Poll: Anyone else prefer the Watchmen movie ending?
- Thread starter boholikeu
- Start date
Recommended Videos
The movie ending didn't "ruin" Manhattan's character so much as change what he meant to the story. With the new ending he changes (somewhat unwillingly) into the Christian idea of God, as opposed to the disconnected godlike entity he is by the end of the comic. I always liked Dr. Manhattan's character, but in the book it never quite made sense to me how he supposedly found a great appreciation of human life in one chapter only to decide to leave Earth the next. The movie ending made much more sense to me in that regard since in order to protect life on Earth he really is forced to abandon it. What's more, it really strengthened the question of whether or not Veidt was right to "play God" with the people of Earth.Jaime_Wolf said:
I suppose I'd agree with your "oh" ending comment though.
Er, you might want to read what I wrote again because you still seem to be missing the point. You're right that if "God" has it out for the world everyone is basically screwed, but the fact that the world wasn't immediately destroyed implies that Manhattan was not declaring war so much as "punishing" mankind for their mistakes. There's a big difference between the two.Sev said:
I liked the book. The alien squid thing was just so campy, I loved it. I realize that this is the exact opposite of what was intended, but its a comic book.
Funny, I always found the comic ending to be more of a Deus ex Machina considering that the whole kidnapped artists side plot has no thematic significance until the end (in fact, it's only reason for existing is to justify the ending). At least the movie ending ties in an already established character that's actually important to the meaning of the whole work as well.Doitpow said:
I think that the Ozymandias of the book was smarter than that. I mean, relying on the stupidity of the masses to believe that. If I see a Glock lying next to a dead body, I don't just immediately presume that the inventor of Glock was behind it. Or employees of that company.boholikeu said:
Plus, if Manhattan wanted to punish mankind, wouldn't he use a different strategy other than blowing up a part of a city? For a being that treats Mars as a precious and beautiful piece of art, wouldn't it just be easier to wipe the New Yorkers from the planet like he did with Rorschach? Or at least let his intents be known? No, all we got is an explosion that has a trace signature of Manhattan's radiation. That isn't much to go by.
AND, it's also known that Manhattan had left for Mars because he didn't give two shits anymore about Earth.
While i found the comic better i still prefered the movie ending. It just made more sense. The giant squid seemed so random.
I read the comic just before it came in cinamas, cause my dad said, you're gonan see that mvoie, here read this first, and he had them lying around.
I found it funny how the movie could seem fast-paced and like the plot was going too fast even though it almost followed the comic panel by panel. I dunno if it's because it has just cut out the "diarry parts" without pictures that explains a lot of background stuff, and helps you understand the characters a little better.
IMO they should've included this, and just used their damn imagination to make some visual to it. They must be able to do more than just use the comic for a 100% complete storyboard.
I read the comic just before it came in cinamas, cause my dad said, you're gonan see that mvoie, here read this first, and he had them lying around.
I found it funny how the movie could seem fast-paced and like the plot was going too fast even though it almost followed the comic panel by panel. I dunno if it's because it has just cut out the "diarry parts" without pictures that explains a lot of background stuff, and helps you understand the characters a little better.
IMO they should've included this, and just used their damn imagination to make some visual to it. They must be able to do more than just use the comic for a 100% complete storyboard.
Funny, I thought the same thing about the book ending when I read it.Sev said:
Your Glock analogy doesn't quite fit because anyone can use a Glock, but only Dr. Manhattan is known to use his energy. In a world where equally devastating nukes have already been developed, why would a nation put money into creating a "Manhattan-style" bomb? And why would they destroy major cities around the world?Sev said:
In order to see how effective the Manhattan ending is you have to forget what you know and look at it from the public's perspective. Manhattan has just left Earth for Mars after a pretty dramatic encounter on live television. Then explosions bearing his unique energy signature start happening around the world as nuclear tensions rise in his absence. I really don't see why people would be more suspicious of this than an "alien" appearing in New York in a world where genetic engineering is already pretty advanced. If anything the alien scenario is much more likely to be picked apart by skeptics.
Still, anyone can make a bomb with Manhattan's energy radiation if they have the funds and the means, which a lot of people do have in the world.boholikeu said:
And the drama at the live TV appearance was a highly emotional thing for him as he learnt that he was infecting the people that he knew and loved, giving them cancer. As I said, only the dumb and ignorant masses would see in to this a reason for him to "teach the world a lesson" by destroying half a city.
And truth be told, both scenarios would be picked to death by skeptics.
The question is, which ending 'ensures peace'? Honestly the answer is neither one to anyone with a basic understanding of international politics.boholikeu said:
If it was the alien squid, the Soviet Union wouldn't help - they'd use this as an opportunity to weaken the United States. Communism would grow and flourish as the United States prepares for what they assume is an alien invasion. Eventually, after a few decades, the USA would realize that the aliens aren't a real threat and go back to fighting communism and threatening the communists of the world with nukes.
If it was Dr. Manhattan, who was a weapon of the United States, the Soviet Union would assume that it was an attack from the USA - and having their own cities destroyed was just a ploy. Chances are the Soviet Union would almost immediately retaliate with nukes. Also, we know by now that Dr. Manhattan has left the planet and probably won't come back. What's to keep the threat alive? Again, even if it worked, a few decades later the same old hatreds would emerge and nukes would be shared.
I much prefer the ending in the book, but both start to fray at the edges if you examine them too closely.
Since there is no squid in the film, there's no reason for Adrian Veidt to pursue genetic engineering and therefore no reason for Bubastis to exist. I heard that many people who hadn't read the book were confused about why that creature was present at all.
Of course the ending in the book is pretty silly if you really think about it, but I loved the multi-page images of Cthulhu-like alien devastation... Quite striking, really...
Since there is no squid in the film, there's no reason for Adrian Veidt to pursue genetic engineering and therefore no reason for Bubastis to exist. I heard that many people who hadn't read the book were confused about why that creature was present at all.
Of course the ending in the book is pretty silly if you really think about it, but I loved the multi-page images of Cthulhu-like alien devastation... Quite striking, really...
True, but my point is why would they want to? Aside from Veidt and his grandiose ideas for world peace I can't think of any other motivation that one would have for bombing all the world's major cities and blaming it on Manhattan, and the public is hardly going to suspect Veidt as the orchestrator of all this even though he actually did it.Sev said:
So then what would the intelligent and informed think?Sev said:
Actually I agree with you here. I think both plans are equally plausible (or implausible, if you will), and my earlier response was mainly for those that said the alien plan would've worked better than the Manhattan plan.Sev said:
Truthfully I don't think either ending would "ensure peace", and that's part of the point. That's why I was mainly looking at theme and depth when choosing which ending I liked better. The Manhattan ending just seems more interesting from an analytical standpoint.AcacianLeaves said:
The fact that this was such a big issue for people depresses me. I'm going to go out on a limb here and and guess that you are American. Am I right?AshPox said:
Money, power, revenge, for shits and giggles. Manhattan would be the perfect scapegoat really.boholikeu said:
Uh...aside from no alien squid, they both roughly end in the exact same manner with the same characters doing the same thing at the end. What is it exactly are you saying that differeniates the two?
I liked the squid because it gave more likelihood for the nations joining together because I would expect the Russians would've just blamed the US if Dr Manhattan had been the suspect as he'd been working for them before then. Although it is a bit like the movie Failsafe as everybody gets hit, so it's an equal blow.
I perfer the movie. Made better sense. However, what both will always have in common and will be great is what they did to Rorschach in the end in a very tragic way.