The Avatar thread!!! A masterpiece :)

How does this movie compare to Disctrict 9? Just curious as to what people think. Okay, the truth is I'm thinking of blind buying D9 and want to know if it's worth it.
 
Saw this a few hours ago and wow. Some really good stuff.[quote name='crunchb3rry']How does this movie compare to Disctrict 9? Just curious as to what people think. Okay, the truth is I'm thinking of blind buying D9 and want to know if it's worth it.[/QUOTE]I would say District 9 is better than this movie, but it's very close.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']How does this movie compare to Disctrict 9? Just curious as to what people think. Okay, the truth is I'm thinking of blind buying D9 and want to know if it's worth it.[/QUOTE]

District 9 is a good movie, but I would rather spend my money to watch Avatar.
 
They're both two different movies, but while I liked District 9 alot, I favor Avatar more. Avatar just had the larger scale and wow factor that good portion of the movies this Summer didn't give. That and I hate to say it, but the 3D made a HUGE difference as well as in soon as the movie starts and you see them floating in the air after waking up from cryo-sleep then you know it's going to be something amazing. Besides that, story is cliched, but it makes up for it in every other way.

Though like I said District 9 is still good.
 
Saw it in 3D this weekend. I thought it was a good movie. These are my thoughts:

I loved the movie outside the end of the battle between the Avatar/Forest creatures and the Humans. I thought the action scenes were all overdone... case in point, final battle where Jake Sully in Avatar pulls off the gun of the mech and the colonial pull out a mech knife... are you serious... I know its a movie but that was just cheesy.

Did anyone find it weird that at the very end of the movie when they are escorting the humans off the planet that both Noah and his Avatar were both standing around during the scene?
 
I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie. Best movie I've ever seen? No, not really. Best action movie I've ever seen? I think it would be up there, it has all the right elements in my opinion. Were there flubs here and there? Yes, but nothing that takes away from the movie.

I would say that it is certainly predictable, but that still doesn't take away from it.

Honestly, I am not sure what I would have thought of it at a regular movie, or even 3D in a regular theater. I saw it in IMAX 3D and it was fucking ridiculous! I can't even describe how amazing this movie was to look at. Like it or not, it will be difficult to watch any other movie without comparing it to the visual bliss I just witnessed yesterday. I paid $18 via internet, and it was well worth every dollar. There was a premium of $2.75 for ordering online, but I wanted to guarantee a seat with friends. Glad we did because it sold out.

Seriously though, just go to see how amazing the CGI and cameras that Cameron had developed are. This is a new technology and it puts everything else in the world up until now to shame.
 
[quote name='lordopus99']Saw it in 3D this weekend. I thought it was a good movie. These are my thoughts:

Did anyone find it weird that at the very end of the movie when they are escorting the humans off the planet that both Noah and his Avatar were both standing around during the scene?
[/QUOTE]

Yes, but you know from Grace and later Jake that the Na'vi can transfer consciousness, so it may not have even been Noah in that body (But it is implied that only the DNA of a specific human is compatible with that Avatar body, but maybe only in the pods). It could be a total oversight, but it's really not a big deal.
 
saw it in imax 3d last night. the movie looked fantastic. but i thought they writing was shallow, the acting was average and the story was as predictable as fried chicken. if i saw this in a normal theater id be very bitter, but imax 3d was pretty awesome. i was nauseous for the first 20 minutes or so, especially the zero g scene at the beginning and when they run off the ship when they first arrive to pandora, after i was used to the 3d though it was visually stunning.
 
Saw it last night. It wasn't a master piece...it wasn't epic .. it was good. Special effects were nice but not too many WOW scenes. I agreed that District 9 was better though.

Don't see how the Winter storm(or blizzard) could really effect the numbers for the movie though.
 
Seems that most people love the visuals, but the story is pretty meh. From what i understand of the story, that sounds right.
 
[quote name='JolietJake']Seems that most people love the visuals, but the story is pretty meh. From what i understand of the story, that sounds right.[/QUOTE]

No. The story is really good. People are just being really stupid with this "story is meh/cliched/unoriginal/done before/whatever" thing.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']No. The story is really good. People are just being really stupid with this "story is meh/cliched/unoriginal/done before/whatever" thing.[/QUOTE]


This.


And the whole "Is the CGI the only good part of it, because we already had a movie like that called Episode 3."


People need to get over it. it's not like it was a hidden fact that this was a CGI movie. This will be demo Blu-Ray material for years to come.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']No. The story is really good. People are just being really stupid with this "story is meh/cliched/unoriginal/done before/whatever" thing.[/QUOTE]


damn people and their opinions.
 
This was not a good movie. The end reminded me of ROTJ. Navi/Ewoks versus Corporate/Empire. Spears triumph over guns -- deus ex machina. Someone shoot me.

