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Author Topic: Avatar - The Movie  (Read 21253 times)

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RayB

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #80 on: December 28, 2009, 12:06:19 pm »
I'm probably going to see it again tomorrow, at an IMAX 3D. Hopefully it's higher res for that showing. Avatar is not really a "gotta see it again" movie for me, but since that's what the friends wanna see and I have free passes, why not.

I have a couple more "nerd gripes" I forgot to mention:

How can you have water falls coming off of small floating land masses? Wouldn't the water run out after a few days and there would be little to no vegetation? And how do these land masses stay upright? And why does the "vortex" effect keep the land masses up, but there's still gravity to walk on them? Hmmm...

I also thought the use of 6 legs on everything was rather stupid. I think James Cameron reviewed the concept art and said "MORE LEGS ON EVERYTHING!" The reason creatures tend to have 4 is 2 in front for "pulling" and 2 in back for "pushing". A middle set of legs just wouldn't happen (evolutionarily speaking)


PS: Don't they have "turn off your cel phones" notices in American cinemas?

« Last Edit: December 28, 2009, 12:09:19 pm by RayB »
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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #81 on: December 28, 2009, 01:51:51 pm »

 I Highly doubt anyone in an Imax 3D theater with bulky 3D glasses on, and a movie
this engrossing, will warrant people texting during the showing.

 And think about it PBJ, if you see it... you might have more ammunition to complain.   
Or maybe your worried that you will walk away with nothing to complain
about?!    :laugh2:


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #82 on: December 28, 2009, 08:09:09 pm »
Ok, I went to see this flick today, and I have avoided this thread like the plaque until I saw the movie (due to possible spoilers).
I saw it in a 2d theater, they were showing it in 3d, but I was afraid the quality might not be that great in a regular 2d theater.
OK, that aside, I liked this movie, even though it did have a very foreseeable plot, the graphics and shear beauty of it was great.
I would like to see it again in 3D, but if I do, I will go to Nashville, Tn, to the IMAX to see it.
I agree with RayB's comments about the floating islands, I caught that the first second I saw them.
All in all, good movie, go see it!
PS, while I was in town, I stopped by Best Buy and got a copy of Terminator Salvation with a gift card.
Gotta fire up the big screen TV here in a bit.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #83 on: December 29, 2009, 12:15:42 am »
Quote
The fact that Sigorney Weaver smoked sucked too  (why do they keep promoting that
crap?!)

Because people smoke in real life. It's not promoting it, it's just what the character does.

Also, for me at least, it harkens back to the scene in Alien when everyone is coming out from their sleep. I thought it might be an ode...


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #84 on: December 29, 2009, 05:45:52 am »
As far as I understood it... the floating islands were laced with the
rock they were going to mine.  The special rock possessing anti-gravitational
abilities... hence its very high dollar value.

 One could say that the mounds floated off the planet, vegetation intact,
and found a certain level of balance and limitation of weight to anti-gravity lift.

 A place as Lush as that planet surely must get rain frequently... even though
I never recall it raining.   Its possible the island vegetation would thrive...
however... waterfalls are a real stretch, unless you are talking really massive
sized islands, containing huge leaking reservoirs. heh


 Actually, I was too spellbound by everything,  to even really notice the waterfalls
theoretical reasoning's.

 I will say..  if given the chance to see it either  2d, or  real-3d,  then
choose real 3d.  Real 3d is still 3d.  Its good... its just not "spectacular" like a
true Imax theater.

 Its well worth the extra drive and trouble to see it on a true Imax 3D .
Luckily I live close to one... but I would have driven quite some miles if not... and
would not have been disappointed one bit.






Xiaou2

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #85 on: December 29, 2009, 06:03:35 am »
To spare myself the typing, here are some good replies from other posters:

