Public Misconceptions about Watchmen...

[MattL]

I only read the graphic novel after seeing the trailer. Before that, I was relatively unfamiliar with Watchmen (don't kill me, please).

Here's what I got out of that first trailer, without any basis or prior knowledge

1.) The blue guy is obviously a god-like figure
2.) The heroes seem angry and bitter. Like those they once protected turned against them
3.) Society is none too pleased with the heroes at the moment
4.) The heroes appear to have affliations with the government
5.) It's gonna be dark and brooding
6.) This is all going to culminate in some big social destruction/breakdown
7.) The heroes are not exactly paragons of virtue
8.) And yes, I did think Nite Owl II was a Batman-like character at first. But when you see him swoop down, cape flying, it's an easy mistake

Overall, that's not too far off. I'd say the preview(s) did a decent job of conveying the atmosphere.

 

[Max Newlander]

the problem with this is, 1: next time a director wants to stay true to the source instead of giving into studio demands, this will not be a good precedent. if the film does well, future directors adapting comics can say: jsut look at watchmen, it was taken seriously and stayed true to the source, and it did fantastic at the box office. and 2. zach snyder was given lots of freedom on this film because of the success with 300. if watchmen does not do will, his next cinematic venture, the studio will not be so gracious to his needs.

I actually agree with you don't get me wrong, yes my viewpoint is a slightly selfish one.

Yes I agree if its a success, then getting other GN material green lit potentially becomes easier. Also I agree the studio's potentially might rein in the creative licence of individual directors. however.......

If its a faithful adaptation to me, as a fan of the GN it really means others will think the same. So critical acclaim is likely to follow, which still has clout when it comes to getting films made or credibility of genre.

Also, its very unlikely when they gave this movie the go ahead giving the source material they expected massive returns. This is a niche market movie, which has strong possibilities of having cult status rather than major mainstream status. So expectations will be set much lower than say a Spider-man movie.

Anyway I agree as stated my viewpoint is slightly self absorbed, but hey I still ultimately hope its a massive success than not obviously.

Anyway slightly off topic now.

The main misconception is definitely the fact people think its an action filled superhero movie. Will be interesting to hear peoples opinion after they come out, they are either going to be annoyed its not what they thought or their going to be blown away by what it actually is......we will soon see.

 

[nite-owl]

That it's a Heroes ripoff. When the first trailer came out I read a comment on youtube saying it looked like Heroes in the 80's.

 

[Octoberist]

haha.

then that person will get trashed because the book WAS from the 80s, and that Heroes have borrowed themes and stories from actual comics.

 

[Cadetak]

By company policy are you forced to give the idiots back their money?

If I had my way I wouldn't, I would punch them in the teeth...regardless if it's a Mom or Dad.

Can't believe the lack of common sense in our society.


Those are really good points Motown, hopefully the movie doesn fairly well.

I use to work for AMC and policy I think was as long as it was like ten minutes into the movie I'd give the money back. If it was like part way through I'd give them exchange passes. But if the movie was over I'd tell them to go call Fox.

People took their kids to see 300 and a few people thought Borat was a documentary...one old couple thought that the 'Silence is Golden' poster(the advertisement and slogan thingy that tells you to be quite) was a movie poster and wanted tickets for it. One girl thought Spiderman was an actual man sized spider...people complain when you ruin the endings for 300 and Passion when your telling them what it is about.

People will take their kids to go see watchmen...they mine as well make a Burger King toy line.

 

[[A]]

That it's a Heroes ripoff. When the first trailer came out I read a comment on youtube saying it looked like Heroes in the 80's.

oh no we need a comic inquisition

 

[olemonica]

I see you are all afraid of watching this moie with regular moviegoers, and i just gotta say. You should've lived in Norway, Norway.

The.. , what ya call it?, screening room or something? have like room for 50 people. And there's like three different rooms showing the same movie, instead of one big room. Kinda cosy, actually. And everybody keeps quiet during the movie.

And stupid things: Manhattan is the villain and that Ozy can fly and ****.

 

[Keymaker]

For example, A Good friend of mine who's never read the comic thinks that Dr. Manhattan is somewhat like a Frankenstein Monster created to kill the heroes by an unknown bad guy not shown yet, I haven't corrected him because I feel the actual twist will be better that way.

I can even see where he's coming from. He does seem kinda like a dumb monster that goes around killing people in the trailers t:

 

[Beanjuice]

I can really speak everyone else but i go a kind of art school so i'd say good 45% of us thee know about watchmen and are all pumped for it. I did get into a debate with my friend about Watchmen Vs TDK(this being the same guy that refused to read the Killing Joke because he was sure the movie would be better anyway)

 

[RustyCage]

No, it's not a bad thing...I never said it was. The problem is, the majority of the people I personally know didn't like TDK for any of the reasons you stated above. In fact, most of them told me they thought the movie moved too slow, and it was "confusing" in parts. I never said these people I knew were smart But if they were confused by TDK and it's plot-driven story, they are gonna have a Scanner-like head explosion trying to follow Watchmen.

