Watchmen: The Movie

[cosmicarus]

Rorschach

The Comedian

Silk Spectre

Ozymandias

Nite Owl

Thoughts? Opinions? Hopes? Dreams?

[cosmicarus]

Rorschach

The Comedian

Silk Spectre

Ozymandias

Nite Owl

Thoughts? Opinions? Hopes? Dreams?

[Dr Archeville]

I'm impressed (especially with Comedian), though Ozy's costume is too dark. He should look far more light & angelic.

[Dr Archeville]

I'm impressed (especially with Comedian), though Ozy's costume is too dark. He should look far more light & angelic.

[Shadowboxer]

I'm of two minds on this film. Given the current geopolitical atmosphere, Watchmen is a very appropriate choice of film to produce at the moment. V for Vendetta clearly had an ideological agenda. The themes Moore was trying to put across apply today as they did in the '80's. On the other hand, Moore will have nothing to do with this production and the filmmakers will lose the author's insight into the series. Also, I think the metatextual elements would be difficult to film.

I do like the costumes here but did they need to be updated? A part of Watchmen's appeal was the homage to Silver Age comics. Perhaps there'll be flashbacks.

I must admit, I'm a little worried. This is an important book to comic readers. Having it mangled on the silver screen so it will fly with the public is never a good formula. Will the filmmakers dilute the political and philosophical themes that made Watchmen so great, just so it can have mass appeal? I hope not.

[Shadowboxer]

I'm of two minds on this film. Given the current geopolitical atmosphere, Watchmen is a very appropriate choice of film to produce at the moment. V for Vendetta clearly had an ideological agenda. The themes Moore was trying to put across apply today as they did in the '80's. On the other hand, Moore will have nothing to do with this production and the filmmakers will lose the author's insight into the series. Also, I think the metatextual elements would be difficult to film.

I do like the costumes here but did they need to be updated? A part of Watchmen's appeal was the homage to Silver Age comics. Perhaps there'll be flashbacks.

I must admit, I'm a little worried. This is an important book to comic readers. Having it mangled on the silver screen so it will fly with the public is never a good formula. Will the filmmakers dilute the political and philosophical themes that made Watchmen so great, just so it can have mass appeal? I hope not.

[Cyrith]

In response to Shadowboxer: Yes. I think they will end up destroying this movie. This is not a comic book that can make it onto the big screen. There isn't much action through alot of the book. It's a piece about character development and whether or not a world of high technology has any need to people in costumes. Among other things, but they'd all be spoilers, so I shan't post them Not exactly the things the public expects when they see people in costumes. The costumes so far look ok. Rorschach looks spot on, but the rest look like they're trying too hard to be Iron Age. Comedian is the exception there, because he's supposed to look like that, but something about his costume looks fake to me. I think it's got something to do with his mask.

[Cyrith]

In response to Shadowboxer: Yes. I think they will end up destroying this movie. This is not a comic book that can make it onto the big screen. There isn't much action through alot of the book. It's a piece about character development and whether or not a world of high technology has any need to people in costumes. Among other things, but they'd all be spoilers, so I shan't post them Not exactly the things the public expects when they see people in costumes. The costumes so far look ok. Rorschach looks spot on, but the rest look like they're trying too hard to be Iron Age. Comedian is the exception there, because he's supposed to look like that, but something about his costume looks fake to me. I think it's got something to do with his mask.

[Shadowboxer]

I agree - Rorschach and the Comedian (especially his face and hair) look as though they popped out of the comic, and Silk Spectre looks striking in that pose. :)

[Shadowboxer]

I agree - Rorschach and the Comedian (especially his face and hair) look as though they popped out of the comic, and Silk Spectre looks striking in that pose. :)

[Heritage]

My feeling is this will be an entertaining movie, but it will be Watchmen Lite; I like the looks for Comedian, Rorshach and Silk Spectre (even if she's a bit too modern), but I pretty much hate Night Owl and Ozy's looks, way too Joel Schumacher Batman for my tastes. I am happy to hear the Black Freighter sequences will be in the film in animated form. At least The Dark Knight and Iron Man look like they should be fun this year.

[Heritage]

My feeling is this will be an entertaining movie, but it will be Watchmen Lite; I like the looks for Comedian, Rorshach and Silk Spectre (even if she's a bit too modern), but I pretty much hate Night Owl and Ozy's looks, way too Joel Schumacher Batman for my tastes. I am happy to hear the Black Freighter sequences will be in the film in animated form. At least The Dark Knight and Iron Man look like they should be fun this year.

