Who Watched the Watchmen?

SDragon · March 18, 2009, 03:11:04 PM

Well, that's another example, but I was specifically referring to the interviews, excerpts, and such.

Also, you do need a visual medium to have specific characters in the background. If you mention a character at all in a text-based medium, they enter the foreground.

Edit-- oh, and I'm going to see the movie in a little over an hour. Yay me!

Elemental_Elf · March 19, 2009, 03:41:54 AM

Saw the movie today and I have to say, I was blown away. this movie tops the Dark Knight as my favorite comic book movie. There was sex, gore, intelligence (which is hard to find in any movie to day)... Like I said, I was blown away.

[spoiler]Ok, now my reaction. I have not read the comic.

I had no issue with any of the gore or the sex. I felt it was all completely, 100% necessary. It needed to be over the top to blatantly illustrate the level of decrepit deviancy America, and the world, had fallen to. With out the utter carnage, I think the ending would have been a complete joke. The world was headed towards doom, every man, woman and child could sense it... It was this sense of collective inevitable destruction that pushed the people to regard life, nay their common man, with as little thought as one would give to burning ants with a magnifying glass.

As for the sex, I can't say as I felt there was too much. We're talking about a society that's falling a part, sex is just something that appeals to a doomed man; the last carnal delight before death. Also, many have commented on the sex scene between the Nite Owl and Laurie in the Archimedes was over the top... I would say YES! It had to be! there needed to be a sense of relief, that life could be better, if only for those short, sweet minutes. Further, the scene really emphasized just how far Jon had slipped away; that Laurie was so pent up that she needed that sex as an outlet for her rage and feelings of abandonment. In a sense, she was using Nite Owl as a sex toy, to fuel her desires that were not being fulfilled by Jon.

On a different topic, I found it quite fascinating that at the end of all things, the 'Joe Everyman' of the Watchmen (Nite Owl) compromised his beliefs for the betterment of the whole (something normal people would not do) and Rorschach, the most sadistic out-of-touch character, was left at the end of all things being the bastion of humanity in not going along with Veidt's unhinged plan. It speaks volumes for just how chaotic and fickle the whole of humanity is; how we'll be uncompromising and fanatical one moment and yet betray those same beliefs the very next minute if the end is to our pleasure.[/spoiler]

Quote from: Cheomesh[spoiler]I seriously don't see how nuking 5 American cities and 1 Russian city solves anything, but maybe it's because I'm a simpleton. I wish they stuck with the cooler comic book ending.
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Actually, I totally disagree. In a world where the escalation of the inevitable war was out of control anything could be used as a catalyst for pulling back and bringing about peace. That peace, however, would be short-lived and devoid of long-term meaning if it was not soaked in the blood of millions.

Think of 9/11 and how, right after, the world rallied around America. The event was a catalyst to spur on massive change in how the world viewed itself. However, the 9/11 catalyst was short-lived because it was used as a justification for war and only affected 1 nation (and only a small segment there of). Now take those same feelings and events but multiply them by millions and have it affect the world's greatest powers and you can see how that would enact radical change. [/spoiler]

SDragon · March 19, 2009, 04:34:46 PM

Saw the movie last night. Loved it. As noted earlier, always a "but".

[spoiler=movie]Manhattan should have delivered line about the end. Much more dramatic. He didn't. Scene still good without it. later scene didn't need it.

Acting was good. Nothing too impressive. Nothing horrible. Few exceptions-- Rorschach, Comedian-- pulled more then their weight. Dreiberg had too much weight to pull.

Veidt's costume very fitting. Man has ego. styles self after world conqueror. Claims superior intelligence. Markets self with toy figurines and cheap perfume. May be gay.

Sex directed tastefully. Realistic. Doesn't seem to be done for arousal. Still unnecessary. Violence too flashy. Highly trained humans, by definition, not superhuman. Attacking dead scum pointless. Achieves nothing. Same for two-yard-high back flips.

Lack of squid ultimately superficial. Millions still dead. Veidt's Utopia still achieved. Retribution obtained? Possible.

Soundtrack good. Should remember to obtain copy. Must every movie play Wagner in scenes involving Vietnam?[/spoiler]

More may come.

Epic Meepo · March 19, 2009, 05:31:35 PM

That last post should totally have ended with, "That is all."

Nomadic · March 19, 2009, 05:45:22 PM

Quote from: Halfling FritosSaw the movie last night. Loved it. As noted earlier, always a "but".

[spoiler=movie]Manhattan should have delivered line about the end. Much more dramatic. He didn't. Scene still good without it. later scene didn't need it.

Acting was good. Nothing too impressive. Nothing horrible. Few exceptions-- Rorschach, Comedian-- pulled more then their weight. Dreiberg had too much weight to pull.

Veidt's costume very fitting. Man has ego. styles self after world conqueror. Claims superior intelligence. Markets self with toy figurines and cheap perfume. May be gay.

