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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
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as of 11/23/2009 02:00 CST details
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Rating:  504 reviews
Sales Rank: 916
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
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Condition: Brand New! Factory Sealed Perfect Condition. Region 1
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Showing reviews 491-495 of 504
 Tribute Film--Yes. But Zack Snyder's Rendition Misses the Emotional Mark. March 7, 2009
Woopak (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
Comic book adaptations are all the rage these days and they are a dime-a-dozen. To prepare for this review, I re-read the graphic novel so I can give a more detailed viewpoint. "Watchmen" is adapted from the award-winning 12-issue mini-series in the 80's which in turn became a popular graphic novel. The graphic novel was written by Alan Moore (From Hell, V for Vendetta) and illustrated by Dave Gibbons (Green Lantern) and adapted to the big screen by Zack Snyder (300). This is Snyder's third full-length feature film, and he is in familiar ground in taking well-received formulas in pop culture, make it a strong visual affair and he calls the film a "tribute" or a homage. Most of the time, Alan Moore is displeased with the final result when his story is adapted; as far as I can recall, only twice has he requested his name removed from a film's credits because of his strong displeasure--it was with the Wachowski's "V for Vendetta" and you guessed it...in "Watchmen". This is why you only see "based on the graphic novel illustrated by Dave Gibbons" in the credits. Moore's name appears in the credits of "League of the Extraordinary Gentlemen" and "From Hell". (whether it was because of the insistence of the producers or he gave his blessing for these other films, I do not know)
The government has banned "super-hero" operations with a law passed in the senate and most heroes have retired. When a former super-hero called "The Comedian" (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is murdered, a still operating vigilante called Rorshach/Walter Kovacs (Jackie Earle Harley) takes it upon himself to investigate and comes to the conclusion that someone is killing "masked" vigilantes. He takes it upon himself to warn his fellow super heroes such as the Nite Owl/Dan Drieberg (Stephen McHattie), Silk Spectre/Laurie Juspeczyk (Malin Akerman), Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup) and a genius industrialist Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) of the supposed conspiracy. Aided by his former partner, the Nite Owl and Silk Spectre 2, what they find is just something so unbelievably insane that it will shake the very world.
I wasn't kidding when I said that Snyder makes these "tribute" films. "Watchmen" is so full of iconic sequences that is lifted from the graphic novel; the scene in the prison mess hall, Dr.Manhattan`s citadel, all would give fans a reason to rejoice. The dialogue is almost derived word for word, Snyder succeeds where he has excelled in "300", the viewer does feel like he is reading a live action comic book. The characters in the film have plenty of development in the form of flashbacks, fans of the graphic novel will be thrilled. The film is pretty much lifted from the novel with some minor additions--the film is more action-packed than the graphic novel (brutal, fast and hard-hitting), some sequences are extended and some are deleted. The film has its share of sex scenes and nudity and you see Dr. Manhattan the way he was in the comic--stark naked most of the time. The film does emulate a certain darkly foreboding mood, but it also doesn't lose it's sense of black humor. The screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse is meant to give us a sense of nostalgia, and they do succeed, well, at least until the final act of the film...
Purists of Alan Moore's storyline will be a little disappointed as certain key elements in the graphic novel are missing. Laurie is a smoker (which is why she turned on the flamethrower and caused the accident) and abhors donning her costume, the original Nite Owl wasn't killed by gang members in the film, the boy in the news stand does make an appearance but the key subplot on what he was reading is missing. That subplot, "Tales of the Black Freighter" was extremely important in the graphic novel's commentary on humanity's sense of survival. The conversation in Mars between Laurie and Dr. Manhattan is significantly short, and loses a lot of its dramatic and emotional edge. Yes, Snyder and company does make an impressive visual and aural feast, but they missed the original story's dark message and philosophical relevance.
