Avatar- the WOW! factor

[kiopo]

I thought it was awful. Everything that is wrong with modern cinema. The political sentiment of the story was insultingly simplistic and the script was awful. Caribbean tribal accents?? Real B-Movie stuff, including the acting. I can't believe that the film was even edited at all, really flabby and thoroughly boring for the majority of it. This is what happens when you get full creative control over a movie.

The effects were very impressive, but that's where it ended for me. I don't go to the cinema to see a technical exercise - sorry. The sound design was good but why on earth did half of the creatures sound like the jurassic park dinosaurs?? Soundtrack wasn't very memorable, but did the job.

[bloodyh]

Originally Posted by bluesky

re sleep issue

The humans "drive" the avatars while they sleep. So, while the human is
"sleeping" the avatar is awake, and while the avatar sleeps, the human is awake.

That's the premise.

The movie blew me away, including the story. IMHO, this kind of story is only possible because of the incredible effects which, for me, made me believe in what I was seeing. And what I was seeing was the possibility of living a totally authentic life, in harmony with the community and with the environment. The thing is the Na'vi have something on us - the braid that allows them to biologically bond with the planet, other animals, and themselves. I can't even imagine the kind of intimacy that would be possible if we had such a device. No wonder Jake Sulley wanted to be a Na'vi. The Na'vi experience would be so much deeper than our human experience ever could be.

Unless, of course you believe in yogic, taoist, and buddhist alchemical practices (and the like), but I'm not going to go there. Even then, we don't have the kind of environment on Earth anymore.

This movie really hit home for me.

That's the way we should go. What did the movie make you feel like? Do you want to be a Na'vi? Why would you want it? What's wrong with being a human? After all not all of us behave like Avatar's human villain who couldn't care less about the planet's natural balance.

That's what a movie like this is good for: making people conscious for an hour or two of what could be going on around here, on Earth, in the next decades. I'm not saying Avatar was intended to get people environment-friendly but just like other productions it's somewhat tickling - come on! say it! - just as Mononoke Princess is, or Nausicaa, or video games like Final Fantasy VII...

Now, we're on GearSlutz after all, so how did the movie get you to appreciate the Na'vi experience so much that you're even comparing it to humanness? Living with the Na'vi's you're in direct contact with leaves, air, water, wood, the fauna and this braid which sound you're not sure feels solid or liquid... Back to the human base pretty much everything feels solid, and I'm talking of the quality of sounds here... It's digital, it bleeps, it bites your ears...

I need to watch it in a theater with a proper sound system now...

[Mixmaster Z]

I really liked it...saw both 2D and 3D versions. Actually liked the 2D better - the 3D gave me a headache....

[O'Ryan]

That was the first 3D movie ive ever seen.......I WANNA SEE MORE....

[MC Blind]

I just saw it for the third time today with my brother. I think it may be one of the best movies ever made.

[bluesky]

Originally Posted by bloodyh

That's the way we should go. What did the movie make you feel like? Do you want to be a Na'vi? Why would you want it? What's wrong with being a human? After all not all of us behave like Avatar's human villain who couldn't care less about the planet's natural balance.

That's what a movie like this is good for: making people conscious for an hour or two of what could be going on around here, on Earth, in the next decades. I'm not saying Avatar was intended to get people environment-friendly but just like other productions it's somewhat tickling - come on! say it! - just as Mononoke Princess is, or Nausicaa, or video games like Final Fantasy VII...

Now, we're on GearSlutz after all, so how did the movie get you to appreciate the Na'vi experience so much that you're even comparing it to humanness? Living with the Na'vi's you're in direct contact with leaves, air, water, wood, the fauna and this braid which sound you're not sure feels solid or liquid... Back to the human base pretty much everything feels solid, and I'm talking of the quality of sounds here... It's digital, it bleeps, it bites your ears...

I need to watch it in a theater with a proper sound system now...

The music did not blow me away at all. In fact, I barely noticed it because I was mesmerized by the CG.

[DynaForte]

I thought it was sub-par.

1. The aliens have Jamaican accents? cheesy..

2. The "sound designer" decided to reuse all of his jurassic park sounds. Cheesy. I'm not even sure that's legal...

3. 2.5 hour or so? Could have cut out 30 minutes easily!

4. underlying story being environmentalism? cheesy!


BUT overall I think most people forget this was a CHILDRENS MOVIE. Despite it's rating, the theater was PACKED with kids - and that's who wanted to see it the most.

As a kids movie it was great. Simple story. Simple characters. Easily identifiable.

All the kids in the theater were laughing.

[dbeck]

This was the first movie for me that was really hard to tell what was real and what was CG. Maybe in 10yrs I'll look back and say that it looks dated and fake but I really feel like this is the start of a new era of effects and CG.

