Avatar OR James Cameron: The Last Filmmaker

[Kroze Gamegod]

Prepare for Kroze's spoiler free, mind blown away review...
Ready?
You sure?
Okay...

HO-LY FUCKING SHIT OH MY GOD THAT WAS FUCKING AMAZING.

Now first off with the story being very "traditional" and even heavy handed at times, I think its story was AMAZINGLY well done and tasteful despite it being tried and true. What Cameron does with it brings it to new levels.
And I don't think calling it a Disney-esc plot is a bad thing in this case... its just HIGHLY accessible to a huge population.
It's characters were REAL... like I felt for them.
The story WAS Dances With Wolves + The Last Samurai IN SPACE!
But it was also so much more then just that.
Just because it was predictable and done before doesn't mean the plot is immedately BAD... its what you do with it and James Cameron does a FUCK TON with it.

Also, what James Cameron movie DOESN'T have those cheesy one liners?
The one liners we keep quoting from 20 years ago! "I'll be back!" "Esta la vista baby!"
I don't think it would have been a James Cameron movie without them being there and they helped make the movie feel a lot more easy going.
This is a sci-fi movie for the masses keep in mind.
We are getting our hardcore Sci-Fi James Cameron movie in 4 years with Battle Angel which he has even admitted to being a much more niche film with how its gonna be.

Ignoring all the special effects and AMAZING AMAZING CGI (I haven't even seen the movie in IMAX 3D yet and I was STILL squealing like a fat kid in Willy Wonka's candy factory), It still is a great movie just from the way the story was handled, the characters and the acting... especially from Sam Worthington who I hated with a passion back in Terminator Salvation. he really shows off his acting chops here.
Michelle Rodriguez also deserves a mention due to I DIDN'T HATE HER FOR ONCE IN A MOVIE. For once I didn't want her to die horribly in a fire (Still not gonna stop calling her Ana-Lucia though... EVER).
The standout actor out of the entire cast was totally Stephen Lang and his portrayal of Quaritch as a military man who will NOT give up, even to the last breath.
He went far above and beyond a lot of other movie villains I think because he felt REAL, there was no real point where he went over the top evil at all that made me go "Okay, he is now a larger than life, over the top villain". They gave him weight and depth that Lang was able to portray amazingly well and gave us a guy we love to hate despite being all badass.

Now the effects and the CGI... or as I like to call it as I was doing so all through the movie OH MY FUCKING GOD THE WATER! THE WATER IS REAL! THE WAY IT REACTS HOLY FUCK! DID YOU SEE THAT FIRE AND THE REALISTIC SHADOWS ITS CASTING ON ITS ENVIROMENT! OH MY GOD THE WATER ON THEIR FACES AND HOW IT REACTS WTF??!?!? WIND ALSO REALISTIC!!??!?! *splooge*
And that was only in the first 10 minutes of the movie.. and yet it didn't stop at ALL for the entire rest of the movie.
I now believe Pandora IS a real place... its where James Cameron has been for the past 10 years, laughing at George Lucas who is most likely in the bathtub right now singing Linkin Park songs to himself while crying and posting on his live journal "WHERE DID I GO WRONG?!?!? HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO MEEEEEE?!??!?!"
For a lot of the movie, my brain just couldn't believe that it was mostly CGI. It all looked REAL.
And the Navi are the most realistic CGI aliens... no wait... no.. the most realistic aliens, CGI or not, I have ever seen on film EVER.
Their emotions, the way they moved... I was losing myself throughout the entire movie.

I do not wanna imagine how long it took this movie to render the CGI. I really don't.

All in all, possibly one of the greatest movies I have ever seen and that is even with ignoring the groundbreaking special effects and CGI usage.
My biggest complaint was the pacing of the movie was sometimes a bit... well... off...
And the thing that happens half way through the movie with Michelle Rodriguez's character feels somewhat out of left field.
James Cameron, known for being a merciless editor and cutting 20 minutes of plot oriented stuff from several of his movies out obviously cut a few scenes which I think should not have been cut even though the movie was running long already.
The nice thing is this isn't an action film... this film takes its time to build up all its MANY many characters and plot threads and the world we NEED to believe in and care about to make the epic final battle all the more worth it.
And once the movie really gets going you best hold on to your pants because it is gonna be one wild ride.

