Poll: Anyone else prefer the Watchmen movie ending?

[SirPumpkinLongshanks]

I agree that it's possible, but his argument was that the public would find these scenarios more believable than blaming it on Dr Manhattan. If that's true than the alien ending wouldn't hold up any better considering that genetic engineering is portrayed as being much better understood/developed in the comic's world than Dr. Manhattan's energy is in the movie.

I'd also like to say that the media fiasco with Dr. Manhattan makes a lot more sense in the movie than it does in the comic. I felt like that plot thread didn't actually go anywhere and that the story wouldn't have changed much even if he'd stuck around earth. As we know, it isn't like he could see what was going to happen no matter where he was. I can't remember what the justification for it was in the novel but the whole story feels more cohesive with the movie ending.

Yeah, as we're discussing this I'm finding that there's less merit in the original ending than I previously thought. Watchmen is still a masterpiece but I gotta say this may be a rare instance where an aspect of the story was improved by the limitations of another medium. (I've little doubt the director would have kept the space squid if there had been time.)

this is exatly what I was thinking, but honestly, I dont like the bad guy getting away with it ending that the book and movie had.

It didn't. Dr. Manhattan shook Ozy up before leaving and in both versions Rorschach's journal was in the hands of the media. Yeah, it was a small conservative paper, but we're talking about the journal of a former super hero-that's a hot news item. You'd have endless debate over whether or not it was the genuine article not to mention the validity of its contents. There's no telling what would happen after it got out and that's the best part of the ending in my opinion.

 

[fix-the-spade]

It's worse because of a massive, GAPING logic fail.

Dr Manhattan, ostensibly the American first strike strategy, just hit Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union and the United State's priority target.

How long would the USSR wait to fire everything it has at America? Ten seconds? Twenty? Would they even bother checking to see if anywhere else had been hit? The US just made it's first strike, the gloves are off.

So the end of the movie should have been nuclear armageddon. The whole point of the comic book ending was that it was a third party that had no connection to either side. A random, indiscriminate event with consequences so horrible both sides would focus on preventing it happening again over each other.

If they didn't want to keep the 'alien' then fine, that's fair enough. But they should have thought about it a bit more than 'let's just use Dr God because he's cool'
It's like a whole bunch of little things they changed in that film. A little change that misses the entire point of what the original was getting at.

 

[boholikeu]

I agree that it's possible, but his argument was that the public would find these scenarios more believable than blaming it on Dr Manhattan. If that's true than the alien ending wouldn't hold up any better considering that genetic engineering is portrayed as being much better understood/developed in the comic's world than Dr. Manhattan's energy is in the movie.

I'd also like to say that the media fiasco with Dr. Manhattan makes a lot more sense in the movie than it does in the comic. I felt like that plot thread didn't actually go anywhere and that the story wouldn't have changed much even if he'd stuck around earth. As we know, it isn't like he could see what was going to happen no matter where he was. I can't remember what the justification for it was in the novel but the whole story feels more cohesive with the movie ending.

Yeah, as we're discussing this I'm finding that there's less merit in the original ending than I previously thought. Watchmen is still a masterpiece but I gotta say this may be a rare instance where an aspect of the story was improved by the limitations of another medium. (I've little doubt the director would have kept the space squid if there had been time.)

Good point about the media fiasco. It made Manhattan's character feel more important to the storyline than he actually was, and while I understand Moore wanted him to drift away from humanity, the break didn't seem like it needed to be so abrupt.

I also totally agree with you about the whole "being improved by the limitations of another medium" thing. Funny how it all worked out. Perhaps this also the reason people seem so stubbornly against the new ending despite all it has going for it.