James Cameron's Avatar

wow.. someone needs to tell these people.... "its just a film FFS"

It's always funny when people go finding meaning and depth that was never intended to be there in the first place. If the director didnt intend it... then its not there. No point pretending you see something else in it, as you'd just be projecting your own beliefs onto the film.
 
Without reading any other posts:

This movie sucked. They managed to spend $500,000,000 on another star wars film.

Plot: Predictable, Childish, Boring, lacking of anything truly out of the box.
Action Sequences: Cool, but nothing new there.
Visuals: Stunning, Granted. Get over it, that's not what makes a movie
Acting: Sub Par. I can't appreciate CGI acting like that, it just kinda turned me off.

As a special effects piece, yea, great. I feel like I wasted $13 at the theater. $5 movie night would have been more appropriate. I feel very alone in this sentiment, my friends think I'm just being rude but the truth is the movie really disappointed me.

I spent almost 3 hours of my life watching an adult version of "Fern Gully."

I really wanted this to be a great movie, but this will not be one I put in my collection. Beautiful movie, but beautiful is all it is. You can't love a person just for how they look.
 
is that is a real Star Wars moment (of my generation) and I just want everyone to be a part of it.

Disagree. They used ads to push it that why but if it was a modern day star wars then I feel like it was a copy, not a re-invention. We need our own story. I feel that if this is the "star wars" of our generation then our cinema might have shot it's self in the head.
 
Let's keep the video games for the xBox and start making real movies again with REAL cinematography.

I agree, I feel separated from this film because it's so very far from real to me.

FreeBirdGDW: I don't mean to sound critical but saying it looks real is giving it far too much credit. I found myself more impressed with the imagery in "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." I have the same views on the acting, but I was much more impressed by the story, and the visual effects in that film seemed like much more of a leap, especially for the time.
 
I really wanted this to be a great movie, but this will not be one I put in my collection. Beautiful movie, but beautiful is all it is. You can't love a person just for how they look.
You've hit upon an endless frustration I have with James Cameron's movies. The thing is, Cameron is a master at directing highly ambitious movies that are huge in scope and monumentally challenging on a technical level. This is something that probably few people are capable of, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for his work on that level. However, as a screenwriter, I think Cameron is mediocre at best, and this is where his movies routinely fall short for me. This is not to say he doesn't think of good stories. He does. But developing story concepts and the actual nuts and bolts of writing a good screenplay are two different things. The latter takes a more exceptional talent for writing which I don't think he possesses. I think a guy like Cameron is probably convinced he can do it all, and who would argue with him, given his success? Consequently, he has been the sole writer on his more recent movies. Big mistake, imo. If he would only delegate the screenwriting duties to more talented writers, I think his movies would truly be masterpieces.
 
Sometimes I enjoy trashy stuff if it has a certain appeal and sometimes I enjoy very heady stuff.

Being able to enjoy movies (or music or art etc) on a visceral level does not preclude the ability to appreciate and enjoy works with more depth.
 
Hasn't this movie become the highest income movie of all time? Why are we even arguing about it?

Just a thought.
 
Hasn't this movie become the highest income movie of all time?

No. Not in inflation adjusted dollars. GWTW is still #1 and Star Wars #2. Avatar is moving up the list though.

And now that the Academy has expanded the best picture nominees to something like 80 different movies, it got a best picture nomination.
 
No. Not in inflation adjusted dollars. GWTW is still #1 and Star Wars #2. Avatar is moving up the list though.

And now that the Academy has expanded the best picture nominees to something like 80 different movies, it got a best picture nomination.

It's the highest grossing movie at the box office. second is Titanic, another Cameron movie.

http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide

I don't know about when it comes to general income including merchandise, DVDs etc though. I doubt much is ever going to beat Star Wars.
 
Sometimes I enjoy trashy stuff if it has a certain appeal and sometimes I enjoy very heady stuff.

Being able to enjoy movies (or music or art etc) on a visceral level does not preclude the ability to appreciate and enjoy works with more depth.

I didn't mean to spin it that way, Polly. I just feel this movie didn't accomplish what I had hoped.
 
It's the highest grossing movie at the box office. second is Titanic, another Cameron movie.

http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide

I don't know about when it comes to general income including merchandise, DVDs etc though. I doubt much is ever going to beat Star Wars.

That list is total gross, but of course if a ticket now costs $10-14 as opposed to $2 when Star Wars was out (I think) of course it will make money faster. You have to adjust for inflation.

Here's the list of inflation adjusted movie grosses (domestic)

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

It should really be tallied by number of tickets sold, kind of like gold and platinum records are based on numbers sold, not total dollar amounts.
 
That list is total gross, but of course if a ticket now costs $10-14 as opposed to $2 when Star Wars was out (I think) of course it will make money faster. You have to adjust for inflation.

Here's the list of inflation adjusted movie grosses (domestic)

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

It should really be tallied by number of tickets sold, kind of like gold and platinum records are based on numbers sold, not total dollar amounts.

Yeah that would be a better way of totaling film sales actually. I never thought of that. In ten years time when it cost £1000 to go to the cinema it'll go up in no time :p
 
Yeah that would be a better way of totaling film sales actually. I never thought of that. In ten years time when it cost £1000 to go to the cinema it'll go up in no time :p

I think this is another trick by the movie industry. They'll always have a new movie every few years to say is the Highest Gross ever. Just like now they've expanded the Best Picture nominee list to 10 from 5, so they can plaster it on more DVDs later as an Oscar nominee.

Avatar is moving up the inflation adjusted list though. I think it's at #21 all time.

GWTW still at number one is amazing.
 
I didn't mean to spin it that way, Polly. I just feel this movie didn't accomplish what I had hoped.

Cheers Ian. I agree that if James C had put as much work into the script as he did into the visuals and sound Avatar would have been unbelievable, but we might have waited 10 more years for it. I guess the next step is to wait until someone with a great script uses the technology to take it to the next level.
 
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.
 
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.

lol. That's funny since the exact opposite is true. The writing for the original 3 Star Wars was vastly superior to Avatar. Plus Star Wars had established stars like Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing as well as future megastar Harrison Ford. More than just one actor.

Star Wars worked on multiple levels. Avatar only offers visuals which many like and some don't.

Does Avatar have even one line of dialogue that is as memorable or ingrained into our culture as "May the force be with you?"

No

Plus Star Wars had way better music. John Williams rocks!
 
First off, avatar's most powerful line was meant to be "I see you."

And sorry, but the writing and acting in star wars was just crap. Go watch "a starwars xmas special" which was made right after the first movie with all the originial cast. GREAT ACTING RIGHT THERE. Happy life day.
 
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