I saw it last night. That movie rocked.
Who Watches The Watchmen?
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Watchmen was awesome.
And yes, I have read the book. Several times.
I'm really curious to see the extended director's cut.
Anyone complaining about the minor changes just wants something to complain about. Especially when the longer version will be longer.
Watchmen was awesome.
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well, action movie then. i read the summary already and it seems to have strong superhero movie characteristics.
Watchmen is an action movie? News to me.
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Watchmen isn't a superhero movie. It's a cynical view on society shown through an alternate universe in which America wins the war in Vietnam and masked vigilantes (Normal people with no special powers) used to be popular until an act banned them in '77. Rorschach as the only one who refuses to accept his forced retirement finds out that a recent murder was one of the former watchmen and slowly follows the trail to try to find out why. The only one who could be considered a real Superman would be Manhattan.
Besides what superhero gets his cape stuck in a revolving door and then get shot.
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Besides what superhero gets his cape stuck in a revolving door and then get shot.
That always reminds me of that scene in The Incredibles with the montage of all the superheroes meeting "unfortunate ends" due to the snag effect of capes. Of course this did come first.
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Ending. 2 HUGE things were screwed up. Alright, first off, if Doc Manhattan was the one who went psycho and blew tons of places up wouldn't the other countries be angry at the United States considering he was aligned with them and was used as their weapon? Let's say Iran's nukes went off and blew up NYC, Tokyo, London, Paris, Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran. I know FOR A FACT that every country would be against Iran rather than maintaining a peace conference because the country didn't intedn for it to happen.
Because even though the US made Doc out to be their Big weapon, he was still a living person (in a Manner of speaking) with his own mind who could make his own decisions.
It's basically the Idea of, if you have so much power, why do you have to listen to masters? making the bomb go off in New York AS WELL AS around the world kinda shows "Holy Shit, Doc Manhattan is off his rocker and is attacking EVERYONE!! HOLY SHIT!! WE GOTTA WORK TOGETHER NOW!!"
Wheras, if it were a situation like Iran where "Whoops, we accidentally launched to everyone…" then it's like... Those are machines, machines that can't go off without Iran themselves making some form of Error or deliberate bombing, Wheras Manhattan can act completely on his own without the US even having to make any kind of Mistake. Plus, we also have him leaving to Mars early on, showing before the blasts happened that he pretty much was betraying America by leaving them high and dry for the Soviets to just launch.Next thing, why the heck weren't Laurie and Dan in disguises in the end? THEY ARE WANTED CRIMINALS! Did everyone forget?
I always wondered why they were in disguises in the Novel itself.
Sure, they attacked the Prison, but they were in-costume. Nobody knew who Dan really was, that was said in the movie, and at least in-context of the movie, Laurie only really beat on prisoners and a few guards in the prison. There's at least 2-3 easy explanations
1: Nobody got a good look at her face, and just about anyone could slip on a Silk Spectre Costume and play copycat
2: They take credit for quelling the riot instead of breaking Rorschach, treat his breakout as an unexpected side effect. Kinda like "We heard about the Riot and decided to put on our masks and Help, we didn't do any outside hero work, just popped in to help Quell a riot" and the one or two cops they punched in there is explained simply as "We were punching so many guys, it was an accident"
3: Since they agreed to keep the secret about Veidt's Utopia plan, he paid a few people off to get them off scott free, god knows he has the money. -
I went to the midnight opening and I have to say this is far and above one of the best comic book adaptations I have ever seen. Words cannot not describe how well done and awesome this movie was.
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Watchmen isn't a superhero movie. It's a cynical view on society shown through an alternate universe in which America wins the war in Vietnam and masked vigilantes (Normal people with no special powers) used to be popular until an act banned them in '77. Rorschach as the only one who refuses to accept his forced retirement finds out that a recent murder was one of the former watchmen and slowly follows the trail to try to find out why. The only one who could be considered a real Superman would be Manhattan.
Besides what superhero gets his cape stuck in a revolving door and then get shot.
…but uses Superheroes to convey the story.
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I always wondered why they were in disguises in the Novel itself.
