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James Cameron's Avatar

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I just came back home from watching the world premiere of James Cameron's Avatar in Digital 3D, and I didn't see any thread about it, so I created one. (If there actually are, just close this thread please)

Anways, I cannot watch a movie or read a book without criticizing it greatly(both positive and negative critics) and i haven't been able to put any movie on my list of best movies(i've seen), at least not very high, in the last few years. I made one exception for Watchmen and one for Dark Knight, but neither of them felt they had the right to be on the top.(Which incase you wondered have been held by movies such as Pulp Fiction and The Nightmare Before Christmas).

To the point.
I walked out of the cinema and said to my friends "That was the best movie i've ever seen". I didn't even need to think about it, and even now after I've been thinking about it more, I cannot find a movie i like better.

So, those of you who have seen it, what did you think? :thumbs_up:, :bored: or :thumbs_down:?

And I needn't remind all of you to refrain from spoilers, do i?
 
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There's a lot of things which makes this movie awesome.

One of them is the obvious culture crash, another is the original and breathtaking world.
The movie have, as most other movies, a deeper meaning(or rather several), but in difference of most other movies, the most important ones are not subtle, but the opposite.

That's a few of the points, if i would take them all it would just be too much.


And be ready not only for a fantasy, but also for Sci-Fi(Meaning futuristic Sci-Fi).
 
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The dialogue is cliched as fuck.
The plot is swiss cheese.
The protoss romance is boring and uninspired.
And the allegory behind the film has all the subtlety of a stripper in a church (Japan outside the scope of the comparison).

Yeah, this film really doesn't do anything that many movies, stories, and children's picture books haven't done to death already.

Give me three hours of my life back. The CGI is impressive and the action scenes are pretty badass, but I would have by far preferred watching Michael Bay burn half a billion dollars colliding planets or something.
 
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The dialogue is cliched as fuck.
The plot is swiss cheese.
The protoss romance is boring and uninspired.
And the allegory behind the film has all the subtlety of a stripper in a church (Japan outside the scope of the comparison).

Yeah, this film really doesn't do anything that many movies, stories, and children's picture books haven't done to death already.

Give me three hours of my life back. The CGI is impressive and the action scenes are pretty badass, but I would have by far preferred watching Michael Bay burn half a billion dollars colliding planets or something.

Translation - "I want to sound like I'm smarter than everybody else by saying this film is shit and that if you like it, you're a dumbass who only watches films for special effects."
 
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Dreadnought[dA];1412213 said:
Translation - "I want to sound like I'm smarter than everybody else by saying this film is shit and that if you like it, you're a dumbass who only watches films for special effects."
Yeah, that's about right.

So what, exactly, are you trying to accomplish by pointing this out?
 
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Well apparently, if someone says that the movie is bad then said person is obviously wrong. Oh, and if they list reasons for why it's bad, then they're even more wrong!

Dreadnought said:
Translation - "I want to sound like I'm smarter than everybody else by saying this film is shit and that if you like it, you're a dumbass who only watches films for special effects."
Translation - "I want to sound like I'm dumb and it's working."
 
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Just got home from watching this film is for most people i think but some people who don't like a story building up to a battle which gives you goose bumps you may not want to watch it. This has bin a worth the money in my opinion of a movie and maybe they could have lest effects and more live action but truly they did a great job with that much effects and if you don't like effect then don't see this movie 90% of it is probably effects. Also about the 3-D there really wasn't a large amount of it i do recommend seeing it in 3-D just for a better time watching the movie but without 3-D is OK too. That's mostly what i will say about the movie so if you like nice ending battles and nice effects and a tad longer then a normal movie go see it.
 
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To the point.
I walked out of the cinema and said to my friends "That was the best movie i've ever seen". I didn't even need to think about it, and even now after I've been thinking about it more, I cannot find a movie i like better.

I don't need to say more either :)
I loved the film, I sure did and it's probably the best film I've
ever seen as well! But only time can tell, right? There might be
a bettet movie one day :)
 
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I can't remember seeing any Asians in Avatar. Guess they don't exist either.

I love how they describe the Bush regime as this horrible dictatorship. Really? I seriously don't think Bush will go down in history among people like Stalin or Hitler. That's kind of giving him unwarranted importance there.

Also, apparently breast implants are crucial to your health and a basic right to which everyone is entitled.
 
