[movies] James Cameron's Avatar

[Tals]

Sparhawk has my sentiments. Went to a standard cinema to watch in 3d and it just felt natural not gimicky and no effects to purposely make you duck etc. Awesome film just incedible. The 3d is so well done I'd not recommend the 2d ver

Tals

[Azhag]

Arg, we have IMAX tickets for tomorrow afternoon, but I don't know if the roads will be driveable by then (in Northern VA) and the theater is a ways off.

[Moliere]

Best movie I've seen since 2001. fucking fantastic.

What was better in 2001?

[Louis Cypher]

Best movie I've seen since 2001. fucking fantastic.

What was better in 2001?

I saw what you did there

[Chaz]

Ho-lee-crap, that was awesome.  The CG characters were absolutely stunning, as was everything else.  Yeah, it was Dances With Aliens, but I think that's totally fine.  There's nothing wrong with a simple story that's well-told, and this is definitely well-told.  I gave a rat's ass about the characters, which is more than a lot of movies deliver.  The last part is an hour long FX orgasm.  The 3d really added to the sense of being immersed in the world.  My favorite use of it was to have small particles of dust, ash, pollen, whatever drifting out of focus in the foreground.  It did not feel like it was three hours long at all.

I will absolutely be going back to see this at least once more in the theater.  Pure awesome.

[Tals]

My favorite use of it was to have small particles of dust, ash, pollen, whatever drifting out of focus in the foreground.  It did not feel like it was three hours long at all.

+1

[kathode]

Saw it in imax 3d last night and really enjoyed it.  The most impressive 3d effect, however, was the Cheshire Cat in the Alice in Wonderland trailer.  Holy crap, that thing looked like it was in my lap!  Loved the 3d in Avatar though.  It was really well integrated into the movie, and wasn't like when I saw Beowulf in 3d - Every other scene in that movie is some character reaching for something in the foreground :p

[Sparhawk]

Best movie I've seen since 2001. fucking fantastic.

What was better in 2001?

har har har... 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[mori]

Save me the trouble of three hours (Titanic anyone?). Did the humans win at least?

[Chaz]

This is nothing like Titanic.  There's a love story, but it's not nearly so sappy, and you get to watch the awesome scenery while it's happening. 

[rshetts2]

This is one of those movies you must experience at the Imax 3-d theatre.  It was an incredible experience and it definitely raises the bar for CGI entertainment by a quantum leap.  The 3-d effects add ambiance to the film without distracting you.  The movie's plotline is exactly what youve heard but its well done and the visual ride is so effective and realistic you can almost feel like youre there.  As mentioned my others the dust motes, pollen, flaming ash and water were extremely well done.  I was blown away by this movie and will see it again soon.  The only other movies Ive watched more than once in the theatre were the 3 origonal Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade.  Dont buy into the negative backlash that Cameron was getting pre-release, youll only punish yourself for missing this fantastic film they way it was meant to be seen.

[mori]

This is nothing like Titanic.  There's a love story, but it's not nearly so sappy, and you get to watch the awesome scenery while it's happening. 

The things I found the most intersting about Titanic was the scenery and the recreation of the ship. Too bad it took 3 hours to get through it all.

[Arclight]

Besides the new age Mother Earth preaching...the movie was great.

[MonkeyFinger]

This is one of those movies you must experience at the Imax 3-d theatre.

So... is the primary difference between "Digital 3D" and IMAX 3D" the immense size of the IMAX screen? I would assume both deliver a great 3D experience and I've seen some people online prefer Digital 3D because they can see the entire screen at once, was wondering what people here thought.

[wonderpug]

IMAX also has better image and sound quality.  Also if I'm not mistaken you can only get the uncropped version of the movie at IMAX theaters.

[Thin_J]

Let's get this out of the way now: the story is Ferngully in space. It is. Period. All you need is Robin Williams doing the voice of an anthropomorphized bat and you're there. If you want a super well written movie where all the characters are fleshed out and deep... this is simply not that kind of movie.

With that out of the way... Do you like Terminator and Terminator 2? Enjoy Aliens? Think True Lies is great fun? Go see Avatar. All of those movies are simple, sharply written, but somewhat shallow movies that are entertaining in a way that very few movies are these days. Those movies are what crap like Terminator Salvation and GI Joe try and fail to be.

James Cameron has never made a particularly well written movie. He never gives you tons of detail on any one character. Everything is simple and painted in broad strokes and he gives you only what you really need to know to move forward in the story. This approach generally doesn't work but somehow Cameron always manages to make incredibly entertaining movies anyway. I've said this elsewhere over the last few days too, but the man simply knows how to make a movie.

