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[Kazz]

i almost pissed my shit out of my brains when [spoiler]rorschach petted the dobermans[/spoiler]

[Detonator]

Watchmen: The Saturday Morning Cartoon.

"I'm nutty!"

I hope he follows this up with an actual "episode".

[Friday]

Rorsch of the Rings then?

What? I know legions of people who LOVED the movies and are pretty much unaware of the fact that they are actually books

Most of them are 14 year old legolasses but yeah

[Rosencrantz]

I hope he follows this up with an actual "episode".

Yeah, I was sad when it just ended.

[Brentai]

The fact that it's unclear which Silk Spectre that's supposed to be either makes it funny, or funnier.

[Fredward]

Well, it was a faithful adaptation. Too faithful, in my opinion. The dialogue, much of which was lifted from the graphic novel, seemed clunky onscreen. One of the best scenes was the climactic scene, where it was fairly obvious most of the dialogue had been written by screenwriters. Another thing that translated poorly to the screen, how can I say this, BIG BLUE DONG. Whenever BIG BLUE DONG was onscreen, it was very difficult to avoid looking at BIG BLUE DONG.

I'll try to write something more coherent tomorrow.

[Ocksi]

Agree with Fredward that several of the lines didn't translate well, but they didn't seem altogether out of place.  I thought sticking to it kept the characters feeling exactly as they were written and was overall extremely pleased.

I also found an immense amount of joy in the soundtrack.  It always felt very fitting.

[Arc]

The four I accompanied to the showing enjoyed the adaptation enough to now give the book the time of day.

Here's to Moore finding solace with his new ivory back scratcher(s).

[Bongo Bill]

I liked it.

[Fredward]

I was with five others, one disliked it, three liked it, and one loved it. But he doesn't count, because he liked Meet the Spartans

He liked Meet the Spartans.

Anyways. The only person in my group (besides me) who'd read it liked the movie. So, it was no travesty, but neither was it revolutionary. I'll probably buy the DVD.

[Catloaf]

The soundtrack during the gratuitous sex scene was a bit cheezy imo.  Hallelujah indeed.

Also, great effect on how Rorschach's mask's goop moves first when he's hit in the face.

[Shinra]

The biggest complaints I had with the movie was the hilariously inappropriate soundtrack and the complete abscense of any scenes that make the comedian respectable, or his level of evil understandable. They left only one line in that gives insight to the character, which I found kind of upsetting. I actually saw the Comedian as my second favorite character among the watchmen by the end of the story, trailing just behind Rorshach. Of the cast they're the only two who didn't give up what they stood for by the story's end.  [spoiler]Granted the comedian isn't in the story long enough to give in, but the entire reason he's not in the story for very long is becasue he wasn't willing to...[/spoiler]

edit: outside of those two things though this movie was awesome, but really, really, really long. Lord of the Rings long. Not really a complaint, I like long movies, but I imagine there will be a lot of complaints about it from reviewers.

[Brentai]

I thought the whole point of the Comedian was that he refused to stand for anything?

I mean you could say he stood for not standing for stuff but then you'd have to make the argument that he gave it up by suddenly giving two shits what was going on, and getting killed for it.

[Pacobird]

Yeah, I always saw the Comedian as the balancing point between Rorschach and Ozymandias, which is the dichotomy that drives the story as a whole.

[Rosencrantz]

So, it was no travesty, but neither was it revolutionary.

This is basically what I thought of it. I probably won't buy the DVD, though, because it's too long for casual viewing and that time would be better spent reading the comic again. Oh, and I didn't like the more gratuitous violence that was added.

[Shinra]

To be honest, without the gratuitous violence, it wouldn't be a DC production. I'm surprised the Dark Knight didn't have more cleavers in skulls.

[Thad]

I thought it was about as good as could be expected from 160 minutes.  Like everyone else is saying, satisfying but not earthshattering.  For my money the most important bit that got cut is Hollis's death; I'm interested in seeing the director's cut.

I also felt that Rorschach was too sympathetic throughout; his origin served as a "holy shit" moment in the book for me, where I went from finding him contemptible to finding him relatable.  I don't think he's quite nasty enough in the first half of the film.

Thoughts from earlier comments on the trailer:

1. I'm fairly confident you don't actually see the complete "WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?" graffiti anywhere; it's always obscured, as in the book.

2. The reason Rorschach can't speak in a flat monotone is that Dr. Manhattan speaks in a flat monotone.  Having two characters talk that way works fine in your head when reading the book, but would be a terrible idea in a movie; the characters need contrast.

[Rico]

Eh, I don't know about that: Two people speaking in monotone are still going to sound like themselves, not each other.  For example, you wouldn't mistake the Doc for David Duchovny, would you?  You've also got the visual contrast between trenchcoat and glows-the-fuck-blue guy.

I also think that Manhattan speaking in that voice was a poor directorial decision, though.  It's a lazy way of portraying the character; it's not that he's apathetic or bored or unemotional about humanity specifically, it's that he makes no distinction between humanity and anything else.

The most interesting criticism I've heard of the movie is "Watchmen doesn't lack for self-confidence or even entertainment value. Its failure is one of imagination. Snyder's movie is too literal and too linear. Social satire is pummeled into submission by the amplified pow-kick-thud of the sub-Matrix action sequences; even character is ultimately eclipsed by the presumed need for violent spectacle. The philosopher Iain Thomson maintained that Moore not only deconstructed the idea of comic-book super-heroism but pulverized the very notion of the hero—and the hero-worship that comics traditionally sell. For all its superficial fidelity, Snyder's movie stands Moore's novel on its head, trying to reconstruct a conventional blockbuster out of those empty capes and scattered shards." which I think rings pretty true and actually gave me the tiniest respect for the stick up Moore's ass.

[Brentai]

I haven't seen the movie but I read one review where the critic seemed to only realize as he was writing the thing that Manhattan was the only actual superhero with actual superpowers, which leads me to believe they did not get the fucking point across.

[Thad]

No.  My dad asked afterward where everybody else got their superpowers; I responded that nobody else HAD any superpowers and he asked how they kept punching each other through fucking walls then.