It was praised as giving greater credibility to the medium of comics as serious literature; it did and has.
It was praised as being intelligent beyond that of any other comic book; it was and is. Both in subject matter, ideas, philosophy and execution.
So that means you have to name reasons why the "rating" is "over" what it deserves, thus overrating the book. You not liking it doesn't mean it's being overrated, since its rating isn't to do with the quality of the book, but the objective genius and impact of it.
This will be just another "blah" Alan Moore adaptaton. There is no possible way to capture the spirit of the original graphic novel. The CGI, I must admit, is f*cking eye candy. But we all remember the Star Wars prequel trilogy, right? CGI is no substitute for a timeless story.
I don't have very high expectations.
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Last edited by Impediment on Jul 19th, 2008 at 04:31 PM
They showed a clip of the glass castle scene and it's insulting.
Alan Moore said it best when he said that it was written and conceived to only ever be a novel, like ALL his work. You can sit there and appreciate everything in your own time, you can't do that with a movie.
I don't even think I READ Watchmen in two and a half hours the first time around, and I didn't get everything out of it on first reading. So Hell knows what the movie will be like.
It took me about 3 days to fully read and absorb the entire graphic novel when I was around 15 or so. I re-read it again and again and I got something different from each reading.
I bet that the most focused upon character will be Rorschach. The same thing happened with the X-Men franchise focusing too much on Wolverine.
Did you guys not see V for Vendetta? I thought that was an admirable adaption of an Alan Moore work.
I'm not saying that the Watchmen film will be amazing or that it will fully live up to the graphic novel, but I think it will be pretty good. Of course, that is based solely on the trailer/information that we know now.
please explain what specifically about the original graphic novel cannot be adapted in to film. don't just rebuff with "if you don't know, you didn't get it." the only thing i see failing to translate is the deconstruction of silver age comics, which, frankly, is the element i found least interesting
comics are far easier to adapt in to film than novels, as both film and comics are inherently visual mediums. the framing, sequencing, script, and style of the movie are all basically pre-set. yes, they will have to cut some things. but that won't necessarily make it merely a good adaptation.
i for one am very excited. alan moore is a very good comics writer, but also an insufferable curmudgeon. the adaptation will do nothing but bring more readers to his work.
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Last edited by manorastroman on Jul 20th, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Watchmen is such a complex story. It's symbolism and pacing is far too much for a 2 and a half hour movie. The premise of the story will be cut to pieces and recycled so much that the story will be loosely based, just like From Hell was.
Cut anything from the Watchmen graphic novel, and you don't have the Watchmen's true vision. Read the trade paperback and you'll see.
By bastardizing his greatest work? Moore has every right in the world to distance himself away from the movie adaptations of his work. Just look at what was done to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Probably one of the lamest movies ever made, IMO. From Hell? Not even close to the original. All they took was the flavor. V for Vendetta? They made V a superhero instead of the anarchist that Moore made him. This will be another typical Moore adaptation. I guarantee it. I also bet that Rorschach will be the "main" character, like Logan was in the X-Men trilogy.
Yup cause you know 2 and half hour movies can not be complex. Heaven knows they can not maintain symbolism and pacing.
Movies are just a busted medium for any deep thinker to use for their works.
Personally the movie hasn't even come out yet, and people are already billing it as impossible for a movie. No offense but most of the elements in the Watchmen are very movie oriented.
Starting off with a Murder Mystery and slowly coming to a person who kills a bunch of people with deep seated philosophical meanings. That's not impossible to pull off in a movie.
Now I'm not saying this movie is going to be awesome, but I will wait, watch it then come to a conclusion about whether I liked it or not.
Newjak, no elements of Watchmen are movie orientated. Alan Moore has actually said that the book was written to be impossible to properly reproduce in terms of cinema, to show off what comics and novels could do that cinema could not do.
His whole point was that this could never be truly achieved by cinematic means.
It seems that 99% of people with an opinion about this movie are once who have no clue what they're on about. As evidenced by this:
If that's all you interpret Watchmen as, then you'll enjoy the movie, since the book is clearly too far out of your range.
What a completely ignorant statement. Why should he be happy people are doing things with his work that he doesn't want and never wanted?
He's an artist in the truest sense.
You honestly think that Watchmen, with all its complexity and themes, is suitable to be crammed into a two and a half hour movie for the digestion of the general public? The same general public who'd prefer to pay to vote on Big Brother than freely vote in a political election?
If the answer is "Yes", then you're obviously not someone who the book was aimed at either.
If you feel that the general public can grasp the story, you're giving them too much credit, a point I'll address later.
The way the story portrays time, space and existence is not something that is suited to the general public, or even cinema.
The fact that Alan Moore wrote everything in that book to be relevant, and designed it so that you can get more out of it each time is factual proof that being dragged through it in TWO and a half hours is not sufficient.
Then factor in the audience, the people who will go into this without a clue what it's about, without a shred of interest in its themes, and you have a book to movie adaptation that simply shouldn't be happening.
And why do you suppose this work needs more readers? It's fine with the readers it has, so is Alan Moore. It hasn't suffered because regular Joe Blow nobodies haven't bought it and have, instead, gone to see Disaster Movie. For you to suggest these people need to be enlightened to Watchmen is to suggest that you really do not appreciate this novel at all.
The unspoken rule is; the general public get their T.R.L., they get their Big Brother, they get their teen movies and their Dane Cook. Watchmen then goes to the people who will love it and support it, most importantly, appreciate it. We then support the creators and the creators are happy. Those are the rules, however unspoken. Watchmen does not "need" more readers.
Who benefits from it? You know as well as I do that the reason Watchmen is obscure, outside of people who give a shit about the book, is because most people are either too thick or don't give a shit about the themes or expressions inside it. So then, why would those people picking it up, as a result of the movie bastardising it, benefit anybody? Why is that a goal you wish to be achieved?
I'll tell you why; because you don't get the book either, and the more people who don't get it, the less alone and less outcasted you feel. We both know that's true, so save the nonsense.
Once again your brilliance astounds me AC. Why didn't I see it before this could never be made into a Movie. Alan Moore made it impossible to do so, that means no one could possibly pull it off.
If by "Pull it off" you mean make it and put it out into the world, the anybody can pull anything off.
This movie simply will not live up the the book, it will not be faithful, it will not do it justice. The visuals will not be on par, nothing will, but that's what I expect. That's why you'll be one of the people who says it's great because you; A) Want to piss real fans off, and B) Need a movie to cram everything together for you, since the book was obviously too much.
If this movie is even slightly better than a complete failure, or perhaps even enjoyable at best, people like you will say "See? It can be made into a good movie.". Therein you miss the point real fans are making;
The point that a "good movie" is an eternity away from what Watchmen deserves, and what it deserves is to be left as it was intended, with the people it was intended to be with. That is why you fail in this topic, because you fail to understand that.
Even my posts are obviously too hard for you to grasp, since that wasn't even what I was doing, really.
I don't know if the movie will be shit or enjoyable at best, but obviously you ignored that cos you're an idiot, and you don't actually understand my point, which was this, for the last time:
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Jul 19th, 2008 04:20 PM