Did you forget about the police raid on Dan's house in the novel? As well as the fact that each Watchmen had to give their identity to one person in congress during one of the deals.
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Did you forget about the police raid on Dan's house in the novel? As well as the fact that each Watchmen had to give their identity to one person in congress during one of the deals.
OH yeah, Ok I forgot that… been a while XD
Anyway, none of that was in the Movie, so it makes perfect sense. -
I learned verious things about the crowd as the movie progressed.
-Who hadn't read the book,
-Who were really immature,
-Who the irresponsable parents were.I take it you can figure out the first two, but the third one, I need to speak on,
Walking in, I saw groups of little kids going into the threatre, and I was looking forward to the reactions the parents would have. Because I knew that the sex scenes (If there were any) were going to be extended. They expected it to be somthing like Spiderman, which is obviously isn't.
Oh well, now my thoughts.
Pretty happy with the casting, what was cut I didn't really mind.
Music made the movie seem a little dated. but I didn't mind.Ionno, I'm still fresh off seeing it (Just got home about 10 minutes ago), and still giddy, Overall, really happy with it,
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Walking in, I saw groups of little kids going into the threatre, and I was looking forward to the reactions the parents would have. Because I knew that the sex scenes (If there were any) were going to be extended. They expected it to be somthing like Spiderman, which is obviously isn't.
Holy Crap, how did they react as those scenes came up and as the movie got out?
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I learned verious things about the crowd as the movie progressed.
-Who hadn't read the book,
-Who were really immature,
-Who the irresponsable parents were.I take it you can figure out the first two, but the third one, I need to speak on,
Walking in, I saw groups of little kids going into the threatre, and I was looking forward to the reactions the parents would have. Because I knew that the sex scenes (If there were any) were going to be extended. They expected it to be somthing like Spiderman, which is obviously isn't.
Waitaminnit, isn't this movie rated R? Why the hell are parents bringing kids to a rated R film?
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Waitaminnit, isn't this movie rated R? Why the hell are parents bringing kids to a rated R film?
Because, even though the stupid ass ratings are there to prevent exacly that, people are stupid and pay no attention to the ratings.
I remember mothers taking their little kids into the SOUTH PARK movie, because it was animated. And… gnerally leaving when the second, super profane song number started up.
Individuals are smart. People are dumb.
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Got back from the movie, and it met my expectations and more. Don't really have a problem with any of the plot changes, because you can only make a movie so long. Glad to say that the comic I enjoyed got a pretty good movie out of it.
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Good movie, bad ending. Changing it from a random alien attack in New York to Manhattan allegedly attacking several cities throughout the world just begs a few questions:
Isn't there a chance of at least a few people putting themselves back together like Jon did? That's the first plothole. Second, who's going to call a country to ask about a bombing?
"Russia, I know we're bros and all but I can't have you bombing my cities. C'mon dudes, don't be a dick. Wait… you guys got bombed too? Well I'll be damned. WORLD PEACE."
That was something that mildly rubbed me the wrong way after watching it and talking about the changes with some friends. But what really got me while watching it was how dumbed-down they made a few parts of the movie. We get it, Blake's the dad. Stop repeating it fifty fucking times and just heavily imply it like it was in the comic. Unfortunately most people are too stupid to pick up on something that isn't directly told to them. Unfortunately.
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^FAKE alien attack to be exact;)
The thing I liked about the monster was how its design resembles a vagina combined with Cthulhu (sp?) motifs, it is a design that immediately strikes one's psyche with horror and disbelief. -
^FAKE alien attack to be exact;)
I actually had to point out it was fake? Heh, goes hand-in-hand with what I said about how they revealed who Laurie's father was.
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Not really, but when come down to it, it is just made up for Adrian's plan.
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@Solar:
Isn't there a chance of at least a few people putting themselves back together like Jon did? That's the first plothole.
uum, what?
he didn't replicate the machine that created Manhattan, he replicated Manhattan's powers and made a Bomb out of Manhattan's "Touch someone and make them go boom" power, which we saw earlier in the movie. It doesn't break people apart at the molecular level as the Machine did to Osterman, it literally blows people up, you see blood and guys on the ceiling when he blows those guys up in the bar.
