Watchmen - Ultimate Cut

Zero-Cool

Hey,

Has anyone seen Watchmen: Ultimate Cut? I heard it's 3.5 hours long and has the Tales of the Black Freighter mixed in with the movie just like the comic.

I would love to get hold of this version, has anyone seen it any shops and can give an approximate price?

Thanks

chin_grin

Haven't seen it in any shops to be honest! I couldn't sit through the movie again. (Cof comic fanboy alert!)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Watchmen-Ultimate-Cut-Region-NTSC/dp/B002Q9VPFM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266835168&sr=8-1

Check out the customer reviews.

RonanC

The 4 disc bluray is region-free.

bonerm

I've seen it. I thought it was ok, but I did have the feeling that anyone watching not familiar with the comic might be totally lost as to what was going on.

Kess73

I picked it up before Xmas online and loved it, but I could see people who do not love the original graphic novelnot liking this cut, and people who don't like long films will hate it.

Butler's voice suits the animated character very well, and the extended scenes (longer versions of the added scenes from the directors cut mostly) does add in bringing the film much closer to it;s source material.


The animation can be distracting though, as it is not super sharp and looks average on blu ray, especially beside the super slick looking live action.

There is no option in it to watch the film without the animation though.

If you loved the film or are a massive fan of the graphic novel, then it is a great buy.

pixelburp

Watchmen doesn't need an "Ultimate Cut", if anything it needs a pruning & shorter cut.

johnny_ultimate

pixelburp wrote: »

Watchmen doesn't need an "Ultimate Cut", if anything it needs a pruning & shorter cut.

A different better director would also help.

Soccertainer

pixelburp wrote: »

Watchmen doesn't need an "Ultimate Cut", if anything it needs a pruning & shorter cut.

Couldn't agree more, should be shortened, not lengthened although Graphic novel is immense and huge, the movie felt like it was dragging. Boring direction.

senordingdong

The movie was very long but I didn't feel it dragged at all.
I thought it was very well paced.

Though I didn't read the novel so it was all new to me.

johnny_ultimate

Soccertainer wrote: »

Couldn't agree more, should be shortened, not lengthened although Graphic novel is immense and huge, the movie felt like it was dragging. Boring direction.

Making it more and more like the graphic novel is missing the point completely. Comic and film are two very different mediums, and a story has to be adapted and altered to transfer successfully from one to the other. Before Watchmen came out, I was delighted that promotional materials were saying it stuck to the book. And while they get the character design etc.. right, it also shows up parts that worked in the book as being unwieldy and often silly on screen. It is telling that the best scene in the film (the opening credit montage) is not lifted directly from the book. In fairness to the screenplay, it is about as close as you could get to the graphic novel. But this damages the film rather than improving it. The cuts that add more and more to the film just seem to be missing the point. The closer and closer it gets to Moore's and Gibbon's work, the more it seems completely redundant. Why not just read the graphic novel instead? I also think inserting an animated version of Black Freighter would clash somewhat with the live action stuff. In fact, releasing it as a standalone film was possibly the most intelligent decision Snyder made - what works in comics probably won't convert well on screen.

I've said this before, but I still stand by it - the only way I'll watch Watchmen again is if that painful soundtrack is changed. Make that cut and I'd definitely give it another chance. As long as that Hallelujah sex scene exists, I'm not wasting another 3 or more hours on Snyder's over-stylised nonsense.

Raekwon

I bought it on Amazon before Christmas. I read the graphic novel and saw the movie in the cinema and really enjoyed both and held off buying the Blu-Ray to get my hands on this Ultimate Edition.

I really wanted to see The Black Freighter intertwined into the movie along with the 2 or 3 scenes that were deleted from the cinema release, but I found the running time to be slightly draining, and even though I liked it I doubt I'll be watching it all again for some time.

Soccertainer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Making it more and more like the graphic novel is missing the point completely. Comic and film are two very different mediums, and a story has to be adapted and altered to transfer successfully from one to the other. Before Watchmen came out, I was delighted that promotional materials were saying it stuck to the book. And while they get the character design etc.. right, it also shows up parts that worked in the book as being unwieldy and often silly on screen. It is telling that the best scene in the film (the opening credit montage) is not lifted directly from the book. In fairness to the screenplay, it is about as close as you could get to the graphic novel. But this damages the film rather than improving it. The cuts that add more and more to the film just seem to be missing the point. The closer and closer it gets to Moore's and Gibbon's work, the more it seems completely redundant. Why not just read the graphic novel instead? I also think inserting an animated version of Black Freighter would clash somewhat with the live action stuff. In fact, releasing it as a standalone film was possibly the most intelligent decision Snyder made - what works in comics probably won't convert well on screen.

