xx_dustin_xx
New member
Avatar is visually stunning however the Na'vi looked CGI to me. The scene early on when Jake wakes up as the Na'vi and runs out to see the other Na'vi playing basketball (I think it was basketball), well, it cemented the feeling within me - they don't look real. I never got the sense they were truly real. The plants and flowers looked real but they didn't, they looked like the Hulk with anorexia! It's interesting to watch the final scenes of Avatar when Neytiri tries to help the dying Jake put on his oxygen mask, you can see there is a clear distinction between the real Sam Worthington being held by the CGI Neytiri. Real life people on film have more detail. You can see how CGI, even the most detailed, can't compare or capture the essence of real life. The lighting on CGI rarely matches real life when caught on film.
You can go back to the early 1990s and see how even the wonderful CGI dinosaurs of Jurassic Park never really matched the colour and lighting of the real 'filmed in real time' environment. It's close but not quite good enough to fool you and Avatar has the same effect. It's hard to truly believe the Na'vi are real although they do look very impressive.
I'd say Avatar reminded me of Who Framed Roger Rabbit - that combined cel drawing animation with real sets and real actors and this was the 21st century equivalent: CGI animation with real sets and real life actors. I'm sure Avatar will win the Oscar for best special effects. It does have mindboggling attention to detail, every plant, leaf, rock etc is brought to life in vivid detail, and the Na'vi facial movement is very close to real life expression. The story is a bit run-of-the-mill but the 3D CGI effects seem to have captivated a worldwide audience.
You can go back to the early 1990s and see how even the wonderful CGI dinosaurs of Jurassic Park never really matched the colour and lighting of the real 'filmed in real time' environment. It's close but not quite good enough to fool you and Avatar has the same effect. It's hard to truly believe the Na'vi are real although they do look very impressive.
I'd say Avatar reminded me of Who Framed Roger Rabbit - that combined cel drawing animation with real sets and real actors and this was the 21st century equivalent: CGI animation with real sets and real life actors. I'm sure Avatar will win the Oscar for best special effects. It does have mindboggling attention to detail, every plant, leaf, rock etc is brought to life in vivid detail, and the Na'vi facial movement is very close to real life expression. The story is a bit run-of-the-mill but the 3D CGI effects seem to have captivated a worldwide audience.