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I didn't realize there were people who disliked this film.

Best line ever: “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with ME!!”

"Never compromise, even in the face of Armageddon" Rorschach's last words to his bitter end. Truly an underrated and over hated movie in almost every sense.

This movie was awesome. The story, the visual, the lack of cliche' villains and heroes (well, aside owl man), the music, the gore, everything. Perfection.

Christopher Nolan told Zack Snyder that Watchmen was a movie he made too early.

Jackie Earle Haley was born to play Rorschach.

Watchman was a beautifully crafted film that needs to be followed nowadays. Every single scene and detail in the movie had a purpose. Strong and gripping storyline. Great group of characters wonderfully acted by a great cast. We will probably never get movies like this again.

This film has the greatest opening sequence of any movie ever. With the Dylan music over the top, its just a thing of beauty.

I'll never forget one reviewer's take... "This is a movie where; Bat-man can't get it up, Super-man doesn't care, & the villain wants to save the world!" Perfect summary right there...

Watchmen 2009 wasn’t bad at all. It turned into a cult classic in my eyes

The cinematography and visuals of Watchmen is one of the best I've ever seen. Love the use of the alternative reality universe as well. It's exactly how it should be done, with informative details and thought provicative narratives. It's a really, really good movie and in my opinion perhaps THE best superhero movie around.

This film holds a special place in my heart... when this released I was going through a divorce... I was handed papers that things were final and I had to start gearing up for a custody battle... at the time I was contemplating all kinds of horrible reactions I went for a drive... passed by a theater on the otherside of town got a ticket and sat by myself and watched the watchmen... left the film with a different attitude called my ex and came to a reasonable solution... my daughter turned 18 the other day my ex and I are friendly to this day... and to think the things and actions I was considering could've sent me down a truly different path. Random I know.

Apparently no one was ready for this movie, considering the praise for The Boys.

“I did it 35 minutes ago.” That’s why Ozymandias is in my top 5 favorite villains

"Killing Millions!" "To save Billions, a necessary Crime." Dude, I can't. That whole Movie is absolute. This is just one of many, many, MANY parts that makes the Movie to my Absolute Favorite Piece, with Donnie darko.

So glad to see this get the love it deserves. the world simply wasnt ready for this kind of superhero film in 2009. if it came out in 2019? we would be praising it ...

"I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!!" - So many good lines in this movie. VERY underrated. EDIT: Holy shit! The drinker loved my comment!

"Was It Really That Bad?" What? One of the best movies ever.

I actually think the film has a better ending than the comic. Fake aliens just felt way our of place since it’s supposed to be somewhat realistic except for dr manhattan. The film framing dr manhattan makes way more sense considering the world is questioning if manhattan is on our side

Watchmen is Like Game of Thrones and the Avengers had a baby...

"was it really that bad?" Answer, no. Nope. Never was, never will be. I fucking love this film

I was thoroughly impressed with Jackie Earl Haley's performance. He was fantastic as Rorchach.

I loved this movie when it came out and still love it. Dark, gritty and morally ambiguous juxtaposed to the conventional "ra-ra save-the-day" superhero trope is awesome. I do feel that Moore, as is his habit as a writer, forces his characters into situations and resolutions that aren't always the most convincing. I'm not entirely sold that Ozy's solution was the only reasonable one, but I'm also not entirely convinced that the events that preceded this "inevitable Armageddon" would have actually resulted in said Armageddon, especially with the decades of God-powers of Dr Manhattan in play.

Loved the novel and loved the movie, which captured both the look and the vibe of the novel far better than I thought possible. As a piece of entertainment, it's flawed because it is complicated and has a lot of necessary exposition. As a work of art, it is a masterpiece.

“That bad”? I’m confused... is that a common opinion? This film has always been great. I didn’t know it was hated.

I’ve never heard anyone actually describe it as bad. Was pretty alright to me.

As someone who's completely unfamiliar with the source material, I loved the movie when it came out and I still do.

Somehow i feel a series like The Boys wouldn't exist today if there wasn't a Watchmen. Very different plotlines.. but the dark maturity of a world full of superheroes are right in line.

This should’ve just been a “The Drinker Recommends...” video. It’s actually one of my favorite comic book movies.

