Watchmen Opens Tonight and I Am Sad

[the sandman]

because the nearest IMAX theater showing it is 150 miles away. I am actually considering making the drive; I have an old college buddy who lives near there I wouldn't mind seeing, too.

[MaybeNever]

Resident of Nofilmsistan, eh? I lived there once. It was awful.

[Pookie]

A friend of mine in Australia was going to see Watchmen in IMAX last night, but the theater overbooked for their showing so they ended up getting bumped back to Sunday.

Not quite the same problem, but shit can happen in a variety of ways

[MozMode]

I'm (hopefully) seeing at midnight. We already have the tickets, bought them in advance. Hopefully no craziness happens, like overbooking or some such.

[Mantorok]

IMAX in Brisbane closed years ago due to lack of business. Probably because they charged like a wounded bull.

[SimSim]

There is an IMAX 45 minutes from me, too bad the people I'm seeing Watchmen with feel sick to their stomach if they see movies in IMAX theaters. Grrr.

[canadian mojo]

Mar 6, 2009 16:54:40 GMT -5 SimSim said:

There is an IMAX 45 minutes from me, too bad the people I'm seeing Watchmen with feel sick to their stomach if they see movies in IMAX theaters. Grrr.

That reminds me of watching an IMAX show that had scenes shot from a helicopter. Every time the camera slightly lost focus you could feel yourself get a little spinny.

[The Lazy One]

Mar 6, 2009 16:54:40 GMT -5 SimSim said:

There is an IMAX 45 minutes from me, too bad the people I'm seeing Watchmen with feel sick to their stomach if they see movies in IMAX theaters. Grrr.

Hey, I can't go to IMAX either. I went to go see Night at the Museum at IMAX and ended up puking my guts out as soon as I stepped out of the theater. Never been back to an IMAX since then, since I'm scared. And this is the one movie I think would be cool to see on a huge screen, but I also don't want to get sick.

[ninjacat11]

Mar 6, 2009 21:17:07 GMT -5 @m said:

I went to go see it at the midnight showing, and I wasn't that impressed at all. It's like they traded a ton of the storyline/dialog for fighting scenes and sex scenes.

Biggest inaccuracies/changes (for those that have read it):

!!!SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!!!

-All of the street scenes were taken out. (The news stand, the 2 Bernards, the Palehorse concert, Joey and her girlfriend, etc.) The news stand is only showed in the background once.
-The bit with Hollis Mason's death is removed
-The sex scene with Laurie and Dan is lengthened greatly
-Violence, blood, fighting, curse words, etc is intensified greatly
-The part where Jon and Laurie debate about Earth is shortened (the perfume bottle thing isn't included either).
- The scenes with Dr. Malcolm are shortened greatly (the sub-plot with him and his wife is ignored), as are the flashbacks.
-Never explains how Rorschach got his mask, or explained the story with Kitty Genovese
-Never completely explains what the "Keene Act" is.
-Never completely explains Veidt's Antarctic retreat, or Bubastis.
-Dr. Manhattan zaps Laurie's brain in order for her to remember, instead of her remembering on her own (about the Comedian being her dad).
-The scenes with the detectives are taken out (except at the very beginning and when they capture Rorschach)
-The scenes at the New Frontiersman office are taken out (except at the very end, when he drops ketchup on his shirt)
-The explosion in New York is blamed on Dr. Manhattan, instead of the giant squid/alien thing.
-Rorschach kills the serial killer with a butchers knife to the head, instead of burning him alive (from the part when he "becomes Rorschach").
-The name of the group is switched from "Crimebusters" to "Watchmen" so that people who haven't read it won't walk out of the theater confused about the title.
-Captain Metropolis is taken out of the Crimebusters meeting.
-The whole aspect of "the island" is taken out.
-Dan attacks Veidt in the end, instead of going to sleep with Laurie by the pool.
-Some of the parts with Rorschach's journal were changed (though most were pretty accurate).

SPOILERS OFF

Maybe I'm just being a Negative Nancy though. Most of the people coming out of the theater seemed to be talking about it positively. My friend said she'd see it again, while I wouldn't even consider buying it on DVD.

Personally, I would have loved for Watchmen to be entirely accurate to the novel myself, but I still think the movie is very good. I thought the pacing was pretty erratic at times. As for the cut material, I am pretty sure Snyder would have added it if it weren't for time constraints.

If you want an entirely purist version, I recommend checking out the Director's Cut when it comes out on DVD.
Either way, this is not going to replace the graphic novel.

[Art Vandelay]

Mar 6, 2009 19:54:51 GMT -5 The Lazy One said:

Mar 6, 2009 16:54:40 GMT -5 SimSim said:

There is an IMAX 45 minutes from me, too bad the people I'm seeing Watchmen with feel sick to their stomach if they see movies in IMAX theaters. Grrr.

Hey, I can't go to IMAX either. I went to go see Night at the Museum at IMAX and ended up puking my guts out as soon as I stepped out of the theater. Never been back to an IMAX since then, since I'm scared. And this is the one movie I think would be cool to see on a huge screen, but I also don't want to get sick.

Maybe it wasn't the IMAX but rather the god-awful movie that made you sick. Because I saw that piece of crap at a regular cinema and I got the urge to hurl as well.

[katsuro]

Totally off topic but gotta ask - is that you Sandman in your pic? Coz if so, you are awesome on like a hundred different levels lol.

[SimSim]

M.M. if by the island you mean the Black Pearl story, that is being released as an animated movie at the end of this month. I actually thought the changed ending made a bit more sense. <shrugs>

[Detrs]

Mar 5, 2009 17:31:11 GMT -5 the sandman said:

because the nearest IMAX theater showing it is 150 miles away. I am actually considering making the drive; I have an old college buddy who lives near there I wouldn't mind seeing, too.

Speak for yourself. My husband and I drove 8 and a half hours back to Houston, though it was to spend a weekend with friends as well. Seeing "Watchmen" on IMAX was just a bonus.

[Angel Kaida]

SPOILERS:


I have never read the graphic novel and hope this is different in said novel, but Laurie was completely vapid and, most of the time, I just wanted Rorschach or the Comedian or ... or god, someone to just KILL her already. Can't we have just one interesting female character? Dan wasn't much to write home about either, though - so earnest and obnoxious. I loved Dr. Manhattan except for his little "miracle" speech, which kind of just made me want to shake him and maybe slap him a few times, and of course The Comedian, Ozymandias, and Rorschach were my favorite characters. Rorschach especially was really interesting, with his mix of sleek-clever antiheroness, honestly held Old-Testament-style moral views, and brutal badassery. As for the Comedian, I just wanted him to be off the screen most of the time, which I'm holding as a testament to the awesomeness of the character.

[clockworkgirl21]

Forget IMAX. I'll be happy to see it at all. Our crappy little theater only gets half of the movies, and they're usually crappy. Medea is playing now. Eww.