@@Eisenbison You can't really make such a movie without either dumb down it to a certain level or making at least a trilogy out of it. It was pretty good for what it was.
@@NoLiveking87 No no no no, you misunderstand me. I'm not talking about "dumbed down" as in "cut down" as in things that weren't included in the movie for time limitations. I'm talking about things that were *added in* to or changed in the movie that take away from it. I feel like there are a few small but crucial bits of added dialogue that make the whole thing feel dumber, the child-nappers changed dialogue removed all ambiguity from his guilt that made the original scene even more bleak, and those added kung fu sequences with Ozymandias vs Owl and Rorschach made me cringe internally. This movie gets a 7/10 for me. Pretty good, but could have been better.
Same here. Had never seen or heard about him before and was thoroughly impressed. I was really hoping he would eventually play the role of Carnage, if a movie about him was ever made but it seems he's aged/changed quite a bit since Watchmen.
I think Watchmen was a masterpiece. Zack Snyder does justice to dark comic books, but he be does dirty by traditional DC characters. In trying to recreate the grittiness of The Dark Knight trilogy, and keeping his regular 300 and Watchmen style of directing in mind, he basically just made emo versions of the Justice League members. Bruce Timm & Paul Dini created the most faithful and amazing adaptation of the Justice League ever made. The team that did for DC comics with the first DCAU, what the MCU did for Marvel Comics, should have been in charge of the DCEU.
John Doe and this is my problem with him. Also every time I watch his films it’s almost as if he’s trying so hard to make this over stretched massive EPIC of a film. Yet it just loses itself vastly. BVS had watchmen written all over it, except it was much more uninspiring, half assed writting, story and such dumb development.
"Never compromise, even in the face of Armageddon" Rorschach's last words to his bitter end. Truly an underrated and over hated movie in almost every sense.
My favourite line is the Comedian's to Doctor Manhattan after the victory in Vietnam: "You know if we'd lost here in Vietnam, I think it might've driven us crazy. Y'know, as a country." Which is pretty much what actually DID happen to the USA after they lost there in 1975.
@@antonysimpson6288 The TRULY disgusting thing is we DID NOT LOSE in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive was a complete and total failure for the NV and the VC. They lost huge amounts of men and material and accomplished virtually none of their goals of significance. As the results trickled in, there was increasing murmoring among the NV officers about how to approach surrendering while getting the best terms. THEN, how the American Merdia was presenting it to the American People started to trickle in, and they realized all they had to do was to hold on, and the merdia would hand them the win, because the American Merdia was a defacto Fifth Column out to destroy the American efforts. So they/we shamefully abandoned the South Vietnamese to decades of oppression and poverty. And the merdia did the exact same thing with/to Iraq. We defacto won that, but the merdia kept droning on and on with Nightly Death Counts -- which in the end would not have equaled that for a single major battle of WWI, WWII, or the US Civil War. And it should be noted how the Nightly Death Counts absolutely and utterly disappeared once Obama got into office. And so the Merdia got a second Vietnam, and the f*** with anyone who hoped we'd follow through on cleaning the place up -- because, FACT -- Regardless of whether the war should or should not have been started, once it was BEGUN, we owed it to the Iraqi people to follow through and help them re-stabilize the country. Instead, our evil merdia did everything possible to provide aid and succor to the opposition, to encourage them to keep fighting. I would not call for, but neither would I defend against, an effort to bring up the vast majority of "journalists" in the 2000s on War Crimes and Treason charges. These pond scum better hope there is no God, because otherwise it seems very reasonable to assert that they will be found wanting.
I'll never forget one reviewer's take... "This is a movie where; Bat-man can't get it up, Super-man doesn't care, & the villain wants to save the world!" Perfect summary right there...
@@Herr.P He is the villain from a storytelling perspective. This is a fact, since people we follow (the "heroes") all work to take him down. He is the main antagonist. . This is a tragic story about disappointment and all characters are deeply flawed. They are all morally grey.
He was right. Superhero movies in the early 2000s were not as common as they are today. When the Watchmen comic was released, there had already been decades of typical superhero stories, making it an interesting twist to the comic book status quo. The same effect would have happened if Snyder would have waited a little longer to make the movie. Still, it is a great movie!
Even now it’s too early to release watchmen as cheesy and quippy movies still exist thanks to Disney. It will probably take at least 5 years for superhero movies to become the dark and grim story we saw in Logan watchmen and Snyder cut. Until then we have to live through joss whedon type shit. LANGUAGEEEE WHAT IS GAMORAAA
Even the most depressing comics tend to retain the glimmer of hope and idealism that superhero comics started out with. Just look at The Dark Knight Returns, which in my mind tells a more profound and allegorically relevant story than Watchmen, since it not only refutes Watchmen's premise, but it openly embraces the idea of a Superhero. Superhero's are flawed human beings, yes, but would you rather have a flawed human trying to better society, or no one at all while society around you decays and becomes morally bankrupt? The Dark Knight Returns doesn't leave you with the ultimate decision, it's bold enough to answer it for you and say "yes, it is better to have superheroes." This is why modern reviewers and "journalists" give The Dark Knight Returns negative reviews and put it on lists of "overrated" comics while putting Watchmen on a pedestal. They don't like the arguments TDKR gives for why it's morally imperative to have central figures to look up to, because it inspires humanity as a whole to do better, even if those characters themselves have personal demons they still haven't overcome. Watchmen on the other-hand downplays the good heroes do as "superficial" and equates them as being part of the "iron foot of the government" while TDKR deliberately places Batman still as a vigilante and has Superman as the iron foot of the government, where Batman represents the people and Superman as the government, which ironically enough, it took the representation of the people to fix Gotham's problems, while the representation of the government had all the power in the world but was per-occupied with international politics.
It's great. Not to say one is equal to the other, but I unironically put it on the same level of Touch of Evil by Welles. I could make a bunch of caveats so cinephiles don't freak out at the grouping, but I was completely hooked by both opening sequences and found them uniquely engaging and artistic in their own separate but similar ways. Snyder's DOTD remake had a similarly gripping opening sequence that put him on my radar at the time I saw it. I've seen all his movies but I cant recall the opening or the ending to anything he's done after Watchmen. I remember laughing at Sucker Punch or thinking it was some kind of meta joke - it wasn't. Marvel/DC/etc makes a mockery of many talented people (e.g. Cate Shortland making Black Widow) but Zack fell off a cliff in slow motion and made half a dozen of the most embarrassing films on the way down. Truly a waste of talent.
And some lovely commentary on costumed vigilantes suffering real world problems like getting your cape stuck in a revolving door.. or getting locked up for being a fruit loop.
@@Basti444Ever it's so well done. The depth of writing and screenplay is genuinely great. Even things like a cop saying Rorschach stinks as they pull off his mask just add that depth to "believability" of an unbelievable world. Just because a film is fantasy it shouldn't disregard factual things completely. It's a nice touch. I mean take Bales batman for example. They don't show lots of suits that he swaps out.. so perhaps it's the same suit he always wears.. rolls around in dirt in, sweats in in large amounts, bleeds in, maybe even a couple of times had to piss in or worse.. all that mixed in with some getting set on fire and soaked through in rain and waterfall and sewers. Yeah his suit would be buzzing.. no wonder the bats hang around... Always insects to eat.. maybe one scene of Alfred trying to clean it and get the stench out dousing it in old spice or something would have been a gem.
@@dubjon5134 the moment you see the easter eggs in the opening scene, with the original Owl man saving Thomas and Martha Wayne when they leave the Gotham Opera, preventing the birth of Batman in this universe.
Rorschach's death is still one of the best i have ever seen. The pure Emotion on his Face and the rage consuming him, screaming at Dr. Manhattan to do it and therefore standing by his convictions to the bitter end is sublime.
I so completely agree. That part always is burned in my memory as something so incredibly honorable and full of integrity and simultaneously horrific and a tragic waste...exactly what the story wants you to feel the contrast and polarity of...
Jackie Earle Haley is the perfect comic character casting, right up alongside Heath Ledger's Joker and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Although I have to give props to Jeffrey Dean Morgan's pitch-perfect portrayal of the Comedian AND Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, in every decade of her arc.
The comic did most of the heavy lifting; BUT, it was a stroke of fucking genius for the movie to have his blood and guts form one last Rorschach Blot in the snow!
When you see the shots, as here, with their sound removed, and out of context, it becomes much easier to see how beautiful they are. It is a good film, uncommonly faithful to the source material. It looks superb, and the story overall is near enough the same as the book. The ending is significantly different, but to do the one in the comic would have taken longer, and probably been less convincing so I accept it. The main difference I disliked was the way the film made the heroes more powerful than normal humans, and showed them winning fights with contemptuous ease.
Watchman was a beautifully crafted film that needs to be followed nowadays. Every single scene and detail in the movie had a purpose. Strong and gripping storyline. Great group of characters wonderfully acted by a great cast. We will probably never get movies like this again.
It's too bad more superhero movies didn't learn anything from this plot (never mind the graphics). DC and Marvel superheroes are juvenile. This movie is not.
I found Matthew Goode absolutely hypnotic as Ozymandias. Jackie Earl Haley was definitely the other standout as Rohrshach. God, he nailed that character.
Matthew Goode was completely miscast. In the comic, Adrien Veidt was smart, athletic, good looking, funny, chiseled jaw line - he looked the all American Hero - which made the twist genuinely surprising. In the film, Matthew Goode looks and speaks creepy and is clearly a bad guy from his very first scene. Every other character, especially Rorschach, is pretty spot on - but a the film is let down badly by the spoiled twist.
@@azursmile But the all-American guy that's actually the villain it's already a cliché in itself. It was like a lose-lose situation so they went with the creepy guy.
@@azursmile I saw him as a play on the intellectual stereotype - Fit, perhaps, but somewhat effeminate and overly theoretical as opposed to the Comedian's hypermasculine persona. The fact that his solution was so brutal and seemingly out of touch with humanity made his casting a lot more apt to me.
@@A.G.P.115 Alan Moore hates himself and his own work... why would he like an adaptation? Better off just paying his opinion on the subject very little mind.
My friends hated it more than me. I read the graphic novel and really liked how complex it and the movie was. My friends... just kept complaining about how much on-screen "giant blue man penis" they had to sit through. I mean, yeah, I would prefer that they give the dude the loincloth for more scenes, but the story was great.
@@IncredibleMet Took it as a given that I was speaking in the context of the 2009 movie which this video is referring to, but no, I never bothered to watch the TV show.
@@IncredibleMet The TV show has different issues. It deviates a lot from the spirit of Moore, if anything it wants to stay current with the P.C. era and brings racism to the forefront. Don't get me wrong, it was good (amazing at times, but falls flat in the final episode), but it didn't feel like Moore's Watchmen. Snyder's version on the other hand gets 9 things out of 10 spot on.
@@IncredibleMet The T.V. show has nothing to do with the original movie and graphic novel. I read the Graphic novel years before the movie was made and I was truly amazed the way they stayed so true to the original novel. They did a great job with trying to imitate the art in the novel.
@@TheMoviesCult I happened to LOVE the tv show. I hate SJW shit being forced but this didn't feel like that to me.. It wasn't snyder style i'll agree to that but i thought the show was incredible.. Hope they convince them to do a second season.. I loved every episode
I was the second group, NEVER heard of Watchmen, went in expecting a regular superhero movie and was BLOWN AWAY!! THIS, next to the Dark Knight trilogy is the BEST Superhero movie EVER!! I wish they made prequels or movies about every single hero on their own as I would definitely watch them
@@michaelsevilla7579 script, directing, pace, and a terrible ending. The music was good, but not enough to keep me or anyone else interested in the theater.
