Avatar - the movie

[eds1275]

So I saw it in theatres, in 3d. It was pretty. That's about the best thing I can say about it. Lots of people love it to death, lots of people say it was terrible. It wasn't terrible... it was like watching Fern Gully while playing Halo. Fern gully right down to the bone... the bulldozer scene, the white guy savin the day even though he was technically one of the "bad guys" to start with, etc etc etc. Throw in some gunfire for good measure and then fill in the missing pieces of plot with some fancy effects.

Did anyone else just not really care for it? Lately I've been turning my back on the theatres and watching older films from the 60's-80's. The quality is terrible, the special effects are weak, but the stories are just the right blend of being thought-provoking yet easy enough to follow without thinking too hard.

[Mikezilla]

So I saw it in theatres, in 3d. It was pretty. That's about the best thing I can say about it. Lots of people love it to death, lots of people say it was terrible. It wasn't terrible... it was like watching Fern Gully while playing Halo. Fern gully right down to the bone... the bulldozer scene, the white guy savin the day even though he was technically one of the "bad guys" to start with, etc etc etc. Throw in some gunfire for good measure and then fill in the missing pieces of plot with some fancy effects.

Did anyone else just not really care for it? Lately I've been turning my back on the theatres and watching older films from the 60's-80's. The quality is terrible, the special effects are weak, but the stories are just the right blend of being thought-provoking yet easy enough to follow without thinking too hard.

If ferngully got drunk and had sex with dances with wolves, this would be the baby that was born nine months later. I was disappointed, granted it was pretty to look at, but I dont think it was anything revolutionary. I have seen the same stuff on the Discovery Channel, he basically just took underwater ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and put it in a forest. And the robot walker things with gigantic knives?  Stupid. The recycled sounds from other movies kinda irked me too. I think the thing that bugged me the most was when James Cameron was promoting the movie on various talk shows. He actually spoke the stupid na'vi language like it was going to catch on. I remember he called Whoopi Goldberg pretty in his stupid made up language. Cmon.   

[AtomSmasher]

Last night there was a tv show on cbs or nbc counting down the top 5 movies in every category.  I believe Avatar got #4 in SciFi movies.  This made me both angry and sad at the same time.

[javeryh]

Avatar was hugely disappointing.  The plot was completely ludicrous and I just can't get past it.  The special effects were pretty insane though.

[Vigo]

I am actually glad I saw this movie in 3D imax, the 3D was done right and there was eye candy. However, the movie really blew chunks, and the 3D visuals are the only thing I can approve of.

Now Cameron announced it will be an Avatar Trilogy, shall we take bets on what the next movie plots he's gonna rip off to make these sequels?

I think the thing that bugged me the most was when James Cameron was promoting the movie on various talk shows. He actually spoke the stupid na'vi language like it was going to catch on. I remember he called Whoopi Goldberg pretty in his stupid made up language. Cmon.   

I don't know what is scarier, the notion of na'vi language catching on or the notion of whoopi goldberg being pretty 

[Dartful Dodger]

I am actually glad I saw this movie in 3D imax, the 3D was done right and there was eye candy. However, the movie really blew chunks, and the 3D visuals are the only thing I can approve of.

Same here.

It was the first 3D movie I've seen that didn't require blue/red glasses. Usually I say movies are good enough to rent but not to go out for, this one I'm glad I saw it in the theater, but it's not worth seeing again or if you haven't seen it, it's not worth renting.

At the time there were slim 3D pick’ns.  But now there are plenty of good 3D movies to see in the theater so it wouldn’t even be worth seeing in the theater.

[RayB]

The original thread is here btw:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98793.0

[Howard_Casto]

Being someone who DIDN'T see it in 3d, I wasn't blinded by the gimmick. 

The plot sucked (as you said, it's frikkin fern gully), way over-hyped, visuals were mediocre, these "imaginative creature design's" we kept getting told about turned out to be standard video game designs and in general it was a strikingly average film.  If it was bad at least I would get some kind of reaction out of it, but it isn't... it simply exists. 

What it reminds me of are these terribly cheesy videogame cgi films that game companies produce (FF Spirits Within, The Resident evil cg films, ect..).  The only difference is those are fun because  both the production company and the target audience are in on the joke that these movies are going to be kind of bad.  The problem with avatar is that it's production staff, the actors, and that over-rated idiot that is James Cameron all took it seriously and legitimately thought that it was going to be the greatest film of our generation.

