Watchmen opening credits analysis

Does it get any more specific than this? Kee-ripes! But hey, if you know me, then you know that
fussing over minutiae is a hobby, so indulge me.

As I have come into posession of a completely legal copy of Watchmen, here's my (more or less) shot
by shot analysis of the famed opening credits sequence. Some of which is more coherent than the
rest...

Minutemen during WWII pretty accurate. V-J Day recreations with the lesbians is a cute touch.
Silhouette would have NEVER brought a female date to an official function, though.

B-29 Superfortress with pinup: unusual choice. Superfortress saw limited duty in 1945, though the
"Enola Gay" was a B-29 (perhaps that's why it was used?)

VJ-day : in real life, no tickertape parade, but some confetti. Over-dramatized, but a nice overall
sense of accuracy. (white sailor in background, black uniform against white-clad nurse, etc.)

Comedian was out of the Minutemen by the time Sally was preggo. No way he would be at her
"going away party" photo.

Sally's retirement photo is very obviously modeled on DaVinci's "Last Supper" something that was
not in the book, but an appropriate level of symbolism. Though Sally is not much of a Christ figure.
Still, more about visual cues than actual meaning.

JFK Assassination. CHILLINGLY accurate recreation of Zapruder film (and this coming from a guy
who's seen literally hundreds of itterations of the famed celluloid.

Fort Worth = Stemmons Freeway. I could have SWORN the sign in the Zapruder film said
"Stemmons' Freeway" Turns out, he only shot the backside of the Stemmons' sign, but the other sign
was (more or less) just like in the Watchmen movie:

Fuck! The Fort Worth Turnpike sign is correct. Hat= eaten. Sign doesn't appear clearly in actual
Zapruder film, but it's there. I compared with Life Magazine photos from 1963 and it's pretty
accurate (minor differences only; someone definitely did their homework)
"Russ have A-bomb" kid in that scene (with prostitute mom) is Rorschach, not sure if that is obvious
or not. Timeline is more or less correct. (he was born in 1940, so would be about 9 or 10 when that
headline hit) (Russians tested their first A-bomb in 1949, though I can't get a good handle on when
that news first reached the west)

Buddhist Monk self-immolation actually preceded Kennedy's assassination by several months. In

film, it's shown to follow it. Also, it has the caption "Vietnam War Escalates" which isn't entirely
germane to the image at hand (the guy on fire was protesting South Vietnam's treatment of
Buddhists, not the war in general)

Castro visiting Moscow: this happened in 1962, but the movie shows it happening more like mid-to-
late 60's.

Hippies putting flowers in National Guard rifles: very inflammatory. I suppose they are combining the
protests at the Pentagon with Kent State, but sheesh, kinda over the top, eh? (FYI , the Kent State
shootings took place in 1970)

Andy Warhol and Truman Capote: probably couldn't have happened until 1973. Alternate reality
timeline at work? (Warhol is showing "Nite Owl II" in his portraits, which is accurate for a 1965-ish
timeline.

"Good luck, Mr. Gorsky" legend with Neil Armstrong (1969). I suppose a "nod and a wink" to those
who know the legend. Totally false, of course. Read here for more info on this urban legend. And
hey, a rare chance (thanks to Dr. Manhattan) for Neil to get his picture taken on the moon! (there
are few or no still photos of Neil on the moon; they are all taken BY Nieil, of Buzz Aldrin, since they
only had one camera) BTW, the space suit for Neil Armstrong looked damn cheesy by "Apollo 13"
standards, but I guess was good enough for a 4 second credit scene. I guess it's just unfortunate that
I'm both a JFK /and/ a NASA buff at the same time!

1970's Studio 54 precedes Crimebusters group photo; in comic book the meeting was in 1966; this
would seem to predate the whole "Studio 54" era. But since they are making the point that
Ozymandias "sold himself out" then I guess it works.
Next thing we see is the "group photo" followed by Nixon winning a "third term" which would place
events at late 1976, just prior to the Keene act. But in the book, Ozymandias was already "out" by
this point, so wouldn't have posed for a photo.

But let's be fair: this is all total nitpicking. Some items were genuinely distracting to me, as a few of
the historical "facts" (haha! "facts!") but cinematically, the opening scene worked HUGE. Thanks in
no small part to Bob Dylan, I am sure, whose combination of poignant lyrics and piss-poor
"everyman" singing complimented our "heroes" efforts perfectly. What we have are the best laid
plans of mice and men, played out by mice, and sung by mice, but with an underlying heart of men.
This scene totally works, and it's just the opening credits!

I had been warned/promised ahead of time that the opening credits sequence was teh awesome,
and I wondered, "what could they have done?" I've seen awesome opening credits sequences before
(the beginning of Branagh's "Dead Again" comes to mind) but I kept wondering. After having seen it
now, I see what they mean. And in all honesty, kudos to the so-called "dumbed down" moviegoing
public for "getting it." In terms of "exposition during opening sequence" I would rank this right up
there with any "Star Wars" film (which for me, is saying a LOT) and in fact, surpassing the "holy grail"
which is the original graphic novel. Oh, heaven forbid anyone badmouth Alan Moore's iconic novel,
but let's be reasonable: there are many, Many, MANY instances of blatant, awkward, and truly ham-
handed exposition in that novel. Especially toward the beginning. If Moore hadn't had the good
fortune of the book selling too-little advertising space at the time (hence making room for all of his
"supplemental" material between chapters) it would have been even more blatant.

The movie, on the other hand, covers 35 years in 3.5 minutes very nicely and artistically, and more
importantly, effectively. Alan Moore is keen on calling his original graphic novel "Unfilmable," but I
daresay the first 10 minutes of this movie, in all its splendor, are *unwritable*. TAKE THAT!