@@angelantayhua3096 While the watchmen probably had more depth in the original, the boys shares a very similar theme. It shows that absolute power corrupts absolutely and that having everything leds to extreme perversion.
It was brilliant. In no way, shape or form could they have improved anything about their portrayal of Dr Manhattan, especially the voice. A booming or mighty voice wouldn't have suited such a distant and apathetic deity
@@Uxoriouswidow I think the biggest mistakes were removing the fake alien squid, because a major point of the comic was that the false peace via fake alien threat was unlikely to last, and changing the end scene with Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach by adding in Nite Owl.
@@hariman7727, I disagree. Framing Dr Manhattan for the mass murder while omitting the aliens altogether was the right choice. Dr Manhattan _becoming_ the inhuman alien made the story more self contained.
@@fuferito but KNOWING the threat is there, and being able to talk to the threat? That changes the reaction from "Aliums are out theres! We must all defend the world together!" to "Oh NO! Superman hates us all... why are there cults showing up worshipping him? And why are some people trying to rebel?! And where is he because we'd like to negotiate with him?!" People can complain that genetic engineering was developed once and will be developed again, but that was one of the points of the comic. The peace Ozymandias created is false, and it's all going to fall apart. "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair."
Wow you were 4 hrs ahead of me but I was going to mention that same scene. I didn't get it at the time. It seemed so STUPID! Now I get it. He's JUST THAT STUBBORN! Unfortunately, we see all too many people just like Rorschach every day. Only it's ironic that it's people refusing to wear a mask rather than a person who screams in rage and terror because someone yanked it off.
@@SilverSpoonRiche You do realize that Rorschach was the most ethical character in the movie, right? He had an absolute moral code and he would not falter. He kept getting knocked down in that ending scene, and he just kept getting up, dusting off, and putting his hat back on, and moving forward. "No compromise, even in the face of Armageddon." The truth and justice mattered more to him than anything.
Really amazing work they did in that. The broad strokes of the first generation of watchmen matched with a song that seems like it was written just for that part in the movie. I don't think anyone could have done a better job condensing that much material into one bob Dylan song.
So glad to see this get the love it deserves. the world simply wasnt ready for this kind of superhero film in 2009. if it came out in 2019? we would be praising it ...
We saw the 2019 version. It was a watered down shitshow that was a limited series on a streaming service. 2009 was the perfect time to make it. If released as is, but today, you'd have a queue of absolute herberts demanding cancellation because it's too dark and they feel attacked (having never seen it).
@@timdurganweird victimhood mentality. The Batman (2022) was dark and very well-received. As was Joker. And Logan was pretty dark/violent and is widely regarded as one of the best superhero films ever made. Watchmen would've absolutely been more successful now than it was then. Back then all anyone wanted out of their superhero movies was mindless action and special effects. The MCU has induced burnout on that kind of superhero content and lowered the standards so much that Watchmen is a masterpiece by comparison.
@@Zack-vi7isthose three films you just listed weren’t very good. At all. Pretentious swill inflated in their respective scores by critics who were either paid off or had a socio-political agenda in doing so. Snyder’s Director’s Cut of “Watchmen” blew said films outta the water imho
"I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!!" - So many good lines in this movie. VERY underrated. EDIT: Holy shit! The drinker loved my comment!
This film holds a special place in my heart... when this released I was going through a divorce... I was handed papers that things were final and I had to start gearing up for a custody battle... at the time I was contemplating all kinds of horrible reactions I went for a drive... passed by a theater on the otherside of town got a ticket and sat by myself and watched the watchmen... left the film with a different attitude called my ex and came to a reasonable solution... my daughter turned 18 the other day my ex and I are friendly to this day... and to think the things and actions I was considering could've sent me down a truly different path. Random I know.
I actually think the film has a better ending than the comic. Fake aliens just felt way our of place since it’s supposed to be somewhat realistic except for dr manhattan. The film framing dr manhattan makes way more sense considering the world is questioning if manhattan is on our side
I disagree. Aliens were a popular subject around the era that Watchmen was set. I can't remember who said it but it was stated that a greater alien threat could be the only thing that unites Russia and the US, which is why Ozymandias used a fake alien to prevent the war. The genetically engineered creature was also suppose to have sent psychic shockwaves too, which implies that in the world of Watchmen Dr Manhattan isn't the only anomaly. Which is what you would expect from a movie that encompasses multiple superhero types. But all of that was cut away from the movie just to make it "realistic."
It makes zero sense. Dr. Manhattan is an American, he fought in Vietnam, he was created by American experiments. In the real world he would be a political talking point constantly and anything he did would be blamed on America. The whole point of the alien ending is that it’s an outside threat that unites Earth together. The alien squid is pretty ridiculous but they could have easily just changed it to UFOs or something.
The problem with the bombs in the movie is that those aren’t gonna make anyone unite. The nukes or bombs or whatever they were tell people that it was someone (or a country) on earth that did it. The whole point of the alien squid was the it was an otherworldly threat that no one understand. The nations of the world would have to unite to come up for a plan against the enemy threatening all of them. That doesn’t work out if the threat is another country on earth
I read the graphic novel before i saw this film and tbh it was a solid take on such an in depth storyline. Cast was solid, acting was great and effects and costumes were bang on. Never could understand the hate from this.
@@nufosmatic pretty much have to agree with the other member here. Buy the graphic novel and just take a full day to kick back and read. One of the best stories told by DC
"If you give a man the powers of a God, what happens to his humanity?" Never have I heard something that asks whether superheroes are a good idea or not, asked so succinctly.
I’ve always thought about it. Most human beingsare far too flawed to possess super human powers. I could only buy Clark Kent (Kal-El from Krypton) an alien raised in bucolic rural Kansas as an idealized All-American caricature ... Or maybe Wonder Woman, raised in isolation from the rest of corrupt humanity. Otherwise, everyone else is a psychopath.
Did anyone else notice how Matthew Goode, who plays Adrian Veidt in the movie, gives him a perfect American accent during public interviews, but a slight (very slight) German accent when he's amongst friends?
Holy shit I've watched this movie dozens of times but never caught that. Heard it immediately when I started replaying scenes in my head. Yet another reason for a rewatch
If you watch the ultimate cut then you basically have read the graphic novel the movie was comic book accurate the only thing they changed was the ending but they made it better
Well, Ozymandias IS supposed to be the smartest guy in the world, so you wouldn't expect him to do something that would ruin his plan like a James Bond villain would.
"He's not particularly big or physically strong. He's not super smart and he doesn't have any powers or gadgets. He's just a tough, tenacious little bastard, ready and willing to take on guys twice his size without any fear or hesitation, ready to fight dirty and use any advantage he can find." This is a great way to describe Rorschach. And this is why despite his flaws I like this character.
I have a friend like that. At one point he bought one of the nastiest biker and hoe bars in South Jersey. I think he had it 9 years. Some of his stories are epic! For a 5'9" guy to never backdown says something. He never hired a bouncer either. He enjoyed the work too much to delegate it out.
When I saw the movie and they first showed his face, I was certain I had seen him in something before… and then it dawned on me, He played the third friend in the movie “Breaking Away” the movie that gave Dennis Quaid his first big break. I hadn’t seen him in anything after that movie…
@@christopherpardell4418 Freaked me out when I saw his face, because I said , "Wait a minute , that is Kelly from "The Bad News Bears". "Christ I'm old" LOL
I'll argue it would be this one: The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down, and whisper "No." The Pagliachi joke was brilliantly executed aswell.
This is my favorite film of all time (the Director’s Cut, that is.) I’m glad there’s countless individuals of like-mindedness who’re also fans of this cinematic masterpiece. You guys keep on rockin’!
Fun fact Watchmen actually takes place in an alternative DC Universe where the old Night Owl saves Thomas & Martha Wayne in that alley. So Bruce never becomes Batman 👍
"Tells a story" That's something Watchmen does that a lot of comic book films don't do. Not in a trilogy, not in 22 films, but in one film with multiple character introductions. We're still getting Batman and Spider-Man origin rebooted origin stores and this gave us so much content.
I always wonder how lord of the rings would be made today. "First we need the Aragorn origin movie, then the Frodo origin movie, maybe a Marry and Pippin Spinoff before we do the Gandalf Prequel... and that is just the fellowship of the ring"
Glorious film, visually beautiful, strong character development, complex but compelling story, awesome action, thought provoking... what is there not to like 🤷🏻♂️
@Carl Hopf I hadn't heard that song in so long (at least 30 years), I literally just had to Google it (because I never even knew the title or who played it) and see if it really did have a guitar riff (I guess most songs do--at least those that feature guitar). Sure enough, there *was* a guitar riff. Thanks for steering be back to the source material!
@@allasian452 right, by "no real credit" I was trying to imply that they do get some small amount of credit for making a good choice, if not for coming up with the words. I only knew it was from the Bible because I'd heard it several times in popular media, and so looked up where it came from. Actually, with a lot of common English expressions, we're quoting from the Bible, Shakespeare, or the Book of Common Prayer, often without being aware of it
@@allasian452 It's paraphrasing a verse from Ecclesiastes. Something like: "Both the fool and the wise man die the same" Edit: Ecclesiastes 2:16 " . . . And how does a wise man die? As the fool"
I love this movie. My interpretation of the characters was always that the Comedian was a nihilist, Ozymandias was a utilitarian and Rorschach was adhering to Kant's categorial imperative. That's why they had to clash in the end.
Interesting, and yeah, Alan Moore did a great job writing those characters to clash. I don't know much about Kant, but using my rough memory of the categorical imperative, I don't think Rorschach follows that. When he recounts how he was 'born' and describes how he chose to inscribe his own morals on a morally blank world, I think that's closer to existentialist in seeing the world and life as inherently meaningless but authoring one's own essence in spite of it.
I keep rewatching it...the extended version. The painted comic book look and lighting is masterful and the batman "knock off" is better than the real thing:)) Masterpiece!
"It was a badly marketed film." Reminds me of that time I went to see Interstellar. I was in uni at the time and my classes ended earlier, so I went to the cinema in the mall to watch it. It was around 1PM, so there weren't that many people in the screening room, just me and a group of elementary-school children, whom their teachers took on a school trip to watch a movie about adventures in space... Honestly, it's hard to say what was more fun to watch, the movie, which I absolutely loved, or the increasing chaos of 60+ 10-year-olds locked in a cinema on a 3-hour-long movie about advanced astrophysics.
@@Masa. You must've been some 5head genius to already understand black holes/philosophie of ancestral connection/String theory/time delatation etc with 10 years of age.
@@Masa. Plenty of physicists have come out to say that they did well with the majority of their physics based material. Gotta be hard trying to be better than everyone else.
@@joshlynch5676 Ah yeah, a shuttle that needs a Saturn V to reach LEO, but can SSTO out of a gravity well so deep that you have to worry about Lorentz contraction. LOL.
bro, i deadass had the EXACT same experience. it was me and my friend just going to the shopping to watch some movie, and it became my favorite film of all time
Yup, didn't do well financially and EVERY PERSON I KNEW that was looking forward to this movie (including me) disliked it massively. I saw it as a dark, preachy, illogical, boredom-fest.
Somehow i feel a series like The Boys wouldn't exist today if there wasn't a Watchmen. Very different plotlines.. but the dark maturity of a world full of superheroes are right in line.
AnnaDraconida I never knew there was a directors cut. I liked the theatrical cut, which I stumbled on looking for something to watch in a share house (along with my flat mates collection of asian chicks porn). I’ll have to check it out.
