Just saw Avatar

[Asol]

The tropes thing is becoming an irritant, i spent 30 minutes clicking though the Avatar one and i don't think I actually saw one for the actual theme of the movie, the plugged in proxy living trended in things like avatar matrix, surrogates, dollhouse, gamer etc... I would also call the film a bit of a punch puller on the face and symbolism heavy. Anyway those pages are like the tar pits of websites.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Do not resist Tvtropes.org for it is futile.

[Blarghagh]

I just don't understand all these people going 'the plot sucks'. It's not original, I'll admit. It is, however, a decent plot that is done well. It borrows from other sources, but I don't understand how that is a bad thing in itself when it forms a good whole. I felt the same way when my english teacher couldn't stop ranting about how Lord of the Rings ripped off all kinds of old tales.

[LadyCrimson]

At this point all I can suggest is that you stop posting about how you don't think you'll like it but you'll see it anyway and just bloodywell go see it. No offence.

None taken.

 

I was only trying to explain where my mentality for movies (any movies, not just Avatar) tends to come from...grains of salt. Unfortunately between popular opening weekend sellouts + too much real life stuff, I can't go until Thurs afternoon. Man I'm tired, and the week isn't over yet. I'm a Grinch...

[Humodour]

Anyway, I'm pretty sure with that budget, it's always bound to be a financial failure.

 

Money spent making film: $236 million

Money spent advertising film: $150 million

 

Money earnt world-wide in the first week or so of screening: $300 million

 

[Hurlshort]

Anyway, I'm pretty sure with that budget, it's always bound to be a financial failure.

 

Money spent making film: $236 million

Money spent advertising film: $150 million

 

Money earnt world-wide in the first week or so of screening: $300 million

 

 

It will be interesting to see what type of longevity the movie has. That is what set Titanic apart, it just kept having huge weeks rather than dropping precipitously like the majority of films.

[Blarghagh]

Wow. Worldwide: $329,266,915. It's definitely gonna make back it's budget, then. Because it's only just in release so it'll definitely make some more cash. Plus, it's eventually gonna be a hit on DVD.

[Humodour]

Wow. Worldwide: $329,266,915. It's definitely gonna make back it's budget, then. Because it's only just in release so it'll definitely make some more cash. Plus, it's eventually gonna be a hit on DVD.

 

And we haven't even mentioned merchandising yet!

 

It will be interesting to see what type of longevity the movie has. That is what set Titanic apart, it just kept having huge weeks rather than dropping precipitously like the majority of films.

 

Indeed. It is expected to have a second week showing which is just as strong as its first, so that will be a good indicator I think.

[LadyCrimson]

So now I've seen Avatar and supposedly have the non-troll authority to state an opinion.

I'm going to be a bit long-winded, sorry. General thoughts are 1st, a couple comments on CGI in the middle, and thoughts about the 3D are last.

 

General thoughts (no spoilers, don't worry):

I still can't drink the Avatar Kool-Aid, but it *is* a fun effects-wrapped movie. As a film, I give it 3 stars of 5. But wait...as a theater experience, I'd give it 4 stars. Those are two different things, imo -- the org. Star Wars didn't have awesome dialogue, original plot, or acting, after all...it was, at the time, all about the experience. So fun visuals & stuff abound in Avatar, which no doubt will affect upcoming movies technically for years...and I can understand why many are digging it all...but imo there's nothing beyond that to make Avatar memorable. For me it's like how a roller coaster ride can be fun while you're on it, but won't have a lasting impact. 10 years from now it won't be on any of my best ever lists, except technical merits.

 

So if imaginative day-glo visuals of an alien world - the experience - is something you really enjoy & you're content with passable plot & (very) familiar characters, Avatar will be a winner for you. The two are merged well enough together to present an entertaining overall package - ie, it's not Transformers.

