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No, not the mediocre one directed by M. Night. Shyamalamading-dong.

I'm talking about AVATAR, courtesy of James Cameron. The first time I watched this flic I was just overwhelmed. I had an emotional revelation. The whole movie is a mind trip visually; it's hard to comprehend that most of the images you're seeing are fabricated. The graphics were created with such unbelievably meticulous detiail. Everything was so beautiful and vivid and tangible.

And the storyline! Without spoiling anything, let me just say that your heart really goes out to the Na'avi. Their customs and appearance seem very natural; not forced. It's hard to describe.

Anyway, can we get an Avatar general thread going?
How did you guys react to the movie?

Also, lets try to keep it civil. If someone confesses that they hated the movie, don't jump their case. Except that if you confess you hate the movie, Imma hunt you down and strap you to a chair with your eyelids taped open watchinh Avatar on infinite loop until you become aware of how EPIC and MASTERFUL this damn movie is.


Haha, just kidding.







But seriously.

I went to a 3D showing with my BF, my BF's bro and his wife and my brother and sis-in-law. Close enough to opening that there was a ton of people in the theater (which always seems to make me like a movie more, for some reason).

Visually? It was one of the most amazing things I've seen on the big screen in ... well ... ever. The plot didn't strike me as particularly unique (*cough*Disney's Pocahontas*cough*), but it was definitely engaging. =D

I kept yawning throughout most of the movie. Then, I admit, I was in awe for the effects.
Then I started falling asleep again because I realized it's yet another movie about evil humans fighting good native amer.. I mean, aliens; just with a fancy graphics.
Not a fan of it.

I've watched it 3 times now I think, but not for the story line which is a bit generic. But the visuals are just amazing, very imaginative ambiances. And the spiritual aspects are nice as well.

the story is archetypal.
it's not "disney's pocahantas". it's a MUCH older story.
(I wish people would stop bringing up that disney cartoon.. there are a number of films with the same story that are older).

there is nothing wrong with using a solid archetypal story.
there ARE, after all, what? only 4 basic stories, IIRC.

oh, and obviously the story still bears telling... if it didn't, there'd be no war in Afghanistan. There's be no war in Iraq. There's be no intolerance, no greed.

Huh, I call troll.



Best thing about Avatar were 3' big, bouncing Michelle Rodriguez's boobs in 3D. Delicious.
The rest is meh. Easily forgettable.

Also, you're a year late with this thread.

I liked the movie, personally. It had some things that made me go wat, but I still enjoyed it and won't ever forget it.

Sukurachi wrote:the story is archetypal.
it's not "disney's pocahantas". it's a MUCH older story.
(I wish people would stop bringing up that disney cartoon.. there are a number of films with the same story that are older).

there is nothing wrong with using a solid archetypal story.
there ARE, after all, what? only 4 basic stories, IIRC.

oh, and obviously the story still bears telling... if it didn't, there'd be no war in Afghanistan. There's be no war in Iraq. There's be no intolerance, no greed.

Actually the story isn't that much about being a solid story. If you look at the basic stories and manga and etc thrown out by crackpots like this, you'll see a very, very humanity/human hating theme here. One such deal is Little Petshop of Horrors where outside of a few stories humanity is always thrown in the wrong. Even when a man killed someone as he thought the whole of humanity was at stake- nope, still in the wrong!

To be honest there was nothing to be taken away from the movie. I hated the trailers and I hated the silly unfettered half assed voiced thoughts that the movie held. IE: We're all greedy pigs save for one man. We're all hellbound to destroy everything we touch. Yada yada yada. Evil evil evil. Whine whine whine. There's also the enviromental bullshit in it too.

Cause I mean making a movie instead of actually doing something to help the enviroment out is so, so good.


I'd rather watch Doctor Seuss cartoons or read his books. He knew how to get the point across without wiping Humanity's face across the floor yet again in a poorly thought out hippy indueced state of affairs.

Besides. It's Disney's Pocahontas in space.

Loethlin wrote:Huh, I call troll.
img
Best thing about Avatar were 3' big, bouncing Michelle Rodriguez's boobs in 3D. Delicious.
The rest is meh. Easily forgettable.

Also, you're a year late with this thread.

Lol you mad?

I just bought the DvD is all, so I'm excited. I am aware that the movie isn't a recent release.

pengupuff wrote: I just bought the DvD is all, so I'm excited.

Ah, that explains it.
Personally I see no reason whatsoever to engage in watching it on DvD. See, pretty effects are not so pretty on the little screen. And the lack of 3D when looking at bouncy Michelle Rodriguez's "assets" is just discouraging.

Sukurachi wrote:the story is archetypal.
it's not "disney's pocahantas". it's a MUCH older story.
(I wish people would stop bringing up that disney cartoon.. there are a number of films with the same story that are older).

Was gonna say just this actually XD It's not from JUST the one Disney story, this is a commonly used storyline that has shown up in many places; not just movies, but books as well.

That said,

Sukurachi wrote: there is nothing wrong with using a solid archetypal story.

I half agree and half disagree with this. This is a great BASE plotline, I agree. It's weathered the test of time and proven it is a successful plot. But you can't just use the same old method constantly. At least to me, what I like seeing is a tried-and-true trope with some degree of a new twist, something to evolve it and establish that yes it still belongs here because it IS traditional but has new elements too. James Cameron is capable of creating 'new elements' like this, but he didn't; he relied on jazzy effects to win the audience over and didn't try to evolve the plot too.