Yeah that scene stuck with me. I really liked Rorschach, but I understood his completely unyeilding determination to never compromise, even in the face of death, meant only two possible outcomes. He dies and his character remains intact, or he compromises and stops being relevant. I wanted Dr. Manhattan to compromise...but what happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? The unmovable object cannot survive.
When I read the comic, I audibly yelled, "NO!" when I realized what was about to happen. Rorschach was far and above my favorite character, and I was so torn when he died, but it fit the narrative so perfectly.
@@Toasty667 Rorschach cant surrender. That is the point. Manhattan did and it could be argued based on how his character was portrayed, that it gave him the excuse and justification to abandon earth. But i am with Rorschach. They should have exposed Ozymandias...
I loved this film. Gonna watch it again because of your review reminds me how underated it was. It was dark gritty and had essence of film noir. Different and thought provoking which was great. But I like Jeffrey dean Morgan more so now as an actor so definitely worth a rewatch.
I still remember sitting in the theater and seeing a mom and dad bring 3 kids to the newest superhero movie. I wonder if they made it to the part where mr Manhattan aka Captain Ding Dong first floats his bean bag and cow dong onto the set.
Two things really stood out for me in this movie. The intro montage co-opted so many classic news scenes from the 20th Century it really brought home this is an alternate universe. And, of course, the casting of Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian. Sheer perfection. Two roles that you just can't imagine anybody else playing them.
I have probably watched this movie about a dozen times, and your post is the first time I have ever honestly put the name of Jefferey Dean Morgan to the role, I'm not saying that I didn't know it was JDM, I'm saying that JDM is such a good actor that his role outshines him as an actor.
I gotta imagine that was his line producer back in the day that should get the credit given how garbage the casting of ben affleck and jesse eisenberg was.
This movie was awesome. The story, the visual, the lack of cliche' villains and heroes (well, aside owl man), the music, the gore, everything. Perfection.
As far as comic adaptation, 9/10, so far ahead of other comic based movies. The extended directed cut is absolutely worth a watch all the way through and is a piece of meaningful story telling. I love it because it's a good story and it takes the time it needs to tell it, almost a little "Das Boot" .Most movies are just "economical", basic-entertaining-quick batta bim batta boom.
(spoiler warning) man went through all the great things about the movie without even mentioning how incredible Rorschach's death was. The refusal to give up his beliefs, his moral code, accompanied with his desire to keep humanity at peace made his death feel so inevitable yet sad nonetheless. And the expression on Dr. Manhattan's face when his fears are confirmed... Best scene in the move.
Watchmen is a brilliant movie. Yeah, it doesn't include everything in the graphic novel and some things are changed - notably the squid - but what's changed works for the medium of film. What's in the comic wouldn't necessarily work in a movie. This was Snyder at his best.
@@kyngkazmius3864 there's a directors cut which adds about a half hour of extra scenes that dramatically helps with the pacing. There's also the ultimate cut, which is a whopping 3 hours and 20 minutes, and adds basically everything the directors cut added, and an animated version of the pirate comic from the book interlaced throughout, with the pirate voiced by Gerard Butler. When combining the "Under the Hood" Culpepper Minute special with the ultimate cut of the movie, you get the fullest (and longest) experience of the whole thing, and it's around 4 full hours.
Sam R People hate it just because its Zack Snyder. It was a great movie that showed real superheroes. People wanted perfect moral heroes with a happy ending.
Idiot fandom that complains that they’re favorite parts from the series wasn’t in the movie and idiotic critics that say it was too close to the source material. The basis of anyone who doesn’t like Zack Snyder movies (et al. Sucker Punch)
It was an adaptation of probs the greatest graphic novel, and tried to be too similar to the novel in areas and tried to be different in others, but ended up failing at a lot of them, the movie wasn’t bad but it was boring at some points and just wasn’t as good as the novel but still is an enjoyable experience
The Dr Manhattan sequence - the birth of a god - was the central gem of the movie; You could feel the absolute power AND the absolute loneliness. A faultless masterpiece.
As a 26 year old young man now, I remember the thrill of experiencing this as the first rated-R movie I saw in theaters alone. No one else was in the theatre, just me and my candy. Will never forget it
You commented this year in 2022 saying you were 26 years old. This means you were born in 1996. Watchmen came out in 2009. This means you were 12-13 years old when you watched this movie alone. To watch an R-rated movie alone, you need to be at least 18 years old. You just lied bro.
@@ILaunchNukes I snuck in to the theater to see Hellraiser II and Exorcist III. I was born in 1977. GenXers have always taken risks to undermine authority, unlike millennials and zoomers who do exactly what they’re told.
aye. Me2. I can't see how they could have done a better job bringing the story from comic to movie. I can understand why Criticism-professional had to sink it because it is not "mainstream USA values" enough. I am now going to watch the critical drinker's review trying to understand why an otherwise "sensible" person considers this "trash to be redeemed"...
The movie was actually better than the book. The story of the Dark Freighter was a pointless additional to the book. And it eliminated Roger Moore’s pro-communist panderings. With those two useless pieces of fat cut it was much better.
I went to see this movie with my friends for my 15th birthday. We all thought it was an action movie about super heroes. Watchmen's greatest enemy really was the marketing. Had it been touted as this big, action filled thriller/murder mystery film, it would have done MUCH better.
I felt like this movie was critically underrated. Considering the source material this was the absolute best way this movie could be made. It's long but I thought the casting was great and the greater themes almost hit all the right notes.
Rorschach is the best, but the others are really solid as well. Gotta hand it to Adrian, his plan made sense and was well executed. It's nice to see a competent villain in a movie "cough, cough sequel trilogy".
I think this was one of the best films ever made and the best superhero film ever. People disliked it because that was the golden age of the romantic comedy. It didn't sit right with people.
I remember watching this having no idea of the source material. I thought it was pretty good. I'm surprised you didn't drop Rorschach's classic line in prison. "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me".
Same here. I remember going to see this and loving every minute. Very different from what most would expect from a traditional superhero film. I think I'll find the extended cut and give that a shot. I'll gamble and say it'll be well worth the popcorn I'll eat and the time spent.
}}} "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me". Yes, this is, indeed, my favorite line in the original series, and, while Snyder does a great job with it in the movie, it's even better in the book with the "cuts" of Dave Gibbons' art. Rorschach's deadly dangerous situation, and the sudden, absolutely untelegraphed reversal of power and control is just awesome.
Tbh The Boys and Watchman took different approach, The Boys is more straightforward towards its commentary while Watchmen is more subtle which are great in their own ways, however despite the almost page to page tribute to the comics, Zack fundamentally misunderstood the core idea of watchmen with his signature slow motion moments to make the heroes look cool and glorified violence, it’s not garbage but it felt hollow as an adaptation
@@madtitan0825 pitchmeeting once made a vid on comic book nerds who are always ready to defend their fav movies which are comic accurate despite having any unlogical scenes...butcher the hard work of the movies that aren't 100% comic accurate and insult the casual viewers or movie fans(not comic fans) that didn't get the meaning of a particular scene in the film/series by saying "you should have read the book to understand it". No way have I read all or even the most of the popular books that have been or will be made into movies and series but after that pitch meeting I was ashamed to have ever spat on the hardwork of a director and the underpaid under appreciated visual effects team of every sci fi/comic/action movie that weren't accurate to the book it was adopted from. People can learn a lot from this and start hating the STEREOTYPE book nerd butchering a good movie and maybe even dissociate from that anti fun group
I think the Comedian was a psychopath, and he called himself "comedian" because it was a grand joke that he could hurt people to his heart's content and be called a hero for it.
I wouldn't call the Comedian a Psychopath he just lacked morality. When he learned of Ozymandias plans to murder millions of civilians he grew a conscience. He even acknowledged that he did horrible things yet couldn't fathom murdering innocents.
The "Comedian" title is explained in the graphic novel by Rorschach. There's an apocriphal story in which a man goes to see a psychiatrist because he is suicidally depressed. The psychiatrist tells him to see the great Pagliachi, the funniest clown in the world, who just happens to be appearing at a local theater. The patient sighs and explains that he can't because he is Pagliachi. The Comedian has lost his way and spitefully tries to bring down the other heroes to his level. He sees the world as a big dark joke that he thinks only he gets. Another theme is that he is actually very vulnerable (his gradually heavier body armor suit is a symbol of his trying to protect himself from feeling pain and sorrow). He's kind of a mixture of Peacemaker and Yellowjacket from Charlton Comics and Deathstroke and The Joker from Detective Comics. Owlman still keeps to his ideals because he is too naive to lose them. Silk Spectre learns that being a professional hero allows her to control her own life in a way her mother never could. Rorschach is driven by fanaticism and madness that forces him to be a vigilante. Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias are both locked into a set of actions that will lead them to their desired result - Manhattan because he desires freedom to choose his own destiny and Ozymandias because he believes he is better and superior to everyone else. The Comedian actively makes the world worse on purpose, trying to crush idealism and hope. He's like an alcoholic or drug addict trying to get everyone else to overindulge so he doesn't have to face how messed up he is.
The thing about The Comedian is that he supports the status quo. The Establishment grants him power to act in their interests, giving him the freedom to do as he pleases without consequences. If anything, the other heroes are anarchists because they are vigilantes that oppose the status quo.
“Just like a watch mechanism, every tiny piece has a part to play” What kind of devilishly handsome and cunningly rogueish individual could fathom such a witty line?
@@Noqtis lol yup. And I'm not 100%, but I think that's a line directly from the movie where he's narrating a flashback... But the Drinker is still an ol' rogue.
This film is on my top 10 superhero movies of all time: Superman (1978) Spider-Man 2 The Dark Knight Captain America: Winter Soldier Watchmen X-Men: Days of Future Past Iron Man Avengers: Infinity War Thor: Ragnarök Batman Returns
I still don't understand why some people view this film as bad or even very bad. The reason is almost always it sticks too much to the original Comics ... SERIOUS?!!
I think Watchman would have made a lot more money if it came out now a days rather than 2009 because back then R rated super hero movies weren't as popular as they are now
While you're probably right, Watchmen was one of the reasons why R rated superhero films are more widely accepted today. I think it challenged general audience perceptions of superhero content as being for kids. It was a perception that had long been changed in the comic book world, but cinema-goers had not yet made the leap. Given Watchmen's contribution to those same ends with comic book audiences it's fitting that Watchmen helped shape the modern acceptance of mature themed superhero content in film as well.
@@riftshredder5438 I didn't allude to a trend. I was talking about acceptance. A trend is a fad that becomes popular for a indeterminate period of time for a myriad of reasons. But what paved the way for that trend to take place? What shapes audience perception so that 51% of an audience over 30 years old would even think about going to see a movie like deadpool? Shaping public opinion is a unilateral process of gradual progression through exposure. It is not a singular event. Hence my assertion that watchmen was one of the reasons, (yet not the singular reason) for the readiness for audiences to go see films like Deadpool, Venom, and Joker. It simply has the distinction of being one of the earlier R rated comic adaptations that paved the way to the more widely accepted ones trending today, so the ones trending today even have the ability to trend.
@@chasengrieshop That sounds a bit short sighted to me before watchmen we had V for Vendetta, Sin City, Blade, The Crow, Robocop. many more that are niche so it wouldn't fit. People have always been accepting of R rated superheros. the suits would rather market to kids so they can also sell toys, with the rise of "geek culture" they've realised that they can sell collectables at highly marked up prices, i think that's the change.
