Just came home from Watchmen

[Lego]

Gee, you mean up-to-date and ultra-modern Cold War classics such as "War Games"? Thanks for the cutting-edge insight into the 80's-era story, Joe.

 

I'm not understanding what you're trying to get at. You laugh at 1980's Cold War strategic defense/response systems, which were and are very real, yet don't seem to understand that Watchmen takes place in the same time period.

 

 

I'd recommend you a) read the GN, then b) go see the movie, as you're spouting mindless gibberish of which you have no clue.

 

I'm just going to quote this for posterity's sake. Joe, if you would spring for something other than dial-up you might not have these embarrassing gaffes.

 

Not so many of them, anyway.

[joe_collector]

Again, it was a failure as a period piece. It was a failure as a strict adaptation of the GN. It was a success as a stand-alone film.

 

Maybe, but I still think they wanted to hook the hardcore nerds with the copying of the GN, while satisfy general public by shifting time periods a few decades right at the end. We went from the 80's Cold War to the 2000's Terrorist era in the blink of an eye.

 

If they wanted a modernized remake, they should have had the balls to do it upfront. It would have been much more satisfying and made for a better overall movie.

[joe_collector]

Gee, you mean up-to-date and ultra-modern Cold War classics such as "War Games"? Thanks for the cutting-edge insight into the 80's-era story, Joe.

 

I'm not understanding what you're trying to get at. You laugh at 1980's Cold War strategic defense/response systems, which were and are very real, yet don't seem to understand that Watchmen takes place in the same time period.

 

 

I'd recommend you a) read the GN, then b) go see the movie, as you're spouting mindless gibberish of which you have no clue.

 

I'm just going to quote this for posterity's sake. Joe, if you would spring for something other than dial-up you might not have these embarrassing gaffes.

 

Hey, you're the one that made fun of the 80's Cold War attitude concerning a movie set in the 1980's. Seems pretty appropriate to comment on 1980's strategic defense systems concerning a movie like Watchmen that's set in the 1980's and uses nuclear war as the backdrop.

 

Would you have preferred a Civil War example instead? Maybe Star Wars?

[BaltimoreLauren]

 

Amateur-tip: I'm good...

 

Pro-tip: That's not what I heard.

[joe_collector]

I would also note, that in the -script, the ending was a direct, blatant and admitted rip-off of The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Ozy sending a mental image of Dr Manhattan to everyone on Earth, imploring them to stop the fighting and bickering or face the consequences.

 

That's an old B&W movie right, and no teenagers will catch the rip-off, right?

 

But once the remake hit with almost the exact ending sequence, the Watchmen crew deleted much of it so they didn't get caught with their pants down.

[Lego]

Gee, you mean up-to-date and ultra-modern Cold War classics such as "War Games"? Thanks for the cutting-edge insight into the 80's-era story, Joe.

 

I'm not understanding what you're trying to get at. You laugh at 1980's Cold War strategic defense/response systems, which were and are very real, yet don't seem to understand that Watchmen takes place in the same time period.

 

 

I'd recommend you a) read the GN, then b) go see the movie, as you're spouting mindless gibberish of which you have no clue.

 

I'm just going to quote this for posterity's sake. Joe, if you would spring for something other than dial-up you might not have these embarrassing gaffes.

 

Hey, you're the one that made fun of the 80's Cold War attitude concerning a movie set in the 1980's. Seems pretty appropriate to comment on 1980's strategic defense systems concerning a movie like Watchmen that's set in the 1980's and uses nuclear war as the backdrop.

 

Would you have preferred a Civil War example instead? Maybe Star Wars?

 

 

 

Gee, you mean up-to-date and ultra-modern Civil War classics such as "Glory"? Thanks for the cutting-edge insight into the 1860's-era story, Joe.

 

 

 

 

 

[joe_collector]

 

It's the Mathew Broderick Trilogy!!

[joe_collector]

Or maybe a quadrology?

[BaltimoreLauren]

Or maybe a quadrology?

 

 

 

 

(Seriously I'm laughing my arse off over here, bravo guys!)

[VintageComics]

Shoot, we need a blue, naked Matt Broderick.

 

[Lego]

Or maybe a quadrology?

