How Watchmen Killed 'R'-rated Fantasy Movies

An anonymous reader writes "Of all the Hollywood properties consigned to development hell in the reductionist policy of the last 3-4 years of bad economy, the very last to have a prospect of a green light are expensive fantasy and SF projects that fall outside the 'family' remit. Not even the addition of James Cameron to David Fincher's Heavy Metal remake has stopped its begging-bowl passage from studio to studio; Robert Rodriguez's propriety of the Barbarella remake likewise toured the world in vain, apparently unmindful of the very unusual set of cultural and demographic circumstances that caused a major studio to back an 'erotic space opera' in 1968 — and to the fact that these circumstances are not likely to reoccur. David Fincher lamented in 2008 that the creation of dazzling artificial movie worlds is limited to family-friendly output — but in the long wake of the box-office disappointment of the 'R'-rated Watchmen movie, there seems no current prospect that the adults will ever get to play with the kids' toys again." The most frustrating part of this is that Watchmen was actually *good*.

Comments

Most faithful adaptation != Good

[RingDev]

Really? I thought it was one of the most faithful adaptations of anything I've ever seen

I can get you a faithful adaptation short video of a dog taking a dump on the side walk. It could be the most faithful adaptation ever constructed. But you know what? It's still just a video of a dog taking a crap.

-Rick

Re:Good?

[NEDHead]

Really? What was the other movie you saw?

Re:Or are you happy to see me?

[Wumpus]

No, what stuck out the most (to me, at least) was that the penis demonstrated better acting than anyone in that movie.

Re:It was good.

[Synn]

Well, from my perspective. Having watched the film on a 80ft or so tall IMAX screen, I left the movie feeling totally inadequate.

Re:Or are you happy to see me?

[TheRaven64]

Meh, I've seen better blue wieners

One of the most insightful comments in this entire discussion - but I have no mod points today!

I take it this is a warning not to bother reading the rest of the comments?

Re:Good?

[TheRaven64]

It is long, but for very good reason

I might be confused by the new Slashdot look mangling the threading - are we still talking about the penis?

Re:Not the same thing

[scot4875]

Translation:

1) "I have no attention span; I need flashes of light and loud noises to enjoy a movie"
2) "I can't follow a story more complex than 'good guy vs. bad guy' or 'guy wants to fuck/date/marry girl'"
3) "Nuance is lost on me. Even when I have characters that are textured enough to sleep with someone who attempted to rape them, I still can't see anything interesting in them."
4) see 1
5) "In a 2 hour movie, I focused on maybe 5 minutes of narration"

Please, give us more details on why you don't like this movie.

Also, what do you recommend? The "Ow My Balls" channel?

--Jeremy

Re:It was OK

[metamatic]

The proper response to a Dr M attack is to grovel in fear, because even if he leaves, another Dr M might be created some day. The squid ending has the logical conclusion of forcing countries together to fight the outside enemy

So you're saying the changed ending wasn't exactly squid pro quo?