WatchmenComicMovie.com Forum

Zack Snyder's complete version of the comic series adaptation is mostly meat with virtually no fat.
http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/072209-watchmen-directors-cut-review.php

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Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music - George Carlin

Yay! Great review

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QFT.

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If you think the extended Mars scenes weren't worth another paragraph, then I really have to disagree with you there. In the TC, you could practically see the stitches from where the editor removed character beats. It was too choppy and the Comedian revelation came way too suddenly. The added time gave the Mars scenes far more breathing room and made Laurie's discovery seem much more natural.

If I personally had to pick out three examples to show just how great of an improvement the DC is, I'd go with Mason's death, the Watchmen meeting (side note: I still find it hard to keep from calling them the Crimebusters) and the Mars scenes.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

I agree with what DDC said about the extended Rorschach scene at Blake's apartment. I miss that transition. But at the same time, it's a nice way to establish that the cops don't like Rorschach, which makes his arrest more meaningful.

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"Computer unnecessary."

I saw the theatrical cut three times, and I really didn't notice any big changes in the Mars scenes as far as additions in this new cut. More breathing room? Absolutely. But I mentioned that as an overall improvement of the entire director's cut and it was not exclusive to just the Mars scenes.


I'm all for an added "cops don't like Rorschach" scene, don't get me wrong. But explain to me why the bullets phase through Rorschach's body and/or why the cop didn't hit him at point blank with four shots? Did he get his marksmanship training at Stoomtrooper school? I could have been done better and in a way that left that transition.

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Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music - George Carlin

And that's not even going into how Rorschach got down from there.

I personally think that the action should have been left offscreen. Show the cops coming in, show Rorschach waiting in the shadows and then cut to Hollis.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

Found this today, Blu-Ray Director's Cut Watchmen for $17.02 with free shipping, it won't last forever.

http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/171570

For what it's worth, I thought that after Rorschach knocked out the first cop, he left. Then, the second cop comes over, finds his his partner on the ground unconscious, gets scared, imagines Rorschach standing there, fires his gun, only to realize no one was there at all.

Gah, more bitching about the stupid Rorschach-getting-shot-at-but-none-of-the-bullets-hitting-him bit. GET OVER IT. It's almost as bad as leaving the goddamn squid out of the movie with you people.

No, I think that scene was so bad that it deserves to be complained about for a while longer.

What makes it even worse is that the other additions were so superlative that having an unnecessary and sloppily-done added scene right up front is like a slap in the face.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

Without having seen the DC yet and by reading DDC review it seems to me that Snyder has missed the mark, again.
I liked the theatrical cut, but i felt that the second half of the movie felt rushed and kind of sloppy. I hoped that the DC would fix that...

One common complain I heard from my non-Watchmen-reading friends who saw the film was that in no moment it felt like the end of the world was near, and thats a terrible mistake in the movie. The way to do that is not including more scenes showing how badass Rorschach is, and of course, no more scenes with cringe inducing Akerman as Laurie. It needed more Bernies, specifically more Bernies setting up the fear of the war on the people, at least the scene when Bernie reads the headlines announcing the Afghanistan invassion by the Russians, that would have been nice. And of course, the DC needed to show later the corpses of that people, to make the viewer feel the terrible weight of what Veidt did, not just a Akira like crater in NY and some charred corpses shown during five seconds. It pisses me a lot that Snyder spent so much screentime and effort showing the violence in the fights, something completely useless, and later he hadnt the guts to show the effects of Veidt scheme.

This are the things that, for me, make Watchmen just a good film, instead of a great one, and Its sad that Snyder has yet again missed the chance to fix that...

It may be sloppy editing but it is by no means a bad scene. It serves its purpose: it establishes Rorschach's status as a fugitive. It also gives the following scene with Hollis and Dan more room to breath when the newscast covers the incident, explains why Rorschach is a criminal (aside from attacking a police officer) and gives more pretext to the exchange on the porch about missing being a costumed hero. The scene by itself isn't perfect but its addition is actually very clever in terms of how it characterizes all three of these characters as well as the legal climate for masked vigilantes. Bash it all you want but it helps the story.

um it never really feels like the end of the world was near, movie or graphic novel.

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While I agree with the things Mister Josh said, I miss the transition so very much.

*puts in theatrical cut,plays until somebody knows line and transition, takes theatrical cut out, puts in director's cut, starts at Hollis and Dan beer session right at minutemen photo*

Ahhh...That's better.

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"The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.

"There's a cello in your house now."

I agree, and I would prefer the scene not be in the movie. Just acknowledging that some good does come out of its inclusion though.

Funny you should bring up the Stormtroopers. Think you may be onto something? Perhaps this scene comments on bullets always missing the heroes? Because of that scene, I had a slightly different reaction to Rorschach's arrest. The moment where he's running towards the window, and the cop misses him even though he's using an automatic weapon at close range. That made me laugh, because it made me think of that added scene in Blake's apartment.

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"Computer unnecessary."

Again, I think the cop was imaging Rorschach there...

Or Rorschach is more than meets the eye. No I'm not suggesting he's a Transformer, I'm merely suggesting that he's faster than he appears, as in he was already halfway down the hall by the time the cop started shooting.

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As in he was already halfway down the building, because that's pretty much the only exit he had. Rorschach is neither the Flash nor can he fly or walk on walls. But I don't want to talk about that...

Look at the lighting: first the cop points his flashlight at Rorschach (if you can light something up imo that's a pretty good clue it's actually there) and when he fires at him the muzzle flash illuminates the motionless Rorschach as well (urm, again: an imaginary Rorschach should not reflect light). So either we actually perceive the truly overwhelming imaginativeness of the cop, or a really really bad marksman and a really really stupid Rorschach (and I refuse to believe he's stupid enough to not move and instead trust that the cop would be too scared to just shoot him down - at point blank range).

Call me nitpicking if you want, but this stinks.

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The world is a mess and I just need to rule it.

Like I said, I think that after Rorschach knocked out the one cop, he left. There was no reason for him to stay any longer. I truly think that the second cop saw his partner knocked out, let his mind play tricks on him, thought he saw Rorschach, fired, then when he looked again there was no one there.

Just because Rorschach reflected light or whatever doesn't mean the cop couldn't have imagined him there. I think that's what happened and it was meant to show that Rorschach evokes fear amongst citizens, criminals, and cops alike.