Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Wouldn't a LINK have been more appropriate?
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co I placed a link at the bottom of my original post. And, again, here it is: source - http://www.overthinkingit.com/2008/10/15/is-watchmen-unfilmable/
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Did you copy and paste the entire article? Not to armchair Mod, but that's kind of a no no.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co A most interesting article. I agree with many points of his analysis of the differences between movie, comic and novel. However, I don't think adaptations of comics should be mere imitations of the comic. A movie based on a comic does not have to have the same effect on me as the comic. I simply look at it as the same story told within a very different medium. Having said that, I'm looking forward to the Watchmen movie.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Now, I know. And, since knowing is half the battle, I supposed the mods will have to come in and shrink it down to the size that they most see fit.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co The issue with making a film of Watchmen is not whether or not it will have all the texture of the original book. It won't. No film adaptation can or does. The issue with making a film of Watchmen is tht Watchmen is a comic book about comic books. It comments on, spins off of, revolves around, explores, deconstructs, and is dependent on 65 years of comic book (and specifically superhero comic book) conventions and tropes. This is what makes Watchmen a great comic book. It is something which is entirely impossible to do on fim because film has a different language. However, if the writer and director are clever enough, there has now been enough material generated in superhero and comic book movies, that a filmed Watchmen could do for superhero movies what Watchmen did for superhero comics. It can use the visual language, music, mise en scene, camera tricks, FX, etc, to comment on, spin off of, revolve around, explore and deconstruct superhero movies. It would make Watchmen the movie something different from, but related to, Watchmen the comic book. It would probably still piss off Alan Moore and a bunch of Watchment purists. And it just might be a great film. Honestly though, I haven't seen anything from Snyder to make me believe he's capable of actually adapting the themes and subtext of Watchmen in this way. He has a particular visual style which involves a very few tricks (that is, he doesn't seem to have much range in his film-making style), and he has so far taken adaptation to mean a sort of panel by panel faithfulness interspersed with slo-mo and superspeed frame motion. I think Watchmen will be a lovely and nostalgic flick. It will have enough pandering violence and super badass kewl-ness to capture a new audience for the comic book. It might have a touch of the deeper themes, convolutions and social commentary that the original had, because a lot of that is built into the plot progression. But I doubt it's going to really be what Watchmen was - for a lot of the reasons mentioned in the article, and because Snyder just isn't a sophisticated enough film-maker to be commenting on film in his work. He's young yet though. PS = Good Will Riker - I've made the same mistake about posting articles. Don't feel bad.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co I think anything is filmable with the correct creative team working on it. Is Snyder and crew it? I can't say. But it's certainly a doable story. I think a lot of the unfilmable stuff comes from comic book fans who have a nostalgic connection to the graphic novel and don't have the imagination to see it as a film. That's not an insult, it takes great imagination to be a writer, director or editor of film. The pirate story makes sense to get cut from the film because of length. The weird thing is the author used Dr. Manhattan's backstory as an example of hard-to-film but that's simple editing to convey his control/awareness of all points of history at once. It's been done in other films that play with time, like Eternal Sunshine or every other episode of Lost.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co The original RoboCop did that back in 1987, but was probably not acknowledged by the public, because his characer did not originate from the comics. Thanks.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co I think RoboCop got some credit for deconstructing to a certain extent, not superhero movies, but the over-the-top action movies of the 80s. I don't know though, that it was particularly sophisticated, certainly not in the layered textual manner that Watchmen's writing and art is.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co RoboCop is a deeply layered film that explores the following themes: - pathos - human condition - tragedy - character development - personal loss - inner conflict - humor - envy - consumerism - commercialism - infotainment - reality shows - news media - military industrial complex - multimedia (Think of Richard Branson and Virgin's many properties, but in this case OCP and its many properties beyond military hardware, such as cybernetics and law enforcement.) - high level corruption - rise of multinational corporations - corporate greed - government corruption - rise of drug czars - cybernetics - white collar crime - innercity crime - The arms race of the Cold War - man vs. machine - man vs. self - man vs. society - man vs. world - sexism - opportunism - competition - greed - jealousy - sadism - torcher - morality - moral ambiguity - absence of morality - absence of law - justice - revenge - self-discovery - epiphany - soul searching - biblical allusions (crucifixion, resurrection, walking on water, etc.)
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Yeah you might be right. I know all we've seen are a couple of trailers so far, but I still get the impression that Snyder was much more focused on the visual side than anything else on this movie-- especially considering how every single shot looks so polished and elegantly constructed. It's not really what you would expect from a movie with the complex themes and social commentary of the comic. Heck, reading the comic I would expect a Watchmen movie to look almost as gritty and drab as, say, a Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Or some other small indie movie. The style seemed almost secondary to me in Watchmen. Still though, Snyder's visuals DO look great, and it will be fun to see these characters finally come to life on the big screen.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co All that, and it also tells probably the best superhero-style origin story I've ever seen in a movie. Which is kind of surprising considering all the "true" superhero movies that have been made over the years. lol
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co What is so unique about RocoCop's origin is that you get to see his death/resurrection/rediscovery from a first person perspective, where as with most other superhero films the hero's story unfolds from a third person point-of-view. Also, with most other superheroes, the protagonists deciding to become superheroes is pretty much linear where it happens to them during the course of their natural lives. But, with RoboCop, he literally had to be resurrected and restart all over again from day 1, much like the way Dr. Manhattan had to in Watchmen.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Blah, blah, blah...yes we know they are different mediums they are going to have a different method of storytelling. If one is adapted we have to accept it is going to be different and judge it on its own terms. If Moore has had bad dealings with Hollywood that's fine, but he really needs to stop being a baby about this. RAMA
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Since most every film created today or in recent decades all revolve around exactly the same type of expectations, yes, the Watchmen is "unfilmable." But that's the only reason. You can even see several people in this thread who cling to that style of storytelling as the very reason it exists. People who watch them expect it, people who create it require it, and people who pay to make it demand it. However, there's nothing inherent about the Watchmen that makes it "unfilmable." Ditto for most other comics. They simply don't do them any justice. They insist on "reimagining" everything or adding in "surprise twists" and all that other hubabaloo. That's what makes the translations shitty.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Guys...let's give it a chance. (Besides, Watchmen and Star Trek XI are reasons why I'm plunking down good money to finally purchase a Blu-ray player in 2009.)
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co Exactly. He tends to come off like he's trying to be cool by condemning Hollywood 'because that's a cool thing to do,' while at the same time distancing himself from anyone's dissatisfaction with the product by blaming someone else. And I'm glad there are other Robocop fans out there. I think the entire franchise is highly underrated.
Re: Is Watchmen unfilmable?(spoilers for those who haven't read the co This was the most graphically violent film I had seen in my life up to that point--I remember being horrified and laughing out loud at the same time when I watched with my friends in the theatre. The biggest problem with the upcoming auction, I fear, is that it will be turned into an action film.