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the movie is awezum!!! it has everything
furryness, starcraftness, awesome graphics, warcraftness (the big tree thing)
:thumbs_up:
 
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I must say if you go look in that stop avatar site look on the right side scroll down and theres a follower with the avatar of a nazi avatar what dose that say about that site "we want Transgenders but no jews" hmmmmmmmmm?
 
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I must say if you go look in that stop avatar site look on the right side scroll down and theres a follower with the avatar of a nazi avatar what dose that say about that site "we want Transgenders but no jews" hmmmmmmmmm?
I must say you seem to think that a single follower who supports naziism implies that the entire group does so as well what dose that say about your view on germans hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

In any case, in one of the comments, someone laid out an extremely well-structured and sensible argument against the maker of that blog, and he/she completely did not understand it at all, so I'd say the blogger is beyond rescue.
 
Man, that movies graphics just kick your @$$ the whole time.

I know there was a lot of people complaining that the story was a bit predictable, but really who was watching the for some amazing complex story?

I have to say though that in concept its very similar to District 9, but with twice as match "Holy #$@#!" value since they were able to get a bit more creative being on another planet with the effects and everything
 
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Well, I saw the movie twice, both in the Imax 3D cinema. I thought it was pretty epic. Yes, it has been given alot of critisism... What I found some have been saying:

*This movie is too much inspired by Pocahontas and Dancing with wolves (and some other which I dont remember). The plot is horrible and predictable, its like you seen it before.
*The names of Pandora and Unobtainium are stupid. Could they not come up with something better?
*The whole movie is just a eyecandy explosion. Nothing else is great.
*The movie has a secret message such as, the white man once again being bad trying to eliminate the natives, or, "This is just more like USA invading the middle east due to the resources."

And what the hell do I have to answer on these?...
*What original movies can you see nowadays? Movies are pretty much always influesed by other movies, at one point or another. What makes this movie so horrible in the plot? Yes, it may be predictable, but I didnt think the dialogues were that bad, just a cliche. However, what makes this unique is the graphical effects. Hell, James Cameron planeed to release this movie 1999, but considering how bad the techinque of that time was, and that he would have a budget on nearly 500.000.000$ no company wouldnt even want to do it. So, imagine how fucking cheezy this movie would have been 10 years ago.
Also, what the hell? Pocahontas? I haven't even seen that movie, and I thought of nothing about that one when I watched it. To be honest, I like the fact that 'a man getting taught about a woman' not the other way. Sure, some find this movie stereotypic because of the plot and if you are a plot carer like Poot, you shouldnt see it. If you like stunning visual orgasm scenes like me (I do think plot is important sometimes, but Id say it was enough to make it entertaining in Avatar) I'd definitly give it a go.

*I could agree on Pandora and Unobtainium, at least the first one sounds unoriginal and the latter one like a joke. But well, consider it:
wiki said:
Unobtainium is a humorous name for any extremely rare, costly, or physically impossible material needed to fulfill a given design for a given application. The properties of any particular unobtainium depend on the intended use. For example, a pulley made of unobtainium might be massless and frictionless. However, if used in a nuclear rocket, unobtainium would be light, strong at high temperatures, and resistant to radiation damage.
Yes, scientists actually do use it. Why can't people in the future and/or in a movie use it as well?

*Yeah the eyecandy... But ever though of that Avatar has a certain uniqueness not only made by effects. The imagination is terrific. The planet of Pandora, the environment, the Avatars and the Na'vis themselves made the movie interesting. Also not everything was CGI. Alot of it was indeed, but consider that the navi characters for instance had to learn to ride horses and such to be participating in the movie. And there is not only CGI involved, but alot of makeup styling. The helicopters were real, and if I remember right the armored human robots are real too. Parts of the environment were filmed on Australia or new Zeeland, while some parts were animated. And I could also say that the 3D effects of the cinema was great, as they were not "overdone". I felt at no time it became too much, but not too little either. Another thing, the soundtrack was definitly awesome...

*You know what, the third argument just gets me tired. Considering James Cameron had 12 years of development or development planning on this movie ofcourse he gets some ideas from what happends in the world. And that happends alot in alot of movies, but to be honest, it doesnt fucking always have to involve USA and it's political and military shit. Hell why can't people just enjoy the movie as another science fiction movie. Why do you have to think that there is a political hidden message? I watched it twice and none of the times did I think of someone invading another race or country in our world.

