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

Jim Klatt said:
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.
Click to expand...

Interesting response to Quaritch; I don't perceive him as 'evil,' at all, although he certainly perpetrates evil deeds (maybe you don't distinguish between the character and his function in the plot, which is a legitimate way to look at it...)

I found more depth in him that you did; possibly as viewers we just brought different things to the film.
 
Sad Max said:
Interesting response to Quaritch; I don't perceive him as 'evil,' at all, although he certainly perpetrates evil deeds (maybe you don't distinguish between the character and his function in the plot, which is a legitimate way to look at it...)

I found more depth in him that you did; possibly as viewers we just brought different things to the film.
Click to expand...

I thought the actor Stephen Lang made this character work, suggesting layers that weren't necessarily in the text. He wasn't complex, but he felt real.
 
Batutta said:
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.
Click to expand...

The magic number for the studio to break even is $750m, people forget about PA money and the percentage the theaters keep when they talk about grosses.

Another week and it'll be there.
 
Jim Klatt said:
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.
Click to expand...


Vader only stopped being one note after the second half of the second movie. I'm sure you would agree he was still an entertainable villain before that point. But even still, why do think people like him so, is it more because of his character depth, or is it because he's a stone cold badass?

If it's the latter, then shouldn't it be fair to praise Col. Quaritich in the same vein?
 
The story was in 1d....

But I digress. The 3d experience was like looking through one of those old viewmasters we had as kids, except that things were moving.

The effect was too much for me in many places, especially when it was used with shallow dof or when the lighting was separating the object in the foreground from the backgroud. This was when the foreground object or actor actually looked like a flat piece of paper in a 3d environment, actually diminishing the effect(and making me conscious of the fact that it was movie).

I found it worked best when I had to ask myself, is that in 3d or not?

I watched Last of the Mohicans last night and it was the story and characters that gave the film dimension and movement for me. It was thrilling and it carried me away. The 3d aspect is cool for awhile, but it doesn't do anything for my emotions.
 
mikkowilson said:
Batutta said:
One ruler I've always used to measure a film is how much I'm still thinking of it a few days or weeks after viewing it. It's been three days and the movie is still consuming much of my thoughts.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good ruler; and this one certainly measures.
Click to expand...

Anyone else having trouble getting this movie out of your head?

It's been a week (only? It feels like *much* longer .. must be part of it), I've seen it twice. But it's still spinning around in my head.

Apparently the local movie theater is still selling out showings ... impressive for our small little town.

Santa bought me a HDTV & BluRay player, but I'm not sure I can deal with the wait. :violin:

- Mikko
 
For some reason, when the ship first arrived at Pandora seemed oddly like I was actually on that ship and I was about to step foot on another planet. I can't figure out why but that part of the film is what I keep thinking about.

Could some one explain why it has to do 750 mil to make a profit? I heard the production budget was north of 200 million and marketing was 150 million. Not 500 million as others have stated. Pirates 3 is on top of most lists as the most expensive ever made at 300 million and that sucked.
 
Last edited:
Richard J. Johnson said:
Could some one explain why it has to do 750 mil to make a profit? I heard the production budget was north of 200 million and marketing was 150 million. Not 500 million as others have stated. Pirates 3 is on top of most lists as the most expensive ever made at 300 million and that sucked.
Click to expand...

Not all money taken at the box office goes to the studio. The theaters take their cut.

So the studio only gets a portion of those dollars taken in at the box office.

- Mikko
 
I've been thinking about why that is. Because the characters in no country are not really that deep or multi-dimensional. But it might have to do with what I see as the more genuine sense of danger in ncfom. Like I said the absolute certainty of the outcome in avatar really worked against the film for me.
 
mikkowilson said:
Not all money taken at the box office goes to the studio. The theaters take their cut.

So the studio only gets a portion of those dollars taken in at the box office.

- Mikko
Click to expand...

From my understanding, the Theaters only keep the money that is made from the concession Stand. I used to work at a theater many years ago, don't know if that has changed but that's how it's always been.
 
capitalP said:
From my understanding, the Theaters only keep the money that is made from the concession Stand. I used to work at a theater many years ago, don't know if that has changed but that's how it's always been.
Click to expand...

There are various negotiations between theaters and studios, often depending on the movie. A typical film, about 25 percent goes to the theaters in the first few weeks of release, and then slowly increases in favor of the theater each subsequent week. For a huge event film like Avatar, the first few weeks can sometimes go 100 percent to the studios.
 
capitalP said:
From my understanding, the Theaters only keep the money that is made from the concession Stand. I used to work at a theater many years ago, don't know if that has changed but that's how it's always been.
Click to expand...

While concessions are a large part of thier business they are far from the only revenue source. Theaters keep an 'average' of 25-35% percent of B.O. gross (average over the life of the movie, some keep less than 10% B.O gross for the first week then it drops on a sliding scale with them keeping as much as 80% B.O gross 4 weeks into the run), like Batutta said, it varies with what the studio's negotiated with the theater chains.

Then theaters get paid an average of $50k per year for a few seconds of screen time before the movies to show advertisments, that's $50k per slot, not for all the advertisments per year, so 10 adds will gross the chain $500k per year, 20 adds $1M per year, the economics vary per # of eyeballs per screen but it's a big business.

Then concessions :) I spent $53 on concessions taking my neice and nephew to see The Princess and the Frog, then the tickets :)

I have been waiting for years to see a gift shop in the theater chains lobby selling movie shirts and memorabilia but I guess the economics of that won't work after you have spent $100 for 4 people.

Can you guys imagine the look on parents faces when their kids want another $75 worth of Harry Potter memorabilia from the gift shop, lol :) Priceless
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top