View Full Version : Watchmen
The_Return
08-10-2006, 05:54 PM
I just did a search and noticed that while it's been mentioned in a few threads, there isnt actually a thread for Watchmen.
Ive heard loads of praise for it, so I just picked up the graphic novel. Im not very far into it yet, just starting Chapter 2, but so far it seems pretty cool.
The_Return
08-10-2006, 08:46 PM
If I hadnt stopped to check my watch, I probably would have read the whole damn book before morning.
I just read it for almost 2 hours straight....until I realised it was 2 in the morning:eek:
azathoth777
08-10-2006, 09:27 PM
An awesome graphic novel. Alan Moore at his best. How long until a movie is made, I wonder.
sadly a movie was in pre-production (and quite late in the game) when a studio-head change at paramount(? or fox?) nixed the project.
it is once again in the pipeline with the guy who is directing the 300 movie (which is like sin city in that its all cg backgrounds) - but i don't know how far along it is.
personally, i htink the only way to even come close to it is a mini-series on HBO (who know how to put money into mini-series).
But, to Return, Watchmen is the Ulysses of comics - truly the greatest artistic achievement in the medium (with Maus a close second) - i tend to read it over about once a year. I'd also put Dark Knight Returns in the top 3.
waffle
08-11-2006, 11:55 AM
I've got to reiterate what I said in an earlier post:
I just wasn't blown away by Watchmen.
I can see how it would have rocked everything at the time (like seeing Star Wars when it was first released) but now, like Star Wars, they're kinda, "Well, yeah, they're pretty good, I guess, but I've seen/read better."
Do you know what I mean?
People who are respected and well-regarded say that Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever, so people watch it, but the majority of them go, "yeah. I guess it's alright. but I don't think it's the best ever OF ALL TIME."
I just found Watchmen a little bitty, jumpy, and not particularly cohesive as a whole. Although there were undoubted moments of genius in it.
As far as a movie goes, I hope they just leave it alone. (Paul Walker as Dr Manhattan, Orlando Bloom as Rorschach... there's no way the makers will get it right) It is undoubtedly a work of enormous vision, and a movie would not even come close to doing it justice. These things never do. If anything, it'd spoil the mythos surrounding the book.
Originally posted by waffle
I've got to reiterate what I said in an earlier post:
I just wasn't blown away by Watchmen.
I can see how it would have rocked everything at the time (like seeing Star Wars when it was first released) but now, like Star Wars, they're kinda, "Well, yeah, they're pretty good, I guess, but I've seen/read better."
Do you know what I mean?
People who are respected and well-regarded say that Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever, so people watch it, but the majority of them go, "yeah. I guess it's alright. but I don't think it's the best ever OF ALL TIME."
I just found Watchmen a little bitty, jumpy, and not particularly cohesive as a whole. Although there were undoubted moments of genius in it.
As far as a movie goes, I hope they just leave it alone. (Paul Walker as Dr Manhattan, Orlando Bloom as Rorschach... there's no way the makers will get it right) It is undoubtedly a work of enormous vision, and a movie would not even come close to doing it justice. These things never do. If anything, it'd spoil the mythos surrounding the book.
cool - everyone is entitled to their opinion and it probably does come down to when you read something - i read watchmen just a few years after it had come out and found it to be totally revolutionary (but this was back in the late 80s when, to be honest, it WAS totally revolutionary).
out of curiosity - what do you think was the "best ever of all time" comic or series?
waffle
08-12-2006, 09:36 AM
[i] out of curiosity - what do you think was the "best ever of all time" comic or series? [/B]
I was floored by Maus, it was hugely affecting and I just couldn't put it down. It's weird, cos I've studied the Holocaust, lived in Germany and and visited concentration cam, but it was this tale about mice that made the biggest impact.
The economy of the artwork, and the intelligence of the dialogue (particularly Vladek Spiegelman's take on English during the scenes set in America) combined to make something, in my eyes at least, funny, exciting, touching and moving.
The_Return
08-12-2006, 05:21 PM
One thing thats bugging me:
*Minor spoiler....not reallly, but kinda*
How the fuck are you supposed to pronounce Rorschach? I thought had it (ROR-SH-AK-SH), but the "Raw Shark" tip that police got mewssed me up. How are you suppoed to say it??
azathoth777
08-12-2006, 05:47 PM
'Roar-shack'. At least that's always the way I've heard it said.
lovecraft
08-13-2006, 06:31 AM
I think it's supposed to be "Raw-shock."
I love this comic. It has so many things going on in it.
I just wish Alan went ahead with the sequel.
:(
The_Return
08-13-2006, 03:22 PM
Finished it today....wow.
I read the last 2 chapters on my break at work. When I finished, I just sat there, in full view of any customers that were getting coffee, and stared off into nothing.
Amazing book. I though may expectations might betray me, but it didnt let me down for a single frame. Loved it, cover to cover.
the ending was truly one of the greatest moments in the history of comics. . . "i've already done it" - holy shit = i remember being totally stunned and immediately re-reading the whole series just to get a sense of whether i should've seen it coming