 

Good lord... he's shaping our history AND our science!

 

[ArAich]

Or maybe a quadrology?

 

Good lord... he's shaping our history AND our science!

 

 

Broderick is only 2 degrees to Bacons 6 degrees...

[tonytiger]

Am seeing the movie tonight. Will post an opinion tomorrow.

[jools&jim]

Surprisingly, if you actually watch TV other than Buffy, Lost and Heroes, you might actually learn a few things. Strategic response systems exist all over the world, and in the outlandish scenario at the end of Watchmen, there would have been missiles flying all over.

 

That really doesn't sound any more outlandish too me than a giant blue dude walking around with his glowing protuberance swinging in the breeze...but I get your point: the narrative logic there is clearly flawed. Still, I take it that stuff blow'd up real good in the end, so isn't that really all that matters in Hollywood these days anyway?

 

Watchmen's original plot and resolution were more consistent, but in the end just as bad. What's worse is that for a work of such breathtaking technical sophistication, the dénouement was also terribly naïve, revealing Alan Moore's simplistic hippie ethos as clearly as it did Doc Manhattan's luminous blue package.

 

The giant space squid that made us all lay down our arms and play nice was the one, truly deep "alternate universe" moment in the entire book, infinitely stranger and more divorced from any known reality than all the other quaint little "imaginary" touches (e.g., the popularity of pirate comic books or a US victory in the Vietnam War) scattered throughout the story. In our reality, Ozymandias wouldn't be the "smartest man in the world"; he'd be Tiny Tim, tiptoeing through the tulips. (And the progressive utopianism of the original ending is also surprisingly undercut by an unexpected and undisguised streak of nascent fascism: the world simply can't handle the truth, the truth-bringer is permanently silenced, the ends justify the means, and the overlords know what's best. So much for "We are the World", eh?)

 

It would be nice to think that we live in, have ever lived in, or could possibly someday live in, a world where a "common threat" would unite us all to decisive action and bring out the very best in humanity. But history (both ancient and modern) often tells a much different tale. If more-or-less comparably monumental events like wars--and the recent global responses to various natural disasters--are any barometer of the sustained level of cooperation that can be expected amongst most of the nations of the world when faced with a much bigger and more complex challenge, I'd start digging a VERY deep hole in my backyard right now in preparation for that forthcoming asteroid strike.

 

-Mikey

 

 

[Boba]

The movie was a blast. Never read the comics, so I don't have any opinion on how true to the original story it was, but from the perspective of a pedal-to-the-metal action flick with a plot standpoint, I liked it a lot. IMHO, blew The Dark Night away.

Bob

[BaltimoreLauren]

The movie was a blast. Never read the comics, so I don't have any opinion on how true to the original story it was, but from the perspective of a pedal-to-the-metal action flick with a plot standpoint, I liked it a lot. IMHO, blew The Dark Night away.

Bob

 

I disagree since The Dark Knight was just mind blowing. After that movie I felt like Batman violated my entire family and we enjoyed it.

[Lego]

Surprisingly, if you actually watch TV other than Buffy, Lost and Heroes, you might actually learn a few things. Strategic response systems exist all over the world, and in the outlandish scenario at the end of Watchmen, there would have been missiles flying all over.

 

That really doesn't sound any more outlandish too me than a giant blue dude walking around with his glowing protuberance swinging in the breeze...but I get your point: the narrative logic there is clearly flawed. Still, I take it that stuff blow'd up real good in the end, so isn't that really all that matters in Hollywood these days anyway?

 

Watchmen's original plot and resolution were more consistent, but in the end just as bad. What's worse is that for a work of such breathtaking technical sophistication, the dénouement was also terribly naïve, revealing Alan Moore's simplistic hippie ethos as clearly as it did Doc Manhattan's luminous blue package.

 

The giant space squid that made us all lay down our arms and play nice was the one, truly deep "alternate universe" moment in the entire book, infinitely stranger and more divorced from any known reality than all the other quaint little "imaginary" touches (e.g., the popularity of pirate comic books or a US victory in the Vietnam War) scattered throughout the story. In our reality, Ozymandias wouldn't be the "smartest man in the world"; he'd be Tiny Tim, tiptoeing through the tulips. (And the progressive utopianism of the original ending is also surprisingly undercut by an unexpected and undisguised streak of nascent fascism: the world simply can't handle the truth, the truth-bringer is permanently silenced, the ends justify the means, and the overlords know what's best. So much for "We are the World", eh?)

