WATCHMEN - Movie Discussion and Grading (SPOILERS)

[iguana_tonante]

One thing that really threw me... when Dan and Laurie were fighting the robbers in the alley... were they brutally murdering them all? At one point does Laurie stick a knife in the guy's neck? Wouldn't that make them exactly the same as Rorshach? I thought only Ror, the Comedian, and later Manhatten killed.

I would argue its less that they never killed, more that it wasn't their preference. The gangers were looking to have a good time at the expense of their lives and dignity, and perhaps they felt only brutality would turn them back.

I noticed it, too, and I thought it was a good touch, as it gave a little credibility to the fight. When a couple of thugs come at you, maybe you can incapacitate them without hurting them too much. When fifteen of them come at you, you just have to do what it need to be done if you want to survive the encounter, even if you have the power of kick-assery. It goes well with the theme of the novel: masked heroes may defend people from criminals, but they are as dangerous as the criminals themselves and must be watched closely or they will think they are justified to do anything they want for the greater good.

 

[clint g]

Pleasently surprised by the movie. I never read the comics, but even so I didnt feel lost or confused by what i was watching, and I loved the ending. it gets a solid A from me

 

[ATimson]

It's kinda why I - in fits of videophilic snobbery - grimace every time someone mentions buying it on DVD. Squishing these visuals down to be viewed on an archaic, low resolution interlaced video standard is tantamount to vandalism in my book. That's like smearing shit all over the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Flame away!

I'll just say that you're an idiot who knows nothing about how DVDs work. Yes, it's archaic; yes, it's low resolution (though if your display is also that low of a resolution, feeding it a higher one is rather pointless), but it's not interlaced unless you're one of those people who thinks that composite or S-video cables are the height of technology.

(I was going to be more polite, but you did ask for flames... )

 

[Kryton]

I have to assume this was PROBABLY already posted, if not upthread then probably elsewhere. In the off-event that it has not, I give you The '80s Saturday Morning TV Version of The Watchmen.

 

[Jim Steele]

I'll just say that you're an idiot who knows nothing about how DVDs work.

Not true, but I did invite flames.

Yes, it's archaic; yes, it's low resolution

Yup.

(though if your display is also that low of a resolution, feeding it a higher one is rather pointless)

(don't know who you're arguing with here)

but it's not interlaced

Well, that would depend on the source material and how the DVD is authored. But it's not inherently interlaced as a format, so I take your point.

unless you're one of those people who thinks that composite or S-video cables are the height of technology.

Which I'm not, and I very much doubt that anyone happy to use either for any source is concerned with whatever the height of technology might be.

 

[backstept]

I thought Rorschach was the best part of the movie.

and the whole cast was superbly . . . umm . . . cast.

the only thing that bugged me was the out of place electric cars at the end
yeah I know that Ozy made those possible, but they didn't come around until the late 90s so it just seemed kinda weird

 

[Chocolate Log]

I have to assume this was PROBABLY already posted, if not upthread then probably elsewhere. In the off-event that it has not, I give you The '80s Saturday Morning TV Version of The Watchmen.

In a mildly similar comedy watchmen sorta way, dotGif's - It's not easy being blue.
(Excuse the self promotion)

Also I forgot to mention earlier, I preferred the new ending I felt it worked better for the film.

 

[Orintho]

Another thing that detracted from this film was that Comedian looked like Robert Downey Jr. on steroids, and Silk was a dead ringer for Lucy Lawless in her early Xena days but without the tan. I was waiting for her to go into a tongue yell at any second.

--Ted

I think the resemblance with the latter is comic-book coincidence. Both actors resemble their given characters.

 

[Ethros]

I need to see it again, how many people died in the explosions at the end? It seemed to be fairly contained area of NY we saw at the end. I thought it would have a bigger blast/damage range

 

[Bishbot]

I agree with what others have said--Saw and Mad Max

One way to acknowledge that would have been for Rorschach to say to him something like "I saw this in a movie once". That would have been kind of funny.

