You’ve all seen Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen,” that came out in March and you obviously formed your opinion by now (hopefully you saw the obvious forest for the trees there).
But of course producer Joel Silver tried to make his version of “Watchmen” in the ’80s and ’90s and he famously wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Dr. Manhattan (Vin Diesel was apparently eyed for the role at one point as well). As vile as that idea sounds to everyone, Silver still thinks his version of “Watchmen” (with “all due respect” of course) would have been better than the one Snyder brought to the screen in March.
“I love Zack and I love his work, and I think he’s very talented, but the script that we developed, I think was better than the movie they made. I don’t want to say he was a slave to the material because he made changes anyway, but I think it could have been a little more satisfying movie. I think Zack made a great movie, though; I don’t want to minimize what he did. But I think at the end of the day it was more kind of tuned to just the big kind of fanatics of Watchmen as opposed to a broader-based audience who didn’t maybe know the original comic.”
Ah, the dreaded, “too faithful,” swipe again. It’s an oft-regurgitated censure, that is actually on the money, but Snyder must be so sick of hearing it by now. Regardless, the 2-disc, “Watchmen: Director’s Cut” hit DVD and Blu-Ray today and if this cutting-room floor scene is any indication of the excised material from the film, we won’t be watching the 186 minute version of this one anytime soon, if ever. The street punks is this scene, their dialogue and acting is just brutal.
Sheesh. Did every "moment" of that film have to use music that is a reference to something else? That scene used "Intermezzo" from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana which was used in the opening scene of "Raging Bull". I'm surprised Snyder didn't manage to squeeze a bit of Morricone in there for good measure.
Silver's comments make me laugh. This from the guy who produced HUDSON HAWK. He's really one to talk. I am really glad that Silver didn't get to make his version because it would sucked even worse (not saying much, I know). I think that the only real way to do justice to this material is in a mini-series format and animate it in the style of Dave Gibbons' work in the book. Ah, but that'll never happen.
J.D. what is this then? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1322240/
"J.D. what is this then? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1322240/"
An expensive slide show, nothing more.
Sad. this is what happens when no one is able to tell you that what you are doing isn't working. hopefully, zack will have people give him honest input from here on out and hopefully he will listen.
People who say "Watchmen" would only work as a miniseries have no faith or imagination in film. It's such a tired cliche of a complaint.
Well, Snyder's film just proves the point. Squeezing 12 issues into a 3 hour film doesn't work. Too many subplots that develop character or advance the plot are trimmed away so all you've got left is a simplified version of the book.
Yes, a movie made by the dumbass who directed "300" proves that there's only one specific way to translate a comic book to live action.