People can be so disappointing... After reading this, I think I gave TDK fans too much credit. Thank God I haven't met anyone like that yet.

 

[Figs]

I use to work for AMC and policy I think was as long as it was like ten minutes into the movie I'd give the money back. If it was like part way through I'd give them exchange passes. But if the movie was over I'd tell them to go call Fox.

People took their kids to see 300 and a few people thought Borat was a documentary...one old couple thought that the 'Silence is Golden' poster(the advertisement and slogan thingy that tells you to be quite) was a movie poster and wanted tickets for it. One girl thought Spiderman was an actual man sized spider...people complain when you ruin the endings for 300 and Passion when your telling them what it is about.

People will take their kids to go see watchmen...they mine as well make a Burger King toy line.

That sucks you had to deal with that kind of stupidity all the time.

As for the morons who will take thier kids...well if Dr. Manhattan's wang doesn't have them storming out the rape scene definitely will. Especially after Snyder was saying to fill in the blanks between the panels of a comic the rape scene turned out pretty brutal.

 

[inflames]

you wont believe how stupid the majority of people can be, well..some are just ignorant and would rather blurt out ridiculous things rather then just go to google and save face.

 

[p4poetic]

A good number of my friends, many of whom don't read comics, have read the graphic novel and are excited. The few who have not mostly like it. Though I have one friend who hates "unrealistic" movies says it looks "******ed. It looks like it'll just be like Spider-Man." I remind him he likes The Dark Knight, a movie he loves, is based on comics and he replies, "But that could really happen and is better than comic books!" I then resist the urge to hit him.

But otherwise people who haven't read it think the trailers look very cool.

No, you should have hit him.

 

[[A]]

I got two friends of mine kinda interested on it. Good for me.

 

[TheDarkKnight08]

I had people who thought that Dr. Manhattan was the "Watchman" and that Nite-Owl was Batman. Some peopel were also under the impression Iron Man was in this movie because of JDM as the Comedian. My fav though, was people who thought these were the new X-Men.

Unfortunately, some dumb people just think the movie is some dumb action movie with special effects from the dude who did 300. God, I can't wait for Snyder to prove them wrong...

 

[Gilpesh]

What are some of the random things you've heard the general public say about Watchmen?

That Zack Snyder can make a great movie.
[YT]E0PIdWdw15U[/YT]

 

[[A]]

I had people who thought that Dr. Manhattan was the "Watchman" and that Nite-Owl was Batman. Some peopel were also under the impression Iron Man was in this movie because of JDM as the Comedian. My fav though, was people who thought these were the new X-Men.

what the..?

 

[Octoberist]

I had people who thought that Dr. Manhattan was the "Watchman" and that Nite-Owl was Batman. Some peopel were also under the impression Iron Man was in this movie because of JDM as the Comedian. My fav though, was people who thought these were the new X-Men.

Unfortunately, some dumb people just think the movie is some dumb action movie with special effects from the dude who did 300. God, I can't wait for Snyder to prove them wrong...

People can be so funny. I mean to have the actual BATMAN AND IRON MAN in one movie? How old are they?

It's amazing that..with the internet where you can get instant info right away, people can be so ignorant. Not just on comics, but on life in general.

 

[kyuubijavi1]

Well honestly I haven't heard any buzz for watchmen but I'd imagine that most people will expect it to be about a group or "some bad guy" killing off ex super heroes so they won't get in the way of the big explosion that accrues in new york.

 

[iDannyR]

I swore that it was Robert Downey Jr or something , JDM looks like RDJ to be honest

 

[Octoberist]

I swore that it was Robert Downey Jr or something , JDM looks like RDJ to be honest

I've got a friend who thought it was Robert Downey Jr too. But who in the right mind thinks that the actual Iron Man is going to appear as well?

 

[iDannyR]

I've got a friend who thought it was Robert Downey Jr too. But who in the right mind thinks that the actual Iron Man is going to appear as well?

I didn't, but when I saw JDM's face, then i thought, "it's the dude from Grey's Anatomoy"

 

[Octoberist]

Oh sorry... DarkKnight08 said above that his friends thought that THE Iron Man will be in the Watchmen because they thought they saw RDJ.

hehe

 

[TinkTonks]

I had people who thought that Dr. Manhattan was the "Watchman" and that Nite-Owl was Batman. Some peopel were also under the impression Iron Man was in this movie because of JDM as the Comedian. My fav though, was people who thought these were the new X-Men.

Unfortunately, some dumb people just think the movie is some dumb action movie with special effects from the dude who did 300. God, I can't wait for Snyder to prove them wrong...

See, these are the types of people I am worried about getting stuck with. 'Dude, wtf is this crap? I thought there were zombies in this movie!1!'
I would hate to get kicked out of the movie because I had to kick someone in the teeth, haha!

 

[iDannyR]

oh wow