A sidenote, alot of people complain about its budget, and that it is totally not worth the money. But usually, if something would cost much to develop the price of the outcome would be higher. The Avatar movie still costs around 10£ to watch in the cinema, and the 3D one here does cost around 15£ I would have guessed it is about the same everywhere else, but I could be wrong. Anyway, like I said, imagine that it would have cost 500mill $ back in 1999... And now their budget is about 235mill $. Yeah, and how much have they earned so far? Around 382mill $ stabily inrcreasing everyday. What does imdb say about its quality? nealy 60.000 voted and it has an average of 8.8/10 - #22 of imdb ratings. The nominates? 4 Oscars and 9 at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards. This movie has achieved alot already... I expect it to win in some categories.


Uhm anyway, you obviously already have seen what I feel about this movie. I love it and is one of the best movies Ive seen so far. As for the arguing, crush me back if you want to, I am probably going to be crushed after this post (as I probably didnt carefully write this down, and missed something or just got distracted and went on another path). But these are my opinions (and a few facts). I am not expecting that everyone should feel the same. Beg to differ if you wish. But I'd definitly recommend it.

Also, fuck those who pirate this movie. As what I have seen (yes I pirated it afterwards to see the shitty outcome of a cinemarecording which has leaked already) It fucking suck. If you want to llike it, watch it in the cinema or at least wait for the god damn dvd/blurays to come out.
 
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*What original movies can you see nowadays? Movies are pretty much always influesed by other movies, at one point or another. What makes this movie so horrible in the plot? Yes, it may be predictable, but I didnt think the dialogues were that bad, just a cliche. However, what makes this unique is the graphical effects. Hell, James Cameron planeed to release this movie 1999, but considering how bad the techinque of that time was, and that he would have a budget on nearly 500.000.000$ no company wouldnt even want to do it. So, imagine how fucking cheezy this movie would have been 10 years ago.
Obviously, there are few movies that can be described as original. But, like you said, it's unoriginal to the point where it's cheesy. No matter how much influence a work derives from other works, I should not be able to predict the plot in the first 30 minutes of the movie. And I did. Anyone who has ever watched Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai can testify to this.
Sure, some find this movie stereotypic because of the plot and if you are a plot carer like Poot, you shouldnt see it. If you like stunning visual orgasm scenes like me (I do think plot is important sometimes, but Id say it was enough to make it entertaining in Avatar) I'd definitly give it a go.
I agree.
*I could agree on Pandora and Unobtainium, at least the first one sounds unoriginal and the latter one like a joke. But well, consider it:

Yes, scientists actually do use it. Why can't people in the future and/or in a movie use it as well?
These words are stock words that every dime-a-dozen science fiction writer has used to death, but I don't really care about that.
*Yeah the eyecandy... But ever though of that Avatar has a certain uniqueness not only made by effects. The imagination is terrific. The planet of Pandora, the environment, the Avatars and the Na'vis themselves made the movie interesting. Also not everything was CGI. Alot of it was indeed, but consider that the navi characters for instance had to learn to ride horses and such to be participating in the movie. And there is not only CGI involved, but alot of makeup styling. The helicopters were real, and if I remember right the armored human robots are real too. Parts of the environment were filmed on Australia or new Zeeland, while some parts were animated. And I could also say that the 3D effects of the cinema was great, as they were not "overdone". I felt at no time it became too much, but not too little either. Another thing, the soundtrack was definitly awesome...
The CGI is definitely awesome.
*You know what, the third argument just gets me tired. Considering James Cameron had 12 years of development or development planning on this movie ofcourse he gets some ideas from what happends in the world. And that happends alot in alot of movies, but to be honest, it doesnt fucking always have to involve USA and it's political and military shit. Hell why can't people just enjoy the movie as another science fiction movie. Why do you have to think that there is a political hidden message? I watched it twice and none of the times did I think of someone invading another race or country in our world.
Then you were either asleep or insane. It's not just this work; we draw comparisons from works to things pertaining to our lifestyle all the time. It's especially obvious in this movie because James Cameron has absolutely no sense of subtlety.

Let's say Stephanie Meyer writes a new book, and in this book, the focus shifts from Bella to Jacob and Edward. The two start getting closer and closer together until they finally fall in love. Jacob and Edward then talk to Bella, who accepts their relationship and the three rally in support of "Supernatural Creature Marriage".