How is that a plothole?@Solar:
Second, who's going to call a country to ask about a bombing?
"Russia, I know we're bros and all but I can't have you bombing my cities. C'mon dudes, don't be a dick. Wait… you guys got bombed too? Well I'll be damned. WORLD PEACE."
That's… not exactly how it happened... First off, you don't have to "call" to find that out, it'll be all over the international news.
Second, The way it came across was that Dr. Manhattan's powers are rather particular in how they work, the whole world has seen the international news about him, therefore when a big Manhattan blast goes off, everyone instantly "knows" it was Dr. Manhattan, and since Russia apparently knew Manhattan had betrayed America by up and leaving for mars (there was an earlier scene where the War-room guys said Russia knew) Russia puts two-and-two together and comes to the conclusion that Manhattan has gone Rogue and is literally attacking everybody, therefore they think they have to unite.@Solar:
That was something that mildly rubbed me the wrong way after watching it and talking about the changes with some friends. But what really got me while watching it was how dumbed-down they made a few parts of the movie. We get it, Blake's the dad. Stop repeating it fifty fucking times and just heavily imply it like it was in the comic. Unfortunately most people are too stupid to pick up on something that isn't directly told to them. Unfortunately.
Actually, I kindof agree on this, but you can't blame the film makers on this. The American people ARE dumb, see the above dialog about how some mothers took small children to not only this movie but SOUTH PARK and you'll see what I mean.
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@robbybevard:
Because, even though the stupid ass ratings are there to prevent exacly that, people are stupid and pay no attention to the ratings.
I remember mothers taking their little kids into the SOUTH PARK movie,
I can beat that. When I went to see the new Rambo movie, guess who was three rows ahead of me? Yep, about two young children and their parents.
They did not walk out.
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^Those kids are being properly educated from youth in the awesomeness of Rambo's manliness.
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Holy Crap, how did they react as those scenes came up and as the movie got out?
I was too wrapped up in the movie to really take notice. But asI was walking out, said irresponsable parents were talking about thow much of a mistake it was. I started laughing my ass off, and got a couple looks.
After I saw Dr. Manhattan explode the first person, this came to mind.
"If I was him, I'd blow people up, then re-assemble them just to screw with them." -
uum, what?
he didn't replicate the machine that created Manhattan, he replicated Manhattan's powers and made a Bomb out of Manhattan's "Touch someone and make them go boom" power, which we saw earlier in the movie. It doesn't break people apart at the molecular level as the Machine did to Osterman, it literally blows people up, you see blood and guys on the ceiling when he blows those guys up in the bar.
How is that a plothole?I don't recall seeing any remains in any of the scenes of the aftermath, point those out.Haha, we're both wrong. I hold this dude's word in a higher regard than anyone here, but then again I also know him.
Purple says:
What Adrian recreated was neither his -pop power- or the effects that changed him.
Purple says:
He was using Manhattens power to create a bomb. The bomb worked off the same priciple as any other bomb. It exploded and it's force destroyed anything it could in it's path.
Purple says:
Manhattens -Pop Powere- wasn't a power. It wasn't a gift. It was him manipulating people's molecular structure with his powers to cause them to blow to bits.
Rolas says:
Ah, now I get it.
Purple says:
Obviously Adrian could not recreate that effect because it requires a concious effort on Manhatten's partThat's… not exactly how it happened... First off, you don't have to "call" to find that out, it'll be all over the international news.
Second, The way it came across was that Dr. Manhattan's powers are rather particular in how they work, the whole world has seen the international news about him, therefore when a big Manhattan blast goes off, everyone instantly "knows" it was Dr. Manhattan, and since Russia apparently knew Manhattan had betrayed America by up and leaving for mars (there was an earlier scene where the War-room guys said Russia knew) Russia puts two-and-two together and comes to the conclusion that Manhattan has gone Rogue and is literally attacking everybody, therefore they think they have to unite.So basically in a time when tensions thoughout the world are pretty high, some unexpected attack throughout the world happened and everybody automatically knows it was the blue dude. Neat.
