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'Watchmen' trailer isn't music to our ears
The comic-book-movie genre has an interesting problem: Rabid fansters want their beloved heroes adapted faithfully on screen, right down to the minutiae. The makers of Watchmen the movie, based on the celebrated graphic novel by Alan Moore, have been doing a good job with the costumes, keeping the changes minimal and the fans happy. But the trailer, which was just released, has this rabid fanster peeved to the point of foaming, merely by the choice of music. They had five perfectly good songs to choose from that Alan Moore used in the book. But no, they pick “The End Is the Beginning Is the End” by the Smashing Pumpkins. Didn’t anybody get the memo after Corgan formed Zwan? More important, the song was written about Batman for the movie Batman and Robin. Did they think comic-book geeks wouldn’t notice something like that? Perhaps they’re banking on them paying closer attention to the Watchmen Veidt Enterprises ad contest (which has some winners) or making their own versions of the trailer, with musical selections that aren’t much better. |
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The track is not nearly as memorable as Nine Inch Nail's "Just Like You Imagined" but the lyrics give you a hint of the plot you wouldn't know by just watching the trailer (it looks like it's only introducing the characters and not the story). The trailer as a whole is not as satire-friendly as 300 yet the movie is going to premiere almost exactly 3 years after.
Posted by: Somebody | Jul 18, 2008 11:07:14 AM
Totally agree. Where's the Dylan or the Costello?
Hmmm...
HMK
Posted by: H. Michael Karshis | Jul 18, 2008 12:24:43 PM
Whiner.
Posted by: Swinefactory | Jul 18, 2008 1:08:24 PM
No, the song is not ABOUT Batman.
Posted by: Fernando Ramires | Jul 18, 2008 1:46:38 PM
Smashing Pumpkins are back together touring again.
Posted by: Lottie the Log | Jul 18, 2008 3:42:27 PM
I agree that it be very cool if they used the songs mentioned in the graphic novel. But I do find it ironic that they use this song, specialy since Watchmen is a "what if" of both DC and Marvel in 1986, before the two companies decided to start becoming grity.
Posted by: Origin | Jul 18, 2008 5:17:33 PM
Where's the doomsday clock? The trailer looks like a rush job.
Posted by: Whiner | Jul 18, 2008 5:47:17 PM
guess you didnt get the in-joke....ya, this is the remix of the song used in batman and robin....couldnt be more perfect...the movie based on the comic that deconstructed the comic genre, doing a riff on the movie that destroyed a franchise...oh, and dylan will be used in the opening credits...and im sure elvis shows up somewhere
Posted by: Uncle Joe Mccarthy | Jul 18, 2008 9:28:51 PM
backwards; it's titled "the beginning is the end is the beginning."
Posted by: anonymous | Jul 19, 2008 12:04:03 AM
the original song "the end is the beginning is the end" was written for batman and robin. the song in the trailer is "the beginning is the end is the beginning" has different lyrics which aren't about batman.
Posted by: the_condor | Jul 19, 2008 1:54:41 AM
the original song "the end is the beginning is the end" was written for batman and robin. the song in the trailer is "the beginning is the end is the beginning" has different lyrics which aren't about batman.
Posted by: the_condor | Jul 19, 2008 1:58:00 AM
I agree.
Posted by: ashley | Jul 19, 2008 4:28:30 PM
actually, both 'the end is the beginning is the end' and 'the beginning is the end is the beginning' appeared on the batman soundtrack. not sure if they're 'about' batman, but the both songs are incredible. some of corgans best work, imo.
Posted by: joshua Shea | Jul 20, 2008 2:55:48 PM
Any fan rabid enough to notice will watch the movie anyway, so why bother fretting over them/you?
Posted by: theo | Jul 20, 2008 6:40:42 PM
Nerds.
Posted by: Frumpy | Jul 20, 2008 7:33:12 PM
what does it matter if the song wasn't referenced in the novel? It worked perfectly to set a dark milieu for the trailer.
Posted by: gene | Jul 20, 2008 8:35:38 PM
this Is why we cant have nice things
Posted by: josh | Jul 20, 2008 8:41:57 PM
The music made the trailer as far as I'm concerned. Quit whining.
Posted by: lame | Jul 21, 2008 1:59:42 AM
Totally agree: I only found your blog actually because I was so impressed with the song track to the trailer I was googling it to find out the performer. I guess I'm not geek enough, I had no idea it was tied to the B&R movie, although I definitely knew that was the Watchmen trailer about two second in....
Posted by: camazotz | Jul 21, 2008 2:32:47 AM
couldnt care less this song may of been in batman but there is no way its about batman!! and it didnt ruin shit for me great trailer to put in front of a great movie
Posted by: split | Jul 21, 2008 2:52:39 AM
I thought the song was perfect. I wouldn't even care if it was about Batman and Robin specifically, the sound and the imagery was just a kickass way to kick off the nerdgasm before TDK.
Posted by: Rob | Jul 21, 2008 6:28:48 AM
Well, I avoided the Batman franchise entirely after winning a free opening-night ticket to "Batman Forever" (the worst no dollars I ever spent), so the association didn't register with me. (And not to sound pitiless, but honestly, if people didn't have the good sense to stay away from "Batman & Robin," and now have a bad association with this Corgan song as a result, it's their own damn fault.)
