I've watched the Watchmen [Archive] - SoonerFans.com Message Boards

badger

3/6/2009, 05:58 PM

NormanPride

3/6/2009, 06:04 PM

I'm not the one that forced their loved one to see that failure of an animated Star Wars film. If you call us nerds for watching a famous piece of American art/literature turned to film, then what's that make you, hmm?

Mixer!

3/6/2009, 06:30 PM

Room. All this arguing is just going to lead to sechsing anyways. :pop:

reevie

3/6/2009, 07:55 PM

For the sake of the nerds who are taking groups of nerds to the nerd movie this weekend so they can act like a bunch of nerds in their nerd groups watching the nerd movie, can you provide more non-spoiler details on the film?

Here's a few questions:

1- Did it stay true to the book?
2- Is it worth watching more than once?

I am asking on behalf of NerdPride. ;)

1. Yes, pretty much. They ommitted some things (The Black Freighter being the one you know about it) and some other non-critical things. They added more to the threat of nuclear war storyline - Nixon, Kissinger get quite a bit of screen time - which I thought was fine. I think there is only one significant change to the story, but I'm not going to spoil it. But overall, it told the story faithfully given the constraints of the media.

2. I think so. If you're familar with the book then you'll see things going on and know why they're there. If you haven't, I think you'll pick up on those things the second time around.

I enjoyed the opening credit sequence. They tell alot of the backstory and history to tell get you primed for the "alternative 1985".

Does that help?

King Crimson

3/6/2009, 08:24 PM

hell, i didn't even know it was out. i thought it was may or some shizz. doesn't sound the like the jaw-dropping awesomeness one might have dreamed about...but not expected.

i suppose i'll drag myself to the multi-plex for it over the weekend.

yermom

3/7/2009, 01:41 AM

i thought it was pretty good.

you better like schlong though ;)

i saw Milk tonight as well. no schlong, but lots of dudes kissing other dudes

soonerboomer93

3/7/2009, 01:24 PM

I've only read part of the graphic novel, but I did enjoy the movie. It did suprise the people i was with who were expecting something different, but they liked it.

badger

3/8/2009, 07:23 PM

NP and nerd friends went to see it today. Some people left early... including those that brought little, young kiddos.

For those of you out there tempted to do the same thing, know that there are several sex scenes and full frontal nudity on the blue skinned dude.

yermom

3/8/2009, 07:40 PM

it's no Sin City :D

i was amazed at the young kids i saw when i went to see that one the 2nd time

MR2-Sooner86

3/8/2009, 08:20 PM

Some people left early... including those that brought little, young kiddos.

For those of you out there tempted to do the same thing, know that there are several sex scenes and full frontal nudity on the blue skinned dude.

No ****? Really? A rated R movie with nudity?

Seriously though it amazes me how people complain about a movie and say "they didn't know" when they take their kids or allow them to go watch it. I heard the same crap from parents when Dark Knight came out and they took their younger children thinking it'd be Batman & Robin 2.

Frozen Sooner

3/8/2009, 08:33 PM

No ****? Really? A rated R movie with nudity?

Seriously though it amazes me how people complain about a movie and say "they didn't know" when they take their kids or allow them to go watch it. I heard the same crap from parents when Dark Knight came out and they took their younger children thinking it'd be Batman & Robin 2.

:nods:

Exact thought I had. Geez, it's not like the trailers didn't show naked blue guy pretty prominently (though without the floppy blue johnson.)

KC//CRIMSON

3/8/2009, 11:48 PM

Really well done.

badger

3/9/2009, 07:38 AM

I know the South Oval to be full of brilliant minds, but should some posters from other sites creep over into this discussion, I just want them to be aware before they make the same mistake others did when we all went.

Better yet, movie theaters should not be allowed to show elementary school kids R-rated movies. Blanket ban pre-teens from these shows. If parents really want to expose kids to nightmare-inducing horror shows or scenes that will prompt the sex question years early, that's why there's Netflix.

