The Watchmen Trailer

The Watchmen trailer is now up and online… and hot damn does it ever look good! Check it out:

I’ve been kind of skeptical that they could turn this graphic novel into a film… but this trailer does a lot to make me feel better about its prospects. Keep in mind it’s just a trailer, but it certainly is a step in the right direction. Excuse me… I have to go watch it again now.

Comment with Facebook

48 thoughts on “The Watchmen Trailer

  1. ok so the trailer looks amazing and looks like it’s gonna stay true to the graphic novel which is a good thing because it’s a masterpiece and something you need to read before seeing the film..

    but im worried. worried that Zach Snyder is going to make a big mistake with the ending. without giving anything away, the ending in the movie is NOT going to be the ending in the graphic novel as he wants to go for a more audience friendly ending.

    scared this is going to destroy the final message of the movie and is going to ostracize a lot of the fans..

    what do you think?

    -Flash

  2. As someone who has read the graphic novel, I was actually pleasantly surprised by this trailer. Snyder seems to have captured the look of the novel pretty well.

    Then again, I’ve always felt Snyder’s strengths were in visuals, and not in character and story. And that’s a shame, because Watchmen is a film that will live or die based on how well the characters and themes come across. The novel is one of the best I’ve ever read (Time listed it as one of the best 100 Novels of All Time, for good reason) and is one of those things that I don’t think could be fully transferred to the screen. There are simply too many subtle details and complex themes to be explored in a single film.

    I’m just hoping the film is semi-decent – there’s no way it will live up to the book. No way at all. If you haven’t read the graphic novel, do it. If you only read one graphic novel in your life, this is the one to read.

  3. I don’t know anything about watchmen….so I had no clue what that trailer was about. In my opinion it looked pretty boring, slow, and emo.

  4. Just came back from The Dark Knight. They had the trailer running in front of that, but I can’t say I enjoyed it any more in full screen. Guess it’s not that kind of trailer.

  5. Man oh man.
    When I watched this last night I actually wanted to cry so big was my disapointment. I didn’t like it at all.
    But now that I have watched the high-res version in glorious quicktime, I start to warm up to it.
    Dr. Manhattan, who I first thought looked awful, looks actually pretty good on second look. I love the Owl-Ship, it looks almost exactly like in the novel. Laurie looks good and I quite like the movie-suit for Nite-Owl.
    What I hate is Rorschach’s voice. It’s just not how I imagined it at all. Sounds like a forced Jack Bauer-voice, I was hoping for something a bit more raspy and sinister. And the animation of the mars fortress looks awful, but I’m sure they’ll work on that in months to come.

    A nice little post-modern touch is the use of that Smashing Pumpkins song, which was originally written for BATMAN & ROBIN. Shows quite a confidence on the side of the filmmakers to play with that association.

  6. That was just a downright beautiful trailer, but to the common person who isn’t familiar with the graphic novel the trailer doesn’t explain a damn thing, it just bombards you with really cool images. I’m guessing that down the road when the Watchmen propaganda is in full swing that they will unleash upon us a more complete trailer which actually explains the story to an extent. Hopefully.

  7. James,

    I would suggest reading the book first. It’s a great story. Of course there will be some things left out. I would echo the concerns of some others that I simply hope that the tone of the story comes across.

  8. @ Erika,

    the song is by the smashing pumpkins called
    “the beginning is the end is the beginning”

    which is not the same as the smashing pumpkins song called
    “the end is the beginning is the end”.

  9. @ James

    I totally agree with you in that you should watch the movie before you read the book, however, to REALLY appreciate the trailer and the film, you MUST read the graphic novel first.

    Snyder has repeatedly says that he’s making this movie for 1 demographic and 1 demographic only: The Fans. People who don’t know anything about The Watchmen won’t realize the genius of the graphic novel until they read it.

    If people think Christopher Nolan’s Batmans are real, wait until they read/watch The Watchmen…THAT’s reality.

