[Movie Review] Avatar

Sazar

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I watched this movie in a High-def screening with quality sound and 3D. A brand new theater in Austin which has some nice trimmings. I decided to go for first day/first show (midnight) because that is when most movie-buffs head out over in this city.

The movie opens with a simple narrative style, putting together some thematic and stylistic elements that are drawn upon through the rest of the movie.

I thought to myself a lot of times during the movie that it is almost as if Cameron wants to show off his fancy cinematography and CGI. I guarantee you that at least a half hour of the movie could have been cut down by tightening up many different elements. However, it is his labor of love and I'll live with it.

The plot is somewhat simplistic and very cliched. This was the weakest part of the movie for me, mainly because we have already seen the same setup in "Battle for Terra", an under-rated animated movie released not too long ago.

Still, because of the art and the background established, the plot doesn't bog the movie down too much. It progresses and does it's job, taking us from one pretty locale to another while adding a few basic layers to the "epic".

The acting is decent for the most part, outside of the antagonist. The CGI characters are very impressive and outside of Gollum from the LoTR movies, are probably the most expressive and nuanced. Given the high level of virtual screen-time these characters are inhabiting, I was very impressed with the attention to detail. When viewing the movie in 3D, you will be further impressed with the level of interaction of the characters with their virtual environments, and that of CGI on CGI action that occurs throughout the movie.

A depth is added to the entire proceedings that adds a sense of realism and wonderment. You know the Navi are CGI, but it seems not to matter in the least. Oscar for best special effects and all that jazz should be a lock for the movie.

The pacing for the movie is disjointed, following from my previous complaint about length. Still, it doesn't impede the movie much, simply keeping it from being elevated to the level of an instant classic. Had Cameron's script/plot been of a level close to that of the attention of detail he had paid to his 3D world, his CGI and his language creation, I think we would have a timeless masterpiece at our hands. Instead, we have an interesting movie that is different, visually, from anything we have previously seen while at the same time having a plot that has been rehashed so many times before.

Overall, I was entertained, but I didn't give it the standing ovation that half the theater did.

I give it 4/5 stars, 0.5 of that is a bonus for being a unique visceral experience tacked onto an old story that had already been repeated once before this year (Battle for Terra).
 
I have not seen it yet but will also be seeing it in Imax 3D. Most of the people I know going into the movie knew the plot was not all amazing, and in my eyes should not come in the review, though most of the time that is what makes a movie good I know. I just find that this movie isn't here to tell an amazing story, its to show off.

The advancements made in creating the movie, and the advancements in 3D tech is just plain amazing, reading up on how they did it was awesome. Something that will be in the history books for changing things up. Can't wait to see it.
 
seen it today. 4/5 stars.

long, but necessary, best 3d to date, well done!
 
thanx again saz, if not for your review I wouldn't have gone to see this one, am sure glad I did

I personally didn't think it was long winded at all, I thought the pace was perfect

Overall, I was entertained, but I didn't give it the standing ovation that half the theater did.

been a long time since I've been to a movie where the audience broke out with appreciation at the end of the flick, it happened in my theatre too
 
I still have yet to go see it, hopefully it will still be playing in Imax 3D in the new year, that might be my only chance.
 
Watching this in 3D made me realize that they need to start filming in 30 or 60 FPS. The motion judder was nearly unbearable (and nauseating for many people!)
 
My friend just went to see it because another friend made him go. The whole time he was thinking it was suppose to be Avatar: The Last Airbender, so he was disappointed. Though he did say it was beautiful lol
 
I watched Avatar movie (American copy) in a cinema some days ago and today I watched the Russian copy (screening) downloaded from a site. There's a difference in the end of the movie.

Anyone knew any info about this?

Thanks

Dentiny
 
I watched Avatar movie (American copy) in a cinema some days ago and today I watched the Russian copy (screening) downloaded from a site. There's a difference in the end of the movie.

Anyone knew any info about this?

Thanks

Dentiny
There are many times when cuts change before the theatrical release, or where cuts can be made for different regions. That's probably what had happened in this case. It's not as easy to notice when it's NOT the end or the beginning, but there are probably a few other cuts different in the leaked internet version.
 