I am also assuming that Alan Moore had his name removed because the climax takes a significant nose dive and I am sure purists will be very upset. The climax in the film lacked a strong effect on its narrative as it deviated from the original material. This ending may be easier to connect with for those unfamiliar with the graphic novel, but honestly, it felt very clichéd, unimaginative and predictable. The approach in the graphic novel was very methodical, moody and full of emotions which is why it became a so-called holy ground for comic fans. This film is just another Hollywood fare that uses the source material as a template and not as its stimulation and inspiration.
The direction by Zack Snyder is competent but it does have a lot of problems. Sure, it is difficult to compress 12 issues into one film--but one can stay faithful to the feel, essence and thought of the original. He uses the recognizable scenes and famous illustrations as camera shots to tickle fans of the graphic novel. The film has an overabundance in slow motion, and while I thought this was meant to emulate the feel a comic reading experience, Snyder could have done well in refraining a bit from the slo-mo. The direction does present quite a number of plot holes, and felt uneven at times. The biggest goof of them all occurs in the final act of the film when Dan Drieberg said that "everything will be ok, as long as people believe Jon is watching over them (or was it "watching them?).." which is PURE contradiction to what happened before and to the book's essence. I cannot disclose any more without further spoiling the film, you will have to see for yourself but how can fear be the one factor to inspire peace? Wasn't the "Watchmen" supposed to help people live without fear? The direction is definitely a mere "copy" of the sequences from the novel, and Snyder made no effort to make the "Watchmen" mythos his own and insists that audiences should fill in the plot gaps themselves.
The performances are decently acted for the most part and I thought Jackie Earle Harley stole the show as Rorshach. I loved the scenes when he was in prison. The character is by far the most interesting character of them all. Walter Kovacs would give the most ruthless movie serial killers pause. Malin Akerman is charming as Silk Spectre 2 and luscious Carla Gugino even makes an appearance as her mother. I found Stephen McHattie's "Nite Owl" quite amusing but found Matthew Goode's "Ozymandias", interesting but a little underwhelming--his plan made him unworthy of being the "smartest guy in the world". The CGI rendered "Dr, Manhattan" looks very good and maintains a creepy nature to his character.
The visuals are very well done and the CGI rendered environment is quite cool to look at. The costumes have been improved to give the film a more "real" feel, Dr. Manhattan and Rorshach are the only two characters who had their appearances unaltered from the comic. The special effects does give the illustrations in the novel a certain amount of homage. The soundtrack is reminiscent from the 60's, 70's and 80's music which I thought was a good approach to give the scope of its diverse periods, but some may say that this approach hampered the film as it lost a lot of the brooding, moody feel of the source material. There is a good number of sex and nudity, as well as a strong display of violence against women.
Now, do not let my observations as to how it deviated from its source material give the impression that I didn't like the film. Complaints aside, "Watchmen" is entertaining enough and it is worth a look. The film is polished with high production values and is a visual marvel that I still have to commend the effort. Those unfamiliar with the graphic novel will no doubt be impressed but hardcore fans of the original story will be a little disappointed. It also does have the potential to turn off some viewers since it does somewhat glorify some harsh realities of human nature (the graphic novel never did that, instead condemns it). It is just a purely ineffective vision of the "Watchmen" mythos; while its main premise was faithful to the source material, it never achieved any complexities in emotional and psychological impact. While not an excruciating film, Snyder's adaptation missed the mark that it felt absolutely unnecessary. After more than 2 hours watching Snyder's rendition, to expose certain heartbreaks, satirical touches, nicely shot action sequences, it gave very little in the way of artistry, emotions and thrills that I found myself pining for the source material's philosophical significance. I can understand Alan Moore's request that his name not to be associated with Snyder's vision.
Recommended! [4- Stars]
 Waste of time and money. March 7, 2009
J. Windham (Grand Cane, La USA)
13 out of 114 found this review helpful
Simply put: a steaming pile or pretentious crap. A complete waste of three hours. Skip this mess of a movie and go rent Sin City, it was much better.
A how this movie avoided an NC-17 rating is beyond me, because I haven't seen that many willys bobbing around since I watched a porn movie in college.