@@Edanurus I had honestly forgotten about Blade, and the Crow (both movies I liked), but if the original Robocop series was a comic series before the films hit I never knew it, and thusly never thought of it as a comic based film series. That being said, I did say watchmen was "one of the reasons" and that it "helped shape." without exclusively laying the credit entirely at its feet. When making my comment I had considered other such graphic novel based flicks that came out around the same time, such as Sin City, V for Vendetta, 300 etc that really brought those cult outliers into general public acceptance. Still, the original comment was about Watchmen, which is why I focused on it rather than the others. comparable to today's R rated comic sourced films, it was certainly one of the earlier ones when they really started to extend their reach beyond the cult geek followers. If you really want to get into the weeds, It has a lot to do with generational upbringing. Teens growing up in the 80's probably started the trend of liking what would become "geek culture" they had kids, and in the 90's they probably were getting into geek culture, and in the early 2000's they got old enough to watch R rated movies, and so studios made some graphic novel based films, they hit it off well, so they made more... etc. So it's a cycle that started with what I would call the seeds of the 70's and 80's, that started to stride in the early 00's and then matured since 2010. I tried not to be short sighted but hey... it's a youtube comment, not a book built to fully explain my rationale.
![IMAX. They call me Dr. Manhattan | Watchmen [+Subtitles]](/img/n.gif)
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Could you review any of the Ninja terminator/Ninja dragon movies?.
I just watched it a month ago, for the fifth time. Compared to what we get today, it is worth being re-released.
What do you mean ,was it really that bad. Watchmen is amazing and screen played by solid snake and Guyver himself David Hayter
Do a review of Fight Club next please
Not a single advert in a 17 minute long video - yet another reason why I love Drinker
I didn't realize there were people who disliked this film.
I like it, but it seems almost everyone is a movie critic nowadays
I thought it was a very flawed adaptation of the source material, dumbed down in several regards.
@@Eisenbison You can't really make such a movie without either dumb down it to a certain level or making at least a trilogy out of it. It was pretty good for what it was.
@@NoLiveking87 No no no no, you misunderstand me. I'm not talking about "dumbed down" as in "cut down" as in things that weren't included in the movie for time limitations.
I'm talking about things that were *added in* to or changed in the movie that take away from it. I feel like there are a few small but crucial bits of added dialogue that make the whole thing feel dumber, the child-nappers changed dialogue removed all ambiguity from his guilt that made the original scene even more bleak, and those added kung fu sequences with Ozymandias vs Owl and Rorschach made me cringe internally.
This movie gets a 7/10 for me. Pretty good, but could have been better.
I'm not into gay porn.
I was thoroughly impressed with Jackie Earl Haley's performance. He was fantastic as Rorchach.
He was the best part of the movie.
Who would have thought that the Sherminator would grow up to become a badass.
Same here. Had never seen or heard about him before and was thoroughly impressed. I was really hoping he would eventually play the role of Carnage, if a movie about him was ever made but it seems he's aged/changed quite a bit since Watchmen.
Agree 100%. Thought the entire casting was spot on.
He was the best character.
I hated that he was killed off.
“Used to come here often, back when we were partners.”
“Yeah, those were great times, Rorschach. Great times. Whatever happened to them?”
“You quit.”
"I am not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with ME!!!!"
I think Watchmen was a masterpiece. Zack Snyder does justice to dark comic books, but he be does dirty by traditional DC characters. In trying to recreate the grittiness of The Dark Knight trilogy, and keeping his regular 300 and Watchmen style of directing in mind, he basically just made emo versions of the Justice League members.
Bruce Timm & Paul Dini created the most faithful and amazing adaptation of the Justice League ever made.
The team that did for DC comics with the first DCAU, what the MCU did for Marvel Comics, should have been in charge of the DCEU.
A real good burn.
I never said it was a good joke.
John Doe and this is my problem with him. Also every time I watch his films it’s almost as if he’s trying so hard to make this over stretched massive EPIC of a film. Yet it just loses itself vastly. BVS had watchmen written all over it, except it was much more uninspiring, half assed writting, story and such dumb development.
"Never compromise, even in the face of Armageddon" Rorschach's last words to his bitter end. Truly an underrated and over hated movie in almost every sense.
Technically, his last words were “DO IT”
My favourite line is the Comedian's to Doctor Manhattan after the victory in Vietnam: "You know if we'd lost here in Vietnam, I think it might've driven us crazy. Y'know, as a country." Which is pretty much what actually DID happen to the USA after they lost there in 1975.
@@antonysimpson6288
The TRULY disgusting thing is we DID NOT LOSE in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive was a complete and total failure for the NV and the VC. They lost huge amounts of men and material and accomplished virtually none of their goals of significance. As the results trickled in, there was increasing murmoring among the NV officers about how to approach surrendering while getting the best terms. THEN, how the American Merdia was presenting it to the American People started to trickle in, and they realized all they had to do was to hold on, and the merdia would hand them the win, because the American Merdia was a defacto Fifth Column out to destroy the American efforts.
So they/we shamefully abandoned the South Vietnamese to decades of oppression and poverty. And the merdia did the exact same thing with/to Iraq. We defacto won that, but the merdia kept droning on and on with Nightly Death Counts -- which in the end would not have equaled that for a single major battle of WWI, WWII, or the US Civil War. And it should be noted how the Nightly Death Counts absolutely and utterly disappeared once Obama got into office. And so the Merdia got a second Vietnam, and the f*** with anyone who hoped we'd follow through on cleaning the place up -- because, FACT -- Regardless of whether the war should or should not have been started, once it was BEGUN, we owed it to the Iraqi people to follow through and help them re-stabilize the country. Instead, our evil merdia did everything possible to provide aid and succor to the opposition, to encourage them to keep fighting. I would not call for, but neither would I defend against, an effort to bring up the vast majority of "journalists" in the 2000s on War Crimes and Treason charges. These pond scum better hope there is no God, because otherwise it seems very reasonable to assert that they will be found wanting.
@@antonysimpson6288
My own favorite line is Rorschach's: **"I'm not trapped in here with **_you_** ! You're trapped in here with **_ME_** ." **
@@nickbrutanna9973 Yes! One of the best prison fight scenes ever.
Best line ever: “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with ME!!”
Awesome lines in this film !
Hells naw! Best line be: "Men get arrested! Dogs get put down!"
This place is gonna explode!
Tall order...
Rorschach was a badass.
Alan Moore put that line in and still expected people to dislike Rorschach, that's your brain in LCD
I'll never forget one reviewer's take...
"This is a movie where;
Bat-man can't get it up,
Super-man doesn't care,
& the villain wants to save the world!"
Perfect summary right there...
Plus Joker is one of the heros despite still loving chaos 🃏
fascinating
Sounds like that DC comic Kingdom Come
Ozzy was never a villian I think but he had to act like one in order to save the world from itself.
@@Herr.P He is the villain from a storytelling perspective. This is a fact, since people we follow (the "heroes") all work to take him down. He is the main antagonist. . This is a tragic story about disappointment and all characters are deeply flawed. They are all morally grey.
Jackie Earle Haley was born to play Rorschach.
What makes it better is that he really didn't know much about it til after he auditioned. Then he just clicked with Walter.
He was still pretty good in the Bad News Bears.
You feel as though you can smell him and his suit, very great character.
Agreed
He should have been Carnage as well.
To this day, no one, NO ONE can convince me this movie was short of a Masterpiece.
Christopher Nolan told Zack Snyder that Watchmen was a movie he made too early.
Probably true. It was well ahead of its time, and honestly, there hasn’t been anything in the genre out to screen that comes close even today.
I watched it for the first time yesterday, my favourite comic book movie ever made
He was right. Superhero movies in the early 2000s were not as common as they are today. When the Watchmen comic was released, there had already been decades of typical superhero stories, making it an interesting twist to the comic book status quo. The same effect would have happened if Snyder would have waited a little longer to make the movie. Still, it is a great movie!
Even now it’s too early to release watchmen as cheesy and quippy movies still exist thanks to Disney. It will probably take at least 5 years for superhero movies to become the dark and grim story we saw in Logan watchmen and Snyder cut. Until then we have to live through joss whedon type shit. LANGUAGEEEE WHAT IS GAMORAAA
I agree, especially now since we have The Boys as a TV series. If Watchmen was released today, it would be received better than it was back then.
“I did it 35 minutes ago.”
That’s why Ozymandias is in my top 5 favorite villains
How about the other 4?
@@agustinsaez4805 Hannibal Lecter, Colonel Kurtz, Joker (TDK) and Walter White
And the best part is that he isn't even the villain! At least not the classic superhero movie villain! And it works great!
It was the first time in my life where I was like; "The 'villain' won!? Cool!"
@@nont18411 Colonel Kurtz was a villain???
Non-comic fans - "too depressing".
Comic fans - "not drepressing enough."
lol so accurate.
HONESTLY THOUGH!!
Even the most depressing comics tend to retain the glimmer of hope and idealism that superhero comics started out with. Just look at The Dark Knight Returns, which in my mind tells a more profound and allegorically relevant story than Watchmen, since it not only refutes Watchmen's premise, but it openly embraces the idea of a Superhero. Superhero's are flawed human beings, yes, but would you rather have a flawed human trying to better society, or no one at all while society around you decays and becomes morally bankrupt? The Dark Knight Returns doesn't leave you with the ultimate decision, it's bold enough to answer it for you and say "yes, it is better to have superheroes."
This is why modern reviewers and "journalists" give The Dark Knight Returns negative reviews and put it on lists of "overrated" comics while putting Watchmen on a pedestal. They don't like the arguments TDKR gives for why it's morally imperative to have central figures to look up to, because it inspires humanity as a whole to do better, even if those characters themselves have personal demons they still haven't overcome. Watchmen on the other-hand downplays the good heroes do as "superficial" and equates them as being part of the "iron foot of the government" while TDKR deliberately places Batman still as a vigilante and has Superman as the iron foot of the government, where Batman represents the people and Superman as the government, which ironically enough, it took the representation of the people to fix Gotham's problems, while the representation of the government had all the power in the world but was per-occupied with international politics.
Not enough tachyon waves, no Tale Of The Black Freighter. 7/10
@@viscountrainbows6452 pretty sure that's in the ultimate cut
This film has the greatest opening sequence of any movie ever. With the Dylan music over the top, its just a thing of beauty.
Yes. It's one of the best movies I've seen in my life. I'd dare call it a masterpiece.
Makes you miss great title sequence
It's great. Not to say one is equal to the other, but I unironically put it on the same level of Touch of Evil by Welles. I could make a bunch of caveats so cinephiles don't freak out at the grouping, but I was completely hooked by both opening sequences and found them uniquely engaging and artistic in their own separate but similar ways. Snyder's DOTD remake had a similarly gripping opening sequence that put him on my radar at the time I saw it. I've seen all his movies but I cant recall the opening or the ending to anything he's done after Watchmen. I remember laughing at Sucker Punch or thinking it was some kind of meta joke - it wasn't. Marvel/DC/etc makes a mockery of many talented people (e.g. Cate Shortland making Black Widow) but Zack fell off a cliff in slow motion and made half a dozen of the most embarrassing films on the way down. Truly a waste of talent.
And some lovely commentary on costumed vigilantes suffering real world problems like getting your cape stuck in a revolving door.. or getting locked up for being a fruit loop.
@@Basti444Ever it's so well done. The depth of writing and screenplay is genuinely great. Even things like a cop saying Rorschach stinks as they pull off his mask just add that depth to "believability" of an unbelievable world. Just because a film is fantasy it shouldn't disregard factual things completely. It's a nice touch.
I mean take Bales batman for example. They don't show lots of suits that he swaps out.. so perhaps it's the same suit he always wears.. rolls around in dirt in, sweats in in large amounts, bleeds in, maybe even a couple of times had to piss in or worse.. all that mixed in with some getting set on fire and soaked through in rain and waterfall and sewers. Yeah his suit would be buzzing.. no wonder the bats hang around... Always insects to eat.. maybe one scene of Alfred trying to clean it and get the stench out dousing it in old spice or something would have been a gem.
