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| Director: Zack Snyder
Actors: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup
Studio: Warner Home Video
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $13.27
as of 11/23/2009 17:43 CST details
You Save: $21.71 (62%)
New (35) Used (14) Collectible (2) from $11.41
Seller: tonycunarro
Rating:  504 reviews
Sales Rank: 913
Format: Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 186 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 1000089594
UPC: 883929057795
EAN: 0883929057795
ASIN: B001QTXM5Y
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: July 21, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, FACTORY SEALED-OFFICIAL US RELEASE-FREE UPGRADE TO FIRST CLASS SHIPPING
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 504
 A great adaptation for Watchmen fans October 20, 2009
Steven Krut (Atlanta, GA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
How you feel about this film is largely dependent on how you feel about the original Watchmen graphic novel. If you have not read the novel or couldn't get into it, then you are likely to find the movie to be baffling and boring. The Watchmen story is, among other things, a complex dissection of the often fascist cultural impulses behind the very concept of superheroes rather than the superhero-based action adventure that many people expected when they went to the theaters. It's a talky, introspective, pessimistic story - not at all a good candidate for a summer blockbuster, as the studio tried to portray it. During my original viewing, a number of people walked out of the theatre. Some, no doubt, were turned off by the story's politics, but most simply weren't getting what they expected from a superhero movie.
Compounding the difficulty of the story's content is its structure. Originally released as a series of separate comic books that were later combined to form the graphic novel, the Watchmen story is episodic with far too many protagonists for a feature film to manage. For years the novel was considered un-filmable by would-be producers and directors. Ideally, the best film adaption for Watchmen would be as a mini-series that enables the nuances of each episode to be fully realized and that didn't require viewers to digest such a sprawling tale in a single sitting. Feature films, however, are where the money is at and after his success with the comic-based, 300, Zack Snyder was hired to give it a try. That he's succeeded as well as he has is impressive. That he made a less than perfect movie was pre-ordained by the nature of the source material.
The principle flaw with Snyder's Watchmen film is that it takes a really long time to get to the main action of the plot. In this three hour movie, the first two hours are spent establishing the numerous characters and setting up the background for the story. For people like me who worship the novel and are fascinated by the world and characters of Watchmen, this is engaging. For the casual movie-goer, though, it's boring. The only way for Snyder to have avoided this flaw and paced the story better would have been to streamline the plot, reducing or eliminating several of the characters. That this didn't happen is actually surprising since butchering great novels to make formulaic features is, after all, the main business of Hollywood. Many critics who complained about the film's "excessive" loyalty to the novel supposedly would have preferred such a streamlined version. Any yet I wonder if they would have then complained about the changes made to the original story. A cut-down version of the Watchmen story might have resulted in a more commercially successful movie, but then it would not have been Watchmen. I'm glad that Snyder stayed loyal to the novel, even if this does result in an imperfect film. Movies get judged too much these days by how much money they make. Watchmen did not become the blockbuster that supposedly all superhero movies must become, but it is the best possible feature film version of Watchmen and wonderfully translates the classic novel to the screen. For fans of the novel, like me, it's a wonderful film.
 0 stars should be an option!! October 20, 2009
Nicolas D. Williams (Orange County, CA)
1 out of 10 found this review helpful
If 0 stars was an option, I would have chosen it. The action was alright, and some of the toys and costumes were alright. I didn't like some of the cheesy lines and some of the fight scenes. I didn't like how they tried to make it so "dark"...as if the world isn't already dark enough! I didn't like the plot...a good guy turning bad, killing his own kind/friends...and trying to destroy the world...lame! People want happy endings, especially if they are going to see a superhero movie. Finally, my biggest problem with this movie was entirely too much blue schlong!!! I mean, if they would have had a shot where they "glanced" over it as the camera was panning to something else, that would have been enough. But NOOOO...they had full on 30 second shots with him walking towards you or just standing there with that smurfy blue prosthetic thing hanging there. Why would I pay all that money to see a superhero/action movie, then see some fake smurf weenie for half the movie. I would have walked out if I hadn't spent so much on the bloody movie...and also I was in the middle of a dark theater and would have tripped all over everyone trying to get down the aisle. My gf is permanently scarred for life thanks to those scenes. It was just entirely too exorbitant and unnecessary. Whoever edited that movie needs to be fired...and the Directors need some serious counseling!!
 Pretty good October 18, 2009
Kawika (San Diego, CA United States)
If you're expecting action, not here. This is more suspense in a great story than anything else. Interesting characters, cool dialog. Not an all around easy film to watch, as it's very violent...but not much different from what we see on the news every day. I don't think this was unfilmable, I just don't think it was necessary to film. Comes close enough to the original in getting the point across, but still seems like it's missing a lot. On the other hand, there were some parts about the film that made it cooler. Like Rorshack's role and dialog. Worth checking out.
 Hallow, Shallow, Boring October 8, 2009
Chris Pelletier (Daly City, CA)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Before you read this a little background. When I heard the film was being made my roommate at the time insisted I read the graphic novel because of how God like it was. Well I bought it and I actually did enjoy it quite a bit. I only got around to reading about half of it though. I usually make it a rule to avoid seeing films based off books I've read as I usually end up just getting mad at stuff they removed. When the film came out I tagged along with my girlfriend and her family to see it in IMAX. As the title states I didn't care much for this film. The acting was horrible, the cinematography was boring, and the music just didn't work. I understand those are songs stated in the comic for those scenes but realistically it just doesn't work. All the scenes felt very hallow, which is a talent only Synder seems to have. I had the same problem with "300".
Something interesting I found was during the scenes I had read already out of the book I found myself bored and annoyed at how badly it translated to the screen. During the second half of the film I was engaged but only because I hadn't read that portion yet. The story was still amazing even if the execution wasn't up to my standards. I'm not going to call Synder an anti-Christ or anything, I'm sure Moore is already cursing him. He made an adaptation that was too faithful and the film suffered because of it. When you take a story like this you need to make it your own and add your own touches. A comic can't be translated panel for panel onto the screen it doesn't work. The only time it really worked was in Sin City, but that had the right kind of director behind. It also had real actors which helps quite a bit and the story wasn't nearly as long.
There are other things wrong with the film but they could be considered nit picking so I won't mention them. Bottom line the movie just didn't do anything for me. I am however not the majority and I've come to accept that. So if you are a huge Watchmen fan curiosity will get to you eventually and you'll end up watching it. You might love/hate it. If you're an average movie go-er I wouldn't recommend this one to you. This film was really made with the fan in mind.
And I'm even a fan October 7, 2009
Mitch Simpson (Portland OR)
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
This was a brilliant Film. You might say the comic version of "WAR and PEACE". The Blu-Ray looks fantastic no SD shots slipped into the final production 100% picture perfect. So why one star you ask? The sound levels for the film are all over the place. One min the "action" is loud and intense. The next min you can't hear a word the actors are saying? My PS3 and receiver has a sound sink and filtration microchip set included and It didn't do squat! I SPENT 3HRS turning the volume up for the speaking parts and way down for the action sequences. This completely ruined the relaxing enjoyment of what movie watching is all about. This was a movie I was really excited about buying for my blu-ray collection, oh well now that got shot all to hell! Same with the newest version of BATMAN dark night. What in the hell is up with the weirdo crappy sound in the newer movies? Final verdict rent um before you buy um!
Showing reviews 26-30 of 504
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