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Friday, January 23, 2009

Film / Books Let the Watchmen Viral Marketing Begin.

Posted by Erik Henriksen on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM

A day or two ago this bit of viral marketing hit the web to drum up (even more) interest in Watchmen, Zack Snyder's upcoming adaptation of probably the best superhero comic ever made. The vid's a fake news broadcast from 1970, and one that gives a little bit of background on one of Watchmen's key characters: Dr. Manhattan.

The one consistent thing I keep reading and seeing about Snyder's film is that it really nails the details—to an almost microscopic, obsessive degree. One of the sets from the film, Nite Owl's flying ship, the Archimedes, or "Archie"—was on display at Comic-Con last summer, and fucking A, it was insane to look inside of it: From all the little switches and buttons on the dashboard to first aid kits and ammunition, the thing felt like it had come to life almost exactly as it's drawn in the comic. I'm not necessarily of the belief that the best way to adapt a comic to the screen is to mimic it exactly—minute details are far less important than the general spirit of the thing—but Snyder's attention to faithfully recreate Watchmen's world is pretty goddamn impressive. That intention seems to carry over into this clip, which hints at the sort of alternate version of America where beings like Dr. Manhattan can and do exist. To me, this video feels a little cheesy and heavy-handed—but there's also something very, very cool about watching fake old news footage of Dr. Manhattan taking apart a tank, and the fake VHS blur and tracking effects on the bottom of the screen are an added bonus.

Thanks to Brian for the heads up.

 

Comments (2) RSS

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1
Reading Watchmen made me question why I ever became literate in the first place.

Then again, awful movies exist to make great movies look amazing.
Posted by Alexjon on January 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM · Report
2
didn't he say it was 1960? -10 years after the 1950...-
and dr manhattan took apart the tank and smashed it.
Posted by miguelaron on January 23, 2009 at 11:08 AM · Report

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