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Watchmen

is Alan Moore putting his name on this one? if so that's a hefty endorsement since his name appeared nowhere in the credits of "V for Vendetta." (anyone knows the backstory of his apparent falling out with the Wachowski bros, i missed that one).
 
zeusbheld said:
is Alan Moore putting his name on this one? if so that's a hefty endorsement since his name appeared nowhere in the credits of "V for Vendetta." (anyone knows the backstory of his apparent falling out with the Wachowski bros, i missed that one).
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Unless he's gone back on what he said on Chain Reaction a couple of years ago (transcript) he's not going to stick his name on any major film version of his stuff in the near future.

Relevant bit:

I've decided I don't want anything more to do with films at all. After all the stuff with "The League," there'd been some minor law suit with somebody claiming that I had gotten the idea from an American Hollywood screen writer and you can imagine how I felt about that. So, I felt, if I'm going to react I might as well over react. (audience laughs) So, I said, right, that's it, no more Hollywood films. And if they do make films of my work, then I want my name taken off them and I want all the money given to the artists. I thought, God, that sounds principled (audience laughs) and almost heroic! (audience laughs) Then I got a phone call from Karen Berger the next Monday, she's an editor at DC Comics, and she said, "Yeah, we're going to be sending you a huge amount of money before the end of the year because they're making this film if your Constantie character with Keanu Reeves." I said, "Right, OK. (audience laughs) Well, take my name off of it and distribute my money amongst the other artists. I felt, well, that was difficult, but I did it and I feel pretty good about meself. Then I saw David Gibbons who I had done "Watchmen" with and he was saying, "Oh Alan, guess what, they're making the 'Watchmen' film." And I said, with tears streaming down my face, "Take my name off of it David. (sniffles)" (audience laughs) "You have all the money." Then I got a check for the "V for Vendetta" film. It was just, this was within three days!
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Plus, back when Terry Gilliam was attached to make it, Moore talks about having a meeting with Gilliam and basically telling him that it would be impossible to make into a movie, that the story was designed to be told in comic format, and felt bad having to break the news (he talks about it in that Moore documentary from 2003).
 
I still think the Zack Synder is the wrong ,wrong,wrong,director for "The Watchmen".
Neither the "Dawn Of The Dead" remake or "300" show me that Zack Synder has what it takes to take a work as complex as the "Watchmen" and put it on the screen.
And all the photos in the world showing how he is basing the visuals of the film on the visuals of the graphic novel will not change my mind. It is easy to copy the look of a comic book for the screen. Any halfway decent Production Designer can do that. Transfering the brilliance of Moore's complex plot and characters to the screen is something else entirely.
Now if Terry Gilliam was doing it, I would be excited. But Zack Synder,who has made only visually flashy but shallow film so far? Nah.
What amazes about fanboys is how easy it is to impress them with a few superficial gimmicks.
 
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dudalb said:
I still think the Zack Synder is the wrong ,wrong,wrong,director for "The Watchmen".
Neither the "Dawn Of The Dead" remake or "300" show me that Zack Synder has what it takes to take a work as complex as the "Watchmen" and put it on the screen.
And all the photos in the world showing how he is basing the visuals of the film on the visuals of the graphic novel will not change my mind. It is easy to copy the look of a comic book for the screen. Any halfway decent Production Designer can do that. Transfering the brilliance of Moore's complex plot and characters to the screen is something else entirely.
Now if Terry Gilliam was doing it, I would be excited. But Zack Synder,who has made only visually flashy but shallow film so far? Nah.
What amazes about fanboys is how easy it is to impress them with a few superficial gimmicks.
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While I agree that nothing he's made so far shows that he can make this film, I'll give him this: If you read interviews with him (the link above is a good start), it seems that he at least wants to make a movie that's true to the spirit of the source material. He may well fail, but, at least, I think his heart is in the right place.
 
