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I really enjoyed this edit. The editing together of under the hood and the extended cut did indeed feel more like the graphic novel, and i appreciated the changes in music, although only the opening credits felt weaker to me. I really liked Bob Dylan there, but maybe I'm alone in this. Regardless, great choice using Phillip Glass and his haunting music. The film felt better fleshed out, and I didn't find the headings/cuts to under the hood too distracting. The intermission felt unnecessary though. I just fast forwarded it, as others may do as well. We're used to long dvd's (aka lord of the rings) and I also found it odd that the under the hood segments abruptly ended. Did you try spreading them across the whole film? Perhaps that was distracting in the climax of the film. Removing the super human feats was also appreciated, and thank you very much for getting rid of the Halleluia sex scene! Talk about unintentional laughs. Ah one more thing, I would have removed the line after Rorschach says "gotta use the men's room" and you" and silk spectre says "aww you gotta be kidding me". Bad joke, poor delivery. But that's all. Very enjoyable edit, improved the original. Great work and congrats on Edit of the Month!
Definitely not! I - along with all my friends, including the ones who hated the film - loved the opening, and thought it was the one change that was brilliant. The credit sequence is a postmodern masterpiece that totally understands the comic while adding a nice little twist of its own.
And I never tire of pointing out that the Hallelujah moment (which is indeed cringe-inducing) is EXACTLY the same in the comic. People just never cringed quite as badly because the lyric was printed on the page instead of sung, but it's the exact same thing so don't knock Snyder for replicating it. It was always meant to be cheesy. (Knock him for the stupid feats of superheroism and overreliance on slo-mo.)
Interesting, I had forgotten that the hallelujah moment was in the book. Regardless, these things sometimes don't translate to film all that well, and maybe that idea should have been adapted differently? I prefer the Midnight version...
Yes if we had everything exctly like in the book, then that would have meant Nightowl having to pilot Archie from the roof because of all the people taking up cabin space.
Well, if we had everything exactly like the book, we would have had a smart parody of comic book movies without trying so hard to make the movie look and feel awesome.
And I never tire of pointing out that the Hallelujah moment (which is indeed cringe-inducing) is EXACTLY the same in the comic. People just never cringed quite as badly because the lyric was printed on the page instead of sung, but it's the exact same thing so don't knock Snyder for replicating it. It was always meant to be cheesy. (Knock him for the stupid feats of superheroism and overreliance on slo-mo.)
I just had a quick re-read of the graphic novel, and can't figure out what you are talking about. There is no mention of Hallelujah in the comic. They have sex in silence from what I can see. There is the panel of Archie 'firing' into the air at the 'climax' of the scene, but no sign of Leonard Cohen anywhere. Which part were you referring to?
I just had a quick re-read of the graphic novel, and can't figure out what you are talking about. There is no mention of Hallelujah in the comic. They have sex in silence from what I can see. There is the panel of Archie 'firing' into the air at the 'climax' of the scene, but no sign of Leonard Cohen anywhere. Which part were you referring to?
Correct, there is no Leonard Cohen "Hallelujah" song referenced in the comic (thankfully). The "Hallelujah" moment that theslime is talking about is most likely the comic book panel depicting Archie firing a flamethrower at the moment of climax for Nite Owl. It was a casual visual joke in the comic book at the end of a brief love scene, but in Zack Snyder's film it is the opposite: the flamethrower shot is a loud, obnoxious conclusion to a very overlong and embarrassing sex scene. For that reason, I cut the shot and but re-edited the sex scene to be more brief, more tasteful, and more like the way it was in the comic: Nite Owl and Silk Spectre undress, they embrace, and the scene ends. The difference is that in the comic the scene ends with the panel of the flamethrower shooting off, which I cut for reasons I just discussed. However, I think the viewer gets the idea that they had sex, haha.
I'd post this review onto the official page for it, but for some reason I've always had problems signing in on film pages to post reviews - when I click the sign in button it says my account doesn't exist, then when I click the 'Register to FE' button it says I'm already registered and I'm signed in... Anyway here it goes, hope you enjoy the read!
Introduction
Back when Watchmen was released in 2009, the feedback and reviews it received were on wildly different ends of the spectrum. Some loved how true it stayed to the comic while others criticized it for this very reason, arguing it's complex narrative structure is only easy to understand to those who read the comics. As a result there have been two clear types of fanedit for Watchmen - those that try to make it stand more independently from the comics, and those that try to make it more true to the comics. Upon hearing about the film I decided it was about time that I got around to reading the comic, and although I found it slow to read through at times I was astounded by it's thematic and narrative depth. Since I read the comic just before the films release, I was interested solely in the latter kind of edit, as to me any attempts to make the film shorter than it is will only weaken it's strengths IMO, most of which is due to it's reverence to the comic. Yet even in the first place, the film wasn't particularly great. It was frame-by-frame and word-by-word the same as the comic, so having enjoyed the comic I should have enjoyed the movie. But I always found something... Off about it. It felt to me as if the film moved at a very slow and plodding pace for some reason, and nothing (apart from the fantastic Dr. Manhattan sections) about the characters or story made me truly care about what was happening, no matter how well-written or developed they were in scripting terms. Yet having enjoyed the comic, I started to believe that if I found an edit that remained truer to the comics, I would be able to enjoy the film more. And so I approached Watchmen: Midnight hoping this would be the edit I was looking for.
