Avatar......WOW!

[Andrianya]

I really enjoyed it and although I expect James Cameron to be preachy, I didn't find it too heavy handed. I liked the idea of how they were connected to everything but my husband likened it to if we all had built in USB ports. Hmm, I guess we see the symbolism differently. heehee. But yes, I enjoyed it very much and would suggest if you're going to see it to see it in the theater. It is too beautiful and epic to watch just on a tv.

 

[Liar]

Yah, I just saw it, too. In 3D and all.

First live action 3D I've seen. It took about ten minutes of brain hurt in the beginning, then I got used to it. And looking silly in a pair of oversized glasses was totally worth it.

Engaging enough story, albeit a bit cliché. Especially the bad guys. But that takes a back seat, the star is the visuals.

That's also my only gripe with it, it was a little bit too spectacular. A little bit too colorful and shiny. Every shot was pretty. Every landscape breathtaking. Every flower beautiful and flourescent. Every creature outstandingly alien. Including the blue guys.

I would have like them better, believed in them, if they only had been a dull kind of grey instead. And I would have bought into the world a little easier, had they dialled down on the ooh-and-aah factor. Everything doesn't have to have the hue turned up to eleven.

Did it ever, like, I dunno...rain?

My disbelief was never quite suspended, because I was too caught up in admiring the shiny effects and cool designs.

But hey, it was worth the ticket for the eye candy alone.

 

[Liar]

I'd give it a four, five if they had explained the floating spoor thingys.

They did. Or at least I connected some dots to satisfy me.

I woulda wanted some kind of explanation for the floating frickin' mountains though.

 

[3113]

The storyline is not very original, I must admit.

The story line is an insulting piece of shit; it's completely nonsense, with flat, stereotypical characters, cardboard plot line ("Dances with Wolves," "Last Samurai" etc., etc.) and the old line about the "White guy" who, after learning the native ways saves the natives who can't save themselves from white guys.

Someone called this movie $300 million dollar version of "Fern Gully" and they're right. Dazzling, yes. But any director with that much money and that much CGI experts and creative people working for him could give you the same. I'll tip my hat to Cameron for showing what 3-D and CGI can really do. But that's it.

This story had me wincing and cringing with embarrassment. I don't mind going to a popcorn movie to enjoy the popcorn, but I do mind popcorn movies that toss in creaky old stereotypes and pretend that just because they're aliens and not, oh, say, Native Americans, that I shouldn't be insulted.

And there's more than a few holes in the story. This thing is a sieve. One example: this science which can forcibly grow whole bodies of combined alien-human DNA can't restore a guy's own nerves (for his legs) for cheap? Okay, fine, how about this science that makes all these robot exoskeletons giving him some robot legs? We give those to vets now. But all this guy gets is a cheap wheelchair?They can afford to give him a 6-year flight to an alien planet but not a cool wheelchair? And what about that bull-shitum-mineral they're after? What does it do? What does it do that people who have faster-than-light science can't do?

And oh, Lordy, dem poor ignorant (but glow-in-the-dark-pretty) natives, they lives their whole existence plugged into the planet but it takes dat white man to think of askin' it for help! Good thing dem natives done taught him how to plug in! He even thought to get himself the biggest penis (I mean, dragon) when no one else thought o' that. Dem white fellas sure are clever, especially when they ain't scientists, cause scientists, shoot, they know too much, ya gots to start out stupid in order to learn how to connect with the natives and save their asses for 'em. We don't want no smarties, no sir!

This is "Phantom Menace" all over again. The Emperor has no clothes. None. But my-oh-my, aren't those missing clothes purdy.

I saw it once; I won't ever see it again. I can put those three hours to much better use. Enjoy the sequels.

 

[Misty_Morning]

The story line is an insulting piece of shit; it's completely nonsense, with flat, stereotypical characters, cardboard plot line ("Dances with Wolves," "Last Samurai" etc., etc.) and the old line about the "White guy" who, after learning the native ways saves the natives who can't save themselves from white guys.

Someone called this movie $300 million dollar version of "Fern Gully" and they're right. Dazzling, yes. But any director with that much money and that much CGI experts and creative people working for him could give you the same. I'll tip my hat to Cameron for showing what 3-D and CGI can really do. But that's it.

This story had me wincing and cringing with embarrassment. I don't mind going to a popcorn movie to enjoy the popcorn, but I do mind popcorn movies that toss in creaky old stereotypes and pretend that just because they're aliens and not, oh, say, Native Americans, that I shouldn't be insulted.