SoonerJack

3/9/2009, 11:10 AM

I went with my 16-year old nerd son (who is an awesome kid). As we were leaving he movie he says, "It was a good movie. It would have been a great movie without the sex scenes."

Badger, you would love this kid. When he was 5 he declared to whoever was listening that he was "the boss of Star Wars." He's kinda like Jason from Foxtrot. I remember taking him and several of his nerdling buddies to the final Star Wars movie. They come home all hopped up on light sabers and proceed to the back yard to re-enact the battles, argue over the best scenes, and discuss the merits of the green light saber vs the blue light saber. Good memories.

badger

3/9/2009, 11:40 AM

I don't mind all the sex scenes - but I'm 26, heh.

Based on your son's age, I would have to assume that he was also deceived into thinking that the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars would actually be a decent showing. How decent can a movie be if I'm holding out hope that the annoying girl dies at the end of the movie?

And yes, I thought she'd die, because she wasn't a character until that movie and thus, HAD to die because (a) she was an annoying brat and (b) she wasn't in any of the films. FOLLOW THE STORY! KILL THE ANNOYING GIRL!

Alas, Lucas in his attempt to recruit a younger audience kept the girl alive at the end of the movie and I swore off Star Wars forever. :mad:

Or at least until they make a better movie ;)

OUMallen

3/9/2009, 11:57 AM

badger

3/9/2009, 12:19 PM

I thought the sex scene was a little gratuitously graphic, honestly. It didn't really BOTHER me, but it was so racy it was almost distracting.

ALL of that stuff was distracting... it's like they were doing it on purpose.

Awesome special effects that all superhero movies need to have now? CHECK!

Superhero costumes to deceive kiddos into thinking they're watching another Spiderman flick and will beg their parents to take them despite the R Rating? CHECK!

Depict Richard Nixon as an old coot that all of us remember him as, thanks to the Kennedy debates? Double, triple and quadruple bypass surgery CHECK!

20 separate computer-generated penis scenes for absolutely no reason at all? CHECK!

Frozen Sooner

3/9/2009, 01:11 PM

Keeping in mind I haven't seen the movie and don't know how graphic or not graphic they were, cutting Nite Owl and Silk Spectre's sex scenes would have been a massive mistake. They were absolutely cruicial to Nite Owl's character development.

And if any parent was "deceived" by the costumes into thinking this was a kiddie flick, they're too stupid to have children. Nobody with any sense would have seen the trailers for this film and thought "Hey, there's a guy hosing down Vietnamese people with a flame thrower! That's like Bambi!"

bri

3/9/2009, 01:30 PM

Yes, let's blame filmmakers who try to faithfully adapt source material for parents being lazy and stupid. Love it. Love it so much.

OUMallen

3/9/2009, 01:32 PM

Keeping in mind I haven't seen the movie and don't know how graphic or not graphic they were, cutting Nite Owl and Silk Spectre's sex scenes would have been a massive mistake. They were absolutely cruicial to Nite Owl's character development.

And if any parent was "deceived" by the costumes into thinking this was a kiddie flick, they're too stupid to have children. Nobody with any sense would have seen the trailers for this film and thought "Hey, there's a guy hosing down Vietnamese people with a flame thrower! That's like Bambi!"

This. PLus, Badger, I think you're missing the point on Doc Manhattan perhaps. If the guy wore clothing, it would be completely against everything his character is: a being that's less than a god, more than a man, and is slowly, but surely, losing all connection with humanity. Modesty is not an emotion he has anymore....he doesn't have ANY emotions really. Just logic and curiosity. Wearing clothes would be weird for him and he only does it for his rare public appearances.