THIS IS HOW SUBTLE AVATAR IS.

If Stephanie Meyer isn't a crazy Mormon bitch, you would say that this new book on the Twilight series is obviously an allegory for gay marriage. It's the same thing. Avatar takes every history lesson about Amerindians and the environment and compacts it all into one big hippie bonanza.
A sidenote, alot of people complain about its budget, and that it is totally not worth the money. But usually, if something would cost much to develop the price of the outcome would be higher. The Avatar movie still costs around 10£ to watch in the cinema, and the 3D one here does cost around 15£ I would have guessed it is about the same everywhere else, but I could be wrong. Anyway, like I said, imagine that it would have cost 500mill $ back in 1999... And now their budget is about 235mill $. Yeah, and how much have they earned so far? Around 382mill $ stabily inrcreasing everyday. What does imdb say about its quality? nealy 60.000 voted and it has an average of 8.8/10 - #22 of imdb ratings. The nominates? 4 Oscars and 9 at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards. This movie has achieved alot already... I expect it to win in some categories.
Why would anyone criticize the budget of this film? It's selling like hotcakes. As a businessman, James Cameron is the shit.
Uhm anyway, you obviously already have seen what I feel about this movie. I love it and is one of the best movies Ive seen so far. As for the arguing, crush me back if you want to, I am probably going to be crushed after this post (as I probably didnt carefully write this down, and missed something or just got distracted and went on another path). But these are my opinions (and a few facts). I am not expecting that everyone should feel the same. Beg to differ if you wish. But I'd definitly recommend it.
I think it's an okay movie, and that's about it. Go watch it if you really like CGI, but otherwise, it's not a very memorable experience. Not something that we'll remember in a few years anyways.
 
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Obviously, there are few movies that can be described as original. But, like you said, it's unoriginal to the point where it's cheesy. No matter how much influence a work derives from other works, I should not be able to predict the plot in the first 30 minutes of the movie. And I did. Anyone who has ever watched Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai can testify to this.
Ah yeah I forgot about The Last Samurai (heard someone mention it somewhere as well). I just wanted to add, that, to be honest, it is enough to see the trailer for this movie if you want to know how the plot is. Adding and figure that 1+1 = 2 after that when watching was pretty easy. But it is true, some are noticing those stuff more easily than others. I for once didnt:p I guess it is because I never seen Dancing with wolves and isnt remembering The last samurai that much.[potentially offtopic further->] But well for a director, what is a good movie? Its just like gaming companies and games - what makes a good game a good game?
Obviously the first answer is money. A piece of work who is suppose to give a good income to the company but doesnt isnt a good game. Something must have gone wrong here...
The second money is marketing. A piece of work who has been doing alot of good and appealing marketing is a good game. Take for instance Blizzard. They have well trained marketing business people, and that is one of the reasons wow has become successful.
So well, what makes this a good movie? Despite what we discussed earlier this has become a good movie, obviously due to their income and rating already. Cameron and their team (whoever everybody is) put a huge amount of effort in marketing as well, additionally about 100mill$ was spend out over the budget on marketing.
But meh I guess I went alitte far here.

MSBB said:
Then you were either asleep or insane. It's not just this work; we draw comparisons from works to things pertaining to our lifestyle all the time. It's especially obvious in this movie because James Cameron has absolutely no sense of subtlety.

Let's say Stephanie Meyer writes a new book, and in this book, the focus shifts from Bella to Jacob and Edward. The two start getting closer and closer together until they finally fall in love. Jacob and Edward then talk to Bella, who accepts their relationship and the three rally in support of "Supernatural Creature Marriage".

THIS IS HOW SUBTLE AVATAR IS.

If Stephanie Meyer isn't a crazy Mormon bitch, you would say that this new book on the Twilight series is obviously an allegory for gay marriage. It's the same thing. Avatar takes every history lesson about Amerindians and the environment and compacts it all into one big hippie bonanza.
:p You see stuff like that very commonly in movies these days (with exceptions). But meh:p I wasnt asleep nor insane and I agree with you. Since I saw it twice, I already knew about the politic criticism before I saw it the second time. But I did not even think of it there either. So my point was with the statement was you dont need to give a crap about its message, because you can enjoy it as a sci-fi movie anyway, stereotypic or not.

