WATCHMEN - Movie Discussion and Grading (SPOILERS)

[DarthPipes]

That's true. Apparently he was an academic with his writing papers about owls and all. I remember reading the book wondering how inheriting money+writing papers about owls= successful crimefighter?

Perhaps, failing the emergence of any other info, we might assume his background closely follows that of Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) since he was somewhat patterned after him and we're likely not to learn any more about Dan since there probably won't be a Watchmen 2.

Yeah, his backstory seems to be the most straightforward. He gained an interest in aeronautics and birds and graduated from Harvard in those subjects. His father was a rich investment banker and was disappointed in his interests but left him all his money.

 

[Captain Craig]

Well, Watchmen took another 60% plunge, earning $6.7 million in its third weekend, with a grand domestic total of $98 million so far. It looks like the film will probably bow out of theaters somewhere between the range of $100-110 million, not even reaching the $130 million initial projected gross. I believe the film cost somewhere around $100-125 million to make.

Yeah, I've been following its receipts and its a bummer, imo, that its not developed legs at the box office. Box Office Mojo, which is usually spot on with budget numbers, has Watchmen at a $150m budget.

I think this will be very successful on DVD and keep the project in the black once all is accounted for. The profit sharing lawsuit with Fox only helps to sour the revenues for WB.

 

[Tomato]

Well, Watchmen took another 60% plunge, earning $6.7 million in its third weekend, with a grand domestic total of $98 million so far. It looks like the film will probably bow out of theaters somewhere between the range of $100-110 million, not even reaching the $130 million initial projected gross. I believe the film cost somewhere around $100-125 million to make.

Damn that sucks. It was a risky gamble that WB took. Hopefully all the extra DVDs, tpb sales etc.. would offset the loss.

 

[Ethros]

The real money in movies in always in the DVDs these days, and it has been for years now

 

[Caligula]

Let's recall the big box-office flop that was Serenity. I think even that movie ended up making all its money back by way of DVD sales. Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. If Serenity could earn its production costs back, so can Watchmen (and likely at a much quicker pace).

 

[CommodoreKong]

Let's recall the big box-office flop that was Serenity. I think even that movie ended up making all its money back by way of DVD sales. Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. If Serenity could earn its production costs back, so can Watchmen (and likely at a much quicker pace).

I've always heard that films, especially big budget ones like Watchmen need to make back 2 to 3 times their budget to make a profit. For Serenity it wasn't as hard because it had a much smaller budget.

Of course Watchmen has a lot more merchandise out (I recently bought a Rorschach bust, and I've seen pictures of tons more merchandise) which I'm sure is making WB a nice about of money but I would imagine they have to share that money with DC.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

This sounds crazy, but what if Martin Scorsese directed Watchmen?

The Comedian: Robert De Niro
Silk Spectre: Cameron Diaz
Ozymandias: Leonardo Dicaprio
Nite Owl: Matt Damon
Dr. Manhattan: Daniel Day Lewis
Rorschach: Joe Pesci (I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?)

Daniel Day Lewis would've painted himself blue during the entire production and walked around nude whether the production required it or not.

 

[Misfit Toy]

This sounds crazy, but what if Martin Scorsese directed Watchmen?

The Comedian: Robert De Niro
Silk Spectre: Cameron Diaz
Ozymandias: Leonardo Dicaprio
Nite Owl: Matt Damon
Dr. Manhattan: Daniel Day Lewis
Rorschach: Joe Pesci (I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?)

Daniel Day Lewis would've painted himself blue during the entire production and walked around nude whether the production required it or not.

SpacemanSpiff did the same thing last week in the BR.

 

[shivkala]

The real money in movies in always in the DVDs these days, and it has been for years now

I'd venture to say most of the people who went to the movie having read the mini or trade paperback and are somewhat 'net savy, like me, know that some parts were cut out, and will be put back in for the DVD (someone said that this is true for the "Tales of the Black Freighter").

And from what we've seen of movies like Serenity and tv shows from Firefly to Futurama, that audience should be enough to make it a top seller.

Then there are those (and I can't say I'm not, at least in part, really one of them, if I'm being honest) who would buy the DVD for one reason: Malin Akerman!

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

The movie failed because they didn't get Pat Buchanan to play himself.

I never read the comics, but I found the movie good.

The non-powered heroes seeming to have powers was a flaw, especially Veidt...just what made him that good a fighter?

It was too obvious Veidt was the villain.

The weird cat was a bit of a "What the Fuck Is That?"

And the squid thing would not have worked at all for me. I'm surprised framing Manhattan wasn't part of the original story, because it seems to make more sense (I'd have to read the comic to understand the whole deal, obviously).

 

[Caligula]

The movie failed because they didn't get Pat Buchanan to play himself.

