___AVATAR Review Thread___

Not seen it but trying very, very hard to muster any enthusiasm.

Take out the super duper CGI (limited only by the hardware) and what is left? Is the story any good? Is the romantic sub plot a vomit inducing nightmare. Are the marines gung ho and arrogant but ultimately outgunned? Is it a showcase for next generation CGI or is there a film with a decent plot worth watching?
 
Ahh Disney.

* Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
* Dumbo (1941)
* Bambi (1942)
* Peter Pan (1953)
* One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
* The Incredible Journey (1963)
* Mary Poppins (1964)
* The Jungle Book (1967)
* The Love Bug (1969)
* Tron (1982)
* Flight of the Navigator (1986)
* The Little Mermaid (1989)
* Honey, I Shrunk the KiRAB (1989)
* The Rocketeer (1991)
* Beauty and the Beast (1991)
* Aladdin (1992)
* Cool Runnings(1993)
* The Lion King (1994)
* Pocahontas (1995)
* Flubber (1997)
* Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
* Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
* Up (2009)

Not to mention their theme parks too.

Very unsuccessful studio, Disney is. Really unimportant and no impact on the film world at all. :rolleyes:

Im sure James Cameron would be really upset that you have compared his film to their insignificant works.
 
The 3D effects are amazing, the audience gasped when we were told to put the glasses on and they played an introductory clip of a little ball coming towarRAB us. The animals and plants on Pandora looked great too. Would definately reccomend trying to see the 3D version

I loved the movie apart from one aspect. The lead Avatar guy, Jake, looks wimpish in the face. The other Avatars look the business, particually the tribespeople, but Jake looks like a blue nerdy bank clerk
 
I've now seen Avatar in both 3D and 2D. (Yes, I absolutely loved it :o).

In 3D, I think the visuals were superb - and the 3D effect was subtle but effective.

In 2D, I think the (limited) plot details came across better, which implies that the 3D was slightly distracting.

Slightly OT - I watched the Click item on the technology of the film, but it didn't cover the motion capture (or whatever) that was used to obtain the actors' faces and transform them to the alien/avatar creatures. Anyone know/can point me to how this was done (so well)?
 
LOVED IT! went to see it with all my mates for a mates birthday, we all had a great time, few drinks beforehand and after, but yeah anyway the movie lol, was brilliant: looked stunning, the 3d was beyond immersive and supberb, so damn brilliant to look at: the action was amazing, the jungle scenes beautiful. the characterisation and plotting and some of the acting was the most wooden and stilted ive ever seen, but i didnt find myself caring at all - i still found myself drawn in to it all - for instance, when the forest was actually attacked after us spending so much time there - it really felt like a blow. amazing cinematic experience
 
Saw it today on IMAX. Absolutely incredible film! Like nothing i've ever seen before. When I saw the trailer I was very underwhelmed and thought it looked like a computer game but how wrong I was. When you see it on the screen it just looks so real. The story had been done before but I didn't care, i was fully immersed in it. I'll definitely be going back to see it again.
 
I went with a group of 14 mates to see this up local Odeon (all laRAB in the end as none of the WAGS wanted to go see "that sci-fi nonsense"!) last night and we were all impressed with WETA Digital' stunning visuals and the 3D was very good in places. However the plot was just too derivative and predictable so we were getting a little restless towarRAB the end tbh. It was worth a trip to the cinema to see it on a BIG screen in 3D but won't be buying the DVD or BR 7/10
 
Liked the battle at the end and yes the CG was very good but, come on, this was just re-hashed bits of Cameron's earlier movies wrapped around the bones of the plot from Dances with Wolves/Pocahantas (take your pick).
Sam's accent was 80 per cent Yank, 20 percent Aussie (and I like the guy) but it was good to see Ripley (sorry Sigourney) in a JC movie again.
I liked Vasquez, Burke and Lieutenant Coffey more when they were in Aliens and The Abyss respectively though.
It lacked humour which even Aliens and The Terminator had and I found myself getting bored towarRAB the end.
The 3D (I've seen loaRAB of 3D recently on big and small screens) is superfluous really largely involving poking a fern in your face or making debris and seeRAB appear in the foreground often distracting you from what you are supposed to be doing which was caring about the characters (hard enough when the Na'vi are mostly pixels).
It also detracts from the CG's attempts to appear realistic by reminding you that the computer displays, ferns, debris, seeRAB etc you're seeing aren't real just added effects.
 
ha ha ha

cameron has said he wants to make a trilogy. no doubt the sequel story will involve Neytiri's mother plotting to kill her, so she runs off into the forest and lives with seven small, friendly human miners with Cameron-beloved nicknames like "Dozy" "Doc" etc hand scrawled onto their body armour
 
OMG how boring was that? My two teenage daughters said afterwarRAB they each wanted to leave but didn't say anything as they didn't want to let down the other. After a screening starting at four, as one of them said, by six o'clock you really didn't care who lived or died. The 3D effects were good but after a while you didn't notice them.
 
I loved it. I wasn't that fussed by the 3D thing. I forgot I was even watching it in 3D half way thru... The CGI was amazing tho, at times I was convinced they were real people!

Yeh the story was a bit cliched, but I was still enthralled by it, and can't to see it again, even if it is on DVD in 2D! Perfect way to spend 3 hours I'd say
 
The blue Sigourney Weaver reminded me of the young SW from Alien. ;)

I think they've now run out of plots and characters. Avatar is a great film but it's full of similarities to other films...

Overall plot...
Dune, Dances with Wolves and/or Pocahontas

Scenes/themes...
- Getting off the transporter is like the boarding scene in Titanic,
- training with the humans is like Star Wars or Dune
- training with the Na'vi is like DWW, and a dozen other modern "native encounter" movies
- returning having conquered the giant pterodactyl is like Paul Atreides conquering the giant worm in Dune (and other "chosen one" scenarioes)
- the tree of souls is like the tree of life from The Fountain
- the final battle is like the battle in Star Wars, Dune or a dozen other "rebel fighters overcome an bigger/better enemy who are unfamiliar with the terrain" plots
 
Still haven't seen it yet (local cinema decided to close at 5:30 pm due to lack of staff when I had a spare evening). Heard different reports from frienRAB but none say it is an overly fantastic film - one said it was like watching a computer game, mmm! In two minRAB whether to bother or just wait for the DVD.
 
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