Westside Steve Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Avatar Fox PG 13 160 min I’m bothered by a film campaign that leads with the amount of money spent on the project, whether how little (PARANORMAL ACTIVITY) or how much as in this one. AVATAR doesn’t suck, not by a long shot, but I can’t honestly say that anybody (at least in the audience) wound up with a half billion dollars worth of movie. Of course over hype is a trademark of director James Cameron who scored big with the merely above average TITANIC. This one is a computer generated graphic extravaganza that’s on par with (but not substantially better than) a handful of others of the same breed. The story, an outer space version of DANCES WITH WOLVES (with an even more overbearing political message) is a familiar one. As a matter of fact it’s like any number of films that pit the evil military industrial complex against an idealized native utopia. This is it: In a world not too far from now there’s a planet inhabited by a noble and peaceful race. It happens to be rich in some kind of silly magic mineral that’s worth a lot of money. We Earthlings have poisoned our planet and a bunch of stereotypical corporate and military bad guys are set on looting this planets resources. The scientists want to infiltrate the natives with biological clones controlled by the minds of American operatives. The army just wants to kill ‘em all. We suck; I get it. Sam Worthington is a paraplegic marine who winds up in one of the clones. He falls in love with the chief’s daughter, becomes a member of the tribe and defeats the U S of A or at least the army and corporation. Still the FX are spectacular and despite the nearly three hour runtime there’s very little drag. Maybe IMAX would have been worth the trip. B WSS Email westsidesteve@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MudratDetector Posted January 9, 2010 Report Share Posted January 9, 2010 it was decent. although i couldn't imagine seeing this movie in any other way than the 3D version. the acting and plot left something to be desired. cool story though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Couch Pulls Out Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 The story was unoriginal, it was long, and the battle scene left something to be desired. The visuals were stunning, Sigourney Weaver made a pretty hot Na'vi, and I left the movie seriously considering a summer home in Pandora. All in all, it did what any movie is supposed to do- it provided me with relief from my own life for however little a time. Was it a great movie? Visually, I guess so. But it's hard not to make a visually appealing movie when you get $300 million to spend on it. Would I watch it again? Yeah, if I didn't have to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Couch Pulls Out Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 The story was unoriginal, it was long, and the battle scene left something to be desired. The visuals were stunning, Sigourney Weaver made a pretty hot Na'vi, and I left the movie seriously considering a summer home in Pandora. All in all, it did what any movie is supposed to do- it provided me with relief from my own life for however little a time. Was it a great movie? Visually, I guess so. But it's hard not to make a visually appealing movie when you get $300 million to spend on it. Would I watch it again? Yeah, if I didn't have to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin Eater Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 I ignored any political messages and enjoyed the movie tremendously. I left wanting to be a Na'vi and wanting to live on Pandora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calfoxwc Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Avatar 3D was AWESOME. We're talkin the special effects, and the advanced technology used in the making of the movie. The bad guys (us earthlings, "we suck" as Steve said...) end up being defeated by the guy who ended up a clone in the alien society. But, it's the graphics that amazed me. We saw this, and during the movie people were whispering "Wow" to themselves... The science fiction stuff - that's the space ship/earthling space base camp, was easily ignored, Sigourney Weaver is now boring, having been typecast as a bitch, again, the greedy, somebeech humans there just want to destroy the really, incredibly beautiful alien world, so they can take the expensive minerals. Bad earthlings, greedy earthlings, yada yada yada. But, ignore that, seriously, and the incredibly beautiful graphics in the alien world, are enough to make you happy to experience this movie. I would gladly pay to see it again. The action is eye-opening, also in that alien world. I can imagine seeing this at the IMAX - it would be incredible, unless you had a big dinner and you get motion sickness... It's even a love story, and the aliens are pretty almost kinda naked, which is interesting... To sum it up, it isn't a good, intriguing plot all that much, and the only big problem for me, was the cartoonish exaggeration of the bad earthlings. I mean, half way through the movie was enough already with the really killer bad earthling crap. BUT: This movie has raised the bar, in terms of special effects accomplishments. Star Wars raised the bar years ago. Only now has it been set again, significantly higher. For that reason alone, it is not to be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshutchins Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 I would agree that it was a "Dances With Wolves" meets "Terminator." The human connection to the Avatars reminded me of The Matrix (without the distrubing spike in the neck) and "the force" from Star Wars was present in the "bio-botanical" network on Pandora. The movie's antagonist was thoroughly detestable. I was ready to knock him off myself. I enjoyed Trudy a lot. For the little time she was on the screen, her character was clearly drawn if a little cliche'. I wish Giovani Ribisi's character (Parker) would have developed a little more conscience and regret as events transpired. The absolute star of the show was the visual beauty of Pandora. It really was stunning. I would absolutely recommend the 3D version for anyone who hasn't seen it. Kudos to Paul Frommer, PhD, who developed the Na'vi language which was pleasantly believable. Based on the trailers I had