 

But if you're wishing for something deeper or even a little off the grid, you won't find it here. Predictability/cliche etc. is fine (and nigh unavoidable, as some have mentioned) as long as you're distracted enough to not care, but that wasn't quite the case for me. I remained largely detached which made me restless occasionally. If it was going to be mostly CGI anyway, I would have liked a more truly alien culture. For example, a non-humanoid race...now that would've made certain plot dilemmas a lot more interesting. The audience I was with was absolutely silent through the whole movie, with no applause afterwards. I'm not sure if they were pleasantly stunned or somewhat bored. heh

 

But all said and done, it was worth dragging my ass out of the house to see on the big screen, so if you're on the fence about that, I'd recommend doing the same, if only for the experience. I absolutely would not have liked it as much on DVD, where the too familiar characters and scenarios couldn't be largely superseded by the visuals.

 

On the CGI:

Scenery/foliage was pretty cool, but humanoid/animals didn't fool me for a minute..they mostly looked like a future-tech video game w/the best AA and pixel shading evah. Maybe it's my photographer's eye, but the often too-shiny, overly smooth skin tones and other stuff felt surreal and too plastic. Which isn't to say it's not all singularly impressive, nonetheless. And man, I definitely wish video games looked like this. Heh.

 

Side note, a person on Twitter was commenting how her deaf father had an extremely hard time lip-reading CGI mouths, and Avatar was still quite problematic. I found that interesting since I thought the lips to be one of the few more realistic looking features of the faces, but I wasn't trying to read lips.

 

About the 3D:

Most of the 3D in Avatar was not about making things wildly pop out at you for 'boo' thrills, but only to environmentally enhance, and it does that fairly well. I can't really explain it better than that. One of the best (or the most annoying, depending on PoV) was how in scenes with lots of floating motes, I found myself half-tempted to raise a hand to try to brush them out of my face, because it looked like heavy dust was falling in the theater. But there were two things that bothered me a little: one, for the 1st hour, certain things made me feel a bit nauseous...mostly the text & the way they tried to 'float-motion' some things. It did go away once my eyes got used to processing the illusion, so it's temporary.

 

Two, 3D's attempt at general depth perception was kind of a failure. I'm not talking about 'inyourface' moments, which were cool, but when they'd use it in regular scenes. Such as, main chr. in front talking w/two chrs in back observing, where the front chr. would 'float' on a slightly different plane as the background guys...making him seem like a hyper-cardboard cutout, with the back characters blurred out even more than in 2D, to try and fake depth perception. It doesn't quite work. Also, at the edges of the screen & peripheral vision, things sometimes seemed a little wonky. Maybe an angle thing.

 

But the 3D was interesting and definitely worth trying, as long as you're not extremely prone to visual nausea. I think I still prefer 2D, but if 3D action movies become the mainstream, I'd find it acceptable, which I was relieved to know.

Edited December 25, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[Blank]

I just don't understand all these people going 'the plot sucks'. It's not original, I'll admit. It is, however, a decent plot that is done well. It borrows from other sources, but I don't understand how that is a bad thing in itself when it forms a good whole. I felt the same way when my english teacher couldn't stop ranting about how Lord of the Rings ripped off all kinds of old tales.

Agreed. Added to the fact that the movie made me feel engrossed in the world and filled me with wonder and imagination for the next few days, I highly recommend the movie and give my full endorsement.

[Krookie]

OK, saw it in 3D last night, and while I can't say it was a particularly bad movie - just wtf was so great about it? Wasn't one of the taglines for this movie "Movies will never be the same"? Maybe I missed something, but the action parts (which was basically the last half hour..of a (almost) 3 hour movie) were the only super cool parts, and the plot itself wasn't all that incredible. For the amount of time they spent BSing about the "network" in the forest, you'd think they'd develop the characters more.

 

All in all I'd give it a 6/10. I'd say 5 but

the animals kicking some ass at the end was awesome.

 

[Azure79]

I saw it in 3D on a late show. It was pretty good theater experience.

