The 'Watchmen' Trailer is HERE!
Filed under: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Noir, Mystery & Suspense, Warner Brothers, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and Clips
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Update:
Update 2: The trailer has now gone live over at Apple.
Update 3: Beautiful trailer stills in the gallery below ...
We could have embedded a half-decent YouTube version a few hours ago, but considering the movie we're dealing with (and owing in no small part to professional courtesy) we decided to wait for the official release of the very first Watchmen trailer. It's available (exclusively, for the time being) at Empire, although you'll almost definitely see the clip this weekend when you head out to see The Dark Knight. (Notice I didn't say "if.") Again, click here for the trailer.
Having read Moore & Gibbons' Watchmen only once -- and therefore being a relative newbie -- I cannot comment on the geek-tastic little pieces of minutiae that are undoubtedly bouncing through this trailer. Is Dr. Manhattan the right shade of blue? Does Rorshach's mask look accurate? How Batmanny does Nite Owl look? And what of the infamous newsstand? (Are there pirates?)
As a huge fan of trailers in general, I'd say this is a very well-balanced and powerful promo clip. Newcomers will see a stylish-looking adventure story full of weird-looking characters -- and the hardcore fans will probably really like what they see. (Plus that's one unique explosion I just saw.) I'll leave it to our resident comics wizards to delve a bit deeper. Well, our wizards and our readers, obviously.
Topics for discussion: The music. The costumes. The cast. The production design. The heart-crushing disappointment you'll feel if the movie sucks even though you know if probably won't. At all.










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-17-2008 @ 5:47PM
Andre Moraes said...
Oh My God!!!!
Having read the graphic novel few years ago, I have to pick up the books and look for some scenes depicted on this trailler. Wow!!
The Nite Owl ship is seems like the original. Dr. Manhattan looks scarier than any sequence on the comics and it's very, very fine to see the Rorsharch mask changing shapes, something I've seem only in my imagination.
Ok! If Zack Snyder manage to put the pieces together and the script live up to the graphic novel, I'll see the best movie of my life next summer! ;-)
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7-17-2008 @ 5:46PM
Beanie said...
Ho-LY S**t, that was amazing, I don't really know anything about watchmen but I seriously plan on reading this before the movie comes out.
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7-17-2008 @ 5:48PM
Chupacabra said...
Everything looks absolutely amazing and perfect! (Well I think Rorshach's mask should be a little shinier, but it's ok) I'm so glad that a lot of the action scenes from the novel will be nicely fleshed out in the movie. The visuals on the creation of the Mars castle thing were great. The Doc looks great. I'm so excited.
The newsstand was shown in the behind the scenes blog, and it looks perfect. The pirate story is going to be a DVD feature with Gerard Butler.
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7-17-2008 @ 6:00PM
scoville said...
And it's down.
Luckily I got it downloaded just in time.
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7-17-2008 @ 6:05PM
dukrous said...
Holy crap...they might actually pull it off.
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7-17-2008 @ 6:27PM
Elisabeth said...
WOW.
I'm speechless. I have goosebumps.
AMAZING TRAILER. If the movie is as *good* as this, we're in for a treat. If it's better...damn.
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7-17-2008 @ 6:47PM
Mr. R said...
Amazingly cool! But I dread having to wait a whole year in Dark Knight fashion, picking up scraps from the net, feeding on viral blood. The world is going mad. (that goes for T4 too)
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7-17-2008 @ 7:23PM
Johnny said...
Nice use of the remix of "The end is the beginning is the end".
Looks like something good came from "Batman & Robin" after-all. (What irony that it is in the can with The Dark Knight")
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7-17-2008 @ 7:43PM
Jim said...
That is an exciting trailer. The only problem is, I have no idea what the story is or what's going on - at all. Trailers usually convey a movie premise at least in some way, but this one is WAY too vague. Ok, the guy at the beginning seems to be transformed by electricity, but other than that, I'm not getting it. Until two days ago, I never even heard of Watchmen. Maybe they are assuming that everyone is familiar with the source material? Bad assumption. I'm a huge movie fan and pay (way too much) attention to entertainment goings on, but I have to be honest that I never heard of the comic this is based on. "The most celebrated graphic novel of all time"? Really? I'm not a comic book reader (excuse me...graphic novel reader), so that may be the problem. Still, I didn't need to be a comic book reader to have heard of Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Spider Man, The Fantastic Four, etc.
All that said, I'm not putting this movie down. Like I said, they put together an exciting/beautiful trailer that makes me want to actually go see the film. I just wish they did a little more to convey the story idea to those of us that aren't in the know.