I saw it in 3D but I'm sure it looks amazing in 2D too.

The only thing that took me out of the movie was when I thought to myself, damn, why couldn't George Lucas have waited just a few more years to finish Star Wars. I can't watch those without going CG!, CG!, CG!

[Jfriah]

Originally Posted by jahtao

My friend plays avatar at 6 on the dolby box in the projection room coz she thinks its a very loud film. i saw it at 6 and thought it was spot on

Not joking: once had a projectionist say "well, it is in 5.1 so I'm set at 5.1" during a screening...

Sadly.

Frankly, I don't care if the projectionist thinks it is a loud film or not. I really wish when theatres get set up, the technician would rip the freaking dial out and walk away.

-Jeff

[Jfriah]

Originally Posted by dbeck

This was the first movie for me that was really hard to tell what was real and what was CG. Maybe in 10yrs I'll look back and say that it looks dated and fake but I really feel like this is the start of a new era of effects and CG.

I saw it in 3D but I'm sure it looks amazing in 2D too.

The only thing that took me out of the movie was when I thought to myself, damn, why couldn't George Lucas have waited just a few more years to finish Star Wars. I can't watch those without going CG!, CG!, CG!

Hahahaha, oh man you hit this one on the head! That's great. I felt the same thing in one scene "I know, obviously, it is being filmed on a stage somewhere and I'm wondering WTF is actually happening around that actor and what is being filled in!" Nice job.

And I thought about Mr. Lucas a couple times during this film. One was 'this is what Lucas went through in creating his world the first time around...breaking new ground!' and the other was "take THAT, Lucas! Boo-ya!" Now just put out the FREAKING blu-ray already!!!!! That's what the whole thing was 'back in the day' anyway... "I'm not supporting anything but blu-ray" and still........no Star Wars collection?



-Jeff

[oposky2006]

i also have watched it, it is really amazing

[gsilbers]

Originally Posted by oceantracks

Did not like it, was really looking forward to it. Seemed average at best, save for the visuals, which do not a great film make.

The lead actor (forgot his name) seemed like he could have been played by any 20 guys in Hollywood, not much magic there. Sigourney seemed extremely stilted at times and stiff, not to mention tired and lifeless looking.... and the film really lagged in the middle. Could have lost 20 minutes and not missed anything really important.

The little tribute to ALIENS near the end was cute though, complete with Horner doing the French horn bit.....funny. Overall it just had way too much Pocahantas for me....

TH

haaaaaaaaaaaahhaaaaaaaaa



the story/plot is EXACTLY like disneys' Pocahontas


JAMES CAMERON'S AVATAR IS DISNEY'S POCAHONTAS | FilmDrunk: Movie news you can make fun of

[oceantracks]

Originally Posted by gsilbers

haaaaaaaaaaaahhaaaaaaaaa



the story/plot is EXACTLY like disneys' Pocahontas


JAMES CAMERON'S AVATAR IS DISNEY'S POCAHONTAS | FilmDrunk: Movie news you can make fun of

Wow that's one great link! Too funny....



TH

[LewTapes]

Originally Posted by Gohanto

Question though, did anyone else notice the VERY similar sound FX for the creatures as compared to Jurassic Park?

That was the first thing I noticed, some creature sounds seemed to lifted straight from Jurrasic Park.

Visually it was stunning and I think that was probably the whole point of the film. Saw it in 3D, it was sold out every night at the iMax here, but will try and catch it there.

As for the sound, I thought they could put more into it to make it match the ambitiousness of the picture. It all seemed to be coming from the front and a lot of the music and SFX seemed cliched. It wasn't bad, but maybe I was hoping for me given the scale of the film.

[mosrite]

It looked and felt like a computer game. I felt absolutely no emotional attachment to those blue people and that's probably because they are digital effects!

The metaphors were mind blowingly dumb and simplistic.

The 3D did nothing to enhance the characters the story or the impact.

There was no tension.

I did not care about anything.

I forgot about it instantly.

It was a very expensive fireworks display. That's cinema today I guess...

I have, however, been watching a lot of good films recently. Dial M For Murder, Key Largo, Double Indemnity etc etc. I urge a re-visiting of films with scripts and characters.

[Graal]

The Trailer made me say - nothing special.
But, then I saw the movie, the 3D version.
ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING!
You expect them to put the best stuff in the trailers to get you to come to see the movie.
This one, has such a lame trailer, but is such a great movie.

Thumbs Up Mr. Cameron and Crew!

