Watchmen - Why Did They Change the Ending?

[joe_collector]

I don't want to start a big spoiler here, but I assume everyone knows, from various previews and reviews, that the ending of Watchmen the movie was changed from the GN.

 

One of my friends/contacts just spelled it out to me, having seem a preview showing, and it doesn't make a lot of sense and kinda bleeds the entire plot dry. Ozy, in his own bizarre way, was trying to save Earth from itself. The whole point of the GN was figuring out the answer to that riddle, while the movie seems to paint him more like a psychotic, and somewhat envious, terrorist.

 

After hearing what's up, it doesn't exactly make me want to rush out and see it - I could understand having a problem with the "squid", but not so far as to get rid of the entire rationale behind the whole faked disaster.

[AussieRuss]

After a bit of advise here.

 

I just purchased the GN & am yet to read it.

 

Should I read the GN & then see the movie to have a better understanding of the charachters

 

or

 

Just go & see the movie as the book & movie are entirely different.

 

Cheers.

 

Russ...

[The Brain]

Read the book, see the movie.

[FlyingDonut]

[Ares]

 

[Ares]

For those who feel the Watchmen ending screwed them over

[Aman619]

my understanding is that the ending is the same, but w/o the gore of the 12 full pages of bodies. But has Ozzys plan and motivation been changed too? In one of the clips out there, he does seem like a deek and not the smartest man on the world. Then again, his whole plan in the book was not something a sane man would carry out even if convinced it would work.

[sckao]

 

It's a misnomer that the squid is not involved... There IS a squid involved. (sort of)

 

 

 

 

[moonlite]

I believe it was because the original ending didn't do well with target audiences and they felt the current ending was more ...for lack of different word....better.

[joe_collector]

my understanding is that the ending is the same, but w/o the gore of the 12 full pages of bodies. But has Ozzys plan and motivation been changed too?

 

Like I said, I haven't seen the movie, but apparently it has. Instead of the squid, we have XXX, which doesn't have the same "mystery attack from another dimension which will galvanize humanity against it" theme that Moore was working on.

 

What we have left, apparently, doesn't make a lot of sense but may be more palatable to the unwashed masses. Even Snyder commented they used this ending because the "creature attack from another dimension" angle would be too difficult for viewers to grasp.

 

I disagree, and I didn't see the movie audience wandering out of The Mist, wondering what happened.

[joe_collector]

I believe it was because the original ending didn't do well with target audiences

 

I don't believe they actually filmed it, as it's not in the production -script. This "new ending" was decided early on.

 

I'll wait and see how it works in the movie, but whenever you totally change an integral part of the story, it has repercussions that echo through the movie. And then that change requires more changes, which in turn shift into more changes to match the new story, and so on ...

 

Or you do a quickie band-aid like when Raimi changed Sandman to being the *real* killer of Uncle Ben (something even the hacks at Marvel aren't dumb enough to change) and that's it - this diluted his entire origin, as the perp he "could have stopped, but didn't" wasn't even the guy who killed his uncle. And we also see that Pete helped kill a petty thief, not a murderer.

 

Let's hope the Watchmen movie writers are a good deal smarter than Sam Raimi.

[MR.COMICBOOK]

I am really rooting for this movie, if this does big box-office DC will do other superheroes movies then more of the same old Batman/Superman stuff.

[drewincanada]

Why why oh why?

 

Another movie where the ending was radically changed: anyone remember the film of Stephen King's "Cujo"? Granted, it was a real "B" flick, but up until the final few minutes it was a decent little nail-biter. But they didn't think audiences would like the downer ending in the book, and they changed it to a "they all lived happily ever after" ending.

[Subliminal]

For those who feel the Watchmen ending screwed them over

 

For those that already have been screwed over by the Watchmen ending:

 

[Bosco685]

I love the "Hitler rants" videos, and came close to posting them a few times. But when he throws in the &%#* statements once in a while, I thought I would jump right to a 3 on the Dena Scale and avoided them.

 

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I will pass judgement after I see the movie. I am not going to cry now and then talk about how great is was later. If it is good, its good. If it sucks, I will burn the place down.

 

Ok, I wont burn it down, but be very sad.

[joe_collector]

I will pass judgement after I see the movie. I am not going to cry now and then talk about how great is was later.

 

 

Ask a simple question and the "watch it first" fanboys come out in droves.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I will pass judgement after I see the movie. I am not going to cry now and then talk about how great is was later.

 

 

Ask a simple question and the "watch it first" fanboys come out in droves.

 

JC... Why in all hell would you call me a fanboy. I am just looking forward to the movie. If they screw it up, its on them. The squid being removed was discussed in october I think.

 

You are like the candian version of Oscar The Grouch some days.

[Fedoraman]

I am fine with a diff ending - the one in the GN sucked donkey ballz...

 

Giant squid was LAME LAME LAME.

 

On that note, as I have said in the past, any "A" list superhero would have wrapped this up in 2 issues tops. The lame-wad ripoffs of "B" list heroes could barely figure out how to get dressed in the morning, much less figure out what the "smartest man in the world" was planning with his psychic blast BS.

 

This movie probably won't tank, but it won't be the block buster everybody is hoping for.

 

All this was tried already with the Tick (hero's behaving like real people with every day problems - which was already a rip-off of what Stan Lee did in the 60's, but I digress) and it failed to find a target audience.

 

Watchmen was a good departure for the time it was made, but it is just dated fan-boy Barbara Streisand now...

[BaltimoreLauren]

You know, when I actually see the movie, I'll be happy to let you know if the ending worked or not. Personally I don't really care if there's a giant squid or not, since I thought it was a little...silly.