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The blogosphere is on fire with it. Entire walls of bookstores have been devoted to it. It lives, a dancing glimmer of desire, in the eyes of every fan who has patiently waited years for its arrival.

After 20 years of stalled production, script revisions and casting change-ups, the much-anticipated movie adaptation of Watchmen - considered one of the greatest graphic novels of all time - hits the big screen this weekend with visionary director Zack Snyder (300) at the helm.

For the uninitiated: Watchmen is set in an alternative 1985, in which the Cold War is still raging and Richard Nixon is still president. A group of ex-superheroes dust off their capes to solve the murder of one of their own, as the world ticks down to nuclear annihilation at the hands of the Soviets. Originally published as a 12-issue series in the 1980s, it was crowned one of the greatest novels of the 20th century by Time magazine, and has won a Hugo, science fiction's most prestigious award.

Early reviews of the film have been mixed, and there are rumblings about a twist to the ending that may leave some fans in the cold. It appears, though, that Snyder and his team were deeply faithful to the look of the novel. After two trailers for the film were released online, fansites started buzzing about film's stylistic integrity - with some scenes almost exactly replicating specific frames from the novel. And in a production diary video released online, the film's creative team talked about the importance of bringing tiny details from the comic-book panels alive on the big screen.

"The smallest prop, whether it be a framed newspaper article on a wall, or a poster on the side of a building - it was important for us to relate back to the graphic novel," said producer Deborah Snyder in the video.

With that in mind, we asked our own crack team of Watchmen experts to pick out frames from the trailers that have been recreated with particular affection. A selection is shown here.

Staff,