dudalb said:
I still think the Zack Synder is the wrong ,wrong,wrong,director for "The Watchmen".
Neither the "Dawn Of The Dead" remake or "300" show me that Zack Synder has what it takes to take a work as complex as the "Watchmen" and put it on the screen.
And all the photos in the world showing how he is basing the visuals of the film on the visuals of the graphic novel will not change my mind. It is easy to copy the look of a comic book for the screen. Any halfway decent Production Designer can do that. Transfering the brilliance of Moore's complex plot and characters to the screen is something else entirely.
Now if Terry Gilliam was doing it, I would be excited. But Zack Synder,who has made only visually flashy but shallow film so far? Nah.
What amazes about fanboys is how easy it is to impress them with a few superficial gimmicks.
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I'm less concerned by the director, though I can see your points, than I am for whoever is doing the adaptation. That's where this one will stand or fall, in my mind. Surely the director's only part of the equation and, in something where the visuals and some of the shots are almost predefined by the source material, not as major a part as, say, an adaptation of a book would be?
 
Oh, well have no fear then, since the script was adapted by David Hayter (http://imdb.com/name/nm0371684/), a second-rate voice actor and the genius responsible for The Scorpion King and the first two ****** X-Men movies (you know, where Magneto invents a wacky mutant-making device and builds it IN the statue of liberty ((secretly)) to turn 'all the world's leaders', who just happen to be all meeting at once, nearby, into mutants?).

But just in case his pass wasn't that great (to think!), they got a guy with no other writing credits (Alex Tse) who starred as 'Party Guest' in something called Bleach to take a shot at it - you know, tighten Alan Moore's work up a bit. I mean to be fair, he apparently was an executive producer for some canceled TV show nobody's ever heard of, so I'd wager he's up to the task.

But hey, at least it'll have a huge budget and be filled with CG, right? What more could we ask for?

I'm sure it'll be awesome...
 
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Wheezebucket said:
Oh, well have no fear then, since the script was adapted by David Hayter (http://imdb.com/name/nm0371684/), a second-rate voice actor and the genius responsible for The Scorpion King and the first two ****** X-Men movies (you know, where Magneto invents a wacky mutant-making device and builds it IN the statue of liberty ((secretly)) to turn 'all the world's leaders', who just happen to be all meeting at once, nearby, into mutants?).

But just in case his pass wasn't that great (to think!), they got a guy with no other writing credits (Alex Tse) who starred as 'Party Guest' in something called Bleach to take a shot at it - you know, tighten Alan Moore's work up a bit. I mean to be fair, he apparently was an executive producer for some canceled TV show nobody's ever heard of, so I'd wager he's up to the task.

But hey, at least it'll have a huge budget and be filled with CG, right? What more could we ask for?

I'm sure it'll be awesome...
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Oh...I knew there was a reason I was avoiding following any of this.

(Tolls weeps quietly...)
 
Wheezebucket said:
Oh, well have no fear then, since the script was adapted by David Hayter (http://imdb.com/name/nm0371684/), a second-rate voice actor and the genius responsible for The Scorpion King and the first two ****** X-Men movies
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I haven't seen The Scorpion King, but in my opinion, the first 2 X-men movies rank up there as some of the best Superhero movies made.


(you know, where Magneto invents a wacky mutant-making device and builds it IN the statue of liberty ((secretly)) to turn 'all the world's leaders', who just happen to be all meeting at once, nearby, into mutants?).
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If this is the sort of thing that bothers you, I'm surprised you can enjoy any superhero comics.

A) A device that makes people (temporarily) into mutants doesn't seem too far-fetched in the context of a universe where super-powered mutants run amok. Nor does it seem any sillier to me than a "cure" for mutants -- a recurring theme in the comics.

2) Setting the climax in a dramatic location?! Oh, the horror! And doesn't Magneto use the device in his lair earlier in the movie, indicating that it was moved to the Statue of Liberty later, to coincide with the location of the summit?
 
ZirconBlue said:
2) Setting the climax in a dramatic location?! Oh, the horror! And doesn't Magneto use the device in his lair earlier in the movie, indicating that it was moved to the Statue of Liberty later, to coincide with the location of the summit?
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Oh come on it is not like magneto has the capacity to move large metal objects with out disassembeling them entirely and reassessembleing them. How else could he do that superpowers?
 
