DuckThor Evil
Legend
I got interested and ordered the comic book...
Watchmen Trailer
- Thread starter Zaphod
- Start date
Not just that; Watchmen is a comic par excellence, possibly the best. It explores not just the medium but the genre inherent to the medium and the tropes associated. Moore has a deep, maybe unparalleled understanding of comics and I'm not sure the comic would just translate to a different medium. It's certainly one of those comics that aren't just about the 'plot', but about the whole experience.
The story is likely too dense for them to just 'follow the storyboards', too nonlinear. There's multiple different perspectives on similar flashbacks, at different times, that help flesh out events, most characters get origin flashbacks (which are often important to the story).
The scenery is also exceedingly rich in details, and not just the flavor text that help give perspective to the world. Moore sets up foreshadowing in a single panels issues in advance.
Not saying film can't do it, but it'd be exceedingly hard, and I'm not sure Snyder is up to it (300 is hardly a comic with a difficult plot, and he actually made that worse too). And since they already screwed up Moore's simpler stories like LXG or V for Vendetta. I don't really have much faith in what'll come out. V for Vendetta, in fact, would have been much better adapted to a film adaptation -- and would actually have been good if they had stuck to the same message as the comic. So I'm not really that optimistic that this'll be good.
DudeMiester
Regular
I just ordered the comic book as well from Amazon. There must be quite a backlog, because it says it won't be delivered until September!
I hereby retract my above statement about the book being "easily available". I checked a couple of places before I posted that, all of which are now out of stock. Probably that trailer had something to do with it.
Hey, DC: Order a larger print run the next time, and no; you don't need a special movie tie in cover for it...
DuckThor Evil
Legend
My copy is supposed to be delivered July 28th, I hope that's correct.
I ordered it three days ago.
I am not interested but thats because tbh I have enver heard of them till about now. I going to try and check it out as yall suggested. I am not knocking it...its just that the trailer looks a bit lame for those who dont know about Watchmen and think they are some sort of superhero knockoffs. Truly unintentional.
I don't know if it is unintentional - at least in the book. It's hard to go into detail about exactly why that is without spoiling stuff, but there's lots in there that makes commentary about the medium itself.
For those that have read it, I was thinking about the ending this morning, where
the villain who shall not be named for those who love clicking spoiler tags reveals his plans to those that make it to his lair. When you're thinking to yourself "oh brother, the bad guy reveals his plans just before he pops the heroes, only to have them escape and save the world!" he comes out with the ditty "it happened 15 minutes ago." Golden!
It will be interesting to see how it translates. After all, a comic book movie is now rated as the best movie of all time on IMDB
That's part of the Watchmen success, and possibly also its biggest fault today. You kinda' have to have an appreciation for comics of the "golden age" to recognize how good it actually is.
For someone not knowing Watchmen and only being familiar with "modern age" comics, it might seem somewhat derivative or formulaic. That is, until you realize that it is not. Rather, it is the formula.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
I think it's even more than that, because it gives the archetypes a depth they never had to begin with. Moore effectively rewrote them for a modern adult audience, showing their human side.
I hereby retract my above statement about the book being "easily available". I checked a couple of places before I posted that, all of which are now out of stock. Probably that trailer had something to do with it.
Hmmm I wonder ... does this mean it's "out of print" do you think? Because, IIRC Moore/Gibbons contract with DC give them back the rights to it when it goes OOP, which is why DC have kept it in print for the past 20 years.
I'm kinda hopeful that the film might actually turn out ... okay, or at the very least not an LoEG sized abomination, sure some of the designs (esp Ozymandias) are different but the setting and premise seem largely unchanged, and the Dark Freighter sequence is getting it's own dvd @ the same time the film hits theaters (also to be re edited back in to the main film for one of the planned dvd releases).
There's a good article article up at EW (also links to Moore & Snyder interviews on the 1st page), and AICN have an interview with the guy playing Ozymandias.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
Anyone who doubts the film will be any good should read this article at EW. It sounds really promising as long as the studio doesn't screw it up in the editing.
I don't know; it's a fluff piece, which is natural, but there are bits that worry me, like the addition of a 'a timely subplot about alternative fuels'. It reminds me of the whole extremely unnecessary 'politics in sparta' B-story of 300. Also, the piece hinges on how Watchmen will have a huge impact on superhero movies... but superhero movies are pretty new, and the tropes of Watchmen's silver age heroes aren't the tropes of the movie heroes. Not to mention that in comics, superheroes are almost synonymous with the medium (excellent efforts in other genres notwithstanding). There's no such tie in film. Film's closest equivalent would perhaps be the 'huge summer blockbuster' which isn't even a proper genre.
There are more obvious things that bother me. The Owl is supposed to be a fattening middle-aged man, not a ripped jump-kicking hero. It seems like a small thing to make a character more athletic, but that's one of the signature things about the Watchmen. They're more like real people will everyday problems and insecurities.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
It says in the article above that the actor had to put on weight for the part to get that proper chubby look.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
Fox tries to kill watchmen movie:
Not content with killing off good TV shows, they are now going after the Watchmen movie.
Not content with killing off good TV shows, they are now going after the Watchmen movie.
DAVID GUIVANT
Newcomer
What a shame, once again money and business !!
