Well... there's only a passing reference to it in the comic, and it's more of a joke than anything, but Blake tells someone 'not to ask him where he was when JFK died' and there is, I think, a hint that Nixon was behind it. But Snyder's amazing powers of subtlety meant he had to put it in the film. Not that it's that big a deal- the credits were pretty awesome.
Digging beneath the surface in the film is somewhat futile. There's so much in the comic that is only hinted at and hopefully the scenes which to an outsider aren't totally clear (I'm sure there are/ were some) will be a little clearer in the forthcoming Director's Cut...
Originally posted by Kovacs86
Plus, the 'epilogue'/ conclusion didn't work for me, either. The bit in the New Frontiersman was out of place, I thought. Dan and Lawrie's reaction (storming off, looking pissed off at Veidt, still doubting him) was completely different to their response in the comics, and, honestly, didn't work- for me.
I agree
Originally posted by Kovacs86
But a worldwide attack by America's own 'weapon'? Surely that wouldn't make the World trust the US any more?
I don't think so.
Originally posted by Master Crimzon
Okay, now that the fan response is at a mixed level, I've gotta make something of a poll: What do you think could be done to improve the movie? Is Watchmen even adaptable? Is this a shortcoming on Snyder's end, or a general impossibility of adapting certain graphic novels?
I don't think it can be adapted into ONE movie. What needed to be done was make several 90-minute films. Let me break down my weird-ass idea:
Watchmen: The Minutemen- Too much story here to squeeze it into a 10 minute montage. This would establish the importance having masks in a violent, crime-filled city. Once the masks are outlawed, we get a better understanding of what that means. It would also introduce us to Sally Jupiter and Comedian(without going too much in depth), for the big pay-off at the end.
Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan- That would be one of the first. Show the story of John/Dr. Manhattan ending with him winning the Vietnam War or something around that time. They could show the interaction between Comedian and Manhattan here without any Comedian introduction, so that people will go out and watch the next film.
Watchmen: The Comedian- Maybe his story could be told in the Minutemen movie, but because he does his own thing as well, may do better as a solo project. End this film with the beginning of Watchmen.
Watchmen- From here we take off into the material we all JUST saw. Except without the drawn out history of Manhattan, and the too-short snipets of Comedian's past. Also this way, this movie becomes more about current Watchmen, which could have been alluded to in previous films(Kovacs, Ozymandius, Dan and Laurie) without having the past interfere too much with the current story, since we've already seen it.
This is why I think it can't be made. This would take a giant leap of faith by a studio, and alot of money. Squeezing it all into one movie just doesn't quite cut it.
Originally posted by SpaceMonkey
I don't think it can be adapted into ONE movie. What needed to be done was make several 90-minute films. Let me break down my weird-ass idea:Watchmen: The Minutemen- Too much story here to squeeze it into a 10 minute montage. This would establish the importance having masks in a violent, crime-filled city. Once the masks are outlawed, we get a better understanding of what that means. It would also introduce us to Sally Jupiter and Comedian(without going too much in depth), for the big pay-off at the end.
Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan- That would be one of the first. Show the story of John/Dr. Manhattan ending with him winning the Vietnam War or something around that time. They could show the interaction between Comedian and Manhattan here without any Comedian introduction, so that people will go out and watch the next film.
Watchmen: The Comedian- Maybe his story could be told in the Minutemen movie, but because he does his own thing as well, may do better as a solo project. End this film with the beginning of Watchmen.
Watchmen- From here we take off into the material we all JUST saw. Except without the drawn out history of Manhattan, and the too-short snipets of Comedian's past. Also this way, this movie becomes more about current Watchmen, which could have been alluded to in previous films(Kovacs, Ozymandius, Dan and Laurie) without having the past interfere too much with the current story, since we've already seen it.
This is why I think it can't be made. This would take a giant leap of faith by a studio, and alot of money. Squeezing it all into one movie just doesn't quite cut it.
That would be awful. The pacing would be dreadful, and I'm not sure if they'd make very good films from the backstory provided in the comic. Watchmen just can't be made into a film. I quite liked the 'Watchmen' film but it isn't... really... Watchmen.
Alan Moore wins.
Originally posted by Original Smurph
The fact that there's extremely minor changes from the book is a huge step up from the changes that most storylines go through when being transformed from graphic novel to movie.
This.
And thats why i like it as much as i do. For those who didnt read the comics, they dont really have to ask "Whyd he get like that?" or "Why is this person acting a certain way?". We get a bit of character depth and like ive read someone say somewhere else, Dr. Manhattans dialog scenes were very interesting as well as the Mars scenes.
Originally posted by jrodslam
This.And thats why i like it as much as i do. For those who didnt read the comics, they dont really have to ask "Whyd he get like that?" or "Why is this person acting a certain way?". We get a bit of character depth and like ive read someone say somewhere else, Dr. Manhattans dialog scenes were very interesting as well as the Mars scenes.
