Product Description Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 07/21/2009 Rating: R
Amazon.com Everybody's favorite graphic novel comes to the screen (after years of rumors and false starts), less a roaring work of adaptation than a respectful and faithful take on a radical original. Watchmen is set in the mid-1980s, a time of increased nuclear tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, as Richard Nixon is enjoying his fifth term as president and the world's superheroes have been forcibly retired. (As you can probably tell, the mix of authentic history and alternate reality is heady.) Things begin with a bang: the mysterious high-rise murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a masked hero with a checkered past, puts the rest of the retired superhero community on alert. The credits sequence, a series of tableaux that wittily catches us up on crime-fighting backstory, actually turns out to be the high point of the movie. Thereafter we meet the other caped and hooded avengers: the furious Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the inexplicably naked Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup, amidst much blue-skinned, genital-swinging digital work), Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode). The corkscrewing storytelling, which worked well in the comic book, gives the movie the strange sense of never quite getting in gear, even as some of the episodes are arresting. Director Zack Snyder (300) doesn't try to approximate the electric impact of the original (written by Alan Moore--who declined to be credited on the movie--and illustrated by Dave Gibbons) but retains careful fidelity to his source material. That doesn't feel right, even with the generally enjoyable roll-out of anecdotes. Even less forgivable is the blah acting, excepting Jeffrey Dean Morgan (lusty) and Patrick Wilson (mellow). Watchmen certainly fills the eyes, although less so the ears: the song choices are regrettable, especially during an embarrassing mid-air coupling between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II as they unite their--ah--Roman numerals. In the end it feels as though a huge work of transcription has been successfully completed, which isn't the same as making a full-blooded movie experience. --Robert Horton
Also on the disc The extended director's cut restores 24 minutes of connective tissue to the 162-minute film, most significantly the last scene of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl. Other elements help restore and fill in details that had been in the graphic novel. Fans of the film will be glad for the extra footage but there's nothing momentous that will change anyone's basic like or dislike of the film.
The second disc has the documentary "The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics," 29 min.), which looks at the original graphic novel and its themes, and interviews artist Dave Gibbons, DC Comics executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz, and cast and crew, illustrating its points with scenes from the movie, panels from the graphic novel, and parts of the motion comic. There's also My Chemical Romance's "Desolation Row" music video and the 11 video journals that helped stir up excitement leading up to the theatrical run. No longer available is a Digital Copy of the film (compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media; download code expires July 21, 2010)l. --David Horiuchi
An excellent story line that gives the book justice.March 14, 2010 Andre Thomas Jr.(Chicago, IL) Look, if you've been reading the reviews you no doubt have noticed people bash this movie like it's the worst movie ever made. When I first saw the film at the theatre I wasn't impressed at all with the movie until the epic conclusion. But once I bought and read the book and purchased the blu-ray afterward, the movie just was fantastic. Simply put, if you loved the novel, you'll love the movie. And, like my case, it's better to read the book and THEN watch the film again and I guarantee you things will seem so much better.
WoW ToTaL TrAsH!!!March 10, 2010 Scottie R. Vines 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of the worst movies I have ever wasted 2 hours on in my life...It ranks up there with Open Water..Blair Witch..really bad dont waste your time...
Psycho-babble-masochismMarch 6, 2010 Jerry Sexton 0 out of 4 found this review helpful
A great movie for the terminally depressed with a need to destroy the very genre called super-heroes. It wallows in counter-culture stereo-types. I could be wrong .. maybe it's a drug rehab thing.
Excellent adaptation of the classic graphic novelMarch 3, 2010 Bryan Creel 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Who watches the Watchmen? I did, and you should too.
Leading up to the seeing the film, I watched the motion comic, which is a word-for-word animation of the graphic novel minus some interstitial material. It had been many years since I read the comic and I really didn't remember anything. Wow, the story is so great. It puts most every other comic I've ever read to shame. I love Watchmen.
The movie is very close to the comic. Many scenes of the movie are also word-for-word with the graphic novel. There are a couple of relatively minor changes and one major change in the ending that, as you will see if you visit such forums, is hotly debated. A lot of fans of the comic hate the change that was made but I don't think it's that big a deal. The spirit of the ending remains the same - the change is in some ways more of a mechanical one, and in other ways I even think it works better than the way it was in the comic. You'll have to decide that for yourself if you are a big fan of the comic.
The movie itself is very well done. The directing is great, as are the special effects. Most of the actors are good. The guy who plays Rorschach is particularly excellent in his role and really brought the character to life. There is one particular detractor here - Malin Akerman plays Silk Spectre II and her acting is rather uneven. By uneven I mean that she's great when she is quiet and I'm looking at her, and even better when she is naked. When she starts talking, that's when we run into problems. Big parts of the plot revolve around her character and she's just not good enough to pull off the emotional scenes required. She is the sole reason for a 4 star rating instead of 5.
My recommendation is definitely to see Watchmen.
"I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with ME!" Blu ray reviewFebruary 28, 2010 A. Scultore(NY) Based on the great graphic novel by Alan Moore. It is set in an alternate reality in 1985, where Nixon has been reelected for a 3rd term, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. are on the brink of nuclear war, and masked vigilantes are outlawed. The movie opens with the murder of one of those vigilantes and what appears as a plot to kill old superheroes turns out to be so much more. This movie is a great mystery, action, thriller disguised as a comic book movie. The story challenges you to think about society, liberalism, violence and morality as you ponder the possibilities of "what if superheroes existed?" If so, what would they be like and how would they act with all that power. The R rating is well deserved and young kids shouldn't be watching this. A great movie that makes you say "who watches the watchers?"
NOW FOR MY BLU RAY THOUGHTS: Amazing picture and ear popping sound. All the spec features are ported over with some BD exclusives. FINAL VERDICT: DEFINITELY UPGRADE! A MUST OWN!
