WATCHMEN - Movie Discussion and Grading (SPOILERS)

[Yassim]

I agree with this.

Firstly, vaporizing multiple cities in order to avert a nuclear war is like killing five hostages to save the sixth.

well, he does say he's killing millions to save billions. It's more like killing one hostage to save a thousand others...

I don't see why several cities were necessary to drive the point home when one would have sufficed--it seemed totally gratuitous on Veidt's part. New York is dead: do we need to see Moscow and a half dozen other metropoles laid waste to know that John Osterman is Pissed?

Secondly, in the book, the squid was of course a powerful WMD but one immediately obviously different in kind from a nuke. In the film, the Manhattan Power or whatever Veidt was using was really not. Add the multiple cities attacked, and there would have been a very good chance that the United States, Soviet Union, or both, particularly at the level of alert they were operating, would have retaliated immediately.

Retaliated? Against who? This part of the story, I liked. If it appears that Dr. Manhattan has, in response to nuclear escalation, started laying cities waste, then everyone is going to behave. From every human's point of view, Manhattan has started squashing them indiscriminately. I can hardly see Moscow ordering a nuclear strike. Against what? and risk complete annihilation? I think they're better off giving Manhattan what he wants. Or what they think he wants.

I think the movie could have made this point a little more strongly, since it's so central, but it more or less worked.

 

[Ethros]

Well third time was a charm for me last night, 11pm final showing.
Funny how there's still things to spot that I hadn't noticed before such as-

The muzak version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" playing in the lobby when Adrian is attacked

The display on the detionation screens at the end labelled "S.Q.U.I.D." (which the internet tells me stands for Sub Quantum Unified Intrinsic field Device)

Various references to the number "300" (Snyder's previous film) such as on the Comedian's door

And all the appearences of Kovacs holding his "The End is Nigh" banner, such as outside the restaurant where Laurie & Dan are


And after reading about the urban legend Here, it's funny when Dr Manhattan is taking Armstrong's picture on the moon and he says "Good luck Mr Gorsky"


On another note I think a few people had mentioned the music in the Dr Manhattan history part was uninspiring. I don't get what they're on about as that's easily one of my favourite parts of the movie, and I find it particularly mesmerising.
Plus Janey Slater in her 50s garb looks incredibly beautiful

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^I keep meaning to see it again, but I've not managed to get around to it. Checking the website it doesn't even seem to be on any more. Oh well, I'm sure I'll pick it up on Blu-Ray or DVD.

 

[Yassim]

And all the appearences of Kovacs holding his "The End is Nigh" banner, such as outside the restaurant where Laurie & Dan are

I remember thinking those were really odd, because there was no way a typical audience member would pick him out and remember him later, when he's finally unmasked. With the comic, you go back and look and realize how often Rorschach is in the background (and isn't it revealed quite early on, with the captions? or when the cops on the first/second page are talking about Rorschach?) But in the movie, they show these brief, unexplained shots of Apocolypse Man, and only people who know what the actor or Rorschach look like can pick him out...? Weird.

 

[Ethros]

^ Well its like little Walter in the opening titles, you wouldn't know who the hell that was if you were a Watchmen virgin. Which is it why it pays to watch it more than once


Also in the opening credits (which you can watch Here) I love the shot of Adrian outside Studio 54, but I never even noticed the Village People were there too, as I was always looking at Ziggy Stardust before

Also does anyone else think the woman in the red dress & white gloves clapping looking at the Silhouette kiss at around 1:10 in that vid looks exactly like Scarlett Johansson. Hard to make out on that vid but on the big screen I thought it was uncanny

 

[Roberto]

A+

What a movie!

 

[Caligula]

The muzak version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" playing in the lobby when Adrian is attacked

I didn't catch that one until my second viewing, despite the fact that I'd been looking for it the first time around.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

You know given how many people are saying this movie bombed I'm suprised that Watchmen is 4th on the list of highest grossing movies.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

You know given how many people are saying this movie bombed I'm suprised that Watchmen is 4th on the list of highest grossing movies.

Indeed.

It didn't "bomb." It's made a great deal less money than the studio's highest hopes for it, and they'll certainly be able to hide whatever profit they earn on it for a l-o-n-g time because it'll be pretty limited by their standards.

Does anyone have any idea how many copies of the graphic novel have been sold in the last month, BTW?

 

[Shurik]

Does anyone have any idea how many copies of the graphic novel have been sold in the last month, BTW?

I know I bought one, first graphic novel or comic in general I've read

 

[Dream]

It didn't "bomb." It's made a great deal less money than the studio's highest hopes for it, and they'll certainly be able to hide whatever profit they earn on it for a l-o-n-g time because it'll be pretty limited by their standards.

It's not a bomb it's a disappointment. It probably will take a short time for the movie to end up making a profit for them but Warners probably doesn't regret releasing the movie. They probably wish that that FOX hadn't sued them for part of the profits. At least Warners wasn't stupid enough to let Watchmen get leaked one month before it was released.

 

[CommodoreKong]

You know given how many people are saying this movie bombed I'm suprised that Watchmen is 4th on the list of highest grossing movies.