 

The best character is that crazy old head of security. I was sorta rooting for him at the end. I giggled in delight when his mech suit pulled out a knife.

[Zoma]

Just had my Avatar 3D experience (My first 3D movie).

 

After finishing it, I never knew I could reconnect the inner kid in me. It felt like watching Star Wars for the first time when I was 6.

 

So obviously I really enjoyed the movie immensely.

[Humodour]

the movie made me feel engrossed in the world and filled me with wonder and imagination for the next few days

 

Same. That was one of the most awesome things about it.

[Pidesco]

So, I hear the metal they're mining is called Unobtanium....

 

 

 

 

wat

[Zoma]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtanium

[Blarghagh]

After finishing it, I never knew I could reconnect the inner kid in me. It felt like watching Star Wars for the first time when I was 6.

 

It seems I'm a bit younger than most people here, but I felt much the same way. Except my comparison was: my first theater experience, five year old dinosaur obsessed kid, Jurassic Park.

 

I saw it again twice now. Once in 3D again, and once standard in a local theater with some friends (it was a spur of the moment kind of thing) and I was happy to discover that the movie can be enjoyed flat. So that might cheer up those who don't have the opportunity to see it in theaters right now.

[Morgoth]

I'm too ****ing lazy to go into cinema. I'll probably wait for the DVD release. Don't need that fancy 3D stuff...

[Oner]

So, I hear the metal they're mining is called Unobtanium....

 

 

 

 

wat

Never saw The Core, did you?

[Gorgon]

I haven't seen it, but goofy looking aliens and two and a half hours of dances with wolves/pocahontas storyline where the noble tribal cat people get exploited by evil human colonialists.... Makes you wonder what Cameron could have come up with if he had spent 14 years on something else.

[Morgoth]

I haven't seen it, but goofy looking aliens and two and a half hours of dances with wolves/pocahontas storyline where the noble tribal cat people get exploited by evil human colonialists.... Makes you wonder what Cameron could have come up with if he had spent 14 years on something else.

Don't say such negative things about Cameron's masterpiece!

 

The forum members will make piecemeal of you...

[Blarghagh]

If he had spent 14 years coming up with anything else, it would be the most epic anything else you have ever seen. Really.

 

Also, I have to admit, you have to get used to the Na'vi look. They are kind of goofy. When Jake first goes into his Avatar and they test out his ear movements, I was like "oh god what did I get myself into". Thankfully that feeling soon faded away and was replaced by complete awe.

[Arkan]

I just saw it yesterday in 3D. It was pretty awesome, overall. Yes, the "message" was pretty obvious, but it didn't really interfere with my enjoyment of the movie.

 

My question: What's up with the floating mountains? Gravity effect from the planet (I assume Pandora is actually a moon)?

[Lare Kikkeli]

I just saw it yesterday in 3D. It was pretty awesome, overall. Yes, the "message" was pretty obvious, but it didn't really interfere with my enjoyment of the movie.

 

My question: What's up with the floating mountains? Gravity effect from the planet (I assume Pandora is actually a moon)?

 

The movies art style was "influenced" by, or ripped off from if you prefer, album covers of the band Yes. I don't think they have any other explanation except that it looks cool.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Lare Kikkeli

[LadyCrimson]

OK, saw it in 3D last night, and while I can't say it was a particularly bad movie - just wtf was so great about it?

It's pretty?

 

...I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out why I didn't find myself completely enraptured. I think it may be partly that every character in the movie, Cameron has already used in a much more effective/entertaining way in one of his other movies. Paul Reiser in Aliens> Giovanni Ribisi as the corporate money sleezebag, Michael Biehn > Stephen Lang as the not-necessarily-true-evil but duty-nut military, etc. Felt like he was phoning in the story/chrs. concentrate on the visuals of the world.

 

But I did enjoy seeing Lang ham it up...luved him as Pickett in Gettysberg, had no idea he could be so "badass." lol