Hey folks, Harry here... Seems they showed the exact same block of footage we got at BNAT 10, and dear god was that cool. Here's a rundown of the footage and how it made these two go all heart irises and floaty huggy love...

Hey Harry,

I don't think anyone's reported this yet on the site but earlier today I caught the first 18 minutes of Watchmen along with another 20-30 sec. clip from a later scene at the NYC Comic Con. First let me clarify that I'm currently reading the graphic novel for the first time and am towards the end. The last I left off in my reading Rorshach and Nite Owl are on their way to Antarctic. So I haven't had this story built up in my mind for many years like others and I have no opinion whatsoever about The Squid, though the panel again confirmed that The Squid is not in the movie or in deleted material but said they used another "MacGuffin."

Anyway, the footage I've seen is AWESOME. I'm sure the diehard fans will find some trivial details to complain about but I don't know what there is to complain about. The film starts with a yellow Warner Brothers logo that somehow (I forget) transitions into the yellow of Blake's smiley face pin. Blake’s watching television and Snyder takes us inside Blake’s TV as he watches a political news show. The panel is discussing some speech President Nixon gave and we see a quick clip Nixon speaking. The show’s panel discusses the doomsday clock and they disagree over whether Dr. Manhattan’s presence is helping matters or pushing us closer to nuclear annihilation.

As Blake starts flipping channels we see below the door the shadow of two feet. Suddenly the door is busted down with a figure in black on the other side as Blake says, “Just a matter of time, I suppose” as we see in the trailer. A several minute fight sequence follows where Blake does really well but where it’s clear that he’s met his match. After he gets his ass kicked, a drop of blood falls onto the smiley face pin as he’s resigned himself to his fate. His opponent picks him up and tosses him out the window. He falls in slow motion with the smiley face pin right behind him and then both hit the ground.

There’s another transition involving the smiley face pin that takes us into the main titles sequence. As the titles play to Dylan’s original version of “The Times They Are A-Changing,” we’re treated to a lengthy sequence chronically the back story to Watchman-verse. Moments that stand out are The Minutemen posing for the famous group photo, an alternative version of the classic V-Day photo moment in Time Square where it’s Silhouette kissing the girl instead of the sailor, Mothman being carried away by men in white coats, photographers shooting Dollar Bill’s dead body in the revolving door, young Rorshach watching as his mother shows out another customer, an altered archival shot of Kennedy shaking hands with Dr. Manhattan, Kennedy being shot in Dallas by The Comedian behind the grassy knoll, shots of the various superhero gatherings, and Nixon coming to power. The last shot of the titles sequence is the shot from the first trailer of protesters against the vigilantes and the
explosion that consumes the screen.

The titles end and now the detectives investigate Blake’s apartment. They see he was in great shape and that the window was particularly strong suggesting he may have been thrown out. They then find a photo of him with the president. They wonder if he was a spook. The camera then zooms out through the window and across the city. We somehow get to Rorshach down below discovering the smiley face pin and we hear Rorshach’s journal as he uses a Batman-like grappling hook gadget to quickly shoot up to the broken window and enters as he says the line from the trailer that is almost identical to the line in the book about politicians and everyone will call on him to save them and he’ll whisper, no.

Rorshach investigates the place and quickly finds photos of The Comedian with Sally and other clues that lead him to Blake’s closet. He finds a hollow back and finds The Comedian’s old mementoes. Somewhere around this point the scene ends as do the first 18 minutes.

Then to get a great audience reaction, we got an extra 20-30 second clip from later in the film. It’s the prison cafeteria scene. Rorshach is attacked and he throws the boiling hot water at the guy’s face. And as several guys try to hold him down, Rorshach says the classic line. I forget the exact words but it’s the “It’s not me that’s stuck in here with you! It’s you who’s stuck in here with me!” And that ends the footage we were shown. The actor they got playing Rorshach looks just like he looks in the book. Perfect casting.