Especially in 1985.

To be fair - Mad Max was 1979

 

[Dark Gilligan]

It goes well with the theme of the novel: masked heroes may defend people from criminals, but they are as dangerous as the criminals themselves and must be watched closely or they will think they are justified to do anything they want for the greater good.

Absolutely agree. We're accustomed to the trope that superheroes don't kill. Watchmen challenges us to consider that from a more realistic perspective. In our world policemen kill in the line of duty, and of course will do so in self-defense. In their world, the Watchmen act accordingly.

 

[Praetor]

I just got back from seeing it and was pleasantly surprised. I went in very worried that Dan was going to still kill Adrian with a owlarang or whatever. I felt like most of the changes that were made simply suited the film format more, and overall it felt right, if not as detailed.

I was going to give it an A but went ahead and gave it an A+

 

[CommodoreKong]

Really? I thought the visuals were spot on throughout. Can't remember any shots that stood out as "bad" cgi.

Maybe the Mars scenes and the glass vessel, but then I didn't think it was bad cgi, just obvious cgi.

It was really only one shot that stood out as bad for me, quite early in the film I think it was with the city skyline and the things in the air (ad balloons?) they just looked very very bad CGI, which is strange cause in later shots they looked good.

To me, the worst CGI shot was Doc Manhattan getting dressed for his interview. The cloth simulation really stood out as poor, especially on the Doc himself who still looked great.

Yeah there were a couple of shots of Doctor Manhattan that I thought were poor and getting dressed by far stands out as the worse.

 

[Praetor]

I had a few issues with Doc's CGI too. In particular, his mouth movements never quite looked 'right' nor did the cloth of his clothes.

 

[JoeZhang]

It goes well with the theme of the novel: masked heroes may defend people from criminals, but they are as dangerous as the criminals themselves and must be watched closely or they will think they are justified to do anything they want for the greater good.

Absolutely agree. We're accustomed to the trope that superheroes don't kill. Watchmen challenges us to consider that from a more realistic perspective. In our world policemen kill in the line of duty, and of course will do so in self-defense. In their world, the Watchmen act accordingly.

This however is a significant change from the comic - Dan and Laurie injure a few people in the book, but in the film, they both kill people in the blink of a eye which seems to miss the point of both characters.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I submit that Snyder is great at visuals, but he isn't great at story.

 

[JoeZhang]

the only thing that bugged me was the out of place electric cars at the end
yeah I know that Ozy made those possible, but they didn't come around until the late 90s so it just seemed kinda weird

I don't think this is specifically addressed in the film? In the comics, electric cars are common place because some time after 1962 Dr. Manhattan mass-creates one of the needed elements that is in short supply (lithium ?)

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I need to see it again, how many people died in the explosions at the end? It seemed to be fairly contained area of NY we saw at the end. I thought it would have a bigger blast/damage range

It wasn't only New York.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Loved it. A+

I've been waiting 20 years for this movie, and it was worth every minute of the wait.

I thought Rorschach was the best part of the movie.

and the whole cast was superbly . . . umm . . . cast.

the only thing that bugged me was the out of place electric cars at the end
yeah I know that Ozy made those possible, but they didn't come around until the late 90s so it just seemed kinda weird

Actually, in the book the electric cars had been around for a long time by '85, thanks to Doc Manhatten being able to synthesize the proper materials. That's why the sign for Hollis Mason's auto repair shop said "Obsolete models (meaning internal combustion engines) a specialty!" With the electric cars not showing up till the end, that makes the sign in front of Hollis' shop make between little and no sense.

 

[Praetor]

Loved it. A+
Actually, in the book the electric cars had been around for a long time by '85, thanks to Doc Manhatten being able to synthesize the proper materials. That's why the sign for Hollis Mason's auto repair shop said "Obsolete models (meaning internal combustion engines) a specialty!" With the electric cars not showing up till the end, that makes the sign in front of Hollis' shop make between little and no sense.

That's what I was thinking too, I'm glad I'm not the only one.