Watchmen out this Friday

Personally I'm excited for the movie. I'm trying to keep my expectations low because the last time I got really excited about a movie it turned out to be a bust (The Dark Knight).

I feel the movie will have a strong showing at first because of the marketing push as well as the legions of fans who will go see it, but for those unfamilar with the source material I think the movie will fall flat. As was mentioned above, the fans will be able to fill in any gaps that may exist created a "complete" movie, whereas the general public won't be able to fill those gaps in or have accumulated enough information to put the entire message and story into context.

In addition when you compare to The Dark Knight, the general population will be introduced to many of the characters from Watchment for the first time. And people will have to fall in love with them right off the bat for the movie to have grand sucess. Batman has his roots so firmly planted in popular culture that if you ask anyone some basic stuff about him chances are just about anyone can answer those basic questions. With The Watchmen one of the main characters you are not supposed to like right off the bat, so I'm really not sure how well an audience with limited exposure and experience to the Watchmen will take to it because the characters are fairly deep and complex and you don't fall in love and connect with them quickly.

LvT

Octavian wrote:

Mad Dog wrote:

The whole movie is obviously marketed to fans of the comic, but the change(s) to the ending will no doubt disappoint or annoy those same fans.

I can see that happening, and it would be ridiculous if it did. There is nothing untouchably sacred about the specific form of the MacGuffin at the center of the antagonist's plot. All that is important is the nature of the threat. From what I've read they've retained that AND done so in a way that pares down a lot material that would have bogged the film-version of the story down.

I don't want to get into ending spoilers, but based on what I've read the change is significant and not in line with the antagonists plan in the comic.

Mad Dog wrote:

Octavian wrote:

Mad Dog wrote:

The whole movie is obviously marketed to fans of the comic, but the change(s) to the ending will no doubt disappoint or annoy those same fans.

I can see that happening, and it would be ridiculous if it did. There is nothing untouchably sacred about the specific form of the MacGuffin at the center of the antagonist's plot. All that is important is the nature of the threat. From what I've read they've retained that AND done so in a way that pares down a lot material that would have bogged the film-version of the story down.

I don't want to get into ending spoilers, but based on what I've read the change is significant and not in line with the antagonists plan in the comic.

It is completely in line. Perhaps the spoilers you read weren't complete? We can discuss more in PM

Just added to my Netflix list.

There's not a chance in hell I'm going to pay $10 to stand in a long line and join Nerd Nation as it celebrates itself. I'll wait for the DVD and enjoy the show without the costumes, funky odors, and the talking back to the screen, thanks just the same.

TheDukester wrote:

Just added to my Netflix list.

There's not a chance in hell I'm going to pay $10 to stand in a long line and join Nerd Nation as it celebrates itself. I'll wait for the DVD and enjoy the show without the costumes, funky odors, and the talking back to the screen, thanks just the same.

Really?

Maybe I've not seen it enough to be cynical, and maybe it's the people-watcher in me, but I LOVE seeing these guys! Either they're passionate and it comes off as actually kinda cool or they're lame and overzealous and hilarious.

Either way, I got extra entertainment for my $10!

Last NERDFEST movie I went to was midnight showing of one of the LOTR movies and there were a bunch of college/frat guys in homemade jerseys with numbers and hobbit names on em. Best costumes of the night.

I would be happy to join the nerdfest if there was a big improvement in overall hygiene, manners, appearance and wit. Until that somehow happens, I would prefer to watch this movie with any random audience.

Ska_baron wrote:

Maybe I've not seen it enough to be cynical, and maybe it's the people-watcher in me, but I LOVE seeing these guys! Either they're passionate and it comes off as actually kinda cool or they're lame and overzealous and hilarious.

I hit sort of a "last straw" moment with geek culture when the first three Star Wars films were re-released in 1997. I realized at that point that I was one of the few people there whose goal was to see the movies; most everyone else was there to celebrate themselves.

I have fanatically avoided all uber-geek "must-see!" events since then. I eventually catch up with everything on my own time, surrounded by people I actually like.

TheDukester wrote:

I hit sort of a "last straw" moment with geek culture when the first three Star Wars films were re-released in 1997. I realized at that point that I was one of the few people there whose goal was to see the movies; most everyone else was there to celebrate themselves.

I was around 14-15 in 97 and remember that the re-release of New Hope was the first movie I saw where people cheered. Not just at the end, but at appropriate parts like they were at the theatre! Great stuff. Dont remember any spazes, but I didnt go opening night either...

SPOILER: wait until the end of the credits. Alan Moore appears as Hooded Justice and Samuel Jackson is Captain Metropolis. I am totally lying.

Fucking hilarious. That would be so awesome, they pull off the hood and a gigantic beard pops out...