Dr Manhattan's scenes were definitely some of the best. I'm afraid I'll have to credit Moore for that (and, admittedly, Crudup, too). It certainly wasn't done, for the most part, to Snyder. In fact, I'd say pretty much all of it that worked was straight from Moore. The bits that really failed for me (though I admit I'm a Moore fanboy and therefore a tad biased!) were when Snyder seriously deviated from the Moore stuff, especially the ending, but also when he tried to squeeze in Moore bits which didn't fit in as they did in the comic (this should be amended, I hope, in the Director's Cut).
Originally posted by Kovacs86
Dr Manhattan's scenes were definitely some of the best. I'm afraid I'll have to credit Moore for that (and, admittedly, Crudup, too). It certainly wasn't done, for the most part, to Snyder. In fact, I'd say pretty much all of it that worked was straight from Moore. The bits that really failed for me (though I admit I'm a Moore fanboy and therefore a tad biased!) were when Snyder seriously deviated from the Moore stuff, especially the ending, but also when he tried to squeeze in Moore bits which didn't fit in as they did in the comic (this should be amended, I hope, in the Director's Cut).
Originally posted by Menetnashté
What did he change in the ending?
Spoiler:
In place of the 'squid', Veidt and Manhattan were working on some kind of super renewable fuel supply using Manhattan's power, but really Veidt was using it to make a weapon, with which he destroys various cities across the world (New York, Moscow, Paris, etc.), as opposed to simply New York. Dan sees Manhattan killing Rorschach, does a big Anakin Skywalker "nooooo" and goes apeshit on Veidt, beating the crap out of him. He and Lawrie walk off looking an itsy bit pissed. Then there's just the last 2 scenes from the book, though the New Frontiersman scene frankly fell flat because it wasn't shown in the film beforehand, and Rorschach's journal hadn't been either, so they had to insert a ****ing 'Rorschach's journal' voiceover bit just to explain what it was...
It didn't work for me, but clearly some people loved it...
Originally posted by Kovacs86Spoiler:
In place of the 'squid', Veidt and Manhattan were working on some kind of super renewable fuel supply using Manhattan's power, but really Veidt was using it to make a weapon, with which he destroys various cities across the world (New York, Moscow, Paris, etc.), as opposed to simply New York. Dan sees Manhattan killing Rorschach, does a big Anakin Skywalker "nooooo" and goes apeshit on Veidt, beating the crap out of him. He and Lawrie walk off looking an itsy bit pissed. Then there's just the last 2 scenes from the book, though the New Frontiersman scene frankly fell flat because it wasn't shown in the film beforehand, and Rorschach's journal hadn't been either, so they had to insert a ****ing 'Rorschach's journal' voiceover bit just to explain what it was...
It didn't work for me, but clearly some people loved it...
Spoiler:
Dan beats the sit out of Veidt that makes me sad I think its pretty stupid and do they still have Veidt catch the bullet?
Originally posted by Icy Ninja
I haven't seen the film yet but [B]Spoiler:[/B]
Dan beats the sit out of Veidt that makes me sad I think its pretty stupid and do they still have Veidt catch the bullet?
Spoiler:
In fact, Veidt let Dan hit him. Because Veidt would have raped Dan like he did earlier.And yes, he catch the bullet.
Originally posted by =Tired Hiker=
Oh, I also liked seeing the news stand guy and the kid who reads the pirate comic in the Watchmen Graphic Novel, would have been cool if they incorporated that somehow, but I heard they will have it on the dvd's special features, maybe an extended version?? Anyone know??
They've released a separate DVD about the Black Freighter story.
Originally posted by celestialdemon👆
I saw the movie yesterday. I went in with not very high expectations since I loved the graphic novel and wasn't expecting it to come close. I ended up pleasantly surprised. It was very faithful to the novel, which I enjoyed.I didn't mind the ending at all. In fact, I preferred it to the giant squid in the novel. I also loved Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's portrayals of Rorschach and The Comedian, respectively. They were the life of the movie to me.
All in all, I don't think it was a better movie than The Dark Knight. However, it definitely felt more like a comic book movie and was more faithful to its source material. Great film.
Originally posted by KazenjiHeh...
Well they still used a squid just not the exact one from the Book, Remember Manhatten was working on that thing at the start"Sub Quantum Unifying Intrinsic Devices" (SQUIDs)
Originally posted by Kovacs86Spoiler:
In place of the 'squid', Veidt and Manhattan were working on some kind of super renewable fuel supply using Manhattan's power, but really Veidt was using it to make a weapon, with which he destroys various cities across the world (New York, Moscow, Paris, etc.), as opposed to simply New York. Dan sees Manhattan killing Rorschach, does a big Anakin Skywalker "nooooo" and goes apeshit on Veidt, beating the crap out of him. He and Lawrie walk off looking an itsy bit pissed. Then there's just the last 2 scenes from the book, though the New Frontiersman scene frankly fell flat because it wasn't shown in the film beforehand, and Rorschach's journal hadn't been either, so they had to insert a ****ing 'Rorschach's journal' voiceover bit just to explain what it was...
It didn't work for me, but clearly some people loved it...
Spoiler:
So wait I'm a bit confused...What was in the book and what wasn't? I remember most of that from the movie that you just mentioned. What wasn't in the movie? and what's the new frontiersman thing?