And there's more than a few holes in the story. This thing is a sieve. One example: this science which can forcibly grow whole bodies of combined alien-human DNA can't restore a guy's own nerves (for his legs) for cheap? Okay, fine, how about this science that makes all these robot exoskeletons giving him some robot legs? We give those to vets now. But all this guy gets is a cheap wheelchair?They can afford to give him a 6-year flight to an alien planet but not a cool wheelchair? And what about that bull-shitum-mineral they're after? What does it do? What does it do that people who have faster-than-light science can't do?

And oh, Lordy, dem poor ignorant (but glow-in-the-dark-pretty) natives, they lives their whole existence plugged into the planet but it takes dat white man to think of askin' it for help! Good thing dem natives done taught him how to plug in! He even thought to get himself the biggest penis (I mean, dragon) when no one else thought o' that. Dem white fellas sure are clever, especially when they ain't scientists, cause scientists, shoot, they know too much, ya gots to start out stupid in order to learn how to connect with the natives and save their asses for 'em. We don't want no smarties, no sir!

This is "Phantom Menace" all over again. The Emperor has no clothes. None. But my-oh-my, aren't those missing clothes purdy.

I saw it once; I won't ever see it again. I can put those three hours to much better use. Enjoy the sequels.

3...you have hit the nail on the head for much of my concerns.

But lets look at the basic premise. This guy Jake is pure" in spirit.

WHY?

We are presented with an individual that that has no "special" meaning. He is sent into a world to destroy it. NOTHING, nothing makes him special. In fact, just about everyone else is more "pure" than he is.

Maybe the sequels will answer that.

But until that time, I will have to say this movie still rocks.

And yes...heading off to see it again tomorrow...this time..IMAX 3D!!!!

 

[Bigbobnc]

I loved it, about 5 minutes in I stopped thinking of it as a movie and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I agree about seeing it in the theater. I saw the 3 d version and I liked how they didn't over use it.

Gonna go see it Tuesday with my brother in IMAX 3d.

 

[Lady_Guenivere]

Definitely on my "to see" list!

 

[ThatSweetness]

I saw it in 3D today.

I have never seen anything like it. It was the most amazing film I have ever experienced. Absolutely beautiful.


I'm gonna go see it again next weekend!


My heart is still pounding from it.


WOW!!!

I agree with you, it was beautifully done and that is not typically the type of movie I enjoy. I was glued to the screen. I just kept thinking man we should have waited and seen it not just 3d but 3d IMAX!

 

[drewxcore]

I saw this film in 3d too just before christmas and it was amazingggg.

A bit like staring at a magic eye picture for 3 hours, but amazingggg.

I do honestly think though that had it not been in 3d i may not have thought the film was quite as good as i did.

Alas, i'll never know...

 

[Belegon]

3113, you are certainly in an unforgiving mood re:this year's holiday movies.

I enjoyed it despite the cliched story. Yeah, I could see what was going to happen. So what?

I don't need every movie to be The Usual Suspects or Momento.

This movie is a visual event and it totally delivers on that level. And I like the story just fine. Yeah, it's cliched. But sometimes a thing becomes a cliche because it works.

This basic story works. Yes, it is easy enough to run the "Noble Savage" thing on top of this... but while I recognized it, it didn't bother me as much as it did 3113.

Dude is basically still following orders and being a marine, only thing he knows how to be. His world view gets expanded and he has a change of heart. Cliche? Absolutely. But does it really happen that way? EVERY SINGLE DAY! My own father is a perfect real life example of it. Not just in military matters of course... I'm talking more generally.

I haven't written a review of this yet, having only returned from seeing a couple hours ago. But I would completely recommend it, and I would also say that to enjoy it as it was intended you must see it big and beautiful.

 

[Liar]

Hilarious review (well, kind of) here.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/12/26/notes122609.DTL

Behold, the ultimate in guilty colonialist fetish fantasy epic porn
filmmaking, ever. Flawed, broken white man can, with his righteous
modern technology, fuse his DNA with super-hot exotic sexually
flawless alien species and become the Other and save the world
and then score the hot chick from "Star Trek."


