WatchmenComicMovie.com Forum

is this not a contradiction?
you can't compare a book to a movie really on anything other than interest, a book can't compare to a movie for thrills per minute or score composition, but a movie can't compare to a book for depth and length. really all that matters is which version held your interest better. and which version did you take more enjoyment from.

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

Not exactly,
emotionally I liked the movie better, because it made me feel like when I saw the first Matrix in cinema,
it was the same feeling, that I just experienced something complex and worthy of seeing again many times.

And then I read the GN , and it was more like reading a very good book,
exept, that its visual elements took greater part in it.
It wasn't that same experience of getting something extraordinary,
but I was patient, and so begun to read about it more opinions,
in case I was missing something at first reading,
and also took into account that is was created more than two decades ago,
and maybe I need to delve deeper into the watchmen universe to discover why is it still so popular,
because at first I didn't understand , I didn't saw the complexity of the novel.

Sometimes I read books that I don't like much,
because of the subject, but
its intriguing to get knowledge of something I don't understand at once.
I find it challenging to understand something I dislike at first sight.
As for watchmen, I didn't really get what others see in the GN,
but I thought that if there is such a big fandom,
there must be something in it,
which is not really obvious to get at first.

So I read it through several times, and found the concept and the philosophical layers interesting,
though the story and the characters are quite repulsive for me,
this is not the type of literature I usually read,
and had not been the film,
the novel remained unknown for me.

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World out of balance

Personally, I pay that.

The book is an insult to the craft of writing, the film is capably made but didn't have much of a chance considering the shallowness of the source material.



Post subject: Re: Anyone prefers the movie to the book? Reply with quote
AvatarIII wrote:
nickwearby wrote:
I still find that I prefer the movie,

I like the movie, but I find the GN more interesting,


is this not a contradiction?
you can't compare a book to a movie really on anything other than interest, a book can't compare to a movie for thrills per minute or score composition, but a movie can't compare to a book for depth and length. really all that matters is which version held your interest better. and which version did you take more enjoyment from.




Please tell me if I got this wrong but I think you are saying you had a strong emotional reaction to the film and a great intellectual satisfaction from the book but, on balance, the emotional impact from the film is stronger in your mind and so you prefer the film?

Makes sense to me.

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This is serious

Yes you're right.
Better summed up than me

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World out of balance

ahhhhh, now i see, thanks for the clarification Mm

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We're all actors, Laurie. I'm just an actor who read the script.

No. The movie is a plain gory action thriller with long fighting sequences in slomo, flat characters (except for Rorschach), lacks most of the social and political commentary in the book and is not ambiguous enough: Ozymandias is no doubt a villain, despite good intentions.

Mathew Goode looks and acts like a bad TV soap villain and does not look mature nor intelligent nor compassive enough. Overall, Ozymandias is the real super-hero in the novel by thinking big scale ever since The Comedian showed him the uselessness of puerile heroism in combating the symptoms rather than the causes of evil. He is very badly represented here, none of his views coming into place. And the whole fake fighting with super kicks and super resistence by those being beaten up was truly lame. There's no real action scenes like that nor super-powers above mere mortals in the novel and they have little impact other than cause the impression in casual movie goers that it is a super-hero movie with not enough super-action (which is indeed the source of most of the complains you hear from mindless folks).

Also, nobody likes the 80s, specially as the 70s were so much more fun. Watchmen is intrinsically bound to those years, even in an alternate history. The novel will be remembered like Casablanca or Gone with the Wind, not like something timeless as The Incredibles.

Despite all good intentions by Zack and his true-to-the-novel *looks* it mostly lacked the essence of Watchmen and thus the movie is pretty forgettable. Most of the dialogues from the book are there, but sometimes displaced from their original panels and out-of-context. Also, the novel was not all that gritty: Rorschach's journal entry were pretty humorous, even though the character himself took it seriously. But it needs to be very gritty, dark and rubbery to be on the big screen...

Strange you say that when the same repulsive characters are in the movie saying the same brilliant Alan Moore lines and following pretty much the same plot.

