Just saw Avatar

[Aram]

Are you allowed to bring a bong into the Imax? Because I got some real wacky dank from my cous but I don't think it'll last the whole movie.

[Aram]

Nevermind I'm gonna make some brownies and sneak them in.

[Meshugger]

I will probably see it, sometime. At the end of things, I am sucker for special effects and explosions. It doesn't really matter if Cameron has grown a mangina and made a movie about saving the whales/gorillas/ewoks and how evil the western civilization is, as long as he blows **** up in a wonderful way, i am all good.

 

And lulz at the comments against Morgoth. Where do you guys work/live? In the land of unicorns, rainbows and shiny, happy people? Grow some thicker skin and learn to accept his opinion. Personally, i think that it is good with him around and the likes of him, otherwise this place would be really boring and dull.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Gorth
Circumventing the language filter

[Niten_Ryu]

I'm 99% jaded of CGI. Now the more subtle the CGI effects are in the movies, the better for me. 20 years of following the advancement of the 3d have finally reached the breaking point. I just don't care about the CGI in the movies, story and setting is much more important. Even if I'd still love the CGI, I sure wouldn't like the design of those blue aliens. Broad nose bridge, huge gap between the eyes, freaky furry eyes and ears, ghetto hair... and the light blue color... ewwww.

[kirottu]

You

[GreasyDogMeat]

It's a movie about CG humans fighting giant CG blue cat people with some human/cat person love story tacked on. Basically someone gave Cameron $500 mil to reenact his furry fanfic.

 

I don't really see the appeal.

Pretty much how I feel.

 

I AM tempted, however, to see it just for the special effects which I hear are a huge step forward.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

They're just special effects. I've gotten insanely sick of CGI movies recently as well, so seeing Avatar would just make me throw up at best.

[LadyCrimson]

I don't mind animated films, CGI or not, but yeah...little tired of CGI being the movie, if you know what I mean.

 

I had a friend overseas who constantly told me I should try LSD because it's so cool. I imagine, if I'd ever done it, acid would make the Avatar experience awesome!

Meh...stay away from LSD. Fun once or twice, but crazy stuff. Never again.

More likely you'd be distracted by the notion that you can see your fingers sinking through the solid matter of the chair in front of you, or how the top of everyone's head look like dancing tribbles, or some such, and wouldn't even notice the movie playing.

[Hurlshort]

I thought the Terminator movies and Aliens were a bit more than just special effects. I'll take James Cameron over Michael Bay any day of the week.

 

I'll probably see it this weekend.

[LadyCrimson]

Twitter-hype has me thinking I may go see this anyway....I've yet to see any modern 3D movies w/the clear sunglasses-looking polarized lenses or whatever, and I'd like to know what the fuss is about. (last 3D I saw was a Vegas IMAX several years ago, with this very heavy 3d face rig, which was very cool)

 

Avatar seems as good a movie to check that aspect out as any. Wish we had an IMAX closer than San Fran, guess a non-IMAX 3D theater will have to do.

I am prepared to be wowed by graphics and bored by the Dances With Pandora plot. Hopefully between the two extremes I'll be entertained enough.

Edited December 19, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[Humodour]

The reviews and the ads still give me no compulsion to deal with the hassle of sitting in a movie theater with 3D glasses wrapped around my face.

 

So don't. There are plenty of theatres that are showing it 2D. That's how I saw it.

 

As for the CGI: you people are over-reacting. You don't notice it. It could just as well have been real people in costumes.

[LadyCrimson]

The ads on the 50" TV don't make them seem that way...they're still clearly very CGI.

Could easily be a lot better on a huge screen tho, I know that. But might mean not so great for buying the disc later.

 

PS - I didn't think Gollum looked "real" either...even on big screen...but he was very very good.

Edited December 19, 2009 by LadyCrimson

[Blarghagh]

Anyone complaining about the CGI is doing so because they don't want to believe the hype. I'm an animation student, and I saw it with a group of animation students, and we all agreed that the CGI was seamless. You KNOW it's CGI because it has to be, not because you can see it. Even the scenes where the CGI Na'vi interact with real humans are not awkward. There haven't been animated characters this good, and there likely won't be in quite a while either.

 

 

Anyway, I'm not going to review it. I'm only going to give some impressions:

 

- This is the most epic action movie you're ever going to see. In this movie, James Cameron puts every director who has ever made a good action movie to shame. He has outclassed everything in any action movie made, ever. From Die Hard to Lord of the Rings to Stars Wars to The Matrix to James Bond.

 

- An extensive world-building and culture creation exercise like the one that went into this movie hasn't been seen since Tolkien wrote The Silmarillion.

 

- Yes, the plot is riddled with cliches but they're handled well so it doesn't take away from the experience. In fact, it reminds one of how it must have been before everything was done to death. Because something that is cliche can only have become cliche through overuse because it works so well. Despite being predictable, it's done well, with emotion and real characters. This movie is about something. James Cameron tries to tell us a story complete with message, and he does it well, despite it not being a wholly original story or message. This is not a Michael Bay movie. This is not Transformers. The CGI is a large part of this movie's appeal, but it is not the reason the movie exists. At risk of repeating myself, this is more like Lord of the Rings (Tolkien ripped off all kinds of things to make his epic).

 

- While going on about the CGI, after about twenty minutes I was so immersed that I never ever thought about it. Not a single time I wondered how it worked, nor did it it break my suspension of disbelief because I could tell it was fake. And I WORK with this stuff on a daily basis. I SHOULD have been thinking about it because it's what I do.