Just got home from seeing it in 3D, not Imax like I planned but still was good. I did find that my glasses might have messed with the 3D, but I am not sure. I also was not sure if I was seeing the 3D the way it's suppose to be seen because I have never watched anything in 3D before let alone this new 3D tech.

Besides that, it was a beautiful and amazing movie.
 
Saw this last night. I didn't watch it in 3D though (was recommended not to as it costed more, and most of all made some sick). The movie was very "pretty" and had CGI how CGI should be (aka not 2012).
 
The Real Value of James Cameron's "Avatar"

All the reviews of Avatar I’ve read seem to miss the real value of this visually stunning movie set on the fantastically alive planet of Pandora. While aspects of the plot are predictable, Avatar offers some powerful messages for our time once you scratch beneath the surface.

For those who are not firmly entrenched in our mainstream culture’s cynicism and denial the movie, Avatar, is a powerful opportunity to sharply see and feel our current situation as a species that has lost its way. As we experience the lives of Pandora’s indigenous people our own predicament comes into contrast. We become visible as a species that has become trapped within its own culture and system of domination and control... cut off from what really enlivens us.

It is surprising that a movie with some of the messages of Avatar could even come out of the corporate dominated “homeland” that the USA has become. I wonder how many of the people walking out of the cinema really get it... that we, the consumers (no longer citizens) of industrial civilization are on the side of the baddies in this film. Not just occasionally, randomly bad... not just a few bad eggs such as the cold-hearted leader of the mercenaries on Pandora, Colonel Quaritch... but that our whole way of life is portrayed for what it is... inherently, pathologically insane.

When Quaritch declares “We’ll fight terror with terror.” he is speaking for us. We are the culture which for centuries has crushed all opposition to our vast insatiable resource demands. The Pandora native, Neytiri, speaks of their efforts to enlighten their would-be human “educators” and in one line says it all, “We couldn’t save them from their insanity.”

That the writer and director, James Cameron, was given the freedom to convey his messages is probably due to his prior huge financial successes with Titanic and Terminator II. And, of course, he still had to include the requisite action and romance components for Avatar to receive the US $400 million in funding he needed.

In the movie, the planet itself finally strikes back against the humans attempting to destroy nature for their short-sighted short-term gains. Some may disagree, but I see that there is symbolism intended here. Outside the movie, our own planet will also strike back. Perhaps not in as visually dramatic a way as on Pandora but in even more deadly terms over the time frame of the next 100 years according to the science on climate change. (For those still confused by all the hot air on the subject of climate change read the facts in Poles Apart: Beyond the shouting who’s right about climate change?)

James Cameron is no fool. He could have just made a blockbuster. Instead, he is using one of the few remaining effective means of communicating with the masses in an age of information overload to say “wake up, look at the path we are on and get off it while we still can!” For we are, in fact, facing a perfect storm of six global threats of which climate change is but one.

But unlike in Avatar, we don’t have another planet to flee back to.

Mitch Lawrie
Transition Strategist
www.TransitionWise.org
Wise Up To The Great Transition
 
Re: The Real Value of James Cameron's "Avatar"

All the reviews of Avatar I’ve read seem to miss the real value of this visually stunning movie set on the fantastically alive planet of Pandora. While aspects of the plot are predictable, Avatar offers some powerful messages for our time once you scratch beneath the surface.

For those who are not firmly entrenched in our mainstream culture’s cynicism and denial the movie, Avatar, is a powerful opportunity to sharply see and feel our current situation as a species that has lost its way. As we experience the lives of Pandora’s indigenous people our own predicament comes into contrast. We become visible as a species that has become trapped within its own culture and system of domination and control... cut off from what really enlivens us.

It is surprising that a movie with some of the messages of Avatar could even come out of the corporate dominated “homeland” that the USA has become. I wonder how many of the people walking out of the cinema really get it... that we, the consumers (no longer citizens) of industrial civilization are on the side of the baddies in this film. Not just occasionally, randomly bad... not just a few bad eggs such as the cold-hearted leader of the mercenaries on Pandora, Colonel Quaritch... but that our whole way of life is portrayed for what it is... inherently, pathologically insane.