"And having spent some time in the tobacco industry I am very confident it was sponsored product placement. The tobacco marketers are getting it from all sides - they basically can not advertise at all. It's gone from TV ads and Billboards, to sponsorship of sporting events and fashion shows, to shop signage and currently rests with in-store placement (you'll find cigarettes in sponsored lockable cabinets at eye level behind the cashier - you can tell who sponsored it by which company's brands have the most facings) and product placement (i.e. in movies). Now that they've had to take their big ads off the cabinets and cashier mats etc., the primary strategy these days is create 'pull' from the potential customer base by associating smoking with admirable characters or hero's/heroines. That they would pay extraordinary dollars to place product in a high grossing movie like this, particularly as they're legislated against spending advertising money almost anywhere else is not too hard a concept to grasp. It is naive to believe anything else. Guys as clever as James Cameron could easily create and edgy, authoritative character without the use of cigarettes. No one here is saying it was a bad movie because of the smoking (and simply counting to two doesn't fairly represent the overt focus on it at the start of the movie) they are simply saying it was a shameful sell-out to promote carcinogenics in front of young audiences who are, highly influenced by these tactics. Believe me, we have the statistics to prove it. "



"But what creates the biggest stink in Avatar is the fact that Sigourney Weaver's character smokes. The very first thing we see Weaver do in the movie is come out of hypersleep and demand a cigarette from her lab-lackeys. She smokes liberally in the movie (much as she does in real life, which is no-one's business but her own).

Let me declare outright that I am a smoker. I smoke plenty, and I live in a country (Great Britain) in which the relentless drive to marginalise and ultimately cease the habit of tobacco consumption brings a new and major impediment to us nicotine-lovers on a yearly basis. If you smoke, this is getting to be a very hard country in which to indulge your filthy habit.

That doesn't mean I want anybody else to smoke, and most particularly it doesn't mean that I want smoking represented at all in a teen-oriented movie whose SF scenario makes it not only unnecessary but almost certainly unrealistic. If nothing else, Avatar treats of a futuristic environment where air supply is manufactured in controlled envoronments in an ecosphere that's deadly to humans. I can't recall any SF TV output that has been shortsighted enough to put smoking into space-scenarios since the rugged denizens of UFO used to light up regularly on Moonbase, or any pressurised smoking in SF movies since Alien and Outland.

And I can therefore only come to the conclusion that Hollywood's powerful keep-smoking-in-movies lobbyists have won a major Christmas bonus in getting this unlikely practise into Cameron's vision of the 22nd century."


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #86 on: December 29, 2009, 08:23:02 am »
Bingo - that's what bothered me the most.

Never mind the smoking, which I'd rather have not had but don't get particularly upset about. It was that she was smoking in an enclosed atmospheric environment. Boggle.
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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #87 on: December 29, 2009, 04:35:48 pm »

 Brilliant Insight?!   Man, you are a few shorts shy of a meltdown.

 A) I did not Retype.  I used Copy / Paste.

 B) There is nothing insightful about it.  Its merely various collections of opinions and
facts that I happen to agree with.

 
 I pretty much care less if someone decides to destroy their own lives and bodies.
But Smoking is different.  It infringes on MY / Others  Health and Comfort.

 Its pretty much like someone jabbing you with a stick.  Is it fair that they like to
jab you with a stick, so you just let them do it to you?   Eff - that.   Or how about
someone forcing you to swallow a pill laced with chemicals and drugs?

 Not only does the smoke get inhaled, (with over 300 various Nasty chemicals / drugs
on top of nicotine...) but you have to deal with the god awful stench that sticks to
your body and clothing.    Just the smell of that crap gives me a near instant headache,
as well as makes me slightly nauseous to boot.

 I had to deal with that Crap as a child, where parents had no problem polluting the
enclosed car / house with us kids having no way to breath unbothered.  I cant wait
for them to get a lung problem / cancer... for all the Intentional suffering they caused me.
Its great just to see how battered their faces are, and how much like  Cave Trolls
they sound like cause they have burned out their skin and vocal cords.


 Smoking is for the Weak.  Its a bunch of druggies who cant handle life and emotions without a constant "Fix".

 Its also for the arrogant / selfish, who dont mind destroying others in the process of their own self chosen degradation.

 Smoking Will become Illegal one day..  and it will be a joyous day...
Much like the day when it became illegal to smoke in public bars / restaurants here.


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #88 on: December 29, 2009, 05:05:06 pm »

 I had to deal with that Crap as a child, where parents had no problem polluting the
enclosed car / house with us kids having no way to breath unbothered.  I cant wait
for them to get a lung problem / cancer... for all the Intentional suffering they caused me.
Its great just to see how battered their faces are, and how much like  Cave Trolls
they sound like cause they have burned out their skin and vocal cords.


