Poll: Watchmen (Spoilers, but if you really don't know how it ends I'd be surprised.)

[Souplex]

So recently and associate and I were talking about Watchmen. I had read the comic but not seen the movie, and I was told that the movie did away with an element I personally thought was really stupid. I am of course referring to the giant psychic-alien-clone-squid-vagina-brain-thing.
Apparently however, some people like the... Let's just call it the squid...
I would like to know the general public's stance on it.
I would also like to know why you hold your position if possible.
For those of you who don't know...

 

[Herr Schatz]

I actually approved of it. The giant squid was a bit hard to take for me when I read the graphic novel, and changing it so Adrian set up Dr.Manhattan made a lot more sense to me. Hell, his unfathomable power had already been acknowledged by the World to the extent that he was a nuclear deterant for the United States, and so the idea that he could turn and wreak havoc on the World seems a lot more plausible to me.

Well... as plausible as a blue demi-God who is free of the binds of physics, gravity, time and pretty much all that pesky crap that kills humans, can be.

I should also point out though, that the more I watch the movie, the less I enjoy it really, and the more I wish it had been like the graphic novel in other respects. Don't ask me how, cause I'll be damned if I could tell you how though. There's just something a little off about it that I can't quite get around. Maybe it's that God awful sex scene between the Night Owl II and The Silk Spectre....

Plus it's all a bit bloated, which reminds me that me and my mate once decided to buy a boat and call it 'The S.S. Bloated Corpse' which was what we dubbed that corpse raft the dude builds in the Black Freighter. It never happened though cause... well, I don't particularly dig the sea, and we didn't have any cash.

Anyway, I've rambled on enough.

 

[WolfThomas]

Changing that was not the problem I had with the film. The problems I had with it was the casting of Ozimandas, the removal of smoking even when it had plot importance, the cutting of several lines some of which would have actually explained things and the overall hyperstylization and gloriciation of the heroes when they're were meant to be more humanized and imperfect.

Overall I thought it was a decent film (with the Directors cut) that had a hard job of translating an "unfilmable" comic and that it could have been far worse, I heard that Zach Synder had to fight to keep all the flashbacks, the period setting and Ozimandas actually succedding in his plan.

 

[Cosmic Humor]

My problem is that what they did is they reworked it so that Ozy's plan wasn't the completely INSANE actions of a crazy person in every aspect. It made him feel more like a terrorist or B-movie action villain than a man in a world of costumed freaks.

 

[j0frenzy]

I generally approve of the film as a companion to the graphic novel and was not disappointed by the removal of the squid. The giant psychic squid is made of camp and an attack by Dr. Manhattan doesn't make so little sense that it was implausible.

 

[A Weary Exile]

I saw the film first, read the graphic novel afterwards because I liked the movie so much.

I still prefer the film in almost every way, the alternate ending included. The Squid just required so much unnecessary side story to be explained.

 

[aba1]

I found the movie and the book were both good but both had focuses on different things for example when silk specter and night owl 2 are doing in on the couch the movie focus's on them showing it is focusing on the character dynamics more than the over arching story which the comic focuses on by showing the tv over the characters.

I thought the movie ending made alot more sence to be honest but the comics was not bad either and I really enjoyed both

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

The squid worked--in the comic. Because the comic had time to set up subplots. The movie didn't have that luxury.

 

[Particulate]

I thought the movie ended things much, much better

 

[Kpt._Rob]

I loved the comic. I did feel that the decision to change the squid to Dr. Manhattan was a bad call. That said, it's a tiny mar on one hell of a gem. Watchmen is still one of my favorite movies ever. It may not get every last detail of the comic right (but it comes amazingly close), however it definitely got at the heart of the issues the comic raised. If you loved Watchmen, and are not so stubborn that you can't accept a single change, then you owe it to yourself to watch the movie. It's a masterpiece.

 

[thePyro_13]

I've only seen the movie, but I can't see how adding a giant alien... thing could add much to the story.

But then I have no idea what role it played.

 

[Sandernista]

The squid really seemed to come out of nowhere. Yes, there was that whole subplot of missing artists and writers or some shit. But how did that=giantvaginasquid?

Blaming it on Manhattan worked much better.

 

[Souplex]

Upon having now seen the movie, I can safely say they did it better.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

I didn't mind the movie ending, but it loses the whole point. You see, in the end, it was the artists and scientists that made the "alien" that saved the world, not the "superheroes" or the military. But artists and scientists...

 

[StBishop]

I don't approve or disapprove of the squid. I do disapprove of the lack of squid in the film.

 

[Tanis]

The problem with the movie ending is that Blue Balls was associated with the USA so his actions would have most likely STARTED a war...not ended them all.

The idea with the fake alien squid is that humanity would be united under a goal to advance against the outside threat.

Hopefully to the point that even when the invasion never came there would be such unity among humans that wars between them would be stupid anyways.
An 'archaic and foreign concept'

 

[Shoggoth2588]

What?! I thought I'd watched the movie all the way through but I guess I hadn't...I can't remember how it ends but...how the hell does the movie end if not with the giant fabricated squid?! What the hell!?! I guess in the context of this thread, I'm pro-squid but I can't remember how the movie ended...

 

[Wuggy]

What?! I thought I'd watched the movie all the way through but I guess I hadn't...I can't remember how it ends but...how the hell does the movie end if not with the giant fabricated squid?! What the hell!?! I guess in the context of this thread, I'm pro-squid but I can't remember how the movie ended...

The movie ended with Ozy faking Dr. Manhattan attack, which put out a message of "Stop this cold war bs right now or you're in a world of trouble."

Anyway, while I do think that the comic is superior to the movie, I do like the movie's ending solution better. The squid thing worked in the context of the comic... somewhat, but it still always felt a bit out of place for me. Therefore, while I don't like the movie as much as the comic (and trust me, I do like the movie a lot, the comic is just REALLY good), I do like the ending better.