The opening to the film with 'The Times They Are A'Changin' is still the absolute best intro I've seen from a comic book movie.
Best intro of ANY movie.
I agree, regardless of what you think of the film as an adaptation, or simply a movie, that entire opening is cinematic brilliance
Pretty good sequence, it's a shame Snyder uses the same gimmick in every single of his movies since then.
@@dubjon5134 the moment you see the easter eggs in the opening scene, with the original Owl man saving Thomas and Martha Wayne when they leave the Gotham Opera, preventing the birth of Batman in this universe.
@@TimisDaniel Dude... I never noticed that.
Rorschach's death is still one of the best i have ever seen. The pure Emotion on his Face and the rage consuming him, screaming at Dr. Manhattan to do it and therefore standing by his convictions to the bitter end is sublime.
I so completely agree. That part always is burned in my memory as something so incredibly honorable and full of integrity and simultaneously horrific and a tragic waste...exactly what the story wants you to feel the contrast and polarity of...
"In Veidt's new utopia, what's one more body among the foundations?"
Jackie Earle Haley is the perfect comic character casting, right up alongside Heath Ledger's Joker and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Although I have to give props to Jeffrey Dean Morgan's pitch-perfect portrayal of the Comedian AND Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, in every decade of her arc.
The comic did most of the heavy lifting; BUT, it was a stroke of fucking genius for the movie to have his blood and guts form one last Rorschach Blot in the snow!
Leave it to a pro like Healy to carry the climax of the film on his shoulders. Very strong performance.
When you see the shots, as here, with their sound removed, and out of context, it becomes much easier to see how beautiful they are. It is a good film, uncommonly faithful to the source material. It looks superb, and the story overall is near enough the same as the book. The ending is significantly different, but to do the one in the comic would have taken longer, and probably been less convincing so I accept it. The main difference I disliked was the way the film made the heroes more powerful than normal humans, and showed them winning fights with contemptuous ease.
Lindybeeeeeige
Some of those shots, in slow motion are absolute gold
Odd to see you here of all places Lindy. A surprise but a welcome one to be sure.
The Lord has spoken. LindyBeige strikes again
@@SicSeb Lindybeeeeeige!
Watchman was a beautifully crafted film that needs to be followed nowadays. Every single scene and detail in the movie had a purpose. Strong and gripping storyline. Great group of characters wonderfully acted by a great cast.
We will probably never get movies like this again.
Its virtually a scene by scene copy of the far superior graphic novel
@@David-Field.Stuff01god forbid a adaptation follows the source material of the original product you mug
Are you insane?
@@vincentoflynn6996 How so?
It's too bad more superhero movies didn't learn anything from this plot (never mind the graphics). DC and Marvel superheroes are juvenile. This movie is not.
I found Matthew Goode absolutely hypnotic as Ozymandias. Jackie Earl Haley was definitely the other standout as Rohrshach. God, he nailed that character.
don't forget Greg Plitt's body for Dr. Manhattan
Matthew Goode was completely miscast. In the comic, Adrien Veidt was smart, athletic, good looking, funny, chiseled jaw line - he looked the all American Hero - which made the twist genuinely surprising. In the film, Matthew Goode looks and speaks creepy and is clearly a bad guy from his very first scene. Every other character, especially Rorschach, is pretty spot on - but a the film is let down badly by the spoiled twist.
@@azursmile But the all-American guy that's actually the villain it's already a cliché in itself. It was like a lose-lose situation so they went with the creepy guy.
@@azursmile I saw him as a play on the intellectual stereotype - Fit, perhaps, but somewhat effeminate and overly theoretical as opposed to the Comedian's hypermasculine persona.
The fact that his solution was so brutal and seemingly out of touch with humanity made his casting a lot more apt to me.
I wish Matthew Good had been casted as Lex Luthor that would had been better.
"was it really that bad?"
Answer, no. Nope. Never was, never will be. I fucking love this film
To bad Allan Moore hated it.😕
What the Hell, there are people who hated this movie???
@@A.G.P.115 Alan Moore hates himself and his own work... why would he like an adaptation?
Better off just paying his opinion on the subject very little mind.
My friends hated it more than me. I read the graphic novel and really liked how complex it and the movie was. My friends... just kept complaining about how much on-screen "giant blue man penis" they had to sit through.
I mean, yeah, I would prefer that they give the dude the loincloth for more scenes, but the story was great.
This was pretty much my exact reaction to the title.
I never even expected to read the words, "Was it really that bad?" with regard to Watchmen.
You clearly haven’t seen the TV show
@@IncredibleMet
Took it as a given that I was speaking in the context of the 2009 movie which this video is referring to, but no, I never bothered to watch the TV show.
@@IncredibleMet The TV show has different issues. It deviates a lot from the spirit of Moore, if anything it wants to stay current with the P.C. era and brings racism to the forefront. Don't get me wrong, it was good (amazing at times, but falls flat in the final episode), but it didn't feel like Moore's Watchmen. Snyder's version on the other hand gets 9 things out of 10 spot on.
@@IncredibleMet The T.V. show has nothing to do with the original movie and graphic novel. I read the Graphic novel years before the movie was made and I was truly amazed the way they stayed so true to the original novel. They did a great job with trying to imitate the art in the novel.
@@TheMoviesCult I happened to LOVE the tv show. I hate SJW shit being forced but this didn't feel like that to me.. It wasn't snyder style i'll agree to that but i thought the show was incredible.. Hope they convince them to do a second season.. I loved every episode
I was the second group, NEVER heard of Watchmen, went in expecting a regular superhero movie and was BLOWN AWAY!! THIS, next to the Dark Knight trilogy is the BEST Superhero movie EVER!!
I wish they made prequels or movies about every single hero on their own as I would definitely watch them
The dark knight was so contrived and forced that it doesn't even warrant having its name presented with appropriate caps
@@Sionnach1601 I have yet to hear someone dislike that film. Reasons?
into the spiderverse and incredibles belong up there as well
@@The_Trident_Master I don't like them either.
Apparently no one was ready for this movie, considering the praise for The Boys.
The boys is way smarter than this disaster of a movie. The boys does mess up butcher’s character but it’s nothing compared to Rorschach in the movie.
Nah this movie was garbage, and I saw it in theaters. Terminator Salvation was an Oscar winner compared to this, and i saw it in theaters.
Drumf Bum What was so garbage about it?
@@michaelsevilla7579 script, directing, pace, and a terrible ending. The music was good, but not enough to keep me or anyone else interested in the theater.
@@angelantayhua3096 While the watchmen probably had more depth in the original, the boys shares a very similar theme. It shows that absolute power corrupts absolutely and that having everything leds to extreme perversion.
This should’ve just been a “The Drinker Recommends...” video. It’s actually one of my favorite comic book movies.
It was brilliant. In no way, shape or form could they have improved anything about their portrayal of Dr Manhattan, especially the voice. A booming or mighty voice wouldn't have suited such a distant and apathetic deity
@@Uxoriouswidow I think the biggest mistakes were removing the fake alien squid, because a major point of the comic was that the false peace via fake alien threat was unlikely to last, and changing the end scene with Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach by adding in Nite Owl.
It’s not that good
@@hariman7727,
I disagree.
Framing Dr Manhattan for the mass murder while omitting the aliens altogether was the right choice.
Dr Manhattan _becoming_ the inhuman alien made the story more self contained.
@@fuferito but KNOWING the threat is there, and being able to talk to the threat? That changes the reaction from "Aliums are out theres! We must all defend the world together!" to "Oh NO! Superman hates us all... why are there cults showing up worshipping him? And why are some people trying to rebel?! And where is he because we'd like to negotiate with him?!"
People can complain that genetic engineering was developed once and will be developed again, but that was one of the points of the comic.
The peace Ozymandias created is false, and it's all going to fall apart.
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair."
Rorschach is so cemented in his beliefs that he even refuses to put on a jacket over his trenchcoat when he’s in Antarctica.
Wow you were 4 hrs ahead of me but I was going to mention that same scene. I didn't get it at the time. It seemed so STUPID! Now I get it. He's JUST THAT STUBBORN! Unfortunately, we see all too many people just like Rorschach every day. Only it's ironic that it's people refusing to wear a mask rather than a person who screams in rage and terror because someone yanked it off.
@Seth Hultkrantz Okay, you are now colored shocked, jackass.
@@SilverSpoonRiche Okay NPC, don't forget to wear your muzzle
@@astronerd955 Ooh, KINKY! >;2 By the way, LOVE your user name, like, SO creative! LOL
@@SilverSpoonRiche You do realize that Rorschach was the most ethical character in the movie, right? He had an absolute moral code and he would not falter. He kept getting knocked down in that ending scene, and he just kept getting up, dusting off, and putting his hat back on, and moving forward. "No compromise, even in the face of Armageddon." The truth and justice mattered more to him than anything.
The smiley face on Mars is a real crater called Galle. Clever reference in the comic.
Still has one of the best opening sequences EVER, with Bob Dylan's The times they are a changin the perfect song choice.
Really amazing work they did in that. The broad strokes of the first generation of watchmen matched with a song that seems like it was written just for that part in the movie. I don't think anyone could have done a better job condensing that much material into one bob Dylan song.
I agree. An unforgettable opening that tells a very long story in just a few great scenes, sad atmosphere and wonderful music.
I love the movie but I hate that intro, it was so durrrr retard level on the nose. Otherwise i've always loved this movie.
True. The intro is one of the best I have ever seen in my life. Bob Dylan's music just fit perfectly.
I fully agree
“None of you seem to understand... I’m not locked in here with you. YOU’RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME!” - a true badass
Used later by black&white Punisher... And it became so lame.
That’s how I feel living in Melbourne right now...
People love this line . . . but for me, no Rorschach line will ever beat "Fat chance."
"None of you seem to understand... I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here WITH ME!!!"
- Rorschach
Rorschach was the best part of that movie.
@Howard A. Hayden Good artists copy, Great artists steal.
- Pablo Picasso
You're right tho, not original. But the acting is fantastic.
Best. Line. Ever.
Love. That. Scene.
So glad to see this get the love it deserves. the world simply wasnt ready for this kind of superhero film in 2009. if it came out in 2019? we would be praising it ...
Exactly
We weren't bitter enough to relate to it then
We saw the 2019 version. It was a watered down shitshow that was a limited series on a streaming service. 2009 was the perfect time to make it. If released as is, but today, you'd have a queue of absolute herberts demanding cancellation because it's too dark and they feel attacked (having never seen it).
@@timdurganweird victimhood mentality. The Batman (2022) was dark and very well-received. As was Joker. And Logan was pretty dark/violent and is widely regarded as one of the best superhero films ever made.
Watchmen would've absolutely been more successful now than it was then. Back then all anyone wanted out of their superhero movies was mindless action and special effects. The MCU has induced burnout on that kind of superhero content and lowered the standards so much that Watchmen is a masterpiece by comparison.
@@Zack-vi7isthose three films you just listed weren’t very good. At all. Pretentious swill inflated in their respective scores by critics who were either paid off or had a socio-political agenda in doing so.
Snyder’s Director’s Cut of “Watchmen” blew said films outta the water imho
"Was It Really That Bad?"
What? One of the best movies ever.
I only clicked on the video because the title made me so angry. It's among the greatest comic book films of all time.
I'm at a loss. Everyone I know loved the movie. It's the only movie I know, where people own multiple copies.
because the following hbo show was also soo good...lol
2nd best comic book movie after Scott Pilgrim.