I grew up in a family where everyone smoked except me, so I know where you are coming from.
But I am taking the above comment as done in anger and not serious.
I watched a brother die with throat cancer, a sister die with lymphatic cancer, and my mother died of lung problems, she basically drowned with fluid on her lungs.
They all suffered terribly for a long time before passing on.
I dont know if smoking had anything to do with it, but Im sure it did.
But I would not wish that kind of death on anyone, especially a loved family member.
Not meaning to beat you up here, but I guess I just want you to realize what you are saying.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #89 on: December 29, 2009, 09:09:11 pm »

 Actually I do know what you are coming from... and I still feel the same way.

 Why?

 My mother didnt give two ratts tails about me.  Treated me like dirt.  Always putting
me down and telling me how rotten I was.  Trying to use guilt tactics on me as well.

 My Step father was the same.  Real father didnt smoke, but he is psychotic:
physically and mentally abusive / violent.  He was on the edge of going Postal most
of the time.  Threats of killings, pipe bombs, cutting his kids into pieces...etc.
Selfish, careless, and a compulsive gambler... luckily he was kicked out before I was 6,
as he gambled every dollar the family had away.

 I had no "love" in my family life, besides my distant relatives that we only saw
on holidays.

 My mother was cold as an ice cube, and so that is exactly what see will get
back from me.

 To be honest, Im not so much as angry.. as I dont give two cares in the world
about them.   But hey, I cant help it if Karma makes one feel even a little satisfied.

 Its one thing to Try to quit... and to be respectful of others around you... such as
going outside to smoke... or not smoking in the moving car.   But its quite another
to be so mean and careless as to intentionally poison and hurt your children,
even as they are choking and fighting to simply breath.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #90 on: December 30, 2009, 08:38:12 am »
...so I'm hoping to go see Avatar in IMAX 3D on Friday...

You know, that movie we were talking about?

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #91 on: December 30, 2009, 09:48:13 am »
Errrr, oh yeah.

I am thinking of going about 60 miles to Nashville Tn to watch it on IMAX there.
But I may wait another week, maybe the crowd will be died down more.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #92 on: December 30, 2009, 10:31:34 am »

It's funny. The cinema i went to see it at USED to be an Imax before they went broke. New owners that bought it didn't bother about Imax. So i saw it on a regular screen in 3D even though right next door is the big screen!


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Xiaou2

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #93 on: December 30, 2009, 01:27:59 pm »

 Man... thats way sad.

 Its too bad that the movie people didnt recognize the impact of good 3D sooner,
and made Good 3D movie content.

 I had seen a few of their short films before, Great 3D, but terrible flix.

 If they had released something like Aliens or T2... I think they would have
had packed houses for some time.   Hopefully we will see more live action
films in 3D soon... and not just cgi cartoons / cartoon mix's.

 I think the only way some of these Imax theaters survived was to show
typical films on its much larger screen.   You get a lot more detail...  but not
everyone wants to spend the extra money for it.


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #94 on: December 30, 2009, 02:45:08 pm »
The science behind avatar (link contains nice speculation from a scientist, interesting hints within the movie suggest plausibility for the floating mountains).

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/43440

Smoking:  why do we have to assume it's the same detrimental nicotine crap we have here on earth? 

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #95 on: December 31, 2009, 02:20:48 pm »
If the smoking was product placement they failed miserably as I didn't notice a brand.

Xiau also failed the brevity test.
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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #96 on: December 31, 2009, 03:33:57 pm »

 I had become hooked on the show  "House"  in the last few years...

 Close to xmas, there was an episode where one of the doctors is standing next to
a computer, talking to someone.   The cameraman pans around the pc ever so
elegantly that you can tell its Blatant what they are doing.
 
 The PC's monitor was a Dell, as its black embossed design stood out loud and clear.
Then the funniest thing happened... the nurse said to the doctor... "Your next patient
is Dell ******".  I cant recall the patients last name, But it was a double face palm moment.


 Not all product placement has to be so Blatant.   Im not saying for 100% that there
Was in fact motives from the smoking industry... but I surely would not put it past them.


 Imagine of Pizza was on the verge of being banned.  There were laws in place to
keep you eating it in only designated areas.   The Pizza manufacturers were not able
to advertise in any magazines, papers, etc.    Do you not think that all the Pizza
producers would not be meeting about this?  Would not join forces so to speak?