Also CGI still looks fake. I don't like CGI, it's not 'there' yet and when it does get 'there'...uncanny valley. No one likes uncanny valley.

And the 3D? Totally unnecessary. It didn't add anything to the movie other than oohs and ahs. I agree with the previous poster who called it a 'tech demo.'
 
[quote name='c0rnpwn']This was not a good movie. The end reminded me of ROTJ. Navi/Ewoks versus Corporate/Empire. Spears triumph over guns -- deus ex machina. Someone shoot me.

Also CGI still looks fake. I don't like CGI, it's not 'there' yet and when it does get 'there'...uncanny valley. No one likes uncanny valley.

And the 3D? Totally unnecessary. It didn't add anything to the movie other than oohs and ahs. I agree with the previous poster who called it a 'tech demo.'[/QUOTE]


You don't happen to run a website called "The spoony experiment" do you?
 
[quote name='redshadow']You don't happen to run a website called "The spoony experiment" do you?[/QUOTE]

Haha no, but watching it now I pretty much agree with 'em.
 
The best comparison of why CGI sucks and tangible effects are better is, ironically, a James Cameron movie. Aliens. Specifically compared to, for example, Pitch Black. Both are similar, yet the Aliens are just terrifying while there is absolutely zero "scare factor" from the Pitch Black creatures. Those looked fake all the way through, while just that scene from Aliens where Hicks looks up above the droptile ceiling with his flashlight is without a doubt one of the scariest movie moment from my childhood except for maybe John Lithgow opening that airplane windowshade in Twilight Zone: The Movie.
 
[quote name='c0rnpwn']Haha no, but watching it now I pretty much agree with 'em.[/QUOTE]


To each his own.


I personally can't believe anyone who agrees with anything that "The Spoony Experiment" has to say has any even REMOTELY minute bit of fun at the movie theaters.

That guy hates on everything, and he's not even funny while doing it.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']damn people and their opinions.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I agree: damn them.

Avatar is a nigh-perfect "hero myth" tale. The hero myth has been a good story for thousands of years. So there.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']Yes, I agree: damn them.

Avatar is a nigh-perfect "hero myth" tale. The hero myth has been a good story for thousands of years. So there.[/QUOTE]

pfft if it was a true hero myth he would have died at the end. all heroes die. i think him dying at the end would have made me enjoy the movie significantly more. the way it ended, you could see it coming from an hour into the movie.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']the way it ended, you could see it coming from an hour into the movie.[/QUOTE]

Okay, so you're obviously falling into the "it's predictable" camp. As stated, these people are kind of stupid.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']Okay, so you're obviously falling into the "it's predictable" camp. As stated, these people are kind of stupid.[/QUOTE]

not sure how the movie being predictable makes me kind of stupid.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']not sure how the movie being predictable makes me kind of stupid.[/QUOTE]

Because it's a bad reason to criticize a good, solid story.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']not sure how the movie being predictable makes me kind of stupid.[/QUOTE]

Well that avatar certainly doesn't help your cause.
 
Well with a ship in orbit they could have orbital bombarded the damn area... Take that mother nature!!! I like to see that planet stand up to something completely out of reach.... unless it had the power to call for a meteor strike to blow that ship up lol.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']Because it's a bad reason to criticize a good, solid story.[/QUOTE]

the fact that its so predictable inherently makes the story neither good nor solid.

[quote name='rickshankshaw']Well that avatar certainly doesn't help your cause.[/QUOTE]

ok...
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']Because it's a bad reason to criticize a good, solid story.[/QUOTE]

You're that guy who always wanted to discuss "The Matrix" in Philosophy 101, aren't you?
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']the fact that its so predictable inherently makes the story neither good nor solid.[/QUOTE]

If that's how you feel, then I think you have really flawed standards for storytelling, and a poor understanding of the basic classic fundamental principals of fiction and mythology. Seriously, since when is unpredictability a requirement for a good story? Most of the great mythology of the world is pretty damn predictable.

[quote name='camoor']You're that guy who always wanted to discuss "The Matrix" in Philosophy 101, aren't you?[/QUOTE]

Oh god, no. The Matrix is stupid as hell, and so are people who think it's deep or whatthefuckever.
 
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[quote name='CoffeeEdge']Congratulations, you have a flagrant disregard the basic fundamental principals of fiction, storytelling, or mythology! Seriously, since when is unpredictability a requirement for a good story? The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are predictable, man.
[/QUOTE]

Huh? Star Wars gave rise to one of the greatest of plot twists of all time...

While I agree that predictability shouldn't be a determining factor in whether or not its a solid story, originality is and Avatar is far from original. Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, District 9, etc. Its a story we've seen a hundred times and Avatar did little to expand upon the story or re-invent it.
 
