They've darned sure got the look right!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/index.html

Yeah, this actually looks surprisingly good -- though storywise, the journey was much more interesting than the goal. I'm curious to see if the screenplay will change any of the climactic details.

Trailer looks amazing. The shots of Dr. Manhattan are chill-inducing.

Looks like Zack Snyder is going to pull it off!

Saw the trailer today on GLORIOUS DIGITAL in front of The Dark Knight! With that trailer and the following incredible movie, I got a distinct stirring in my utilty belt.

I read the series more than 10 years ago, and though I don't remember it in a lot of detail, the trailer got me really excited.

This is cool, too. They're taking the graphic novel and adding depth and simple animation to bring it to life. Part 1 of this motion comic is free on iTunes:

http://www.ew.com/ew/static/watchmen/watchmen.html

Shawn Marshall
Portland, Oregon

Saw the trailer online this morning THEN on the big screen before THE DARK KNIGHT this afternoon...hopefully this will be the picture that makes Alan Moore change his mind about how Hollywood handles his stories...

Wow! Looks amazing!

The Owl's "ship" looks really cool. Character designs are spot on. But.....
I may be the only person in the world who wasn't blown away by the GN, it didn't really do much for me. Perhaps I should read it again?
I still consider Miller's "The Dark Knight" to be the greatest work in comics history and I'm not even sure Watchmen comes close.

The Owl's "ship" looks really cool. Character designs are spot on. But.....
I may be the only person in the world who wasn't blown away by the GN, it didn't really do much for me. Perhaps I should read it again?
I still consider Miller's "The Dark Knight" to be the greatest work in comics history and I'm not even sure Watchmen comes close.

I haven't read all that many graphic novels but "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns" are both the absolute zenith of the genre for me. Moore's creation of an entirely "new" Superhero universe which seamlessly incorporated 40 years of American comic book history was a brilliant accomplishment in its own right. Add to that the complex density of it's storyline - which had never been seen before in the world of "comics". "Watchmen" really is a "novel", whereas "The Dark Knight Returns" is closer to a truly great "short story". I love them both, and would definitely recommend
re-reading "Watchmen", Rich.

Granted, Moore "re-invented" a superhero universe, but as an avid comics reader in the 60's and gobbling up every DC, Marvel, Key and god knows what other off-brand comic superhero team, Watchmen didn't seem all that "new" or different to me. Heck, they seemed like riffs on the Blue Beetle.

Granted, Moore "re-invented" a superhero universe, but as an avid comics reader in the 60's and gobbling up every DC, Marvel, Key and god knows what other off-brand comic superhero team, Watchmen didn't seem all that "new" or different to me. Heck, they seemed like riffs on the Blue Beetle.

Well, they were loosely based on the 1960s Charlton Comics characters which DC had purchased the rights to. From Wikepedia:

Moore and Gibbons originally conceived of a story that would take "familiar old-fashioned superheroes into a completely new realm."[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen#cite_note-Blather_Moore_Interview-4) Initially, Moore looked towards the defunct MLJ Comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLJ_Comics) line of superheroes for inspiration. "I'd just started thinking about using the MLJ characters — the Archie super-heroes - just because they weren't being published at that time, and for all I knew, they might've been up for grabs. The initial concept would've had the 1960s-'70s rather lame version of the Shield (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shield_%28Archie%29) being found dead in the harbor, and then you'd probably have various other characters, including Jack Kirby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby)'s Private Strong, being drafted back in, and a murder mystery unfolding. I suppose I was just thinking, 'That'd be a good way to start a comic book: have a famous super-hero found dead.' As the mystery unraveled, we would be led deeper and deeper into the real heart of this super-hero's world, and shown a reality that was very different to the general public image of the super-hero. So, that was the idea."[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen#cite_note-Comic_Book_Artists_Interview-5)
Dick Giordano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Giordano), who had worked for Charlton Comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Comics), suggested using a cast of old Charlton characters that had recently been acquired by DC. However, the Charlton heroes were being slowly integrated into the normal DC continuity. Because Moore and Gibbons wanted to do a serious storyline in which some of the newly acquired characters would die and the world would be drastically altered by story's end, using the Charlton heroes was not feasible. Giordano then suggested that Moore and Gibbons simply start from scratch and create their own characters. So while certain characters in Watchmen are loosely based upon the Charlton characters (such as Dr. Manhattan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Manhattan), who was inspired by Captain Atom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Atom); Rorschach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_%28comics%29), who was based upon the Question (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_%28comics%29); and Nite Owl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nite_Owl), who was loosely based on the Blue Beetle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Beetle) as well as Batman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman)), Moore decided to create characters that ultimately would only casually resemble their Charlton counterparts.

Cool stuff. I wasn't aware of the background. I really like the Billy Corrigan song in the trailer. Really sets the mood.