Nix | December 18, 2009
11 comments

Open Discussion Thread: Avatar

After all the awaiting, all the wondering, and all the anticipation, James Cameron’s “Avatar” is finally here. The film, estimated by some to have cost over $500 million to make, opens today and insiders are already predicting a box office in the $200 million dollar range. And let’s face it, if you even dare call yourself a sci-fi fan, you’re going to go see this movie.

This is your opening discussion thread for James Cameron’s “Avatar”. Was it as good as you expected? Did it meet all the hype? Or were you disappointed?


Category: Avatar (2009) Movie, Featured, Sci-Fi Movie News |
  • Hmm

    I just saw this movie for the midnight showing and am still trying to figure out if i liked it or not,
    Don’t get me wrong the visual effects were the best i have ever seen and they should be with how much the movie cost, but the story was generic to say the least
    So i am still thinking about it, but probably will see it again!

  • Roland

    Saw the midnight showing. The special effects were the best I’ve ever seen, from a fantasy perspective. Other films have surpassed it in realism only because they’re set in the real world, Avatar requires you to completely let go of reality. It’s a bit harder to get into.

    The acting was fantastic. Sam Worthington gives a much better performance than in Terminator (where you could see he was trying to work with a bad script.) Zoe Saldana was great. Stephen Lang gave a potentially classic performance as Quaritch. Ribisi and Weaver were excellent as well. And I have a crush on Joel Moore.

    Pandora was convincing and full of strange, and beautiful plants and animals. The Na’vi were an interesting species, and the effects really give them a sense of character as well as a lot of visible emotion. I felt really connected with the entirely cg characters.

    The difference between Titanic and Avatar, from a technical standpoint, is pretty obvious. Cameron has a lot of usual tricks: feet shots, smooth cuts, wide shots. Some of the latter are powerful and extremely effective. Camera work was too shakey at times, and he used a lot of close ups. Sign of the times I guess. The climax would have been more effective if he had just pulled back a bit.

    The score wasn’t that great, full of generic tribal sounds, chanting, and drumming. Leona Lewis’s song at the end (can’t remember the name at all) was bland and forgettable. I didn’t go in to hear a slow song though, I came for the sheer awesomeness that is a Cameron flick. I got it…I’ll just need a couple days to digest it…and I’ll have to see it in 2D as well.

    If you’re wondering about it, Avatar is an incredible movie. Unlike anything you’ve ever seen seen before, I highly recommend it!

  • neeraj pathak

    i saw this movie evening show great work….realy james invested 200m $. the naVi ntri(main character male & femal) cupal are so sweet.. i loved pandora some time i felt i also lived with us…..Special visula i have no world for u admiration ossam great….

    thanx james give us A great movie & new genration PANDORA

  • David

    Completely fake looking computer graphics.

    Looks like the cut-scene of a video game.

    It’s going to be another decade before there’s photo realistic CGI.

    • Kyle

      You’re an idiot.

    • D3NE

      Yeah, Kill Your Self Looser xD

  • ScottMadisonWi

    I think I have mixed feelings about it.

    Visually, off the charts cool. Eye candy for days, both organic natural stuff animals, plants, etc) and sci fi hardware types (flying tanks, armored suits, etc). The only thing my eye caught that wasn’t perfect was the way the “horse” things ran. Not smooth or natural looking. Everything else was great. This is really nit picking the cgi though.

    The acting was awesome, across the board. No complaints there.

    There was dozens of things to like, and it was fun. 3 hours went by very quickly.

    Three things that I did not like;

    One, the way they made the natives whoot and yip yip like Indians in a low budget western. I mean come on, really? Borderline offensive, and just weak. Didn’t fit at all.

    Second, the name of the ‘precious metal’ is “unobtanium” I can only roll my eyes. All that brain power working for Cameron, and that’s what they call it?

    Third, and most serious, is the story. It’s so painfully unoriginal that I actually felt bad. It’s been done a number of times, the “Dances with Wolves” variation. It was so utterly predictable, I was praying to be surprised. It was very well executed, don’t get me wrong. But not one thing was original or a surprise.

    If you haven’t seen many movies (e.g. under 21 years old), and don’t know a lot of the generic storylines Hollywood has churned out, then this movie would blow you away.

  • mayur

    When Jake goes to the sacred tree and prays it to protect The People in the battle. Neytiri tells him something along the like “mother ___ does not take sides, she seeks the balance.” Does anyone know the exact wordings of this dialogue? What is the sacred tree called?

  • Nolan

    Does anyone remember the name the Na’vi call Jake after he captures the giant banshee that is orange?

    • mayur

      turuk maq tahau. The giant ikraan is called turuk

  • Zornik

    I saw the movie last night in Belgium (3D) and was blown away.I was a bit sceptic about the transition between real actors and CGI but in 3D the transition was almost perfect.The story was a bit simplistic (i understand it’s for a wide audience)but the characters are nice and the emotions (even for the CGI characters) r so damn real!!!
    James Cameron made a good example that you need to ‘love’ a character before you can start to care.When you care for a character the action (danger) scenes are that more trilling.This fact is the basic for a good movie but a lot of directors forget this?Cameron is one of the pioniers to make believable sci fi movies with real characters and real emotions…Avatar is no exception.