That being said, I've had Corgan's whiny grating voice in my head all weekend, as a result of watching the trailer fourteen times before I realized my computer has a mute button, so I do have some measure of sympathy. It's not just a bad song, it also undermines the integrity of "Watchmen" by attaching this melodramatic air to it that isn't present in the original work. What is wrong with trailer makers these days?
Posted by: Gargunza | Jul 21, 2008 9:27:46 AM
They did it for the sole purpose of starting things like this on the internet. Gets a lot of people talking, especially those who are big into the book.
Posted by: Dave | Jul 21, 2008 2:49:30 PM
I must say that ms. Cullers is pretty damn ignorant (on this matter) and must get off her self righteous high horse, calm the eff down, and direct her anger towards something else.
The song was a b-side from the pumpkins and the original. the batman version, the one people know about has the title reversed.
Do some research before you rant. It'll save the flame fest and maybe some face.
Posted by: | Jul 22, 2008 12:51:24 AM
agree with dave... at least name the correct tune.
Posted by: s | Jul 22, 2008 2:20:39 AM
ok, i agree with "blank"...
Posted by: | Jul 22, 2008 2:21:21 AM
Rob, go check out some older trailers. Trailers have gotten so much better than they used to be. You've just forgotten because you're used to the raised standards. Sure the song threw me off a bit but as the trailer goes on I ended up liking it.
Posted by: Tad | Jul 22, 2008 2:55:09 AM
yea dont knock corgan or the smashing pumpkins because that song was absolutly not from batman and robin
Posted by: ben | Jul 22, 2008 1:03:06 PM
don't make me pull this car over...
Posted by: Daerid | Jul 22, 2008 9:50:34 PM
From MTV Movie Blog:
********
What compelled Zack Snyder, the, um … watchman … behind “Watchmen” to use the track? Was it because there’s that shot in the trailer of a guy falling from the sky that vaguely resembles something Batman might do? Is “Watchmen” sort of like watching “Batman & Robin” in slow-motion — much like how listening to “The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning” is somewhat of a stretched-out version of the original tune? Here’s what Snyder had to say:
“Smashing Pumpkins we picked for a couple reasons. For one, I felt like in mood, it was correct for what we were trying to do. We were trying to sort of get at the unwashed masses who don’t know anything about ‘Watchmen’ and find something provocative that makes you go, ‘What is that?’ … And then, also, I felt like the song itself spoke a little to the ‘Watchmen’ world. And then on the third hand … it will create controversy a little bit in the fanbase because they’re going to be like, ‘Wait, is that going to be in the movie? That ain’t 1985!’ ”
All good reasons, we suppose. But it doesn’t answer the bigger question: Did he have any idea that Corgan wrote the song expressly for that other nocturnal superhero?
********
PS: The song on this trailer was originally written for Batman and Robin and featured on the Batman & Robin Soundtrack. I know, because Im a pumpkins fan and I have a copy. The single for the soundtrack had the original song, plus this mentioned remix named "beginning is the end is the beginning" plus had two other remixes of the original tune "The end is the beginning is the end", one with synthesizers and also one with just electric guitars playing, titled The Ether's Tragic and Guns of Love Disastrous. All four songs have the same tune and were composed for Batman and Robin.
Posted by: chelle | Jul 23, 2008 2:59:50 AM
People LEARN YOUR MUSIC!!! that song isn't "the end is the beginning is the end". the correct song is "the beginning is the end is the beginning" two completely different songs.
Posted by: Jack | Jul 23, 2008 2:30:31 PM
Well, something must have worked.
Although I was vaguely aware of the existence of the Watchmen, I had never read the graphic novel. Nor do I have any memory of ever hearing the Smashing Pumpkin song before.
But seeing trailer and hearing that music together, I thought, was very effective. It definitely conveyed a certain mood and I was haunted enough by the song to google it (which is what brought me here). And, I am also reading thr graphic novel for the first time. I have no doubt that by 3/6/2009 I will be pumped to see the movie.
So that's one extra ticket sold.
Posted by: Xavier Onassis | Jul 23, 2008 4:50:35 PM
im a huge watchmen fan and I loved the trailer. I came in my pants so hard I almost zoned out until the Joker popped up in The Dark Knight...
Posted by: bobspid | Jul 23, 2008 6:51:45 PM
rofl. I found this by looking for the artist, too. I saw the trailer expecting one of the referenced songs, but I REALLY like the song. It goes well with the pessimism and darkness of the trailer and film.
Posted by: aBEA | Jul 23, 2008 10:09:17 PM
Oh, crikey... don't get your panties twisted in a knot. Just as NIN music wasn't in 300 (and too bad it wasn't), this one ain't gonna be in Watchmen. It's just cool music that went well with the visuals.