I think Drinker has stole it from MovieBob it’s It So Bad he made about Batman vs Superman.. 😊
"I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!!" - So many good lines in this movie. VERY underrated.
EDIT: Holy shit! The drinker loved my comment!
StillersRock That was my favourite line in the film. What a character!
Rorschach was SOOO badass!
"It's a joke... it's all a f***ing joke"
+10. My favorite line for sure.
"Bean juice?"
"Yeah, Human Bean juice."
I actually really like this movie. Snyder’s best film.
It's wank
I thought it was good, and have watched it a few times.
@@rpscorp9457 agreed. I'll watch this every time it's on the tele
Indeed. Ordering the ultimate cut now!
I didn't even know it was considered bad, I loved it.
This film holds a special place in my heart... when this released I was going through a divorce... I was handed papers that things were final and I had to start gearing up for a custody battle... at the time I was contemplating all kinds of horrible reactions I went for a drive... passed by a theater on the otherside of town got a ticket and sat by myself and watched the watchmen... left the film with a different attitude called my ex and came to a reasonable solution... my daughter turned 18 the other day my ex and I are friendly to this day... and to think the things and actions I was considering could've sent me down a truly different path. Random I know.
Glad you're still here with us brother
Lol...if this holds a special place...then the divorce was understandable.
Respect.
@@denroy3 You're a nasty human being
good for you!
This is the film that paved the way for series like The Boys to be accepted in the modern times.
Uh what?
@@AdeodatusX if you don't know, you don't know.
@@AdeodatusX The bois yo boi you boi
yes.. was thinking the exact same thing
and invincible in a way
The good thing about this movie, is that it gave Jackie Earl Halley the perfect platform for his ability.
That and Little Children
He was mesmerising as Rorschach. Nobody else could have pulled it off.
All the cast was spot one. The Comedian and Nigth Owl where great in their roles also. The really made a great job in selecting the actors.
Jackie or Jeffreys version of the comedian...
God he was amazing as Rorschach
“They’ll scream save us.. and I’ll whisper.. No”... amazing acting and character
And extremely self aware!
I actually think the film has a better ending than the comic. Fake aliens just felt way our of place since it’s supposed to be somewhat realistic except for dr manhattan. The film framing dr manhattan makes way more sense considering the world is questioning if manhattan is on our side
It doesn't, The whole idea was making something neutral, dr manhattan was an american symbol.
I disagree. Aliens were a popular subject around the era that Watchmen was set. I can't remember who said it but it was stated that a greater alien threat could be the only thing that unites Russia and the US, which is why Ozymandias used a fake alien to prevent the war. The genetically engineered creature was also suppose to have sent psychic shockwaves too, which implies that in the world of Watchmen Dr Manhattan isn't the only anomaly. Which is what you would expect from a movie that encompasses multiple superhero types. But all of that was cut away from the movie just to make it "realistic."
It makes zero sense. Dr. Manhattan is an American, he fought in Vietnam, he was created by American experiments. In the real world he would be a political talking point constantly and anything he did would be blamed on America. The whole point of the alien ending is that it’s an outside threat that unites Earth together. The alien squid is pretty ridiculous but they could have easily just changed it to UFOs or something.
Agreed. The giant octopus was stupid.
The problem with the bombs in the movie is that those aren’t gonna make anyone unite. The nukes or bombs or whatever they were tell people that it was someone (or a country) on earth that did it. The whole point of the alien squid was the it was an otherworldly threat that no one understand. The nations of the world would have to unite to come up for a plan against the enemy threatening all of them. That doesn’t work out if the threat is another country on earth
I read the graphic novel before i saw this film and tbh it was a solid take on such an in depth storyline. Cast was solid, acting was great and effects and costumes were bang on. Never could understand the hate from this.
This masterpiece has a rare quality whose name often escapes critics and reviewers: authenticity.
Never read the graphic novel. Really impressed by the movie. Never understood the bad reviews.
@@nufosmatic buy it dude, you won't regret it
@@nufosmatic pretty much have to agree with the other member here. Buy the graphic novel and just take a full day to kick back and read. One of the best stories told by DC
Yeah I was younger when I first watched it and I didn't really understand it but then I rewatched it later on and I still thoroughly enjoyed it
"If you give a man the powers of a God, what happens to his humanity?" Never have I heard something that asks whether superheroes are a good idea or not, asked so succinctly.
The question goes deeper than that.
It also explains why a god wouldn't care about us.
@@googleuser9383 How so?
@@quintfl maybe because humans are so morally cynical that it even applies to gods
@@sugartoothYT It depends. Did I create the ants?
I’ve always thought about it. Most human beingsare far too flawed to possess super human powers.
I could only buy Clark Kent (Kal-El from Krypton) an alien raised in bucolic rural Kansas as an idealized All-American caricature ... Or maybe Wonder Woman, raised in isolation from the rest of corrupt humanity. Otherwise, everyone else is a psychopath.
Did anyone else notice how Matthew Goode, who plays Adrian Veidt in the movie, gives him a perfect American accent during public interviews, but a slight (very slight) German accent when he's amongst friends?
yes that was intentional. since Adrian Veidt has a german family origin, they decided to keep that as a hint in his accent
Holy shit I've watched this movie dozens of times but never caught that. Heard it immediately when I started replaying scenes in my head.
Yet another reason for a rewatch
@@gavensedgwick6516,
Yet more proof. If you want subtle realism with excellent acting in your movie, hire a Brit.
@@fuferitoum, could you not?
I never noticed it because I watched the german version ;)
As someone who's completely unfamiliar with the source material, I loved the movie when it came out and I still do.
same
Did you read the graphic novel in the meantime?
If you watch the ultimate cut then you basically have read the graphic novel the movie was comic book accurate the only thing they changed was the ending but they made it better
@@philv2529 Mhm, no... They fucking didn't
I love that Ozymandias blew up manhattan WHILE he was detailing his secret plan. Then when the crew is like, 'were stopping you' he's all 'duh, look'
"Dan, I'm not a public _serial_ villain."
"We're stopping you!"
"Nah, it'll be fine."
Alan Moore!👍
Well, Ozymandias IS supposed to be the smartest guy in the world, so you wouldn't expect him to do something that would ruin his plan like a James Bond villain would.
It's an antihero taken to conclusion. It's as far as someone can go and still wear a cloak of hero. So well written.
"He's not particularly big or physically strong. He's not super smart and he doesn't have any powers or gadgets. He's just a tough, tenacious little bastard, ready and willing to take on guys twice his size without any fear or hesitation, ready to fight dirty and use any advantage he can find." This is a great way to describe Rorschach. And this is why despite his flaws I like this character.
I have a friend like that.
At one point he bought one of the nastiest biker and hoe bars in South Jersey. I think he had it 9 years.
Some of his stories are epic! For a 5'9" guy to never backdown says something.
He never hired a bouncer either. He enjoyed the work too much to delegate it out.
When I saw the movie and they first showed his face, I was certain I had seen him in something before… and then it dawned on me, He played the third friend in the movie “Breaking Away” the movie that gave Dennis Quaid his first big break. I hadn’t seen him in anything after that movie…
@@christopherpardell4418 Freaked me out when I saw his face, because I said , "Wait a minute , that is Kelly from "The Bad News Bears". "Christ I'm old" LOL
No compromise.
He's one of my favor "superhero".
I think Rorschach had the best line in the movie
"I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me"
He had all the best lines in the movie.
"Men get arrested. Dogs get put down."
"Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon."
The guy is born to play Carnage, not Woody Harrelson!
I'll argue it would be this one:
The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down, and whisper "No."
The Pagliachi joke was brilliantly executed aswell.
K incel
"I'M NOT WEARING HOCKEY PADS."
This is my favorite film of all time (the Director’s Cut, that is.)
I’m glad there’s countless individuals of like-mindedness who’re also fans of this cinematic masterpiece.
You guys keep on rockin’!
Can’t believe this didn’t crush it at the movies. The writing is phenomenal.
Because the cinema going public want spoonfed drivel and lightsabers
@2003evodave Remember, Mall Cop got a sequel, Dredd didn't, that's what you've got to remember about the public's idea of a good movie.
It is, but most people prefer shallow entertainment.
Can't blame them really. Life's bad enough as it is for many.
Still ofc it's a shame.
This was the best movie I saw that year.
@@tarron3237 Strange that now we have a bunch of movie with just message and no fun hahaha
Fun fact Watchmen actually takes place in an alternative DC Universe where the old Night Owl saves Thomas & Martha Wayne in that alley. So Bruce never becomes Batman 👍
if only they stuck with this version of reality, we wouldnt have toss like aqua-turd..
Not really. Superman was a comic book in Watchmen, so the Waynes and any other DC characters would also have been fictitious.
But then ozymandias throws Thomas Wayne out of a window
@DC Marvel how..
Watchmen was retconned into the DC Universe against the wishes of Alan Moore. There was no Thomas and Martha Wayne in the graphic novel
"Tells a story"
That's something Watchmen does that a lot of comic book films don't do. Not in a trilogy, not in 22 films, but in one film with multiple character introductions. We're still getting Batman and Spider-Man origin rebooted origin stores and this gave us so much content.
Well said! 👍
@Vidal Zavala Ain't that the truth! Haven't watched the show but hear it actually IS bad. U seem it? If so, your thoughts...
damn straight. best "super" movie that will probably ever be made. the extended version, that is.
@Vidal Zavala That makes sense. I felt, after seeing the movie, that it told the story well enough.
I always wonder how lord of the rings would be made today. "First we need the Aragorn origin movie, then the Frodo origin movie, maybe a Marry and Pippin Spinoff before we do the Gandalf Prequel... and that is just the fellowship of the ring"
Glorious film, visually beautiful, strong character development, complex but compelling story, awesome action, thought provoking... what is there not to like 🤷🏻♂️
"There are no clear heroes and villains."
"There ain't no good guys
There ain't no bad guys
There's only you and me
And we just disagree"
Ahhh yes.... I see you too are a man of culture.
and the Big Blue Schlong.
@@QuantumRift Funny! Not sure if it's relevant to the context, but it's pretty damn funny!
@Carl Hopf I hadn't heard that song in so long (at least 30 years), I literally just had to Google it (because I never even knew the title or who played it) and see if it really did have a guitar riff (I guess most songs do--at least those that feature guitar). Sure enough, there *was* a guitar riff. Thanks for steering be back to the source material!
@Simply Legendary Dreaming are you? I pointed it out because nobody else did. What YOU do with it in your spare time is your business. TMI.
One of the best lines of the film: "It rains on the just and the unjust alike."
It's a good line, but no real credit to the filmmakers - it's from the Bible
@@esquilax5563 but the filmmaker decided to use that line. I'm a christian but I didn't know that line.
@@allasian452 right, by "no real credit" I was trying to imply that they do get some small amount of credit for making a good choice, if not for coming up with the words.
I only knew it was from the Bible because I'd heard it several times in popular media, and so looked up where it came from. Actually, with a lot of common English expressions, we're quoting from the Bible, Shakespeare, or the Book of Common Prayer, often without being aware of it
@@allasian452 It's paraphrasing a verse from Ecclesiastes.
Something like:
"Both the fool and the wise man die the same"
Edit:
Ecclesiastes 2:16
" . . . And how does a wise man die? As the fool"
@@esquilax5563 oh ok 👌
I love this movie. My interpretation of the characters was always that the Comedian was a nihilist, Ozymandias was a utilitarian and Rorschach was adhering to Kant's categorial imperative. That's why they had to clash in the end.