[cosmicarus]

I pretty much agree with everyone here. I hope but I fear. The costumes on the whole look ok, although as Dr Archvile said, Ozy's costume is too dark for my liking. Also, Rorschach looks great, but I think the thing that irks me about the Comedian is that his hair and mask look a little too big for him or something... I don't know, but I agree with Cyrith in that while it looks good, there's something a little off. Nite Owl looks far too tech for my liking. In the comics it looks a lot more fabric, and the ears were more striking. But what can you do?

In any case, here are some setting shots. On the whole, I think these look pretty good:

[cosmicarus]

I pretty much agree with everyone here. I hope but I fear. The costumes on the whole look ok, although as Dr Archvile said, Ozy's costume is too dark for my liking. Also, Rorschach looks great, but I think the thing that irks me about the Comedian is that his hair and mask look a little too big for him or something... I don't know, but I agree with Cyrith in that while it looks good, there's something a little off. Nite Owl looks far too tech for my liking. In the comics it looks a lot more fabric, and the ears were more striking. But what can you do?

In any case, here are some setting shots. On the whole, I think these look pretty good:

[Dr Archeville]

I've no problem with Nite Owl's look. He was based on Blue Beetle, who can be seen as a "Batman-Lite," so it makes sense that they'd make his costume look more akin to Bale's from Batman Begins.

I do hope, however, that that's either an image of him during his younger days, or, if a modern Nite Owl, that the costume has a very strong girdle

I hear Doctor Manhattan's going to be entirely CGI. Makes sense, given all he does, and how trans-human he is.

[Dr Archeville]

I've no problem with Nite Owl's look. He was based on Blue Beetle, who can be seen as a "Batman-Lite," so it makes sense that they'd make his costume look more akin to Bale's from Batman Begins.

I do hope, however, that that's either an image of him during his younger days, or, if a modern Nite Owl, that the costume has a very strong girdle

I hear Doctor Manhattan's going to be entirely CGI. Makes sense, given all he does, and how trans-human he is.

[CollateralKid]

I actually just finished reading the book for the first time today and even though i kinda allreayd know what was going to happen, i was blown away by it. Absolutely fantastic.

I REALLY hope this movie will be good.....it would be a shame to screw up such a great story. I think everything looks fine so far...i dont mind the costume change for Ozy just because i think his costume translated unto screen would just look silly.

I have faith in Zach Snyder. He did a gret job remaking Dawn of the Dead and 300 allthough with a few changes was very entertaining.

[CollateralKid]

I actually just finished reading the book for the first time today and even though i kinda allreayd know what was going to happen, i was blown away by it. Absolutely fantastic.

I REALLY hope this movie will be good.....it would be a shame to screw up such a great story. I think everything looks fine so far...i dont mind the costume change for Ozy just because i think his costume translated unto screen would just look silly.

I have faith in Zach Snyder. He did a gret job remaking Dawn of the Dead and 300 allthough with a few changes was very entertaining.

[cosmicarus]

I have faith in Zach Snyder...

I share this faith - I think that if anybody can do it, it would be him.

I actually just finished reading the book for the first time today and even though i kinda allreayd know what was going to happen, i was blown away by it. Absolutely fantastic.

Who spoiled it for you? Tell me! Tell me and I'll find them and...! *ahem* anyways, I'm glad you liked it.

[cosmicarus]

I have faith in Zach Snyder...

I share this faith - I think that if anybody can do it, it would be him.

I actually just finished reading the book for the first time today and even though i kinda allreayd know what was going to happen, i was blown away by it. Absolutely fantastic.

Who spoiled it for you? Tell me! Tell me and I'll find them and...! *ahem* anyways, I'm glad you liked it.

[spectrevk]

I'm of two minds on this film. Given the current geopolitical atmosphere, Watchmen is a very appropriate choice of film to produce at the moment. V for Vendetta clearly had an ideological agenda. The themes Moore was trying to put across apply today as they did in the '80's. On the other hand, Moore will have nothing to do with this production and the filmmakers will lose the author's insight into the series. Also, I think the metatextual elements would be difficult to film.

I do like the costumes here but did they need to be updated? A part of Watchmen's appeal was the homage to Silver Age comics. Perhaps there'll be flashbacks.

I must admit, I'm a little worried. This is an important book to comic readers. Having it mangled on the silver screen so it will fly with the public is never a good formula. Will the filmmakers dilute the political and philosophical themes that made Watchmen so great, just so it can have mass appeal? I hope not.

Considering that this is being directed by the same moron who turned 300 into two hours of male models and ham-fisted political allegory, I'm not looking forward to this at all. Leave Alan Moore's comics alone. They were never meant to exist outside of the medium of comics.

[spectrevk]

I'm of two minds on this film. Given the current geopolitical atmosphere, Watchmen is a very appropriate choice of film to produce at the moment. V for Vendetta clearly had an ideological agenda. The themes Moore was trying to put across apply today as they did in the '80's. On the other hand, Moore will have nothing to do with this production and the filmmakers will lose the author's insight into the series. Also, I think the metatextual elements would be difficult to film.