"None of you seem to understand... I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here WITH ME!!!" - Rorschach

From India, I remember WATCHMEN. I learnt that it was based on a famous graphic novel which I had never read. I like the movie because it was a very good contrarian to the superhero trope. And it was highly philosophical. Many of my colleagues did not understand it because as you have said, they expected a do- gooder superhero movie [which is every Indian movie that you know]. I later read the novel and I found that the movie was far more understood & relatable because all the superheroes had human foibles, contrasting the standard tropes of superhero comics. DR. MANHATTAN vs SUPERMAN, NIGHTOWL VS BATMAN, OZYMANDIAS VS IRONMAN. The only human was RORSCHACH & THE COMEDIAN, both of whom were the only CHARACTERS that stuck in your mind as well as all my friends. DR.MANHATTAN, also is a critique of GOD himself.

Simply a masterpiece, such an underated piece of cinema

Non-comic fans - "too depressing". Comic fans - "not drepressing enough."

“Used to come here often, back when we were partners.” “Yeah, those were great times, Rorschach. Great times. Whatever happened to them?” “You quit.”

This is my favorite film of all time (the Director’s Cut, that is.) I’m glad there’s countless individuals of like-mindedness who’re also fans of this cinematic masterpiece. You guys keep on rockin’!

I keep rewatching it...the extended version. The painted comic book look and lighting is masterful and the batman "knock off" is better than the real thing:)) Masterpiece!

Rorschach is probably the most satisfying character.

I actually really like this movie. Snyder’s best film.

I loved this film. Gonna watch it again because of your review reminds me how underated it was. It was dark gritty and had essence of film noir. Different and thought provoking which was great. But I like Jeffrey dean Morgan more so now as an actor so definitely worth a rewatch.

Whatever you think of his style, I think it's hard to argue that ZS doesn't have a deep appreciation and understanding for the source material and tries his best to do it justice. He digs deep into the themes, which I love. That is way more than can be said for just about anyone else cranking out super movies these days, particularly the create-by-committee production lines.

Who said it’s bad? The dark and mature theme, great acting, etc. if only movies could be like this again...

Watchmen (2009) - Was It Really That Bad? Was it ever bad? I liked it.

Together with The Babadook, Watchmen is one of my favorite movies over the last 15-20 years... No heroes, no villains, just different ideals. This movie teaches u a lot about mankind and society.

Glorious film, visually beautiful, strong character development, complex but compelling story, awesome action, thought provoking... what is there not to like 🤷🏻‍♂️

"Tells a story" That's something Watchmen does that a lot of comic book films don't do. Not in a trilogy, not in 22 films, but in one film with multiple character introductions. We're still getting Batman and Spider-Man origin rebooted origin stores and this gave us so much content.

Bad? No This movie is outstanding in almost every way possible.

I personally really liked Comedian and smiley references to him throughout the film. Somewhere in the movie was a line that said that Comedian understood the true nature of humanity and instead of trying to fight it, he became a parody of this human nature. It's fcng powerful, and, I guess, this is what these smiley things all along the movie were meant for. I watched both versions of this movie several times and it kind of felt like the story actually was about Comedian, or, let's say, the story felt like it was told from his point of view or his sense of morality. He died in the very beginning of the movie, but his spirit will live in the world till there aren't humans left at all. And the best thing that you can do about our bitter nature is just to turn it into a big sad savage unfunny fcng joke. Anyway, this movie and the first season of the true detective are ones of the few things that i'm willing to rewatch at almost any point of my life and every time I will feel something for them, and, guess, will feel something for me and humanity in general, too. So, that already pretty much means something

I was the second group, NEVER heard of Watchmen, went in expecting a regular superhero movie and was BLOWN AWAY!! THIS, next to the Dark Knight trilogy is the BEST Superhero movie EVER!! I wish they made prequels or movies about every single hero on their own as I would definitely watch them

The opening to the film with 'The Times They Are A'Changin' is still the absolute best intro I've seen from a comic book movie.

I never even expected to read the words, "Was it really that bad?" with regard to Watchmen.

The biggest problem with this movie was in choosing to use an explosion that used the same energy as Ozymandius was using in his public power stations. At that point, Rorschach didn't even need to send his journal to the papers...

This movie was ahead of its time. If it came out on Netflix 2-3 years ago it’ll be considered one of the greatest

“None of you seem to understand... I’m not locked in here with you. YOU’RE LOCKED IN HERE WITH ME!” - a true badass

I think Rorschach had the best line in the movie "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me"

This is absolutely the best breakdown review of Watchmen. I saw it in theatres without having read any of the graphic novels or knowing about the story, and I found the film absolutely captivating. I think maybe it's central issue for a lot of "mainstream" audiences is - like a lot of the text and sub-text of smart writing - you do kinda have to be at least slightly smart to fully appreciate what it's trying to say. On a slightly lighter note, the worst part of the film for me was the sex scene in Archimedes - not because of anything particularly the film did, but because I went to see it with the father of one of my son's friends from school who I barely knew, which just made it super awkward! It definitely felt like the longest part of the film! Anyway, thanks for this Drinker, been a watcher a long time now and I raise a glass to you regularly. Cheers!

