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

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
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Now, if you are talking interactive holograms you may be on to something. But this discussion is about 3D TV.
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If you want to split hairs, I COULD be talking about that. Whatever form it takes, I'd wager some kind of 3D viewing technology takes hold at some point. There are already some wild things in the works with 3D and motion tracking, where each viewer gets a personalized 3D view, that is pretty crazy. Whatever, I'll stop beating this horse.
 
Batutta said:
If you want to split hairs, I COULD be talking about that. Whatever form it takes, I'd wager some kind of 3D viewing technology takes hold at some point. There are already some wild things in the works with 3D and motion tracking, where each viewer gets a personalized 3D view, that is pretty crazy. Whatever, I'll stop beating this horse.
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I get you, but then we're talking about two completely different things. I'm talking about 3D TV's, not a Holodeck. :)

Cheers,

MAH
 
So, who has picked up the Collector's edition set?

First off, I must say I love the minimal use of plastic in the packaging.

The "Extended Edition" seems very different. The new opening changes the feel; and e movie is cut so differently, the pace is all "out of whack".
Lots of very cool new scenes though.


- Mikko
 
I was pissed to see it for 24.99 at target (the same price I paid for the normal edition)

I would only want to buy it to see the special features. How are those Mikko?
 
I've only watched some of them; but they are very good.

I haven't had a chance to sit down and watch the 90-minute Making-Of doc. Which apparently is very good too.

I'll provide more comments on them once I've watched them.


And the extended editions of the movie are very cool to see too. I think I prefer the "Special Edition" (8-minutes added) version best. Not sure the re-shuffle of the opening of the Extended Edition (16-minutes added) works for me.

- Mikko
 
The extras are very cool.

There are a bunch of deleted scenes in various stages of completion. Some of the animation is rough, but it is interesting to see the stages the footage went through.

I started to watch the Making-Of the other night, but I was exhausted and fell asleep after half an hour, so I need to go back and finish it. It's great so far.
 
Yep it is awesome how they worked out techniques to do it.

But one thing that will put you to sleep is the back to back editing of the drone of the pro techies as narrators for their respective areas.

Unfortunately even Cameron contributes to it. He could have used some of the 2.7 billion return and fixed that. :huh:

Cheers.
 
Watching it again, this time in 2D on Blu-ray, I think it's a bit of a shame the look is so cartoony. Bright, saturated colors, disney-like aliens etc.
The emotional impact would probably have been bigger if they had gone for a more realistic look and feel.
 
Sad Max said:
Try turning down the chroma on your display...?
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Well I could, but sadly it wouldn't turn this:

Lady_and_the_tramp_free_wp.jpg


into this:

cocker-spaniel-1.jpg
 
Got the extended edition for Christmas. Haven't watched it all, but why they didn't include those opening scenes in the theatrical version mystifies me. Adds more depth and resonance to the story and Jake's character. He feels like a more real person from minute one.
 
Because exhibitors first squawked and then dug in their heels at the prospect of a film so long that they would lose a showing per day, with attendant ticket sales.

For my part I find that the first theatrical edit works the best, even if some more of my stuff is in the latest version. As always YMMV.
 
Sad Max said:
Because exhibitors first squawked and then dug in their heels at the prospect of a film so long that they would lose a showing per day, with attendant ticket sales.
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Yeah, but even just adding that stuff at the top would have only added a few minutes. I think it was worth keeping. I can't speak for the rest as I haven't watched it all.
 
Multiply a few minutes by several showings per day and it makes a real difference to exhibitors. Whose interests revolve around through-flow, not narrative. Considering the films commercial performance in its initial theatrical cut, on purely practical grounds one might argue that it didn't need more or less than what it brought to screen...
 
Sad Max said:
For my part I find that the first theatrical edit works the best, even if some more of my stuff is in the latest version. As always YMMV.
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I've thought about it and I prefer the extended edition. It's just a richer film from a character standpoint and this film needs it. From the opening with Jake, to the backstory regarding Grace and the school, I think it fills out characters that previously felt a little too much like stock archetypes before. Now they feel more like real people. This is actually one of the first extended editions I feel this way about. Most of them put in redundant scenes, or scenes that dilute the main character's point of view. For example, on the whole I don't think the Aliens Special Edition works as well as the theatrical cut. I found it far more suspenseful when we don't see LV-426 until Ripley arrives with the marines. The Special Edition showed us Newt and her family there and it diluted the point of view, as well as the mystery. The only piece of information I like in the Special Edition is a small character moment where Ripley learns her daughter is dead in the opening. The only scene in the Avatar special edition that seemed unneeded and redundant was the Sturmbeest hunt. I also felt actually seeing Jake and Netyri fully consumate their relationship was more emotionally satisfying. Another note, I thought some shots in the scene where they visit the old school were the most photorealistic in the film, possibly because they were rendered more recently. Bodes well for the sequel.
 
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Alas my response to the subsequent releases is colored by having read the script, boards, etc during production and sort of having the 'missing' material already in my head as part of the story as opposed to getting to absorb it first-time-around on screen. Makes it tough to tell. But of course ultimately it's preference, and I'm glad that you dig the new version too.

Although I do like the re-insertion of the hunt; it actually makes a visual connection to support Jake's VO re being "an airborne hunter, death from above" since otherwise we just go directly from his finding his ikran to him flying casually along without ever seeing him perform as a hunter...
 
Batutta said:
The Special Edition showed us Newt and her family there and it diluted the point of view, as well as the mystery.
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Mystery? What mystery? Ripley shows up at the colony and everyone is dead...it would only be a mystery if the film wasn't a sequel that wasn't titled Aliens!
 
Sad Max said:
Alas my response to the subsequent releases is colored by having read the script, boards, etc during production and sort of having the 'missing' material already in my head as part of the story as opposed to getting to absorb it first-time-around on screen. Makes it tough to tell. But of course ultimately it's preference, and I'm glad that you dig the new version too.

Although I do like the re-insertion of the hunt; it actually makes a visual connection to support Jake's VO re being "an airborne hunter, death from above" since otherwise we just go directly from his finding his ikran to him flying casually along without ever seeing him perform as a hunter...
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That is true regarding the hunt and subsequent comment having more clarity. I guess I felt the other additions added crucial, deeper dimension to the characters, while that addition was minor. Giovanni Rbisi's character also seemed a little less slimy with his additions. You saw him being manipulated a bit more by the military and sold a lie so his decisions didn't seem as heartless.
 
Gary Huff said:
Mystery? What mystery? Ripley shows up at the colony and everyone is dead...it would only be a mystery if the film wasn't a sequel that wasn't titled Aliens!
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Mystery in terms of the complex itself. With less information about the place they're going to it felt spookier. Seeing kids riding around it in big wheels made it more mundane to me. I also thought Newt worked better as a character when you never saw her as an innocent. It made the question of wether or not Ripley would ever get through to her less certain. But really, the point of view is the bigger issue. The movie is told almost exclusively from Ripley's point of view and adding those scenes so early, way on another planet, disconnects you from her emotionally. I think filmmakers don't consider point of view enough and when I see extended editions, they usually add scenes that aren't relevant to the journey of the protagonist, so the film loses a certain amount of emotional power. That's why I liked the Avatar extended edition, it deepened Jake's journey, it didn't take from it.
 
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