Very encouraging. Snyder certainly is making an effort to get the look right, and all he characters look spot on (Silk Spectre, by the way — boiiing). I just hope they can capture some of the depth and complexity of the story.
I cannot wait for this fucking film!! I keep an eye on the behind the scenes bits as much as I can, and it seems like great respect is being taken both for the book itself, and for us hardcore fans. I really don’t think that they’re going to fuck this up.
That said, I do have one major fear, which stems directly from the reverence for Watchmen. Even though superhero movies are the “new cool thing” right now, and everyone is going and seeing things like Iron Man (which I loved) and Hulk and Dark Knight (neither of which I have seen yet, due to monetary restraint)…I’m terrified that a LOT of people just won’t get it. Of course those of us who read the GN will understand, and either love the movie, or not, based on its merits, or lack thereof. But what about all the people who don’t comprehend nything other than Michael Bay-like stories and explosions and ass kicking? Sadly, these guys (and girls) seem to be the majority, and I fear that something like Watchmen will be far too deep and bizarre for them. I just worry that there will be a backlash against the movie from a bunch of douchebags with money, and it will deter filmmakers from ever attempting anything like this again. I hope I’m wrong, though.
PS - Holy fucking shit does that trailer look amazing!! (And I’m proud to admit that I’m geek-cred-worthy enough to have caught the Smashing Pumpkins relevance.) SQUEE!!
The trailer’s amazing, although I can’t see it getting anyone other than fans excited. I can only imagine that Joe Public would be completlry baffled by what he’s seeing… Who are these people? What the hells going on? Whats that thing rising out of the sand at the end?
He’s not going to know that it’s a glass palace on mars created by the mind of Doc. Manhatten… how could he? So, whereas the trailer works for fans, a better overall trailer would have, say, had Doc Manhatten sitting in solitude on Mars, with a voiceover explaining some things, then, as the palace begins to rise, a montage basically akin to what we see, culminating in the palace completley formed, hovering over the martian landscape. Cue Title.
But hey, for the fans, its amazing… I particularly love Doc Manhatten zapping the viet cong. Shit, I just like Doc Manhatten… I’d never imagined him with the spectral glow, which makes me suddenly feel stoopid, that what I though he’d look like was a blue version of the silver surfer. Dig the shot of him materialising in the cafe… its exactly like it is in the comic, down to his blue penis. Yeah, I paused it and checked.
The movie doesn’t come out until 2009. I suspect the final trailers will look a lot like that. This, however, is just a teaser, intended as a needle of heroin directly into the brain stems of the fanboys who are filling the theaters for the opening of The Dark Knight this weekend.
I listened to an interview with Moore on NPR one time. He basically feels that comic books allow the reader to fill in the action between panels in their head. Because of this, he feels that the reader gets a better story that way than in a movie version.
Therefore, he hates all film versions of his books.
Then again, he *is *crazy. 
I’m interested in where the wiki editor got the MLJ information, as I’ve never heard it before, Moore couldn’t have pitched an idea using the MLJ characters to DC in 1986, as they didn’t own them, and wouldn’t licence them for almost a decade), and it’s not backed up by the rest of the article, which only mentions the Charlton characters (recently bought by DC) that became the Watchmen characters and the DC and Quality characters (long since owned by DC) that were stronger influences on the Silk Spectre than Nightshade.
Actually, thanks for the heads-up! I’d never heard of Peacemaker, but I’d heard all of the other connections made before. Now I know, and knowing is half the something-or-other!
AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
And from someone with your username, no less!
Repeatedly!
It has always been the Carlton characters, as far as I knew. Basically, DC had gotten the rights to them and weren’t sure what to do with them, being that they were kinda old-fashioned and not easily integrated into the DC universe. They had no emotional investment in them.
So Moore said ‘What if I kill them all? Like this…’
And the Powers that Be were amused, but decided to keep the “real” characters as a cash cow…
I still fundamentally disagree that the Watchmen can be taken out of its medium without losing most of what makes it worthwhile in the first place.
But I am very impressed by the trailer, visually. Things like Dr. Manhattan’s glass palace on Mars, and Nite-Owl’s Owl Ship rising out of the water look really cool. It certainly looks like they’re going to cram as much of the book as possible in there, so kudos for that.
:: crickets chirping ::
Anybody?
The trailer is fantastic, but I have low expectations for the film. I don’t think you can do justice to the work with a 90-minute film. It should be done as a television mini-series.
“God help us all.” I think it’s the Comedian’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) voice, but it could be Nite Owl’s also.
ETA: The Vietnam scenes make me more hopeful that they have the scene with Comedian, Doc Manhattan, and the pregnant woman. That’s one of the best parts of the comic IMHO.
I would bet on a running time of at least 2:10, and maybe more.
I really can’t see how they could possibly cut out…
The Comedian’s rape of Sally Jupiter.
or…
The original Nite-Owl getting beaten to death by an angry mob.
Those are pretty fundamental aspects of the story.
I’d be surprised to see either Jenny Slater or Moloch make it into the movie. I’m actually wondering if they might trim down Rorschach’s stint in prison or eliminate it entirely. At least, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ditched the stuff with his psychiatrist (although it is quite important, it’s also time consuming) and just had him flash back to his origin at some other point.
shy guy, in the trailer at 0:45 in there’s a scene with Nite Owl running down a prison corridor, so the Rorschach in prison part presumably exists.
I agree with your spoilers, particularly since
Manhattan’s return to earth is dependent on the rape
Slater and Moloch are both listed on the IMDb page, as are Silhouette and her lover. Matt Frewer (of Max Headroom fame) is listed as Moloch.
I was awed by the trailer. My theory is that if the movie’s half as good as the trailer, it’ll be a decent movie. If it’s as good as the trailer, the makers will have gotten Watchmen right.
Try skipping the pirate bits and the text between chapters. It’s like how you can skip chapters 6-8 of The Fellowship of the Ring.
What?
Snyder is shooting for a 2:25 final cut, but he doesn’t know how he will do it. He wants to keep everything! Currently it stands at slightly over 3 hours in length.
I’ll be interested to see what special stuff they bring to Comic-Con next weekend.
I hope it has my favorite line:
I did it thirty-five minutes ago.