It’s a 1985 that wasn’t. Richard Nixon is still president after winning the Vietnam War. Costumed heroes are forced to hide from an ungrateful America. And the Doomsday clock we keep ticks five minutes closer to midnight and nuclear holocaust.

First published by DC Comics in 1986, Watchmen was a sign of its times and helped elevate the reputation of graphic novels to an accepted fictional genre. It remains a literary triumph.

Zack Snyder, best known for his film version of Frank Miller‘s warrior epic 300, directed Watchmen with reverent care, successfully preserving the essential thematic elements and crafting a commendable adaptation that far exceeds 300.

The cast isn’t packed with big names, but that works in its favor. With the exception of Billy Crudup in the role of Dr. Manhattan, the rest of the ensemble cast is relatively unknown, although each possesses extensive television credits.

They are superb and perform their roles memorably. Expect more than one to become a household name.

For 300, Snyder used Spartan visual elements to craft a lush, ornate and almost biblically picturesque tale in stark contrast to the cold, hard drama of Miller’s original black and white splash pages.

For Watchmen, Snyder retains much of Gibbons’ original composition. In fact, several shots are faithful reproductions of many iconic panels from the book.

But gone is Higgins’ stylized monochromatic technique. Cinematographer Larry Fong works with broader, darker tones that place the characters in a more familiar, realistic world.

Clarity and a goal to get the film under three hours also necessitated that several elements of Moore’s original story be jettisoned. Hopefully, ardent fans will be forgiving of Snyder. Despite or perhaps due to the omissions, he and the cast quite simply nailed it.

The result is well balanced, not weighed down. The refurbished plot develops gradually, held on course by Rorschach’s voiced over journal entries and enhanced by deftly choreographed fight sequences.

It is truly apocalyptical in the sense that the story reveals to us not a pessimistic end of days, but an optimistic new dawn possible for mankind.

Thematically, the ticking clock at the heart of Watchmen, presented in various ways onscreen, gauges the time left until the way they perceive things expires.

Each one is forced to a personal tipping point – about themselves, the world and their roles in it.

And each one is challenged by compromise.

The Comedian, whose murder propels the story, drowns nightmarish memories of acts he committed in the name of America.

Dr. Manhattan’s soliloquy about mankind should give any thoughtful viewer reason to reflect. An atomic powered demi-god, he’d prefer to build a home on Mars leaving Earth and its troubles behind.

Obsessed with retribution, Rorschach would dig the mother of mass graves and personally chuck every last sinner into it if given the chance.

Silk Spectre, far from the token chick in tight latex whose only function in most Hollywood slop is to make the sexually frustrated drool, is learning to navigate a world that claims to longer need heroes.

Nite Owl, who’s Batman without the psychosis, never stopped believing that the world can be made a better place.

And Ozymandis, well, he’s the smartest and richest man in the world.

But for those of you easily squeamish, be warned – Watchmen is at times graphic.

The opening credits sequence alone is enough to hook you in, but the film may seem at times slow in developing. Rest assured, it is worth the time, as we watch the Watchmen reveal themselves.

Unlike traditional comic books, Watchmen reminds us that the outcomes to human history’s conflicts seldom have true heroes.

In order to be heroic, sometimes men and women must summon truly inhuman resolve, put aside idealism and swallow bitter compromises if they are to survive.

And the occasions for such decisive moments, Dr. Manhattan reminds us, never end.

For mankind, the Doomsday clock still ticks.