There was a point somewhere shortly into Avatar where I stopped paying attention to all the CGI. I essentially forgot it was there. Those characters actually become real characters, much like Gollum in Lord of the Rings, but on a drastically larger scale. The emotion they manage to infuse into just looks and facial tics in the completely CGI Navi characters is amazing. In fact there are more convincing and emotional performances from the CGI characters in this movie than we got from any of the real actors and actresses in Terminator Salvation or any number of other big movies of this year. When bad stuff happened to them I actually cared.

This is easily one of the best theater experiences I've ever had. It reminded me very much of seeing Terminator 2 in the theater and being completely blown away by the special effects, and just being completely in that movie from start to finish. I believe the movie is about 2 hours and 45 minutes long, and I seriously felt like I'd just sat down when the credits rolled.

I'll be seeing this movie again.

[Roman]

great movie. great story. great effects.

Highly recommended on all account. even the wife loved it.

Roman

[PeteRock]

I'm very pleased to read all of the positive buzz here on the forums.  Sure, review sites are helpful, but I like to read what "normal" people think rather than jaded reviewers.  I'm anxious to see Avatar, but we're waiting until we travel to Pittsburgh for the holidays to see it with friends and family.  My wife and I are really excited to finally see it on a big screen (expecially if we can find an Imax theater). 

[disarm]

wednesday evening can't come soon enough...have my tickets for IMAX 3D and expect it to be awesome

[JayDee]

I'm going to see this with my dad but we're going to do the normal 3D and not IMAX 3D. I did IMAX for the Dark Knight and I came out of there with a huge headache. The screen is just TOO big and I find the seats are way too close that it overwhelms the senses. So we're passing on the IMAX experience and going to see it on a regular big screen in 3D.

[Arclight]

I'm going to see this with my dad but we're going to do the normal 3D and not IMAX 3D. I did IMAX for the Dark Knight and I came out of there with a huge headache. The screen is just TOO big and I find the seats are way too close that it overwhelms the senses. So we're passing on the IMAX experience and going to see it on a regular big screen in 3D.

I saw it in a "normal" 3D setting. I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Watching kids in the theatre grabbing at things in mid air was fun. I heard one dad saying his kid tried grabbing a floating piece of pollen only to grab at the guys ear sitting in front of him.

[Kevin Grey]

Any other Peter F. Hamilton fans strongly reminded of "Fallen Dragon"?  There were quite a few similarities- corporate mercenaries colonizing a beautiful jungle world.  Lead character is a mercenary who ends up up siding with the native inhabitants.  Not that Cameron had any inspiration from the book- the Avatar treatment predates Fallon Dragon by a number of years.

It also reminded me of anime quite a bit too.  Macross Zero most directly but the Gaia themes are pretty common in a lot of different Japanese shows and movies. 

[Crawley]

Well it was definetly a specticle. I think the comment about how you stopped thinking of the characters as CG and more like just another character on the screen, like Gollum, is spot on. Really just sat there and enjoyed it.

I saw it with the Real D 3D projection and was pleased with the results. There were a few odd moments at the beginning where things popping out of the screen had a strange flicker to it that didn't look very good and really took me out of the spectacle. But as the film progressed I either got used to it or it was seemless enough to stop noticing. In the end I just enjoyed how the 3D added an additonal layer of depth to the picture. It was really the best use of 3D I've seen in a film and wasn't there just for gimicks. 

Looking forward to seeing it on IMAX next.

[leo8877]

Going tomorrow in digital 3D, can't wait!

[Blackjack]

Due to 2 feet of snow and general chaos in the streets, I've had to settle for...

A McDonald's Avatar Thrill Card! (just remember to dismantle your Big Mac box )
http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/mcdonalds-giving-avatar-big-mac-thrill-cards-with-big-mac-purchases/

There are 8 to collect and I got.... Grace.

You play your card over here:
http://avatar.mcdonalds.com/Local/en-us/Default.aspx

Now, go wash your brain of all this shameless cross-marketing.

[kratz]

I went last night... first 3d movie I've seen.

The script and plot were pretty much totally ridiculous - another white man's race fantasy movie like Dances With Wolves or The Last Samurai... really it was just a Dances rehash with the added gimmick of the white man being a parapalegic driving a 10 ft tall blue Brendan Fraser.  Everything was over the top, characters were caricatures, the dialog was generally wince worthy... visually it was obviously quite an accomplishment, though it lacked the grit of the CGI in something like LOTR, and was overall less convincing, it was still impressive.

I'm not sure what I think of the 3d technology... it was sort of distracting, and I think interfered with my ability to connect with the film, which you would imagine would be the opposite of what they really wanted to be doing with it.

