Avatar

[Habhome]

Just saw this movie, and it was really good IMO. Had me on the edge of my seat on several occasions, though some scenes were too long winded, they could have shortened those and added more of his background. They had about 15-30 minutes of background story for the protagonist filmed and done, but it got cut out, together with several hours of film I so want to see.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by Habhome

Just saw this movie, and it was really good IMO. Had me on the edge of my seat on several occasions, though some scenes were too long winded, they could have shortened those and added more of his background. They had about 15-30 minutes of background story for the protagonist filmed and done, but it got cut out, together with several hours of film I so want to see.

Hopefully those will be included in the blu ray. I'd like to learn more about the main character before he ended up where he was in the story.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by justinstrife

Hopefully those will be included in the blu ray. I'd like to learn more about the main character before he ended up where he was in the story.

They definitely will. They need extras to help sell them after all. I just want to know if the 3D will be utilized on the BD.

[Nosauz]

http://web.me.com/pascalboogaert/Site/foto3.html

I lol'd

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

http://web.me.com/pascalboogaert/Site/foto3.html

I lol'd

Okay that is damn funny. And damn accurate too.

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by justinstrife

Okay that is damn funny. And damn accurate too.

Lol, people called it Pochahontas in space, but this one takes it to a whole new level.

[james0246]

Avatar is not Pochahontas in space, it's Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars series (which, fyi, is going to be Pixar's first live action film). Or H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quatermain series. Or James Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumpo series. Etc.

Hell, just 2 years ago, the same basic story was released, only as a CGI animated kids film called Battle for Terra. Heck, there is even a Tvtrope post concerning this story...

There is nothing really new about Avatar's story, it's simply gorgeous to look at.

[Vexx]

Aye... its Ferngully in Space with a slight twist ending.

Can we put this "unoriginal" to bed? There are about five or six very basic stories in all of literature (ref: Joseph Campbell's mythologic analyses). Is the story told in an entertaining way? Does it have elements inserted that appeal to the audience?

[germanturkey]

watched it again today, this time in 2d. still as good. can't wait for blu-ray.

[Habhome]

Originally Posted by Nosauz

http://web.me.com/pascalboogaert/Site/foto3.html

I lol'd

Haha xD Me and my brother saw some Pocahontas parallels too =P Still the movie was very nice. The effects were really amazing.

[DragoZERO]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Aye... its Ferngully in Space with a slight twist ending.

Can we put this "unoriginal" to bed? There are about five or six very basic stories in all of literature (ref: Joseph Campbell's mythologic analyses). Is the story told in an entertaining way? Does it have elements inserted that appeal to the audience?

Just because it's the basic white man oppressing native americans doesn't mean everything has to be predictable and cliche. There was so much foreshadowing that there was little surprise.

The movie's only appeal are its visuals, in 3D - that's it. Sure it's entertaining to people of all ages but I bet a lot of people will be dissatisfied with the story.

[Habhome]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

Just because it's the basic white man oppressing native americans doesn't mean everything has to be predictable and cliche. There was so much foreshadowing that there was little surprise.

The movie's only appeal are its visuals, in 3D - that's it. Sure it's entertaining to people of all ages but I bet a lot of people will be dissatisfied with the story.

True, I'd love to see it again in 3D just to fawn over the visual aspects of the movie.

[james0246]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

Just because it's the basic white man oppressing native americans doesn't mean everything has to be predictable and cliche. There was so much foreshadowing that there was little surprise.

The movie's only appeal are its visuals, in 3D - that's it. Sure it's entertaining to people of all ages but I bet a lot of people will be dissatisfied with the story.

As Kenneth Turan, in the Los Angeles Times, said, "Think of 'Avatar' as 'The Jazz Singer' of 3-D filmmaking." For those who do not know, The Jazz Singer was an awful film. Extraordinarily contrived, with a silly (old) story; bad acting; bad writing; and just generally bad. But, that doesn't mean it does not deserve its praise as being the first 'talkie'. As The Jazz Singer was a significant leap forward (technologically speaking), so to is Avatar. (Addmittedly, Avatar isn't quite as large of a leap as The Jazz Singer, but it is in the ballpark.)