no desire whatsoever to see this movie but was very glad I saw it. I would also see it again without hesitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 Avatar Fox PG 13 160 min I’m bothered by a film campaign that leads with the amount of money spent on the project, whether how little (PARANORMAL ACTIVITY) or how much as in this one. AVATAR doesn’t suck, not by a long shot, but I can’t honestly say that anybody (at least in the audience) wound up with a half billion dollars worth of movie. Of course over hype is a trademark of director James Cameron who scored big with the merely above average TITANIC. This one is a computer generated graphic extravaganza that’s on par with (but not substantially better than) a handful of others of the same breed. The story, an outer space version of DANCES WITH WOLVES (with an even more overbearing political message) is a familiar one. As a matter of fact it’s like any number of films that pit the evil military industrial complex against an idealized native utopia. This is it: In a world not too far from now there’s a planet inhabited by a noble and peaceful race. It happens to be rich in some kind of silly magic mineral that’s worth a lot of money. We Earthlings have poisoned our planet and a bunch of stereotypical corporate and military bad guys are set on looting this planets resources. The scientists want to infiltrate the natives with biological clones controlled by the minds of American operatives. The army just wants to kill ‘em all. We suck; I get it. Sam Worthington is a paraplegic marine who winds up in one of the clones. He falls in love with the chief’s daughter, becomes a member of the tribe and defeats the U S of A or at least the army and corporation. Still the FX are spectacular and despite the nearly three hour runtime there’s very little drag. Maybe IMAX would have been worth the trip. B WSS Email westsidesteve@aol.com Steve, I don't recall in the movie that the "bad guys" were from the USA, or even from Planet Earth. Sure, it seems implicit that it is "US", but really, for all we know this story could have happened long, long ago in Galaxy far, far away. What? You don't think that some planets in the Andromeda Galaxy might also have militaries and greedy corporate types? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoorta Posted January 24, 2010 Report Share Posted January 24, 2010 I would agree that it was a "Dances With Wolves" meets "Terminator." The human connection to the Avatars reminded me of The Matrix (without the distrubing spike in the neck) and "the force" from Star Wars was present in the "bio-botanical" network on Pandora. The movie's antagonist was thoroughly detestable. I was ready to knock him off myself. I enjoyed Trudy a lot. For the little time she was on the screen, her character was clearly drawn if a little cliche'. I wish Giovani Ribisi's character (Parker) would have developed a little more conscience and regret as events transpired. The absolute star of the show was the visual beauty of Pandora. It really was stunning. I would absolutely recommend the 3D version for anyone who hasn't seen it. Kudos to Paul Frommer, PhD, who developed the Na'vi language which was pleasantly believable. Based on the trailers I had no desire whatsoever to see this movie but was very glad I saw it. I would also see it again without hesitation. Finally got around to seeing it tonight- in 3D, +1 KS, +1 Steve, Avatar was indeed "Dances with Wolves" goes alien. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm a hardcore FX Sci-Fi guy, and I thought the movie sort of dragged in spots. As to the 3D, nice but it isn't virtual reality- not yet. & to me the FX overwhelmed the story. I may or may not pick up a copy when it shows up on Blu-Ray, but for theatricals, I'm one and done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClevelandFanForLife Posted January 25, 2010 Report Share Posted January 25, 2010 i went into the movie expecting a "matrix" or "star wars" moment. basically i wanted to see a scene that would be parodied because of it's genius. i didn't get that with avatar. it was cool, but it wasn't the coolest thing i've ever seen. i kept asking myself throughout the movie what exactly was the tricky part about the cgi. i know that cameron had to develop technology for it but i didn't get the feeling when i was watching it. it was still cool, but not what i expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westside Steve Posted January 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Steve, I don't recall in the movie that the "bad guys" were from the USA, or even from Planet Earth. Sure, it seems implicit that it is "US", but really, for all we know this story could have happened long, long ago in Galaxy far, far away. What? You don't think that some planets in the Andromeda Galaxy might also have militaries and greedy corporate types? Uh I guess so Gipper. Just a coincidence they have Marines and Colonels and Harley Davidsons I guess... Hey, The Godfather coulda been on a planet in another solar system that just happened to look like Earth a few decades ago...... WSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownIndian Posted January 27, 2010 Report Share Posted January 27, 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/20...eron-technology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisssteeven Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Hi! I saw Avatar movie three times and it is awesome and great movie of 2009. I like Avatar movie too much.Story of Avatar is very interesting. Special effects and background music is just amazing. Besides the visual effects being the best I have ever seen till now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 Uh I guess so Gipper. Just a coincidence they have Marines and Colonels and Harley Davidsons I guess... Hey, The Godfather coulda been on a planet in another solar system that just happened to look like Earth a few decades ago...... WSS Maybe I have to go back and look at it, but I don't recall seeing anything referencing Earth or the USA ....OK, I did check the official movie website, and it did reference that the humans were from Earth, there on Pandora to try to obtain the minerals to solve Earth's energy crisis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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