To me though, geek wet dream aspect of the movie is best channeled by Jay in Clerks 2:

You know, sometimes I wish I did a little more with my life instead of hanging out in front of places selling weed and shit. Like, maybe be an animal doctor. Why not me? I like seals and shit. Or maybe an astronaut. Yeah. Like, be the first motherfucker to see a new galaxy, or find a new alien lifeform... and fuck it. And people'd be like, "There he goes. Homeboy fucked a Martian once."

 

[THROBBS]

...

And there's more than a few holes in the story. This thing is a sieve. One example: this science which can forcibly grow whole bodies of combined alien-human DNA can't restore a guy's own nerves (for his legs) for cheap? Okay, fine, how about this science that makes all these robot exoskeletons giving him some robot legs? We give those to vets now. But all this guy gets is a cheap wheelchair?They can afford to give him a 6-year flight to an alien planet but not a cool wheelchair? And what about that bull-shitum-mineral they're after? What does it do? What does it do that people who have faster-than-light science can't do? ...

I agree, that there was quite a bit of cliche... (all? ) but I could deal with that.

I enjoyed it as mindless entertainment.

as for the holes you mention. I think they were all addressed.
They could retore his legs, it was just too expensive for him, the Avtars were not a dime a dozen either, which was the whole premise for him being there in the 1st place. That was the bribe that the "booyah" Marine Captain (colonel ?) offered.

Who cares what the mineral does? That isn't very important really. Super strong, super conductive....whatever. Just like Lithium has become a commodity because of it's properties in newer applications (lithium ion batteries).

I don't think they HAVE 'faster than light technology"...therefore the cryo 5 year trip.

I could suspend my disbelief and just enjoy the ride.


(biggest "hole" for me was the SOURCE of the water for the waterfalls coming from the floating mountain/islands. That was a LOT of water. Though it did not ruin it for me)

 

[THROBBS]

Perv that I am, I did keep trying to catch a glimpse of alien nipple!

and wondered about alien cocks and cunts.

 

[JackLuis]

I wondered what they did with their tails? And what happened to his human body?

I'll bet the mountains were full of "Unobtainium" which causes them to float.

Yeah the script was full of holes in the science and few explanations but it was more of a fantasy than a hard SiFi movie. Considering the aim of the movie, (Show the kids some cool 3D and a lot of explosions and they won't think about how much it costs.)

 

[CharleyH]

Yah, I just saw it, too. In 3D and all.

First live action 3D I've seen. It took about ten minutes of brain hurt in the beginning, then I got used to it. And looking silly in a pair of oversized glasses was totally worth it.

Engaging enough story, albeit a bit cliché. Especially the bad guys. But that takes a back seat, the star is the visuals.

That's also my only gripe with it, it was a little bit too spectacular. A little bit too colorful and shiny. Every shot was pretty. Every landscape breathtaking. Every flower beautiful and flourescent. Every creature outstandingly alien. Including the blue guys.

I would have like them better, believed in them, if they only had been a dull kind of grey instead. And I would have bought into the world a little easier, had they dialled down on the ooh-and-aah factor. Everything doesn't have to have the hue turned up to eleven.

Did it ever, like, I dunno...rain?

My disbelief was never quite suspended, because I was too caught up in admiring the shiny effects and cool designs.

But hey, it was worth the ticket for the eye candy alone.

I whole heartedly agree with you about the beginning of the movie ... it did take a few seconds to adjust my concept of depth of field... I felt dizzy and it was an adjustment. As for the story? Enh, it was not unlike 'Dances With Wolves' and it was not unlike 'Titanic'. If it weren't for the 3D FX, it would have been an unremarkable film.

 

[SnoopDog]

Well, I had no expectations so I didn't feel cheated.

I just have to say: it's not a movie. It's a shwocase of what SFX today can achieve, but it had NOTHING that would draw me into the story. So for me it just remained very colorful pictures that moved very fast.

But I guess I can see why some people really enjoyed it. It's just not for me b/c I want a good story over anything else. If great SFX and action is then added - fine, but the movie lives and dies with the story.


Snoopy

 

[jomar]

A totally fun ride even with the hackneyed plot, nods and homages, etc.

We talk here about things that take people out of the story and my mind squicked at "Unobtanium." Couldn't they have called it anything BUT that?

Anyway, ALL movies should be in 3D from now on.

