James Cameron's Avatar

I have many views on this film and they may not all go down well haha!

Firstly I was very critical of this film before I saw it and although my friend said it will be one of the greatest films ever, i disagreed. However I'm not one of these people that refuse to see a film because of hype or other peoples opinions etc or to try and be different and rebel. I try to see as many films as possible to fully understand and appreciate the world of film. So i went with him to see it on the opening day (at an iMax screen in 3D to maximise the experience) and I can honestly say it blew me away. I thought it was amazing and is definitely one of the best films I've ever seen.

The 3D and special effects absolutely amazed me. I'm more than willing to sit back and fully appreciate something as beautiful and astounding as Avatar. You couldn't of had graphics like tis 10 years ago. Once again people who are willing to miss out on such a land mark in special effects because they heard the story line wasn't up to Shakespeare's level are what I'd call 'idiots'.

As for the script/story line, it's not the best ever or the most original but what is. There's a theory that all films can be stripped down to about 5 or 6 different simple story lines. Take The Matrix for example, The protagonists world is not what it seems and is turned upside down, so he joins a rebellion to beat the system. What's new about that. What makes The Matrix special is the details; bullet time, fight scenes, characters etc. Same for Avatar, the difference is in the details. (I have nothing against The Matrix btw, it's one of my favorite films but I just used it as an example).

I'm very passionate about film and study it at uni as well as going to cinema at least once a week, having a large DVD collection and buying/reading movie magazines. I'm not saying this makes me an expert on the matter by any means but I'm just pointing out that I have made my opinions of this film with reference to many factors.

Another criticisms of the film I've heard are 'it's too long', 'I got bored' or 'it's too far fetched'. These people are also idiots who get more excited about whatever crap rom-com Adam Sandler will be in next. I am not even going to go into this matter!

My opinions may ruffle a few feathers haha but it's what i think and you're entitled to you're opinions too even if you're wrong :p



This is the only film he has made since Titanic, which lets be honest isn't an awful movie. There are much, much worse movies being released all the time, and if you happened to catch one of these, you wouldn't look up the director to especially avoid their future releases normally.

No doubt his old work is amazing too though

Having not seen the movie, I won't judge it, but it sounds to me that you like movies that are more like video games. I will not see an animated movie. Just not my taste. I have nothing against 3D as I have seen a bunch that were good, but I would like to see an adventure movie or drama with real scenery, real people, etc. Anything Alfred Hitchcock come to mind. Let's keep the video games for the xBox and start making real movies again with REAL cinematography. Computers have taken over enough of our lives, he said typing on one, and would just like to see a real movie again without all of the computerization.
 
Having not seen the movie, I won't judge it, but it sounds to me that you like movies that are more like video games. I will not see an animated movie. Just not my taste. I have nothing against 3D as I have seen a bunch that were good, but I would like to see an adventure movie or drama with real scenery, real people, etc. Anything Alfred Hitchcock come to mind. Let's keep the video games for the xBox and start making real movies again with REAL cinematography. Computers have taken over enough of our lives, he said typing on one, and would just like to see a real movie again without all of the computerization.

I'm not all about graphics, but it is a big aspect of modern cinema. I'm simply stating that this is a big landmark in terms of graphics and cinema for that matter. If there was a film out with what was believed to the best script so far or the best acting so far, people would go and see it. I'm not saying special effects are as important but I just needed a comparison. PLus this isn't like watching animation. It's that good it looks REAL, it looks like there are actual blue people on the screen, not animated ones.

If it's really not for you I'd recommend 'The Road'. Depressing as hell but all about the actors performance.

My point with this movie (Avatar) is that is a real Star Wars moment (of my generation) and I just want everyone to be a part of it.
 
Understood. I was watching a clip on the Golden Globe Awards show where one character was riding some beast and and it just looked like a video game. I appreciate your excellent review and for a heads up on The Road.
 
What amazed me about Avatar was not the 3D, which I took for granted pretty quickly, but its beauty - the scenery, the animals, the Na'vi. My eyes couldn't get enough of it.

Exactly. It looks and feels amazingly real, but like something new, that we've never seen before. There were parts of it that brought actual tears to my eyes through sheer beauty. Breathtaking.

Hah, I didnt even know he made Avatar after Titanic. Well, I'm more or less avoiding big blockbuster movies since I saw that god-awful Pearl Harbour movie som years ago. Now I mostly watch Ingmar Bergman, David Lynch and those sort of deeper movies. Last year I tried to watch as many noir movies as possible, but there wasnt that many of them that were any interesting. Sometimes though, It's cool with easy to like movies, but then I pop in some zombie-movies or ace venture. Sort of a guilty pleasure..

haha yeah Pearl Harbor literally was a disaster. I too like independent film though and love the small screen. I've been doing a lot about recently on a module at uni. A great English director I love is Shane Meadows. You should check him out.
 
GD, Brokeback Mountain was another movie with superb scripting, plotting and acting with breathtaking cinematography - and also as depressing as hell :)

For gritty depressiveness with depth, just about any French or German movie will do the trick ...
 
