Whilst we've started putting cool new movie news up here I thought you may be interested in a UK trailer for one of the sub plots from the great, soon to be ruined (okay that's harsh but I still think the book is un-filmable) The Watchmen.
Apparently this is to be included as a DVD extra and, in fairness, it looks great. I just wish they'd decided on doing a mini series (the only way to get all of the book's storylines in) or simply chose to leave Alan Moore's work the fuck alone.
Link to Trailer
I'm still holding out hope that the film will be one of my favourite films of all time.
ReplyDeleteAlan Moore is right in his argument that comics don't translate well to film, basically because they're both very different mediums. They're very chalk n cheese for the most part, and many things done in comic form are unfilmable, but at the same time films don't translate to comics either. Comics are comics. Films are films. Comparisons should be avoided if possible. It's like comparing the functions of a toaster to a phone.
When I go to see Watchmen, I will try my very best not to make the comparison between film and comic.
I guess it would be more fair to completely disregard that it is an adaptation, and it should be judged on its own merits as a film. Easier said than done for those who have experienced both.
There will be many who kick off over the fact that bits are different and bits haven't been included, but this is where they're not getting the point. I say to them, wipe the slate clean. Accept that the comics are masterpieces, and the film is not going to change that. Instead, I urge them to kick off to those who say Twilight is a better film Jaws, or those who say Jordan's Biography is better literature than Watchmen.
See i dunno about that man. I think comic books and films, though obviously different mediums, are actually very compatible really. I mean when you are preparing for a shoot you create story boards of the movie's important beats... and they're really exactly like a comic book's action panes.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem stems from taking a book like The Watchmen that has so much information in it that large sections are actually prose(!) so it can't possibly fit the plot and characterisations into a two hour slot.
I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but I have a bad feeling about this one.
Ah, a good point on the storyboard thing. Silly me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, They won't be able to get the characterisation in 2 hours, but I'm not too concerned. If I needed that much characterisation, depth and story, I'd read a graphic novel or something. I'm just after 2 hours of pretty colours, slow motion fights, a hot chick and a ship in the shape of an owl. Yay!
Hahahah I really can't argue with such a perfect argument!
ReplyDeleteBut as there have been successful translations of novels into film I don't see the problem. Its translating a graphic novel which has pictures and prose into film, more difficult than just prose or pictures. Anyway, its only like LoTR where you just release a huuuuuge DVD with everything on.
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