I've said this before, but I still stand by it - the only way I'll watch Watchmen again is if that painful soundtrack is changed. Make that cut and I'd definitely give it another chance. As long as that Hallelujah sex scene exists, I'm not wasting another 3 or more hours on Snyder's over-stylised nonsense.

Definitely! http://www.movieandfilmreview.com/watchmen.html

Sleazus

I loved the Ultimate Cut, but it's not for everyone. It improves on quite few issues with the theatrical cut (though the horrible stylistic touches are still there), and serves as a much better companion to the novel.

On the other hand, I couldn't finish it in one sitting. I split it in half to digest it.

I agree with those who said a live action adaptation was a little bit pointless - Alan Moore is a very literary-minded writer and his ideas generally work better on the page than on-screen.

I get thee sense that Kick-Ass might be the movie equivalent of Watchmen (or the film it was meant to be) because it just seems more... cinematic than Moore's writing (which isn't a criticism). The graphic novel was a fantastic deconstruction of the comic book superhero genre, and the movie really should have done more to pick apart the big screen incarnations of these characters if it wanted to be half-as-relevant.

pixelburp

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

A different better director would also help.

To be fair to Synder, I think his own fandom shot him in the foot; perhaps if he wasn't so close to the material he wouldn't have felt the need to cram the theatrical cut with such slavish devotion to the novel.

The studio breathing down his neck to make cuts & changes if anything likely stiffened his resolve to make an accurate translation (psychic squids notwithstanding).

I second the point about the music; most of my reluctance to watch it again is because of that truly awful, awful soundtrack. Don't get me started on that.

Soccertainer

pixelburp wrote: »

To be fair to Synder, I think his own fandom shot him in the foot; perhaps if he wasn't so close to the material he wouldn't have felt the need to cram the theatrical cut with such slavish devotion to the novel.

The studio breathing down his neck to make cuts & changes if anything likely stiffened his resolve to make an accurate translation (psychic squids notwithstanding).

I second the point about the music; most of my reluctance to watch it again is because of that truly awful, awful soundtrack. Don't get me started on that.

Yes, and the success of his slo-mo style in 300 also probably didn't help

Jip

Please don't say there's more screen time for the massive blue balls ?

Valmont

Pixelburb, what scenes would you suggest to cut out? I thought it was as short as it could be considering the source material. Although

I am very glad that the psychic squid was omitted; the film's ending was far superior in this respect.

IvySlayer

Urgh, I liked this film in the cinema, but when I bought it on DVD and tried to watch it again, I couldn't. Hard to explain why. ****e soundtrack maybe. The voice of Rohsack (sp?). The dialouge.....

Switched it off after 20 minutes. The intro is amazing though. Perfect song.

bonerm

Aside, did Alan Moore (like with some of his other stuff) disown Watchmen?

I thought (for better or worse) it was a fairly faithful adaptation of the graphic novel.

humanji

bonerm wrote: »

Aside, did Alan Moore (like with some of his other stuff) disown Watchmen?

I thought (for better or worse) it was a fairly faithful adaptation of the graphic novel.

He's decided to automatically disown all film versions of his work, past, present and future.

Sleazus

bonerm wrote: »

Aside, did Alan Moore (like with some of his other stuff) disown Watchmen?

Alan Moore is pretty much disowning everything remotely associated with his work - he's even picking on Geoff Johns' homage to him in the current run of Green Lantern. It just seemed rather... mean for something which was meant as an affectionate homage.

Apparently the only adaptation of his work which he can stand is an animated episode of Justice League, adapting his Superman story For The Man Who Has Everything.

Oh, and here's what he thought would make a good adaptation of Watchmen.

Valmont

humanji wrote: »

He's decided to automatically disown all film versions of his work, past, present and future.

I always imagine that he snook into a cinema by himself dressed in a disguise to see Watchmen and I would have loved to see the look on his face when he realised

the giant squid was a silly idea!

pixelburp

Valmont wrote: »

Pixelburb, what scenes would you suggest to cut out? I thought it was as short as it could be considering the source material. Although

I am very glad that the psychic squid was omitted; the film's ending was far superior in this respect.

