[HiGHFLYiN9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subtle /img/forum/go_quote.gif It will be worth it for the superior sound quality, but it won't impress on the same level as "The Dark Knight" since none of the film was actually shot in IMAX.

I was able to see it on IMAX today, and the sound was quite immersive. Fight scenes were especially exciting, where the blows against bodies were full of impact. There was more violence than I anticipated, they really went all out in a few shots.

It certainly could have been longer had they wanted to add in all the extra bits of character development that went into the novel, but thankfully they trimmed things down here and there, as nearly 3 hours is long enough for a film imho.

 

[Emooze]

I've heard a ton of mixed reviews on this. Some thought it was awesome. Some thought it was "eh" and some thought it was awful.

I am a part of the awesome group. I saw it at midnight. Overpaid my ticket because of it. Lost a ton of sleep. Thought it was worth every bit. It wasn't completely faithful to the novel but if it was, a lot less people would have found it entertaining. Other than that, everything, especially acting, was top-notch.

 

[m0ofassa]

Am i the only one who thought of contra/gryzor when I read this thread title?

 

[cvc]

I didn't read the novel. Saw the movie today and liked it. Now I don't have a problem with nudity. The Dr. was in great shape so that made looking at a nude guy easier. But why does he wear clothes when he hits the town (suit for funeral and tv appearance and undies for war) but then walks around fully nude in front of his superhero friends? What's the story?

I wasn't expecting the cool soundtrack as well. King Cole and Dylan in the beginning. Right on.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cvc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't read the novel. Saw the movie today and liked it. Now I don't have a problem with nudity. The Dr. was in great shape so that made looking at a nude guy easier. But why does he wear clothes when he hits the town (suit for funeral and tv appearance and undies for war) but then walks around fully nude in front of his superhero friends? What's the story? I wasn't expecting the cool soundtrack as well. King Cole and Dylan in the beginning. Right on.

Because his friends are used to that. The general human population isn't.

The soundtrack in general was horrible. "Unforgettable and The Times Are A'Changin'" were probably the only real logical compilation tracks in the entire movie. The rest sounded like some high school kid's random mix tape.

 

[leftnose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cvc /img/forum/go_quote.gif But why does he wear clothes when he hits the town (suit for funeral and tv appearance and undies for war) but then walks around fully nude in front of his superhero friends? What's the story?

This is actually one of the things in the book dropped from the movie. After he first reconstructs himself, he wears clothes like a normal person. Then as he feels less and less human, he wears less and less clothes. The underwear during the war was his last stage of wearing clothes.

As said above, he wears clothes when in public because it is the socially acceptable thing to do.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMarchingMule /img/forum/go_quote.gif The soundtrack in general was horrible. "Unforgettable and The Times Are A'Changin'" were probably the only real logical compilation tracks in the entire movie. The rest sounded like some high school kid's random mix tape.

Agreed. For me, it only distracted from, rather than enhanced the movie.

Overall, I liked the movie though. Not sure if non-comic fans will have the patience for it though.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed. For me, it only distracted from, rather than enhanced the movie. Overall, I liked the movie though. Not sure if non-comic fans will have the patience for it though.

A soft melody that crescendoed (apparently that's not an "official" word) would have been the perfect ending music, but nooo, they decided to have My Chemical Romance blast their horrid rendition of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row."

I only read the first 30 pages or so of it myself, and I did feel when the movie dragged a bit, but even those parts were necessary to the backstory/plot in the end.

One of my friends was there for the second time in two days, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep during those parts.

 

[Audiofiler]

I thought some of the gritty scenes were a bit too much for my personal taste, definitely a "R" rating as another member pointed out. The scene with the dogs was eerie.

Overall, a book is almost always better than the motion picture but I did enjoy the movie. The many philosophical and political references to the source material made the movie that much more engaging and helped depict Moore's insight. I wish I had seen it in iMax to further enjoy some of the visuals and sound.
I did not mind the twist ending, the abstract nature of the books ending would have been great to see, but not if cramming all into one movie at the expense of adding 45 more minutes.

Side note: The preview for Terminator looked awesome. I was already looking forward to seeing that one and now am really stoked.

 

[Calexico]

My own opinions taken from Rate The...

First off, I read Watchmen last summer and really enjoyed it, so I didn't have any problems with a convoluted plot or anything. The main thing I was worried about was faithfulness to the book. First off, I think the casting was done quite well. Everyone looks pretty similar to how they are depicted in the stories and doesn't really act too far out of character. The story was followed well too. I had one major quip with the movie. That was with the character Adrian Veidt [Spoiler BEGINS] [size=xx-small]In the movie, it seemed to me as more of a pure villain. The fact that he thinks he's doing something right is sort of covered up in the movie. One of the most haunting parts of the book is when he asks Jon if what he did was right. It just completely changes one's view of Adrian, because up to that point, he was the genius who worked with systematic efficiency. But once his job was done, his lack of confidence in his own actions really brought another dimension to him. Unfortunately this was left out of the movie.[/size] [Spoiler ENDS] There were two other minor things that I was a bit disappointed with in the movie. There wasn't the pirate allegory, but I can understand that, because it would have made the plot even more confusing. However, those little strips were probably one of the most haunting parts of Watchmen. The other is that the alien becomes Dr. Manhattan. Why is that? Was it to make his departure more believable, or just to avoid having too many characters?