Interesting, and yeah, Alan Moore did a great job writing those characters to clash. I don't know much about Kant, but using my rough memory of the categorical imperative, I don't think Rorschach follows that. When he recounts how he was 'born' and describes how he chose to inscribe his own morals on a morally blank world, I think that's closer to existentialist in seeing the world and life as inherently meaningless but authoring one's own essence in spite of it.
@@CornyBum Awesome sentiment.
I keep rewatching it...the extended version. The painted comic book look and lighting is masterful and the batman "knock off" is better than the real thing:)) Masterpiece!
Bad?
No
This movie is outstanding in almost every way possible.
I agree. I made this comment before I watched this video. Probably won't watch it either.
Watchmen is the best comic to movie adaptation ever created and the altered ending actually makes the story better
@@theoldgods8229 agree 100%. Love the directors cut & under the hood disc.
O No
It’s definitely up there, and you can absolutely make the case that you just put forth.
Agreed, one of my favorite super hero film
"It was a badly marketed film."
Reminds me of that time I went to see Interstellar. I was in uni at the time and my classes ended earlier, so I went to the cinema in the mall to watch it. It was around 1PM, so there weren't that many people in the screening room, just me and a group of elementary-school children, whom their teachers took on a school trip to watch a movie about adventures in space... Honestly, it's hard to say what was more fun to watch, the movie, which I absolutely loved, or the increasing chaos of 60+ 10-year-olds locked in a cinema on a 3-hour-long movie about advanced astrophysics.
"advanced astrophysics" Oh god. Are you sure that you aren't at the same level as those 10 years olds?
@@Masa. You must've been some 5head genius to already understand black holes/philosophie of ancestral connection/String theory/time delatation etc with 10 years of age.
@@Masa. Plenty of physicists have come out to say that they did well with the majority of their physics based material. Gotta be hard trying to be better than everyone else.
@@joshlynch5676 Ah yeah, a shuttle that needs a Saturn V to reach LEO, but can SSTO out of a gravity well so deep that you have to worry about Lorentz contraction. LOL.
bro, i deadass had the EXACT same experience. it was me and my friend just going to the shopping to watch some movie, and it became my favorite film of all time
“That bad”? I’m confused... is that a common opinion? This film has always been great. I didn’t know it was hated.
Oh it was openly derided when it came out, mainly becuase like he said, those reviewing it weren't familiar at all with the source material.
Usually by people who are too dumb to see it's greatness... or people who were just bored because it is pretty slow paced... take your pick.
Yup, didn't do well financially and EVERY PERSON I KNEW that was looking forward to this movie (including me) disliked it massively.
I saw it as a dark, preachy, illogical, boredom-fest.
@Paraponera Snyder wasn't involved in Sin City. Sin City is a Robert Rodriguez Movie.
@Paraponera Zach Snyder didn't have anything to do with Sin City?
Somehow i feel a series like The Boys wouldn't exist today if there wasn't a Watchmen. Very different plotlines.. but the dark maturity of a world full of superheroes are right in line.
Exactly spot on.
Watchmen the comic series changed comics and superheroes, for sure, and of course The Boys started as a comic.
The 3+ hours Director's Cut is epic. Another film that would never get released today...
AnnaDraconida I never knew there was a directors cut. I liked the theatrical cut, which I stumbled on looking for something to watch in a share house (along with my flat mates collection of asian chicks porn). I’ll have to check it out.
@@jesmondsaunders7746 AKA Ultimate Cut. Def. worth watching
Raw Engineer cause money is the only thing that matters when it comes to an individuals ability to enjoy a piece of art.
Raw Engineer didn't realise a bit of dong pissed you off so much.
Raw Engineer when you’re so immature that you can’t handle a dick on screen and take the scene seriously.
I personally like any movie that opens with a bloody smiley face.
You're not alone.
The scene where Dr. Manhattan kills Rorschach is a very emotionally powerful scene. You can't help to feel a deep sense a unavoidable tragedy.
Yeah that scene stuck with me. I really liked Rorschach, but I understood his completely unyeilding determination to never compromise, even in the face of death, meant only two possible outcomes. He dies and his character remains intact, or he compromises and stops being relevant. I wanted Dr. Manhattan to compromise...but what happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? The unmovable object cannot survive.
The ultimate tragic hero I'd say.
When I read the comic, I audibly yelled, "NO!" when I realized what was about to happen. Rorschach was far and above my favorite character, and I was so torn when he died, but it fit the narrative so perfectly.
@@Astrochronic Actually the correct answer to that question is they both surrender.
@@Toasty667 Rorschach cant surrender. That is the point. Manhattan did and it could be argued based on how his character was portrayed, that it gave him the excuse and justification to abandon earth. But i am with Rorschach. They should have exposed Ozymandias...
I loved this film. Gonna watch it again because of your review reminds me how underated it was. It was dark gritty and had essence of film noir. Different and thought provoking which was great. But I like Jeffrey dean Morgan more so now as an actor so definitely worth a rewatch.
I still remember sitting in the theater and seeing a mom and dad bring 3 kids to the newest superhero movie. I wonder if they made it to the part where mr Manhattan aka Captain Ding Dong first floats his bean bag and cow dong onto the set.
I’ve never heard anyone actually describe it as bad. Was pretty alright to me.
@A Scam Involving Corndogs yeah, people said it was bad years after the fact, and for the most part, didn't see it in theaters where that shit pops.
“Video Essays” Auteurs loooooove to take this stance.....
Dis
Oops. LOL. CRITICAL DRINKER FAILS AGAIN. YOU SUCK.
@Commentator did you had a issue with the ending?
This movie was way way WAY ahead of it's time. This movie would fit right in now if it came out today.
not even now, it should never exist, humanity is going backwards, they don't deserve good movies
Not in this shity woke ass era we live in .
In themes? Yes. But I'd fix a lot of the film's pacing and focus issues before I release it anywhere or anytime.
If it came out today, It would be PG-13 and Rorschach would've been gay.
@@purpleytical1391 and dont forget that he also would'ev been black cuz hollywood hates actors with red hair
One of my favorite movies of all time
Watchmen 2009 wasn’t bad at all. It turned into a cult classic in my eyes
Agreed
It really did! Thats why they thought the show would be a success. 🙄😒
The soundtrack was amazing. Still listen occasionally even now.
That HBO piece of shit though....
@@DarkLight6Tv Well...it kinda was a success. Damn thing got 20 noms...
Two things really stood out for me in this movie.
The intro montage co-opted so many classic news scenes from the 20th Century it really brought home this is an alternate universe.
And, of course, the casting of Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian. Sheer perfection. Two roles that you just can't imagine anybody else playing them.
Agree 100%
Some actors are just born for certain roles.
Those two castings were spot on, 100% perfect.
Malin Akerman on the other hand...
I have probably watched this movie about a dozen times, and your post is the first time I have ever honestly put the name of Jefferey Dean Morgan to the role, I'm not saying that I didn't know it was JDM, I'm saying that JDM is such a good actor that his role outshines him as an actor.
If it were the eighties, Tom Cruise and Michael Keaton, maybe.
I gotta imagine that was his line producer back in the day that should get the credit given how garbage the casting of ben affleck and jesse eisenberg was.
This movie was awesome. The story, the visual, the lack of cliche' villains and heroes (well, aside owl man), the music, the gore, everything. Perfection.
the directors cut was great
exactly
The dreary Night Owl is a great character who rekindles his life (and sex life) by beating up bad guys with glee and a hint of remorse.
@@murdoch1234the Director’s Cut was the BEST*
Except the ending. The book made sense, the movie didn't.
As far as comic adaptation, 9/10, so far ahead of other comic based movies. The extended directed cut is absolutely worth a watch all the way through and is a piece of meaningful story telling. I love it because it's a good story and it takes the time it needs to tell it, almost a little "Das Boot" .Most movies are just "economical", basic-entertaining-quick batta bim batta boom.
(spoiler warning) man went through all the great things about the movie without even mentioning how incredible Rorschach's death was. The refusal to give up his beliefs, his moral code, accompanied with his desire to keep humanity at peace made his death feel so inevitable yet sad nonetheless. And the expression on Dr. Manhattan's face when his fears are confirmed... Best scene in the move.
The bloody remains of Rorschach in the snow was ironic.
DO ITTT
They both know he has to die and they both have the sadness of acceptance in their eyes as he disintegrates Rorschach.
Not to mention Nite Owl's heart wrenching cry to seeing his best friend being disintegrated and being powerless to interfere or put a stop to it
The death of principle as inconvenient to objectives, when principles ought to be the objective.
I loved every character in this movie. Even Richard Nixon.
They’re all perfectly written and acted!
What an absolutely legendary movie. I watch it multiple times every year, and yes, the Ultimate Edition.
It's such a gem, I adore it.
Agreed
Is that the 4 hour version I have heard about?
Well said
I just watched it again the other day.👍
Watchmen is a brilliant movie. Yeah, it doesn't include everything in the graphic novel and some things are changed - notably the squid - but what's changed works for the medium of film. What's in the comic wouldn't necessarily work in a movie.
This was Snyder at his best.
I love this movie. Especially the extended cut
Agreed!!!
Never saw the extended cut! I need to see this
Yup extended cut was great! Awesome movie with pretty fun game in pair.
What’s in the extended cut that didn’t make it into the normal one?
@@kyngkazmius3864 there's a directors cut which adds about a half hour of extra scenes that dramatically helps with the pacing. There's also the ultimate cut, which is a whopping 3 hours and 20 minutes, and adds basically everything the directors cut added, and an animated version of the pirate comic from the book interlaced throughout, with the pirate voiced by Gerard Butler.
When combining the "Under the Hood" Culpepper Minute special with the ultimate cut of the movie, you get the fullest (and longest) experience of the whole thing, and it's around 4 full hours.
Who said it’s bad? The dark and mature theme, great acting, etc. if only movies could be like this again...
Sam R People hate it just because its Zack Snyder. It was a great movie that showed real superheroes. People wanted perfect moral heroes with a happy ending.
Only thing i didn't like was the blue dongs.
Idiot fandom that complains that they’re favorite parts from the series wasn’t in the movie and idiotic critics that say it was too close to the source material. The basis of anyone who doesn’t like Zack Snyder movies (et al. Sucker Punch)
@@westiclesw7137 They couldn't make the movie work without all those blue dongs! Those are major plot peckers
It was an adaptation of probs the greatest graphic novel, and tried to be too similar to the novel in areas and tried to be different in others, but ended up failing at a lot of them, the movie wasn’t bad but it was boring at some points and just wasn’t as good as the novel but still is an enjoyable experience
“Combined with lukewarm reviews from journalists, Remember when ppl actually cared what they thought” 😂😂😂🤣 brother you’re AIN’T KIDDING !
Back before they were so obviously bought & bad ratings deleted from existence 😕
"You're ain't"?
Most grounded super hero film I've Watchedmen!
Blade is the closest thing to it.
Grow up.
Shut down the TV & get out of the house... take a breath & say out loud: Comic books are not real life!
“She bought me a beer, the first time a woman has ever done this for me, as she passed me the cold, perspiring glass, our fingers touched...”
He also did credit card commercials, so that scene always had me waiting for ....."priceless"
The Dr Manhattan sequence - the birth of a god - was the central gem of the movie; You could feel the absolute power AND the absolute loneliness. A faultless masterpiece.
For a moment I saw "she passed the the covid." I got to lay off the news.
As a 26 year old young man now, I remember the thrill of experiencing this as the first rated-R movie I saw in theaters alone. No one else was in the theatre, just me and my candy. Will never forget it
That must have been nice.
You commented this year in 2022 saying you were 26 years old. This means you were born in 1996. Watchmen came out in 2009. This means you were 12-13 years old when you watched this movie alone. To watch an R-rated movie alone, you need to be at least 18 years old.
