Okay so, I loved this movie. And for the people saying "oh its just fern gully or Pocahontas!" well as someone whose been following the making of this movie for years, I figure you should know that thats exactly what Cameron wanted! He even SAID he wanted to create an epic science fiction spin off of Pocahontas.
And to those who are comparing it to star wars; STOP. Because avatar doesnt deserve to be compared to a movie as bad as star wars. Star wars was 110% nothing but visuals for its time. Do you ever wonder why only ONE actor from the star wars movies ever really went on to real success? its because the acting was awful, the writing was horrendous, and the characters were flat and boring.
Avatar's appeal isn't entirely just that it looks pretty either. However it was made to USE visuals to tell its story. 85% of the movie is told through what you see, and in turn what you feel as compared to what you're seeing. Sure the acting is somewhat lacking, but only in the spoken aspect. The Navi are actually just real people with sensors on their faces and bodies, so that every last little motion or facial twitch is picked up. The visuals are only so amazing, BECAUSE the acting was so good.
And I'm sorry, but you can only fool so many people into loving an overall sub-par movie. You cant get to be #1 of all time with sub-par. You just cant do it. I mean, not only did this movie earn more in the box office than any other before, but it also revolutionized the way movies will be made. I mean it grossed over a billion dollars, and the chinese even RENAMED the Southern Sky Column mountains to the "avatar-hallelujah mountains" just because it was THAT well received. Face it, you can whine, and complain, and hate the movie all you want. But you're the minority. A tiny minority. And with both the Golden Globe and Academy boards saying the opposite of what you're saying, chances are you're not right.