I liked this. I believe it was because of the parallel universe – deliberately calling up your cultural associations with our past to better connect with theirs. Other examples: Andy Warhol in the title sequence, the Dr Strangelove war room, even 99 Luftballons instantly recall a particular era of history. One of the chief points of the film is that the characters are very human, very ordinary – these real world ties help remind us.

Thought: How often do regular superhero movies use such easily recognisable music? Ideally, to prove my point, the answer should be very rarely. I can’t think of any other examples…

Which is something you missed here, i think- i like the analysis of minimalism you do. But much more simply- the arrival of Doc Manhattan into the world is, in the world of Watchmen, the moment that modern times irrevocably becomes “Koyaanisqatsi:” Life out of Balance

Indeed.

Unfortunately, the only other lyrical song I felt positively engaged with apart from that was “The Times They Are a Changing.” I found the songs distracting every other time, either because they seemed to fail at an attempt to be tongue-in-cheek/ironic (Tears for Fears) or just didn’t seem to make sense (“99 Red Balloons”). Music of a non-lyrical nature was always spot-on for me, though, so what I was hearing during Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan’s backstories totally enhanced the experience for me.

Oh, except the Wagner- sorry, but mkd already said it: you’re NOT not going to get people laughing if you use that piece in anything today, and I refuse to believe Snyder didn’t know this when he picked the piece. And that laughter more often than not has nothing to do with “Apocalypse Now,” by the way. Of the people I know in person that have seen _Watchmen_ and laughed at that song being in it, only one has seen “Apocalypse Now,” and that is myself.

Oh, and Lee, I don’t think the sex scene in its entirety was meant to be funny in the graphic novel. The little burst-o-flame was, yes, but up until that point, I think it was meant to be a more serious portrayal of Dan’s inability to function without his masked identity. The dialogue in that scene is shifted around for the film version- it’s LAURIE that cracks the joke about WWIII, not Dan, in the book. And the rest of the dialogue suggests she is, as with the previous time they had tried to have sex, the one making the initial advance. I guess I just never read the scene as funny beyond the, “Oh, look at how awkward and cute Dan is,” at the start and the shot of fire, and the movie turning it into a joke kind of pissed me off, especially since Dan and Laurie had already been watered down so much.

Of course, I can also play Devil’s Advocate and say the scene in the movie wasn’t supposed to be funny (as in funny ha-hah), either, but in fact show how Dan BECOMES the sexual aggressor (not like the Comedian, though) because of that same change in dialogue and how even when she’s the one on top, it looks more like he’s doing her than she’s doing him the whole time. I still find this argument harder to swallow because of how unsettling the scene was; and one of the big “unsettling” factors for me was, to bring it back home, “Halleluja.”

He could have used Rufus Wainwright’s version…

Also, if Snyder really was trying to be ironic and send up not only superhero comics but superhero/action movies, then why were his action sequences so un-ironic? It wasn’t like he was making fun of bullet time. He was like, “Bullet time! Cool!” And all of the ultraviolence didn’t get into irony territory for me because most of it was far too cartoonish.

But! I did like All Along the Watchtower because A) the comic reference and B) that song is amazing. It can be in every movie for all I care. Same goes for Philip Glass music.

So I concede that the filmmakers were referencing that, but think about the audience that hasn’t read the graphic novel. They’re scratching their heads wondering why the movie is referencing “Apocalypse Now.”

@Roz: It’s no surprise that Snyder intended the sex scene to be ironic, but does anyone really think that the same scene in the comic book was meant to be ironic as well? For a movie that stayed so devoted to the tone and feel of the source, I found this to be a jarring and disruptive departure.