You just lied bro.
@@ILaunchNukes lmao I snuck in man chill
@@ILaunchNukes the fact that you don’t know how easy it is to stick into an R rated movie tells me that you had a boring childhood
@@ILaunchNukes I snuck in to the theater to see Hellraiser II and Exorcist III.
I was born in 1977. GenXers have always taken risks to undermine authority, unlike millennials and zoomers who do exactly what they’re told.
This film has one of the best opening title sequences ever made.
Agreed
And I don't even like Bob Dylan, and I sing that one.
Mike Toghill when I was 5 I watched this in theaters and cried cause the opening scared idk why tho
Amen. Everything about it was perfect.
Amen to That!!!
Completely agree! This was a tragically underrated film!
I personally count this movie as one of the best movies I've ever seen, and that's after reading the comic too
It's alright, but I wouldn't say it's the best film ever, disguised masquerading turd at best
I love it, I even like that HBO mini series they did
aye. Me2. I can't see how they could have done a better job bringing the story from comic to movie. I can understand why Criticism-professional had to sink it because it is not "mainstream USA values" enough. I am now going to watch the critical drinker's review trying to understand why an otherwise "sensible" person considers this "trash to be redeemed"...
Hopping on this wagon. I loved it. The Ultimate Cut is watched once a year. I really think Snyder did wonders with this.
The movie was actually better than the book. The story of the Dark Freighter was a pointless additional to the book. And it eliminated Roger Moore’s pro-communist panderings. With those two useless pieces of fat cut it was much better.
I went to see this movie with my friends for my 15th birthday. We all thought it was an action movie about super heroes.
Watchmen's greatest enemy really was the marketing. Had it been touted as this big, action filled thriller/murder mystery film, it would have done MUCH better.
I too also went to the movie to see this for my birthday. Fell asleep... i wasnt in the right frame of mind though, lmao.
Had a nerd friend who made me see this in theatres.
Best damn comic book movie I have ever seen.
Bad? It's the best super hero movie ever
I felt like this movie was critically underrated. Considering the source material this was the absolute best way this movie could be made. It's long but I thought the casting was great and the greater themes almost hit all the right notes.
Also the visuals of this movie are beautifully shot, and hold up even after 11 years
(apart from the CGI cat-dog-thing)
As someone who loves the novel, the director's cut is really about as good as a movie version could be. I think it's Synder's best work
Agreed.
Seconded. Thirded?
This ˆˆ
Without any doubt.
Yes it was. That's why certain books should have no remakes or reboots.
Rorschach is probably the most satisfying character.
Rorschach is the best, but the others are really solid as well. Gotta hand it to Adrian, his plan made sense and was well executed. It's nice to see a competent villain in a movie "cough, cough sequel trilogy".
There has been a rise in hate of that character as the left realizes the common joe likes him.
@Jeenkz K Agreed!
You're locked in here with me!
Yeah, but he is fucking dead.
I think this was one of the best films ever made and the best superhero film ever.
People disliked it because that was the golden age of the romantic comedy. It didn't sit right with people.
You meant by this movie was released during the era of the golden age of the overrated genre of romantic comedy (and I'd like to add parody films)?
I remember watching this having no idea of the source material. I thought it was pretty good. I'm surprised you didn't drop Rorschach's classic line in prison. "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me".
Same here. I remember going to see this and loving every minute. Very different from what most would expect from a traditional superhero film. I think I'll find the extended cut and give that a shot. I'll gamble and say it'll be well worth the popcorn I'll eat and the time spent.
Same here man same here.
What's another corpse amongst the foundations? Ya boi Rorschach went out brutally, with his integrity intact
My favorite line.
}}} "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me".
Yes, this is, indeed, my favorite line in the original series, and, while Snyder does a great job with it in the movie, it's even better in the book with the "cuts" of Dave Gibbons' art.
Rorschach's deadly dangerous situation, and the sudden, absolutely untelegraphed reversal of power and control is just awesome.
Imagine being Zack, people hated watchmen but love the boys lol
I'd be laughing out loud
Tbh The Boys and Watchman took different approach, The Boys is more straightforward towards its commentary while Watchmen is more subtle which are great in their own ways, however despite the almost page to page tribute to the comics, Zack fundamentally misunderstood the core idea of watchmen with his signature slow motion moments to make the heroes look cool and glorified violence, it’s not garbage but it felt hollow as an adaptation
@@madtitan0825 pitchmeeting once made a vid on comic book nerds who are always ready to defend their fav movies which are comic accurate despite having any unlogical scenes...butcher the hard work of the movies that aren't 100% comic accurate and insult the casual viewers or movie fans(not comic fans) that didn't get the meaning of a particular scene in the film/series by saying "you should have read the book to understand it". No way have I read all or even the most of the popular books that have been or will be made into movies and series but after that pitch meeting I was ashamed to have ever spat on the hardwork of a director and the underpaid under appreciated visual effects team of every sci fi/comic/action movie that weren't accurate to the book it was adopted from. People can learn a lot from this and start hating the STEREOTYPE book nerd butchering a good movie and maybe even dissociate from that anti fun group
I think the Comedian was a psychopath, and he called himself "comedian" because it was a grand joke that he could hurt people to his heart's content and be called a hero for it.
He evolved from an idealist to anarchist...Its a poetic and painful justice..
I wouldn't call the Comedian a Psychopath he just lacked morality. When he learned of Ozymandias plans to murder millions of civilians he grew a conscience. He even acknowledged that he did horrible things yet couldn't fathom murdering innocents.
The "Comedian" title is explained in the graphic novel by Rorschach.
There's an apocriphal story in which a man goes to see a psychiatrist because he is suicidally depressed. The psychiatrist tells him to see the great Pagliachi, the funniest clown in the world, who just happens to be appearing at a local theater. The patient sighs and explains that he can't because he is Pagliachi.
The Comedian has lost his way and spitefully tries to bring down the other heroes to his level. He sees the world as a big dark joke that he thinks only he gets. Another theme is that he is actually very vulnerable (his gradually heavier body armor suit is a symbol of his trying to protect himself from feeling pain and sorrow).
He's kind of a mixture of Peacemaker and Yellowjacket from Charlton Comics and Deathstroke and The Joker from Detective Comics.
Owlman still keeps to his ideals because he is too naive to lose them. Silk Spectre learns that being a professional hero allows her to control her own life in a way her mother never could. Rorschach is driven by fanaticism and madness that forces him to be a vigilante. Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias are both locked into a set of actions that will lead them to their desired result - Manhattan because he desires freedom to choose his own destiny and Ozymandias because he believes he is better and superior to everyone else.
The Comedian actively makes the world worse on purpose, trying to crush idealism and hope. He's like an alcoholic or drug addict trying to get everyone else to overindulge so he doesn't have to face how messed up he is.
The thing about The Comedian is that he supports the status quo. The Establishment grants him power to act in their interests, giving him the freedom to do as he pleases without consequences.
If anything, the other heroes are anarchists because they are vigilantes that oppose the status quo.
he was a sociopath.
This movie was ahead of its time. If it came out on Netflix 2-3 years ago it’ll be considered one of the greatest
This was one of the most underrated films I’ve ever seen. Jackie was especially brilliant.
Jackie Earl Haley is a phenomenal actor, really underrated imho. See also, Preacher, and The Tick.
theistus the Tick was fun and off to a great start. Too bad.
"Men get arrested, dogs get put down."
Men go to Jail.
Dogs get put down
I felt he was harsh there - dogs don't know better, his reaction to Rorschach says he definitely knew better.
@@mnomadvfx he was referring to rabid dogs.
“Just like a watch mechanism, every tiny piece has a part to play”
What kind of devilishly handsome and cunningly rogueish individual could fathom such a witty line?
@@Noqtis lol yup. And I'm not 100%, but I think that's a line directly from the movie where he's narrating a flashback...
But the Drinker is still an ol' rogue.
@@Noqtis Yes of course, but to tie it in to the cinematography like that was genuinely sublime.
This film is on my top 10 superhero movies of all time:
Superman (1978)
Spider-Man 2
The Dark Knight
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Watchmen
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Iron Man
Avengers: Infinity War
Thor: Ragnarök
Batman Returns
The opening credits were a masterpiece on their own.
Yes they were.
It's even better when one of the scenes is former Night Owl preventing the murder of Batman's parents while they are leaving the theater
Watchmen (2009) - Was It Really That Bad?
Was it ever bad? I liked it.
I still don't understand why some people view this film as bad or even very bad.
The reason is almost always it sticks too much to the original Comics ... SERIOUS?!!
No it really wasn’t. Just a lot of revisionist history, and the taking seriously of toxic fandom as valid opinion.
I watched every second of the ultimate edition. Worth it.
@@SweetChariotOfFire Ultimate edition is amazing
The only critic against the film is that the new night owl was a bit too buff, in the comics he had a proper belly :-)
but that's just my preference
I think Watchman would have made a lot more money if it came out now a days rather than 2009 because back then R rated super hero movies weren't as popular as they are now
While you're probably right, Watchmen was one of the reasons why R rated superhero films are more widely accepted today. I think it challenged general audience perceptions of superhero content as being for kids. It was a perception that had long been changed in the comic book world, but cinema-goers had not yet made the leap. Given Watchmen's contribution to those same ends with comic book audiences it's fitting that Watchmen helped shape the modern acceptance of mature themed superhero content in film as well.
@@chasengrieshop most people would say it was Deadpool that started the R rated superhero movie trend
@@riftshredder5438 I didn't allude to a trend. I was talking about acceptance. A trend is a fad that becomes popular for a indeterminate period of time for a myriad of reasons. But what paved the way for that trend to take place? What shapes audience perception so that 51% of an audience over 30 years old would even think about going to see a movie like deadpool? Shaping public opinion is a unilateral process of gradual progression through exposure. It is not a singular event. Hence my assertion that watchmen was one of the reasons, (yet not the singular reason) for the readiness for audiences to go see films like Deadpool, Venom, and Joker. It simply has the distinction of being one of the earlier R rated comic adaptations that paved the way to the more widely accepted ones trending today, so the ones trending today even have the ability to trend.
@@chasengrieshop That sounds a bit short sighted to me before watchmen we had V for Vendetta, Sin City, Blade, The Crow, Robocop. many more that are niche so it wouldn't fit. People have always been accepting of R rated superheros. the suits would rather market to kids so they can also sell toys, with the rise of "geek culture" they've realised that they can sell collectables at highly marked up prices, i think that's the change.
@@Edanurus I had honestly forgotten about Blade, and the Crow (both movies I liked), but if the original Robocop series was a comic series before the films hit I never knew it, and thusly never thought of it as a comic based film series. That being said, I did say watchmen was "one of the reasons" and that it "helped shape." without exclusively laying the credit entirely at its feet. When making my comment I had considered other such graphic novel based flicks that came out around the same time, such as Sin City, V for Vendetta, 300 etc that really brought those cult outliers into general public acceptance. Still, the original comment was about Watchmen, which is why I focused on it rather than the others. comparable to today's R rated comic sourced films, it was certainly one of the earlier ones when they really started to extend their reach beyond the cult geek followers. If you really want to get into the weeds, It has a lot to do with generational upbringing. Teens growing up in the 80's probably started the trend of liking what would become "geek culture" they had kids, and in the 90's they probably were getting into geek culture, and in the early 2000's they got old enough to watch R rated movies, and so studios made some graphic novel based films, they hit it off well, so they made more... etc. So it's a cycle that started with what I would call the seeds of the 70's and 80's, that started to stride in the early 00's and then matured since 2010. I tried not to be short sighted but hey... it's a youtube comment, not a book built to fully explain my rationale.