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Time for me to add my two cents to which I don't care what anyone thinks, for it is my opinion.
I read the comic. Didn't care for it. Felt like it dragged too much and there were a lot of worthless panels and such. Found myself reading it just to finish the damn thing towards the end.
Saw the movie today. I figured that maybe they would just cut all the crap that wasn't really needed. I did like the movie better, but I didn't love it.
So I don't see what the big deal with Watchmen is, but whatever, to each your own.
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@Solar:
I don't recall seeing any remains in any of the scenes of the aftermath, point those out.Haha, we're both wrong. I hold this dude's word in a higher regard than anyone here, but then again I also know him.
I was wrong about the specifics, but my point still stands, it was a breakdown thing and not the same thing that was used to create him.
@Solar:
So basically in a time when tensions throughout the world are pretty high, some unexpected attack throughout the world happened and everybody automatically knows it was the blue dude. Neat.
Considering EVERY time he uses his power, it's preceded by that exact same big blue shock wave ring, yeah, it's pretty obvious it was him and not a bomb which would not have made the same kind of destruction.
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The movie was too long and dragged out, it also relied too much on the source material. If you're someone who hasn't seen the movie you'll be heavily confused. Just the first few minutes of the movie made it felt as if it was a sequel, and acted as if you should already know the characters.
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Sequel? What.
Anyway, saw it, and liked it. It was rather faithful to the comic except for the Dr. Manhattan deal at the end.
And I didn't realize it until long after the sex scenes, but a few seats away from me was a little kid, so I don't know what their reactions to it were. I did notice, however, how two old ladies got up and walked out during it which was hilarious.
Oh, and that the Black Frieghter story in the comic will be animated doesn't sound like such a bad idea. Maybe it'll show the reader and the newstand guy in it. I loved them.
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The kid reading the comic book and the news-stand owner will most likely appear more in the extended DVD version. Definately so if they interlace the animated Tales of the Black Freighter comic in it.
I can't believe kids can get into R rated movies in the States, just by their parents allowing them. What kind of parents allow their kids to see a R rated film without first seeing the film themselves?
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welcome to america. i don't think i'll see it cause of all the r ratedness stuff. (ya, i'm a big suck) just a little curios what others are saying. this whole topic of kids going to the theatre is hilarious.
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Well I just saw the movie and I liked it overall; though I read the comic beforehand, which would have cleared up some confusion I would have had (opening credits montage with silhouette, dollar bill, etc; but I saw that scene as a bonus for those who had read the comic).
It stayed faithful to the comic for the most part, and many of the changes were justified; mainly the ending because everything involving the creation of the squid-monster wasn't shown, so BOOM GIANT SQUID would have been jarring to those who hadn't read the comic.
But I did have problems with it:
-The song selection completely change the tone the comic set at some points with guitar riffs blaring out at moments that were suppose to be tense (Nite Owl and Rorschach flying towards Adrian's arctic base) to just out of place (99 Red Balloons at the dinner scene)
-While it was expected that they would "elaborate" on the sex scenes, I couldn't help but think while Nite Owl and Silk Spectre were going at it that they could have used this time to add a scene (like maskless Rorschach buying a New Frontiersman paper, giving the audience a chance to remember the face before the reveal, and a bonus because they could have shown the two Bernards before the explosion scene (I was afraid they were going to be cut out completely), and show the Frontiersman before the final scene).
-While the explosion scene worked, it did stack up to the original. Instead of seeing blood and corpses stacking the street driving home what Veidt did, we get a huge crater. It works, but doesn't have as much impact.
While I feel they made the movie a bit too positive at times it was still a good adaption. It's worth watching. Much better than what most series end up with.
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Guys who worry about some bits from the comic mising from the movie should wait until the DVD release before casting judgement because the DVD will be an extra 1 hour longer. (50 without the black freighter)
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(Nite Owl and Rorschach flying towards Adrian's arctic base)
Since you've read the comic, maybe now you'll remember that particular scene had a quote from the song which was playing.