  Did you ever see the movie  "Tucker"  ?   Its a portrayal of what happened to
Mr Tucker when he made a revolutionary car.  The car was so good... that the
big 3 car manufacturers would have had to spend millions to re-tool just to try to
catch up.   So.. they all got together, along with govt and newspapers,
and sabotaged him / it .


 It does not matter What brand they put onto the screen.  So long as they put
Someone popular smoking on the screen...to try to influence a new generation of
lifetime addicted smokers.  Such a play is well worth the "shared investment" or
should I say "Forced?"  placement within the media.

 If you think an industry which rakes in trillion of dollars in profits from peoples
deaths is going to play Nice... you are really Naive.  Remember... these are the
same people who were intentionally targeting Children at one point in their
advertising...

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #97 on: December 31, 2009, 06:09:20 pm »
You fail again. You could have made your point in two sentences. (Actually one, but I'm giving you space to make the point and complete it with a summation.  :P )
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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #98 on: December 31, 2009, 06:31:27 pm »

 Man... thats way sad.


Yes and no. The new owners bought the whole complex after it sat empty for a year or two. Then they figured its better to charge $5 a seat and have a hundred people in a cinema than to charge $10 and have 20. Prices have gone up since then, they are now between $6.50 and $8.50 depending on time of day. So sometimes you get to see a movie for $6.50 on that huge Imax screen  :cheers:  Avatar 3D was $12 on Sunday morning.

 Their leading competitor by the way is normally about $15, except on Tuesday when it's $9 i think.

So not so sad for me. I think I only ever saw one Imax movie. Might have been some crappy 'planetarium' type spectacle...


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #99 on: December 31, 2009, 06:52:17 pm »
I agree with Xiaou2, subliminal messaging really does exist, and the tobacco companies are a steaming pile of dog droppings. I could never figure out why tobacco was legal but not pot, until I found out the big money involved in tobacco. But please let's dont run this thread into P&R, cause the original topic is very interesting.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #100 on: January 01, 2010, 09:07:12 am »
Alright, $90 later I've seen it.


 ???

Quote
The bootleg protection was freaking annoying, too.  Black dots that appeared periodically on different parts of the screen and remained for ~30 seconds on / 30 seconds off.

 ???



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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #101 on: January 01, 2010, 10:28:31 am »

Quote
The bootleg protection was freaking annoying, too.  Black dots that appeared periodically on different parts of the screen and remained for ~30 seconds on / 30 seconds off.

 ???



 ??? +1. Ive never heard of that. And the movie theater wouldnt see me again after pulling something like that.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #102 on: January 01, 2010, 11:47:50 am »
Alright, $90 later I've seen it.

 ???

Quote
The bootleg protection was freaking annoying, too.  Black dots that appeared periodically on different parts of the screen and remained for ~30 seconds on / 30 seconds off.

 ???

I think he either has retinal damage that makes an image stay “on” longer than it should OR what he saw was something that is supposed to be cropped at the camera, but wasn’t.

Pinballjim:  were these dots on the edges of the frame?

BTW, she does smoke later in the film.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #103 on: January 01, 2010, 03:27:14 pm »

 Your theater must have had issues.  Im usually pretty observant, and I didnt recall
any dots.  Stuff like that would annoy the heck out of me.

 IMOP, it wouldnt make much sense to protect a 3D movie.  If anyone tried to capture it,
it would probably be a really messy / blurry 2d.   I suppose if one used the glasses lenses
you could use 2 camera to get both frames... but hell, that would be very hard to get
away with.

 You should call or email the theater and complain.  I did that about the sound levels
and they sent me some free tickets.  Of course, I emailed them back and complained
some more... as  Why in the world would I want to blow my eardrums some more
for Free?!   They have since been better about volumes at Imax.  (lawsuit threats
do help...)

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #104 on: January 01, 2010, 05:46:30 pm »
If the blue people are at peace with one another for so many generations, why do they maintain fierce warrior cultures?

- You need to be fierce to be able to survive that environment.   They were not so
much as fierce to each other, as they were very close and friendly... but only
fierce as a  'hunting' mentality.


 If they're so against killing animals unless necessary, why do they have beasts of burden to aid in their hunting? 

