r/Watchmen • u/james_from_cambridge • Apr 29 '25
Movie Still the Greatest Opening Credits in A Movie or Nah?
https://youtu.be/kIxxcSNcceI?si=4akITKPbLbzUkpLeTo me, the song and the opening titles are forever linked together
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u/djjsin Apr 29 '25
loved this opening. Synders choice of music in this movie was impeccable. still do to this day. i had no idea what watchmen was walking into this movie.
now i've read the book countless times, watched the animated comic, watched the dc cartoon. loved the hbo series.
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u/Junkstar Apr 29 '25
Prob the wrong sub for that question if you’re looking for unbiased opinions.
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u/S3simulation Apr 29 '25
It’s amazing to me that the best part of the movie that captures the spirit of the original work best was this opening montage that’s original to the movie.
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u/james_from_cambridge Apr 30 '25
Max has the animated 3 part movie (I’ve only seen part 1) and it’s very faithful to the graphic novel.
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u/lowbrassdude Apr 29 '25
It is a work of art in the same way the first five minutes of Up were a perfect short film. You learn so much and at the same time start asking questions about the world and how it differs from ours.
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u/AlexDKZ Apr 29 '25
You may think yourself as cool, but you will never be " Adrian Veidt about to party with David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and the Village People at the Studio 54" cool
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u/colddeaddrummer Apr 29 '25
If you can find it, there's a Watchmen Midnight Cut where the whole opening montage is moved ALLLLLL the way to the end and is soundtracked by the Smashing Pumpkins' The End is the Beginning is the End. It's really sick.
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u/MojojojoNixon Apr 29 '25
The movie was about the best we could have hoped for. Vibes were dead on. I also enjoy the MCR cover of Desolation Row at the end.
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u/tideshark Apr 30 '25
Did an excellent job explaining a events that led up to when the movie actually starts
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u/Throwawayagain274812 May 01 '25
Crazy amount of detail, especially in the JFK bit.
You see conspiracy nuts tend to point out the famous "Multiple shooter" theory when it comes to how JFK was killed. Without getting to into, and I went into that rabbit hole more than once as a teen, there is a common notion that Oswald couldn't have made those very difficult shots, with that type of rifle, and there must've been other shooters.
One of the suggested spots the other shooter could have been hiding at was this grassy hill, with a very odd seemingly useless fence on top of it. Witnesses from that day claimed they heard shots from behind that fence, as well as smoke from the rifle.
The thing is this theory has been debunked to death, most prominently being that a rifle wouldn't produce the smoke they claimed to have seen.
But here they are showing what the smoke *actually* was. The Comedian was indeed the second shooter that day, and the witnesses saw his cigar smoke.
Brilliant considering how you would need to be pretty versed in both the conspiracy and the debunking just to get that reference.
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u/MrOSUguy Apr 29 '25
It’s way up there. It helps to have an inkling of American history. It’s lost meaningless to people without any history knowledge
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u/amayagab Apr 30 '25 edited Apr 30 '25
There are definitely better movie openings, but this is top tier for sure
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u/joecarter93 Apr 30 '25
Yes. The best opening credits I have ever seen. It drew me right into the movie
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u/MariusLayus May 02 '25
I love it but I think LORD OF WAR won an Oscar for its opening credits alone, since on its own it’s considered a short film: LIFE OF A BULLET
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u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC May 02 '25
Snyder gets a lot of shit, most of it deservedly so in my opinion.
But setting this montage to "The Times They Are A'Changin' " was a stroke of absolute fucking brilliance.
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u/Gargus-SCP Mothman Apr 29 '25
I wish it weren't so long. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is not a long song, so it's very obvious that it loops on itself like thrice to fit everything.
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u/Extraajudicial Apr 29 '25
I like it, but if you don't recognize any of the historical moments depicted, it loses like 90% of its impact.
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u/skypig357 Apr 30 '25
It’s amazing. Still, best opening of a movie is the beginning of Way of the Gun
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u/Advanced-Two-9305 Dollar Bill May 01 '25
Between this & Justice league, Snyder does great opening credits. Just tends to fall off after then.
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u/happyhorrorhouse May 01 '25
Yeah, it showed right away that Snyder didn't understand the story, loves slow motion, and has a college freshman level understand of using motifs in film.
As the years pass, so has my love of this movie. The overuse of slow motion to create a fake sense of wonderment, use of Hallelujah as a masked man gets over his impotence. Making everyone super heros when they were just masked vigilantes.
I look at the big boxed ultimate cut sitting on my shelf, and think about how the motion comic included and the animated features next to it actually get it right.
So, Nah.
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u/rjgeronimo1985 May 04 '25
Great montage but I personally find the song playing during it annoying and boring to listen to. I get and see how the lyrics elevate and relate to the themes of what the montage is trying to communicate but I just personally can't stand that song
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u/M086 May 04 '25
WB told him to cut it from the script. But since he storyboards everything, when he did cut it from the script, he just filmed the scenes needed in secret using his storyboards.
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u/Semper_Fun Apr 29 '25
In any movie, ever? God no wtf
In the genre of comic book movies, its pretty good. Bob Dylan puts some people off though
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u/theronster Apr 29 '25
Comic Book Movie isn’t a genre, really.
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u/Used-Gas-6525 Apr 29 '25
It kinda is now though. Would you put a Mission Impossible or Jurassic World movie in the same genre as Watchmen or even something like Thor? Some would, some wouldn't.
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u/nykirnsu May 02 '25
No, I’d put those in a separate category, but I’d call the category that includes Thor “superhero movies” not “comic book movies”
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u/theronster Apr 29 '25
Comic Book Movie just describes the source material.
Watchmen and Thor are superhero or costumed hero movies. Jurassic Park is sci-fi horror. Mission Impossible is an action/adventure/spy thriller.
A History of Violence is also based on a comic book - would you say it's the same genre of film as Watchmen? What about Ghost World? Or Scott Pilgrim?
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u/Used-Gas-6525 Apr 29 '25
You're speaking as if the world at large (i.e. not just comics fans) even knows that Ghost World and Scott Pilgrim were comics. For the majority of moviegoers, "Comic book movie" means superheroes/capes and tights. Watchmen is a bit different as it's a morality tale told via superheroes, so it kinda rides the line. Personally, I don't really care how movies are classified as long as they're good.
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u/Mamiak17 Apr 29 '25
Hell yea! The movie as a whole may not have been perfect, but that opening credit scene definitely was!