Because coming back to work after a hellaciously short weekend isn’t painful enough, I now present the ultimate Sophie’s Choice scenario for sci-fi geeks and blockbuster lovers alike: View the spankin’ new trailers for Watchmen and Star Trek below, and then tell us, if you could only see one of ‘em, which would it be?
Unlike my colleague Marc Bernardin, who blogged about the Star Trek trailer over the weekend, I am not a Trekkie/Trekker (though I’m married to someone who can sometimes be found watching DVR’d Next Generation episodes when I’m out of the house or asleep). And maybe that’s why even though J.J. Abrams’ franchise update looks exciting, I think I’m gonna have to go with Watchmen. Its trailer is decidedly dark, in both tone and color, and while that means certain scenes practically disappear from my dinky computer screen, the flashes of each character — particularly Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian and The Comeback’s Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre — look pretty amazing. I’m sure my excitement for Watchmen is further primed by the fact that I read Alan Moore’s terrific source material only a month ago, but from this vantage point, Watchmen looks different from anything I’ve seen on screen in a while. The Star Trek trailer, on the other hand, while it certainly has its share of adrenaline-elevating action and explosions and outer-space-y bling, might be, at certain moments, mistaken for a CW TV series (kid Kirk jumping out of convertible at cliff’s edge), an Army recruitment ad ("you feel like you were meant for something better, something special"), and maybe even a very special episode of Battlestar Galactica (those outer-space battle sequences).
But that’s just me. And while you could argue that a Team Star Trek vs. Team Watchmen showdown is nothing more than an artificial controversy, it’s also a fun one. So quit sitting on the fence, PopWatchers, and pick your team in the poll below (then drop down to the comments section and tell us why)!
More on ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Watchmen’:
‘Star Trek’: New Movie, New Vision (the EW cover story)
‘Star Trek’: 11 New Photos
Not all of the ‘Star Trek’ films have been out of this world: A ‘Star Trek’ filmography
‘Star Trek’: An exclusive first look at the Enterprise
‘Watchmen’: An Exclusive First Look
‘Watchmen’: A Chat with Director Zack Snyder
A ”Watchmen” primer — A beginner’s guide to the film’s characters including The Comedian, Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, and more
Kevin Smith says ‘Watchmen’ is astounding (insert ‘but’ here)
Comic-Con: Talking with the ‘Watchmen’ cast
An interview with ‘Watchmen’ creator Alan Mooore
Comments (1-30) of 146 Add your comment
Though I’ll likely end up seeing both films, I’m on Team Watchmen based on the trailers.
Like Slezak, I recently read the graphic novel for the first time a little more than a month ago (I was one of those people who picked it up after the first “Watchmen” teaser came out) and the adaptation looks fantastic.
My only complaint is director Zack Snyder’s apparent over use of slow motion. I get that this is the “visionary director’s” style, but sometimes it’s a bit much. I’ve read that Snyder’s under pressure from the studio to cut almost an hour from his current film. The good news is that if he just accelerates most of the action to real speed, he should be fine.
Have to agree with Slezak – the ‘Trek’ trailer looks exciting but the ‘Watchmen’ trailer gave me goosebumps…and I haven’t even read the graphic novel.
P.S. Anyone know the music used in the ‘Watchmen’ trailer? Is it Muse?
Star Trek, all the way.
Oh boy. Even though I’m a bigger Watchmen fan than Star Trek fan, the Star Trek trailer is far superior. Along with that goes the facts JJ Abrams is a better filmmaker than Zach Snyder, and that I’m skeptical Watchman can be done justice.
Team Watchmen! I can’t stop watching it.
The song in the trailer is “Take a Bow” by Muse. Its on the Black Holes & Revelations album.
Well, I’m a big Alan Moore fan who is mainly a fan of Star Trek: Next Generation. If I had to choose, I pick Watchmen over Kirk and the gang. If you made me pick Watchmen vs. Picard and company, that would be a harder choice, but I’d still pick Rorschach and the other messed up heroes…
The Star Trek movie looks like a movie (and a really cool one) instead of an over-stylized gloss-up of an already existing story.
First, JJ Abrams is a superior director to Zach Snyder. Second, while both movies are interpretations of previously existing work, Zach Snyder has publicly prided himself in saying that he’s remained so faithful that it’s pretty much a scene for scene adaptation. So what’s the point. If he’s contributed nothing except for popular music and slow mo, I’d rather read the GN again.