Sex directed tastefully. Realistic. Doesn't seem to be done for arousal. Still unnecessary. Violence too flashy. Highly trained humans, by definition, not superhuman. Attacking dead scum pointless. Achieves nothing. Same for two-yard-high back flips.

Lack of squid ultimately superficial. Millions still dead. Veidt's Utopia still achieved. Retribution obtained? Possible.

Soundtrack good. Should remember to obtain copy. Must every movie play Wagner in scenes involving Vietnam?[/spoiler]

More may come.

You should change your name to Rorschach Fritos... that was epic.

SDragon · March 20, 2009, 04:56:30 PM

Quote from: Scholar[spoiler]
- some parts of the soundtrack ... that godawful version of Halleluja, especially.
[/spoiler]

To be perfectly fair, that was the original, by Cohen. Without it, there wouldn't be any other versions. Also, the song was released in '85, the same year the story takes place. Personally, I thought that was a nice touch.

Superfluous Crow · March 22, 2009, 04:29:22 PM

[spoiler]Movie opened this friday, so i was finally able to watch it (which i did today).
i will be the first to admit that i'm no dire-hard fan of the comic, although i liked it well enough. But i think it stood up well to the comic. Same story, same points, same characters, same visuals. Pretty neat. Some might argue that the comic had a darker tone, but i didn't feel that as a loss as such (although many probably disagree).
The acting was quite decent, didn't really mind Laurie as i feared i would. The voice of Jon was a bit light though.
Although it had its gory moments, i didn't feel that they subtracted from the movie. The action scenes were pretty awesome too. Liked the point where Veidt kicked Rorshach in the face and all the "ink" moved because of it.
Sex scene really wasn't that long.
Didn't mind the loss of the squid. This worked well.
All in all, i think this was a great movie.[/spoiler]

Seraph · March 22, 2009, 05:06:41 PM

Quote from: Cataclysmic Crow[spoiler]Movie opened this friday, so i was finally able to watch it (which i did today).
i will be the first to admit that i'm no dire-hard fan of the comic, although i liked it well enough. But i think it stood up well to the comic. Same story, same points, same characters, same visuals. Pretty neat. Some might argue that the comic had a darker tone, but i didn't feel that as a loss as such (although many probably disagree).
The acting was quite decent, didn't really mind Laurie as i feared i would. The voice of Jon was a bit light though.
Although it had its gory moments, i didn't feel that they subtracted from the movie. The action scenes were pretty awesome too. Liked the point where Veidt kicked Rorshach in the face and all the "ink" moved because of it.
Sex scene really wasn't that long.
Didn't mind the loss of the squid. This worked well.
All in all, i think this was a great movie.
[/spoiler]

I would just like to say to please speak in spoilers when discussing . . . well, spoilers. Thanks.

SDragon · March 23, 2009, 09:04:18 AM

Quote from: Seraphine_Harmonium
Quote from: Cataclysmic Crow[spoiler=Movie]Movie opened this friday, so i was finally able to watch it (which i did today).
i will be the first to admit that i'm no dire-hard fan of the comic, although i liked it well enough. But i think it stood up well to the comic. Same story, same points, same characters, same visuals. Pretty neat. Some might argue that the comic had a darker tone, but i didn't feel that as a loss as such (although many probably disagree).
The acting was quite decent, didn't really mind Laurie as i feared i would. The voice of Jon was a bit light though.
Although it had its gory moments, i didn't feel that they subtracted from the movie. The action scenes were pretty awesome too. Liked the point where Veidt kicked Rorshach in the face and all the "ink" moved because of it.
Sex scene really wasn't that long.
Didn't mind the loss of the squid. This worked well.
All in all, i think this was a great movie.[/spoiler]
I would just like to say to please speak in spoilers when discussing . . . well, spoilers. Thanks.

Seconded

Superfluous Crow · March 23, 2009, 10:08:29 AM

Sorry, didn't know we were still doing that.
Who reads a thread full of spoilers without opening them?

Superfluous Crow · March 23, 2009, 10:09:19 AM

Sorry, didn't know we were still doing that.
Who reads a thread full of spoilers if they aren't going to read what's inside?
But anyway, it's fixed now.

Seraph · March 23, 2009, 10:31:33 AM

Quote from: Cataclysmic CrowSorry, didn't know we were still doing that.
Who reads a thread full of spoilers if they aren't going to read what's inside?
But anyway, it's fixed now.

Yeah, I know. But it's just in case. And thank you.

Matt Larkin (author) · March 28, 2009, 04:32:28 PM

I made this the official discussion thread for the wiki ratings of both the movie page and comic page. Please stop by and rate both :)

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Who Watched the Watchmen?

SDragon

Elemental_Elf

SDragon

Epic Meepo

Nomadic

SDragon

Superfluous Crow

Seraph

SDragon

Superfluous Crow

Superfluous Crow

Seraph

Matt Larkin (author)