 - More than likely out of necessity / survival.   However, remember that they bond
with the creatures they ride.  They share feelings / emotions with them (using that
connection thingy on their tail).  These become more like Pets than anything else.
Or at very least, like us and horses.


If the evil corporation is just gonna bulldoze the whole mess down anyway, why bother with diplomacy? 

 - The main deposit was at the central location under their home-tree.  They wanted
to try to persuade them to move to another section of the world which was free of
such material... or not worth mining due to low quantities.  Obviously, war is also
expensive, in weapons  (A single missile can cost several thousand dollars, let
alone the cost of an entire copter thingy getting trashed), lives..etc.
...and also highly frowned upon politically.


Why did arrows bounce off windows in one scene and then penetrate them and impale pilots 20 minutes later? 

 - The first arrows seen were the ones they generally use.  However, they used thicker
and longer arrow / spears during the final battle.   They also had the aid of the speed
gained from the dive-bomb of the creatures they were riding... as well as the fighters
flying Into the path of them too. 


If instruments don't work in blue people city, how are the humans able to obtain such accurate measures of where they're gathering?  How does a 'neurotoxin' stop your heat?  (that one had my wife groaning)

 - The instruments worked fine until you got too close to the anti-gravity rock.  The
ones which were floating  (as far as I understood.   The stuff underground wasnt
too much of a problem, because it was buried deep enough).   

 - Also, The type of instruments required for navigation may be more susceptible to
this than the kind that used for scanning for the material itself. 

 - Im not expert on toxins... so I dont know.  I can only say that there are plenty of
creatures here that can inject venom that will shut you down really quickly.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #105 on: January 02, 2010, 03:28:34 am »


For some reason at this theater they always have piracy patrol.  If they see a cell phone lit up, they'll run over and tell you to shut it off. 


 :applaud:

I wish they would do that here, and not for piracy...


ROUGHING UP THE SUSPECT SINCE 1981

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #106 on: January 02, 2010, 10:26:03 pm »
Saw it today in 3D. Hehe, Dances with Wolves redone in blue makeup and 3D is about right!

The 3D was well done. I noticed that the 3D was almost exclusively limited to the background stuff - the people remained neutral (you could look at the people with your glasses off and they'd look normal). It also tended to pick 3-4 layers and just leave stuff on that layer, rather than try and make stuff truly 3D. It worked quite well with live-action. Overall, the 3D was quite subtle. I barely even noticed the movie was 3d after about half-way. I would have been just as happy seeing a 2D version of the film.

The CGI = mission accomplished. After the initial 'meet n greet' session of 30 minutes or so, I was totally absorbed into the world. My mind fully believed everything I saw was real for the next 2 hours and change. That was pretty neat!

The 'white guilt' aspect of the story was in full tilt, and yes it pissed me off. Maybe that was Cameron's plan to better evoke an emotional response in the viewer, which would better attach you to the na'vi. If so, then mission accomplished Cameron. This was EARTH folk vs. Pandora, not selfish, evil white man vs. Pandora. In reality, white people will be a minority by 2150 something. It truly did irritate me that every single person of authority was a smart assed knowitall white man. If they're gonna steal the zoom/focus camera work from Firefly/Serenity, they might as well steal the aspect that eastern and western cultures will fuse.
It's a moot point though, because this irritation faded from memory and I enjoyed the last 2 hours of the film. It would have made a better film if he would have conveyed Earth's urgency and necessity for the unobtanium. It would have been the classic desperate culture vs. desperate culture story. If the RDA would have went home empty handed, human civilization would die...yeah, that would have made it a much better movie. It would have added a whole new emotional layer to the film, while allowing all of the human characters to act EXACTLY the same, word for word. They would simply be seen as tragic rather than selfish, arrogant ---punks---.