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7-18-2008 @ 6:07PM
Ava said...
So Jim..
Haha sorry if I sound a bit on the defensive, but I'm a strong supporter of The Watchmen and your comment left me needing to reply. Basically a graphic novel is much more than the superhero COMIC STRIPS you referred to. Maybe you haven't heard of Watchmen, but have you heard of the Hugo Award? Not only did Watchmen receive that, but it is also on Time Magazine's top 100 novels in the English language since 1923 among such other classics as 1984, Lord of the Rings, and Catch-22. It's quite a big deal, my friend.
But besides that, I think this trailer was mainly for the Watchmen devotees who have been anxiously awaiting it. I'm sure a more descriptive one will be out eventually.
Until then, pick up a copy. It'll be worth it :)
7-17-2008 @ 10:59PM
Jim said...
Ava,
It's so interesting what people pick up on to reply to. My entire point was that the trailer didn't convey the story/premise - at all. I was not at all bashing comic books or graphic novels (just fucking with the people who get offended if you call it the wrong thing). No, I was pointing out that I didn't understand what the movie was about. Former Airline up there mentioned that it's more like an extended teaser, which, if true, makes perfect sense since teasers rarely spell out the plot; they merely suggest a movie. And no, Ava, I haven't heard of the Hugo Award or Catch-22. I don't read a lot of books nor do I give much credence to top 100 lists, especially since Yahoo! started giving their opinions on certain topics (The Killers is a top arena band of all time and Queen isn't? Yeah, I don't think so).
7-17-2008 @ 7:47PM
Peter Hall said...
Fuck me.
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7-17-2008 @ 8:03PM
estwo said...
wow.
wow.
wow.
that was incredible. so many of those scenes were moving, literal interpretations of the pages from the graphic novel.
unreal.
i almost screamed with delight at the end when dr. manhattan's glass gear structure started to take form... unbelievable!!!! i can't fathom waiting until next year to see this!! ARGH!
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7-17-2008 @ 8:40PM
gavesonerisma said...
that was so freekn sweet at last the song is being sung by the one and only Billy corgan......... yes! please correct me if im wrong.
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7-17-2008 @ 8:55PM
FormerAirline said...
Jim,
I think this is really like a teaser. Except, you know, it's the length of a typical trailer. Think of the first trailer that came out for The Dark Knight. Not one bit of footage. Just Bruce Wayne and Alfred talking over some dark visuals with a bit of the Joker's laugh at the end. Didn't give you much more than a hint about the plot, but it sure as hell got some people excited. Same thing here. Only of course much more exciting so since it's a FULL-LENGTH TRAILER! I'd rather have this and no indication of the plot (even though I've read the book several times) than a :30 teaser. After all, it's not coming out for another 9 months.
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7-17-2008 @ 10:19PM
Sam said...
If they don't cut out that 300-esque freeze-frame bullshit in the movie, I swear I'm going to chop Zack Snyder's nuts off.
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7-17-2008 @ 11:00PM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Given how awful 300 was, this looks good visually. But given that it's from Snyder and based on a pretty darn boring graphic novel (fascinating until about the last 1/3rd when the lack of a climax or really anything interesting kills it) I hold little hope it will be watchable.
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7-18-2008 @ 3:44AM
V.M.L. said...
*dies from being mesmerized*
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7-18-2008 @ 4:31AM
rorshach said...
OK, here's the skinny on Watchmen. It is literature in graphic novel form; it is not about saving the world, it is a serious meditation on the idea of "heroism" in general, and can be found as assigned reading in college classrooms across the country.
Watchmen refers to the Latin proverb "Quis custodiet custodes" loosely translated as "Who watches the watchmen?" Similar in premise to Christopher Nolan's take on Batman, the novel focuses on the personal demons of the Minutemen, the actual name for the group of heroes, their history both as a group of close-knit friends and as public figures. Think...The Incredibles, but not funny, sweet, or endearing, insomuch as there are no "likeable" characters. The Minutemen are heroes who have affairs, smoke, drink, and as time goes on, even hate each other.
It's really too much to explain in a blog forum post. It's an important book, and hopefully the film won't dumb it down too much for people who can't be bothered to pick up a fucking picture book for 2-3 hours. It's not a long read, but it is an important one, definitely up there with other serious works of the 20th century.
Jim, you're a horse's ass for not even trying to be a considerate debater by doing a little bit of research on the topic at hand.
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7-18-2008 @ 4:34AM
rorshach again said...
Yes, I'm replying to my own comment.
JIM!!!!
Why would you even post a comment saying "I don't know what the hell this is why would I want to see this movie"?
You obviously know how to work a web browser, so LOOK IT UP.