- "This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll whisper "no.""
- ―Rorschach
| Watchmen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | Watchmen |
| Genres: | Action Superhero fantasy |
| Directed by: | Zack Snyder |
| Written by: | David Hayter; Alex Tse |
| Produced by: | Herbert W. Gains; Thomas Tull; Deborah Snyder; Wesley Coller; Lawrence Gordon; Lloyd Levin |
| Music by: | Tyler Bates |
| Cinematography: | Larry Fong |
| Edited by: | William Hoy |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | DC Comics Warner Bros. Paramount Pictures Legendary Entertainment Lawrence Gordon Productions |
| Released: | March 6th, 2009 |
| Rating: | R |
| Running time: | 162 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $130,000,000 [1] |
| Gross: | $107,509,799 (US) [1] $77,873,014 (International) [1] $185,382,813 (Worldwide) [1] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
Watchmen is an American feature film of the superhero fantasy genre. It is based on the popular Watchmen comic book limited series by author Alan Moore & artist Dave Gibbons published by DC Comics in 1986-1987. The film was directed by Zack Snyder with a screenplay written by David Hayter and Alex Tse. It was produced by DC Comics and Lawrence Gordon Productions in association with Legendary Entertainment. It was distributed through Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. The movie premiered in London, England on February 23rd, 2009. It was released in both standard version and IMAX version in the United States on March 6th, 2009.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Malin Akerman | Silk Spectre, Laurie Jupiter |
| Billy Crudup | Dr. Manhattan, Jon Osterman |
| Matthew Goode | Ozymandias, Adrian Veidt |
| Jackie Earle Haley | Rorschach, Walter Kovacs |
| Jeffrey Dean Morgan | The Comedian, Edward Blake |
| Patrick Wilson | Nite Owl, Dan Dreiberg |
| Carla Gugino | Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter |
| Matt Frewer | Moloch |
| Stephen McHattie | Hollis Mason |
| Laura Mennell | Janey Slater |
| Rob LaBelle | Wally Weaver |
| James Michael Connor | Pat Buchanan |
| Mary Ann Burger | Eleanor Clift |
| John Shaw | Doug Roth |
| Robert Wisden | Richard Nixon |
| Jerry Wasserman | Detective Fine |
| Don Thompson | Detective Gallagher |
| Frank Novak | Henry Kissinger |
| Sean Allan | NORAD general |
| Garry Chalk | NORAD general |
| Ron Fassler | Ted Koppel |
| Stephanie Belding | Janet Black |
| Michael Kopsa | Paul Klein |
| William Taylor | Prison psychiatrist |
| Chris Burns | Dumb thug |
| Malcolm Scott | Fat thug |
| Danny Wattley | Huge prisoner |
| Nhi Do | Vietnamese girl |
| Walter Addison | Lee Iacocca |
| Keith Martin Gordey | Auto CEO |
| David Mackay | Child murderer |
| Fulvio Cecere | Agent Forbes |
| Ted Cole | Dick Cavett |
| Mark Acheson | Large man at Happy Harry's |
| John Destry | Happy Harry's bartender |
| Christopher Gauthier | Seymour |
| L. Harvey Gold | New Frontiersman editor |
| Jay Brazeau | News vendor |
| Jesse Reid | Teenager at newsstand |
| Manoj Sood | Karnak scientist |
| Dan Payne | Dollar Bill |
| Niall Matter | Mothman |
| Apollonia Vanova | Silhouette |
| Glenn Ennis | Hooded Justice |
| Darryl Scheelar | Captain Metropolis |
| Clint Carleton | Young Hollis Mason |
| Mike Carpenter | Young Moloch |
| Leah Gibson | Silhouette's girlfriend |
Notes[]
- DC Comics published the original Watchmen comic book limited series between September, 1986 and October, 1987. The series was written by British author Alan Moore with illustrations by Dave Gibbons and coloring by John Higgins. The series received widespread critical acclaim, earning multiple awards including the Squiddy Award for Favorite Limited Series, the Kirby Award for Best New Series, and the Eisner Award for best Finite Series. It is claimed by many for permanently evolving the comic book landscape, paving the way for a cottage industry of mature readership titles.