The only things I truly liked about the movie were:
* JEH's awesome interpretation and tough guy voice for Rorschach (like Snake from Metal Gear Solid. hey, David Hayter was involved)
* digital, luminous Dr Manhattan
* good selection of old tunes (specially Unforgettable for the Nostalgia ad)
* overture with the Minutemen

I don't think is a competition I think is just an adaptation of a great novel and I hope that as many works of fiction we end up having adaptations every few years or so, so it keep on evolving and every generation can have his take on it.


Is like asking me if I prefer Pride and Prejudice book to any of the screen/movie versions: I love the book and I look forward to every version of it. I liked the Kyera Knighly version but my favorite so far is the BBC one. This is my wish for this novel to be something that 10 years from now someone else will take an tell us the story from another POV.

I always just view movie adaptation of things as elaborate, expensive fan art.

As for Zack's "fanart" for watchmen? I enjoyed it. Could have been a lot worse. I expect the extended version to be a lot better. Still, nothing beats the original, generally speaking.

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The movie is no where as amazing as the book was but i'll say this, the ending in the movie is better than in the book. Sure I was upset about the squid and the last conversation between Jon & Adrian but still, I thought they ended the movie in a better note. Even though it resolved everything in the end of the book, I don't know, there was just something weird that I didn't like about it. Even though the ending is depressing as hell I still didn't mind it and it was the depressingness of it but still, even to this day I can't wrap my mind around it

EDIT: You can't really compare the book to the movie, yeah sure it's pretty much the same thing but there was more to the book. It was more emotional and really pulled you in more where in the movie, they were just going note for note what the book had done, minus the whole point of the book. Also there's a part at the end of the movie where Adrian says "I've felt every death" I don't know the exact quote but it goes on for a little bit. When I was sitting in my IMAX seat I was thinking to myself "well i'm glad you did, because I sure as hell didn't." They didn't develope the whole backstory of Adrian. In the book when they spent an entire chapter explaning Adrian, you actually felt connected to him. Where as in the movie, they don't explain shit, and you don't feel shit!

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"They got writers, and scientists on this island with a giant squid! They didn't even invite me! They're having a bloody party! They have hookers! What the fuck Adrian, you bastard! Next time you visit me, you're getting a can of whoop ass!"

I personally vastly prefer the movie ending. Why?

Because it is far more plausible that it will create an era of peace for at least a few years longer than the squid fiasco. Blaming it on Dr. Manhattan and attacking more than just NYC gives the impression that humanity as a whole is being punished. It doesn't just orchestrate a detente, it actually suppresses the urge to fight again.

My mind just imploded from this surreal mash up of possible sarcasm, blatant trolling/baiting, and suspected incorrect or uninformed usage of film references. The novel will be remembered like a 1942 Michael Curtiz movie? Why, because it co-starred Conrad Veidt?

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...evidently chicken-town.

I wanted to add that I liked the movie ending better than in the book because it did something the book didn't choose to: It came full circle.
Hatty's presence in this universe and he helping win USA win Vietnam war was what caused the power imbalance that created the situation to go to almost full nuclear war, it was only fair using him to solve the problem as well, IMO.

I would have liked the movie ending better if it had been executed better. I just feel it didn't have the same impact that the original version had. This is in reference more to Veidt's plan than with the rest of the ending.

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"Heard them Walthers like to jump some" "As will you, with one in your elbow."

Seinfeld green?

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You humans are insane! No other species abuses its own nor enjoys doing it.

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Mexicano Al Grito De Guerra

the ending to me was just rushed even the way Adrian talked like he was speed talking to get it over with lol

TO A.G.:

There's an enormous diferrence from reading a book, to watching a book. Besides, the motion comics all together are 5 and 1/2 hours long. If you spent that time reading the book, you would've perferred the book, felt more closee to it, and wouldnt've started this thread.

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"They got writers, and scientists on this island with a giant squid! They didn't even invite me! They're having a bloody party! They have hookers! What the fuck Adrian, you bastard! Next time you visit me, you're getting a can of whoop ass!"

