Avatar - James Cameron Returns! (Spoilers in thread, obviously!)

Just saw AVATAR!!!!

...yep, saw it... and it was 3D... and every f-ing cliche from early 90's action and romance flicks was in it. Sorry but a little less time on the technology and little more on the script would have really helped me out, that was a painful couple+ hours; just trying to stay awake in the second act was torture.
I really wanted and was completely expecting to love this movie, I was rooting for it hard... then I saw it...
 
Avatar is THE first movie I have ever heard "competing" studios all talk so highly of, it's nice to hear.

Cameron is neutral but there is nothing more than I want to see than him buying the terminator franchise and doing the next one (or 2 or 3) in 3D like Avatar.

Well done!
 
Blade Borge said:
That's an interesting perspective Rakesh, which action sequences did you find had the most over familiarity?
Click to expand...
There are so many. Individually they are ok, but string it all together and... yeah...
I'm gonna watch it again and see if I "get over myself" and enjoy it more

There was no suspense or sense of danger because everything felt super formulaic and thus became painfully predictable. There is nothing original about the concept of almost any film, especialy one based on "the hero's journey," (Christ, Buddha, Osiris, Neo, Luke Skywalker...), however I have never sat there at any movie in complete shock at the triteness of it's parts and the "lowest common denominator" style of writting... not even Transformers. It felt like I just read a book on pop-movie screenwrting and this was the companion DVD that showed you all the examples of what they were talking about. Take away the ginormous VFX budget and emotionally it felt like I was watching a Bollywood movie from my childhood.
I DO NOT WANT TO DISLIKE THIS FILM! And I am glad that people LOVE IT!
I think the messages are supremely important; anti-imperialism, anti-conquest; indeginous cultures defeating a foreign force that only has it's own interest at heart. Also and most importantly, living in harmony with our planet is what most people will take away from this (besides how we f-ed over the Native Americans). Somebody had mentioned "Dancing With Wolves" in space :).
James Cameron is just an amazing and visionary person who has created iconic movies and truely I'm glad AVATAR is going to be one of them simply for it's message and over all theme. And while the hero's journey in this movie rings true the beats just killed it for me. I was not expecting to not like this one. But for the reasons I mentioned, I'm glad an overwhelming majority of you guys do.

The moral of this tale is very important and needs to be reintroduced into the zeitgeist in a big way, I hope this is it.
 
Last edited:
I think it's a valid critique and I don't necessarily disagree with you on some of the issues you had with the film (story). I just didn't have the overall, let down of a response that you did to it. So much to take in. In this particular case, the "formulaic" story line and the way it was executed seemed perhaps the better route to go in some respects. Now, there are parts of me that still would like to have seen a bit more complexity in the presentation of the story and all, but at the same time.... It was also highly refreshing to see something that was so... well, epic of course, in so many ways. They spared no expense, but still managed to make a film that was super clean, and fit perfectly inside its 2:40 (for me).

Story aside, pretty much everything else about this film, and I'm sure the undertaking that it was to create it, is so amazingly complex, that (for me) presenting it in such a clean way was a needed contrast, and something that helped tie it all in together to make it a unique, individual experience. Something to help keep it all grounded amidst the chaos of such a huge scale. So, I didn't feel let down by the straight forward presentation. In some ways, I think that is something that will make it resonate throughout the years for new audiences, rather than being a film only of its time.
 
Just got back from taking my Mom to see it - first time I've bought her a ticket and sat her down in a theater to see something I've worked on.

She really liked it. Imagine my relief...

...and this time I was able to spot myself in the credits.

Outstanding.
 
Last edited:
Sad Max said:
Just got back from taking my Mom to see it - first time I've bought her a ticket and sat her down in a theater to see something I've worked on.

She really liked it. Imagine my relief...

...and this time I was able to spot myself in the credits.

Outstanding.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity what part did you have in making it? I had a friend who was a PA on the set of Avatar, maybe you know him.
 
Loved it. Saw it Imax 3d. Worth every penny.

Story, as many have said, was formulaic. The main bad guy looked and acted like Duke Nukem. It was incredibly predictable, even down to the final battle.

At times the 'motivations' were stretched a bit. I mean I never fully understood why they spent so much money creating the avatar program in the first place. Okay, it's to gain their trust, but they know what the avatars are. While it wouldn't have been as effective, it would have cost A LOT less to just go out in a mask and examine these samples. I mean someone so motivated by money wouldn't have agreed to make an 'expensive' program like that. That's why they get Jake, because it's expensive to make a new avatar. I thought from the trailer the program was to really infiltrate the clan without their knowledge, but I was wrong.

However... I still loved it. Maybe it was this world. Maybe it was the characters, and the way it was formulaic, but formulaic with a gentle touch. Not sure how to explain it. I think because the formula works for this world.

Honestly, if Cameron can use his 'sequel' magic that he did for aliens and terminator 2, and carry that over to a sequel of this, I would go an see it. I love the world he created and want to see more of it.
 
I am with you 100% Rakesh, except that I won't be going to see this film again. It left me pretty empty(and my head hurt).

I lover the themes and intent behind alot of the film. I think they have great value, but they were handled in a heavy handed way and lacked nuance. Most of the characters were wooden and felt like action/sci-fi stereotypes more than real people.

The villian guy was so over-the-top that people were laughing in the theater. He should have had "villian" written into the scars on his head.