 

It would be nice to think that we live in, have ever lived in, or could possibly someday live in, a world where a "common threat" would unite us all to decisive action and bring out the very best in humanity. But history (both ancient and modern) often tells a much different tale. If more-or-less comparably monumental events like wars--and the recent global responses to various natural disasters--are any barometer of the sustained level of cooperation that can be expected amongst most of the nations of the world when faced with a much bigger and more complex challenge, I'd start digging a VERY deep hole in my backyard right now in preparation for that forthcoming asteroid strike.

 

-Mikey

 

 

Since my words can only pale by comparison, I shall instead use pictures:

 

[He11blazer]

 

BATS!

 

I thought I was the only person in the world who had seen (and liked) that film.

[He11blazer]

Surprisingly, if you actually watch TV other than Buffy, Lost and Heroes, you might actually learn a few things. Strategic response systems exist all over the world, and in the outlandish scenario at the end of Watchmen, there would have been missiles flying all over.

 

That really doesn't sound any more outlandish too me than a giant blue dude walking around with his glowing protuberance swinging in the breeze...but I get your point: the narrative logic there is clearly flawed. Still, I take it that stuff blow'd up real good in the end, so isn't that really all that matters in Hollywood these days anyway?

 

Watchmen's original plot and resolution were more consistent, but in the end just as bad. What's worse is that for a work of such breathtaking technical sophistication, the dénouement was also terribly naïve, revealing Alan Moore's simplistic hippie ethos as clearly as it did Doc Manhattan's luminous blue package.

 

The giant space squid that made us all lay down our arms and play nice was the one, truly deep "alternate universe" moment in the entire book, infinitely stranger and more divorced from any known reality than all the other quaint little "imaginary" touches (e.g., the popularity of pirate comic books or a US victory in the Vietnam War) scattered throughout the story. In our reality, Ozymandias wouldn't be the "smartest man in the world"; he'd be Tiny Tim, tiptoeing through the tulips. (And the progressive utopianism of the original ending is also surprisingly undercut by an unexpected and undisguised streak of nascent fascism: the world simply can't handle the truth, the truth-bringer is permanently silenced, the ends justify the means, and the overlords know what's best. So much for "We are the World", eh?)

 

It would be nice to think that we live in, have ever lived in, or could possibly someday live in, a world where a "common threat" would unite us all to decisive action and bring out the very best in humanity. But history (both ancient and modern) often tells a much different tale. If more-or-less comparably monumental events like wars--and the recent global responses to various natural disasters--are any barometer of the sustained level of cooperation that can be expected amongst most of the nations of the world when faced with a much bigger and more complex challenge, I'd start digging a VERY deep hole in my backyard right now in preparation for that forthcoming asteroid strike.

 

-Mikey

 

 

Since my words can only pale by comparison, I shall instead use pictures:

 

 

I too think a good point was well made

[EastEnd]

JC I think in real life people would be a lot more careful than just balls out burning the globe.

 

Sorry, but that's just not the way it was in the 1980's Cold War, as both sides had seriously flawed response systems that could have burned the entire globe. That's a fact, and what led to the nuclear disarmament movement.

 

Remember, this movie is not set in present day, but in the 1980's with impending nuclear war as its centerpiece.

 

The one part that didn't work for me was the portayal of Nixon and how easily he concluded to launch a pre-emptive strike. Say what you will about Nixon, but he was actually a pretty savvy president when it came to foreign policy. Tensions with the Soviets (and Chinese) were actually REDUCED under Nixon through his ground-breaking policy of "detente."

 

I didn't find Rorshachs mask distracting at all... on a second viewing I'll probably look for more meaning in the shapes that were formed at particular moments. I am kind of disappointed with a theme that seems to be emerging that the only standout performance was Rorshach... when did only the "badass" characters become worthwhile among fandom? To me they were all terrific... each for their own reason.