Watchmen

Wrong, as usual.

The United States' lack of action in Eastern Europe proves

that the Soviet Union's aggression at the Afghan border

will not be opposed publicly by the United States.

Issue, the Soviet Union continued its recent series of military exercises,

conducting a bomb test today in the Bering Sea,

Just 1,500 miles off the southern coast of Alaska.

President Richard Nixon issued this warning to the Soviets...

The United States does not start fights.

Let it be clear, we maintain our strength in order to maintain peace.

So any adversary should ask themselves,

"Do the consequences of attacking America

"outweigh the potential benefits?"

As a result of the Soviet activity,

the watchdog group of nuclear scientists

move the Doomsday Clock up to five minutes until midnight,

destruction by nuclear war.

Question,

on a scale of zero to ten, zero meaning impossibility,

ten meaning complete metaphysical certitude,

what are the chances the Russians will actually attack the United States?

Pat Buchanan.

Zero. The Soviets would never risk going to war,

when we have a walking nuclear deterrent on our side.

You're referring, of course, to Dr Manhattan.

But does Dr Manhattan's existence guarantee world peace?

Eleanor Clift.

Well, it hasn't stopped the Soviet Union

from stockpiling record amounts of nuclear weapons.

You don't think it's all just posturing?

Maybe the reason why the Soviets are doing these bomb tests

is because they feel threatened by Dr Manhattan, cornered.

Maybe the whole world feels like that.

Soviet ships have violated the territorial waters...

Just a matter of time, I suppose.

It's a joke. It's all a joke.

Mother, forgive me.

That is what I had before! I was a hero, God damn it!

An act clearly meant to send a signal to the government in Saigon

that violence and oppression is not the way to peace.

Good luck, Mr Gorsky.

Get out of here, vigilantes!

They're killers!

Edward Blake. 67 years old.

6'2". A solid 225.

The guy was built like a linebacker.

Yeah, I saw the body.

For a guy his age, he was in terrific shape.

You mean, apart from being dead?

That's plate glass.

You have to step on the gas just to put a crack in it.

He had to have been thrown.

Check the bedroom? Yeah.

Drawers opened, tossed through. Mattress flipped.

Probably robbery.

Or made to look like one. See this?

Shaking hands with the President.

Whoa! You think Blake was a spook?

Government or black ops?

I think this is way bigger than both of us.

Rorschach’s journal, October 12, 1985.

Dog carcass in alley this morning, tyre tread on burst stomach.

This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face.

The streets are extended gutters, and the gutters are full of blood,

and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown.

The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder

will foam up around their waists

and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout, "Save us!"

And I'll whisper, "No."

Now the whole world stands on the brink,

staring down into bloody hell.

All those liberals and intellectuals and smooth talkers,

and all of a sudden nobody can think of anything to say.

Beneath me, this awful city,

it screams like an abattoir full of retarded children.

And the night reeks of fornication and bad consciences.

Tonight, a comedian died in New York.

Somebody knows why.

Somebody knows.

No, I definitely heard something.

Watch the door.

It must have been the wind. Next time you...

It all started with the gangs.

You know, people tend to forget that.

Pirate outfits, ghosts.

They thought it was funny, dress up and pull heists.

Of course, as soon as we'd arrest them, they'd be back on the street again.

Nobody could pick them out of a lineup 'cause of the damn masks.

So, a few of us cops, we get together and we figure,

"What the heck? We'll mask up, too. We'll finish what the law couldn't."

Pretty soon, the papers get wind of it. They ran with it

and, oh, boy, we're a national pastime.

It was me, Dollar Bill, Mothman,

Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice,

Silk Spectre and The Comedian.

Don't get me started on him.

I must be drunk already, telling you this sob story again.

I think you were trying to make a point.

Well, my point is that we had it too easy.

It wasn't fair what happened to you guys,

you guys who picked up where we left off,

with Nixon forcing you out.

Nixon, that prick.

And to think I voted for that prick five times.

Hey, it was him or the commies, right?

Wow, it's almost midnight. I ought to go.

Truth?

You were a better Nite Owl than I ever was, Danny boy.

Hollis, we both know that's bullshit.

Hey, watch with the language.

This is the left hook that floored Captain Axis, remember?

This just in. A masked vigilante known as Rorschach

has assaulted a police officer in the early morning hours.

Rorschach is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list

for violation of the Keene Act,

which banned masked heroes SIX years ago.

Rorschach reportedly incapacitated an officer...

Forced everyone out except him.

He'll quit.

When he's dead.

Next week?

Well, you know, you don't have to keep humouring me like this.

If you got a hot date or something...

Hey, us retired guys have to stick together, right?

You ever miss it?

No. You? No. Heck, no.

I'll be seeing you.

Hello, Daniel. Rorschach.

Helped myself to some beans.

Hope you don't mind.

No, no. Of course not.

You want me to heat those up for you?

Fine like this.

How have you been keeping?

Out of prison.

Heard about you on the news.

They say you attacked a cop.

Minor wound. Won't need hospitalisation.

Daniel, look at this.

Is this bean juice? Human bean juice.

Badge belonged to The Comedian. Blood, too.

He's dead.

Let's talk downstairs.

It could have been a burglary.

Maybe the killer didn't know who The Comedian was.

An ordinary burglar kill The Comedian? Ridiculous.

I heard he'd been working for the government since '77,

knocking over Marxist republics in South America.

Maybe it was a political killing or something.

Maybe.

Or maybe someone's picking off costumed heroes.

You don't think that's a little paranoid?

That what they say about me now? Paranoid?

Look, Comedian made a lot of enemies over the years, even among his friends.

Speaking of friends, how's Hollis Mason?

He wrote that book, said some bad things about The Comedian in it.

I don't like what you're implying. And I like being followed even less.

Maybe I was keeping an eye on you, in case someone's gunning for masks.

You were never that sentimental.

An attack on one is an attack on all of us.

What do you suggest we do about it?

Retribution.

Watchmen are over.

Says Tricky Dick.

Says me.

Nobody knows who you are.

You can give it up, try and have a normal life.

That what you have now? A normal life?

When you walk down the street in a city dying of rabies,

past the human cockroaches

talking about their heroin and child pornography,

do you really feel normal?

At least I'm not the one still hiding behind a mask.

No.

You're hiding in plain sight.

Be seeing you, Dan.

There's a maintenance hatch that will let you out two blocks north.

Yeah, I remember.

Came here often when we were partners.

Those were great times, huh, Rorschach?

What happened? You quit.

Rorschach's journal. First visit of evening fruitless.

Feel slightly depressed.

Soon there will be war.

Millions will perish in sickness and misery.

Why does one death matter against so many?

Because there is good and evil, and evil must be punished,

even in the face of Armageddon.

I will not compromise in this.

Mr Veidt, to date, you're one of only two Watchmen

ever to reveal their true identity to the world,

the first being Hollis Mason.

And you've certainly profited greatly by it,

turning your superhero alter ego, Ozymandias,

into a billion-dollar industry.

Toys, lunchboxes, genetic engineering...

I understand there's even a movie in the works.

I'm not hearing a question, Mr Roth.

I'm sorry. Do you think...

The other Watchmen resent me for prostituting their struggle?