-The dialogue was hard to swallow, 1/3 of the film was exposition, (and it was way too obvious.)

-Cameron is so intent on controlling crowd reaction that he hammers things into your head until you actually feel dazed and that you are watching something quite hollow.

-I think it is ironic and interesting that Cameron and Lucas keep making these grand opus' that warn about technology and its threats to humanity, earth, etc. Yet they are the ones that are perpetuating the use of computers and virtual realities in films more than anybody. They are blazing the trail! This film will tilt the industry into that realm even more than before.
 
From the moment that the colonel enters the film, you know that he is the villian. The film makes it abundantly clear that he is evil. This could be ok, but that his character is not developed to show anything else as the film proceeds. His one dimensionality just moves through the film without ever expanding. He is so thin that he actually started to become a funny caricature towards the end of the film, and his one-liners were silly.

I don't know how to compare him to Darth Vader except to say that Darth Vader seemed to be pretty well sewn in to the world of the film. This colonel seemed like he was specifically created to be the foil, and that is it.
 
616 million Worldwide so far, twice its budget, so it looks like it's in the green. Hasn't even opened in China yet. Cameron is King of the World again.
 
Last edited:
Also Darth Vader had a sense of mystery to him(it helped that you couldn't see him too), was refined, and didn't give it all away right away.

This guy looked exactly how he acted and was your stereotypical marine caricature.

So no, I think Darth Vader runs circles around this guy.
 
Saw it. First time I saw a movie in IMAX, too. IMAX, and in 3d.

I'll try to be brief:

Yes, it was very 90'ies, or eighties. I agree. Bad guy was a cliché, the story was simplistic, a bit too much melodrama, stereotypical characters and predictable plot. BUT...

It was a memorable movie going experience. It is, indeed, a breakthrough in Entertainment, and in film in general, not because of the CG, though, but because of the way the whole movie was "thought out"- the cinematography was completely realized with 3d in mind, the way the characters were positioned, the way they interacted- 3D was actually, for the first time, an element that really helped on the storytelling and was integral to the whole movie experience. I'm sure Avatar works a lot worse in 2D.

Personally I think the experience was such a triumph really because the whole simplistic, linear story worked perfectly as a vehicle for us to experience this "new world", which goes hand in hand to the narrative and to what the lead character of the film is experiencing. The effect is not unlike entering the "Star Tours" ride in Disneyland for the first time, or going to your first roller coaster when you're a kid. The story, in fact, makes for a nice parallel to what us, not joe public, but the industry and the film critics/buffs were expecting for Avatar, we expected it to fail, we entered skeptics, and as the lead character experiences throughout the film, become more and more in marvel with this new world that, in the end, we all- or the majority of us- become true believers. Avatar made me a believer in 3D as something that can actually truly add to the art of filmmaking.

Is this a Film, like Inglourious Basterds, for example, that will be a topic of discussion in film schools in the future because of its great script, cinematography and acting? Certainly not. But I'm convinced it is a film that will go down in history and remembered as the film that pioneered 3D as a storytelling device in Commercial cinema, beyond the cheap trills of boo shots and "jumping at you" effects. It is the first film to trully integrate 3D as an integral part of a "serious" narrative film. In fact, I believe that this film can open a new category in the Oscars in the near future- Best 3D cinematography- its a much different beast than traditional 2D cinematography...
 
Last edited:
SPZ said:
Is this a Film, like Inglourious Basterds, for example, that will be a topic of discussion in film schools in the future because of its great script, cinematography and acting? Certainly not. But I'm sure it will be a film that will go down in history and remembered as the film that pioneered 3D as a storytelling device in Commercial cinema, beyond the cheap trills of boo shots and "jumping at you" effects. It was the first film to trully integrate 3D as an integral part of a "serious" narrative film. In fact, I believe that this film can open a new category in the Oscars in the near future- Best 3D cinematography- its a much different beast than traditional 2D cinematography...
Click to expand...

Well... Sorry if I begin this post by saying that I didn't saw it yet, but my comment is very short:

I see this new wave as I see sound when it first appeared to cinema in the late 20's earlier 30's.
To make a long story short, it really had nasty effects on cinema. It ended up making the whole 30's the worse cinema decade of all times!!! Just because story tellers forgot to show stories!... And insisted in verbalize them...

I don't have a doubt that CGI and 3D cinema is here to stay! Hell... In this piracy world It's the only way that Hollywood can survive and lead people to cinema and catch up the big dollars they are spending on their horrible stories!
On the other hand though, I presume that every true film lover won't be traveling much to the next blockbuster when he can seat and see a really good story on some Fest nearby.

And IMHO (as a cinema teacher), I frankly doubt that Inglorious Bastards "will be a topic of discussion in film schools in the future" like you suggest.
 
naavt said:
.

And IMHO (as a cinema teacher), I frankly doubt that Inglorious Bastards "will be a topic of discussion in film schools in the future" like you suggest.
Click to expand...

We'll see. i know for a fact it is already being discussed in an University in Europe... :). But, in the end, its still a subjective decision and opinion :)
 
SPZ said:
We'll see. i know for a fact it is already being discussed in an University in Europe... :). But, in the end, its still a subjective decision and opinion :)
Click to expand...

I think that there are so many more important tiles recently that Tarantino's movie will become overshadowed by them.

But yes, you're right. It's still a subjective decision :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top