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@Bad-Beat:
Guys who worry about some bits from the comic mising from the movie should wait until the DVD release before casting judgement because the DVD will be an extra 1 hour longer. (50 without the black freighter)
True. And I didn't mind that much it was excluded, but gave it as an example of what they could have had instead of a prolonged sex scene.
@dirt:
Since you've read the comic, maybe now you'll remember that particular scene had a quote from the song which was playing.
I missed that, so it doesn't seem as out of place now in that light, but I still think the song selection overall could have been better.
But hey as I said I liked the movie. I knew things were going to be cut, but stuff like the opening credits gave a little extra for those who read the comic. And the DVD release will add more, so there isn't much to gripe about.
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Still haven't seen it, but I found this!
1n3VSw1XBOo
Its' Marvel vs. DC guy, but with Wolverine and Rorschach. Hilarious!
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^Not that much to me, his previous ones about the 2008 comic book movies were a lot better.
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Tizoc what character is that in your avatar and sig? He looks like a fun character to play as.
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^
It's k9999 from The King Of Fighters 2001. He is pretty much an homage to Tetsuo from Akira (they even have the same voice). -
Yup-
1YeTs5oHAwg&fmt=18 -
-The song selection completely change the tone the comic set at some points with guitar riffs blaring out at moments that were suppose to be tense (Nite Owl and Rorschach flying towards Adrian's arctic base) to just out of place (99 Red Balloons at the dinner scene)
While I feel they made the movie a bit too positive at times it was still a good adaption. It's worth watching. Much better than what most series end up with.
I actually thought the music fit the film perfectly. I would've hated the whole movie to be nothing but tense serious-ness the whole way through. Considering how bleak and cynical the story is, and especially how the ending is, it would've just been way too depressing during some scenes had they not lightened up the soundtrack in places.
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I actually thought the music fit the film perfectly. I would've hated the whole movie to be nothing but tense serious-ness the whole way through. Considering how bleak and cynical the story is, and especially how the ending is, it would've just been way too depressing during some scenes had they not lightened up the soundtrack in places.
Even Hallelujah?
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Even Hallelujah?
Heck yeah, that song made that scene so much epic win.
Oh also, the use of jukebox style scoring mixed with the original scoring which was a lot of guitar riffs and such really made the movie feel unique to me, kind of a throwback to how movies were scored back in the 80s and early 90s.
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Hallelujah made that sex scene bareable, and those old ladies walking out funnier.
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In general I liked the adaptation. I didn't like the prolonged sex scenes and 300-type violence with slow motion and action music. Even though the book was/is violent, it isn't violent in such a .. overbearing? manner. I did miss the squid, but I have no real quarrel with the ending as such.
Hopefully they'll elaborate on the therapist sub-plot on the DVD, since the scene of him telling about Rorshach to his dinner guests is one of the best scenes IMO in the book.
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Now thats its been a couple days and people have had a chance to see it… Short verdict: see it, but read the graphic novel first.
Long verdict:
With only a few minor quibbles, I think this is the best possible movie anyone could have made out of the Watchmen. HOWEVER, what that means is that it's the bare skeleton of the story, without the lion's share of the numerous intricate, winding subplots or fascinating but minor characters that give it much of its impact. I'll reserve full judgement for the extended version, obviously, tho it certainley seems like its going to eventually have pretty damn near everything.
The film was generally well cast: Rorschach, the Comedian, Manhattan, Veidt, and both Nite Owls are wonderful. The elder and younger Silk Spectres slightly less so, but they both get the job done.
Quibbles:
The gentleman playing Nixon did well enough, but his performance was hampered by a seriously terrible makeup job. Honestly, who thought that nose was a good idea?
It's a minor change, but I didn't like the fact that they explicitly made "The Watchmen" the name of one of the aborted superhero teams. I very much enjoyed the fact in the GN that, although it's the title and it appears in the quote that is partially scrawled in graffiti on walls, none of the characters actually use the term in dialogue.
Likewise, there were one or two instances where Rorschach refers to his "mask." I much preferred the fact in the GN that he ALWAYS refers to it as "my face."