I have to say that I was blown away by the footage. So far from what I’ve seen they’ve captured every detail from the book and have only added a few things that you could almost swear was in the book like the Silhouette V-Day kiss in Time Square or The Comedian’s assassination of Kennedy, which as I’ve just read seems to be only jokingly referenced in the book. My one concern is the length, at least in terms of what general audiences will put up with. After 18 minutes, we were only 3 scenes into the story plus a title sequence. Though to be fair, since they encapsulated so many moments of the history in the title sequence and get it over with early, they probably save a lot of time once the story gets going.

Then there’s all the supplementary material. I know content was made specifically for the DVD that won’t be in the film, or at least the theatrical version of the film, but I imagine some of the comic book with the comic book stuff is going to make it into film. I’ll be very interested to see how that gets incorporated. So in conclusion, I am looking forward to the film even more now.

If you use this, call me Dr. Manhattan.

then there's this from AntoniusFunk...

Hey Harry!

I have been attending the NYC comic con for the last couple of days and this morning was treated to an excellent panel on Watchmen/Friday the 13th/Terminator Salvation. While all three movies had cool things to show (all of them unseen before) the watchmen part of the panel was far outshining everything else. They showed us a clip of the first 18 minutes of the movie plus an additional minute or so of footage from later in the film. I am not sure how spoilerific you all want this kind of thing to be, but I'll just say what I saw. The movie starts with a television personality interviewing two guests about the looming threat of Russian Nuclear Armament, and the doomsday clock being moved to 5 minutes to midnight. It is suggested that this is a reaction to the USA having Dr. Manhattan as their ultimate weapon. Anyhow, the show pans out into the living room of the Comedian who is (after a moment) no longer entertained by the political debate. He switches channels a few times glossing over media of the time, makes himself a drink and settles down only to *BAM* his door being kicked in. Thus the "only a matter of time" line. What you don't see in the previews is the fight scene that follows which is fairly impressive. I for one had been skeptical that this movie would over do it on the slow motion (as about 90% of the trailer was in slo mo!) but Zack Snyder really seemed to use it sparingly and to emphasize either emotion or intense action. Otherwise, the fight was LIGHTNING fast in terms of movement but not in duration. He really gets the snot kicked out of him before being thrown from the window...after which we get the opening credits. They roll over Bob Dylan's "the times they are a changin" and feature great scenes like portraiture of the old and new minutemen, the assasination of JFK (by the comedian), a glimpse of a young Rorschach. After this it goes right into Rorschach finding the Comedian's blood-stained happyface pin on a storm dran, investigating his apartment and discovering his identity as the Comedian. This whole scene was overlaid with Rorschach talking/reading a page from his diary. The movie cut there, went to black and then skipped to a scene much later with Rorschach in prison. Jackie Earl Haley looks kind of amazing in this scene. He's just this little guy who seems eternally wound up right from the get go. Some guys start harassing him and pass along a shiv to kill him with but are thwarted by Rorschach's sweet fighting moves. He knocks one guy around a bit with his cafeteria tray then grabs some fry oil and pours it across the attacker's face. Screaming ensues and Rorschach is rushed by some guards while screaming "None of you seem to understand! It's not me who's locked in here with you...it's you that's locked in here with me!" Also, no freakin slo-mo this scene.

That's it. Pretty cool first glimpse of the movie which made me really want to see it. This looks like a fairly faithful adaptation, with the exception of the "squid monster" at the end (which Dave Gibbons today said "It's not even a squid! Sorry to disappoint all you cepelopod lovers out there.") and even that seems to be minor when framed within the medium. What i mean is this, and sorry to quote Dave Gibbons again but... "In the book the monster was like one big special effect at the end. In a movie full of special effects it seemed like it would lose it's impact and just be another effect." Given that he seemed actually pleased with the movie in totality, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Even without that same ending, this movie is poised to be amazing.

Hope you dig the info!

-Antoniusfunk