Martha, the song at the end of it is Muse (“Take a Bow” — which I think they wrote about our current lame duck prez.) Not sure what the orchestral stuff at the beginning is.
Watchmen allllll the way! I was never a big star trek fan so the trailer was hit or miss for me. Watchmen just looks beautiful. The slo-mo dont bother me but then again, 300 was overly slo-mo’d the whole time and that ended up annoying the hell out of me- i’m praying that he doesnt overdo it this time but damn, that movie looks amazing!
I saw both trailers this w/e in front of the Bond flick and I’d have to say I’m much more excited to see the Star Trek reboot. I’m a Trekker and a JJ Abrams fan so this film’s got me psyched! The Watchmen trailer didn’t really grab me other than seeing Jeffrey Dean Morgan (*sigh* Denny!) so I might just wait for the dvd on that one.
Not coming to the table with strong feeling for either “property.” I go with Star Trek based mostly on J.J. Abram’s deft storytelling skill. And I don’t understand how people keep saying Watchmen looks like nothing they’ve seen before. Colorful latex costumes? Low light? It looks like Schumacher-era Batman! While I have every expectation that this will be a wholly different movie, its LOOK is very familiar and unexciting to me. Or am I way off base here?
Watchmen all the way.
The first part of the trailer is a piece of music by Phillip Glass from the film Koianiskatsi (pretty sure I mispelled that but I’m too lazy to look), the second half is indeed Muse’s Take a Bow.
I didn’t even finish the headline – Watchmen. Totally. I am excited for ST, but . . . yeah. Watchmen. I’m not watching the trailers until I’m at home and can holler and smack my hands on the computer desk like the little fangirl I am.
I’m definately going to see the Watchmen, the reason three words Jeffrey Dean Morgan!!!
The star Trek trailer was better, but I’m more excited for Watchmen.
I am fans of both but the Watchman trailer has more of the elements that make me want to wait impatiently on line to see the finished film. I will say that the ST trailer is entertaining as well. Both are better than most of the trailers in theaters right now.
Definitely going with Star Trek. The Watchmen trailer is intriguing (I confess I’ve never read the graphic novel), but the Star Trek trailer was one of the best trailers I have ever seen. I am very excited to see Star Trek on May 8.
Here’s the deal, like most comic book geeks, I love Watchmen. It’s a seminal work that is amazing. I’ve read it over and over again. I’m afraid that while visually it’s stunning, I worry about the overall movie. It looks like a hard R, and I worry that Snyder is too worried about the visual side of things than the story side of things. I just know that I’m going to leave that movie unsatisfied. So, Star Trek edges out Watchmen for me.
I am much more excited about Watchmen, although I am worried that it will be a lot of style over substance. The source material is so perfect and rich and deep, and I am not sure if this film is going to pull it off. In a way, I have more faith in JJ’s ability to translate classic Star Trek to this new film. But I’m still much more eager to see the Watchmen final product, so I’m going with that.
Oh man, gotta love Muse!!
But was anyone else totally taken out of the superb Watchmen trailer by Dr. Manhattan’s voice? I don’t know, it just totally did not fit my idea of what he would sound like.
The Watchmen music (at least the first half) is not from Koyaanisqatsi, but is it from the Philip Glass album “10,000 Airplanes on the Roof”. I’m not sure which track, though. (I knew how to spell Koyaanisqatsi, but I had to look up how many ‘l’’s in Philip.. Yeesh…)
Even before the amazing trailer, I would have chosen Star Trek . . . but after seeing it on a big screen? Trek in a heartbeat, baby.
The Watchmen got me with the use of Muse in the trailer.
I’m surprised by the number of people voting for Star Trek here…I’m all about Watchmen. Star Trek was never my thing, and I’ve heard Watchmen is just amazing.
Star Trek. I’m not looking forward to Watchmen after Snyder revealed that they changed the ending drastically. Why even stick so close to the original if you were going to change the ending in the first place?
The more I see of the new Trek, the less I want to see it.
Both times EW featured the new Star Trek trailer, both videos were obviously pirated by moviegoers using a snuck in handheld recording device. Isn’t that illegal under copyright laws? If so, isn’t EW kinda condoning piracy by using these YouTube videos on their website? Just my 2 cent
The Kirk-Spock scenes in the trailer are VERY homoerotic!