AVATAR

I saw it the other day and agree it was really entertaining. Not entirely thought-provoking but held my attention throughout. I also agree that the story was not weak but rather simple. That's okay, though. Some of the best stories are simple.

There are elements that make it seem at times like Dances With Wolves, and other times like the Matrix.

While I do recommend seeing it, I don't plan on seeing it multiple times and don't have the urge to buy it on DVD. Seeing it and experiencing it once was enough for me. Again, not flawed, that's just me saying it didn't strike that chord in me that made me have to see it again.

I also recommend seeing it on the big screen rather than waiting on DVD.

I think a 7 yr old would probably be fine with it if they're closer to 8. There's some language and violence, but you have that flipping through regular cable channels and they'll definitely be able to grasp the story. Heck, the Happy Meals at McDonalds have Avatar toys right now.

Now the thing that really made me angry was the article on Yahoo, "Does AVATAR Contain Hidden Messages?" http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/hmg-avatar-hidden-messages.html

The writer suggests, among other things, that some might liken the Na'vi to American Indians. No! Really?! And then there is this crazy notion that it might be a pro-green, anti-war movie. Duh, thanks for pointing that out Brett Dykes. I would have completely missed these subtle under tones.

I'm being sarcastic, of course. If anything, the messages are blatantly obvious. If the writer of the article had to question whether the elements were hidden, I'm guessing he was watching the film under the influence of alchohol or some other substance and congratulated himself later when he was able to piece the message together later.

Another thing that struck me as insanely stupid in the article . . ."Will Heaven of the Daily Telegraph said that the plot line involving people of color who wear "tribal" jewelry while sporting dreadlocked hair, being saved by a noble white man gave the film a 'racist subtext' that he found 'nauseatingly patronising.'"

Give me a break. Unless this Will Heaven is himself a Na'vi, he has nothing to complain about. And if you don't have this outsider coming in to learn the culture, you've just thrown out 80% of the story and it's appeal. I guess Will Heaven (actually caucasion himself) would have preferred an African American helping save the Na'vi. But wouldn't that have been the same thing? What's the difference between a WHITE man helping save the BLUE Na'vi and a BLACK man helping save the BLUE Na'vi?

I don't know why every once in a while some animated bit of something catches flak on a racist issue. Look at Jar-jar and how people were saying he made Jamaicans look stupid. Hello? Jar-jar was a Gungan; he made Gungans (and George Lucas) look stupid. He was a bad idea for comic relief on his own without calling it racism. I've heard before with the two cartoon jellyfish on one of those animated movies and the two cars that were also supposedly making African American people look dumb.

Give the racism issue a rest. No one watches Uncle Buck and says, "Man, that John Candy makes white folks look stupid." Want to take some steps in ending racism an segregation, drop the Miss Black America and the Negro Scholarship fund--things which caucasions are excluded specificially because of their race.

I've deviated from the AVATAR topic itself, but I haven't heard of any Na'vi protesting how they were depicted.

See it on the big screen and enjoy it. Don't try to read too deeply into it.
 
Have to admit, it was better than I expected. Everybody talked up how "Al Gore- preachy, Greenpeacey" it might be. I'm glad that story element wasn't too distracting. It looked fantastic and it was well shot and a lot of the lab and military scenes felt very ALIENS.

And FINALLY, a 3D movie that doesn't have stuff sticking out or just spinning in your face for the sake of an "Oh look! I'm a 3D effect!"
 
...<snipped>... though it is pointless to see it in 3D.

Seriously??? The 3D stuff was amazing. It added layers of reality you can't believe. Totally fleshed out the experience.

As for the unobtanium, I assumed it was more of an offhanded remark than the actual name. He didn't seem like a really intelligent character, more like a smart@ss, greedy banker type trying to make money no matter what the cost.
 
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I think we found his next movie! :D:D We have been promised a Halo movie for the last 5 years!! :(:(:(

I'm pretty sure Cameron's next big movie is going to Battleangel, which is an adaptation of the manga "Battleangel Alita". He's said if Avatar works out the way he wants it to then BA is the next big thing for him. He wants to make sure the technology is ready to tackle it, so I'm guessing it's going to be a BIG movie.
 
I finally saw it and loved it! It's not 3 hours long, 2 hrs and 42 min long. Not too rediculous. The CG was AMAZING! It set a huge milestone for CG animators. Best part about it was how everything worked. Good sense of emotion, fun plot line, AMAZING WORLD. Coming up with a new world, with new creatures and have it flow and the viewer buy into it is VERY hard these days, especially with how rediculously picky viewers have gotten. It's one of my top fav movies. The characters, ideas, creatures, concepts, all was very original (aside from the very halo-ish ships hahaha). What were they called in Halo, Pelicans? lol. Overall it was top knotch. Took CG to the next level and provided a wonderful world to get lost in. How you can hate or think it was an okay movie is beyond me. Learn to freakin enjoy something, overly critical people lol!

El1te
 
I thought Avatar was great. I actually went into the movie not expecting it to be more than flashy eye-candy, but I actually fell into the story and dug it. The only thing I didn't enjoy is the headache I had after because of the 3D. I guess my brain isn't used to the whole convergence/accommodation thing yet. Maybe I should watch it a 2nd time and see if that helps. :)
 
Saw it in 2D and loved it. I will be seeing in IMAX 3D on Saturday.

my closest imax that could be showing avatar in 3D only ever shows movies about bears and wolves. curse you west yellowstone!!!

by the way, i just want everyone to know this is my 1337 post. so from now on everything i post is in the upper echelon. :lol:
 
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I am so relieved to know I wasn't the only one thinking of Fern Gully as I sat in the theater watching this. However, with exception to the opening sequence (SNORE), it is a visually stunning tour de force of CG animation. Of course, when you hire EVERYBODY in the state of California to work on it (check the end credits) you are bound to have enough man power to pull off a high level of production value.

The story is simple, but that is not the problem. The problem is the ideas behind the story are simple. And that is bad. Trite and sophomoric. Aimed at 6 year olds. Cameron returned to his message from The Abyss but left behind his masterful storytelling. Its a disappointment because he is such a good filmmaker, but here he basically remade Fern Gully. I was hoping before I saw it that the South Park episode slamming Avatar for being "Dances with Smurfs" meant that it would at least have the emotional complexity and depth of one of my favorite films (Dances with Wolves, not the smurf thing), but sadly this was not the case either. There are so many good sci-fi scripts floating around hollywood, and tons of brilliant literary material to adapt, it is a shame that so much effort and such amazing artistry was wasted on such a lame and mindless story.
 
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I absolutly loved it. I'm planning on seeing it two more times this week. It wasn't just some super CG flick, it was an EXPERIENCE.
But the ending totally sucked...


...because it HAD one.
It hurt me so much at the end to leave the lush, beautiful, vibrant Pandora and come back down to Earth.
And what I don't get about the haters saying "It's so unoriginal and all it is is Dances with Smurfs" Well, if they're such masters of originality then WHY do they keep using that stupid South Park joke, huh?
 
I know what you're saying Sareth. It's like if there is anything in a movie that has been seen in other movies, its deemed garbage. They had guns. This movie sucked. lol. People are so overly critical today.

El1te
 
I loved it too, it was mostly about the visuals but who cares, it was one of the best cinema screenings I've seen ever!
It's impossible to please everyone!
 
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