Posted: Mar 07 2009 2:59 pm Post subject: Watchmen
I saw Watchmen yesterday.
I'm not going to share what I think about it yet (I'm still trying to decide what I thought of it).
I guess I'm interested in what everyone else thought. Is there anyone here who hasn't read the book but saw the movie? What did you think?
The reason I ask is because the film followed the comic fairly closely (there are some differences but it is still close). I believe that Comic-grammar and Film-grammar are very different (one cannot just 'film a comic') so I'm curious if it worked - I had read the book so I could understand what was happening but somehow I think that someone who hasn't read it might have a very hard time understanding what was actually happening. _________________ http://www.what-song.net http://www.rogershanks.com
-A major alteration present is the more "stylized" and "outlandish" nature of the fight scenes instead of the more "gritty" and "realistic" approach taken by the novel. The costumed vigilantes more or less become "super heroes" as characters are seen punching through walls, inverting knees, jumping outlandish distances, and twisting heads backwards; to name just a few instances.
-Rorschach's first visit to Happy Harry's has been removed from the theatrical cut. Not entirely sure if the scene will make it into the directors cut or not.
- Rorschach's visit (warning) to Veidt has been removed and instead replaced with Dan Dreiberg visiting Viedt and warning him about the idea of a "mask killer" on the loose.
- Rorschach's commentary on Veidt with the line "Possibly Homosexual? Must Remember To Investigate Further" was removed from the theatrical cut.
- The two Bernie's seen on numerous occasions at the newsstand are given minimal screen time and no dialogue. Though scenes with them were shot and expect to see them restored in the directors cut.
-Laurie does not smoke at all.
- "The Crimebusters" are now referred to as "Watchmen."
- Capitan Metropolis is no longer a part of The Crimebusters meeting and is instead replaced by Veidt.
-Dreiberg's (Nite Owl II) impotency is not explicitly stated.
-Laurie no longer throws the bottle of perfume on Mars, but instead repeatedly hits the tower structure Jon built until it crumbles.
-Dr. Manhattan explicitly states that The Comedian is Laurie's father, rather than simply imply it like graphic novel chose to.
-The vivarium's been removed altogether.
-Hollis Mason's (the original Nite Owl) death was removed completely from the theatrical cut. No mention of it remains, although the scenes were shot and should be present in the directors cut.
-The fight scene between Rorschach, Nite Owl II, and Veidt has been altered to be more outlandish and stylistic than what the graphic novel originally portrayed it as.
- The scene where Big Figure and a fellow prisoner cut through the heavy set prisoner to get into Rorschach's cell was altered a bit to be more gruesome.
- Rorschach's backstory remains intact, for the most part. he still murders Grice's two German Shepherds and tosses them at him just like the graphic novel...
Here's a rather length explanation of the altered ending and how it plays out...
- Veidt and Manhattan essentially team up to create a new form of energy. Veidt then uses Manhattan's signature energy to create numerous explosions in a select amount of major cities, although only New York is shown. Shot of blue explosion is displayed and the two Bernie's embracing to form the graffiti of the two figures on the wall remains. The world then assumes that the attack was emotionally driven by Manhattan due to the numerous media attacks against him (which were originally caused by Veidt, to begin with). Manhattan then decides to depart Earth in a similar manner to the graphic novel.
- The infamous scene in the graphic novel with numerous corpses piled throughout New York has been replaced with a landscape of rubble. Think of it as the aftermath of a large explosion, with no bodies present to provide the impact of the original scene in the novel.
>> Anonymous 03/05/09(Thu)20:13 No.8347128
>>8347122
-Rorschach's death is essentially the same, although Dan Dreiberg witnesses the moment to increase the dramatic nature of the scene.
Here's a rather rough run down of the final moments between Dreiberg and Veidt...
- Dan Dreiberg becomes enraged after he witnesses the death of Rorschach. He rips his cowl off and rushes inside to confront Veidt and delivers numerous punches. Dan wants Veidt to be the bad guy and attempts to solve the problem through fighting as a "hero." Veidt does not fight back and Dan realizes it's pointless and him and Laurie leave Veidt to ponder his actions.
- The sex scene between Dan and Laurie in Karnak has been completely removed.
And now for the final shot...
- The ending scene remains intact, with the exception of the addition of the line "Tonight, a Comedian died in New York" from Rorschach as the camera zooms in on Seymour's stained smiley face shirt. It's not explicitly shown that Seymour grabs Rorschach's journal and the open ended nature of the graphic novel's final panel still remains, albeit with the subtle nature of the reference to the Comedians stained smiley face badge ultimately being lost due to the addition of Rorschach's line.
-Doc Manhattan shows Janey how to see the universe as he sees it by...touching her head and letting her have a flashback revealing that The Comedian is her father.
-No explanation of how Rorschach got his mask or why it moves the way it does.
-Rorschach is with the psychiatrist for about 1 minute before he spills his guts explaining how we came to be.
-Rohrschach's German Shepherd story pussies out dramatically. Instead of cuffing the child killer to the furnace, dumping kerosene on the floor, and throwing him a hacksaw while he burns the place down, he just cuffs him to the furnace then hacks him repeatedly with a meat cleaver.
-A loooodicrously long sex scene between Dan and Janey in the owl ship that is about as erotic as watching Pesci take on Sharon Stone in Casino that culminates with her accidentally hitting the flame thrower, shooting a large erotic plume of fire into the air. Get it, folks...he just had an orgasm!
-The cool dialogue at the end with Manhattan and Ozymandias is gone. Manhattan just takes off, and Janey just tells Dan while making out back in the US, "like John always said, nothing ever lasts".
-With all the great stuff that was cut, Zack Snyder adds scenes that don't even belong. Janey having a long discussion with her mom at the end about Eddie being her real father was just plain stupid.
-Rorschach didn't eat a single sugar cube in the whole movie. How hard was that?
These should be the differences, from my point of view, us in Denmark have to wait till the 20th before weīre getting it (and people have a hard time understanding why we download the movies).
It seems VERY dumped down, apparently Hollywood doesnīt like its audience to actually think.
As for comic to movies well Sin City was an excellent example of a comic turned into a movie.
The only changes that really bothered me were the change to the ending and the ommission of Hollis Mason's death.
Also I think the fight scenes were over-elaborate and made the character's out to be almost superhuman or immortal (removing all risk and drama from the fights).
Most of those other changes are forgivable to me. Considering the density of the story, it's a major accomplishment that the managed to keep it as close as it is to the original source material.
Also, it's an adaptation. Adaptation is pointless if it's a 100% copy of the original book. This film is not supposed to replace the book - it's supposed to explore that same story in film.
Adaptation is all about recapturing the essence of the story in a new medium. Merely filming the comic, treating the book as a storyboard, is not creative or interesting.
Still, I would never say that this film has sacrificed the story - it hasn't been dumbed down for mass audiences. Actually I think most people in the general audience will hate this film. It's definitely a fan-film. This was definitely made with a passion for the original story.
In actual fact the problem with the film might be that it is too true to the comic book. In reality a 12 issue comic book should be 6 hours worth of film. This film is only about 2 1/2 hours. I think if it were a looser adaptation it might have been better - the story could have been more focused and the sacrifices from the book would only serve to give more time to what was left in - the essential story elements.
I haven't decided yet. I do like the film as a visual version of Watchmen. I'm just not convinced that it is a good standalone film - is it even watchable for people who haven't read the book? _________________ http://www.what-song.net http://www.rogershanks.com
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