What did you think? I thought it was excellent and enjoyed the irony of casting John Hurt as the evil, psychotic Chancellor.

Some have seen it and commented on it in another thread, which had fallen to page two...

http://www.imwan.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4770

I haven't seen it yet, and I'll probably wait for the DVD.

I liked it a lot. Years since I read the original, but the film compares pretty favorably, I thought. The Valerie sequence is especially well done, just devastating to me, and particularly stands out. Very powerful bit of storytelling, that.

I didn't eat anything. Afterwards I ordered Chinese.

DVD.

(Going to the theater is such a bother.)

Loved it!

I really enjoyed it...it captured the spirit of the comic and all the performances were great (especially V).

Like Dan - the best sequence was the whole Valerie bit..very well done and emotional.

I went to see it this afternoon, and I found it to be mediocre at best. It's one of the few Alan Moore books that I've never read, so I went in a complete virgin, and wanted to experience it like a ... well, a "straight", for lack of a less Byrnian term.

It felt like a movie that wanted to be more than it was capable of being. For God's sake, is it possible to show a despotic dictatorship without evoking Nazi Germany? I mean, show me a little nuance for once. Show me the why all these lovely looking people in their expensive homes permit their government to close them in at curfew time. All they needed was a mask and a cape, en masse, and they were able to overthrow the government. And then there's the "Valerie scene", which basically undermined the whole rationale of V. "I'm going to torture and interrogate you for weeks so you can see just how bad the government really is without them actually doing it to you." Um, what? So, you're it's okay for you to imprison and torture just because you're not one of "them"? I hope the book had a more satisfactory depiction of this motivation, because the movie just blows it completely.

As for the good stuff? Every line Hugo Weaving uttered was just gold. He could read the phone book, and I'd probably feel it was the most rich, compelling performance of the phone book ever.

I hate to disappoint you, but this is probably one place where the movie was very faithful to Moore. At least in the movie, V feels some remorse for his actions----Moore's character has none and feels it was necessary to "free" Evie from her fears. The other big difference is that Evie is butt naked when she goes to the roof in the rain in the graphic novel. Obviously that was changed to keep the R-rating.

Eddie Cunningham

I got the impression (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the book has more of a "Anarchy VS. Dictatorship" theme, whereas the movie has a "Freedom VS. Dictatorship" message. In the first, I can buy the context of the Valerie scene because, in a sense, V is just as big a bastard as England's dictator, only a lot more charming. The story is more about a society caught between two extremes. The movie, however, totally inverts that idea, and V is definitely played as "The Hero". In this context, the Valerie scene undermines his character, not to mention Evie's.

Haven't seen the movie yet. However, the original work is more about FREEDOM than ANARCHY.

David - Moore has indeed stated that the comic is about anarchy VS fascism and Moore also sees V as an ambiguous characters (not a hero) - in fact the first chapter where we meet V is titled "the Villain".

You should read the comic..it would be interesting to hear your thoughts and I think you'd like it more than the movie.

John, thanks for that info. I think I will buy the book. Since I'm headed to Florida next week, I'll need something to read on the beach.

Thats funny..ill be in Florida next week too...5 days in South Beach..if i see some guy reading V for Vendetta..ill come and say hi:)

I guess true FREEDOM does equal ANARCHY (“a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government”). I instinctively think it’s a bad thing (i.e. “absence of order” or “a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority”). Guess I could use a little V in my life, eh?

...or a trip to Florida...

HAR! Well, I'll be a bit north of you, in the Cocoa Beach area.

Keep the R-rating?

Here being butt naked would not of effected the R-rating.

I have to disagree with you...vehemently. Yes, Alan Moore intends V to be a bit disturbing, and he may not agree with all of V's actions. But I firmly believe that Moore agrees with V's beliefs, and when V spouts off about freedom and anarchy (as he does in the "VTV" sequence) he is acting as Alan Moore's mouthpiece. The movie doesn't invert anything since V tortures Evey for the exact same reasons he does so in the book. Both Moore and the filmmakers ultimately want the audience to side with V in spite of that particular sequence and root for him in the end. If Moore really disagreed with V and felt he was the bad guy, then why on earth Just because V is introduced in a chapter entitled "The Villain" does not mean Moore views him as such. In the movie, V introduces himself as both "victim and villain." All the chapters, of course, begin with the letter "V."

I think the main reason Alan Moore has disavowed the movie is because the filmmakers removed the explicit references to V as an anarchist. If you are bothered by what happens in the movie and do not think freeing Evie from the fear of death is worth torturing her, the proper blame should go to Alan Moore. The filmmakers were very faithful in adapting this scene from the book and used it the way Moore intended.

Eddie Cunningham

I just saw the DVD and liked it very much.

I quite enjoyed it, also on DVD. I thought that it was pretty close to my recollection of the series and quite well done. Granted I haven't read them in about 15 years but there you go.

I quite enjoyed it. Sort of a 1984 meets Batman. Being rather cynical and having read some Alan Moore, it was pretty easy to see the how the story would unfold. I did dread that



because it that’s just been done to death, and in the end



And I thought that was great!

(Pet peeve alert!) I also like how the film skipped the typical Hollywood love interest that is done in EVERY movie EVER made! And, ya know, sometimes the story just doesn’t need it.

I finally just watched this.

It has been many, many years since I first read this story serialized in Warrior Magazine.
I have owned the movie for at least a year, too, maybe two years. Three?

I was hesitant to watch it. In all, I thought the movie was rather well done.

I suppose I will get around to watching the Watchmen in a couple of years.

The HD-DVD version has the SNL skit with Natalie called "Hey Natalie" one of their funniest skits ever.
Nat does rap.