Watchmen

[gambit]

Originally Posted by dubman

i think i've read through this about three times by now
it's got... so many problems
i'm sure it was stupendous when it came out but if thats supposed to be the best that graphic novels have to throw at me then it's pretty sorry. it's really fun to read and all but it's also pretty goofy with its characters.
and the movie looks even more impossible to make

I'd love to get into a more detailed conversation with you on this because I don't see it having so many "problems" or the characters being "goofy." I'm not saying it's perfect by any means, but it's one of the most complex and intelligent superhero comics to ever be made. It's usually called the "greatest comic story ever told" in the terms that most comic book geeks know--superheroes. That's what most fans read in 1986, and they've probably never read anything as deep and layered as this. And it blew so many of them away, hence the reverence.

It's all pretty subjective, of course, as with calling anything in any medium the "greatest," and it was released in a time when non-superhero comics hadn't really taken off as they have in the past decade or so. I think Art Spiegelman's Maus is the best comic book/graphic novel to have been told (or at least one of the best), and it has nothing to do with superheroes.

Originally Posted by jOHN rODRIGUEZ

I'm on page 30 at this moment.

The short breaks from comic form to actual novel writing are throwing me off a bit. I'm sure it all comes together here and there eventually. ???

Without giving away too much of the story, the novel writing is part of the layering of the overall story. It will have more significance later on.

[joethelion]

you know...

I think I first got it on a 'whim' b/c I heard that it was so good. Yea, the artwork is kinda shitty - especially when you compare it to what I normally was reading at the time (Todd McFarland's version of Spiderman, Jim Lee's X-Men, etc)

but the story just really got me hooked... and yea - you do have to kinda let it suck you in

when I first heard that it was being made into a movie - however, I was like... there's no way it can possibly be good.

then i saw the trailer... and it might actually be good!

I mean - sure they're gonna have to cut out a ton of parts of the novel (like that one chick's mom being raped, the story about the pirate on the raft made of dead bodies, etc) but I def have high hopes

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

The Dirt is a page turner of disgusting boy stuff.

Yet, I cannot put down. I should finish this tonight and cont. with Watchmen.

Sorry Vince, but I love Beth just for taking your ice trays.

[Lx_Nen]

Having recently watched the new trailers and the monthly video diaries, I have high hopes for Watchmen. There is such a strong thread of 'we are following the book, we really do NOT want to fuck this one up' running through all the cast and crew comments that I think there's a reasonable chance that they might actually be following the book and not fucking it up. Where footage has been shown, it's noticeable that it's rarely described in terms like 'we are shooting this bit of the plot now', mostly it's 'we are shooting this frame of the comic now'.

As for cutting bits out, it's not going to be a short film (2h 45m has been mentioned).

The 'story about the pirate...' aka the Legend of The Black Trawler *is* going to be filmed, and it will be released before the film 'proper' as a standalone promotional tool, and then it will be put back into the movie for a directors cut full length DVD version.

From the interviews with the actresses playing 'that chick' and her mom, while they don't spoil the plot, they do make it pretty clear that it is likely to be faithful to the book.

I have high hopes too.

[oceanic]

I hope the "present tense" scenes in the movie are depicted as they are in the book - ie. firmly situated in the 80's, without drawing too much attention to the stereotypes from that era. I'm worried that the film will deviate from the book in this regard.

[mmm skyscraper]

Originally Posted by oceanic

I hope the "present tense" scenes in the movie are depicted as they are in the book - ie. firmly situated in the 80's, without drawing too much attention to the stereotypes from that era. I'm worried that the film will deviate from the book in this regard.

And Nixon will still be President!

[oceanic]

Fuck... I actually forgot that it was Nixon in office in the alternate future of Watchmen. This film has such awesome potential. Let's see what happens.

[Lx_Nen]

A quote from the director "We've shown ... Alex and my official draft to the studio, and I feel like they're really excited now. They feel like it's a movie, and they get it now, and they're into 1985, and they're into the Cold War and Nixon and all the cool bits. So we're really excited..."

He's also said that he tried to get Henry Kissinger to play himself, but Kissinger's wife wouldn't let him them talk.

[King of Snake]

I got the book for my birthday a month ago. I started reading it but didn't really get into it. The art style is pretty off-putting I guess, as well as the goofy superhero characters. But then I did not grow up on superhero comics so that might have something to do with it
I doubt I'll ever read the whole thing although I might give it another chance when i've got some reading time on my hands.
Movie looks good though.

[IsiliRunite]

I ordered a copy and fortunately I've not heard any spoilers or anything relating to the book, so it should be a nice read.