When Quaritch declares “We’ll fight terror with terror.” he is speaking for us. We are the culture which for centuries has crushed all opposition to our vast insatiable resource demands. The Pandora native, Neytiri, speaks of their efforts to enlighten their would-be human “educators” and in one line says it all, “We couldn’t save them from their insanity.”

That the writer and director, James Cameron, was given the freedom to convey his messages is probably due to his prior huge financial successes with Titanic and Terminator II. And, of course, he still had to include the requisite action and romance components for Avatar to receive the US $400 million in funding he needed.

In the movie, the planet itself finally strikes back against the humans attempting to destroy nature for their short-sighted short-term gains. Some may disagree, but I see that there is symbolism intended here. Outside the movie, our own planet will also strike back. Perhaps not in as visually dramatic a way as on Pandora but in even more deadly terms over the time frame of the next 100 years according to the science on climate change. (For those still confused by all the hot air on the subject of climate change read the facts in Poles Apart: Beyond the shouting who’s right about climate change?)

James Cameron is no fool. He could have just made a blockbuster. Instead, he is using one of the few remaining effective means of communicating with the masses in an age of information overload to say “wake up, look at the path we are on and get off it while we still can!” For we are, in fact, facing a perfect storm of six global threats of which climate change is but one.

But unlike in Avatar, we don’t have another planet to flee back to.

I guess I'll go ahead and warn you one time :)

Please stop spamming the exact same thing on every forum online.

Thank you.

I have removed links the website you stuck in there.
 
the movie is 5 of 5 ;)
probably the best one ive ever seen
 
the movie is 5 of 5 ;)
probably the best one ive ever seen
Yea, i loved Avatar. Seen a bunch of times already.
I don't know why just something about it makes me feel its my most favorite movie of all time.

Definitely 5/5 stars.

I would also recommend seeing it in 3D. I was skeptical at first (since 3d usually makes me sick) but this movie didnt "Overdo" the 3d, where they felt like they had to make things aim at the audience, which was good.

Also, may I comment that the score was fantastic, great job by James Horner on that aspect.
 
Avatar is the movie that just interpreted the depths of my soul. Every morning when I get out of my bed and put my feet on the floor, I imagine putting my blue Na'vi foot on the cold wet dirt of Pandora land. When I touch something, I feel ecstacy as I imainge that it is the foilage of the forest. I can smell the track of any animal or human. When ever see someone I fancy, I yell out,"tsahaylu! the bond! the bond!" but they suddenly run away from me. Maybe because they saw that I was naked and painted myself blue. I'm not sure..
This movie brings me pure joy, but also pure misery because I know that, somewhere deep in my Na'vi heart, I too am a Na'vi. Sometimes I even hear the voices of my ancestors. I even told my ex girlfriend that she couldn't mate with anyone else, because we have made the bond for a lifetime.
Two days later I was getting a notice of a restraining order.
So yes, I recommend this movie, which is actually my lifestyle.
 
:eek: uhmm ok ,...for a deeper experience try reading a book, let's see how that translates for you? I know this movie is good but are we not going off the deep end?
 
Avatar is the movie that just interpreted the depths of my soul. Every morning when I get out of my bed and put my feet on the floor, I imagine putting my blue Na'vi foot on the cold wet dirt of Pandora land. When I touch something, I feel ecstacy as I imainge that it is the foilage of the forest. I can smell the track of any animal or human. When ever see someone I fancy, I yell out,"tsahaylu! the bond! the bond!" but they suddenly run away from me. Maybe because they saw that I was naked and painted myself blue. I'm not sure..
This movie brings me pure joy, but also pure misery because I know that, somewhere deep in my Na'vi heart, I too am a Na'vi. Sometimes I even hear the voices of my ancestors. I even told my ex girlfriend that she couldn't mate with anyone else, because we have made the bond for a lifetime.
Two days later I was getting a notice of a restraining order.
So yes, I recommend this movie, which is actually my lifestyle.
What the dickens??? :suprised:
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

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