books or comics. Things have to get changed for silver screen. If fans expected an exact replica of the graphic novels, word-for-word and scene-for-scene, they were kidding themselves in a rather stupid way.

It happens with every movie like this. Fans complain that this or that isn't perfect. I have no patience for it anymore.

If anything, I'm GLAD I haven't read the novels, because that way the movie can't let down my expectations.

As a fan, shouldn't any sort of movie adaptation make you happy, no matter how much stuff they screw up? At least they're out there, trying to deliver to your more content. And if you decide the whole thing is just irredeemably awful, you can dismiss it as a "well, that's just their take on it. Oh well" kind of thing.
That's the problem, this was almost a word-for-word adaptation, but with none of the soul. I am a big fan of Nolan's batman series, which morph and modify every detail of the universe to fit the "realistic" universe, but preserve the core themes. I am not your fanboy who complains when I hear a word out of place, and I hate that attitude as much as you. But this is not nitpicking, this is a wholly different complaint.

I am not in doubt that this is about the best possible watchmen movie that could exist. But as I had said before, watchmen is just not fit for cinema. We talk as though a watchmen movie was some kind of cosmically fated event that no mortal could have averted. They could have just, you know, not made a watchmen movie. I am jaded with our entertainment culture that calls for arbitrary adaptation of any damn thing that has a chance of turning a dollar. But I guess it's not fair to pin that on watchmen alone.


I suppose it is a good thing that more people will be turned towards the novel.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Razor on March 13, 2009, 03:54:09 AM
Your all gay.
It was my movie of the year. It had EVERYTHING.

Obviously I haven't read the novel BUT DARN TOOTIN' I WANT TO.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: ZeroKirbyX on March 13, 2009, 06:13:23 AM
I still loved the "Good friend Daniel," scene.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Ben on March 13, 2009, 06:59:28 AM
Your all gay.
It was my movie of the year. It had EVERYTHING.

Obviously I haven't read the novel BUT DARN TOOTIN' I WANT TO.
I love you so much that if your anus and or inverted penor was around me, i would unbirth and climb into it.
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Razor on March 13, 2009, 12:15:57 PM
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL
Title: Re: The Watchmen
Post by: Archem on March 13, 2009, 09:48:57 PM
I would start sealing up all of my orifices.

But that's just me.