Superhero Filmmakers: Where's Our Watchmen?

Don't tell Alan Moore, but I'm looking forward to this film quite a lot now.

Did Zack Snyder Change the Ending of ‘Watchmen’ to Make it More Like ‘The Dark Knight’?

In any case, we think we actually like Snyder's ending better than Alan Moore's — what the heck was that squid thing about, anyway?

writer is a fucking moron and I claim my $5

Blotchmen

The change sounds more or less in keeping with the intent of Moore's original ending, certainly not as bad as that horrible 90s script which is knocking around the web somewhere. The squid would be better though, its what the heckness is what makes it so brilliant - Gordian Knot and all that.

seems to me like it doesn't resolve the central cold war conflict (ie, uniting Soviets and Americans against a common alien foe), since the "common foe" in this case, is um, American.

well, manhattan suddenly leaves earth fairly early in the story so it's not exactly a stretch to essentially frame him.

the squid will be missed though.

essentially frame him as going rogue, that is

Fuck losing the squid imo.

Although I'll still be queuing up when this piece of shit gets released.

SPOILERS

That's a point, but I'm sure something could be crafted to solve this. Manhattan has publicly disavowed human affairs some time before the climax, after all and I assume the attacks are going to occur on both sides' soil. Not saying the new ending will be better, just saying it might not be absolute shit.

xpost to Shakey

I'm just sayin it doesn't make sense global-politics-wise - the Russians would blame the Americans if an American superhero suddenly blew up a bunch of cities in both their countries. No balance of power would be achieved.

you don't think the constant hanging threat of a superhero who could strike anytime he wanted and was no longer loyal to any country wouldn't change things?

Not saying I don't prefer the sheer WTF-ness of the squid ending in the comic but the "framing Dr. Manhattan" ending isn't a terrible alternative. And probably works better cinematically.

But yeah yeah, I know "DON'T YOU SEE THIS SHOULD NEVER EVER EVER HAVE BEEN MADE INTO A MOVIE WAHHH!"

it would change things, but it wouldn't achieve parity like the alien-squid threat does.

I agree that its a better alternate ending than the previous scripts'.

I had one of those earlier scripts downloaded but was too afraid to read it. I've heard they were pretty bad.

WHERE THE HECK ARE OUR WATCHMEN?

Some new footage:

Not saying I don't prefer the sheer WTF-ness of the squid ending in the comic but the "framing Dr. Manhattan" ending isn't a terrible alternative. And probably works better cinematically.

I agree. The whole thing squid scheme and how it so suddenly achieved peace was always the weakest part of the comic. I think it might make more sense in the context of the story to make the common enemy someone whose power and amoral attitudes towards the human race have already been firmly established rather than some random alien whose supposed threat needs to be boosted with a psychic's brain (the brain bit kinda makes me feel Moore didn't really believe in the ending himself). I think the way peace is reached in the end of the story totally stretches the internal credibility of the story anyway, so the question why Russians wouldn't blame Americans because of Dr. Manhattan's nationality is a minor quibble compared to the general suspension of disbelief the ending requires in any case.

Endings aside, giant Dr. Manhattan hand reaching through the roof of Karnak to grab at Veidt sends chills down my spine.

is the whole soundtrack gonna be that horrible billy corgan rock

According to IMDb the following songs are confirmed to be on the soundtrack:

My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row (cover of a Bob Dylan song to play over the end credits).

Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A Changing (To play over opening credits).

Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence.

Nena - 99 Luftballons

Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower

Nat King Cole - Unforgettable

A bit clichéd, but sounds okay!

some random alien whose supposed threat needs to be boosted with a psychic's brain (the brain bit kinda makes me feel Moore didn't really believe in the ending himself)

once again anything remotely metaphysical irritates Tuomas

you know Moore is a "magician" right?

who cares

you're allowed to make whatever point you want but not being able to separate an artist from his work seems like a bit of a stumbling block when it comes to properly evaluating film/music/art/whatever.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, October 21, 2008 7:12 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

right I was referring to where Tuomas thinks that Moore doesn't "really believe" the ending - doesn't really matter if Moore "believed" it or not, but I don't see any evidence supporting that, given Moore's vocal interest in magic/occult/whathaveyou

anyway, that soundtrack looks pretty terrible i gotta say. might as well stick "i feel good" in there for the scene where night owl gets his costume on again.

looool

"Let's Get It On" interrupted by a record scratch for the scene where he can't get it up

hahahah

A bit clichéd

totally. didn't Moore already use some of those exact same songs in the books, like, 20 years ago.

? he used one of them. Doubt Snyder wanted to bother licensing shitty Elvis Costello songs or Iggy Pop's "Neighborhood Threat"

Desolation Row and All Along The Watchtower = one song?

MEGAMIX!!!

oh sorry I didn't see that - my eyes glazed over after the words "My Chemical Romance" and the only Dylan song I noticed was "The Times They Are a Changin' Into A Bank Commercial"

isn't 'unforgettable' in there as well?

Yes.

it is? where? don't remember that one

nostalgia ad - see #7, p13, panels 8-9

ah - I stand corrected thx

and I feel like this guy right now:

http://missgeeky.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/comic-book-guy.gif

the times they are a-changin' is in there too... and while tuomas is painfully off-base on the appropriateness of the soundtrack I have to grant that the dylan shit was kind of dire in the original too

some random alien whose supposed threat needs to be boosted with a psychic's brain (the brain bit kinda makes me feel Moore didn't really believe in the ending himself)

once again anything remotely metaphysical irritates Tuomas

That's not really what I meant, rather than the whole idea of the psychic's brain comes from nowhere, and it felt like Moore added it there because the idea of a common alien enemy uniting the US and the USSR is so far-fetched that it needed this silly bit of boosting to make it sound better. Also, the world of Watchmen seem to have any other paranormal things going on... Dr. Manhattan, the only other person with real superpowers, is explained with science (even if it is pseudo-science), so the idea of a psychic strong enough to influence thousands of people feels kinda tacked on compared to the relative realism of the rest of the story. So I'm not complaining about metaphysics per se, rather than Moore using them in a way that doesn't really fit the other parts of the comic.

"the world of Watchmen doesn't seem to have any other paranormal things going on"

If a guy who can control atoms and see through time can be explained with science, then psychic powers can be explained with science.

The missing squid doesn't bother me that much, but I *will* be annoyed if you don't see Rorschach's journal arrive at Nova Express' office.

They couldn't get the John Cale song that concludes everything?

The whole thing squid scheme and how it so suddenly achieved peace was always the weakest part of the comic.

I don't even remember it achieving peace...as my brane remembers it it was just like "oh fuck squid, of shit gore, oh man disquieting, ps I finished reading the pirate book."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2008/oct/27/watchmen-alan-moore-dave-gibbons?picture=339028360

Glad they decided against Rorschach's body stocking.

http://data.tumblr.com/CJoLlYKtgfleg6n5ZalMznD5o1_500.jpg