Forget what I said about Star Wars: I broadened that statement a lot. And in the grand scheme of things, no Vader being Luke's father isn't one of the "greatest plot twists of all time." Star Wars cherry picks pretty much everything it has from Greek and other classical mythology; nothing is, or ever was, innovative about it's core plot.

[quote name='RedvsBlue']While I agree that predictability shouldn't be a determining factor in whether or not its a solid story, originality is and Avatar is far from original. Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, District 9, etc. Its a story we've seen a hundred times and Avatar did little to expand upon the story or re-invent it.[/QUOTE]

Originality is not required, either. You're ignoring creativity (which is wholly different from originality), which Avatar has in spades.

Avatar is not really original or unpredictable. It is, however, incredibly creative. The setting is extremely imaginative and creative, solidly built and fleshed-out, and the plot is effectively told. Thus: solid overall story.
 
[quote name='DarkNessBear']So what if Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Peter Jackson loved the movie. They have no talent and don't do anything! I get all my movie advice from slickkill77, he is the movie god. He knows everything and he hates this movie so that means those "directors" don't know anything![/QUOTE]

I would hope that James Cameron would love his own movie. That would be a telling sign....

A lot of people loved Paranormal Activity and I thought it sucked. What of it?

Peter Jackson? It doesn't surprise me that he liked it. He has a thing for movies-that-go-on-way-to-god-damn-long-too.


Let me ask this one question since no seems to want to do anything other than flame us: If this movie had cgi on the level of say, District 9 or SW Ep3, would you have loved it?
 
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[quote name='CoffeeEdge']If that's how you feel, then I think you have really flawed standards for storytelling, and a poor understanding of the basic classic fundamental principals of fiction and mythology. Seriously, since when is unpredictability a requirement for a good story? Most of the great mythology of the world is pretty damn predictable.
[/QUOTE]

this is a discussion on fiction and mythology. we arent comparing roland and seyavash. were talking about a 2 and a half hour movie with a rehashed story that i personally think wasnt executed very well. heres the situation, people like different things for different reasons. youre posting on an internet forum with a petty attitude that anyone who happens to dislike avatar for reason x is either a moron or uneducated. you have no idea how much me, or anyone else here has studied literature and mythology or a studied screen writing or any other type of storytelling, the fact of the matter is its not relevant in the enjoyment of a fucking movie.
 
I don't care how educated you are; I think that anyone who insists that a story be "unpredictable" is lame-o. TL;DR: Haterz don't know what's up, let's press on with the thread.


Heading out for my third showing probably tomorrow. 8)
 
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[quote name='CoffeeEdge']I don't care how educated you are; I think that anyone who insists that a story be "unpredictable" is lame-o. TL;DR: RAMSTORIA doesn't know what's up, let's press on with the thread.


Heading out for my third showing probably tomorrow. 8)[/QUOTE]

i never said that a movie must be unpredictable. i never limited my criticism to predictability. for someone reason youre hung up on it and only counter someones distaste the aforementioned predictability other than someone "doesn't know what's up" or that "People are just being really stupid", even though you originally attacked my understanding of story telling and mythology.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']pfft if it was a true hero myth he would have died at the end. all heroes die. i think him dying at the end would have made me enjoy the movie significantly more. the way it ended, you could see it coming from an hour into the movie.[/QUOTE]

I guess I will put it in spoilers just for the ones that have not seen it yet that want to.
I thought he was going to die at the end until the tree. When I saw them do that I thought he would become his avatar. When I saw that I thought he was going to die and then they would use it to make him is avatar. I was close but he didn't die.

Now for the story I liked it and everything else about the movie. As for the story being done already yeah it has but so what and if that is your only bitch about it then get over it. He took the story and made it he own and did it the way he wanted to. If you dont like that you write and direct a movie. I say if you liked it fine like it for what ever you liked it for but if you hated it then fine hate it for what ever you hated it for. The only thing is you should not force someone to like it or not like it.
 
[quote name='RelentlessRolento']still have no desire to see this. im sure its good, just can't find anything that makes me want to see it. I'll watch it eventually.[/QUOTE]


its going to be out awhile but i would make sure to see it in the theaters for the 3d effects.
 
[quote name='slickkill77']I would hope that James Cameron would love his own movie. That would be a telling sign....

A lot of people loved Paranormal Activity and I thought it sucked. What of it?

Peter Jackson? It doesn't surprise me that he liked it. He has a thing for movies-that-go-on-way-to-god-damn-long-too.


Let me ask this one question since no seems to want to do anything other than flame us: If this movie had cgi on the level of say, District 9 or SW Ep3, would you have loved it?[/QUOTE]
District 9 had great CGI and EP3 had some good stuff for its time.

But, if you mean the CG was BAD - then I don't think I would like it as much as I did. But, still the creativity of the environment and world has well surpassed most films I've seen.. What is your point?

