Watchmen

Finknottle

Any Watchmen fans about? Read the graphic novel a few months ago and I hope the film isn't crap.

Nevyn

It's bound to be crap.

Finknottle

I don't know, Zack Snyder pulled it out of the bag for 300 which was a good adaptation of Frank Miller's Graphic Novel, although it wasn't everybody's cup of tea. There is an awful lot more in the Watchmen novel to transfer but its such a good story.

aidan_walsh

Finknottle wrote: »

I don't know, Zack Snyder pulled it out of the bag for 300 which was a good adaptation of Frank Miller's Graphic Novel, although it wasn't everybody's cup of tea. There is an awful lot more in the Watchmen novel to transfer but its such a good story.

And there in lies the issue, far less of it will be translatable to the screen thus buckets of it will be left out. Whether it will be good or not I'll reserve judgement for until after I have seen it (or at least a trailer), but it won't be the book by any measure.

BlitzKrieg

Finknottle wrote: »

I don't know, Zack Snyder pulled it out of the bag for 300 which was a good adaptation of Frank Miller's Graphic Novel, although it wasn't everybody's cup of tea. There is an awful lot more in the Watchmen novel to transfer but its such a good story.

The problem with Watchmen will be the same as 300 though and at the same time the complete opposite

300 suffered because Snyder tried to shove some crappy modern inspired hammy political plotline in among the original material which fell flat on its face and dragged the rest of the film down a good few notches.


It looked fantastic.

And so will Watchmen, but it will be the plotting (plot + pace) that will damage Watchmen much how it did with 300, except I expect this time it will be what Snyder leaves out rather then what he stuffs in.

humanji

I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure it'll be a mess, but it might be an enjoyable mess. I read today that they're releasing the pirate story from the graphic novel as a seperate dvd, a few days after the release of the film.

Finknottle

I read about the seperate release for The Black Freighter too. I also saw a pic of the Minutemen, the original hero group from the flashback bits of the novel, looks close to the graphics in the novel.
It is gonna be a fine line between what is left out and what is absloutely necessary to preserve the integrity of the book. Once the characters are portrayed well and its not a film that they wants kids to see it could be great, imagine the prison scenes played out properly.....great stuff.

Kur4mA

I can't wait to see what he does with it. I don't think it would be possible to fit everything from the novel into a movie but I am still looking forward to it.

Finknottle

He has a good eye for giving movement to pictures and apparently he is going all out to be faithful to the novel....roll on next March! Wonder what the creature at the end will look like? Rorshach better be kickass!

johnny_ultimate

I'm a huge Watchmen fan but am not getting to hyped about this one. I still don't think Snyder has proven himself enough to handle it: I thought 300 was the most embarrasingly shallow, over-stylised film I'd seen in quite some time, and is the complete opposite of what Watchmen should be. Snyder hasn't shown he can handle depth, which is what I'm cautious about.

But some positive signs: the early character pics look pretty decent ('cept a way too young Ozymandias), the set photos suggest it is still set in the '80s (phew!) and the news that there will be two DVD spin-offs (Black Freighter and something else as yet unknown) bodes well. We shall see though... its going to be very, very tricky to pull this off.

pixelburp

I think what's worth noting about the production that yes, there is too much reference material to be included in the cinematic release, and that's precisely why all this excess material is going into the DVD.

For example? The "Tales of the Black Freighter" comic (within the comic) is being produced as a DVD-only extra & supposedly narrated by Gerard Butler. The candid autobiography by the first Night Owl that sat between each chapter will also apparently be worked into the DVD as fake TV interviews.

I'm not looking for a verbatim translation of the graphic novel to be honest. The whole point of the cinematic medium is that you show the same story with a different perspective. So long as the atmosphere & tone of the story remains, I'll forgive the film if it isn't 100% accurate.

Finknottle

Well the film will be an adaptation and unlike 300 which needed extra material to give it extra substance the opposite is the case with Watchmen. I do agree with Johnny about Ozymandias looking far too young but it was only one shots so we will wait and see, the rest look authentic and the alternative 80's setting stays which is essential.
The Comedian looks spot on as does Silk Spectre, my favourite character was Rorshach and his portrayal will be key, haven't seen any pics of Dr. Manhattan though, how will he be handled?

Karl Hungus

I don't think it'll be able to pull of anything close to what Watchmen is, there's just so many things going on in that book that simply won't make it to the sceen, but considering it's Zack Synder, I think he'll be able to pull off a somewhat decent film. It won't be Watchmen, but rather, a visual companion to Watchmen.

johnny_ultimate

Finknottle wrote: »

The Comedian looks spot on as does Silk Spectre, my favourite character was Rorshach and his portrayal will be key, haven't seen any pics of Dr. Manhattan though, how will he be handled?