[rittchard]

I went last night... first 3d movie I've seen.

The script and plot were pretty much totally ridiculous - another white man's race fantasy movie like Dances With Wolves or The Last Samurai... really it was just a Dances rehash with the added gimmick of the white man being a parapalegic driving a 10 ft tall blue Brendan Fraser.  Everything was over the top, characters were caricatures, the dialog was generally wince worthy... visually it was obviously quite an accomplishment, though it lacked the grit of the CGI in something like LOTR, and was overall less convincing, it was still impressive.

I'm not sure what I think of the 3d technology... it was sort of distracting, and I think interfered with my ability to connect with the film, which you would imagine would be the opposite of what they really wanted to be doing with it.

I'm gonna agree with Kratz, I was really not as enamored with the movie as most seem to be.  I did enjoy the 3D and I do want to see it again in full IMAX-3D to see if the impact is different, but for the most part I think I was actually distracted by the preachy script and obvious plot "twists" (with even more obvious foreshadowing of each), plus the complete waste of some of my favorite actresses (Sigourney and Michelle Rodriguez).  Some of the effects still felt very CG to me, I almost felt like I was watching an nVidia tech demo in some instances.  Still there were others that were very impressive and took great advantage of the 3D.  I will say I was very happy that they didn't do any of the traditional annoying 3D tricks like sticking things into your face just for the hell of it. 

Plot question:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Early on Giovanni Ribisi (can anyone say next gen Paul Reiser?) says they are at the planet solely for money reasons, the Unobtanium (god did he really use that term?!?) but later it seems to be implied/said that the Earth is "poisoned" and the humans want to come to the planet for the green/resources?  I was a little confused there, though it really didn't matter I suppose.  I guess I might have liked the plot better if all of humanity had somehow been forced to come to this new planet after ruining their own, giving the humans a little more depth in their motivation.  Instead we have a bunch of over-the-top caricatures, with that General being the most egregious.

[Kevin Grey]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Early on Giovanni Ribisi (can anyone say next gen Paul Reiser?) says they are at the planet solely for money reasons, the Unobtanium (god did he really use that term?!?) but later it seems to be implied/said that the Earth is "poisoned" and the humans want to come to the planet for the green/resources?  I was a little confused there, though it really didn't matter I suppose.  I guess I might have liked the plot better if all of humanity had somehow been forced to come to this new planet after ruining their own, giving the humans a little more depth in their motivation.  Instead we have a bunch of over-the-top caricatures, with that General being the most egregious.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I tink Cameron is going with a common sci-fi convention- that space travel, colonization, and the like are so cost prohibitive that it's likely to be private companies footing the bill instead of national governments.  So it is a scenario where humanity has basically exhausted the resources of the Earth and therefore is looking to other planets for their resource needs, but the companies that provide the resources are private, not government.

Also, Unobtanium isn't exactly a new term:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtanium

[The Grue]

Can anyone tell me if there are any scary parts in the movie?  Trying to figure out if I will take the kids.  They've gone to PG-13 movies before, but it just depends on the subject matter and one of them hates to be scared.

[Kevin Grey]

Can anyone tell me if there are any scary parts in the movie?  Trying to figure out if I will take the kids.  They've gone to PG-13 movies before, but it just depends on the subject matter and one of them hates to be scared.

There is some heavy intensity, especially if your kids might be scared of very large predatory animals. 

The violence isn't bloody but the natives in the movie use bow and arrows and since they are 10 feet tall, said arrows are closer to spears and there are quite a few impailings. 

[Chaz]

The arrows they use make the fence poles that the Uruks in LotR fire look like match sticks.

Spoiler about ritt's spoiler:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I don't know that the colonization angle would have worked.  The main point of conflict was that the massive supply of ore was beneath the big tree.  They wanted the ore, so needed to get them out of the tree.  If the humans had just wanted to live there, then the case could have been made that they could have co-existed.

[Purge]

Can anyone tell me if there are any scary parts in the movie?  Trying to figure out if I will take the kids.  They've gone to PG-13 movies before, but it just depends on the subject matter and one of them hates to be scared.

There is some heavy intensity, especially if your kids might be scared of very large predatory animals. 

The violence isn't bloody but the natives in the movie use bow and arrows and since they are 10 feet tall, said arrows are closer to spears and there are quite a few impailings. 

Is that "death-by-bucket" we're talking here?

[Rowdy]

The only plot point I wished had been touched on that wasn't:

Spoiler for Hiden:

So you send the bad guys home... what's to stop them from coming back in a decade with 10 times as many soldiers and wiping out the Na'vi?

  Should have come up with SOME sort of plan.