 

- See this movie for Quaritch. Colonel Miles Quaritch is the toughest mother****er ever committed to film. He makes The Hulk look like a wuss.

 

- My only nitpicks -

Sigourney Weaver's Avatar looked just plain weird

, and Sam Worthington's performance was good but he still needs to work on his accent. It slipped occasionally.

 

- Making plans to see it again, because buying a DVD will never come close to this as a theater experience.

[Oner]

- Making plans to see it again, because buying a DVD will never come close to this as a theater experience.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

[Blarghagh]

Sorry, but that comment, joke or meme is going right over my head. : /

[Oner]

It's f***.

I'm not in the mood (and position) to watch films in the cinema now.

[Blarghagh]

That's really too bad.

 

In that case, I hope I'm wrong and it's as good on your TV. My track record is in your favor, as I'm wrong quite often.

Edited December 19, 2009 by TrueNeutral

[Oner]

Well, thanks.

[LadyCrimson]

Anyone complaining about the CGI is doing so because they don't want to believe the hype

Some of us are also "old" and jaded. I haven't felt that awed about any film since I was 25 or so. There came a point where that type of cinema wonder/awe/'epic, man!' just wasn't possible anymore, no matter how good I think a film was. It's like crush vs. love...I can't crush on movies these days. Thus, I *will* be thinking about how they did the CGI/motion capture, even tho I'm not a animation student. Sad for me, I guess.

 

I personally am not trying to pan the movie sight unseen...but I know myself fairly well and what I like these days and I just have doubts whether *I'll* think Avatar is a "masterpiece." If it wasn't Cameron I wouldn't even think about going. After all, I seriously thought I wouldn't like Titanic, but turned out I thought it pretty watchable even w/all the mushy stuff. heh Cameron's never been good with dialogue, but he does know how to make a spectacle. Wish he didn't have to spend 400million to do it tho.

[Raithe]

The over=hype and the extreme amount of adverts hitting about it are kind of pushing me in the "eh, I'll wait" in regards to the cinema experience.. It's getting to the point where every 4th blockbuster seems to have the "films will never be the same again!" tag in some format..

 

But I did flick through one of those "Art of Avatar" books the other day, and I have to say the concept art and development art really hit my imagination buttons..

[Killian Kalthorne]

When something is overhyped like Avatar I tend to avoid it.

[Pidesco]

Aren't you playing Dragon Age?

[Aristes]

Who cares about hype? I mean, it's just a ridiculous to say you won't see something because of the praise as to say you will see something because of the praise. Frankly, I'm actually more likely to watch the film because Krezack and TrueNeutral were excited by what they saw. On it's face, from what I've seen, the story looks like the typical "western powers (mostly the US) are terrible and evil and anti-environment. Dunno. I don't tend to avoid most films because they might present opposing political views.

[Humodour]

Sam Worthington's performance was good but he still needs to work on his accent. It slipped occasionally.

 

His accent? I don't get it? He's Australian, and his accent is roughly Australian... Whaddaya mean 'slipped'? I think at times he tried to sound neutral which made him sound Irish.

 

Anyone complaining about the CGI is doing so because they don't want to believe the hype

Some of us are also "old" and jaded. I haven't felt that awed about any film since I was 25 or so. There came a point where that type of cinema wonder/awe/'epic, man!' just wasn't possible anymore, no matter how good I think a film was. It's like crush vs. love...I can't crush on movies these days. Thus, I *will* be thinking about how they did the CGI/motion capture, even tho I'm not a animation student. Sad for me, I guess.

 

I personally am not trying to pan the movie sight unseen...but I know myself fairly well and what I like these days and I just have doubts whether *I'll* think Avatar is a "masterpiece." If it wasn't Cameron I wouldn't even think about going. After all, I seriously thought I wouldn't like Titanic, but turned out I thought it pretty watchable even w/all the mushy stuff. heh Cameron's never been good with dialogue, but he does know how to make a spectacle. Wish he didn't have to spend 400million to do it tho.

 

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.

 

Me personally, I went and saw this film having not heard about any of the hype (I don't watch TV and don't visit McDonald's so that seems a good way to avoid advertising these days) and expecting a 1.5 hour cheesy action movie about aliens having sex. I was surprised.

 

To clarify the cost: he spent $237 million on the movie, then somebody had a $150 million advertising spree. This movie is cheaper than the newest Harry Potter, Spiderman 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (even after marketing/advertising is considered).

[Humodour]

Who cares about hype? I mean, it's just a ridiculous to say you won't see something because of the praise as to say you will see something because of the praise. Frankly, I'm actually more likely to watch the film because Krezack and TrueNeutral were excited by what they saw. On it's face, from what I've seen, the story looks like the typical "western powers (mostly the US) are terrible and evil and anti-environment. Dunno. I don't tend to avoid most films because they might present opposing political views.

 

I thought about this, and at the end of it I just don't agree (that it's political - I'm not actively disagreeing with you).

 

You've got a set of people who are obviously sentient, civilised and intelligent, and they are being oppressed by a mixed group of ruthless humans who value profit over human rights. These humans then set about actively destroying the homes of the aforementioned sentients and murdering them without a second thought. How is this anything but evil? It hardly seems political to me and were we to compare it to any political entity these days, China springs to mind with it's ruthless authoritarian capitalism rather than the liberal capitalism of the West which is kept in check by human rights empowering democracies.