(not going to spoiler-tag anything as I presume those reading this thread have at least seen the movie)
Fair question, certainly makes me put my money where my mouth is It has been a while since I saw the movie in one go so my memory's a little hazy, but for starters I would have removed Hollis Mason altogether from the theatrical cut; he's in two scenes & his death in the second isn't even registered by Dan / Night Owl, which I thought was the breaking point for Dan.

Another scene that perhaps wasn't as necessary was the rape, some better editing could have got that point across without the slightly gratuitous scene we got.

Of course we mustn't forget the Nixon scenes, they were nothing but pointless filler scenes that contributed nothing (coupled with bloody terrible prosthetics). I think Frost / Nixon was playing at the same time, so perhaps it was some kind of joke link-up.

Those are 3 that spring to mind initially anyway ...

Zero-Cool

pixelburp wrote: »

Another scene that perhaps wasn't as necessary was the rape, some better editing could have got that point across without the slightly gratuitous scene we got.

The whole cinema went silent for this bit, non-readers of the comic were a bit shocked I could see and then a pavy girl behind us started roaring laughing and egging on the Comedian! Even her pavy fella was telling her to be quiet. Made the whole scene that much creepier.

So funny at the end when a group of 6/7 nerds got up and walked out when they realised there would be no squid. I much prefered the movie ending and even if I didn't, I wouldn't have walked out on it with 10 minutes to go!

Everytime I see the new Sky ad (slo mo of Comedian flying out the window) I want to watch the whole thing all over again.

I would love to see this again in the cinema.

Sleazus

Valmont wrote: »

Pixelburb, what scenes would you suggest to cut out? I thought it was as short as it could be considering the source material.

I mostly agree, but there is one scene I'd cut. Not for time, just form the 'narm' factor. The "Hallelujah" scene. We get it, he's sexually dysfunctional, no need for four-odd minutes of it.

jaykhunter

Em, so it the ultimate cut an added half hour of comic book panels? What's the general consensus, is it better than the Director's Cut?

I don't understand that term, either. Do studio execs have final say over how long a movie is? And the original theatrical version is incomplete and wasn't the director's "cut"?

Sleazus

jaykhunter wrote: »

Em, so it the ultimate cut an added half hour of comic book panels? What's the general consensus, is it better than the Director's Cut?

I don't understand that term, either. Do studio execs have final say over how long a movie is? And the original theatrical version is incomplete and wasn't the director's "cut"?

The consensus is that The Director's Cut is the best version of the film. It fleshes stuff out and adds motivation and context. The Ultimate Cut is for nerds and completists, and serves its purpose.

And, yes, unless you are Spielberg, the studio generally has final say on the version seen in cinemas. Longer movies mean less-screenings-per-day means lower turnover means smaller profit. So it's rare for an action movie or comedy to run over an hour and a half, unless it's like a summer blockbuster. There's also the ratings matter - higher ratings means smaller audience means smaller profit. Since your target market is teens, anything above 12 is a death knell to a big budget film.

Watchmen is an exception to these rules. The cinematic cut was quite graphic and quite long. However, I think length was ultimately the deciding factor. You can have maybe one three-and-a-half-hour screening a night.

jaykhunter

Thanks very much Sleazus

Kess73

The Directors cut is the best version imho.

It adds to the running time but manages to seem shorter than the theatrical cut as it flows better.

Scenes like the

killing of Hollis Mason (played by the excellent Stephen McHattie) by the gang who think he is still Nite Owl added to the film. The old man fighting for his life against six or seven gang members, and his mind playing tricks on him as he fights, with him seeing foes from his past as he fights.

Or the reaction of the

current Nite Owl, who was in a bar with Rorschach looking for info, when he sees a news report on the telly of Mason's murder. The news report ends with a mention of the gang, the knot tops, seen leaving the area. Daniel turns to a member of the Knot tops in the bar and loses it. Battering him and telling him to pass on the message that all the knot tops are dead.

Or the added dialogue in the scenes where

Rorschach is being questioned by the shrink

or before

he gets killed

.


Scenes like those fleshed out the story more, and added more depth to characters, plus many of the action scenes were longer and worked better as a result.