BudSooner

3/9/2009, 01:39 PM

Keeping in mind I haven't seen the movie and don't know how graphic or not graphic they were, cutting Nite Owl and Silk Spectre's sex scenes would have been a massive mistake. They were absolutely cruicial to Nite Owl's character development.
Agreed, after the sex scene Dan appeared to be less "bloated and impotent" so to speak....hell I would too after hitting that. :D

And if any parent was "deceived" by the costumes into thinking this was a kiddie flick, they're too stupid to have children. Nobody with any sense would have seen the trailers for this film and thought "Hey, there's a guy hosing down Vietnamese people with a flame thrower! That's like Bambi!"
Same as above, people for too long have blamed the filmakers for too much violence on the way the kiddies have grown up detached from society.
HELLO??? It is YOUR fault, for being to stupid as to dismiss the rating, those pesky R ratings tend to get in the way of Zach counting his cash I guess.

Yes, let's blame filmmakers who try to faithfully adapt source material for parents being lazy and stupid. Love it. Love it so much.
Yeah, what he said.

Overall, I would say the movie was brilliant though the change in the ending kinda ruined it..a little, but it actually fit the movie.
Artistic license worked here, even if Alan Moore said it was "unfilmable" the end product was quite enjoyable.

But lets face it, these same parents were probably taken to see Howard the Duck as kids thinking it was a kiddie movie.

bri

3/9/2009, 01:55 PM

And if any parent was "deceived" by the costumes into thinking this was a kiddie flick, they're too stupid to have children. Nobody with any sense would have seen the trailers for this film and thought "Hey, there's a guy hosing down Vietnamese people with a flame thrower! That's like Bambi!"

That's just the tip of the idiot iceberg. The source material for this film has been around for over 20 years now, and there's about eleventybillion "watchdog" websites and such that offer breakdowns of all "questionable" content in films these days. For anyone to take little Timmy to see Watchmen and then be shocked - SHOCKED, I SAY - at all the sex and violence and sexual violence and violent sex and rampant blue c*ck, well, we should all get to punch them in the head. Twice.

Frozen Sooner

3/9/2009, 01:57 PM

I think we should be able to give them an Angry Pirate. With blue ****.

OK, I'm sold. I'll be going to see this either at the late show tonight or the early morning show tomorrow.

bri

3/9/2009, 02:04 PM

You won't regret it, but you may want to take a power nap beforehand. This movie is longer than Dr. Manhattan's infamous floppy blue c*ck.

badger

3/9/2009, 03:04 PM

I'm not blaming filmmakers for making a "superhero movie" that kids will want to see. I think there are kids out there that want everything that parents and other responsible adults tell them they can't have.

I'm poking fun at what I witnessed personally Sunday; that there are parents out there that are stupid enough to not know what to expect in an R-rated film and walk out in the middle of the showing because of all the sex scenes, but more importantly, the LARGE BLUE C*CK scenes... which I remind you, are computer generated (hahahaha, I can see the responses now: "Nooo, baj, I thought that blue penises were perfectly normal and that the actor really had blue skin and glowed and stuff!")

So anyway, I am not knocking the multiple sex scenes or even, ahem, the large blue c*ck scenes. It was LOL hilarious to watch people with young kids walk out during the film, that's all.

badger

3/9/2009, 03:13 PM

This. PLus, Badger, I think you're missing the point on Doc Manhattan perhaps. If the guy wore clothing, it would be completely against everything his character is: a being that's less than a god, more than a man, and is slowly, but surely, losing all connection with humanity. Modesty is not an emotion he has anymore....he doesn't have ANY emotions really. Just logic and curiosity. Wearing clothes would be weird for him and he only does it for his rare public appearances.

:les: NERD ALERT!

Seriously guys, if mentioning blue penises over and over wasn't enough of a clue that I was joking around about this flick, then maybe I should just leave talking all this superhero sci-fi stuff to you boys.

Wow, you get soooooo touchy when I accidentally tread on your nerdly territory. Badger, he HAD to be naked! Floppy blue c*ck! Bloated and impotent!

:P See, those phrases are funny when tied together, but on separate posts defending this movie so defensively, it's obvious that this conversation is not to be treaded on so light heartedly. Carry on, boys. I'll leave your Watchmen thread alone. I've never read this book and I only went to see it because NP and his friends were.