The Changes
Compared to other fan edits, Watchmen: Midnight is surprisingly minimal in it's approach. While it runs 40 minutes longer than the theatrical cut, it simply includes content that makes the film closer to the comic's original structure. There is no single change that dramatically changes the film on the whole, as the edit only expends on core film's themes, story, characters and ideas. It feels more like a deleted scenes edition than a true fan edit in this regard.
The most immediate change is the newly cut opening. Now you do not see the full opening fight as you do in the original film - instead, flashes of the introduction fight scene are inter-cut with the following police investigation at Blake's apartment, thus matching the original comic's opening. Another noticeable addition is that many of the music-focused moments in the film have now been changed to include tracks from Philip Glass, in order to re-create the darker mood of the original comic to a better degree. You also begin to see that most of the extreme violence has been trimmed, and many of the fight scenes are as well. The comic had it's fair share of ultraviolence, but these moments were approached with a certain degree of realism and grittiness that Zack totally discarded in his direction of the action scenes in the original film. But of all these changes, the two adjustments that account for most of the extended running time are the new title chapters and the Under the Hood segments. The inclusion of title chapters and quotes at key sections of the film match the comic's conclusion to each chapter. The introduction of segments from Under the Hood is because this was originally part of the comic, but included separately on the 'Tales of the Black Freighter' DVD/Blu-Ray instead of being part of the film. Finally small trims are done throughout the film related to unnecessary or poorly done additions to the film, like shortening the sex scene so it feels less excessive. Did I mention in the original comic it's a fifth of a page long?
Entertainment Value
Right from the first 2 minutes of the edit I knew it would be a fantastic one. The new opening credits and the cut to the police investigation drew me in immediately compared to the original slow motion fight, which I always found to be... Well, slow. And not particularly good, either. By cutting straight into the police investigation the audience is drawn in MUCH quicker because we naturally want to know about what happened and how the person involved was killed. The first 30-45 minutes were much more dynamic as a result because you were more invested as you wanted to find out more about the person involved as well. The smaller cuts throughout the film in many cases acted to help it and improve the pace of it, such as the God-awful sex scene being trimmed to such a bearable degree I raised my eyebrows by how well-done it was.
The music choice was quite appropriate throughout and the use of Philip Glass was a good one - his music is too understated to stand up well compared to the rest of the Watchmen soundtrack, but it was suitably moody and accompanied the scenes it was used as replacement music for as well. I was surprised by how much I appreciated the cut to the violence in the film. I always thought that it was already quite dialogue-heavy and trimming the fight scenes would make it too boring, but I was glad with how well the shorter versions of the scenes worked. I never missed a single moment of violence that was cut.
The inclusion of the chapter titles and end quotes was brilliant. It really added to the film IMO because it helped the pacing so much by making it so clear when an important section of events had been done. It seemed only a natural inclusion into the original film. The quotes as well were great because they often reflected what just occurred and gave the audience a moment to reflect. The intermission was a wise decision and placed in a good spot, although not as quite as half-way through the film as I was hoping it would be. Finally the addition of Under the Hood worked surprisingly well once more, and it was very cleverly edited into the film without ever feeling disjointed. Now whether it was a necessary decision and really added to the Watchmen adaptation or not, I'm not so sure... But I enjoyed it nonetheless, so I guess it was.
I was always disappointed with the original Watchmen film. It was so wonderfully reverent to the original material and retained so many smaller details of the comic. But I always found it painfully slow and it was a real chore whenever I wanted to watch it. It plodded along and I never really felt connected to anything happening (save for the Dr Manhattan segments which are fantastic in all versions of the film). Watchmen: Midnight runs a whole 40 minutes longer than the original, but somehow it managed to draw me in that much quicker and made me actually care for what was going on - even if it maintains some of the same issues as the original film. And so for that, I rate the original a 5/10 while Watchmen: Midnight is an 8/10.
Editing
I was shocked at what a smooth viewing experience this was. Not a single bad cut throughout the entire film, everything was unnoticeable and flawless. The edit for implementing Under The Hood was of significant note because it never seemed off, with it appearing as if Hollis Mason was watching it on a television working as a perfect device for it's inclusion. The only problem was with the approach to the titles and quotes, as many of the quotes were included smoothly but the titles were always a bit jarring or rough. But the edit was such a great improvement on the film as a whole that this is a VERY minor problem with the editing, so it gets a 9.5/10 on the whole.