As someone who would probably be called a filthy degenerate by Rorschach, he's my favourite character besides Dr.Manhatten. Because despite his flaws and hatred for the general public he still has a moral code and will do what he needs to do to protect the weak

Was it really that bad? The best super-hero movie in history.

Rorschach is so cemented in his beliefs that he even refuses to put on a jacket over his trenchcoat when he’s in Antarctica.

Didn’t know there was a graphic novel of this when I first saw it. One of the greatest superhero films ever made. Have watched this film numerous times and still love everything about it. The choice of having the Bob Dylan song “The Times they are a changing” playing over the opening montage and credits is brilliant. Perfectly cast film. Rorschach’s line in jail where he says “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me!” Is one of my favorite lines of the movie.

As far as comic adaptation, 9/10, so far ahead of other comic based movies. The extended directed cut is absolutely worth a watch all the way through and is a piece of meaningful story telling. I love it because it's a good story and it takes the time it needs to tell it, almost a little "Das Boot" .Most movies are just "economical", basic-entertaining-quick batta bim batta boom.

This is the film that paved the way for series like The Boys to be accepted in the modern times.

“They’ll scream save us.. and I’ll whisper.. No”... amazing acting and character

Enjoyed this film, had a lot going for it. I really wish we got a solo Rorschach film. Like a prequel. You’d see how he starts, how he evolves, his team ups with Owlman. And then how after he finds the missing girl, he changes and becomes ruthless. Leading upto events before, Watchmen. There would be a ton of stories and encounters he could have. The actor who played Rorschach is maybe too old now, so it’s a shame.

The smiley face on Mars is a real crater called Galle. Clever reference in the comic.

Watchmen: A missunderstood masterpiece.

Fun fact Watchmen actually takes place in an alternative DC Universe where the old Night Owl saves Thomas & Martha Wayne in that alley. So Bruce never becomes Batman 👍

I loved the movie. Given the source material, I expected a disaster but was pleasantly surprised. Rorshach was my favourite character because he shows that being uncompromising and pursuing truth will not be accepted in modern society. For me, he was like a character out of a Dostoyevsky novel.

I think this was one of the best films ever made and the best superhero film ever. People disliked it because that was the golden age of the romantic comedy. It didn't sit right with people.

This film has one of the best opening title sequences ever made.

"Men get arrested, dogs get put down."

I enjoyed it. The fight sequence between the killer and the Comedian is absolute PERFECTION! *You can see that The Watchmen heavily influenced The Boys.*

Completely agree! This was a tragically underrated film!

I found Matthew Goode absolutely hypnotic as Ozymandias. Jackie Earl Haley was definitely the other standout as Rohrshach. God, he nailed that character.

Rorschach's death is still one of the best i have ever seen. The pure Emotion on his Face and the rage consuming him, screaming at Dr. Manhattan to do it and therefore standing by his convictions to the bitter end is sublime.

This movie has the honor of having a place on the TOP 5 absolute best opening credits! The part of the movie where it flashes back to Dr. Manhattan’s beginnings was so well done, I had to rewind and start just that part over again twice.

The real issue with Watchmen is that it is so utterly tied to its mileau. It was written in a time with Reagan in the White House, "talking strongly" (and a good thing he was, but part of that is certainly hindsight, though I approved then, sensing what was going on), while the USSR was also responding by "talking strongly", with a hardliner like Andropov leading the place. It was a key peak of the Cold War, and the novel is written with the then perfectly reasonable idea that the Cold War was a Gordian Knot that would require some kind of magical sidestep to break. And that very much was the central idea of it -- Adrian, modelling himself after Alexander The Great, approaches it as Alexander did the Gordian Knot, and sets up an alternative. The simple fact is, if you'd said to ANYONE in 1985 that the USSR would simply fizzle itself out just five years into the future, they would have called you a freakin' LOONY. Such a notion was not merely inconceivable, it was preposterous. But, unless you lived through it, you really can't grasp that idea, because we DO live in a universe where the preposterously unlikely thing happened. Where you did not need a sword to cut the Gordian Knot problem of the Cold War. It unraveled all by itself, to the amazement of all. And thus it's no surprise that Watchmen, which does a fairly successful job of boiling down the story to its key points, failed with audiences, many, if not most, of whom had no real feel for what it actually felt like in 1985. You probably had to be 15 in 1985 to really grasp the situation as an adult might, meaning you were 39 in 2009. That's not the primary audience for movies these days. P.S., There is no question that Alan Moore is/was the greatest writer in comic book history. Not only did he do Watchmen and V for Vendetta, but he also took not just one but *TWO* existing, established series with a moderately large background canon (Marvelman and Swamp Thing), and then he reset them both, NOT by just doing a massive retcon, but by saying, "All of that happened, just exactly as we were told... but you were not aware of the whole of things, the context in which it actually was taking place.... here is what that context was..." and took both into far more mature, intellectually deep territory than the original source. Now, this is not to denigrate anyone else in any way. One may have other criteria for "greatest writer" and I'm fine with that. Lots of people have done impressive stuff. And I will state that I consider Will Eisner to best Moore in terms of being both a graphical storyteller and he was as inventive as an artist as he was a writer (Moore just writes, while Eisner established many many **tropes** for visual storytelling). And certainly there are others with more widely known works -- Siegel and Schuster, Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Al Williamson and Wally Wood, and so forth. I personally put Moore up there based on the richly layered elements of Watchmen, as well as the impressive "reboot-without-retcon" of not just one but TWO established series.