OUMallen

3/9/2009, 03:50 PM

:les: NERD ALERT!

Seriously guys, if mentioning blue penises over and over wasn't enough of a clue that I was joking around about this flick, then maybe I should just leave talking all this superhero sci-fi stuff to you boys.

Wow, you get soooooo touchy when I accidentally tread on your nerdly territory. Badger, he HAD to be naked! Floppy blue c*ck! Bloated and impotent!

:P See, those phrases are funny when tied together, but on separate posts defending this movie so defensively, it's obvious that this conversation is not to be treaded on so light heartedly. Carry on, boys. I'll leave your Watchmen thread alone. I've never read this book and I only went to see it because NP and his friends were.

I am translating this to: I had no idea what I was talking about or the context of that character, so I'm going to call you guys nerds and act like you're stupid.

I wasn't being defensive or an apologist- I was trying to give you background so you wouldn't be speaking in ignorance.

bri

3/9/2009, 03:54 PM

Dude, if you talk to it, it just gets worse. Ignore it and it'll eventually talk itself out.

SoonerJack

3/9/2009, 03:54 PM

Based on your son's age, I would have to assume that he was also deceived into thinking that the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars would actually be a decent showing. How decent can a movie be if I'm holding out hope that the annoying girl dies at the end of the movie?

Actually, when he saw the trailers for the animated Clone Wars, he just shook his head and said, "I can't believe they're doing that to Star Wars."

BTW, the movie I was referring to was the one where Anakin becomes Darth Vader and he and Obi Wan duke it out among the lava floes (Revenge of the Sith). I had to look that up because I always get them confused. [I am clearly not the boss of star wars.]

King Crimson

3/9/2009, 04:34 PM

I saw it this afternoon.

KC//CRIMSON

3/9/2009, 04:36 PM

I saw it this afternoon.

That's way too much information, slow down.....:D

King Crimson

3/9/2009, 04:42 PM

i'm not sure what to say. i do think it would be hard to follow if you weren't familiar with the story line. i thought the "character sketches" of each of the "Watchmen" were really really well done. and the intro was cool.

the New Frontiersman stuff doesn't really work without the News Stand scenes throughout, stapled on to the end.

I might have to see it again....I thought the last 45 minutes or so was a little rough and not so effective as "philosophy".

and no snow bikes for Archie? wtf?

there was a lot to like about it; some of it is outstanding.

KC//CRIMSON

3/9/2009, 04:47 PM

King Crimson

3/9/2009, 04:52 PM

I'd like to see it again as well, but this time from home. I don't think I could hang in a theater that long again.

i had a couple female talkers a few rows over from me. and a lot of the background stuff you aren't gonna catch the 1st time. the Gunga Diner not til pretty deep in. the New Frontiersman, as i say. Black Freighter poster (I think on the News Stand--at the end).

badger

3/9/2009, 05:10 PM

I am translating this to: I had no idea what I was talking about or the context of that character, so I'm going to call you guys nerds and act like you're stupid.

I wasn't being defensive or an apologist- I was trying to give you background so you wouldn't be speaking in ignorance.

:D I'm never going to call acting like a nerd stupid. It isn't stupid. I think it's cute and it's why I married NP.

I just think you guys jumped at my sarcasm too quickly regarding some elements of the film. I won't pretend I understand the story - I had to Wikipedia it after I saw it to figure out some of the background.

Ok, now I promise to leave you guy's thread alone. :)

badger

3/9/2009, 05:11 PM

Actually, when he saw the trailers for the animated Clone Wars, he just shook his head and said, "I can't believe they're doing that to Star Wars."

You are raising a smart kid. Two hours of my life I will never get back from that crap. :mad:

Ok, now I'm leaving for real ;)

King Crimson

3/9/2009, 09:09 PM

just on the by and by, this is about the 4th or 5th film/TV show i've seen in the last year or so that has the Leonard Cohen song 'Hallelujah' in it.

Frozen Sooner

3/9/2009, 09:25 PM

Did it just pass into public domain?