This will definitely define a LOT of filmmaking over the course of the next decade.
James Cameron accomplished his goal and then some with this masterpiece of a movie and EVERYONE needs to see this film at LEAST once in their lives.
I hope to god they are able to make back the estimated $300 to $400 MILLION spent making this endavour of blood, sweat and tears.
The amount of love and quality put into this project really shows and I plan on going back as soon as possible to see it in IMAX 3D when I get the chance.... like in an hour...

I give this movie 9.5 out of 10.
Simply amazing... a true epic cinematic masterpiece of film.

Why the fuck are you STILL reading this??
GO OUT AND SEE IT NOW!!!

Ahem... so... um... anyone else here see it yet?

()

[Jagos]

Ok... Breath in, breath out. Relax. Whooosa, Captain.

Avatar was goddamn gorgeous. Also, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't see it in 3D.

The movie reeks of colonialism, nature vs. tech, and a myriad of other things.

But seriously, if I had to watch it again, I would. The slow transition to a different culture, and this beautiful planet to look around is worth the price.

Now to the story:

And the thing that happens half way through the movie with Michelle Rodriguez's character feels somewhat out of left field.

Actually, no. She was the closest to the scientists. "Lover, not a fighter" and all.

The standout actor out of the entire cast was totally Stephen Lang and his portrayal of Quaritch as a military man who will NOT give up, even to the last breath.

Military Badass is the word you're looking for. This guy really made the mil. industrial complex come to life. All about Semper Fi, I felt he was a pretty good person on your side, NOT a good person to F___ with. Cameron did a good job in making him tread that line.

Dr. Grace

Come on. Sigourney Weaver. When is she NOT a Badass?

All in all, hype aside. I can't recommend this movie enough. I'll take the logical step and say you should watch it at least once before the weekend is over.

See it again next week.

[Amake]

I so want to see this movie, even if it's just the warm-up to Battle Angel Alita. :3

[CABAL49]

I haven't seen the movie(had a lot of snow yesterday and today) but I did watch a special on it. James Cameron apparently sent the people playing the blue people into a freaking jungle for six months. He made it clear it was CGI not animation. All the scenes were acted out instead of having voice overs in a studio.

[Preturbed]

To be succinct, if you got two TV's set them up next to each other and played Ferngully on one and Modern Warfare on the other, then crossed your eyes, it'd be a lot like watching Avatar.

That said, it's very good and I'll probably see it again.

[krogothwolf]

I have a question, being blind in one eye, the theaters near me are all showing it in "digital 3D" not IMAX 3D but digital 3D. I know the IMAX requires glasses which means I can watch it, does Digital 3D require it as well? Cause if so, then I can't watch this film

[The Sevenshot Kid]

Digital 3-D has those clear glasses too.

I saw the movie today and the 3-D was so well done that I forgot about it within the first five minutes. Haven't enjoyed a film this much since seeing Star Trek and District 9.

[Nique]

Gonna have to go ahead and flip-out along with everyone else. This movie was simply amazing. I don't even really want to mention the CGI becuase it was so good that I completely forgot that it was there (Maybe certain glowy-scenes were a bit much, but I'd need to take in the film a second time to really catch anything beyond that).

Anyway, this movie did what any good science fiction film should do: Expose the truth about present and past reality. No one wants to think that what happened in a movie like Avatar could ever really happen, but the Na'vi are Native Americans, African tribes, or basically any indigenous people on our own planet whose well being and way of life has been demolished by the western world.

[Preturbed]

Originally Posted by krogothwolf

I have a question, being blind in one eye, the theaters near me are all showing it in "digital 3D" not IMAX 3D but digital 3D. I know the IMAX requires glasses which means I can watch it, does Digital 3D require it as well? Cause if so, then I can't watch this film

I tested this out. By closing one eye with the glasses on, I lost the 3D effect but the image wasn't blurred either.

[Frostatine]

Wouldn't it be a little distorted though? I mean, I would think that it would be something like wearing the wrong prescription of glasses and give you a headache after a while.

Sorry about the blindness mate.