CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

details for an upcoming "Watchmen" live-action movie, to be released sometime in 2009.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406490/details

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406490/photo/stills

I loved this graphic novel and I hope they do it justice. Any word on cast and director?

rocklobster (post: 1205820) wrote:I loved this graphic novel and I hope they do it justice. Any word on cast and director?

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808406490/cast

Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) will be the director of the movie.

Isn't a bit early for discussion of this upcoming film? A thread can't hurt, I suppose.

jon_jinn wrote:Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) will be the director of the movie.

That makes me a bit nervous, actually. Watchmen is not an adventure story. I'll do my best to give him the benefit of the doubt. There seems to be a pack of writers, though, so one hopes the essence of the story is retained.

I'm a bit apprehensive. Alan Moore and Hollywood have a poor history together. And I've read he's already dismissive of their latest Watchman attempt. I'll probably catch it anyway.

Also, I think they cast Ozymandias too young.

I think Ozzie looks great. Wholesome face but his eyes tell you that he's got a screw loose. The costumes look great too.

About Zach...he hasn't done anything with this much depth. BUT, he made 300 very true to the source material. It can go either way.

I wonder what they'll do about Rorschach's mask.

The costumes actually fit the theme of Watchmen. The original costumes were kind of purposeful stereotypes of the costumes that comic book heroes of that age wore, and this is more or less the same thing done for films of this age.

I have gained +1 hope for this movie.

SirThinks2Much (post: 1206069) wrote:I think Ozzie looks great. Wholesome face but his eyes tell you that he's got a screw loose. The costumes look great too.

I've always figured Ozy should look handsome and distinguished without looking like disaffected college student. World weary eyes are a nice touch, though.

And the costumes are excellent.

SirThinks2Much (post: 1206069) wrote:About Zach...he hasn't done anything with this much depth. BUT, he made 300 very true to the source material. It can go either way.

To play it straight, it would have been difficult to ruin the source material for 300. There's not a lot there to mess up. I'd say Watchman is several steps up on the depth reader.

I'd take Alan Moore's thoughts of the movie with a grain of salt. The man doesn't think highly of filmmaking, let alone Hollywood. While LXG was a total flop, to put it lightly, I found V for Vendetta and From Hell to be rather enjoyable in their own right. (And I'm a BIG fan of the V for Vendetta graphic novel.)

ANYWAY. The production stills give me some hope for the movie, as the newsstand is on the set. I doubt we'll be seeing any Tales of the Black Freighter (dang), but my hopes are still up.

Don't read me wrong, I'm still looking forward to this film; I just worry because I want it to be the excellent movie it could easily not be.

Fish and Chips (post: 1206111) wrote:Don't read me wrong, I'm still looking forward to this film]

Very easily. Part of the wonder of Watchmen is re-reading it, and skipping around through the pages when you pick up on something you didn't notice before. I don't think they will be able to capture everything, but if they stay true to the core of it, I'l be satisfied.

SirThinks2Much wrote: I doubt we'll be seeing any Tales of the Black Freighter (dang), but my hopes are still up.

I'll have to look around, but I recall reading that Tales of the Black Freighter is out for the theater release, but is being filmed/animated (starring Gerard Butler, even) for the DVD.

Side Note: I want someone to re-adapt LXG to film. There are so many reasons it could be fantastic.

The dad from Supernatural is gonna be the comedian. For that alone I may need to watch it.

Fish and Chips wrote:Also, I think they cast Ozymandias too young.

Something about him struck me as off. In my case I think it is the costume]I'll have to look around, but I recall reading that Tales of the Black Freighter is out for the theater release, but is being filmed/animated (starring Gerard Butler, even) for the DVD.[/quote]
There were a number of stills of the news stand, though, so I can't imagine they're being written out entirely. If they talk about the comic without showing it that could keep much of the parallel intact.

The trailer for the movie is now up at :

http://www.empireonline.com/video/watchmen/

Looks pretty good, visually. I'm not entirely satisfied with Rorschach's delivery of that line. However, I will wait until I see the film itself to pass any kind of judgment.

Well, it's a very neat looking trailer and the song is catchy at least.

sweet! now that i've actually read the Watchmen comic, i'm really looking forward to this film. the trailer looks pretty tight too! the music was kinda funky, but it's creepiness was, in my opinion, able to successfully capture the essence of the story. but i'm gonna have to agree with Cognitive Gear on Rorschach. i think the voice sounded a little too rough and scratchy. especially for a character such as Rorschach.

