comment #1

Alan Cerny says ...

http://kino-govno.com/?trailers&id=watchmen

Right click next to Rorschach's head and save as.

comment #2

Sean says ...

I watched it at the Empire URL not 30 minutes ago. I don't know if they took it down or if the site crashed from traffic.

I know this is one of those totally asshole contrarian things to say, but it looks too faithful. For instance, Manhattan making the clockwork tower -- looks too much like CGI, and doesn't compare with the easy grandeur of the original illustration.

At the same time, the tone is very hard-edged Zach Snyder -- it may just be the trailer, but those scenes of Nite Owl and Silk Spectre kicking ass don't remind me of the struggling middle-aged folks of the original graphic novel.

In all, I worry that it's just going to be a pedestrian adaptation of something that's a classic in another medium, and those things are always dull.

Also, Smashing Pumpkins (or whatever soundalike band that was) + Watchmen? Umm ....

comment #3

Sean says ...

(But as we know, faithfully pedestrian is all it has to be to get the AICN vote.)

comment #4

travis b says ...

I know this is a really strange thing to be worried about in a trailer, but why did they choose a Smashing Pumpkins song from the "Batman and Robin" soundtrack to put over this? All it did was make me think of that terrible movie.

And there seems to be a lot of posing going on (I know, it's on a teaser) . . . With the bar being raised by "The Dark Knight," this seems just more of the same.

comment #5

Sean says ...

Watchmen should feel like more of the same ... to a certain extent. It should intentionally, not unintentionally, feel like more of the same.

comment #6

Gnome de Guerre says ...

Sean, as you know, the story covers different eras. The shots of Nite Owl and Silk Spectre kicking ass is probably from when they were young.

comment #7

Geoff says ...

Uhhhh, I think I have to finally take a look at the graphic novel. I don't really know what to say about this.

comment #8

Alan Cerny says ...

Here's the thing about WATCHMEN. I'm excited to see it, for sure. But the comic is a deconstruction of themes and iconography that are specific to the genre, and I have no idea how that will play out on film, with audiences that will be fairly unfamiliar with this comic and comics in general. I consider WATCHMEN to be a work of art. But it's a very specific work of art, geared towards a very specific audience.

comment #9

actionman says ...

If nothing else, it will be visually stunning. That's the vibe I am getting from this first trailer.

comment #10

Zac Bertschy says ...

1. The Smashing Pumpkins song is not in the film, says Snyder.

2. It is a pretty brilliant and clever touch to intentionally use that particular Pumpkins song, which was the theme for Batman & Robin, obviously the worst superhero movie of all time, for this trailer, given the original work's commentary on the superhero genre. In other words, it's meta as fuck, as it should be.

comment #11

Sean says ...

Alan, that's part of what I meant by the trailer seeming too faithful. Watchmen the movie needs to be about superhero movies in the way that Watchmen the comic is about superhero comics. Is Snyder nimble enough to make that transition while still swearing all this unending fealty to the original comic? I kind of doubt it.

comment #12

Howlingman says ...

Nice use of the comic's imagry, it certainly looks like WATCHMEN ...

... and that's the problem. Alan Cerny articulated it nicely; that the original GN was a deconstruction of themes and iconography specific to the genre, but the trailer (and what I know anbout the adaptation) points to an earnest, well-meaning copy of it.

What would have been really daring and exciting would be to make WATCHMEN (the movie) a deconstruction of the whole movie-superhero-comic book genre, in the way the source material deconstructed comics. But I guess that's asking too much. Maybe someday.

comment #13

Howlingman says ...

And Sean beat me to the punch, obviously. Pardon the wind-baggery.

comment #14

Dan Revill says ...

Step Brothers and The Dark Knight. Sounds like the makings of a fun night at the movies.

comment #15

bmcintire says ...

At least they didn't use "Doomsday Clock" in the trailer. That would have been far too on-the-nose, and it's already been pimped out to both SPIDERMAN 3 and TRANSFORMERS.

comment #16

Greg Wyshynski says ...

@ Zac Bertschy

It's even more meta than that -- the Pumpkins song in the trailer is actually an alternative version of their theme fom B&R, one that closes out the film's soundtrack album (remember those?). This cut took the rather generic rock theme song and turned it inside out into something more interesting.

Which fits Watchmen even more perfectly.

comment #17

huntermdaniels says ...

I want to love it. Snyder came off very, very cool when I met him...but this just leaves me cold.

comment #18

BurmaShave says ...