Posted by: Weevs | Jul 24, 2008 1:33:17 PM
Oh whiners, will you never cease? The net is just one big bucket of whiners seasoned with some sensible, real-world folk. The End Is the Beginning Is the End is great in this trailer. Brilliant, no doubt about it. Some folks just gotta have something to whine about so they go to the web 'cause their mommies told them to stfu long ago and won't give their wimpy, sad asses the time of day. Get over yourselves losers.
Furthermore, the editing of the trailor is dam near high art if you know anything about anything.
Posted by: Chela Lambrusco | Jul 24, 2008 9:42:57 PM
Are you high? EVERYONE in WATCHMEN is sad! It's the tale of the sad, pathetic and painful reality of being an old superhero. The song is perfect, and more importantly, it recalls the glory and emotion of the Sin City trailer, which is why they chose it. My god people will whine about ANYTHING.
Posted by: Jaime Britt | Jul 25, 2008 8:44:32 AM
I saw the trailer and love the music with the trailer. Could care less if the song was used for Kermit the frog and Miss Piggy, it was perfect for the trailer. Takes more energy to be pissed about something that affects so little. It is easier and more pleasurable to just enjoy it now.
Posted by: DJ | Jul 25, 2008 11:50:50 AM
i thought the song went well with the trailer. the lyrics of the song seem to fit the watchmen more than with batman and robin. "We can watch the world devoured in it's pain"
Posted by: Jose | Jul 25, 2008 4:52:07 PM
yall are nuts. its a trailer.
Posted by: | Jul 25, 2008 5:36:39 PM
im a big faggot and im going to punch your mother while i rape your father!!!
Posted by: faggot boy | Jul 25, 2008 5:52:14 PM
first of all, batman and robin was the worst of the series. So why bother remembering the song for that film anyways?
Posted by: | Jul 25, 2008 8:37:35 PM
Jack summed it up PERFECTLY for me.
BECAUSE of this trailer and the song, I looked up the comic in addition to looking up the song to add to my MP3. I am NOW reading the novel and getting MORE excited about seeing how this movie plays out (and it WAS a good way to get you hyped for The Dark Knight while exposing you to something new- if you never heard of this work- or get you amped up- if you had heard.
Think about it! There are people who NEVER heard of the Watchmen and because of this STUNNING trailer (because the song COMPLIMENTED the trailer imagery!), they will go out and get the book and go see the movie!
My GOSH! The trailer covered events in the first FOUR chapters of the book so far as I can tell (I am just on chapter 5)... that is AMAZING to me and should give fans hope that they will be true to the novel and storyline!
But people will find something wrong. I mean, the clock palace on Mars doesn't look the same in the novel, but *I* think it is pretty damn cool anyway. Laurie look brunette when I thought she was a redhead, but hey, doesn't matter much to me because she looks like she kicks ass. The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan (they covered his GENESIS in the damn TRAILER!!!)-- Rorscach!! All here and they look damn good!
I am not even a comic geek and I am excited and appreciated that the trailer chose the song they did to set the tone and be the back-drop to the imagery. I am not that into Dylan or Elvis Costello, so Smashing Pumpkins grabbed my attention and it would grab others of my generation and possibly younger by recognition.
Awesome job- the trailer is a love letter to the fans. Stop dumping on it and be happy that they are being respectful of it.
Posted by: Caramel | Jul 26, 2008 2:06:17 PM
All you fanboys and fangirls need to relax, if the movie is only a frame by frame retelling of the graphic novel , it would be alright. A director has to create a vision that transfers into a cinematic experience, he has to make it his own.
That was the sickest trailer I've seen in a long time. He successfully creates that pre/post apocalyptic mood.
Posted by: why so serious? | Jul 26, 2008 2:46:05 PM
"In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends."
Posted by: jkmoo | Jul 27, 2008 6:39:33 AM
the trailor was soooo good
Posted by: | Jul 27, 2008 11:06:45 AM
Stumbled on this looking for which Smashing Pumpkins song this was... and I am aghast at your post. Really, the song wasn't suited for the trailer? Like hell it wasn't. It needed to be dark and gritty - Dylan, Costello... they wouldn't have been a good introduction to the novel for fans who no idea what they are getting themselves into. The quotes that they use from those songs... only work as quotes. Lighten up and enjoy what is going to be a heck of a fanboy movie... I really can not wait.
Posted by: Beth | Jul 27, 2008 4:27:10 PM
Ok first off, who the hell cares if the song was written for Batman & Robin? If they lyrics and the mood of the music fits, use it. Unless Corgan was singing, "Batman this," or "Batman that," then I can see why using the song would be stupid.
Get over it.
Posted by: | Jul 28, 2008 5:15:59 AM
Ok first off, who the hell cares if the song was written for Batman & Robin? If they lyrics and the mood of the music fits, use it. Unless Corgan was singing, "Batman this," or "Batman that," then I can see why using the song would be stupid.
Get over it.
Posted by: | Jul 28, 2008 5:19:44 AM
It could have been worse. There are only so many times one can listen to "Carmina Burana" in movie previews. At least there was no voiceover going: "In a World...". I only hope that Zack's next movie trailer will say: "From the director of Watchmen", unless it's a comedy like "300".
Posted by: Mommafia | Jul 28, 2008 10:15:25 PM
