The Doomsday Clock is Counting Down

Watchmen opens tonight at midnight. Anybody going to go see it?

I've never been one of those crazy people to go see a late night premier of a movie... but I'm seriously considering it this time. I've got a friend who's planning to, and I may just join him.

Errr... you mean last night at midnight? 'cuz I could go see it at noon today if it weren't for this pesky "work" thing

I think we may go see it with some friends. I'm not familiar with the story, so I'm going to feel a little odd seeing it.

Oup... yeah, the message from my friend about it showing "tonight at midnight" was from yesterday.

Well, I guess I can go see it without staying up to some ungodly hour.

Doing it on Sunday. Might hit up a matinee or a night movie. I try to avoid movies on the Friday and Saturday as that's "Amateur Hour" at some of the local theaters. I usually go on off nights to avoid the buttheads.

Saw it last night.

It was... better and worse than I expected

Osterizer wrote: Saw it last night. It was... better and worse than I expected

Can you elaborate without giving any spoilers?

I'm dying to see it, but sans theatre full of mouth-breathers.

Been waiting for this movie ever since i heard they were making it. Its got my favorite superhero, Rorschach!

Finaly, after how many delays? Might go see it. I have never done comics/graphic novels but I still enjoy super hero movies. That way I won't be all pissy fanboi 'cause they didn't get something right.

Disappointing for me but I didn't read the novel. The plot was lacking, I didn't really care about what was happening. The acting wasn't that great either. 3 hours of pretty CG is all I got out of it.

I read it when it first came out, years ago, then recently read it again. Hoping the movie isn't a disappointment. The trailers don't show the sub-plot (comic book shipwreck story) that's woven through it, anyone know if that's part of the movie?

Lesley wrote: I read it when it first came out, years ago, then recently read it again. Hoping the movie isn't a disappointment. The trailers don't show the sub-plot (comic book shipwreck story) that's woven through it, anyone know if that's part of the movie?

I saw a shot of the news stand with the kid reading the comic book out in front of it.

I doubt they'll incorporate the Tales of the Black Freighter. As much as it adds to the overall story, it doesn't particularly advance the main plot. I think that's a portion of the story that could be cut safely.

Saw it last night, too. As someone who hasn't (yet) read the novel, I thought it was pretty good. Rorschach's narration, and the large amount of screen-time devoted to him, really made the film for me. He's such a badass.

I just got back from seeing it. It was pretty cool, and I am also now a fan of Rorshach...

If I saw half of the things he did, my head would have its fair share of demons too...wow, rough.

I may need to read the Graphic soon...

Just got back from the 630 show with the wife, Scott and his fiancé. Of the four of us, I'm the only one that's read the book.

I thought it was a terrific adaptation. Honestly, they could have even made a few more cuts from the source material and made the movie version a bit leaner. There was a lot of stuff left in that was clearly a nod to reducing nerd rage for the completionists, that probably could have been trimmed without the movie suffering. As it is, though, both versions excel in their chosen medium. And, honestly, the revised ending of the movie may be the superior execution, narratively speaking.

I'd say comparing the two works (book and movie) is a lot like comparing the Lord of the Rings versions. The movie distills some of the overly long expository sections of the book, and maybe even improves on a few sections of storytelling. What you don't get in the movie is some of the backstory, although the superb opening credit sequence does an excellent job of squeezing a lot of alternate history into five or six minutes.

And Tales of the Black Freighter is being released on DVD march 24th.

So, yeah, four thumbs up from our party. My wife's about 20 pages into the book right now, and she has that look on her face like it might be a long night.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: And, honestly, the revised ending of the movie may be the superior execution, narratively speaking.

I find that hard to believe. I thought the ending in the book was one of the best endings to any story I'd read. It really managed to be a different ending, neither tragic, heroic, or quiet.

Salanis wrote:

Osterizer wrote: Saw it last night. It was... better and worse than I expected

Can you elaborate without giving any spoilers?

Well, they left out some little things I really enjoyed about the book.

However, they really added some things and did some things I never would have thought of.

Like the sound track. I wouldn't have even begun to try to make one, but there it was, and it was really fitting.

I wasn't a fan of the ending, but understand that they really couldn't make the movie 10 hours long and some things had to go.

Overall, I feel I am incapable of rendering a decision on the movie, because I mentally back filled so much because of the novel.

Salanis wrote:

JG Pasterjak wrote: And, honestly, the revised ending of the movie may be the superior execution, narratively speaking.

I find that hard to believe. I thought the ending in the book was one of the best endings to any story I'd read. It really managed to be a different ending, neither tragic, heroic, or quiet.

I'm specifically talking about the elimination of the squid from the movie. From a pure story perspective, I think the film version devised a little tidier method to deliver the same result.

There were definitely some things from the book I missed (Rorschach's therapist), but I think it was an extremely efficient paring down of a ton of exposition into under three hours.

jg

poopshovel wrote: I'm dying to see it, but sans theatre full of mouth-breathers.

He's a nice guy, i like him just fine.......

BUT HE'S A MOUTHBREATHER!

Saw it last night with the wife and friends, I had recently reread the graphic novel, so I was able to see more of what they left out. Overall I really enjoyed it, it had more laughs than I was actually expecting. I think that the 'bad guy' was too easy to spot, in the novel it came out of nowhere.....

I thought it was a great movie.... way more ermm... graphic than i was expecting.

The soundtrack was ok. I think i was mainly disappointed because they used Billy Corgan and Muse in the trailers, and they didn't have any of it in the movie.

Was anyone else creeped out by Rorschach without the mask more so than with?

I REALLY enjoyed the fact that all the "superheros" in this made Batman look like he was a wuss.

Batman IS a wuss.

I involuntarily uttered a "OH DAYUM!!!" when Adrian creamed that thug with the lamp/pedestal thing.....

I liked the movie quite a bit. It was def'ly a fitting tribute to super hero's of old and opened the door to the mentally unstable modern comic book characters. The psychology of it all really sucked me in.

The sex scene was pretty ridiculous. I was telling myself in the theater "It's a comic book. It's meant to be cheesy and juvenile."

I had no problem with the revised ending. I thought it worked really well.

I also would've liked a more modern, moody style with the soundtrack. The "Boomer" rock was fine as the movie's main events did occur in varying years with the most recent being 1985. In that case the music was indicative of the time. Like all those Vietnam war flicks playing the Stones, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Otis Redding, etc.

While I can see that Rorschach has that certain Wolverine-esque appeal I didn't really dig his character much in the book. He was definitely the star of the movie opposite Nite Owl. The Comedian and Dr Manhattan were very well portrayed.

All in all some very good escapist movie stuff right there. I had a good time and felt like I got my money's worth.