Watchmen *SPOILERS*

[NightAngle04]

Read it first. There is so much they will cut out that you will miss out on. Plus the subtle stuff in the artwork.

I didn't even like the book until after my second time reading it. I didn't get it the first time.

Actually I would recommend NOT reading it until after you see this movie. Because there is just no way in hell they are going to fit everything into the movie and they are going to leave shit out. So its better to go back and read what they left out and then complain about it.

[JackFetch]

In the interview, Moore says that he finds "film in its modern form to be quite bullying," and as far as the much-publicized lawsuit, Moore seems to be thrilled about the legal problems surrounding the film which is due out on March 6, 2009, two months after the trial date that's been set for the case. "Will the film even be coming out? There are these legal problems now, which I find wonderfully ironic. Perhaps it's been cursed from afar, from England, and I can tell you that I will also be spitting venom all over it for months to come."

http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=7669

Alan Moore is a bitter old man. He's never seen any of the movies based on his books, but he still hates them. He's getting paid for them so why is he so bitter?

[Stavros]

In the interview, Moore says that he finds "film in its modern form to be quite bullying," and as far as the much-publicized lawsuit, Moore seems to be thrilled about the legal problems surrounding the film which is due out on March 6, 2009, two months after the trial date that's been set for the case. "Will the film even be coming out? There are these legal problems now, which I find wonderfully ironic. Perhaps it's been cursed from afar, from England, and I can tell you that I will also be spitting venom all over it for months to come."

http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=7669

Alan Moore is a bitter old man. He's never seen any of the movies based on his books, but he still hates them. He's getting paid for them so why is he so bitter?

He's giving all his movie royalties to Dave Gibbons, Alan Moore isn't getting richer off these films, at least not directly.

[Delete]

In the interview, Moore says that he finds "film in its modern form to be quite bullying," and as far as the much-publicized lawsuit, Moore seems to be thrilled about the legal problems surrounding the film which is due out on March 6, 2009, two months after the trial date that's been set for the case. "Will the film even be coming out? There are these legal problems now, which I find wonderfully ironic. Perhaps it's been cursed from afar, from England, and I can tell you that I will also be spitting venom all over it for months to come."

http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=7669

Alan Moore is a bitter old man. He's never seen any of the movies based on his books, but he still hates them. He's getting paid for them so why is he so bitter?

To be fair to Alan Moore it is not like his comics have been turned into anything worthwhile.

[JackFetch]

To be fair to Alan Moore it is not like his comics have been turned into anything worthwhile.

First off, how would he know?

Second, would they be if he actually helped them make them?

[slothian]

To be fair to Alan Moore it is not like his comics have been turned into anything worthwhile.

First off, how would he know?

Second, would they be if he actually helped them make them?

Firstly, the handling of LXG could probably turn one off a studio for life, especially if you consider WB's general track record with CBMs.

And in the same way video game fans don't enjoy VGMs due to studio disregard for the in-built mythos, Alan Moore could rightly feel that all his creative energies that went into the Watchmen book won't be reflected in a 2-3 hour film version. It'd help if he saw the films to confirm such hunches, but it isn't hard to believe why creators might not neccessarily embrace different mediums.

And hey, I want to see this film. I loved V for Vendetta too. But if something you've created is being adapted for a mass market in a different medium by people who aren't going to give you the full reign you once had, you have a right to be a bit nervous about the end product.

[Koete]

The Fox/Warner Brothers legal battle is a GOOD thing

[Molly]

Because the Adam West Batman is worth this headache.

[JackFetch]

A man was seen protesting outside Fox Studios wearing a familiar outfit.......................

Find out more on his Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/wearethewatchmen

[JackFetch]

Warner Bros. just unveiled a first look at Watchmen to an eager audience at their studio lot in West Hollywood. Director Zack Snyder joined costume designer Michael Wilkinson and Production Designer Alex McDowell for the event, showing off the first 12 minutes and a few subsequent scenes, totaling nearly a half hour of brand-new footage.

Opening with stylish black-on-yellow production logos, the shot begins on the classic smiley face button-pinned to a man selling newspapers on the street. Tracking immediately upward, we're taken inside Edward Blake's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) apartment. Just as in the first panels of the original comic book, we see the Comedian sitting at home alone in the final moments of his life. The scene (and nearly every shot showcased) is jam-packed with hidden references. On the wall is a '50's style pin-up of Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino) and on the television we see a pundit-style press show with footage of Richard Nixon giving a Presidential speech. Discussions are held about a "Doomsday Clock" and ongoing tensions with Russia. Here, Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) is introduced as America's best defense in the Cold War.

Coming back to Blake's apartment, we find him changing the channel to a film that plays the song "Unforgettable." The song continues to play throughout the scene as a masked assailant breaks in the front door and fights with Blake. The fight is much longer than in the comic and includes a number of Snyder's signature slow-motion shots.

The fight ends with Blake losing and blood dripping from his chin onto his own smiley face button. He's thrown back, crashing through the window and falling to the pavement below. The button falls in slow-motion, landing by his side before being surrounded by a pool of blood from his dead body.