...Metal Gear?!

Yes, that was a tangent. But coming from AX'08 I learned that David Hayter is writing the screenplay. He also wrote X2 (and the first one?) and those turned out...OK. Well, they didn't suck as badly as the third.

Oh, I had meant to comment on this trailer some time ago. Though it looked nice in a number of ways, I don't like the trailer itself (which may or may not translate over into dislike of the movie). It misrepresented the graphic novel, in my opinion.

They nailed the Comedian at least. Only briefly in two scenes, but it does a good job establishing his character and downfall.[spoiler]I wonder how many non-comic book fans will be surprised the film opens with his murder?[/spoiler]And a bit of my faith is restored in Ozymandias for that clip of him with the stand, though now I worry they'll "Update" Nite Owl and Silk Specter to suave and sexy antiheroes, which would be ridiculously out of character for them since they're just average people in costume, not consumed by the role like the Comedian and Rorschach, or above it like Manhatten and Ozymandias.

There was an awful lot of Manhatten in the trailer. Hopefully he doesn't dominate the ensamble.

The song used in the trailer was a promotion for Batman and Robin (though not written FOR that purpose). Are the ad execs trying to tell us this movie will be better? hehe

Thou shalt not diss The Smashing Pumpkins. Trailer is full of win.

Etoh*the*Greato (post: 1248496) wrote:The song used in the trailer was a promotion for Batman and Robin (though not written FOR that purpose). Are the ad execs trying to tell us this movie will be better? hehe

Saying this movie will be better than Batman and Robin won't be saying much. That movie was HORRIBLE! Batman should not have his own Bat-Credit Card!

Obviously you can't understand sarcasm and you've obviously never read Watchmen.

Yeah... I was totally being sarcastic. I mean seriously. Batman and Robin?

Fish and Chips wrote:They nailed the Comedian at least. Only briefly in two scenes, but it does a good job establishing his character and downfall.

I didn't mention that, but I completely agree in this regard. If the actor can match the feel of those brief clips, all his scenes will be much improved.

Fish and Chips wrote:There was an awful lot of Manhatten in the trailer. Hopefully he doesn't dominate the ensamble.

That was one of the major things I disliked. It seemed almost like any old superhero movie trailer where it begins with an explanation of his powers and then cuts to a bunch of action shots. But my hope is that this is only the trailer - I really doubt they'd weight the film falsely toward Dr. Manhatten.

i was sorta hoping that the movie would show more of Rorschach since a fair portion of the story is told from his point of view. or perhaps it's simply because Rorschach is my favorite character. XD

Warrior 4 Jesus (post: 1248537) wrote:Obviously you can't understand sarcasm and you've obviously never read Watchmen.

Was that directed at me? Because I have read it, thank you very much.

wow finally watched the trailer. Looks to action packed. I have not read the comic but please correct me if i am wrong its not very heavy on action correct?

GrubbTheFragger wrote:wow finally watched the trailer. Looks to action packed. I have not read the comic but please correct me if i am wrong its not very heavy on action correct?

There are a number of conflicts that will probably get played up for the movie. So while I wouldn't describe it as "action-packed" by any means, there is definitely action at necessary points in the plot.

People who have read Watchmen, how many action scenes do you count? Meaning things that will get turned into an action scene for the movie. I'm thinking a number of potential flashbacks (definitely something crime related and something Vietnam related), Ozymandias versus assassin (though brief), Rorschach versus Moloch*, Nite Owl and Silk Specter versus thugs, Rorschach in the apartment building, springing [cough] from prison, and the final battle with [cough] at [cough] after he [cough].

*Not really a fight, but there's a trailer scene that I can't figure out unless this is it. The one where a guy punches through a wall.

Watchmen is strongly plot and character driven, action salted throughout more incidentally rather than action with plot as its excuse. They'll probably turn up the heat in Vietnam and the riots (basically any scene where the Comedian is himself). Rorschach's various adventures and escapes will probably also be played up.[spoiler]However, I demand all action scenes revolving around Ozymandias be as brief and well-written as they were in the original comic. He doesn't take an extended battle to finish off an enemy, he did it 35 minutes ago.[/spoiler]