As for the music, I liked the music, but it didn't always work. Interestingly enough, the two times I disagreed with the use of a song was when I actually recognized the song, so there's probably some odd personal bias going on. First one being Hallelujah, it just felt wrong. Second was All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix. The use of that song really just brought about this really weird, Ironman over-the-top sort of feel to it that didn't fit in with the movie or book.

 

[ZephyrSapphire]

Disclaimer: I've never read the book and don't intend to.

The movie was bland. As other members have said, sex sells. After the first hour i was thinking, "When is this bloody movie gonna end?!". *yawn* For non-readers, you'd expect them to not understand the movie at all, like one of my friends just walked out of the cinema after an hour just because the movie did not make sense at all. Yes yes, the ending made sense into the movie but that's not my strife with it. It's the progression of the story, lifeless and predictable. Yes, predictable. When you've watched stories with an anti-hero being hero, you'd expect this similar "Story makes no sense until the ending" type of storyline. But what happened in Watchmen was that it was trying so hard to make sense at the beginning without letting too much off until the end. *yawn* Therefore I'll conclude the movie is a boring summary of the novel of which I have yet to read, and don't plan to read.

On another note, they have stained Jimi by using his music in such a lifeless movie.

 

[Zodduska]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calexico /img/forum/go_quote.gif My own opinions taken from Rate The... First off, I read Watchmen last summer and really enjoyed it, so I didn't have any problems with a convoluted plot or anything. The main thing I was worried about was faithfulness to the book. First off, I think the casting was done quite well. Everyone looks pretty similar to how they are depicted in the stories and doesn't really act too far out of character. The story was followed well too. I had one major quip with the movie. That was with the character Adrian Veidt [Spoiler BEGINS] [size=xx-small]In the movie, it seemed to me as more of a pure villain. The fact that he thinks he's doing something right is sort of covered up in the movie. One of the most haunting parts of the book is when he asks Jon if what he did was right. It just completely changes one's view of Adrian, because up to that point, he was the genius who worked with systematic efficiency. But once his job was done, his lack of confidence in his own actions really brought another dimension to him. Unfortunately this was left out of the movie.[/size] [Spoiler ENDS] There were two other minor things that I was a bit disappointed with in the movie.

I watched it Saturday, I loved it and feel pretty much the same, especially your point about the spot on casting.

Quote:

There wasn't the pirate allegory, but I can understand that, because it would have made the plot even more confusing. However, those little strips were probably one of the most haunting parts of Watchmen. The other is that the alien becomes Dr. Manhattan. Why is that? Was it to make his departure more believable, or just to avoid having too many characters?

Possible spoiler warning The alien wouldn't make any sense without the Pirate Comic/Artist's side story, they also left out the psychic brain guy and Veidt's genetic manipulation/cloning/teleportation work.. so it was pretty much impossible to have the alien make any sense at all. A friend of mine who hadn't read the book also saw the Watchmen over the weekend liked it quite a bit but thought the Lynx didn't make sense.. a good point I thought, the alien would have been even more confusing.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif The movie was bland. As other members have said, sex sells.

1: Over your head.
2: Sex sells? What is your implication here?

"For non-readers, you'd expect them to not understand the movie at all, like one of my friends just walked out of the cinema after an hour just because the movie did not make sense at all."

Person I was with (has not read the GN) was quite interested in story and said the movie was very good (deep, thought provoking, sweeping epic).

 

[appophylite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZephyrSapphire /img/forum/go_quote.gif Disclaimer: I've never read the book and don't intend to.

I honestly believe that if you did give the book a chance and do like the book, you might find that you like the movie a bit more. My sister, her friend, her brother and his friend all went to see it on Saturday and the only one out of the three who found the movie enjoyable was my sister. Not one of the four had read the book but my sister had asked to explain what was going to happen and so I explained the book to her and she kind of skimmed through my copy. She says that that helped her to get more enjoyment out of the movie as opposed to the rest of the posse she went with who seems to have had a similar opinion.

Damn, I like what I've been hearing about the movie but I still have nearly an entire week before I can watch it and the wait is really starting to kill me!

 

[vagarach]

What intrigues me is that people keep saying spoiler! this and spoiler! that in connection with the the movie. Now I haven't read the comic or seen the movie, but what I've gathered is that what makes the comic so brilliant and noteworthy is the telling of an o.k. but not utterly groundbreaking story. It's something you understand and appreciate rather than find out OMG! Darth Vader is Luke's father!!!

Still however the movie panned out, the trailer in combination with The Beginning is The End is The Beginning was truly spectacular, definitive, even.