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Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves and Jude Law were interested in appearing in Snyder's film, but refused to participate when it became clear that Warner Bros. were holding strong in regards to the budget.
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Funny, Q. Tarentino was able to attract some fine talent to Pulp Fiction without breaking the bank. Maybe those three gents are forgetting where they came from. On the other hand, I don't see Law in any of the roles, Reeves is too wooden for any of them, save maybe bleached as Adrian, and Cruise? Well, put a mask on him, Rorsach him, so you don't have to see his face, and maybe, just maybe . . .

No, sorry, it just wouldn't work. No loss.

I loved the graphic novel. I think Moore is right, that you can't tell that story on film without cocking it up. If any chance is to be had, the mini series strikes me as the best path.

V for Vendetta: fine graphic novel, OK film, with the usual difficulties of translation. I agree with the comments that V's "might be nuts" ought to have been better explored in the film. Once again, the potential was pissed away, like so much ale at three in the morning on a lamp post.

DR
 
V for Vendetta: fine graphic novel, OK film, with the usual difficulties of translation. I agree with the comments that V's "might be nuts" ought to have been better explored in the film. Once again, the potential was pissed away, like so much ale at three in the morning on a lamp post.
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I liked the graphic novel,but am so sick of the Guy Fawkes mask being used as a graphic on the Internet to show how you are some kind of cool,hip,revolutionary that I am beginning to vomit at the sight of it.
But that is alot more the fault of the Warchowki brs..who I now beleive ware one of two shot trick pony ("Bound" and the First Matrix film were fun,but I have not liked much they have done since) then Alan Moore's.
 
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Darth Rotor said:
I loved the graphic novel. I think Moore is right, that you can't tell that story on film without cocking it up. If any chance is to be had, the mini series strikes me as the best path.
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That's my take on it, too. If they HAVE to film it to rake in a buck, turn it into a 12-part miniseries on Showtime or HBO or something. Getting some hacks to rip it apart and jam it into a two-hour mess seems pointless (and ******). Why not just steal some general themes from the book and make your own movie if you have to butcher the original work so badly just to make it work?

Oh yeah, because it'll still make a lot of money anyway. I mean if movies like X-Men, I Am Legend, Mission Impossible 2, and Resident Evil (1-3) can end up at #1 at the box office, why the **** not, right? Toss some special effects in and call it a day.

But I'm still gonna see it, because I can't help but be curious, terrible or not. I'll just make sure to steal it off the intarweb.
 
ZirconBlue said:
2) Setting the climax in a dramatic location?! Oh, the horror! And doesn't Magneto use the device in his lair earlier in the movie, indicating that it was moved to the Statue of Liberty later, to coincide with the location of the summit?
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That's actually a good call, I forgot about that scene. Probably because it was boring.

Still a ****** movie.
 
you answer your own question:

Vorticity said:
...Why not just steal some general themes from the book and make your own movie if you have to butcher the original work so badly just to make it work?
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...

But I'm still gonna see it, because I can't help but be curious, terrible or not. I'll just make sure to steal it off the intarweb.
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and not everyone's gonna bootleg it. big first weekend, they sell international rights, TV rights and DVD rights, over and out. almost a guaranteed profit (most high-profile movies that lose money at the box office make it back on cable, regular tv and dvd sales).

given the massive budget a film like this requires, why *would* they take a chance, and just use the name as opposed to oh, i dunno, smearing the Watchmen brand all over it?

anyway rather than a miniseries i'd rather see something along the line of LOTR: make it as long as you need, release it in parts. along those lines i really wish id' had the chance to see Malick's 8+ hour cut of "Thin Red line," the one i saw felt truncated and abrupt. didn't work.
 
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Vorticity said:
Better repair that quote box yet again...
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tooo late to edit (why do they turn that off after a set time anyway), quotebox above says Vorticity, quote was from Wheezebucket.

my bad, basket counts, and one.

sorry. d'oh.
 
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