Avatar - New James Cameron movie (Marines in space) busts magic $1B mark!

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Avatar the movie

So, I saw the movie Avatar the other night. I came into it with expectations that it would be Hollywood liberal, and I was correct. Like normal, every military member was depicted as being dumb as rocks and extremely hostile.

Some of the movie was entertaining, if you chose to look past the political parallels. My favorite part was the fact that this was set way in the future, but the military aircraft got way shittier. Every plane and helo is slow as hell, and extremely vulnerable to attack by flying dragons.

I was just checking what people thought about it.

Uh never mind....

I saw it on IMAX in 3D. It was incredible. Technological leap forward in film-making.

Overall I thought it was an outstandingly made movie. But I did not like that James Cameron decided to shove his opinions down my throat, especially re the war on terror.

Did anyone else notice the 5-minute part where they basically used every possible political soundbyte regarding the GWOT and invasion of Iraq? It started with the main bad guy (who was awesome, btw) and his speech, and ended somewhere around when the female pilot mentioned martyrdom. I really could have gone without that part. Subtle parallels between the factions and human history, including the Native Americans, are fine with me. I just don't like when things become so blatant it becomes clear the director has no purpose other than to make a political statement. It's supposed to be entertainment.

When I first saw it I thought the military guys were US Marines, but I guess they were actually just mercs, so it's not like they were ordered to be there.

Either way, I enjoyed the movie a lot overall.

How did Titanic have socialistic propaganda? Also I too loved Joss Whedon's Firefly series and his Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel. I seriously did not like Dollhouse though, that is an example of a show that really truly wasn't good IMO.

Yeah, actually found it cool that the colonel was such a badass at his age...

This movie should be seen by all, if only to behold the technological masterpiece that it is.

The movie is pretty much Fern Gully meets the HALO franchise and engages in an illicit threesome with Dances with Wolves. I feel like they didn't do an adequate job explaining that the military component were contractors though. I picked it up and wondered if my friends did too. Admittedly though, I was in a state of denial that James Cameron would choose to portray the beloved Corps in such a negative light.
I highly recommend this movie for it ground breaking 3D effects and CGI rendering. IT MUST BE SEEN IN IMAX!!! It elicited the same sensation I got from seeing Jurassic Park and Matrix for the first time.
The script was well written. I was pleased with the appropriate amount of S and F bombs dropped throughout and lack of stupid zinger jokes, asinine comebacks and one-liners.
I would give this movie 4.5/5
It's long too, so forego the 64 oz. sprite unless you brought a flask and another bottle to piss in.

Yeah, it sucks when every plot point isn't laid out in explicit detail. I need my stories spoon-fed to me, dammit!

(smiles)

I just got back from seeing the film and I was impressed. First, 3-D technology needs to become the norm for films, television, and video games. Second, I walked out of the theatre speaking of the parallels with Dances With Wolves, which was also a great movie. Lastly, I think Hollywood is on to something - It began with Independence Day, and was carried further with Avatar; if the world ever needs saving, it'll be a Marine who is a damn good stick.

Are the graphics in this movie really as good as they say? I ask because I watched the trailer for it just now and the native peoples do not look very realistic. They look like something out of a good videogame, but you can still tell they are computer graphics.

They're as realistic as blue bipeds could possibly be. And yes, the graphics really are that good. Avatar does for digital cinematography what Jurrasic Park and Pixar did for animatronics and Cartoons respectively. I didn't watch it for the plot, but the $14 I payed to watch it in IMAX was well worth it, and you'll kick yourself later when you do see it for not having seen it on the big screen.

The plot seems really lousy from what I am reading. The thing is, one could reason then that when movies like this become more commonplace, this movie will probably be looked back upon as silly, so I am still debating it. Jurassic Park, now that just never gets old

So I just got back from watching it.

Is it just me or did I just watch Dances With Wolves 20 years later, only with Aliens and futuristic Marines?

Actually, it was Fern Gully 2, in 3d and with more violence. I thought the visuals were epic, but the plotline was covered in one single 30 second monologue by Giovanni Ribisi, and then the rest of the nearly 3 hours was plotless and empty visual masturbation.

I had no idea what Fern Gully 2 was, so I google'd it and was presented with the following. WTF.

From what I understand, it costs so damn much and is SOOOO time consuming that it's going to be some time still before that happens. That, however, is the big push these days, I'm told. This is like the fourth time Hollywood has tried to push 3D in a big way (each time before they failed miserably), and most of the 3D shit coming out still blows (shitty movies, with shitty useage of the effect).

I thought the same thing when I saw trailers. Didn't even occur to me when I watched it. They got the details absolutely perfect; every muscle, every reflection and shading, etc. Once that's done, it doesn't matter if it looks animated or not; if you can be convinced to believe what you are seeing, it works. Part of that may have been the 3D, the imax, and generally just how everything is better in theatres.

I loved the shots from inside the Shuttle and Gunship cockpits. The whole Halographic HUD that you could slide out of the way was just awesome. Like that giant screen from Minority Report but better.

The video game is 3D also if you have a 3D equipped TV. I just saw it again at a smaller theatre. Still blows my mind how detailed it is. It's not just stupid usage of it like some people use it for such as crap popping out. It gives you a true feeling of depth. That's pretty incredible to me. The glass in the movie blew my mind. As far as the natives in the movie. I think they look very realistic. The textures and everything are very well done.

I just saw the movie and there was definitely lots of great alien side boob. Much of the movie reminded me of halo, with the flying machines looking like they came straight out of the game.

This movie was definitely meant to be watched in IMAX 3D... that was some pretty amazing CGI they had there and looked amazing.

As far as the theme of the movie goes, I realized it was actually no different than any of the other James Cameron movies like Terminator, Aliens, etc.: some important/powerful corporation ends up the antagonist that gets almost everyone involved killed.

Wife and I saw it yesterday. She described it best. A movie that should be seen in IMAX 3D but not something we're going to buy on BLU-RAY or DVD.

Way too long, stupid predictable story, nice looking graphics, cool war scene. But nothing mind blowing in any sense.
It was obviously an excuse to make a "lets romp through a completely over the top, sci-fi world, add some action for the guys, love for the girls and throw in my political agenda." Because if it was just called Let's Romp Through an Over the Top, Sci-Fi World, no one would go see it.

If this movie wasnt in 3D I def wouldnt have been as interested. The 3D graphics really make this a winner, and i hope this where the future of movies is headed... The storyline was screaming Dances with Wolves mixed with FernGully.. I do not know about anyone else but my eyes felt pretty strained after wathing that movie... not sure if it was the 3d or not?

Despite the crappy story and bleeding heart nonsense, I really enjoyed Avatar. You know in the back of your head that the aliens are CGI, but there are subtle differences between this movie and other graphic intensive movies that really make you feel like you're seeing a new generation of this technology. And there are many beautiful panoramic shots of the planet's various vistas and exotic wildlife.