Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Watchmen Movie Trailer Is Out

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stuff-to-see dept.

I forgot to mention the other bit of exciting comic book movie news this week: DaSpudMan noted that the Watchmen trailer is out — from the Director of 300, which spawns mixed feelings at our office. But it looks pretty good.

19 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Mixed Feelings definitely by Izabael_DaJinn · · Score: 4, Informative
    Mixed feelings sums it up for me as well!

    I have fond memories of my first boyfriend reading me the Watchmen, and many scenes in the trailer looked like they were taken right from the comic panels so I should be excited--but I don't know...

    The Comedian didn't look like quite like the vicious rascal I had hoped he would (but I only saw him for a few seconds so we'll see.)

    Ozymandius's costume looks completely different (I miss his purple one!), and Silk Spectre's costume is pretty generic looking.

    Nite Owl looks too much like Batman. (Sure they are similar characters, but very different also. I feel Nite Owl is not a very "dark" character, and making him into a 2nd rate Batman would not be doing his character justice.)

    Also I thought Rorshach's voice was a more distinctive monotone. He sounds just like any random guy whispering in this.

    And they didn't show any footage of the "vintage" comic book characters (i.e. the first generation Watchmen) so bummer on that.

    But based on the production clips it seems like the director is really trying to be true to the story and look of the comic, so as long as they don't change the ending I don't see that it could be THAT horrible, no matter if Alan Moore has already disowned it (he disowns like ALL his movie adaptations, doesn't he?)

    That said, I still wish Darren Aronofsky had taken over the directorial reigns.

    Btw, is Smashing Pumpkins doing the soundtrack or is that just for the trailer?

    --
    Careful What You Wish For....
    1. Re:Mixed Feelings definitely by mmkkbb · · Score: 2, Informative

      That song was already in the Batman and Robin soundtrack, and even had its own video. I don't think they'll retread it. Early teasers use placeholder music all the time. I can't count the number of times I've heard Mortal Kombat background music (it's mostly ethnic-sounding drums) or the music from The Fugitive (film version) in a trailer for a totally different movie.

      --
      -mkb
    2. Re:Mixed Feelings definitely by Kelbear · · Score: 2, Informative

      While it made no pretense of subtlety, the way in which the supervillain ultimately explains his scheme was markedly different from the norm, and he explicitly points out why. It was a creative twist on an old standby which was still pretty effective in keeping me engaged.

      It's a spoiler, and wikipedia spoils it as well.

    3. Re:Mixed Feelings definitely by Czarf · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is from memory way back in the eighties, but I seem to remember that Moore originally wanted to do this as a "parallel world" using the DC characters, but the company said no. I could be misremembering. But Night Owl was supposed to be this world's batman, and Dan Dreiberg struck me as the only really decent character of the whole bunch. As such, I'd expect him to be less "dark" than the other characters.

      The Watchmen characters were originally supposed to be the characters DC purchased from Charlton Comics. When DC decided to use them in their universe instead, Alan Moore created new characters based on them. Nite Owl is his version of the Blue Beetle.

    4. Re:Mixed Feelings definitely by Steve001 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Tragedy4u wrote:

      Night Owl was actually based on the Blue Beetle, having been denied the actual rights to the character by DC. Note the goggles in both character's costumes and the similarity to their vehicles. However I can certainly see why you'd mistake him for Batman, there are a lot of similarities.

      All of the main Watchman characters are based on the characters that DC got from Charlton Comics (for example, Dr. Manhattan was based on Captain Atom, and Silk Spectre was based on Nightshade) Originally, the creative team was going to use the Charlton characters for the story, but when DC saw the story, new characters based on the originals were created for the story.

    5. Re:Mixed Feelings definitely by Blackbrain · · Score: 2, Informative

      Here is a link to an old "Comic Book Artist" magazine interview with Alan Moore that definitively describes the DC/Carlton/Watchmen connection:
      http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/09moore.html

      --
      Where would we be if Wheel had hid her round rock in a cave instead of showing everyone how it rolls?
  2. If you'd seen The Dark Knight... by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you'd seen The Dark Knight, you'd have seen this trailer.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    1. Re:If you'd seen The Dark Knight... by rufus+t+firefly · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just go catch it at Apple's trailer site, where it has been since the day before Dark Knight debuted.

      --
      "He may look like an idiot, and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." - Duck Soup
    2. Re:If you'd seen The Dark Knight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Wrong. Saw Dark Knight twice this weekend, in two different theaters. Only saw the Watchmen trailer one. So shut your fucking pie hole.

  3. Cool by Ours · · Score: 2, Informative

    Every scene shown brings me back to it's corresponding scene in the comic. The characters look spot on. Damn is this getting my hopes up. It's going to be hard.

    --
    "You superiour intellect is no match for our puny weapons" - The Simpsons
  4. Re:soundtrack? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    It's either "The End is the Beginning is the End" or "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" (or some variant of that) from the Batman and Robin soundtrack.

  5. the beginning is the end is the beginning, and... by PC+and+Sony+Fanboy · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... you don't have a lot of pumpkins.

  6. Look closer... by denzacar · · Score: 3, Informative

    It IS changing.

    Try the HD one if you can't make it out.
    http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  7. Re:Smashing Pumpkins by Lbgrowl · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's actually "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning." The quieter one.

  8. Also available i HD resolution here by Cannelloni · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/hd/

    --
    Beauty is in the beholder of the eye.
  9. Re:Looks good by Blue+Stone · · Score: 3, Informative
    from the linked article:

    Sure, there have been changes. The catastrophic climax is different.

    Doesn't sound promising, does it?

    --
    Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
  10. Re:Read the comic! by SurturZ · · Score: 2, Informative

    Apparently "Tales of the Black Freighter" and "Under the Hood" will be released as Special Features on the DVD. Genius move, IMHO.

  11. Re:Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? by the+phantom · · Score: 4, Informative

    I would suggest that you read through these essays by Ms. Le Guin. The sad fact is that authors rarely have any input in the film-ification of their work.

    --
    Rhapsody in Numbers
  12. Re:There was a hint by h4rm0ny · · Score: 2, Informative


    I think there's an even more poignant symbolism about Ozymandias which even he seems to have missed, which is his name itself. Whilst he may have chosen it to compare himself with the great "King of Kings" it is undercut tragically by the famous poem of the same name by Shelley:

    And on the pedestal these words appear --
    "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
    Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
    Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
    Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
    The lone and level sands stretch far away.'


    Ozymandias is the most tragic figure in the book, I think. Because he has risen higher than any of them and defines himself by his achievements, he has so much further to fall.

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.