I do like the costumes here but did they need to be updated? A part of Watchmen's appeal was the homage to Silver Age comics. Perhaps there'll be flashbacks.

I must admit, I'm a little worried. This is an important book to comic readers. Having it mangled on the silver screen so it will fly with the public is never a good formula. Will the filmmakers dilute the political and philosophical themes that made Watchmen so great, just so it can have mass appeal? I hope not.

Considering that this is being directed by the same moron who turned 300 into two hours of male models and ham-fisted political allegory, I'm not looking forward to this at all. Leave Alan Moore's comics alone. They were never meant to exist outside of the medium of comics.

[Heritage]

Considering that this is being directed by the same moron who turned 300 into two hours of male models and ham-fisted political allegory, I'm not looking forward to this at all. Leave Alan Moore's comics alone. They were never meant to exist outside of the medium of comics.

I really liked From Hell and V for Vendetta a lot, but I don't feel a good adaptation needs to follow the source to the letter, and really shouldn't as films and in this case comics are very different media; what works in panel and text form often doesn't translate well to the screen, so certain liberties should be taken. A good adaptation should stand on its own legs, enjoyable with a pinch of salt by the original fans but also accessable to a wider audience.

All that being said, a bad adaptation is painful to watch, betraying the spirit of the source material so utterly that no one can like it; sadly The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen suffered that fate, which is particulalry dissapointing since on paper it would seem to be the easiest to adapt. There's a lot less of the sort of politically sensitive subjects seen in Hell or V, but maybe that's why they felt is was okay to dumb it down so much.

One can argue (and many have) that the two Moore adaptations I like are bastradizations of two of his finest works, and this my be true, but I think they're two of the best bastardizations I've ever seen. Nothing can eliminate the original work; it's still there, waiting to be enjoyed by whoever chooses to pick it up; a point by point adaptation of Watchmen, or just about any novel, would be painfully long (at least 4 or 5 hours) and probably dull as hell, not becuase it's a bad book, but because it was built from the ground up to take advantage of the print medium and our knowledge of comic book history and conventions.

A lower budget 3 or 4 hour mini-series would have been better, and would focus the story on the characters instead of the 'gee whiz' special effects, but we're not getting that, so I won't dwell. In my gut I think this will be so-so at best, with one or two great sequences and a lot of awkward moments, i.e. not bad for half-watching late night on cable but not really worth my ten bucks.

[Heritage]

Considering that this is being directed by the same moron who turned 300 into two hours of male models and ham-fisted political allegory, I'm not looking forward to this at all. Leave Alan Moore's comics alone. They were never meant to exist outside of the medium of comics.

I really liked From Hell and V for Vendetta a lot, but I don't feel a good adaptation needs to follow the source to the letter, and really shouldn't as films and in this case comics are very different media; what works in panel and text form often doesn't translate well to the screen, so certain liberties should be taken. A good adaptation should stand on its own legs, enjoyable with a pinch of salt by the original fans but also accessable to a wider audience.

All that being said, a bad adaptation is painful to watch, betraying the spirit of the source material so utterly that no one can like it; sadly The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen suffered that fate, which is particulalry dissapointing since on paper it would seem to be the easiest to adapt. There's a lot less of the sort of politically sensitive subjects seen in Hell or V, but maybe that's why they felt is was okay to dumb it down so much.

One can argue (and many have) that the two Moore adaptations I like are bastradizations of two of his finest works, and this my be true, but I think they're two of the best bastardizations I've ever seen. Nothing can eliminate the original work; it's still there, waiting to be enjoyed by whoever chooses to pick it up; a point by point adaptation of Watchmen, or just about any novel, would be painfully long (at least 4 or 5 hours) and probably dull as hell, not becuase it's a bad book, but because it was built from the ground up to take advantage of the print medium and our knowledge of comic book history and conventions.

A lower budget 3 or 4 hour mini-series would have been better, and would focus the story on the characters instead of the 'gee whiz' special effects, but we're not getting that, so I won't dwell. In my gut I think this will be so-so at best, with one or two great sequences and a lot of awkward moments, i.e. not bad for half-watching late night on cable but not really worth my ten bucks.

[Shadowboxer]

Heritage, I think you hit the nail directly on the proverbial head. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was an atrocity that, if the filmmakers actually payed attention to the source, could have been an entertaining movie and still retained Moore's exploration of Victorian speculative fiction. I keep forgetting the point that text, comics and film are disparate mediums with their own language, conventions and boundaries.

And at least Uwe Boll isn't directing it.