These are going to be the hardest things to pull off. Manhattan in the book is very comic-booky, will be hard to pull off on screen. And Rorschach's mask / voice are also going to be difficult to transfer from graphics to live action.

speedboatchase

Woah, these guys are good!

pixelburp

It would be sweet if Watchmen was the movie that finally turned Alan Moore's (frankly arrogant) attitude towards his adaptations.

That Minutemen photo is scarily accurate though. So far the buzz has been quite positive. You'd almost get excited.

RAIN

http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_6148&products_id=45560

Found this online , i cant tell if its the actual design or his face is blurred cus he hasent been revealed.

qwertplaywert

pixelburp wrote: »

It would be sweet if Watchmen was the movie that finally turned Alan Moore's (frankly arrogant) attitude towards his adaptations.

No chance of that, since he has started refusing to even watch the adaptations. No matter what the reviews are like, his ego will not allow him to indulge.

Dont be at yourself

I don't think it'll be able to pull of anything close to what Watchmen is, there's just so many things going on in that book that simply won't make it to the sceen, but considering it's Zack Synder, I think he'll be able to pull off a somewhat decent film. It won't be Watchmen, but rather, a visual companion to Watchmen.

What kind of things wont make it to the screen? To me, the only obstacle in adapting Watchmen into a movie is the sheer length of it. There's nothing in the novel that's particularly 'unfilmable', and the noises from production are that Snyder's been given effectively free reign.

The additional material at the end of each issue - police reports, and so on - may prove difficult to adapt as-is, but they were largely superfluos, and I would trust the production team to get their message across in other ways.

pixelburp

Well we know that the movie will be 3 hours long, so the question of length is partly answered with that (you can also guarantee there'll be an "uncut" version for the DVD as they seem to be pushing the boat out on it).

I re-read the story again recently and, to be honest, it's not half as dense as the rabid fanboys would have you believe. Much of the density I think comes from the sometimes overwhelming amount of visual detail, be it in the backgrounds or the news items playing on radio etc; this visual detail can still translate to the bigscreen, but the only obvious difference is that rather than being able to pour over this detail with each frame, it'll flash by in an instant onscreen (the pause button on your remote notwithstanding).

The story itself is rich and complex certainly, but nothing that couldn't be adapted for a 3 hour movie. The nature of the cinematic narrative means that compromises will have to be made to the dialogue & pacing, but I don't believe we're talking about something inherently "unfilmable" (unlike a novel like "Dune" for instance).

I think the biggest problem the adaptation faces is that this movie is bound to flop regardless of how well it's made; the story, characters & setting are all very much the opposite of what would play in a typical superhero movie & to me Watchmen is a small, personal movie about a bunch of neurotics. I'll make a bet right now the reviews will be mixed, with the most positive coming from those who read the original material.

Finknottle

pixelburp wrote: »

Well we know that the movie will be 3 hours long, so the question of length is partly answered with that (you can also guarantee there'll be an "uncut" version for the DVD as they seem to be pushing the boat out on it).

I re-read the story again recently and, to be honest, it's not half as dense as the rabid fanboys would have you believe. Much of the density I think comes from the sometimes overwhelming amount of visual detail, be it in the backgrounds or the news items playing on radio etc; this visual detail can still translate to the bigscreen, but the only obvious difference is that rather than being able to pour over this detail with each frame, it'll flash by in an instant onscreen (the pause button on your remote notwithstanding).

The story itself is rich and complex certainly, but nothing that couldn't be adapted for a 3 hour movie. The nature of the cinematic narrative means that compromises will have to be made to the dialogue & pacing, but I don't believe we're talking about something inherently "unfilmable" (unlike a novel like "Dune" for instance).

I think the biggest problem the adaptation faces is that this movie is bound to flop regardless of how well it's made; the story, characters & setting are all very much the opposite of what would play in a typical superhero movie & to me Watchmen is a small, personal movie about a bunch of neurotics. I'll make a bet right now the reviews will be mixed, with the most positive coming from those who read the original material.

I didn't know the movie will be 3 hours but its good news regarding the pacing, it should flow more naturally and not be squeezed together. I don't agree that the movie will flop though, 300 was a huge success and although I had read the graphic movel beforehand the majority of people would not have. The same could be said for V for Vendetta and Sin City. We also have The Spirit coming just before Watchmen. I think its the alternative realities, and excellent characters that attract rather then just the source material.