I've stirred up the Trekkers' hornet's nest here.

I'm well aware of the success of the first film. If you would like to argue convincingly that any of the Star Trek films since IV (i.e., in the last 20+ years) have been overwhelming box office smashes that will compete with the new Terminator film, have at you. If not, then we agree that the new film is not going to be a significant box office threat to other franchises that have enjoyed more recent success.

The only reason First Contact was a modest success was because it was more of a sci-fi action film than any other Trek. The films from 1-4 were very successful, all ranking in the Top 10 grossing films of their respective years.

5 was a failure for many reasons: one, it had negative press, two it was lost in a sea of big budget sequels and Batman.

From then on, at that point interest in the series was dying. VI being a modest success was shocking, Generations would have made only half the money it did if it wasn't a crossover film.

Post First Contact the series tanked, because the next two films sucked big time and the Generations crew wasn't nearly as interesting as the original crew when it came to feature films.

I'm a huge Trek fan (mostly Original Series), but I will be the first to admit, the franchise's hey day has been over for at least 20 years.

Star Trek and Watchmen shouldn't be associated together...

Yeah, get this Trek talk to the Trek thread.

Pretty cool new Japanese trailer.

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Dammit. I was just about to post this.

Here's a widescreen version from YouTube.

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Anyone know the actor who's playing Nixon? IMDB doesn't list him.

I almost want to say it's a Fred Dalton Thompson uncredited cameo, but I can't imagine him agreeing to be in this movie, given his right-wing politics.

It's Jon Voight.

Well, at least

I've kept quiet all this time because honestly, other than the fact that they totally nailed the look of Rorschach (the voice is sadly a whole other story), I haven't seen anything I've liked regarding this film.

I think it's because, try as I might, I can't seem to lower my expectations of what I hoped this would be and nothing I've seen has met those expectations. Add to that the notion I can't seem to shake that this should have been a mini-series rather than a single feature film... I've been waiting a long time for a Watchmen movie and I can't believe I'm inclined to sit this one out.

But you know you won't, of course.

if you are a fan or not of Watchmen, this film ain't the type of film to avoid seeing in the theaters...it reminds me of the people who waited until Matrix was on DVD and never saw it in the theater.

RocShemp, if you are not entertained by the Watchmen film, I will send you a free dvd...

Well, that's just like, your opinion man I can see that some people COULD say they didn't nail the Rorschach VOICE, but you realize that it would differ from person to person because it depends how you imagined it when reading... I think Haley is doing a kickass job from what I've seen.

Watchmen fate to be decided on Jan 20th: http://thefilmstage.com/2009/01/07/w...-january-20th/

I hope the movie is just canceled, so that a bootleg of it circulates...and then after maybe 5 to 10 years, they release the film in the theaters...

Wasn't Clockwork Orange pulled from theaters shortly after release?

^^Kubrick pulled the film from being shown in England after some copycat ultra-violence crimes. It didn't play in theaters in England until 2000 after Kubrick's death.

Haley's voice work is exactly what I had in my head while reading Watchmen. Rorschach's voice was always gravely and low in my mind.

Exactly right...and considering they never describe it, I really don't know where he gets off saying the movie gets it wrong. Just kind of silly really, i won't see the movie because my possibly erroneous opinion of one of the many main character's voices is off, forget that many of the scenes of the movie are directly from the pages of the book. Worse that silly, actually.

Take the 163 minute expected runtime, add in the direct-to-dvd pirate movie, and the fact it's going to be later released in an extended director's cut like LOTR and we're talking a 4.5 hour movie. It practically is a mini-series.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/05/27/...t-dvd-planned/

I recently started reading it, and I could've sworn that they described it as a "low monotone voice", which to me sounds perfect in the trailers.

I'm not into actually reading comic books or that sort of thing, so reading through Watchmen before I see the movie is a new experience for me, and I'm loving every second of it. I love watching the trailers seeing things brought to life, and I certainly can't wait to watch the final film.

I never read a graphic novel until I read Watchmen just last month. I loved it, it was much more complex and interesting than my preconceived notions of a "comic book" led me to believe. I can't wait to see this movie.

Footage of the Minutemen:

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I never said I was refusing to see the movie because of Rorschach's voice. I said I'm gonna sit this one out because "try as I might, I can't seem to lower my expectations of what I hoped this would be and nothing I've seen has met those expectations". My expectations were (and still are) too high. I know I'm not going to enjoy this when I see it in theatres and maybe not ever unless I force myself to lower my expectations. I've tried and have yet to be successful.

Rorschach's voice is described in the graphic novel. Here are two ocassions I was able to remember and quickly reference. From capter 1 page 23 of the graphic novel:

From chapter 6 page 1:

No mention of a gravelly voice which is what I heard in that trailer. But that's a minor thing because, as I mentioned in my early post, I'm most satisfied with how they handled Rorschach.

I'm thinking more of when the project was offered to Terry Gilliam and he wanted to make a 10 (or was it 12) part mini-series because that would be the only way to get the whole scope of the graphic novel on screen.

Now that I liked.

What, exactly, are your expectations?

Rorschach's voice seems about right to me. I've always "heard" it as being low and gravelly in my head when I've read the book. With all of the hrms he drops in his speech, the book makes it come off that way.

"Monotone" just means that he doesn't change his inflection much when he speaks.

I've always heard Rorschach's voice differently when he's in and out of costume, though. When he's wearing the mask, coat, and fedora, he seems more "animated" to me than he does when he's not wearing them. The scenes later in the book, after he's unmasked, make him seem withdrawn and almost autistic.

The one voice I do have a problem with is Manhattan's. In the trailer, he sounds too human. When I've read the book, I don't really know what his voice would sound like, but I doubt it would be so mundane. Considering that he's more or less a talking, thinking blue star held in the shape of a man by the sheer force of his will...