Final summary: It's a highly enjoyable, yet highly forgettable film. 4 out of 5 stars

Random thoughts:

-Is it wrong that I found Sully's Na'vi love interested oddly attractive?
-My wife was impressed with Sigourney Weavers 'nude scene'. She wondered if they used CG to touch her up...
- I found 3 glaring editing mistakes that bothered me: I'll switch to spoiler mode though.
1. Jake's woman had her hair un-braided for their love making scene. It was still down when they ran to home tree, and jake spilled the beans and collapsed. When he came back a short time later, her hair was perfectly braided again.
2. The Na'vi shot a boat load of arrows at the Colonels ship and scratched the hell out of the glass. When Colonel mobilized for the final battle, the glass was minty fresh again. My wife says it wasn't scratches, but just the poison from their arrow tips. I call BS on that - they were scratches. It's also the same ship both times, so that is out.
3. At the very end, the nerdy avatar controller dude had his avatar killed. He is shown standing next to the doc with a mask and gun while shipping the humans off. Immediately after this scene, there is an avatar that looks exactly like nerdy guys avatar also herding humans out. Sure, maybe it was another of the Avatars doing this, but I tend to think it is an editing mistake.My wife and I both noticed this, and she never EVER catches these things. If only I noticed it, I wouldn't have said anything.

I simply can't stand it when I notice things like this in a movie. Surely things like this shouldn't happen when a movie is in production for 12 years and they spend that kind of money...

« Last Edit: January 02, 2010, 10:29:59 pm by shardian »

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #107 on: January 03, 2010, 12:05:38 am »


For some reason at this theater they always have piracy patrol.  If they see a cell phone lit up, they'll run over and tell you to shut it off. 


 :applaud:

I wish they would do that here, and not for piracy...


Agreed... Ive been in movies where kids would even carry on conversations on their cell phones. Very rude and stupid to waste your money on a movie and talk on the phone during the movie, unless it's mom dads money I guess.
Cell phones should be banned from movie houses. Period.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #108 on: January 03, 2010, 12:07:45 am »
Good review Shardian. I didnt notice those bloopers you mentioned. I will be watching for them, if I see the movie again before it leaves the theaters.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #109 on: January 03, 2010, 06:10:10 am »

 Did you see it in Imax3D  or Real 3D,  because nothing about Imax 3D was subtle at all.
Including the people / live scenes.


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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #110 on: January 03, 2010, 03:11:15 pm »
Imax3D did the same thing with the layers and the people generally being non-3D.

As for blooper #3, maybe they were able to resuscitate his avatar?  But I noticed it, too.



I saw it in Sony RealD

Even if they did save the Avatar, noone else could use it.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #111 on: January 03, 2010, 03:55:24 pm »
Sony bought RealD ? I didn't know that.
NO MORE!!

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #112 on: January 03, 2010, 05:05:55 pm »

 I saw Coraline on a RealD screen.   While it was still good...  I immediately regretted it.
The 3D effect was nowhere near as intense.   RealD = Meh..   Imax = Hell Yeah!

 The larger the screen, the more the 3d depth separation. 
(Even subtle differences are magnified and enhanced to the viewer.)
 
 The close you sit to the screen,  the closer the effect will appear to be.
(With Imax, objects can appear to be within an arms reach away)


 The Sega Master system had a 3D shutter glasses setup.  The maximum 3d effect
came from a missile in the game  'Missile Defense 3D'.   On my 27" tv, that effect
is only about 4".  (small objs can be separated very far for max depth)   The
main objs were only an 1" above the screen... while most everything else in depth
inside the screen.

 If you were to move 10ft away from that 27" screen,  you would barely see any
depth at all.  Move 2ft  or closer... and that effect was maximized.
 

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #113 on: January 03, 2010, 05:41:21 pm »

 My glasses were a little uncomfortable, until I bent the arms for a few minutes.
They certainly could have designed them to be more comfy.


 There are 2  'Good'  3D technologies:

1) Polorized Glasses :  (Imax / RealD)   These use directional polorized light,
and 2 projectors.   Unless you have a Big budget, this isnt going to be in your home.

2) LCD Shutter Glasses :  2 LCDs are mounted in the glasses.  Each eye turns off and
on, becoming opaque, then transparent.   This is timed so that the display shows the
correct image for the correct eye. 

  The monitor has to have a very high refresh rate, else you notice 'flicker'.  This
is why they are trying to produce higher HZ LCD tvs.  (120hz would be like 60hz
each eye)   LCD glasses have come a long way.  They can be lightweight, wireless,
and take little power to operate.  Its the best practical 3D technology out there.
 

 There is no Holographic technology that Looks like the 3D you saw in Imax.
The only device I heard of that was a 'Rumor'... turned the air in the room to superheated
plasma in order to make an illusion.   If you placed your hand in that room, you would
immediately get a 3rd degree burn.