Some of the violence was a bit much. While Snyder is thankfully able to restrain himself from turning the film into the sort of violence-porn we saw in 300, it was still a tad over-the-top. Watchmen is a, well, GRAPHIC novel, to be sure, but the gore is still supposed to be somewhat realistic. It's supposed to be horrifying, and when it slides into cartoony, Kill Bill territory, some of that impact is lost.
Ditto, the sex scene. There wasn't anything particularly objectionable about the presentation, but the amount of screen time spent on it was unnecessary, especially in such a long movie. I understand, once you START the song hallelujah, you then have to keep the scene going long enough to get to a stopping point in the song, but... A couple shots to establish that they are indeed having enjoyable sex followed by the symbolic fire launching would have been more than sufficient.
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During the sex scene I was hoping for Batman look alike to put on his mask while he was doing it. But instead got to see the girl doing him in her thigh high latex boots. So I'm hopping in the directors cut there some mask action.
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I actually thought the music fit the film perfectly. I would've hated the whole movie to be nothing but tense serious-ness the whole way through. Considering how bleak and cynical the story is, and especially how the ending is, it would've just been way too depressing during some scenes had they not lightened up the soundtrack in places.
Even 99 Red Balloons?
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Even 99 Red Balloons?
Damn. This movie has Hallelujah and 99 Red Balloons? This I have to see (and I'll probably be seeing it this Saturday).
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Even 99 Red Balloons?
Considering "99 Luftballons" is a Cold War-era protest song, originally sung in German, its a pretty good fit. 99 red balloons starts out slow and somberly, then it very quickly becomes an upbeat partying song appropriate as background music for a bar whjere people are having a good time. Also, if you pay attention to the actual lyrics as opposed to the melody…
You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, something's out there
Floating in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go byNinety-nine red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As ninety-nine red balloons go byNinety-nine decisions treat
Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call out the troops now in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it, boys, this is war
The President is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go byOutside of the actual "99 red baloons" lyric specifically, and considering the scene is all about the two former heroes coming together, and then not quite going off into battle, its pretty appropriate and well chosen. I thought it was more appropriate than Ride of the Valkyries,which was really... a little too obvious.
Hallelujah I had issues with because I happen to love the song and know it inside out, and while it is a song about a girl being the guy's entire world, almost none of the lyrics are appropriate in that one, (Broke your throne, cut your hair, naked in the moonlight, etc.) and also, the entire sex scene is made longer in order to time out to the song, which is a bit excessive. I think if the song had been playing quietly while they rescued the people from the burning building and then built up to be louf right then at the intimate moment... a quiet romantic song to the action scene (which is mostly silk specter doing the action stuff, so it would still be referring to her...) could have been really cool and a lot more subtle.
Hmm. when the dvd comes out I may have to try that.
All in all, it was a very good soundtrack, just... not necesarilly appropriate. one does wonder whatthe extended cut will yield. Its strange, Synder was very slavish to the material, and had good music choices, but almos teverything that was an obvious personal touch of the director felt out of place. And I don't think its just because I've read the book alot, cause its been a few years and I didn't read it that many times. Funny, that.
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Hey, just wanted to put my two cents in.
I find that this movie, more than anything, was actually a great companion to the comic . One part that I liked more than the book itself was seeing Nite Owl get pissed before going along with Ozymandia's plan, but that's just me.
Also, I know it's a little late, but I have my own story to tell of little kids in the theater.
1. As I went to the bathroom before the previews (just in case) I saw two parents take a 5 YEAR OLD GIRL in with them. WTF?
2. I found out a kid was behind me when I heard an 'Ewww…' when Silhouette kissed the Nurse.
3. I know there were more kids in the theater than that, because during the scenes where Dr. Manhattan's schlong was showing, I heard giggling behind me. The giggling turned into a chorus during the sex scene. The kids were there for the entire movie.
As a side note, my friend also laughed at the sex scene, but only because it was so ridiculous (me, I just facepalmed during that part--the only part of the movie that I really hated).
P.S. Children are evil--I shit you not, they laughed during Rorschach's death.
P.P.S. Favorite song: 'Unforgetable'--nothing like seeing someone's skull get cracked to it.