MSBB said:
Why would anyone criticize the budget of this film? It's selling like hotcakes. As a businessman, James Cameron is the shit.
Silly me didnt see this when I started to add the marketing thing in the first quote reply. But agreed.

MSBB said:
I think it's an okay movie, and that's about it. Go watch it if you really like CGI, but otherwise, it's not a very memorable experience. Not something that we'll remember in a few years anyways.
Cameron did say however, if this movie is successful there will come both Avatar 2 and 3. I do think we will remember this movie but I guess that differs from ones opinions to another. I'll remember it for sure, and I am already longing for the bluray release (yep that is me, lol). And yeah, I think there will follow-ups and cant almost not wait for them (although I suspect these will make it worse, but what do I know yet)
 
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This is among the best movies I've ever seen. I got to watch it in 3d IMAX, and hopefully will see it again tomorrow or the day after! The prime accomplishment of this movie is that it redefined CGI. There's a little bit of everything a movie should have in this movie, so anyone can see it and enjoy it. If you haven't seen Avatar yet, watch it asap. If you don't like it... keep quiet unless someone forces you to watch it again.

As for this movie "not being original"... if you can think of it; SOMEBODY HAS ALREADY TRIED TO DO IT.

Rating: 20/10
//\\^^//\\
 
As a information: MySpaceBarBroke whines about everything, hes one of those guys who thinks everything is shit beside himself... just as a side note, so you can ignore him I think, he does not even bring logical and halfway intelligent arguments.

I watched Avatar too, it is surely the greatest movie of this year...

For everyone who thinks the plot is predictable... show me a good fantasy/sci-fi movie where the story is NOT predictable... it is one of the basics of fantasy that it is halfway predictable, and for my part, the story was awesome, same for the action and the all-around package of this movie.
 
Before you all get caught up in the plot, how many of you were truly walking into that movie expecting some intricate plot to entice you completely? Most of you went in their because you saw some of the effects and such in the trailer and thought, man, that looks awesome.

-Yeah about politics, the movie makes no connection between any country and what was going on, instead of specifically targeting any single act it seems more of a general statement on greed (like the thought that since I have better weapons, I can take what I want - something exercised by the U.S. taking land from the Indians, the Spanish from many Latin American countries, the Vikings from the Europeans, the Mongolians from the Asians and Europeans, etc. etc. )
 
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Agreed, glad both you and Redscores is on my side:p The politics sounds indeed very global and general, even the tv channel reviewer here told it fit even to the climate changes occuring now. I could also add that the plot isn't truly identical as anything else if seen in its kind, because of the scientific aspect of it. How often have you seen something like the Avatar: a hybrid between a human and something else? And i'd say it again. Meh, meh, and meh, for everyone who saw this identical as something before:p

Actually, I didn't know anything about the effects when I was determined to see it. I was asked my a friend that a couple of us should go and see it, and I thought why not? Then after some days we decided to go to the 3D one instead, and I am glad I did it.

And this may sound crazy, but I am going to watch it again in the 3dcinema for the third time. Why? Because I think it is awesome, and because I am crazy.
 
And this may sound crazy, but I am going to watch it again in the 3dcinema for the third time. Why? Because I think it is awesome, and because I am crazy.

Nothing seems wrong with going to see it in 3d if you've seen it normally, I saw it regular and thought it was pretty impressive without 3d, I didn't really notice many parts that seemed to only serve the purpose of using 3d so it must have been used well for it to not constantly remind you that you aren't seeing the 3d version in the normal version (wow, used 3d 4 times in one long, run on sentence).
 
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The plot was dissapointingly predictable, but the graphics were the best ever. With a 3D expireince, it's like you are right there. The origional concepts for the animals and the whole bonding thing were pretty cool, and I instantly fell in love with those banshee critters. All in all, go see the movie for the stunning visuals, but if your friend sais his favorite part was the plot then s/he is lying.
 
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To say the least all movies are predictable.

I mean really when is the last time you saw something unpredictable (Besides that one crazy guy who made "The mist" and even that was just terrible lol).

But in all honesty great movie and on a side note for people who didn't know this IS a trilogy and will have 2 more movies coming up for it for you fans of course [High-Five].

I think this might be the only movie that will come close in comparison to Starwars and even then it is still pretty far.

Just my 2 cents of course.
 
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