Presentation
The only real bad aspect of the edit. There's nothing wrong with it per-say, it's just extremely basic. The menu is a kind-of blurry picture with some looping music and your only options are to play the movie and scene selections. There are no bonus features of any kind. But the edit doesn't really need it as the video and audio quality were very good for a DVD. Since it only does what it's supposed to do, a 7/10.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Watchmen: Midnight is one of my favorite edits of all time right now because it has made me truly enjoy this adaption of a masterpiece of a comic. The sluggish pacing and empty, soul-less feel of the original film was replaced with a steady pace and a general mood of thoughtfulness. Is this a perfect adaption or the perfect movie? No. But what it has done is turned a slightly muddled superhero film with some interesting ideas and themes into a good superhero film with some great ideas and themes. Overall, the edit is a 9/10.
I have also faced that Wordpress login error whenever I've tried to post a review on a fanedit's profile page -- anyhow, it would be great if your review could be included on the Watchmen: Midnight page
I would have liked to include special features on the Watchmen: Midnight disc, but since it is such a long film and I wanted to fit it on a single dual-layer DVD, I chose to present the film with the best quality picture with minimal image compression. I suppose if I had I split the film across two discs there would have been room on the final disc for features.
I like it how it is, I can't stand when films take more than one disc. If you do a special features release in the future (perhaps with Ultimate Midnight ) please just put those on a second disc instead of splitting the movie.
Nothing takes me out of a film more than having to take the film out for the changeover.
Any plans on a V.2 of this??
It seems as if some on here do have interesting takes how to improve the film, so... I'd like to see if you got any plans.
Not sure why it took me so long to get around to watching this,
but I am glad I finally did!
The original WATCHMEN comic mini-series is considered by many as a seminal piece of work, forever influencing how comic tales are woven and presented. I read the Watchmen series when it was first released, and while I acknowledge it is an amazing piece of graphic literature, it never held a fond a fond place in my comic book library... its superhero world a bit too grim and gritty, too fatalistic and cynical for my personal tastes.
That said, the idea of translating it into a motion picture I found to be a fascinating one, and over the years I followed its many starts and stops in movie development with great interest. When Zac Snyder's opus finally arrived on screen in 2009, I was there on opening night filled with curious anticipation. When the movie ended two plus hours later, and the lights came up and my buddies asked what I thought, I just sort of shrugged "meh".
I did not hate it. I did not love it.
It had some great moments. It had some very dull moments. And some very "nuking the fridge" moments.
But mostly, it felt lacking in characters development. I never truly felt connected or invested in the characters' journey.
So when reading Flixcapacitor's intention was to try to improve the overall depth of the characters, I was very intrigued. And now after watching this epic edit, I think for the most part, he was very successful.
I very much enjoyed the new structure of the story with it's chapter breaks and "Under the Hood" segments. For me, it gave the narration a more "episodic" feel, almost as though each chapter was an issue of the comic book. It also a lent a greater dramatic quality to many scenes, that for me, were lacking in the original.
I know much has been made of the music replacement in this edit. For me, 90% of the new music worked. But as some other reviewers pointed out, some of the music scenes could have played better if the editor had recut them tighter to time with the replacement tracks. Though the new version of the Archie love scene is a vast and superior improvement. For as much as I love Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", when that song played during the love scene, the movie officially "nuked the fridge" for me!
The editor shows a great talent for storytelling, as the restructured and added/deleted scenes all work very well and improve the over all viewing experience considerably.
The technical work is excellent. Picture quality is equal to the original source material. The audio work is very well done. All the cuts are clean. The only thing I noticed was one ghost frame of the Intermission title card.
So all in all, I found this edit to a significant improvement over the original version. It is still a flawed and shallow movie for me, but this is no fault of the editor, as he can only work with the material available. And while still not a "must see" movie experience for me, it is definitely my now preferred version of the story.
Any plans on a V.2 of this??
It seems as if some on here do have interesting takes how to improve the film, so... I'd like to see if you got any plans.
I really appreciate all the ideas that have been suggested for a hypothetical version 2 of Watchmen: Midnight
In order to differentiate between version 1, it was suggested that I could title it: "Watchmen: Ultimate Midnight" to follow the example set forth by the DVD/Blu-ray releases, but since my fanedit is an effort to reshape Watchmen into something closer to the original comics, I think it would be interesting if the title for a hypothetical version 2 would take inspiration from the excellent "Absolute Watchmen" hardcover edition book. So the title could be something like: "Watchmen: Absolute Midnight" or "Absolute Watchmen: Midnight."
The editor shows a great talent for storytelling, as the restructured and added/deleted scenes all work very well and improve the over all viewing experience considerably.
The technical work is excellent. Picture quality is equal to the original source material. The audio work is very well done. All the cuts are clean. The only thing I noticed was one ghost frame of the Intermission title card.
As my first fanedit, this was a great learning process as well as lots of fun. It was a challenge to cram a 3-hour feature into a DVD9 and for the sake of audio/video quality I decided against making a DVD5 version.
I was unable to find a ghost frame with the Intermission title card when I checked my master DVD, so I wonder if it was caused by a slight glitch during your playback?
bionicbob said:
So all in all, I found this edit to a significant improvement over the original version. It is still a flawed and shallow movie for me, but this is no fault of the editor, as he can only work with the material available. And while still not a "must see" movie experience for me, it is definitely my now preferred version of the story.