Cue Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are A'Changin'" as we enter the opening credits, beginning with a shot of the 50's-style Minute Men taking a group photo. There's a lot of great bits against Dylan's words, all captured in an almost-still kind of slow-motion. We're taken through the whole history of superheroes in this world with many shots representing an alternate take on real-life historical events; Doctor Manhattan shakes hands with President Kennedy (using actual footage) and we then see his assassination by the Comedian (standing on the grassy knoll). Lesbian superheroine Silhouette kisses a nurse at the end of World War II (parodying the LIFE magazine photo) and then a shot of her subsequent murder. Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) stands outside Studio 54. The Enola Gay flies past, painted with the image of Sally Jupiter. Andy Warhol (with Truman Capote) shows off a painting of Nite Owl. Doctor Manhattan stands on the moon, filming the first astronauts. Sally Jupiter's retirement party is framed like DaVinci's "The Last Supper."

The scene ends with a new wave of superheroes taking the same shot the credits begin with, 30 years later and then pulls out to reveal a store window filled with televisions and the spraypainted: "WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?" in red across the glass. A molotov cocktail is thrown through the window and the scene erupts in flames.

The next scene showcased had Doctor Manhattan sitting on Mars, looking at a photograph and speaking in an inner monologue, remembering (with flashbacks) the events of his life that led to this particular moment. We see him in an amusement park in 1959 with his girlfriend, Janey. We see an accident that happens in his laboratory that leads to him becoming all-powerful, returning as a blue, glowing God-like force. We see him being drafted by the government and asked to step in to end the Vietnam war. We see him using his powers to obliterate tanks, villages and people. We learn that he cheated on his wife with the second Silk Spectre, Laurie (Malin Akerman) and, wanting to escape humanity, has traveled to Mars where he meditates in the desert. Floating above the ground with his legs crossed, Dr. Manhattan calls forth an enormous clockwork structure from the sand, building a golden monument against the red desert.

The last scene featured Nite Owl (Stephen McHattie) and Laurie having just had sex aboard Nite Owl's ship. Snyder explained that the characters are set up so that their superheroics are somewhat fetishized and that both characters get a sexual thrill out of crime-fighting. The two decide to break into a maximum security prison and bust out Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) who has been arrested. The Owl ship lands at the prison and major fights ensue as Rorschach is freed from his cell and other prisoners riot. A midget runs from Rorschach, but he chases him into the bathroom. We see him cornered before the door shuts and, after a silence, there's a flush as Rorschach emerges. Water and blood spills from the crack at the bottom of the bathroom door.

Snyder and crew answered a number of questions and let slip a few interesting bits :

"The Black Freighter" cartoon runs about 20 minutes. It will be released on DVD with a "60 Minutes" style news program, looking back on the release of the original Nite Owl's memoirs, "Under the Hood" a decade later.

As he's stated in the past, the plan for "Black Freighter" is to have it cut in with the rest of the full movie for an ultimate DVD cut somewhere down the line.

The current running time is two hours and 45 minutes but that may change in either direction.

Snyder promised there would never be a sequel saying, "No chance of a sequel or prequel or 'Watchmen Babies' or anything like that."

Though the film was not shot in IMAX, there will be an IMAX release, "in some way."

Other songs that appear in the film include Nena's "99 Luftballons" and Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence."

The latter song plays at Blake's funeral

and required special permission from the artists to be used; permission that has only been granted once before (For The Graduate in 1967).

http://www.superherohype.com/news/watchmennews.php?id=7701

[Dread]

Fuck.

I better check it out twice in theatres because I'm waiting for the ultimate DVD...

[drqshadow]

Can't come soon enough. Some of that sounds a little iffy, but I'll give Snyder the benefit of the doubt.

[Delete]

Major spoilers in these reviews so don't click if that kind of thing bothers you.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/watchmen/new...chmen_Screening

I do not like what I am reading here.

[Guest]

Awesome. They got rid of the one thing I couldn't stand in the book. Sounds good to me.

[drqshadow]

Frankly, that's the one element that would have thrown non-hardcores for a loop and may have turned them off to the film. It could work without.

[Delete]

Frankly, that's the one element that would have thrown non-hardcores for a loop and may have turned them off to the film. It could work without.

I cannot see how what they changed it to could work.

[Molly]

I'm more upset by the New Frontiersmen bit being out.

[Guest]

I'm more upset by the New Frontiersmen bit being out.

Well, we knew from the start that wasn't making it in. That kind of thing doesn't really translate to film.

[Molly]

I dunno, how hard is it to have a kid look pensive at R's journal and then cut to the credits?

[Guest]

I don't know how the hell I read that wrong. For some reason, I thought you were talking about the Tales of the Black Freighter side story.

According to that, they didn't leave the New Frontiersmen bit out, unless I read it wrong.

[Aaron Robinson]

If you're just talking about what was posted in that article, then there's a couple of frantic posts questioning whether or not its made its way into the movie, but nothing confirming it either way.

[Delete]

I never had high hopes for this movie given who is directing it. The Dawn of the Dead remake and 300 are just awful movies. Still even with my low hopes these spoilers have me annoyed as hell. I mean I should not be surprised that symbolism or satire goes sailing over Snyder's head, but Jesus Christ if he at least tried to pull that frame by frame remake to the screen BS there might have been some goodness by osmosis.

[drqshadow]

That's an awful lot of conclusions to draw from a teaser trailer and a few scarce early screening reports.

[Delete]

That's an awful lot of conclusions to draw from a teaser trailer and a few scarce early screening reports.

And Dawn of the Dead and 300.

[Molly]

Except 300 captured the feel of Miller's graphic novel pretty much perfectly.

And Dawn of the Dead was one of the few good remakes.