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List Price: $19.96 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 1642
Released: July 21, 2009 |
| Our Price: $7.49 |
| Used Price: $3.90 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
WHEN AN EX-SUPERHERO IS MURDERED, A VIGILANTE NAMED RORSCHACH BE GINS AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MURDER WHICH BEGINS TO LEAD TO A MUCH MORE TERRIFYING CONCLUSION
Description of Watchmen (Theatrical Cut) (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition):
Everybody's favorite graphic novel comes to the screen (after years of rumors and false starts), less a roaring work of adaptation than a respectful and faithful take on a radical original. Watchmen is set in the mid-1980s, a time of increased nuclear tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, as Richard Nixon is enjoying his fifth term as president and the world's superheroes have been forcibly retired. (As you can probably tell, the mix of authentic history and alternate reality is heady.) Things begin with a bang: the mysterious high-rise murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a masked hero with a checkered past, puts the rest of the retired superhero community on alert. The credits sequence, a series of tableaux that wittily catches us up on crime-fighting backstory, actually turns out to be the high point of the movie. Thereafter we meet the other caped and hooded avengers: the furious Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the inexplicably naked Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup, amidst much blue-skinned, genital-swinging digital work), Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), and Ozymandias (Matthew Goode). The corkscrewing storytelling, which worked well in the comic book, gives the movie the strange sense of never quite getting in gear, even as some of the episodes are arresting. Director Zack Snyder (300) doesn't try to approximate the electric impact of the original (written by Alan Moore--who declined to be credited on the movie--and illustrated by Dave Gibbons) but retains careful fidelity to his source material. That doesn't feel right, even with the generally enjoyable roll-out of anecdotes. Even less forgivable is the blah acting, excepting Jeffrey Dean Morgan (lusty) and Patrick Wilson (mellow). Watchmen certainly fills the eyes, although less so the ears: the song choices are regrettable, especially during an embarrassing mid-air coupling between Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II as they unite their--ah--Roman numerals. In the end it feels as though a huge work of transcription has been successfully completed, which isn't the same as making a full-blooded movie experience. --Robert Horton
Watchmen (Theatrical Cut) (Widescreen Single-Disc Edition) Reviews:
Not your average comic 
2009-12-30 - I bought this for my husband for Christmas. We watched it yesterday and I was pleased to see it is not your average comic strip into movie thing. I really enjoyed it and will definitely watch it again and again. Oh, and since my husband is rather particular about comics and movies and such, it bears to mention that HE loved it too. Didn't complain about anything in the movie!! Well done!!
Can people really not see how stupid this is? 
2009-12-28 - I really enjoy THE WATCHMEN comic. I've read it a few times, over the years, since it first appeared. Terry Gilliam was going to direct a film version at one point. THAT would've been interesting. THIS is unbelievably STUPID. As BAD as the film of 300 was, they decided to give the director another stab at a comic book movie. This is absolutely terrible. The original is poking fun at the cliches of superhero comics and criticizing American politics, while still being a fun and challenging comic book. This is simply heavy-handed and dumb. If you think FIGHT CLUB is awesome(!!!!), you will love this film. If, on the other hand, you have had sex a few times and have friends who you actually hang out with, your brain will begin to feel like a Slurpee when all the colored juice is sucked out and only the ice is left. THIS FILM SUCKS.
Snyder: Perhaps the Most Evil of Cinematic Villains
2009-12-20 - Bah-humbug, I say; this film is the worst kind of filth. Hopefully this massacre of an adaptation won't frighten viewers from investing in the graphic novel, which is infinitely more intelligent and rewarding. The problem isn't just the script - which is bland, misogynist, overtly violent and dimwitted - it's the direction. Let's face it: Zack Snyder shouldn't be making movies, he should be making screen-savers. It's over-stylized nonsense, and it detracts from the maturity of the content.
So, in short, by turning Laurie into a self-centered bimbo, adding heaps of unnecessary violence, often hilarious dialog, and a side-splittingly out of place soundtrack, Zack Snyder has managed to turn an intelligent comic book (which is something of a rarity these days) into a moronic popcorn flick which has sold tens of thousands of chain-wallets and wristbands and beanies (which is tragically commonplace). Somehow, this disaster turned into a hit with a strange and decidedly 16-year-old fanbase. Well, you guys can have my copy - I think I'd rather just read it.
Zack, your attempts at sabotaging things that I think are cool have not gone unnoticed. I've got my eye on you, bub, and if you lay one finger on The Dark Knight Returns, well so-help-me-God I will write you the angriest of emails. And don't you forget it.
Watchmen 
2009-12-18 - The superpowers of the graphic novel are weakened, but Watchmen still packs a wallop. This film brings the superhero-noir murder mystery very much to life.
Songs
2009-12-10 - The song choices for this movie were spot on perfect. Placed the scenes in the right moment of time.