On the ending- I won't spoil either the book or film ending, but believe it or not from an adaption point of view, if something's got to be cut out, the actual form of the ending is what needed to go. There is _a lot_ of story material that isn't directly tied to _any_ of the main story or character arcs that is eliminated by removing the, um, "thing" at the end. It's awesome and I would have loved to have seen it pulled off in the cinema (maybe), but in thinking about it critically _I_ would have cut it out too if I were writing. All that stuff with the artists, the island...none of that is essential to WATCHMEN, and most casual readers likely don't even remember the details of that story element anyway.

The new ending could be cool- it's more directly connected with the principle characters and it does coordinate with a key theme in the book. But it could also suck.

On nerd screenings- I used to go them. I'd do the midnight show for everything. We did the STAR WARS stuff in '97, which was awesome because it was really the first time a lot of people, including a lot of my younger friends, got to see SW on the big screen. Did all the prequels, which was a huge mistake but it was worth all that waiting for the confused hush with intermittent clapping at the end of EPISODE I. Plus I was really drunk through it from drinking vodka in the line all day long. The last ones I did were the LOTR films, and that was scary stuff. 3-4 wait, 3-4 hour movie, and nerds-a-poppin. Now, I'm cool with just waiting.

Watchmen probably should have been a 2 or 3 movie series if they wanted to do it right, but it never would have received a green light if it was pitched that way.

I think the ideal format would have been a 12-episode HBO series, but that was even less likely.

I'll go see it. It better not suck.

hancock.tom wrote:

Watchmen probably should have been a 2 or 3 movie series if they wanted to do it right, but it never would have received a green light if it was pitched that way.

Sorry but that is just utterly retarded. There is ONE story in the book. Where the fuck are you going to put the split? It makes no sense whatsoever to split the book into multiple films. This just really reeks of Geek "it's never good enough!" whining, as does the 12 hour HBO series idea (really, a whole 45-50 mins on the first chapter? Are you joking or what?)

Going to see this tonight. Very excited.
I may then diconnect the internet for 2 weeks, as I cannot be fucked with nerd nation. Seriously, do geeks have the ability to just watch a fucking film anymore?
Watch, enjoy, and shut the fuck up. That's all I want to do. I have no interest in reading the inane rantings of nitpicking fools, or anal breakdowns or whatever.

If you don't like the movie life will go on. Watchmen is just a comic book at the end of the day. Get over the childhood rapage.

Seriously, do geeks have the ability to just watch a fucking film anymore?

Answer- no. If STAR WARS came out now it would be savaged online. If RAIDERS, THE GOONIES, PRINCESS BRIDE, any of 'em came out now they'd be picked to death. I really miss the days when you saw a trailer, knew very little about the movie, saw it, and your opinion existed in a vacuum shared only by your immediate friends and family. Internet cynicism has killed off a lot of the magic of movies, and I mean that in every possible way.

I agree with Frank- WATCHMEN is one story, and it's not a particularly "epic" or expansive story. It's definitely a 2-3 hour story for a film, beyond that and you're getting into minutiae that doesn't matter in terms of narrative. A 12 hour WATCHMEN film would ultimately be boring, because it isn't built to be that long. There isn't enough to sustain that much writing, and at that length things would have to be added to pad out the story. WATCHMEN is packed full of _ideas_ more than anything else, and a lot of what's there is suggested, told in relief, or alluded to- not shown. Even the book excerpts are just that- excerpts. And they tell a larger story that isn't critical to telling the story of Dr. Manhattan, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Rorschach, and the Silk Spectre. Those character's story arcs are WATCHMEN. Not "Tales from the Black Freighter", not the squid, not the Nostalgia commericials, not the Gunga Diner, and not any particular scene or panel from the book. It's a whole, and there are parts of it that can be removed while retaining the integrity of the whole. It's better to remove material than add it, unless it serves the story of those five characters. There's no need to see everything because the writing and layout is so god damned great that it provides us with just the right amount of everything. The movie risks showing us too much already at 2.5 to 3 hours.

At the end of it, it's going to just be a movie. Just like HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA, or MAMMA MIA. Either you'll like it or you won't. The integrity of the book will remain unblemished regardless of the outcome and if the movie is bad it will only reinforce how great the book is. I'm really hoping that it's a good companion to the book and I think that would be the best outcome.

As long as the movie doesn't climax with the Team of Amazing Watchmen-friends banding together to fight off the giant ****, I'll be pretty happy.

I've already got a warm spot for the movie because it caused DC to re-issue the Absolute edition of the book (I missed it the first time), which is very, very nice.

Not only is Wathcman going to rock but i'll do one better...

Watchman 2 starring Arnold Swartzenigger and Sylvester Stallone will be even better. You'll see.

You will *all* see!

Steve"Nostradamus"Avery