I never read the comics, but I found the movie good.

The non-powered heroes seeming to have powers was a flaw, especially Veidt...just what made him that good a fighter?

It was too obvious Veidt was the villain.

The weird cat was a bit of a "What the Fuck Is That?"

And the squid thing would not have worked at all for me. I'm surprised framing Manhattan wasn't part of the original story, because it seems to make more sense (I'd have to read the comic to understand the whole deal, obviously).

ROFL @ the Pat Buchanan remark. A lot of what the "non-superpowered" heroes do in the movie can seem a bit fantastical, I agree. I took it to mean that their fighting skills are a bit more advanced than most people. Plus, this is based on a comic book, and most comic book superheroes, even the powerless ones, have been seen doing unbelievable things. I DEFINITELY agree that Veidt was quite obviously the villain. Goode, I think, played the "assassination" scene a little too over the top, revealing his character much earlier than he was supposed to.

Bubastis (the weird cat) does kinda seem to come out of nowhere, doesn't she? I can see how the uninitiated would be caught completely off guard there.

I don't know what the big deal is about the squid. I love the graphic novel. I really love the ending, especially because Jon and Laurie arrive not to a crater and a human dust cloud, but to blood-soaked buildings/streets and bodies as far as the eye can see. That being said, the squid would likely have been even more confusing than Bubastis for those who didn't know what to expect. Adrian's solution, as presented in the film, works just fine.

 

[CommodoreKong]

The non-powered heroes seeming to have powers was a flaw, especially Veidt...just what made him that good a fighter?

He was basically in a Batman like state of peak physical perfection.

 

[Praetor]

The non-powered heroes seeming to have powers was a flaw, especially Veidt...just what made him that good a fighter?

He was basically in a Batman like state of peak physical perfection.

I've tried explaining this to people I know. Their reaction has generally been one of and .

I can't help but wonder if the general populace felt similarly...

 

[archeryguy1701]

The non-powered heroes seeming to have powers was a flaw, especially Veidt...just what made him that good a fighter?

He was basically in a Batman like state of peak physical perfection.

I've tried explaining this to people I know. Their reaction has generally been one of and .

I can't help but wonder if the general populace felt similarly...

As a member of the general populace, I have to say that you need to remember one small thing that might lead to those sorts of reactions: The man caught a freaking bullet! Even if he got to be so incredibly strong and such a good fighter that he could throw decently sized men around like ragdolls, he would still need an actual power in order to be catching bullets. I never caught onto the fact that he (or the others, really) didn't actually have powers, but now that it's been mentioned, I admit that I do roll my eyes a bit.

 

[Praetor]

Well, the idea of that actually did come from the comic. I guess it all depends whether you believe a person can train himself so much, to such a degree of 'perfection' of his natural abilities, that he seems to have superhuman abilities, while the only thing significant about him is the training.

It's the Batman argument, really.

 

[3D Master]

Batman's never caught a bullet though.

There are characters in anime that have trained themselves so much they can catch bullets. However, these are characters that have learned to use their life force/chi/ki, and have through that lifted themselves up to super human levels. They would indeed have more than just their physical, flesh and blood bodies to do the things with.

Maybe Veidt did the same? Hence him catching bullets and is so far out of the league of the rest of the "ordinary" super heroes?

 

[JoeZhang]

Catching a bullet is an old conjuring trick, nothing to do with Batman or comics. It goes back hundreds of years, and was particular popular in the victorian era. That's where it comes from in the comic. It is (within the comic universe) based on the potential of the human mind. The same reason why (according to Moore's notes) Adrian lives to 150.

 

[JoeZhang]

It was too obvious Veidt was the villain.

I saw this again this weekend on Imax, it's interesting how that changes the experience - because the image is so large, you can actually see the face of the stuntman who throws the comedian out of the window at the start - so they were all looking out for him and missed Veidt.

 

[Captain Craig]

I just don't buy that they weren't "super" even on some minor level.
The comedian was smashed through a marble countertop and that was after all the other abuse dealt out to him. He did not pass out. A regular man, even in peak condition let alone in his 60's, would pass out. The comedian knocked a chunk out of the stone wall. Yes, stone wall. Sorry but I don't care how much of a Mr.Universe you are you are breaking your hand when you hit stone.

Veidt and his bullet catching, parlor trick explanations aside, is something super. The character is modeled off of Pete Ross, Thunderbolt which explains his speed imo.

I can buy that Dan and Laurie were normal, peak condition type atheletes.

 

[JoeZhang]

It's a universe with a big blue naked man, you just accept that in that representation of reality, their actions are what a normal person could do with training. If they *are* super-powered, then the narrative falls to pieces because Dr. Manhattan would represent evolution not revolution...