 

[Guest]

deleted

 

[Fallenfromgrace]

JUST COME BACK FROM SEEING IT in 3D, and whilst it was eyecandy for those of us who like blue pretty things *raises hand and wiggles uncontrollably*, the plot was of course a cliche, but who cares, like someone (sorry cant remember who above me) said, cliche's come about because they work...after the 3rd film using the same basic premise, people start to realise any other film after that is not made for plot-viewing-pleasure but for some other reason. And let's face it, the majority of films are not predictable, why cant this one be?...

as for the holes you mention. I think they were all addressed.
They could retore his legs, it was just too expensive for him, the Avtars were not a dime a dozen either, which was the whole premise for him being there in the 1st place. That was the bribe that the "booyah" Marine Captain (colonel ?) offered.

Who cares what the mineral does? That isn't very important really. Super strong, super conductive....whatever. Just like Lithium has become a commodity because of it's properties in newer applications (lithium ion batteries).

I don't think they HAVE 'faster than light technology"...therefore the cryo 5 year trip.

(biggest "hole" for me was the SOURCE of the water for the waterfalls coming from the floating mountain/islands. That was a LOT of water. Though it did not ruin it for me)

I agree that 'holes' were addressed- even though the plot was a cliche of big man saves underdog from other big men because big man thinks with his alien nethers and finds himself tied to the tribe via the chiefs daughter (it's **always** the chief's frickin daughter isnt it!- Alien equivalent of Jailbait or some such...)

I wondered what they did with their tails? And what happened to his human body?

I'll bet the mountains were full of "Unobtainium" which causes them to float.

That hair thing was weird...that part could have been so much better...why the hair?! why not the tail? why not anything else? that was just odd...

"Unobtanium." Couldn't they have called it anything BUT that?

*BIG GROAN* I know!!!! i swear i winced and squirmed a little because that was just too...EUGH for a mineral name...it's like they thought 'fuck it...let's call it something completely fucking lame...UN-OBTAIN-IUM!!!'' i hope someone got fired for that name...

Especially porn flicks.

Just saying.

oh yes...yes, with Sarahh on this

All in all my favourite part was the cute blue aliens

 

[O2]

it's a western, plain and simple.....I like most westerns....

I want to see it just for the animation.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Okay, I acually PAID to see the fucking thing. These are my thoughts.

Anyone who loves special effects will like what has been done here. The effects are typically Cameron-SiFi and right out of Aliem (the original, not the two sequal pieces of shit).

3 is correct, the characters are flat, the dialog sucks, the plot is stupid and filled with holes and unanswered questions. But thinking about the Buck Rogers genre this film comes from (maybe early Fredrik Pohl or something) it fills that niche pretty well.

The love story mixed up in the plot seemed sort of out of nowhere until the end when Jake is saved by his mate, but that seems like a lot to build up for one scene.

I did have a problem with Jake taking control of the Avatar. The idea that his DNA and his twin brother's were EXACTLY alike seemed a little far fetched. And his brother was going to the planet for a job but what the fuck was Jake doing there too? They got a second fare for half price or some shit?

In the end, maybe I was expecting too much. The film is fun. The sets are beautiful. I think that made up for most of the rest.

 

[Belegon]

Jenny, identical twins happen when one egg splits and becomes two embryos. They share the same DNA.

That's not far-fetched, it's fact.

 

[Belegon]

And his brother was going to the planet for a job but what the fuck was Jake doing there too? They got a second fare for half price or some shit?

In the end, maybe I was expecting too much. The film is fun. The sets are beautiful. I think that made up for most of the rest.

Oh, and if you had actually paid attention, you would have noticed that Jake's brother was killed BEFORE the ship left and they recruited Jake to replace him while still on earth. Therefore, only one ticket was purchased.

The movie does have plot holes. Enough that there is no need for you to invent more.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Oh, and if you had actually paid attention, you would have noticed that Jake's brother was killed BEFORE the ship left and they recruited Jake to replace him while still on earth. Therefore, only one ticket was purchased.

The movie does have plot holes. Enough that there is no need for you to invent more.

No. I caught that part. It made no sense. Jake is recruited, the ship leaves whereever it was (they don't say Earth) and they appear to take his brothers body with them to be creamated when they reach the planet. But the cremations was supposed to be a flashback that was handled poorly.

 

[Misty_Morning]

No. I caught that part. It made no sense. Jake is recruited, the ship leaves whereever it was (they don't say Earth) and they appear to take his brothers body with them to be creamated when they reach the planet. But the cremations was supposed to be a flashback that was handled poorly.

Hmmm...not sure about that. I had the impression that the brother was cremated before the journey.