- Production on Watchmen began on September 17th, 2007. Principal filming concluded on February 19th, 2008. The movie was filmed entirely in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. [2]
- At its widest release, Watchmen was in release for a total of forty-three weeks (301 days). It was screened in 3,611 movie theaters. [1]
- A television sequel to Watchmen aired on HBO in 2019. The series takes place thirty-four years after the events of the original comic book story. The only characters common to the comic series, the feature film and the TV series are Adrian Veidt, Jon Osterman, and Laurie Jupiter.
- An animated film short Tales of the Black Freighter, which is based on an in-story comic strip from the Watchmen comic was created as a separate companion piece to the film. In the spirit of how it was presented in the original story, Tales of the Black Freighter was included in the feature film on the Watchmen: Ultimate Cut release of the film.
- One of the major differences between the film and the comic book series is the ending. In the film, Ozymandias intends on unifying the United States and the Soviet Union by way of shared trauma through the detonation of multiple energy reactors, which will be blamed on Doctor Manhattan. In the comics, Ozymandias opened a space portal and a giant squid monster attacked the world, thus unifying all nations against a common threat. The HBO television series adheres to the squid monster ending rather than the nuclear reactor ending.
- Actor James M. Connor is credited as James Micheal Connor in this film (Note the mis-spelling of "Michael").
- Actor William S. Taylor is credited as William Taylor in this film.
- The theatrical cut of the film was released as a single-disc DVD in widescreen format by Warner Bros. in 2009. [3]
- Watchman: The Ultimate Cut was released as a three-disc 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray by Warner Bros. on July 19th, 2016. [4] This edition includes the Tales of the Black Freighter animated short re-inserted into the film. It also includes an "Under the Hood" pseudo-documentary, which is the autobiography of the character of Hollis Mason. The running time on the 4K edition is 3 hours and 35 minutes. [5]
- This movie was released as a triple feature Blu-ray along with V for Vendetta (also based on an Alan Moore story) and Constantine. It was released by Warner Bros. on January 3rd, 2012. [6]
Fun Facts[]
- The tagline to this film is "Justice is coming to all of us, no matter what we do". A more well-known tagline from the comic book series is "Who watches the Watchmen?"
- The name of the super-hero team presented in both the film and the source material is the Minutemen. There is no group called the Watchmen.
- One of the more iconic images associated with this franchise is a smiley face button with blood splatter upon it. In the context of the movie, this relates to a pin that The Comedian was wearing on the night he was murdered. A blood-smeared smiley face pin is seen dropping onto the street.
- Director Zack Snyder would go on to direct several feature films based on comic books including 300, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
- Actor Gerard Butler provides a voice on the Tales of the Black Freighter animated short. Butler also played the role of King Leonidas in 300, another film directed by Zack Snyder based on an independent comic book project.
- Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays The Comedian, will one day be cast to play a role in season three of the Amazon series The Boys. Like Watchmen, The Boys is based on a comic book series, which offers an alternative and decidedly negative presentation of the superhero fantasy genre.
- Due to the publishing standards of the time, Doctor Manhattan from the comics is never presented fully nude and is seen wearing black bikini briefs. In the film however, his giant blue dong is a'swingin'!
- Actor Matt Frewer also appeared in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, which was also directed by Zack Snyder.
- Actors Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan have both appeared on separate television programs that aired on AMC that were based on comic books. Jackie Earle Haley played Odin Qiuncannon in season one of Preacher, based on a DC Comics/Vertigo title, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan played Negan on The Walking Dead, based on an Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment title. Both characters served as antagonists in their respective projects.
- Actors Malin Akerman and Jeffrey Dean Morgan also appeared together in the 2018 film Rampage, which was based on a video game by Bally Midway.
- Actor Eli Snyder, who has an uncredited role as young Walter Kovacs in flashback scenes, is the son of director Zack Snyder.
Recommendations[]
Superhero films
See also[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Box Office Mojo; Watchmen (2009); Title Summary; Grosses.
- ↑ IMDB; Watchmen (2009); Filming & Production.
- ↑ Amazon.com; Watchmen; DVD. Widescreen Edition.
- ↑ Amazon.com; Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut; 4K Ultra HD 3-disc Blu-ray; Product details.
- ↑ Collider.com; "Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut DVD Review; Sullivan, Michael (11-07-09).
- ↑ Amazon.com; V for Vendetta/Watchman/Constantine Triple Feature; Blu-ray. Warner Bros. (01-03-2012); Product details.