Who Will Save Us Now? March 7, 2009
Chris Pandolfi (Los Angeles, CA)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
It's strange entering a movie theater, having no idea what to expect from the film about to be seen. The ads for "Watchmen" promised a visually stunning superhero movie, and while it certainly delivers in that respect, I never imagined that it would also be such a complex, thought-provoking morality play, one that takes plenty of time to develop the characters into people we can actually invest in. I suppose I could have known this ahead of time had I read the original graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, but to tell the truth, I didn't even know of its existence until the summer of 2008. No matter--the film is a work of art unto itself, not merely in terms of its look, but also in terms of its attention to character and its willingness to tackle weighty political and social issues. The tradeoff is a plot that's often very difficult to follow, mostly because, at a hefty 163 minutes, there's a lot of story being told.
It's a story that takes place in New York City in 1985. Not the actual 1985, mind you, but a 1985 in an alternate reality, one in which Richard Nixon has just been elected for a fifth term as President. Even though superheroes are commonplace, they're all mere human beings, which is to say that they have no actual superpowers. At a time when the United States and the Soviet Union are engaged in a heated nuclear battle, superheroes, also known as Watchmen, are seen more as vigilantes, and it isn't long before their actions are outlawed. Despite having disappeared from the public eye, it seems there's a conspiracy against the Watchmen, who are now being murdered one by one. Kick starting the story is the murder of Edward Blake, a.k.a., The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan); this reunites the remaining Watchmen, who take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of his death.
Most of the film is built around in-depth character analyses, which gradually help to explain why these people are the way they are. The Comedian, for example, is so named because, from his perspective, life is all one big joke. Having been commissioned by the American government to assist in certain operations, he's cynical and world-weary, pretty much to the point of hostility. It would be too much to say that we're made to care for him; we see him do some pretty reprehensible things, none of which I'll describe. We are, however, made to understand where he's coming from. At a certain point, he finds that he's no longer laughing at how much of a joke life is.
There are many other characters. There's Laurie Juspeczyk, a.k.a., Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), whose troubled mother, the original Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), had ... an encounter with The Comedian many years ago. There's Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), a technically savvy retired superhero, whose "basement" is an abandoned subway station filled with various machines. There's Walter Kovacs/Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the only Watchman to continue his pursuit of vigilante justice. Appropriately, his cloth mask is decorated with inkblots that continuously shift around, and as is the case with a real Rorschach test, he sees only what he wants to see in the world around him. There's Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), the only Watchman who has publicly revealed his identity. It's said on a few occasions that he's the world's smartest man.
The most fascinating character is Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), the only Watchman who has actual superpowers. His story is definitely one for the comic books; he began life as mild-mannered nuclear scientist Dr. Jon Osterman, but as the result of a lab accident, his body and mind were transformed, allowing him to exist beyond mortal notions of space and time. His voice is distinctly human, but his body is a glowing-blue spectacle made of light and energy. Even though he uses his abilities to assist the American government in its efforts against the Soviet Union, it's obvious that he has drifted apart from the rest of humanity. It's easy to see why--joining with the very fabric of the universe must make life as we know it seem awfully insignificant. He makes this point on the surface of Mars, where he unearths a towering sphere of crystalline gears, all of which rotate in very clock-like patterns.
And yet, there's the sense that some part of him, however small, is still human. Consider the fact that, even though he appears mostly in the nude, he always dresses in a suit for important events, like press interviews. How is it that a being from another plane of existence would have even a modicum of humility?
As we near the end of the film, an ethical dilemma is presented, challenging the audience as well as the characters. What it basically boils down to is: Is there a point at which peace comes at too high a cost? You be the judge. All I can say is that it's a fitting question for a film this well crafted, not merely on a technical level, but on a narrative level, as well. It's an ambitious superhero fable that surges with action, drama, and humor, at times brutally violent, at times contemplative, always staying fresh and exciting. It's always risky making a film adaptation, and admittedly, I was worried that "Watchmen" would follow in the footsteps of films like "Silent Hill," which was only understood and appreciated by fans of the original video game. Speaking as someone who hasn't read the graphic novel, I'm happy to say that "Watchmen" is not elitist entertainment. Not bad for something that was once considered unfilmable.