It turned out to be just another step in cg and 3d technology and nothing more.  It got good ratings and set attendance records because it was hyped to death and for some reason people haven't caught on to the fact that James Cameron hasn't made a good film since he became obsessed with oceanography. 

[Mikezilla]

Being someone who DIDN'T see it in 3d, I wasn't blinded by the gimmick. 

The plot sucked (as you said, it's frikkin fern gully), way over-hyped, visuals were mediocre, these "imaginative creature design's" we kept getting told about turned out to be standard video game designs and in general it was a strikingly average film.  If it was bad at least I would get some kind of reaction out of it, but it isn't... it simply exists. 

What it reminds me of are these terribly cheesy videogame cgi films that game companies produce (FF Spirits Within, The Resident evil cg films, ect..).  The only difference is those are fun because  both the production company and the target audience are in on the joke that these movies are going to be kind of bad.  The problem with avatar is that it's production staff, the actors, and that over-rated idiot that is James Cameron all took it seriously and legitimately thought that it was going to be the greatest film of our generation.

It turned out to be just another step in cg and 3d technology and nothing more.  It got good ratings and set attendance records because it was hyped to death and for some reason people haven't caught on to the fact that James Cameron hasn't made a good film since he became obsessed with oceanography. 

I wouldnt exactly say that he is overrated, his last couple of movies havent been up to par with his core group of fans. His last couple have movies are the highest grossing movies of all time, granted, that doesnt make them good, but its not like he failed or anything either. He has been into oceonography for a long time. Been into it since he made They Abyss, as far as I know.

I still cant get over the part where the dude in the robot suit pulls a knife. 

[Howard_Casto]

Well he used to be UNDERRATED, but now it's quite the opposite.  His early movies were groundbreaking and fantastic like The Abyss and the first two Terminator films.  I'm not necessarily referring to the special effects either, I mean the plots and dynamic characters.  He didn't get enough credit for them.  The problem is, since those days, each film he releases is progressively worse and more shallow than the last.  He "jumped the shark" around Titanic and it's been all downhill from there. 

And yet these crappy films are blockbuster cash-cows and now everybody thinks he's movie Jesus.  See that's the problem... the majority of the populus can't agree on anything but the most generic concepts and themes, so when your film becomes a mega-hit, it often has less to do with it being good and more to do with it being so generic that a large audience is willing to go see it.

[SavannahLion]

I think the thing that bugged me the most was when James Cameron was promoting the movie on various talk shows. He actually spoke the stupid na'vi language like it was going to catch on. I remember he called Whoopi Goldberg pretty in his stupid made up language. Cmon.   

I don't know what is scarier, the notion of na'vi language catching on or the notion of whoopi goldberg being pretty 

From what I can recall from the hype machine, they actually brought in (or paid off, either way) a linguist to create the na'vi (is that damn ' really in there?) language. I'm willing to bet that he's hoping that language will become immortalized in the hearts of SciFi ---smurfs--- like the Klingon language has. IIRC, Apple even supports Klingon. Probably why he did what he did with Whoopy Goldberg. To try and get enough of the masses to get an interest in his stuff.

I didn't see Avatar. Quite frankly, I don't really care to. I suppose I'll watch it one of these days when I have time to kill and as long as I don't have to pay for it. That's the key point right there. I'm not willing to pay $20 or more to go see the film, especially one that's in 3D. I also have zero intention of ever buying it on a plastic disc the movie companies say I don't own anyways.

[Gray_Area]

See that's the problem...it often has less to do with it being good and more to do with it being so generic that a large audience is willing to go see it.

And with how big the kiddies mouth 'WOW' at the visuals.

[bobotech]

I can't see 3d, I can only use one of my eyes at a time, either right or left.  I have never been able to see 3d in my entire life.  With that said, I saw Avatar at home on dvd and I enjoyed it for what it was, a special effects spectacle, nothing more.   It was fun on our surround sound and big tv to watch and enjoy.

Its kind of like eating empty calories.  Tastes good but not filling in the least.

[shmokes]

I was super underwhelmed by the 3D for two reasons.  One, James Cameron had been promoting the 3D effects as a decade in the making and utterly revolutionary and unlike anything we've seen before, so I had very high expectations.  Two, I had already seen Coraline in 3D and it had far superior 3D effects.