  10. i’ve been reading the graphic novel, i thought the heroes in it are quite pathetic and are a bunch of clowns. the only character i love is Rorschach. having said that, this trailer looks awesome and sticks to the graphic novel. and the girl playing Laurie is smoking HAWT!!! same girl who played freakshow’s wife in harold and kumar.

  11. Looks a little bit like Hellboy mixed with Batman. And I don’t mean like the new Batman movies. I mean like Batman Forever. Or Batman and Robin. You get the picture. Sorta stupid but not as much.

  12. Question: To those who read these novels. Is it better to read the novel before seeing the movies or vice versa. Most movies its better to watch first before reading, otherwise you spend the whole time pissed of about the shit they left out of the movie (ie. lord of the rings & harry potter). Same thing happen with graphic novels?

  13. And “Batman The Killing Joke”…

    This movie looks WONDERFUL! I don’t think the trailer is supposed to show what it’s about, heck explaining Watchmen can take a bit, and the more you explain the more you give away. These people where a team, and it starts with a guy going out a window. I was surprised they showed this much of Dr. Manhattan.

  14. I’ve read the graphic novel, and after looking at this trailer, all I have to say is…

    WOW!

    Kind of surreal to see the comic book come to life in a movie adaptation. It is now the top movie to watch in 2009.

  15. looks very kewl but I’m not familiar with the graphic novel. I’ve seen some pics of the characters from it tho. Is the guy in the trenchcoat and mask a badguy? Looks like he throws a molotov cocktail into a window and kills some people.

    I think the owl guy looks pretty sweet…to negate all the haters. Hard not to compare him to Batman (the his costume looks). Which is kickass IMO.

  16. agreed, it does have some very cool special effects. I love the electricity effects, and the characters don’t look silly. Electricity effects are often the most over done thing in all genre movies, but this one looks very unique.

  17. As someone with no prior experience with the graphic novel, I just looked at the trailer and scratched my head.

    Not saying the movie won’t be good. I’m saying this trailer doesn’t explain to well what the movie is going to be like, which is a pretty crucial element for a trailer.

    Still, Sean Maher is awesome so if he has any kind of role in this movie I’ll watch it. :P

  18. I liked how they showed a little bit of how Rorschach’s mask changes.

    I agree with Mr. Death, I hope this isn’t just another action movie and hope its more to the tone of the graphic novel.

  19. Looks fantastic…after seeing the trailer I literally got chills up my spine. I mean I knew Snyder understood the comic book just as much as any die-hard fan…but the visuals shown in the pictures exceed my expectations…WOW.

    Dr. Manhattan looks great, the glow is kind of weird, but it’s probably how he would actually look like in real life. It looks much better than how it would’ve been had he chosen blue make up.

    Archie, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre and Dr. Manhattan all look great, however the ones that stand out to me the most are The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan’s Palace on Mars…amazing.

  20. Neat! I like the blue guy!

    “The world will look up and shout ‘save us.’ And I’ll whisper ‘no.”

    That sent shivers down my spine. The age of angry gods is here.

  21. Alan Moore wrote the script

    David Gibbons was the artist

    Gibbons is on board with everything Snyder is doing. Moore being the bitter, recluse that he is wants nothing to do with it. He’s asked all his money from the movie to go to Gibbons.

    (mind u i don’t blame Moore…they took his great graphic novel League of Extraordinary Gentlemen…and turned the movie into a giant pile of shit)

  22. I LOVED IT!!! And this coming from someone who’s not familiar with the graphic novel.

    Maybe it’s just me but the trailer looks like cut scenes or a trailer for a video game that makes it appealing to me.

    And like John, I need to watch it again

  23. This trailer has done its job; i’m there opening weekend. I know nothing about Watchmen (except how its taken so long to get made into a film) and while this trailer doesn’t explain it, it has me very interested.

  24. Yeah Empire Online had the high-res version up this morning. Its down…2 other YouTube ones are down…enjoy it while it lasts all.

    Damn does it look good though. As a fan of the graphic novel it gave me goosebumps!! Dr.Manhattan’s Mars hideout, Nite Owl’s ship all look picture perfect :)

    summer 09 is too far away !!

Leave a Reply