Watchmen (Expect Spoilers inside)

[RigaMortus2]

I didn't want to muddy up the other threads since I am asking a spoilerish question. So if you don't want to read about spoilers for the movie or book, read one of the other threads on Watchmen.

My first impression of the movie... Saw a midnight show with friends. I enjoyed the movie a lot. I did not read the book (entirely). I read up to the part of the book when Dr. Manhattan is doing his "back ground" scenes, so it was cool seeing what matched up to that point. I thought the Matrix was awesome when it came out. I went into that movie, not sure what to expect, and came out with "my mind blown". This movie did not do that for me, so I would not put it on the caliber as the first Matrix (you got to appreciate the Matrix when it first came out, admit it).

So, my question...

Can someone explain to me, how is the ending different from the book? I hear there is an "alien invasion" thing in the graphic novel. Personally, had they added such an element to the movie, I would have rolled my eyes. But they didn't. I think it was REALLY well done how the movie ends and wraps up. But to re-ask my question, can someone explain the main difference between the move and the book, specifically the ending?

Thanks!

 

[Silver Moon]

The ending change was relatively minor, the threat to/attack on the major cities actually worked much, much better in the movie. If they had actually been totally true to the comic it would have come off looking hokey.

 

[frankthedm]

But that does not answer the question of whaat the original threat was.

 

[Krug]

But that does not answer the question of whaat the original threat was.

[sblock]It was a squid-alien monster.
Pic: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/8073/watchzsquid.jpg
[/sblock]

 

[Jarrod]

Spoilers ahoy!

Spoiler

The thread in the graphic novel is... a giant squid. No, really.

Ozymandias had a group of writers and artists craft a series of nightmares. These nightmares were implanted in the mind of a created creature that would a) look extremely alien and b) project all of these nightmares when it died. Ozy then used a prototype teleportation system to drop the squid in the middle of New York. One side effect of said teleportation system is that it would kill the creature. Hence, the order of effects:

1) Teleport obviously alien creature into New York.
2) Creature dies and projects nightmares into the citizens of New York.
3) The lucky half die; the unlucky half live and go insane. New York is basically removed from the map.

The idea was to galvanize the human race against the unknown alien threat.


The cool part was when Ozy was telling the heroes about this plan... AFTER he'd put it into effect. No evil overlord here.

 

[frankthedm]

Being a fan of HPL I prefer the original concept of the insanity inducing alien squid, but the plot felt much more plausible with the choice they made for the movie.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Yeah, in the comic Veidt Industries was also heavily into genetic engineering (that's where the purple Lynx came from). The megasquid was a result of that.

Overall, I liked the movie, but didn't love it. The comic dialog we take for granted on the page sounded a little stiff and hokey when delivered by live actors. The second half of the movie it wasn't as bad, as things picked up and there was less pure exposition.

I agree with Silver Moon about the ending... the way the threat was presented actually tied into the themes present in the graphic novel better than the actual original ending did. It's like they were trying to go the Nolan Batman route and keep things as grounded in realism as possible, which the rest of the novel actually does very well.

 

[Krug]

I always thought the ending in the comic book was kinda weak to me. The visuals are great, for sure, but it did seem kind of silly when I read it. [sblock]Also there seemed to be a lot of explaining to do after killing almost everyone else in Karnak.[/sblock]
I'm not saying the solution proposed in the movie is that much better though.
In the end, either plan probably would only stop the nuclear clock briefly; maybe a year or so tops, unless Veidt continues to cause disasters using the machine/

Spoiler

squidzilla

he developed.

[sblock]Doc Manhattan, of course, saw that human's capacity for self-destruction would continue anyway, and tells Veidt that 'nothing ever ends', at least in the comic.[/sblock]

 

[megamania]

Have not seen it yet so I only know the comic book ending. If I remember it right Dr. manhatten gave a possibly sinister twist on the characters proposed ending / resolution to the whole thing.




oop..... above spoiler....my bad.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

I still like the comic book ending better, although the movie ending is thematically better. Of course, people who haven't read the comic may wonder about the Outer Limits prominently displayed on TV at the end. That ties in with the comic ending, which was ripped off from the show (The Architects of Fear, starring Robert Culp), with that thrown in to acknowledge it. (It was in the comic, too.)