The bloke who played Rorschach did an incredibly good job.

Can’t believe this didn’t crush it at the movies. The writing is phenomenal.

Watchmen is the ultimate example of a fantastic movie that doesn't have an audience other than people that like it

Watchmen, Brandon Lee’s The Crow and Sin City are some of my favorite graphic novel movies. Only thing this movie was missing, was an ‘inter-dimensional’ tentacle monster. Haven’t read the comic book for Watchmen in decades, but I’m fairly certain that there was a monster… Or, I’m tripping again. Another movie that encapsulates it’s homage to graphic novels (or, in this case manga) is the film Kung-Fu Hustle, it feels like an anime or over the top manga, and I feel it’s an overlooked masterpiece.

"There are no clear heroes and villains." "There ain't no good guys There ain't no bad guys There's only you and me And we just disagree"

When I read the title I was like Wait, people consider this bad? I always thought it was a pretty good movie

I think it does an admirable job of adapting a pretty hard work to adapt. In my opinion it captures the essence of the work in a similar way that Peter Jackson did with The Lord of th Rings.

Absolutely loved this movie. I was surprised how faithful it was to the comics. This movie and Sin City are by far my favorite comic adaptations.

I think the Comedian was a psychopath, and he called himself "comedian" because it was a grand joke that he could hurt people to his heart's content and be called a hero for it.

The good thing about this movie, is that it gave Jackie Earl Halley the perfect platform for his ability.

I just watched it a few days ago. Probably the greatest comic film I've watched this year

Just re-watched this review, and wow Mr Drinker, I couldn't have put it better...literally. You seem to be able to articulate an objective view of popular film making, that is informative, educational (certainly for me, who loves good film making as good story telling, but has no formal education in the subject), and at times hilariously funny. Well done again. Oh, by the way, it's a good film.

This movie was way way WAY ahead of it's time. This movie would fit right in now if it came out today.

Bad ??? The movie is awesome. It is rare that I am able to finish a 3 hour movie in one viewing.

I thought it was successful when it first came out. I was 14 and I remember the theater being packed. I didn’t think people hated it so much, Watchmen was ahead of its time.

I went to the cinema expecting the upbeat comic book flick as you say but I was wowed but what I saw. Some bits have stuck with me despite only seeing it once. One being Silk Spectres origin and importance as revealed by Dr. Manhattan.

The opening credits were a masterpiece on their own.

One of the best lines of the film: "It rains on the just and the unjust alike."

Literally the best superhero movie ever made. Dark tone, mature, realistic and very heavy emotionally. Absolutely loved it to bits from start to finish. The only issue I have with it is what happened to Rorschach in the end. That shit was sad AF. The best character got the worst treatment possible for no reason. Storytelling, writing, direction and characters were all beautiful. Top film. 10/10. I got literal chills in it so many times because it was so good. All of the actors and actresses were fantastic. The music was perfect, visuals were perfect, cinematography was perfect and sound design was amazing. Such an enjoyable ride. Best DC film and the most awesome and badass squad as well.

I wasn’t aware that there were people who didn’t think this film was anything but brilliant!

Did anyone else notice how Matthew Goode, who plays Adrian Veidt in the movie, gives him a perfect American accent during public interviews, but a slight (very slight) German accent when he's amongst friends?

Still has one of the best opening sequences EVER, with Bob Dylan's The times they are a changin the perfect song choice.

Most grounded super hero film I've Watchedmen! Blade is the closest thing to it.