V For Vendetta & Watchmen Movie Thread (mostly Watchmen now)

[randombs]

Ok I'm sure we're all happy/sad about the film and whatnot, but more importantly:

'Free' Watchmen promo stuff (usb stick, poster and preview dvd) , you only pay for postage

http://www.watchmenpromo.com/

Has anyone else ordered any promo stuff? I went for the usb stick and poster but haven't heard squat from them yet.

I know it's within 15-28 days but I'm just curious...

[SuperBeatBoy]

I ordered the same stuff as you. I haven't recieved anything yet.

[Spatial]

Why did the big blue fella have to walk round with his cock hanging out all the time as well ?

Oh come on, if you were that omnipotent you'd walk around like that too.

[PrayforMojo]

Thought this was terrific. Never read the GN, so I was lost in places. I never fully grasped why superheroes were outlawed by the government when the government were employing them in various capacities. But it is obviously a comic book of great substance, and I can see why it is held in such high regard by fans.

[merf]

Oh come on, if you were that omnipotent you'd walk around like that too.

who needs to be omnipotent, you just need to live on your own !

[rmoxon]

Thought this was terrific. Never read the GN, so I was lost in places. I never fully grasped why superheroes were outlawed by the government when the government were employing them in various capacities. But it is obviously a comic book of great substance, and I can see why it is held in such high regard by fans.

The Graphic Novel was 12 issues and each issue finished with a 5 or 6 page segment that was just writing and took the form of newspaper aritcles, magazine clippings, and even contained a few chapters from Hollis Masons book. The GN is brimming with back story, and hardly any of that was actualy in the film.

Having said that like you I also thought the film was terrific and I also thought the new ending was an improvment on the novel.

->Open Spoiler<-

The threat of Dr Manhattan attacking earth again seems more likey than an invasion of giant killer squids

Just a brilliant movie and a fantastic adaptation IMO.

[Baseley09]

Ths movie doesn't work. I enjoyed it in the main but won't be watching it again (maybe on TV). Its too long, they shoehorned too much in, pacing is screwed with large segments of character biopic and some others just passing you by. Few ropey CG moments, too much big blue penis.....granted the bird playing silk spector is smokingly smoke, the sex scene is a bit long to the point it's soft core. Worth a watch, some decent action, but it's not right, 3 skulls.

->Open Spoiler<-

Spotting Robert Palmer was maybe the best bit

[SuperBeatBoy]

The sex scene is terrible, if my girl was making faces like that i'd pull out.

[Dogg Thang]

I'm going to see this tonight. I think I may have made a mistake by rereading the book recently. I mean, it can only disappoint, right? Still, I'm hoping...

Solid Snake made a plea on AICN for people to go see it again, even invoking the name of Snake himself - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40409

[Escape-To-88]

Ths movie doesn't work

Agreed!

Thought Watchmen was average at best. Was bitterly dissappointed to be honest. I think the casting was good as was the first 5-10 minutes set to the Dylan tune, but the character backstories and main story was so hap-hazardly strung together it was hard to not get bored.

I thought the directing and constant use of slow-motion was frankly dire and the movie stunk of a something with no coherent structure or real point. It really is the strangest mish-mash of misogony, attempted humour and crap storytelling I have seen, rolled into 3 hours of pretenious tat.

[randombs]

Solid Snake made a plea on AICN for people to go see it again, even invoking the name of Snake himself - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40409

What a lovely read

The thing is, the bit where he says

"All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story [with] its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions. Like a fry-basket full of hot grease in the face. Like the Comedian on the Grassy Knoll"

For me that didn't ring true. I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't witness any of these darkest sides of human nature like I did reading the GN. I didn't care about The Comedian, or that he was one of the few who really understood our nature, that humans just kill themselves. I didn't get the impression that these masked heroes were inherently flawed with all sorts of internal problems - alcoholism, sadism, deep mental issues and things like that - and I didn't care one iota about these masked heroes being targeted as it seems to me we weren't given enough of an opportunity to connect with the characters enough to care what happened to them.

Rorschach is instantly lovable because he has a cool morphing mask and a cool voice and because he's just downright mean, but even with him it's not like the GN where I could really try to understand why he has become what he has become. While I watched the film, I kept trying to look at it through the eyes of someone who hasn't read the comic and these are the things that got me the most.

Maybe that's just the problem with films. Supposing Watchmen was a series like Heroes, where all the stories could be given room to breathe, I think it would've been ideal (and also crap but that's a different argument!). As it stands, I do feel like the film was basically a proof-of-concept.

[Dogg Thang]

Well I finally got to see it tonight and, well, I really enjoyed it. I felt parts of it could have done with far more adaptation rather than literal translation - a few speeches were just a tad funny when they weren't supposed to be and the overall pacing was very patchy due to the source being a completely different format. And the old age and Nixon make-up were tragically awful.

But the characters, I felt were portrayed remarkably. Far better than I would have thought possible. Rorschach was stunning both in and out of the mask, Dr.Manhattan was perfect once I got past the CGness of him and, most of all, I loved that Dan and Laurie just felt like two plain ol' average people most of the time. The only one I didn't really connect with was Ozymandias and, mostly, I think that's down to the lack of screen time and his slightly distracting hairline (make-up effects were a constant let down in the movie). Dr.Manhattan's voice was just great. He really felt otherworldly.

I had a major problem with the end.

->Open Spoiler<-

I didn't mind them changing it - like I said, I think parts of it could have had more liberties taken to get it working as a movie. But the basics of Veidt's plan just didn't work for me. New York was the last city hit according to the screens. Manhattan was the ultimate weapon for the US. The second any non-US city was hit, that should have sent them to nuclear war. It might have been different if New York was the only city hit and it's the only one we saw but the screens showed London and a bunch of others getting hit. If anything, that would have started a war, just as they would now if US weapons were used to destroy an enemy's city.

Made no sense. It didn't have to be a Lovecraft monster but I do think it needed to be an external threat or some other plan entirely.

That wasn't enough to ruin the film for me though. Too many good moments. And, aside from the end, I didn't miss one thing that was missing from the book. I think, for me, the book was always about these characters that didn't fit - didn't fit in the world, or even with each other. That the characters worked so well for me in the film was 90&#37; of the battle won.

Yeah, I liked it.

[Adam Stone]

Neither the misses or I have read the comic and we both really liked it, very much so indeedy. How anyone can get lost with the story is beyond me, it's pretty straight forward stuff...Even my girlfriend followed it and that's a shocker in itself (bless her).

I loved the style, tone and general grasp on the characters and story. I can appreciate people feeling passionate towards the source material, but as movies go i thought this was great. I'll be off out buying the comic tomorrow and i can't wait to sit done and watch the extended version come it's dvd release.

The sex scene was crap though... there's no denying that :-)

[SuperBeatBoy]

Maybe that's just the problem with films. Supposing Watchmen was a series like Heroes

Please don't mention that horrid show when your talking about Watchmen please. That show is an abomination and it shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as The Watchmen.

[SuperBeatBoy]

The sex scene was crap though... there's no denying that :-)

I was praising Hallelujah when it was over. How can a director bare filming that poorly acted unbelievable scene and allow it to be in his movie.