He's disassociated himself from all his work while at DC. He wants no creative credits, and so far has had no comments on previous films that I'm aware of. If you look at the film credits, the "based on the graphic novel by:" credits only list the artists that drew the stories.
Yeah..there's an article on ew about it. here's his take... ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Don't you have the slightest curiosity about what Watchmen director Zack Snyder is doing with your work? ALAN MOORE: I would rather not know. He's supposed to be a very nice guy. He may very well be, but the thing is that he's also the person who made 300. I've not seen any recent comic book films, but I didn't particularly like the book 300. I had a lot of problems with it, and everything I heard or saw about the film tended to increase [those problems] rather than reduce them: [that] it was racist, it was homophobic, and above all it was sublimely stupid. I know that that's not what people going in to see a film like 300 are thinking about but...I wasn't impressed with that.... I talked to [director] Terry Gilliam in the '80s, and he asked me how I would make Watchmen into a film. I said, ''Well actually, Terry, if anybody asked me, I would have said, 'I wouldn't.''' And I think that Terry [who aborted his attempted adaptation of the book] eventually came to agree with me. There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can't.
Wow, I love Moore but he sounds like a bitter old man now, huh? how can you disassociate yourself with bodies of work that have had major influences on almost everyone. Killing Joke, Watchmen, Swamp Thing and so forth. Such a shame.
God I love Alan Moore. The big beardy freak! anyway, http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/watchmen_trailer_to_comic_comparison/
Alan Moore is insane, that's why we love him. Here's what I expect from this movie: Fun visuals and action, but just a junk-food movie. The plot will be compressed I'm sure, I'm also sure they'll try to stay on track as much as they can. BUT in the end the most it will accomplish will be making people who've never read it, read it. I'm excited, but I also have low expectations so I won't get disappointed.
The only thing in this movie that will annoy me is Zack Snyder's fucking obsession with slow motion shots whenever action occurs.
I wouldn't really say bitter...but my take on what I've read in interviews from him over the years is that if he wanted his stories made into movies, he would have originally made the movies HIMSELF...he's a comic book artist/storyteller and that is his medium. Thus his choice...not a means to an end. In other words, his stories can ONLY be told in the comic book format. They exist in their final state in those pages. No reason to go any further or into an varying medium. Comic Book storytelling is such a different art form from cinema and it's dynamic offers a range which movies can't provide (and vice versa) ***Obviosuly I don't know the guy, but I've read a lot from him, and he's extrememly passionate about storytelling through comics. This is just my take on that. I DO think that Watchmen will be amazing though. V was good...From Hell was ok...all the others sucked...Watchmen will be stunning...but it's true...there are so many nuances and dynamics going on in the Watchmen books that may be lost in the film adaptation. Keep in mind that Watchmen is the most revolutionary comic book series ever...it changed the course of the medium forever...I don't expect the movie to be better than the book, but who ever does?
so excited about this...and the one thing I'm going to try and catch at SDCC is the screening of the preview footage...not sure where it is yet... Watchmen is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly this week for fuck's sake...so those of you who love the original GN are in for a long year (I already feel bitter as the train revs up). I was so shocked to see that cover today, but at the same time I'm super excited. The only thing that looks bogus is the Nite Owl costume...but I think apart from that everything looks spot-on... I just want my Veidt Enterprises "Watchmen Action Figures" and now I may get them.
Or any film adapted from a previous source... Look at what they've done to Harry Potter films... at least they're going to make the final book into 2 separate movies.
I hope. Still...i'm disappointed that they used a smashing pumpkins song music less any "rock" song as a score to a film.
Saw this last night before Dark Knight, and it just confirmed what the pics I'd seen hinted at -for as faithful as Snyder wants to be to the comic, this is just far too fucking slick-looking to work for me. The resonant themes of the GN always seemed to me to be fallibilty, aging, and decay. What this looks like is a bunch of twentysomethings in hi-gloss suits posing. Weren't Nite Owl and the Comedian paunchy fortyish guys? I can understand how that wouldn't sell a lot of tickets, but still. And hearing Billy Corgan's abysmal alternawhine was like fingernails on a chalkboard.
well the story does go back and forth in time a lot, so some of those images could have been from the 'flashback' portions, when the watchmen were in their 20's and 30's kicking ass and making their name. The later, more washed up watchmen are those whose eyes the story is told from in retrospect. The actual story of the watchmen spans about a quarter of a century, so aging is a part of it (except where dr. manhattan is concerned). I agree some aspects look kind of lame but others look promising.
My one complaint is the clock work guts composing the lettering for the Watchmen logo. They aren't Swiss, the don't make timepieces. It's Watchmen as in sentinels, or guardians, it has nothing to do with watches. Why allude to the wrong reading of the title? Oh well. The book will never be made, the material is too dense, and completely tied to the original comic format. I am just hoping to have fun at the theater. Oh, and who are the Charlton Comics correlates to the Watchmen characters? Blue Beetle-Owl Man, Rorschach-The Question, but then who is the Silk Spectre and Dr Manhattan?
rorschach-question Nite Owl-blue beetle The Comedian= Peacemaker. Doctor Manhattan=Captain Atom Thunderbolt=Ozymandias Silk Spectre-nightshade Not sure of the origin of this image but it's the charlton characters i.e watchmen like http://www.vicsage.com/misc/sentinelsofjustice.jpg
There are MANY time and watch references in the story... mostly revolving around Dr. Manhattan. The back covers of all the comics had an image of a clock ticking down to midnight. The whole origin story of Dr. Manhattan was watch related... even the ending had a twist on the traditional clock countdown. I'd go back and re-read the graphic novel... time and clock references abound.
Correct. And a lot of it is allegorical even in Ozymandias "calculated and precise" plans. Watchman has multiple meanings. Seriously, if you go back there is so much layering. Every panel usually has something. For instance...there are multiple shots of silhouetted humans graffitied on building embracing (hiroshima lovers), foreshadowing the final event. The "Fearful Symeetry chapter with Rorschach..the entire issue is a mirror image. First panel, reflects the last image of the chapteretc. It's pretty amazing book