[Rowdy]

Can anyone tell me if there are any scary parts in the movie?  Trying to figure out if I will take the kids.  They've gone to PG-13 movies before, but it just depends on the subject matter and one of them hates to be scared.

I wouldn't take kids younger than, say, 12 or 13.  There's lots of language, very intense battle scenes and predator scenes, and lots of people dying on screen, including main characters.

[Rowdy]

I went last night... first 3d movie I've seen.

The script and plot were pretty much totally ridiculous - another white man's race fantasy movie like Dances With Wolves or The Last Samurai... really it was just a Dances rehash with the added gimmick of the white man being a parapalegic driving a 10 ft tall blue Brendan Fraser.  Everything was over the top, characters were caricatures, the dialog was generally wince worthy... visually it was obviously quite an accomplishment, though it lacked the grit of the CGI in something like LOTR, and was overall less convincing, it was still impressive.

I'm not sure what I think of the 3d technology... it was sort of distracting, and I think interfered with my ability to connect with the film, which you would imagine would be the opposite of what they really wanted to be doing with it.

I'm gonna agree with Kratz, I was really not as enamored with the movie as most seem to be.  I did enjoy the 3D and I do want to see it again in full IMAX-3D to see if the impact is different, but for the most part I think I was actually distracted by the preachy script and obvious plot "twists" (with even more obvious foreshadowing of each), plus the complete waste of some of my favorite actresses (Sigourney and Michelle Rodriguez).  Some of the effects still felt very CG to me, I almost felt like I was watching an nVidia tech demo in some instances.  Still there were others that were very impressive and took great advantage of the 3D.  I will say I was very happy that they didn't do any of the traditional annoying 3D tricks like sticking things into your face just for the hell of it. 

Plot question:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Early on Giovanni Ribisi (can anyone say next gen Paul Reiser?) says they are at the planet solely for money reasons, the Unobtanium (god did he really use that term?!?) but later it seems to be implied/said that the Earth is "poisoned" and the humans want to come to the planet for the green/resources?  I was a little confused there, though it really didn't matter I suppose.  I guess I might have liked the plot better if all of humanity had somehow been forced to come to this new planet after ruining their own, giving the humans a little more depth in their motivation.  Instead we have a bunch of over-the-top caricatures, with that General being the most egregious.

You thought Weaver and Rodriguez were wasted?  Wow.  I thought they did great jobs.  Rodriguez in particular was great.

[Bob]

I like how the general stresses in the beginning that the natives use poisoned arrows.  Leaving out that the "arrows" are 4 foot long harpoons. Who cares if they are poisoned or not?!

[The Grue]

Can anyone tell me if there are any scary parts in the movie?  Trying to figure out if I will take the kids.  They've gone to PG-13 movies before, but it just depends on the subject matter and one of them hates to be scared.

There is some heavy intensity, especially if your kids might be scared of very large predatory animals. 

The violence isn't bloody but the natives in the movie use bow and arrows and since they are 10 feet tall, said arrows are closer to spears and there are quite a few impailings. 

I mean more like things jumping out at you to scare you kind of scary.  The creature itself wouldn't be bad, but if they have a lot of things jumping out at you, that would probably do it.

[Kevin Grey]

Can anyone tell me if there are any scary parts in the movie?  Trying to figure out if I will take the kids.  They've gone to PG-13 movies before, but it just depends on the subject matter and one of them hates to be scared.

There is some heavy intensity, especially if your kids might be scared of very large predatory animals. 

The violence isn't bloody but the natives in the movie use bow and arrows and since they are 10 feet tall, said arrows are closer to spears and there are quite a few impailings. 

I mean more like things jumping out at you to scare you kind of scary.  The creature itself wouldn't be bad, but if they have a lot of things jumping out at you, that would probably do it.

No jump scares that I can recall. 

The intensity/violence is probably on par with Lord of the Rings (maybe even a bit less). 

The only plot point I wished had been touched on that wasn't:

Spoiler for Hiden:

So you send the bad guys home... what's to stop them from coming back in a decade with 10 times as many soldiers and wiping out the Na'vi?

  Should have come up with SOME sort of plan.

That's what the sequels are for. 

More seriously

Spoiler for Hiden:

  I think that's the point of making it about a corporation and not "real" military.  The bad press over the incident would have been huge and company shareholders are far more likely to just fire Ribisi's character and find somewhere else to mine instead of devoting even more resources in an attempt to retake the planet.

[The Grue]

No jump scares that I can recall. 

The intensity/violence is probably on par with Lord of the Rings (maybe even a bit less). 

Thanks.  They were fine with LotR, so this should be good.

[Purge]

I'm going to stop reading this thread now.