This is a difficult question. Because I love the book, the movie (Theatrical and Director's Cut), the Motion Comics, "Under the Hood", and all the viral campaigns. I can't stress enough that you should read the novel before exerting an opinion like that, however I'm not going to hold it against you if you did love the movie more than the book. It's matter of opinion and, as such, should be supported as to "why".

There are things about the movie I loved more than the book, for example the ending. I never liked the ending in the book. I understand why it's like that because of all the foreshadowing, etc, as it wouldn't translate will in a film, at least, not for me. So I prefer the ending in the film, where it's a bomb and was indirectly created by Dr. Manhattan. Other examples are that I do prefer that Rorschach killed Gerald Grice with the meatcleaver because I found it more poetic and justifiable than just burning him in the book. The death of Hollis Mason is more poignant in the Director's Cut of the film than it was in the book. I love the entire prison scenes are superiour to the book, particularly the escape, because film is a visual medium, however it suffers from the lack of scenes with the psychologist, Dr. Long. I prefer that Big Figure's thug gets his arm sawed off over being shinked, which it made more sense. The scenes on Mars were more real because of the film's use as visual medium as well. I prefer Laurie in the film, than I do in the book. I prefer Sally better in the film, than the book. I actually came to sympathise with Dr. Manhattan in the film, which I never did in the book.

Now enter the Motion Comics...

There are aspects of the Motion Comic which I thought were far superior from either the book AND the film. The scene that just sticks to my mind the most is the end of Chapter 2, "Rorschach Journal, October 16th, 1985", after Rorschach's first visit with Moloch. The entire entry is executed so BEAUTIFULLY, so PERFECTLY -- the voice, the visuals, the music in particular MADE that scene. I always get chills and enter tears anytime I watch it! The scene where Rorschach looks up at the nude woman has a completely different context than it does in the book, which I loved in the Motion Comic. Tales of the Black Freighter worked better for me in the Motion Comic than in the book; it made me appreciate it more of why it was there (which is better than the novel and the anime-esque Black Freighter). The rape scene in the Motion Comic is just CHILLING, superior to the film (which was awesome as well), but I seemed to prefer the way it was executed here better mainly because of the use of sound (which is silence instead of a sound effects of punching and kicking, making more powerful) and the use of music (which took the place of the sound effects) and ended up just GORGEOUS scene! The flashback of the Comedian's confession to Moloch -- now, I loved in the book and film -- but it came off as "emotionally perfect" in Motion Comic than anywhere else; it's another scene where I am in tears at the utter perfection before me!

I love the documentary on Under the Hood and, for me, there's no doubt that I loved that documentary far more than the small glimpses we read in the novel. I love the way it done! I just wish it was goddamn longer! ARGHHHH! As for the animated Black Freighter, I hate the anime stylisation, I hate the overal animation, as an animator I can't help but nitpick those, but overall performance is, admittedly, quite beautiful. I love the cinematography (it's gorgeous!), the acting (perfect!), and the scenes I love the most are (1) the pool of water with the Captain's reflection, (2) the killing of the rich merchant and his lover, (3) the expressions of his children is horrifying, and (4) the entire bit when his gathering up the bodies because of the emotional context of it was better done.

Now the book...

There's so many things in the book you can't compare to any medium. All the scenes with the D.r Long will always done the best in the book. Yeah, the Motion Comic did a great job translating it, but the overall execution of the film was a LITTLE better, but it was NOT ENOUGH, and you can't appreciate how awesome these scenes are unless you READ it. There's so much information, so much subtext, that I have to say I prefer the book, this includes all the flashbacks. Yes, I love that Rorschach kills Grice with a meatcleaver, however the overall piece of the flashback is far superior in the book, no question. Janie, I prefer in the book over any other medium. Bubastis, book over any other. Others: The final page of Chapter 6 (with the two Bernies embracing as they die), the beginning panels of Chapter 7 (seeing the hundreds of bodies), Rorschach escaping Moloch's from the police, the Hiroshima Nightmare, and the ending with Seymour. Any scene with Moloch -- although I love Matt Frewer dearly, and he did a great job, he was used better in the book than in the film and the Motion Comic! Etc, etc, etc...

I can't say which one I love more because of all these reasons above because I love them all, but for different reasons. I can't really decide which I love the most.

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