It is the 1980s in an alternate universe where Richard Nixon is in his third presidential term, the world is dangerously close to nuclear destruction and costumed superheroes have been banned by the government. When two of the retired crimefighters begin to investigate the murder of one of their own, they realize there is a conspiracy with worldwide implications. An adaptation of Alan Moore's comic book series. With Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, Laura Mennell, Niall Matter and Rob LaBelle. Directed by Zack Snyder. [2:43]

SEX/NUDITY 9 - In almost all of the scenes that show the blue and glowing Dr. Manhattan he is fully nude and we clearly see his penis, bare chest, abdomen, back and buttocks.
► A man and a woman have sex: they remove each other's clothes, she thrusts while straddling him (we see her bare breasts, hips abdomen and side of her buttocks and his bare chest and legs), and the man then thrusts in a different position and they both moan and climax. A man and a woman have sex: we see his bare back as he thrusts briefly and the scene ends.
► A woman undresses, unfastens her garter belt (we see her in a bustier that reveals cleavage), a man enters the room, she is upset, the man kisses her bare shoulder, she pushes him away, punches him in the face, and he punches her in the stomach, kicks her and punches her again (we see blood on her face); he then forces her to lean over a pool table and unfastens his pants preparing to rape her but is interrupted.
► A man and a woman kiss, she straddles him and begins removing his shirt, they lie back on a sofa, she raises her skirt (her bare thighs are visible) and they stop. A fully nude man and a fully nude woman hug and kiss (we see bare buttocks, backs, breasts, and his genitals are seen from the side).
► A woman moans and writhes while lying on a bed, we see a man's hands caressing her, and then two more hands are shown (the man is capable of duplicating himself), she continues to moan and kisses his fingers; when she realizes that the man is duplicating himself and there is more than one of him in the room at the same time, she becomes upset, and he makes a comment about not knowing how to arouse her anymore.
► A prostitute pulls down her top to reveal her bare breasts to a man passing on the street (we see her breasts); he does not accept the invitation. There are several scenes that show a woman in skimpy undergarments (bra, panties, garter and stockings), kissing men in her apartment and it is implied that she is having sex with them for money. We see two dead women in undergarments lying next to each other on a bed (it is implied that they were lovers).
► We see a pornographic comic book that depicts a woman with her legs lifted and spread apart and we see a rendering of her vagina. We see a pornographic magazine on a coffee table: initially the magazine is partially covered and nothing is visible, but we later see that a man and a woman are kissing on the cover.
► A man watches a TV commercial with suggestive images -- a man in a swimsuit walks toward a woman who's reclined on the deck of a swimming pool. We see women wearing skimpy clothing and skintight outfits that reveal cleavage and bare thighs in several scenes. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, bare shoulders and back. A woman wears a low-cut sweater in several scenes. A man holds a bra in his hand and looks at it (as if he's studying it).
► A woman kisses another woman passionately. A man and a woman kiss in a few scenes.
► Two young men tease a boy about his mother and make crude sexual remarks. A reference is made to "child pornography." A woman makes a comment about the "tight, latex costume" she used to wear and a man remembers it fondly. A marquee on an adult theater reads "Totally Nude Girls" and "XXX."

VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - In a war scene we see people with guns moving through a field: a man walks toward them, holds out his hand and emits some kind of energy wave that blows the people to bloody shrapnel (we see blood and tissue blow through the air). Men in a bar stand up and draw guns, another man enters the bar, holds out his hand and the men disintegrate (blood and matter sprays on women seated near the men and we see blood and some skeletal remains hanging from the ceiling).
► Several men follow a man and a woman into a dark alley, they fight, a man's arm is broken (we see the flesh break open and blood spurts), others are kicked and punched repeatedly (we see bloody faces), one man is kicked in the leg and his knee breaks when it is bent backwards, a man's neck is broken (we hear a crunch), and another man is stabbed in the neck (we hear a squish).
► A man finds articles of clothing of a kidnapped girl in a furnace, and then sees two dogs fighting over a bloody, severed leg with a child's shoe on the foot. A man breaks another man's hands and arms, another man using a saw cuts the man's arms off (we see blood spurt and we see tissue and bones) and the man collapses dead.
► A man strikes another man in the head repeatedly with a butcher knife (we see blood pour down the man's face and strands of blood stretch from the wound to the knife as it is swung into the air after each blow).
► A man enters a room where there is scientific equipment, he is accidentally locked into the room, the equipment begins to whirr and beams of energy flash, the man is struck by the beams, we see him disintegrate (first his skin is shed with blood and tissue fluttering through the air, we see his skeleton and then nothing remains).
► A man breaks into another man's apartment, the two men fight, one threatens the other with a gun, punches and kicks are exchanged (we see blood on one man's face), and one man holds the hand of the other man on a counter and brings a kitchen knife down on it (the man screams and we see blood and the blade cutting into his hand); then one man is thrown onto a glass table that shatters, and one man is thrown through a plate glass window and falls many stories to the ground (we see a pool of blood under his body and his leg is twisted). Two men fight in a prison cafeteria, one pours boiling oil over the head of the other, and he falls to his knees and we see his face melt and become malformed (we hear later that the man died from his injuries).
► We see a re-enactment of President Kennedy's assassination: we see a man struck by a bullet in the side of the head and part of his face is blown off, and blood and matter spray out and onto the back of the car he is riding in.
► A man with a saw threatens another man, who slams the man's head into a toilet, the toilet breaks, the man's head bleeds, water seeps onto the floor and a cut electrical wire touches the water electrocuting one man (we see him twitch briefly).
► A pregnant woman cuts a man's face using a broken bottle (we see the open, bloody wound), and the man shoots her (we see her lying dead on the floor and we are reminded that she is pregnant). Two young men tease a boy about his mother and make crude sexual remarks, the boy becomes enraged, strikes one young man with a hammer, and tackles the other and bites his face (we see the boy's bloody mouth, with skin in his teeth).
► A woman is shot through the leg (we see blood and matter as the bullet passes through her leg and out the back). A man is shot through the chest (we see blood). A man is shot and falls to the floor. A man is shot through the hand (we see blood). A man is shot several times (we see blood).
► A man squeezes another man's hand, breaking the glass he is holding, and squeezes a few more times causing the man to yell (we hear crunching with each squeeze). A man goes into a restroom where another man is, he leaves and we see blood flooding out from under the bathroom door. Two dead dogs with bloody wounds are thrown through windows into a cabin and land on a man that's inside.
► A man is blown to bloody bits by an energy blast and we see blood and matter soaking into snow-covered ground. A man and a creature that looks like a tiger are blown to bits by an energy beam (we see the separation of tissue, then skeletons, and then nothing). Many men are zapped with an energy beam that causes them to disintegrate. A nuclear explosion sends a shock wave over a man and a woman and they are blown to bits (we see their skin and muscle blown off their skeletons). During a prison riot a man is thrown over a balcony and another man is set on fire (he runs and screams while he is in flames). A man is shot with a flamethrower and we see him running while in flames.
► A woman undresses, unfastens her garter belt (we see her in a bustier that reveals cleavage), a man enters the room, she is upset, the man kisses her bare shoulder, she pushes him away, punches him in the face, and he punches her in the stomach, kicks her and punches her again (we see blood on her face); he then forces her to lean over a pool table and unfastens his pants preparing to rape her but is interrupted.
► A man and a woman fight many men during a prison riot, with many punches and kicks. Three men fight, one is thrown into a large stone block and falls to the floor, one man lunges toward another and crashes into a TV screen, and they punch and kick each other. A man shoves another man into a refrigerator, grabs his arm and twists (we hear bones cracking and the man makes a remark about breaking more fingers); he then slams the man into a wall.
► A man blows flames at several armed police officers, he punches several others, one officer who is in flames falls down a flight stairs and knocks another down with him, and the man is shot at as he runs and jumps through a window but continues fighting other officers on the street.
► We see what looks like a person seated or kneeling on the ground and in flames. A man bites a suicide pill, we see him foaming at the mouth and he dies.
► We see two dead women on a bed with blood soaked bedclothes. We see a dead man with a bloody bullet hole in his head. We see a dead man slumped against a wall with bloody bullet holes in his chest. We see two men dead and tied to a fire hydrant (there is blood on their faces). We see a dead dog with a very bloody head wound. We see many men lying dead on the floor after drinking poisoned drinks.
► People protest and riot in a street, we see a car in flames and a man pounding on it with a baseball bat, a flaming bottle is thrown at a flying vessel that hovers over the crowd, a man jumps down from the vessel punches a few people standing around him, and then opens fire on the crowd (we hear the gunshots and people screaming and see one man struck by what looks like an RPG; he is still moving after being struck). We see people trapped inside a burning building and pleading for help and an explosion from inside the building throws a woman out and she crashes into a flying vessel that's hovering outside.
► A glowing orb lowers into the center of a heavily populated city, it emits a blast of energy, we see people and objects being thrown into the air, buildings crumble and only smoldering rubble remains. An explosion blows flames on a crowd of people (we do not see the aftermath).
► A woman presses a button in a flying vessel and it blows flames out the front (we see her struggling to put the flames out). A woman is transported to Mars and she falls to her knees gasping for air (she's fine once she is placed in a shielded area with oxygen). A flying vessel nearly crashes into a wall of ice.
► Men in prison yell at and taunt a new prisoner and threaten to rape and hurt him. A man yells at a woman and makes a remark about another man having tried to rape her. A woman slaps her son, yells at him and tells him, "I should have had that abortion." A man confesses to having done "bad things to women and shooting kids." A man says he's dying from cancer. Military advisors talk about potential human losses from a nuclear attack. A man threatens another man and says, "I wanna tear this guy a new hole." A man talks about another man having been dropped down an elevator shaft.
► We see a man in a hospital bed suffering from cancer and he takes his last breath. We see people gathered at a graveside funeral, a covered casket and a hole in the ground.
► A woman vomits (we hear her gagging and see her leaning over a toilet). A man cries and we see mucus dripping from his nose. A woman removes a wig to show that she is losing her hair from cancer or cancer treatments.

LANGUAGE 6 - About 19 F-words, 1 obscene hand gesture, 9 sexual references, 7 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 19 mild obscenities, name-calling (Tricky Dick, paranoid, hippie, Nazi, lunatic, retard, fat), 12 religious profanities, 11 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A reference is made to heroin use. A man smokes a cigar and drinks alcohol, a man smokes a cigar in many scenes throughout the movie, and another man smokes a cigar. A man holds a beer bottle in his hand and then drinks from it, a man drinks alcohol from a flask, people drink alcohol in a few bar scenes, men drink champagne, and a woman drinks alcohol in several scenes.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Heroes, war, nuclear war, Russia and U.S. relations, rape, changing times, world peace, homosexuality, political upheaval, Vietnam, assassination, being normal, fear, liberalism, alternative energy sources, sociopaths, aging, kidnapping, paternity, heartbreak, the American Dream, impotence, revenge, mythology, miracles, time, destiny, fate, savage nature of human beings, salvation, shame, compromise, defending the good and the just, Armageddon, Utopias, chaos, socialism, Alexander the Great.

MESSAGE - Humans are inherently savage.