Dave Gibbons On the Forthcoming Watchmen Movie

An anonymous reader writes "Den Of Geek has been talking to comics legend Dave Gibbons about the upcoming transition of the Watchmen from the comic book to the silver screen. 'There are hardcore fans out there who'll be satisfied with nothing less than a word-for-word, line-for-line, scene-for-scene recreation of the comic book. I didn't believe that was ever going to happen.'" It's a rather short interview, but Gibbons addresses some interesting elements of both the movie and comic-book worlds.

Comments

The End Is Nigh...

[berashith]

See ya tomorrow

Conversions

[Jaysyn]

It will probably have as much to do with the comic book as Starship Troopers had to do with the Sci-Fi classic.

Keep in mind, there wasn't a whole, whole lot of action in Watchmen, & a lot of the intricacies of the "superheroes" relationships will probably be glossed over.

Re:Conversions

[kithrup]

I don't see how I, Robot is "garbage." Other than a large action scene that Asimov wouldn't've written in his books, the plot is entirely an Asimovian robotic mystery: the three laws (or four laws, as Asimov had in his later books) are completely integral to the plot; the clues are related to robotics and are visible to the viewer, instead of being hidden and revealed after the fact; and the societal impact of the technology is examined.

Even the actress they had playing Susan Calvin was the right age, and there was no romance between her and the main character.

It was a shockingly good science fiction movie.

Re:Conversions

[elrous0]

I think the first Starship Troopers was one of Verhoeven's best films. But then again, I despise Heinlen and think that hack DESERVED to be parodied. Verhoeven just sized the material up for exactly what it was.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Movie Adaptations

[majorgoodvibes]

are almost never 100% faithful - the closest I've seen lately is "No Country for Old Men."

It's not that it's impossible but it's just not necessary or preferable. If a movie gets the spirit of its source material, captures something of its style, and brings something new to it that could only be accomplished cinematically then it's probably a successful adaptation.

hear hear.

[apodyopsis]

I think that as long as it's true to the spirit of the comic book, and as long as - in broad strokes - it follows the plot and the characterisations...I don't think you can ask for every individual detail to be replicated.

hear hear.

Watchmen is a classic. It is my favorite classic. I still get it down and read it every now and then and it still makes me shiver.

My instinctive reaction to the film is "Noooooo!", but on reflection I then think of the "V for Vendetta" movie and I remember that it is possible to make a damn good film out of a graphic novel without following it exactly. I know "Sin City" is more or less a scene for scene clone of the book, likewise "300" - but it does not have to be like that. Vendetta showed us that.

I predict this will bomb.

[arkham6]

Looks like its going to suck. Bad actors, the director is a dweeb, the special effects are going to be laughable.

With production values this bad, who will watch The Watchmen?

Re:Alan Moore doesn't do well on screen

[Lilith's Heart-shape]

A dark story with a non-happy ending doesn't sit very well with focus groups. No kidding. Just look at what happened with I Am Legend. In the book, the hero dies at the end knowing that, to the vampires, he was the monster. And then there's V for Vendetta. How the hell did the Wachowskis take a character that was a bomb-making anarchist and make a liberal out of him?

Know what's funny?

[liquiddark]

Every normal person I know seems to believe V for Vendetta was a great movie. Maybe adapting a good book into a good movie, even at the expense of diverging from the original work, isn't all bad.

Yup. Expect it.

[Weaselmancer]

Hollywood will glitz up the story, and gloss over the personal details. IMHO, it's the personal relationships that make the Watchmen such a good story. At its core it is a story about people, not action.

It'll be a shame to watch that take a back seat to special effects.

Re:Alan Moore doesn't do well on screen

[falcon5768]

No uh oh, Moore is a asshole and its been well documented for years hes a egotistical asshole. His input has been sought for YEARS when it comes to movies of his works and he flat out refuses to help, then trashes what eventually is made under a misplaced idea that by denying his input it wont be made.

Granted he has good reason in the past to not want to be associated with big companies as hes been screwed more than once, but the same can be said about a lot of other talented comic writers out there and they have had no issues with playing the game even after being burned in the past. I highly doubt that without Frank Millers help, Sin City or 300 would have been half as impressive as they where.

Re:Alan Moore doesn't do well on screen

[Dunx]

You're missing the point - Alan has distanced himself from every recent film made of his work, he doesn't take the fees offered even. He talked about this quite extensively in an interview on Radio Four a few years ago in the Chain Reaction series.

So Alan Moore not having his name on the credits means nothing at all about the quality of the film.

Can't Fit in 90 Minutes

[ewhac]

The Watchmen sprawls all over the place, and there's no way it would fit in three hours' running time, much less the Hollywood-standard 90 minutes. Something's going to get chopped.

Personally, I nominate for deletion the entire novel-within-the-novel of the shipwrecked castaway. Every time that came up, I found myself flipping forward, looking for the main story to pick up again. In fact, it seemed all the extra characters who we saw passing by the newsstand in New York were just "whales" (q.v. Douglas Adams).

I would be very disappointed if Rorschach's backstory as told to the psychologist were cut. Some amazingly powerful and resonant stuff in there. "Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. Live our lives, lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later."

Really, really good.

Schwab

Re:Can't Fit in 90 Minutes

[Remus Shepherd]

The director has already said that it's a three-hour movie, although he's in a fight with the studio to keep it that long.

As for the story of the Black Freighter, it will be released in its entirety as a separate DVD-only animated film, released along with the Watchmen's theatrical release. More on that here.

I think they are taking extreme steps to make this movie faithful to the comic, and I'm heartened that it will be entertaining and true to the original. But we'll see....