 
 Lasers are still being perfected to be used as a full color display system.   However,
just because something uses lasers, does not mean Hologram.   A 3d Hologram,
would need some way to Stop a beam of light at a certain spot in space.  I believe
only scientist using million dollar machines & sub zero temperatures can actually
Slow or stop light.


 The Last technology is  LCD displays which act like those holographic pictures.  The kind
where you turn them, and they animate.   However, this technology is CRAP.
Its severely  limited in viewing angles and distances away from the screen...
else you get artifacts and non-3d.   The picture quality (resolution) is reduced too... because it takes a lot of the resolution up for the 2ndary angled output.
(every other line)

 You see how crappy this tech is by looking at those cheesy pictures...
but Ive personally seen a non-glasses 3d lcd in person, and it was horrific.


 Trust me when I tell you that LCD Shutter glasses  are going to be the cheapest
way to display 3d in the home.   With Polarized glasses and a projection system
being the best... but most expensive.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #114 on: January 04, 2010, 02:29:15 am »
But what would you put in the air?

 If you put a screen - then its simply 2D.

 If you put anything else, it needs to be perfectly translucent on all its layers..
and even then... how thick it is determines how much depth you get.

 And finally, there is a huge difference between:

 1) A  2D hologram projection in mid air  (pointless)
 2) A  complete  3D  Hologram : All sides Visible from all angles  (Overkill)
 3) A typical 3d scene limited in perspective (as seen today)

 They do not even use holographic cameras yet,  and the amount of bandwidth and
data storage for that would be insane as well.  We probably wont see holographic
display tech like that in our lifetime.

 The only full holographic displays use a spinning discs that they shoot a projection,
or laser at.   However, they are usually pretty small in size, expensive, and probably
wont ever scare to necessary sizes needed.  (imagine a 15ft sphere needed for
display heh)


 Also as said, lenticular display is garbage.  Heres some fun quotes:


 "Another problem with lenticular displays is that it depends upon the audience being in a sweet spot to get the 3-D effect. If you were to move to the left or right from one of these sweet spots, the image on the screen would begin to blur. Once you moved from one sweet spot to another, the image would return to a cohesive picture. Future televisions may include a camera that tracks your position. The television will be able to adjust the image so that you're always in a sweet spot. Whether this will work for multiple viewers of the same screen remains to be seen.

Some people experience a feeling similar to motion sickness after watching a lenticular display for more than a few minutes. That's probably because your eyes have to do extra work as they deal with the discrepancy between focus and convergence"

 
 So, its glasses... or HMD Goggles for many years to come, IMOP.   
Sadly, HMDs still are fairly low res... and are way too expensive.  Ugg.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #115 on: January 04, 2010, 11:30:37 am »
Jim, I had that problem when watching Coraline, but not when watching Avatar.

By the way, how the heck are the glasses uncomfortable? They're pretty much designed in standard ray-ban knock-off sunglasses style. (RealD)


NO MORE!!

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #116 on: January 04, 2010, 12:10:00 pm »
They need to come up with some mechanism for those of us who wear glasses. Stacking the 3d glasses on top is uncomfortable and they tend to slip around.

That said, I had no ill effects from the 3d in this movie, and I *always* have ill effects from 3d movies. I can't play first person shooters because I get motion sick.
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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #117 on: January 04, 2010, 07:34:43 pm »
Finally, proof Jim has a big head.
NO MORE!!

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #118 on: January 04, 2010, 10:52:04 pm »

 Ive not had the blur issue with polarized glasses... unless the glasses were
dirty / oily  or seriously scratched.   Before the film starts, hold them up to the light
and make sure they are crystal clear.   If scratched too much, try to trade for another
pair.

 Polarized glasses should not produce any blur unless they are dirty,  OR,  if the
film itself has issues.   (Which was the case with the older 3d filming technology)


 With polarization, you see the images fine anywhere in the 60+ feet wide
seating.   That would never be possible with lenticular display.

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Re: Avatar - The Movie
« Reply #119 on: January 05, 2010, 02:31:24 am »
Tigger, you missed the point. The poster said that if you don't keep you head straight you get a blur effect. This is due to both eyes seeing what was intended for each eye individualy. This happens with any polarizing filter set if you tilt your head, hell this will even happen to a different extent if using LCD or even red/cyan lenses.
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