King Crimson

3/9/2009, 10:00 PM

i don't think so....it was written in the early 80's, pretty sure: melody is Handel...but the lyrics are Cohen's.

according to wiki, it's been covered 180 times since 1984. and charted 4 times in the UK in 2008 alone: covered by 4 different artists. wow.

Frozen Sooner

3/10/2009, 02:52 AM

Just got back.

Liked the attention to detail, particularly in ambient noise. The Tears for Fears muzak in Veidt's office was brilliant.

Shot selection and framing was excellent. Really stood out. Wouldn't be shocked to see an Oscar nomination for direction (though I would be surprised.)

The change to the ending made sense, no problems with it. I may like it better than the original ending, in fact.

Didn't think the sex scenes were out of line in particular. Did notice that there were some small children in the audience. At an 8:30 showing on a school night. I weep for the future.

I wonder somewhat what the political press will make of this film.

Good job on Dr. Floppy Bluecock. Deeply weird.

Fight choreography was well done.

Can't think of any real flaws that jumped out at me, but I wasn't blown away. All in all a very credible film.

reevie

3/10/2009, 06:22 AM

The change to the ending made sense, no problems with it. I may like it better than the original ending, in fact.

That is what I thought as well. It was an ending that not only worked, it worked within the framework of the story and is maybe more believable.

King Crimson

3/10/2009, 08:42 AM

Just got back.

Can't think of any real flaws that jumped out at me, but I wasn't blown away. All in all a very credible film.

absent was the death of Hollis: death of Hollis seemed like a pivotal scene in the original...which drives the plot....more than just Drieberg re-discovers what Dr. Man-Hattan has, as it were, as motivation to put the mask back on.

i still think the news stand scenes were a sad omission....not because i loved them in particular, but that they help with the "narration".

again, i thought the individual character outlines of each (minus Night Owl II) and their relationship to Blake (Judah Botwin)....were fantastic. overall, i wasn't disappointed nor (as Froz said) blown away. some of the "philosophizing" dialogue was a little hokey and lacked the moral ambiguities of the GN.

bri

3/10/2009, 04:04 PM

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j141/ECKoolAid/lolsports/david-west-mareese-speights.jpg

8timechamps

3/14/2009, 04:44 PM

I just saw it with my 14 year old son (he's a good kid that looks away during anything that might possibly show nudity...which I think is funny, because at that age he really wants to look).

Anyway, other than knowing VERY little about the Night Owl, I had no idea what the movie or (the heros) The Watchmen were about...so, for those of you like me, here's my take on the film:

First, it's a long movie. However, it's long because it needs to be. There is a lot of ground to cover (character & story development) and it takes every minute of the movie to cover it.

As for the violence and nudity, it's in there. I was lead to believe there was going to be a blue schlong flopping around the entire movie. Not so. However, there are a few times you can't help but to notice it. I will say the movie is chalked full of blue a$$ though. Very graphic movie as far as violence...which I loved. As for the sex scenes, I didn't think they were too long :D, and in reality, they weren't more than 2 or 3 minutes of the film.

All in all, I thought it was a really good movie. A movie you can go see and enjoy even if you have no idea who the Watchmen are. With that said, you will need to be ready for a long, slow uncovering of the characters...which I thought was very well done.

It's not a movie I will rush out to see again (mainly because it's so long), but I will probably own it on DVD.

reevie

3/14/2009, 06:20 PM

It's not a movie I will rush out to see again (mainly because it's so long), but I will probably own it on DVD.

Go get and read the book now!

Frozen Sooner

3/14/2009, 06:39 PM

After a few days:

I'm still good with the movie. It's the best adaptation of Watchmen that I think we can expect. The more I think about it, the more I think it's spectacularly unsuited to adaptation to theatrical release. Potentially this could have been done better as an HBO miniseries or something.

Practically everyone seems to think the opening montage was the best thing about the whole movie.

Hollis' murder. Though I think including that without the Black Freighter storyline for context might have been a mistake.