Who's watching The Watchmen..?

logansdadlogansdad Posts: 1,068
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See what i did there?

Just started on Film 4, great adaptation imo. Seen it countless times now!
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  • Linda_AndersonLinda_Anderson Posts: 169
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    I watched it once. I personally thought it was awful. And I was so looking forward to it too :(
  • logansdadlogansdad Posts: 1,068
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    Why? Wasn't it what you expected?
  • ironjadeironjade Posts: 10,001
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    I bet if Alan Moore ever stops sulking, even he might approve of it.
  • Fowl FaxFowl Fax Posts: 3,968
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    One of the few movies released in the last ten years I have seen more than once which is a good sign as it means I enjoyed it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    I watched it, been wanting to see it for a while now. It was brilliant, the beginning was a bit baggy, but things tightened up and I really enjoyed it, apart from one scene.

    I still have the image of the
    meat cleaver
    scene in my head. That was horrible and disturbing, I saw the first strike and the image of
    it half entering his head
    was enough to make me turn away. I get that the scene was supposed to be horrifying, but you could have just implied it, Zack, with equal effect. :eek:

    I felt that stylistically some bits felt out of place like the
    arm sawing
    scene. It makes sense in context, but the way it was presented on screen was a bit odd.

    What's with all the rape references? Seemed a bit unnecessary, but probably just spillover from the comic/graphic novel.

    And was Rorschach deliberately doing everything possible to sound like Christian Bale's Batman?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,305
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    If you didn't like the meat cleaver scene in the version you watched last night, for gods sake don't ever watch the Directors Cut. If i remember correctly it's actually more violent.
  • Matt DMatt D Posts: 13,153
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    I love it. Loved it at the cinema, and love the Director's Cut Blu-ray.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    CJClarke wrote: »
    If you didn't like the meat cleaver scene in the version you watched last night, for gods sake don't ever watch the Directors Cut. If i remember correctly it's actually more violent.
    I really wanted to see the Director's Cut after watching the theatrical cut. By more violent, did you mean the entire film or just that scene. I was fine with all of the violence, except that scene.

    Can you remember if there's anything as gut-wrenching as that inserted? If there isn't I'll be fine, I know when to cover my eyes now...
  • Virgil TracyVirgil Tracy Posts: 26,805
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    it didn't work for me .

    it looked great - I've never seen a film adhere to the comic in terms of visuals and costumes etc so well. and the casting was near perefect .

    but they f'd up the drama , stories were condensed too much , for instance rorshach's back story , he just immediately tells the shrink what happened to him , same with Laurie , Manhattan just does a 'mind-meld' , it's like they're saying 'we haven't got time for all that' .

    thing is - I think they did have time , there's a lot of time wasted on music montage scenes and slow-mo fights which go on way too long .
  • Linda_AndersonLinda_Anderson Posts: 169
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    logansdad wrote: »
    Why? Wasn't it what you expected?

    I dunno, I can't really pinpoint a specific thing. Maybe if I tried watching it again I might enjoy it the second time. That has happened before with movies that I haven't enjoyed the first time.
  • ironjadeironjade Posts: 10,001
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    The lingering on slo-mo violence was the only real fault I could find with Watchmen.
    Has Zack Snyder ever made a movie at a constant speed all the way through?
  • Big Boy BarryBig Boy Barry Posts: 35,293
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    ironjade wrote: »
    The lingering on slo-mo violence was the only real fault I could find with Watchmen.
    Has Zack Snyder ever made a movie at a constant speed all the way through?

    This is what I was going to say. Watchmen could have been a good movie if they hired a proper director. Not some dweeb in love with slowing down the film (literally) every five minutes.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    This is what I was going to say. Watchmen could have been a good movie if they hired a proper director. Not some dweeb in love with slowing down the film (literally) every five minutes.

    The film went through development hell, Zack Snyder was probably the only person willing to touch it, and most certainly the only person willing to do a faithful adaptation of the comic. Warner Bros. wanted a modern day setting and a PG-13 rating (with only the modern day setting negotiable), my understanding is that Snyder had to fight for the R.

    Also, is having a unique visual style really a bad thing for a director?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14,920
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    It left me pretty cold. Rorshach had promise but I wasn't fussed about anybody else. It didn't live up to its hype for me
  • GortGort Posts: 7,460
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    I quite like this film, but then that's possibly because I'm not a fan of the superhero genre (at least the majority). BTW, the opening credits were excellently done and were used to give some history to the beginnings of the Watchmen.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    Gort wrote: »
    I quite like this film, but then that's possibly because I'm not a fan of the superhero genre (at least the majority). BTW, the opening credits were excellently done and were used to give some history to the beginnings of the Watchmen.

    I think the opening credits were a bit too long, and made the beginning feel a bit baggy...
  • GortGort Posts: 7,460
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    I think the opening credits were a bit too long, and made the beginning feel a bit baggy...

    I don't agree at all. It gave you some history, was rendered well, a great and appropriate song being played, some great visuals, and all the scenes were appropriate to the original comic. They fit in a lot of the history of the group of characters in a few minutes. Time well spent.
  • dixiewhiskeydixiewhiskey Posts: 608
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    The montage at the beginning is one of my favourite segments in any film.
  • ironjadeironjade Posts: 10,001
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    Also, is having a unique visual style really a bad thing for a director?

    It is when he becomes a slave to it. Without the slo-mo Watchmen would have been even better and considerably shorter.
    Still a great movie even so.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,305
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    I really wanted to see the Director's Cut after watching the theatrical cut. By more violent, did you mean the entire film or just that scene. I was fine with all of the violence, except that scene.

    Can you remember if there's anything as gut-wrenching as that inserted? If there isn't I'll be fine, I know when to cover my eyes now...

    It's been a few years since i watched it but i do seem to remember there being a few more violent scenes and scenes where the violence was made more graphic when compared to the theatrical cut. Specifically i think that the Comedian's bar fight had a few more gory shots, and the aforementioned meat cleaver scene contained more strikes to the guys head (iirc).

    It's a great film though, and the Director's Cut makes it even better with the additional 20-30 minutes of scenes helping it flow better, so i wouldn't let the added violence put you off:)
  • Virgil TracyVirgil Tracy Posts: 26,805
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    the extended cut is only on blu-ray isn't it ?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    the extended cut is only on blu-ray isn't it ?
    There's two extended versions, the director's cut and the ultimate cut (the director's cut with The Tales of The Black Freighter animated special inserted). The ultimate cut looks hard to obtain, but you can obtain the director's cut and Tales of the Black Freighter separately,

    There's a DVD version of the director's cut for a tenner on Amazon, but it's a region 1 import. It looks that it may be BD only if you wanted a UK version...
  • Big Boy BarryBig Boy Barry Posts: 35,293
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    The film went through development hell, Zack Snyder was probably the only person willing to touch it, and most certainly the only person willing to do a faithful adaptation of the comic. Warner Bros. wanted a modern day setting and a PG-13 rating (with only the modern day setting negotiable), my understanding is that Snyder had to fight for the R.

    Also, is having a unique visual style really a bad thing for a director?

    Yes, if it serves no purpose in the telling of the story or development of the characters.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,488
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    Yes, if it serves no purpose in the telling of the story or development of the characters.

    It's a "visual" style of course it has no purpose in storytelling, but it looks nice...
  • Big Boy BarryBig Boy Barry Posts: 35,293
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    It's a "visual" style of course it has no purpose in storytelling, but it looks nice...

    I don't think it does look nice. It comes across as the director saying to the audience "ooooh look at this bullet" or "see what my special effects can do???". It's completely pointless. If anything it distracts from what's going on.
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