 Masterpiece! March 7, 2009
E. Powell (North America)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Sticks to the graphic novel religiously except the ending. The ending is better than in the novel. Simply magnificent!
WATCHMEN..."NEVER COMPROMISES" Faithful Adaptation...great movie! March 7, 2009
Kevin J. Loria (New Orleans, LA USA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
1st: WATCHMEN is an amazing film adaptation of an amazing graphic novel and you need to see it ( and read it)...
2nd : Neither the film nor the graphic novel is for kids...this ain't the Incredibles (although there are obvious intention parallels on Pixar's part). WATCHMEN is rated R for sex, intense violence and big blue full frontal from the only true super-powered super hero in the mix, Dr. Manhattan. This is actually fairly distracting in IMAX, but props to the director for refusing to put pants on the guy (yes he does wear pants at some point but this part is true the comic).
If you've never heard of the WATCHMEN now is a good time to learn.... Comic book fans, like myself have been waiting over 20 years for the big screen live action version...Alan Moore's 12 part comic mini-series which coined the term "Graphic Novel" and established the genre's ability to aspire to the ranks of literature (Time Magazine ranked it in the 100 greatest novels of the 20th century 1923-2005)...set in the year it was published WATCHMEN tells the story of cold war era world with masked heroes (forced into retirement) who are being killed off. More importantly the story centers on the deconstruction of the "super hero" exploring the flawed heroes of two generations of vigilantes. In addition to having lots of costumed heroes around History is different is that President Nixon is still president, currently serving his 5th term thanks to have won Vietnam, using the god-like power of Dr. Manhattan. In fact Dr. M's power is the only thing keeping the super-powers in check, but nuclear war still seems inevitable.
In less than typical fashion, hero origins and backstories are told throughout the movie through flashbacks, some more brutal than others. Although WATCHMEN was a DC comic it isn't set in the DC Universe of Superman and Batman.
But you can tell your players without a program...The next generation of heroes following in the footsteps of their post-WW II predecessors the MINUTEMEN are...
The NITE OWL II aka Dan Dreilberg, the Batman like hero desperate to get back in action in his the Owl-looking air-vehicle, Dan is probably most heroic and the least flawed of all the characters.
The SILK SPECTRE aka Laurie Juspeczyk, her mother was one of the original Minutemen and Laurie inheirents the role. Gets involved with Dr. M and the Nite Owl.
RORSCHACH aka Walter Kovacs, kind of a hard-boiled-detective-with-a-grappling-hook, Rorschach is trying to catch the "Mask Murder" and probably has more problems than any other character in the story, the villains included.
DOCTOR MANHATTAN aka Jon Osterman, the result of an "accident in the lab" Dr. M is the only super-powered character and is blue.
OZYMANDIAS aka Adrian Veidt is the self-styled world's smartest/fittest man. Veidt fancies himself akin to Alexander the Great and is the only hero with the wherewithal to create his OWN action figure line.
The COMEDIAN aka Edward Blake is the murder victim of the "Mask Killer" and ex-owner of the iconic-bloody-smiley. Blake is a mercenary feared by the bad guys as well as the good guys. Imagine a sadistic, over-sexed Capt. America.
It has nearly panel per panel recreated the original comic composition of Moore's artist co-creator Dave Gibbons.... the dialogue is almost identical and very few edits were made (biggest cut was the comic-within-the-comic "the Black Freighter" which was animated to be released later in full (it is likely that the film pacing is better for the cut). The casting is perfect and thankfully mostly low profile "unknown" actors. The costuming and effects are equally incredible. The art direction, from Alex McDowell and Francois Auduoy, is on a scale of it's own, with attention to detail that is overwhelmingly accurate to the backstory and lesser details of the graphic novel.
A great and complex look at "super-heroes." Like the graphic novel, WATCHMEN the movie, truly explores the highs and lows of the human experience, with or without capes, Moore's words are still powerful and with a running time of under 3 hours, I say, why so short?
Showing reviews 491-495 of 504
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