[MC Blind]

I don't know if anyone else watches Conan but he had a sketch the other night about the new Dubai Tower joking about how tall it is. There are two guys talking while they wait to make it to the top. At one point one of the guys turns to the other and says, "Avatar, the wow factor!" and the other guy goes, "Yea!" I thought that was funny and that the actor or whoever wrote that line must frequent Gearslutz, who knows I just thought it strange that he quoted the name of this thread exactly in his dialogue.

[Brent Hahn]

Conan's a guitar nut, y'know.

[MC Blind]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Conan's a guitar nut, y'know.

Yea, I love when he does his country character. He performed once and his energy and performance where amazing, he's actually really good, he has a lot of musical and performance talent. I guess he says he would like to do that if he wasn't a late night show host.

[Sevitzky]

Op-Ed Columnist - The Messiah Complex - NYTimes.com

This article summarizes some good points. NOT trying to start a big ideology war here, but it exposes the framework.

I disagreed with his comparison to District 9. They have very similar premises, but District 9 actually had characters with actual character development. How rare and delightful.

I enjoyed Avatar. But it had no real characters. Required 0 thought. He presents the good guys, the bad guys, there's a battle, and the good guys win. Of course, watching the Cameron signatures (Ripley, cargo lifter, tough-girl-marine, etc) are always fun.

Like eating a whole package of oreos. Tastes good. Won't sustain you. Probably not good for you. But won't hurt you every once in a while.

[tilman]

Originally Posted by mosrite

It looked and felt like a computer game. I felt absolutely no emotional attachment to those blue people and that's probably because they are digital effects!

The metaphors were mind blowingly dumb and simplistic.

The 3D did nothing to enhance the characters the story or the impact.

There was no tension.

I did not care about anything.

I forgot about it instantly.

+1

I saw it today. This film had no emotions.
Ah yes and District 9 is a complete different thing.
District 9 was a Masterpiece!

But how can the most expensive movie on earth be any good?

James Cameron Addicted to Avatar Special Effects

[MC Blind]

I thought that the character development was great as was the story. The film is full of emotion, very powerful. It looks like a lot of other people agree with me.

[pan]

What stays with me from the evening is the 3D preview for Alice in Wonderland


- my next must see on a big screen

[dbeck]

The comparison to Pocahontas is good but what about Ferngully!! I mean those even have the same message, setting, and human/nonhuman thing going on.

[MC Blind]

[Jfriah]

Stop giving me nightmares with shots like that, MC!

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by tilman

+1

I saw it today. This film had no emotions.
Ah yes and District 9 is a complete different thing.
District 9 was a Masterpiece!

But how can the most expensive movie on earth be any good?

James Cameron Addicted to Avatar Special Effects

I thought that District 9 was the worst movie I have seen in years, The last really bad movie before that was The Blair Witch Project. I actually walked out of the movie theater showing District 9 because I could not stand the overdone sound or the overexposed film "look". Different strokes for different folks.

[miro]

Originally Posted by Geert van den Berg

I haven't seen it yet, but I thought the trailers on TV looked cheap...

same here!

[HookedOnHardware]

Saw it last week in 3D,

The trailers didn't do anything for me... I only went because my gf really wanted to see it and I was wondering what all the fuss was about.

I didn't think the 3D aspect did much for the movie. However, I was sitting slightly too close and off centre to the left.. I'm pretty sure that took away from the effect enough to make it slightly annoying at times. I did really enjoy the movie and the effects were stunning. They were so good I never really thought about the FX.... It all just fit! The theatre I saw it in was slightly too loud for my taste but overal the sound was very good. In addition, the scene where the 'Sky people" destroy home tree was awesome.

I do want to buy it once it comes out on Blu-ray. I would like to see it at my perferred sound level and am eager to see how it looks through my beamer on a 150" screen.

If you haven't watched it, do so. It might not be for everyone but damn I was impressed. My gf absolutely loved it.

[henryrobinett]

A few points I'd like to make. First of all I absolutely loved the movie. I thought it was full of emotion -- brimming with it. Even though I thought it was basically a remake of Ferngully. And the story was anything but original. It was not original at all. Even though I get so tired of the white man saving the world for the natives themes, it STILL worked.

I had a friend who does CGI as a freelancer. He's worked for Pixar and worked on Hulk, I think. I asked him why CGI on commercials looks so lame. He said it's a technical thing. CGI, for movies is designed for the big screen and they haven't figured out how to translate the effects to the small screen. So I agree the commercials for Avatar look really bad. But I tried not to have that bias my opinion before seeing the movie, but it was hard.

It was a kids movie. It has a very good message. I tire of movies today that seem to have no moral compass, or confused compasses, in the guise of art and true life. A tired story line -- but come on, there are only a few story lines anyway. The movie was a collection of all the typical crap. But for me it worked like magic. That's what movies are for me. When it works like magic.