I would have preferred if they'd used R.Kelly's Gotham City haha. City of justiiiiice, City of peaaaaaace.

comment #19

The InSneider says ...

A friend of mine has seen Watchmen and in his words, it was "fucking amazing." So tale that for what it's worth...

comment #20

misterbay says ...

You can see it and get the embed code here:

http://obensonreport.blogspot.com/2008/07/trailer-watchmen.html

comment #21

Chase Kahn says ...

I'm waiting for tonight to see the WATCHMEN trailer...

comment #22

DarthCorleone says ...

Looks positively badass!

And I'm not even that big of a fan...

If y'all hadn't told me that song was used for Batman and Robin, I wouldn't have known it. Shows how little I paid attention to that tripe. I'm betting a lot of the audience won't remember it either.

comment #23

MDOC says ...

Wow, it looks great. I still can't believe this project got off the ground. God bless Zach Snyder. If you haven't read Watchmen, it's probably very hard to understand the excitment surrounding this project.

comment #24

AndrewOwens says ...

Its still up at Collider:
http://www.collider.com/entertainment/news/article.asp/aid/8525/tcid/1

comment #25

Craig Kennedy says ...

Except for the slo-mo 300 BS, it looks good, but looks are only one layer of what Alan Cerny rightfully calls a work of art.

How many layers of story and detail did they have to shed to make the movie? That's the question. I can see them make an entertaining movie out of the material that stands on its own, but it's hard not to think it won't be a shadow of the original.

comment #26

D.Z. says ...

I see that Snyder's a "Tetsuo" fan. I just hope this turns into a decent follow-up to "300", and it doesn't become his "Unbreakable".

Zac: "which was the theme for Batman & Robin, obviously the worst superhero movie of all time,"

Not to defend Schumacher, but wouldn't that really be Catwoman?

comment #27

Edward says ...

I'm getting this film confused with the Greenaway film, Nightwatching. Whatever happened to that?

comment #28

Rich S. says ...

Is it really considered a graphic novel? It was originally released as a 12-issue maxi series (that's how I bought it). I guess there can be multiple issue graphic novels.

God knows you'd piss of the fanboys if you called it a comic book.

It looks fabulous, though. I don't know whether Snyder will capture the story, but he sure has the look right.

comment #29

DarthCorleone says ...

On the negative side, I do think they cast the film too young. The theme of their being washed-up, former superheroes can't help but be strained.

comment #30

frankbooth says ...

All greenscreen, all slow-motion.

Looks very literal and slavish, almost like some fan's digital painting "interpretation" of his favorite scenes. But Watchmen is supposed to be gritty and grimy, and phony CGI backgrounds are just the opposite.

I was really hoping Snyder would pull this off, that this would be his L.A. Confidential, if you know what I mean. But so far, this looks like it's aimed at the 300 wanker crowd.

comment #31

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

Cool trailer, which seems like it will be almost nothing like the actual movie. Except Zack Snyder's movies ARE like cool trailers. Which is neither a total slam nor total praise....

comment #32

Bob Violence says ...

Has the same "make-every-shot-cool" vibe as 300 -- which was okay for ridiculous Frank Miller macho bullshit, but won't work at all for Watchmen. Of course trailers are supposed to highlight the "cool" stuff, but I still think we can get a general idea of where Snyder is going with this, and it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Certainly the CG sheen is way, way off.

comment #33

Sweetbubba says ...

It looks brilliant (up at Apple now) - Snyder might actually make a successful adaptation out of a graphic novel that seemed almost impossible to port to the screen without completely marginalizing the origin's thematic depth and despite the awkward pace of the novel.

Really impressive - far beyond expectations. Alan Moore may finally get a decent translation of one of his works, although he may never gaze at it himself.

Mgmax - generally agree, at least when applied to 300, but think it's premature to pidgeon hole Snyder after only 2 movies, and the Dawn of the Dead remake didn't have much in common with 300 other than demonstrating he was technically competent and yet wasn't a by-the-numbers journeyman shmoe

comment #34

Sean says ...

Zac, Greg: I didn't realize what you're observing there, and if I give Snyder credit for what you're giving him credit for, then my anticipation that the movie will at least have worthy intentions just doubled.

comment #35

hatchetface says ...

Rich S.: it's the other way around - people who actually read the things on a regular basis have no problem calling them comic books, because they know that's exactly what they are, and aren't embarrassed by the reality of the thing at all.

comment #36

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