Solid Snake's Journal:Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. 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 construction of that second paragraph made me think Warren Ellis was somehow involved in creating a movie studio, and I went WHATHOLYSHITAWESOME!!. Then I parsed some more and said, "Eh ... it's just David Hayter. So what."
@aixelsyd: Possibly slight exaggeration there, but it has about a 60 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and at least half the mainstream reviews have been damning.
Ask again as Solid Snake and I'll come back and see it again.
I actually quite liked it, but it was almost 3 hours long and I already knew most of what happened. That's a lot to go through again, seeing as how I saw it less than a week ago. I'll see it again when it comes out on DVD, but that's the next time I plan on seeing it.
All the hate being heaped on this movie makes me sad. Do people REALLY think anyone could have done this better? That anyone could have made a more faithful adaption?
This is the problem with adapting much loved material. No matter how good it is, (not to say this movie is without flaws) people are gonna build up their expectations too high and feel let down by it.
This movie was awesome. I'm going to see it again. Not because of David Hayter's plea, though. And certainly not because I'm a "Sally." Damn, that really was a creepy line.
@5AMfrenchtoast: Yeah, I think Terry Gilliam could have done it better, because he's a director with a vision and wouldn't have settled for merely trying to "copy" the book into a film. I'm pretty sure he understands that they are different mediums and just because they're both visually based, it doesn't mean techniques that are effective in one utterly fail in the other. They are not and this failure stars with dialogue.
And notice how the most praised sequence in the film is the credit sequence. Something they actually had to imagine themselves only using the book as source material. That's what real filmmakers do.
While I understand what you're saying, the majority of Watchmen movie haters, are people that say "the movie was good, but then they totally did a different ending! So, it sucks!" People wanted a carbon copy, what they got was actually a weird mesh of being too faithful and trying to create something new.
@5AMfrenchtoast: Look, your argument presupposes that a film adaptation of Watchmen had to be made. It didn't. Everyone wants to give Snyder an "A for effort". To heck with that. The film must be regarded entirely on its own merits.
@Arryma: I don't think he was saying an adaptation HAD to be made. There just was one, and no fanboy was going to be happy with the outcome. The reason some people have an "A for effort" attitude is because Snyder has been told for a while now that he was trying to do the inconceivable. He was trying to adapt one of the most adored graphic novels of all time, and naturally fanboys hated it. He tried to appeal to people who were unfamiliar with the material along with die hard fans.
@5AMfrenchtoast: Could someone have done better? Sure. I think Gilliam would have been fun. It's not about "faithful" to me as much as good story-telling, which is not Snyder's strong suit. All that scene-setting and art direction is wasted when your plot falls apart or your dialog is a bunch of tin-eared clunkers.
So many people have said it time and again, but a mini-series, with time to develop characters and not be as jarring in tonal shifts, would have been better.
The problem with the ending isn't the lack of squid, hell it could have been completely redesigned to look less goofy, it's the idea behind it.
@steampoweredboy: There were a few moments where I thought the dialogue sucked, but my impression (as a person who hasn't read the novel) was that it was supposed to be over the top noir. Sin City also had some "bad" dialogue but I thought it worked for the medium.
@Plague: That being the three hour nonsense fest or the winking "Isn't rape FUNNY!" gag? If that's coherent then I'm fjdsalkjfdisfnoufnnfnf!#@)*#
I know you're some basement-dwelling internet toughguy, but damn, are you a sad little creature to hold on to some insult from weeks ago. Do you keep a blog with all your ongoing insults? A twitterstream maybe? I'd love to follow it.
See- That's what makes you SO amusing. Not only do you blather incoherent close-minded drivel, but you manage to twist everyone's words around so they mean whatever you want them to, yet still not respond to what anyone asks of you.
Oh, except for that opinion of the movie you already had before you went to see it. Hope you patted yourself on the back for being right!
Yeah, Hayter said "rape is funny". That is exactly what he said. Whatever, Linguistics master.
And if you think I give you a second thought beside the few seconds it takes to think of an insult for you (because you make it rather easy) go ahead and think that.
But please, come back and entertain us all some more.