I mean, the story is not the BEST it could have been - but it is competent. You must immensely detest all Pixar films (due to their ALWAYS predictable stories) but I happen to love those as well.

Wait, didn't you say you haven't seen it yet?

[quote name='RelentlessRolento']still have no desire to see this. im sure its good, just can't find anything that makes me want to see it. I'll watch it eventually.[/QUOTE]

Rolento, I've heard you say that in a lot of threads! You crazy.

[quote name='CoffeeEdge']I don't care how educated you are; I think that anyone who insists that a story be "unpredictable" is lame-o. TL;DR: Haterz don't know what's up, let's press on with the thread.


Heading out for my third showing probably tomorrow. 8)[/QUOTE]
Yea, what is this whole thing about "predictability". I've seen a bunch of movies that were unpredictable that were complete garbage. The Village was extremely unpredictable, but I'd take the predictability of WallE or Ratatouille over it any day!
 
I love Pixar films. They are funny and cute. They have personality.

My point being that CG is essentially what made this film. So I don't see why it should be held to such an amazing standard if it's nothing more than a tech demo.

"Wait, haven't you not even seen it?"
Wait, have not you not even seen it?...
 
I just got an email from ronnies theater in St. Louis MO. They are the only ones I know of in the St. Louis MO area that have an IMAX screen and they were unable to get the IMAX print from the distributor. I guess they wont get it at all then. This is one that I would like to see on the IMAX screen in 3d but I guess I wont ever be able to.
 
[quote name='sendme']I just got an email from ronnies theater in St. Louis MO. They are the only ones I know of in the St. Louis MO area that have an IMAX screen and they were unable to get the IMAX print from the distributor. I guess they wont get it at all then. This is one that I would like to see on the IMAX screen in 3d but I guess I wont ever be able to.[/QUOTE]

That's too bad. Can you see it in RealD? That's perfectly fine, as well. And hey, maybe they can get an IMAX print second-run?
 
The CG is essentially what makes a lot of films. Let's say the Pixar movies were done exactly the same except with squidbillies animation, would they still be these mega-hits every time?

I seriously doubt they would break 20 million even with the best of writing if they had dog shit animation/cg behind them.

I also don't think this films only trump card was CG. It may be their Ace on the river, but they also provided the 10 through King to make that Ace really mean something.

Regardless of all of this, if you didn't enjoy it, fine go enjoy other movies. I was blown away by this movie and will continue to spread its gospel to those that want to listen.

Amazing, in one post I've semi-shat on Pixar, Squidbillies, used a crappy poker reference, and blowjobbed Cameron and the movie again. My work is done for the day. I also used the term semi-shat. :bouncy:
 
Boring, crappy movie with a linear predictable story and mediocre acting. Sigourney weaver's character is essentially pointless/useless to the plot as a whole. I had no emotional attachment to the plot or characters, with the exception of the colonel (sp) who I was sad to see what happened to him, but still, he was merely an amalgamation of the seargent (sp) from the first part of full metal jacket and the one commander from apocalypse now who says the famous napalm line. I found much of the film as being derivative of so many other, better films and boring as a whole. The cgi and effects are amazing to behold, especially in 3d, but in qll honesty, it doesn't make for a better movie
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']The cgi and effects are amazing to behold, especially in 3d, but in qll honesty, it doesn't make for a better movie[/QUOTE]


Are you sure? Consider if it has poor effects. Unless you can honestly say that it would be just as good with Lawnmower Man CGI, then that statement really isn't true.

Movies are a visual medium, so I don't think it's bad to think that yeah, the visuals are absolutely tied to a movie's quality.
 
Let's not shit on Pixar. Their movies have a lot of heart to them. I'm of the mind that if you change their movies from CG to hand drawn, they'd still be good.
 
i really liked the movie. My friend and I were trying to see where it may have pulled influence from though too. so far we have:

story
Pocahontas - Classic John Smith/Pocahontas thing going on
Matrix - user interface
Fern Gully - that really hokey movie with fairies that help keep the forest alive
Princess Monoke - advancing army vs nature

characters/vehicles
Starcraft - the native animals looked similar to the ones that were idle around the maps of starcraft
Matrix - Mechs were almost straight out of revolution
Gears of War - Mech guns had bayonets that looked like chainsaws
HALO - the helicopters looked a lot like Hornets but with cargo bays
HALO wars - the main gunship the Colonel rode on (dragon?) was reminiscent of the big ship USNC can make

I'm sure a lot of these points may have been discussed in the previous posts, but I just thought it was an interesting way to see things :)
 
I want to see this but at the same time I feel that special effects dont make a movie. Transformers 2 had great CG but the movie itself was shit. i expect the same from Avatar. I visual feast with no substance. A lot of you confuse good visuals with good movies.
 
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