It's still early in the year. Most of the films that will earn more then Watchmen haven't come out yet. I doubt Watchmen's box office will be in the top 10 for the year.

 

[Dream]

You know given how many people are saying this movie bombed I'm suprised that Watchmen is 4th on the list of highest grossing movies.

It's still early in the year. Most of the films that will earn more then Watchmen haven't come out yet. I doubt Watchmen's box office will be in the top 10 for the year.

It'll be nice if Star Trek XI ends up on the top 5 of the year.

 

[Orintho]

Well third time was a charm for me last night, 11pm final showing.
Funny how there's still things to spot that I hadn't noticed before such as-

The muzak version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" playing in the lobby when Adrian is attacked

The display on the detionation screens at the end labelled "S.Q.U.I.D." (which the internet tells me stands for Sub Quantum Unified Intrinsic field Device)

Various references to the number "300" (Snyder's previous film) such as on the Comedian's door

And all the appearences of Kovacs holding his "The End is Nigh" banner, such as outside the restaurant where Laurie & Dan are


And after reading about the urban legend Here, it's funny when Dr Manhattan is taking Armstrong's picture on the moon and he says "Good luck Mr Gorsky"


On another note I think a few people had mentioned the music in the Dr Manhattan history part was uninspiring. I don't get what they're on about as that's easily one of my favourite parts of the movie, and I find it particularly mesmerising.
Plus Janey Slater in her 50s garb looks incredibly beautiful

I've seen Watchmen twice now and the second time around I noticed some subtle touches like how the Comedian was echoed later in several scenes with his daughter - Silk Spector 2. Unforgetable plays with either character is on screen, she lit up Archie like her father once did, she also had a bitterly tearful scene about how everything was a joke, directly echoing what her late father said.

The music selection was a brilliant match for the film. And although some people have knocked Matthew Goode's portrayal of Veidt, I thought he really improved upon the second viewing of the film.

 

[Captain Craig]

It didn't "bomb." It's made a great deal less money than the studio's highest hopes for it, and they'll certainly be able to hide whatever profit they earn on it for a l-o-n-g time because it'll be pretty limited by their standards.

It's not a bomb it's a disappointment.

Exactly right. Too many people overuse the word bomb/flop and do not realize the industry has this catagorical level of Disappointment. A movie that makes money in the end despite its box office.

You know given how many people are saying this movie bombed I'm suprised that Watchmen is 4th on the list of highest grossing movies.

It's still early in the year. Most of the films that will earn more then Watchmen haven't come out yet. I doubt Watchmen's box office will be in the top 10 for the year.

Right here also. It's going to top out at the N.Am b.o. around $110m which should give it enough to place in the top 25. All in all not bad considering there are around 300 films released each year with about 200 of those being in wide release(more than 1,500 theaters). So if it does manage to maintain that position its still a very good showing. Had Fox not sued it would profit faster, that puts a kink in Warners plan as well.

 

[Ethros]

Well I got the Tales of the Black Freighter DVD the other day and got round to watching it last night. Excellent stuff, really enjoyed it.
Maybe I'm an idiot but I always found the BF stuff hard to follow at times in the graphic novel, with it interweaving in and out of the narrative all the time. So just being able to watch the thing from beginning to end fully animated really brought it home to me.
Therefore I cannot wait for the Directors Cut DVD, I'm fascinated to see how it will be included into the movie. Presumably Snyder has filmed the connecting scenes of the two Bernard's at the newsstands? They're in the movie and on the Under The Hood douc so I assume so

Under The Hood was great too. And I FINALLY realised where I recognise Hollis Mason from- he played Vreenak in DS9: In The Pale Moonlight


I'm just hoping the Extended DVD comes out straight away, and not just the theatrical cut and we have to wait months and months later for it.
Anyone know what other scenes will be included on it which were left out? Hollis Mason's death I know will be (which can briefly be seen in the Japanese trailer See here)
There seemed to be more big nose Nixon in that trailer too that's not in the film.
And I think I saw a picture somewhere of Hollis talking on the phone to someone (presumably Sally Jupiter in that scene from the comic)

 

[DarthPipes]

I loved Under the Hood. It was a perfect companion piece to the movie and you can't beat the look at retro-heroes.

The guy who played Hollis was great. Felt very authentic. I didn't realize he was Senator "IT'S A FAAAAAAKE!"

 

[UssGlenn]

Does anyone have any idea how many copies of the graphic novel have been sold in the last month, BTW?

No, but I know here it's been at the top of the the local fiction bestseller list for weeks.

 

[Captain Craig]

Under The Hood was great too. And I FINALLY realised where I recognise Hollis Mason from- he played Vreenak in DS9: In The Pale Moonlight

Eureka!! You know I kept thinking he was familiar and just brushed it off as having seen him around. I thought he's an older actor so I've no doubt seen him as a secondary or background character in something else.
However this revelation makes me feel better and sadly worse for not placing him.
In the Pale Moonlight is easily in my personal top 10 eps of any Trek series.
Thanks for mentioning this.

 

[Caligula]

The guy who played Hollis was great. Felt very authentic. I didn't realize he was Senator "IT'S A FAAAAAAKE!"

No shit?! I've seen the movie three times and hadn't picked up on that until you mentioned it.