My point with this movie (Avatar) is that is a real Star Wars moment (of my generation) and I just want everyone to be a part of it.

Well I've seen both but I'll be honest and fess up that my old age puts me in the Star Wars generation.Having lived through both though, I'd like to put forth that Star Wars was a much greater leap forward than Avatar and more of a landmark movie. It's just better on almost all levels.

Special effects - Judging each movie according to when they were made, Star Wars has superior and more realistic efx and didn't have to use CGI, 3D or Imax to achieve them.

Characters - The Star Wars characters are hands down more original, believable and likeable. Much easier to connect with than the wooden cookie cutter characters of Avatar. Plus Avatar doesn't have a villian anywhere near as good as Darth Vader.

Plot - Both had a general kind of good vs evil plot that we all pretty much know what will happen. I'll give a draw on this one. Although Star Wars seemed to hint at a much bigger story than what we were seeing at the time. (Who knew?)

Writing - Again Star Wars gets the nod here. Much better dialog. This is one of the things that seperates the Original Star Wars that I love so much from the Horrid newer Prequels.

Cultural Impact - Avatar has been popular for sure, but with today's short attention spans I don't think it will make the same impact that Star Wars did.

But hey, if you like Avatar then go with it. I've seen worse movies. I just think the hype machine behind Avatar has made it a bit overrated.

Star Wars is/was better.
 
Writing - Again Star Wars gets the nod here. Much better dialog. This is one of the things that seperates the Original Star Wars that I love so much from the Horrid newer Prequels.

Yes, Avatar at least never foisted dialogue quite as pitiful as that love scene between Padma and Annikin in Attack of the Clones:

Annikin: "You're so... beautiful"
Padme: "It's only because I'm so in love"
Annikin: "No, heh... no it's because I'm so in love with you"​

That was pretty special lol. Before writing that George Lucas really needed to go easy on the sci-fi and Mrs Magic Inflatable and find himself a real woman so he'd know what people in love are really like.
 
The visuals were very nice. Overall, one of the best movies to come out of Hollywood in years. I was worried that there was no original material left in the movieworld and we were relegated to re-makes for the rest of our lives. As to all the whining from people who don't like the plot - don't go see it if it bothers you that much. I personally think the Star Wars/Bat Man/Indian Jones' plots were all ridiculous too, but the movies were all entertaining nontheless. I mean, how many different takes can you do on the old overplayed "good vs evil" morality play? Yet people still eat that stuff up.
 
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Saw it again in the Imax in 3D today, and again it literally brought tears to my eyes, even my girlfriend who isn't a film fan filled up a couple of times at the visuals!

Well I've seen both but I'll be honest and fess up that my old age puts me in the Star Wars generation.Having lived through both though, I'd like to put forth that Star Wars was a much greater leap forward than Avatar and more of a landmark movie. It's just better on almost all levels.

Special effects - Judging each movie according to when they were made, Star Wars has superior and more realistic efx and didn't have to use CGI, 3D or Imax to achieve them.

Characters - The Star Wars characters are hands down more original, believable and likeable. Much easier to connect with than the wooden cookie cutter characters of Avatar. Plus Avatar doesn't have a villian anywhere near as good as Darth Vader.

Plot - Both had a general kind of good vs evil plot that we all pretty much know what will happen. I'll give a draw on this one. Although Star Wars seemed to hint at a much bigger story than what we were seeing at the time. (Who knew?)

Writing - Again Star Wars gets the nod here. Much better dialog. This is one of the things that seperates the Original Star Wars that I love so much from the Horrid newer Prequels.

Cultural Impact - Avatar has been popular for sure, but with today's short attention spans I don't think it will make the same impact that Star Wars did.

But hey, if you like Avatar then go with it. I've seen worse movies. I just think the hype machine behind Avatar has made it a bit overrated.

Star Wars is/was better.

I know it was a big claim saying it was a Star Wars moment, and I didn't mean to say it's as good as the old Star Wars Trilogy I just meant it was a similar moment as in it represents a step forward in film and Cinema at its time of release.

It was a great movie but at the beginning, remember how they said the aliens had skin as strong as bullet proof glass and bones like cement (Paraphrasing, I just remember they said they were very hard to kill). But in the big fight scene at the end they would get shot once and drop. Just something that made me think.

They don't say anything about strong skin, only bones like carbon fibre, so bullets can still easily penetrate their skin to kill them.
 
yeah, this movie sucks. I can't believe there are people who actually went to see this just for the visuals
 
there's more to a movie than just pretty colors

I've got a feeling we could just keep going in circles with this but there so much more to it than that. That being said these 'pretty colours' made me, my girlfriend, my best friend and several others I know cry because they are that beautiful.
 
I've got a feeling we could just keep going in circles with this but there so much more to it than that. That being said these 'pretty colours' made me, my girlfriend, my best friend and several others I know cry because they are that beautiful.
you're taking this movie way too seriously dude
 
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