Film: Avatar

[calmAnimal]

anyone going to see this movie? it looks sick but some of the reviews ive read said it was corny.

its supposed to have some new cgi shit anyone know more about this?

 

[Dank Jenkem]

With something like a $200 million budget, I predict that this film will be a bigger flop than Pluto Nash from a financial standpoint

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

Personally I'm really looking forward to seeing this.

James Cameron spent a hell of a long time developing the techniques to film and view the finished production - that is very cool in itself. I for one am looking forward to seeing some quality motion capture animation technology. He said the end result should be around 60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action.

I can deal with a flimsy plot.

 

[calmAnimal]

^^haha yes i think i can deal wit a flimsy plot also

@jenkem: titatnic had the largest budget when was released and its now the highest grossing film ever

 

[TheDeceased]

Never liked Cameron very much and the animation on the trailer looks a little crappy.

Titanic had more of a broad appeal. Since this is sci-fi/fantasy it's probably not going to break any records, but it'll do alright. In fact, it's already doing well.

 

[lostNfound]

I will be seeing this in the next couple of days.

 

[BlueFractal]

I watched it yesterday (Belgium is one of the first countries to screen the movie, weird). Saw it in 3D as well, which really adds to the experience.
The storyline is very predictable and unoriginal, the characters are zero, the symbolism is cheesy and the dialogues suck. However, for a movie of almost 3 hours I enjoyed it a lot and never got bored. It has great music, brilliant action, hot alien chicks and awesome 3D animation. This is the movie the 3D-cinemas have been waiting for and it is also the movie which places 3D-animated expressions and emotions on the same level as those of human actors.

He could have made it a lot better and deeper, I guess he had to make some hollywoodian sacrifices to keep it financable.

The stuttery trailers don't do the visuals justice, in the cinema it's pretty wonderful. The world is filled with huge luminescent plants, weird animals and stunning vistas.

If you are looking for a quiet, smart sci-fi movie: rent Moon and watch it at home. If you want to be really immersed in a beautiful, realistic alien world and culture and have some decent action on the way, Avatar is your movie. You'll walk out of the theatre hoping to meet a 3 metre tall alien with a bow around the corner.

Oh, if you can: do this movie on acid. In 3D. It'll blow your eyes out.

 

[TheDeceased]

He could have made it a lot better and deeper, I guess he had to make some hollywoodian sacrifices to keep it financable.

Cameron has never made anything remotely deep. None of the characters in any of his films are interesting. They're either marines with big guns, robotic killing machines or ordinary women put into extraordinary circumstances - who then gradually change into the gun toting marine type.

I think I'll take your advice and rent 'Moon'. I've heard really good things about it.

The aliens in Avatar are too human like. They look like big blue people. And they seem to use weapons similiar to those that exist on earth (bow and arrow, etc). Maybe JC's trying to make some sort of absurd commentary about indigenous populations and how we treat them on earth... and he can't think of any other way to do that then to anthropomorphisize the aliens.

 

[L2R]

^moon was a little flat to me. nice but flat.

i'll see this in imax 3d for ten bucks. just for the spectacle.

 

[BlueFractal]

Moon wasn't that deep either indeed, but more interesting then Avatars "dances with wolves"-story

I'm pretty sure the aliens are very humanoid (with facial expressions and voices equal to humans) because that allows the audience to quickly bond with them. This way you feel with them like with humans, which wouldn't be the case with some slimy six-eyed tentacled creature.
Which might be a message in itself, but I won't give cameron too much credit for thought-out scripts

 

[vegan]

damn impressive!!

the story is predictable and there are cliches that we could do without

but damn!!
the world they created is spectacular

if you're disappointed, you're blind
(saw it in 3D)

there's also a concept of interconnection that really suits my vision of universal consciousness

 

[Belisarius]

This is going to be a humongous hit, maybe Titanic size. Cameron futures are up.

 

[axl blaze]

I don't understand the mass appeal of this movie. I know the hype machine works in overdrive whenever Cameron makes a movie - but stunning visual don't make a good movie. and this movie reeks of having no plot.

 

[BlueFractal]

it does have a plot, it's just not too original. Avatar isn't about making a "good movie" like how The Godfather or Casablanca is a "good movie", it's about an experience. And Avatar is very, very good at that I'm even seriously thinking about seeing it again in the cinema, and that would be the first movie for me to do that.

But hey, loads of people went to see Transformers and 2012 and you don't understand the "mass appeal"? I'd rather say stunning visuals and lack of plot are what makes a movie "mass appealing" ;p

 

[psood0nym]

I saw this in 3D after eating synthetic cannabinoids and had a blast--especially during all the flying scenes. I think the 3D might have even been better than if I had seen it on an IMAX screen (except for maybe the spherical-type IMAX, which is much more 3D than the big curved square type). The allusions made in dialogue and the symbolism are really obvious and took me out of the movie a few times as I rolled my eyes. But, I suppose from a business standpoint if you gamble $300 million on a movie then everybody better damn well be able to get it.

Word of warning: a few of my friends couldn't handle 2 hours and 40 minutes of 3D spectacle and got headaches or felt nauseous. I also heard others who couldn't handle it complaining after the show, since the screen is pretty blurry without the glasses.

 

[CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT]

I agree with everyone who's commented on the lack of plot - it had holes everywhere and the characters were very stereotypical, not to mention the fact that the story borrowed heavily from other films [Fern Gully anyone?!].

That being said, I have never been so affected by the sheer beauty of a film like this one. The world of Pandora was astounding and actually caused me to gasp and grin intensely many many times throughout the film. The alien race were absolutely divine and had such intricately developed language and culture.

For all its faults, I really enjoyed it. 3/5 stars from me. I can't wait to see the other films this technology will produce. Exciting times, film go-ers! :D

 

[BlueFractal]

^ I didn't really see any major plotholes, Cameron seems to have the scenario pretty tight. The story being sci-fi already fills a lot of holes as you can't possibly know how everything works.
But you are very right on your other notions.

Funnily I can't seem to get the movie out of my head, Pandora and its inhabitants were so awesomely brilliant How Jake was exploring the world by night... Magic!
I wonder if that is supposed to improve my opinion of the movie: one which does make such an impact (even suffering an unoriginal script and stereotypical characters) must be pretty good, right?

 

[Chipp]

BlueFractal I know exactly what you're talking about - I saw it 2 days ago, after getting quite high, and I was gripped for those 3 hours. I'm still thinking about it now, and I plan to see it again in a couple days (cheap night). The plot wasn't anything amazing, but the movie looked so awesome that it never got boring at all!

 

[AmorRoark]

I heard the interview on NPR with Cameron. His commentary alone convinced me not to give this film a second glance. It sounds so stupid.

 

[belarki]

Saw it in 3D as well, which really adds to the experience.
The storyline is very predictable and unoriginal, the characters are zero, the symbolism is cheesy and the dialogues suck. However, for a movie of almost 3 hours I enjoyed it a lot and never got bored. It has great music, brilliant action, hot alien chicks and awesome 3D animation. This is the movie the 3D-cinemas have been waiting for and it is also the movie which places 3D-animated expressions and emotions on the same level as those of human actors.

He could have made it a lot better and deeper, I guess he had to make some hollywoodian sacrifices to keep it financable.

I saw it yesterday and couldn't have put it better than BlueFractal. There were aspects of the plot and character interactions that made me cringe. However in terms of CGI it was the most visually stunning film I've seen. It was beautiful and immersive. I saw it in 3D too and recommend anyone planning on seeing it does likewise if possible.

When do we get a poll in this thread to rate it?