@Plague: Like when I responded to Garrison? Or any number of other people on here? Oh no! I'm twisting your words, with facts! Slippery demon that I am!
Dude, all you've done is chime in with petty cheap shots and one-liners from the word go.
I'm closed-minded about a crap adaptation of a comic book. Ok, I'll grant you that I wasn't expecting much. But if it had been good, I'd give it it's due. But it's a big ol' mess. Unless you're secretly Deborah Snyder it shouldn't matter what some chucklehead like me thinks.
And at the end of a really lame appeal for more money David Hayter made a joke about rape. That's good writing.
06/11/09
06/11/09
06/11/09
06/11/09
03/17/09
-- Warren Ellis
03/18/09
03/17/09
The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown.
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".
03/17/09
It could almost replace Grazerhead.
Hayter, I dig your work. For your own sake,
CUT THE MULLET!!!
03/17/09
03/17/09
Straight to Syfy Saturday nights! (if he's lucky)
03/17/09
03/17/09
03/17/09
Sorry, I had to.
03/17/09
03/17/09
03/17/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
journalistic integrity is dead.
03/11/09
03/11/09
I actually quite liked it, but it was almost 3 hours long and I already knew most of what happened. That's a lot to go through again, seeing as how I saw it less than a week ago. I'll see it again when it comes out on DVD, but that's the next time I plan on seeing it.
Unless Sold Snake asks me...
03/11/09
This is the problem with adapting much loved material. No matter how good it is, (not to say this movie is without flaws) people are gonna build up their expectations too high and feel let down by it.
This movie was awesome. I'm going to see it again. Not because of David Hayter's plea, though. And certainly not because I'm a "Sally." Damn, that really was a creepy line.
03/11/09
And notice how the most praised sequence in the film is the credit sequence. Something they actually had to imagine themselves only using the book as source material. That's what real filmmakers do.
03/11/09
While I understand what you're saying, the majority of Watchmen movie haters, are people that say "the movie was good, but then they totally did a different ending! So, it sucks!" People wanted a carbon copy, what they got was actually a weird mesh of being too faithful and trying to create something new.
I, for one, loved it.
03/11/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
So many people have said it time and again, but a mini-series, with time to develop characters and not be as jarring in tonal shifts, would have been better.
The problem with the ending isn't the lack of squid, hell it could have been completely redesigned to look less goofy, it's the idea behind it.
03/11/09
03/11/09
The Peking Duck continues to rage.
03/11/09
But it still tastes terrible! Want yummy-o!
03/11/09
Yeah, that sums up his writing pretty well.
03/11/09
At least his form a coherent thought. Unlike yours, Mr. Duck.
03/11/09
I know you're some basement-dwelling internet toughguy, but damn, are you a sad little creature to hold on to some insult from weeks ago. Do you keep a blog with all your ongoing insults? A twitterstream maybe? I'd love to follow it.
03/11/09
See- That's what makes you SO amusing. Not only do you blather incoherent close-minded drivel, but you manage to twist everyone's words around so they mean whatever you want them to, yet still not respond to what anyone asks of you.
Oh, except for that opinion of the movie you already had before you went to see it. Hope you patted yourself on the back for being right!
Yeah, Hayter said "rape is funny". That is exactly what he said. Whatever, Linguistics master.
And if you think I give you a second thought beside the few seconds it takes to think of an insult for you (because you make it rather easy) go ahead and think that.
But please, come back and entertain us all some more.
03/11/09
Dude, all you've done is chime in with petty cheap shots and one-liners from the word go.
I'm closed-minded about a crap adaptation of a comic book. Ok, I'll grant you that I wasn't expecting much. But if it had been good, I'd give it it's due. But it's a big ol' mess. Unless you're secretly Deborah Snyder it shouldn't matter what some chucklehead like me thinks.
And at the end of a really lame appeal for more money David Hayter made a joke about rape. That's good writing.
"Linguistics Master"? Are you in eighth grade?
03/12/09
You're the energizer bunny of idiocy, aren't you?
As plenty of people have pointed out that there is NO WAY you would have liked this movie no matter what, you seem to go silent on the matter.
I really wish that trend would continue. Because continually pointing out how wrong you are is getting rather tedious.