NOTE THAT I AM NOT BASHING THIS MOVIE! When I was in the theater, I loved it. I was totally in awe of the whole thing, and I still stand by the fact that Cameron did some amazing world-building which is not seen that often these days. He didn't just create a new culture of humans. He created a new race, in a new working ecosystem that doesn't just look like a rainforest transplanted from Earth to Some Other Planet. The new race had its own cultures, its own language, its own social structure, its own religion, etc etc. The world-building on the planet was amazing. I only saw the movie once at the theater but I could probably watch it five or six times more for that aspect alone.

Once I got OUT of the movies though, a few hours later, I realized I'd been so over-dazzled by the effects that I barely paid attention to the story. It's great technology, he did a fantastic job for that, but after I finally realized this I felt a little bit cheated. Why blindside me with shinies so you can hide the fact the story isn't as strong as I KNOW it could have been? Why not just make a great plot to go with it?

TL;DR:
The movie was okay. Great effects, great world-building, but the story inserted into that world could have been stronger.

~VelkynKarma

When I saw the movie I really enjoyed it, and it is probably for the same reason that some people hate it.

It rings true.

Anyone who knows, well.... anything, about the rate of consumption of planetary resources would know that this movie rings true.
Look at oil use, phosphorus use, hell the depletion of fish in our ocean, etc
(You doubt me? Take a look at some research on any given topic.)

Its not a pretty picture.


So, in a nut shell, some people can take criticism of their actions, and some people can't.

If someone told me, "you are doing x, and that is wrong." The natural reaction is to defend that act, regardless of what it is.
Denial is difficult to break through.
But to be able to overcome this and actually look at what they are saying, and try to look at your actions through an objective lens, is sometimes a very difficult thing.
Even then, being able to say, "you are right, it is wrong." is even harder.
Not to mention getting someone to say, "I will stop what I am doing, and do something else," and then having them follow through.

That is the power of the movie.
It identifies what is going on in a way that is less combative than it could have been.

Could it have been more abstract?
Sure.

Could the movie been better?
Sure.

But, I personally loved the movie, and not just for all the cool affects, because it is a message that we do not hear enough.


Thats my thoughts on it anyways.

.

It was an overdone story about an hour too long with pretty visuals. Good for one viewing basically.

I agree with what people have said... story wasn't imaginative. Nonetheless, I still love that movie. It was so beautiful! I have a fascination with the language of Na'vi too... I've named a few of my pets words in the language: my Karoma is Mawey, which means 'calm' and my kitty is Tsumakan which means brother.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and like Teigan said I'm not one to over-analyze it. I didn't sit there and try to make comparisons against archetypal plot lines, I was hooked throughout the whole thing. I remember in the old Avatar thread we had I mentioned how much I enjoyed the nature theme due to growing up in the 80s. There used to be shows like Captain Planet, the Smoggies, movies like Fern Gully. I was raised with that sort of outlook, and to me this movie really hearkened back to that. In my opinion it's an important message, one that shouldn't be brushed aside lightly. I don't care if it's been done before, to me it was a wonderful movie.

I absolutely loved the movie but ...................

Andine wrote:I realized it's yet another movie about evil humans fighting good native amer.. I mean, aliens; just with a fancy graphics.

This

Yes the movie was amazing with great graphics but it still boils down to them creating a movie about the same political issues just in a new 3D /HD setting. That's not a bad thing. Sort of.

I think, for me and I'm only speaking for myself, I've actually started to become annoyed by the movie and it's fanatics who I see daily making comments (not on here), talking about it etc. I really loved the movie but at this point it's getting old. Just my humble opinion.

Vephriel wrote:I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and like Teigan said I'm not one to over-analyze it. I didn't sit there and try to make comparisons against archetypal plot lines, I was hooked throughout the whole thing. I remember in the old Avatar thread we had I mentioned how much I enjoyed the nature theme due to growing up in the 80s. There used to be shows like Captain Planet, the Smoggies, movies like Fern Gully. I was raised with that sort of outlook, and to me this movie really hearkened back to that. In my opinion it's an important message, one that shouldn't be brushed aside lightly. I don't care if it's been done before, to me it was a wonderful movie.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. I know a lot of people pick apart every aspect of a movie and that's fine, but I personally am of the mindset that, if I enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the movie, period. Yes, it was beautiful, and I appreciated the nature-minded storyline. I also don't think it tried to paint humanity as a whole as greedy buttholes (Dr. Augustine and Norm and the rest were good people, too!), but to say that a great number of people aren't greedy is...silly. But yeah, as long as I have fun watching a movie, that's good enough for me, no matter how many times it's been done before.

One of my favorite movies I went with my family and my best friend. We saw it in Imax 3D most beautiful movie ever! the graphics, sounds and actors I give it rank numbero uno!!!

Ugh I hated it. It was pretty but man was it boreing. I got sick of all the overhypeing it got and how its "going to change movies for everz". Its sad to think it took 15 years to make and he couldnt even try to make a good plot line.

Oh and the guy who made it said that every male is going to fall in love with that main blue chick and when he said "fall in love" he ment get turned on and no he was not jokeing he ment it. O.o thats just wrong.


It would of been better if it was made out to be like a nature doco then it would of been 100 times better then the "humans are evil greedy dicks and nature is lovely and nice" story it turned out to be,