Consequently, Avatar happens to benefit from being part of one of the few circumstances where, even if it could be called "bad" (which I do not think it is), it is still historic simply due to its technological leap forward.

[Nosauz]

There's no problem with sucking, it's just that people put on their blinders and claim that this movie is "god" or the best ever, when their clearly been better. Much like people who had first read harry potter, but had not touched lord of the rings, or countless other great novels. And the thing is that when people point out the flaws of the movie, they scream and shout that it's perfect. The denialism is what makes me, as a detractor, even more frustrating.

It's true most stories can be categorized but graphics come and go, just look at the matrix's bullet time, still the first matrix is one my favorite movies even though keanu reeves can't act. It wasn't because of the ground breaking tech, it was just the memoralbleness of the characters, like agent smith, morpheus, tank or dozer.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by DragoZERO

The movie's only appeal are its visuals, in 3D - that's it. Sure it's entertaining to people of all ages but I bet a lot of people will be dissatisfied with the story.

The visuals are great sure but there's plenty of appeal besides the images and the story. For instance, the story is realistic in many ways - the science is grounded in modern theories, there are practical limitations on space travel, hardware, etc. It's not like they're whipping out time travel like it's the thing to do, like Star Trek.

I found the concepts behind the Avatar program and the Na'vi transfer system interesting. The "hair hookup" thing the Na'vi used was an interesting touch that they shared with the other native species. In a way our own internet is becoming more and more like a giant neural network, in fact many anime have followed that idea including Ghost in the Shell and Serial Experiments Lain.

Surrogates, another recent sci-fi movie, also used the concept of "avatar" bodies. Considering that scientists are getting closer and closer to mapping the brain and understanding how it works, in addition to the advancement of robotics as a whole, the idea that one day we could live out our lives in another body isn't inconceivable.

Anyway, personally I took more away from this movie than the story and the pretty visuals. I took away the possibilities and ideas that were shown. One of the things that got me into science fiction in the first place was that even the weakest of stories often had the most fantastic of settings, and other stories were absolutely amazing because they used the most mundane settings to showcase something extraordinary.

Science fiction to me has always been about the possibilities, the ability to use your imagination to ponder "what if?"

[Roger Rambo]

Another bit of food for thought on a conventional RDA counter invasion which would supposedly bring heavier conventional weapons than what Quaritch had.

ISV Venture Star cargo capacity:350 metric tons
Cargo capacity of entire fleet (12 vessels):4200 metric tons

This may seem like allot until you consider that the total tonnage moved by this fleet isn't even half of what a single world war 2 liberty ship could carry (10,000 metric tons). And the United States needed to produce thousands of these ships making multiple supply runs in order to deliver the men and supplies needed to fight world war 2.


Humanity certainly isn't going to launch any kind of kind of conventional counter attack on an entire planet when they're limited to only 4200 metric tons of troops/vehicles/supplies.

[Habhome]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

Another bit of food for thought on a conventional RDA counter invasion which would supposedly bring heavier conventional weapons than what Quaritch had.

ISV Venture Star cargo capacity:350 metric tons
Cargo capacity of entire fleet (12 vessels):4200 metric tons

This may seem like allot until you consider that the total tonnage moved by this fleet isn't even half of what a single world war 2 liberty ship could carry (10,000 metric tons). And the United States needed to produce thousands of these ships making multiple supply runs in order to deliver the men and supplies needed to fight world war 2.


Humanity certainly isn't going to launch any kind of kind of conventional counter attack on an entire planet when they're limited to only 4200 metric tons of troops/vehicles/supplies.

Spoiler for Movie:

Well, they didn't seem to be very many humans there, and they got worried when the Na'vi count started to reach 2000. And that was after the clans started to cooperate. So their initial plan to take out the Omathakaian(?) clan would have worked. Still, as you say, limited to 4200 metric tons they should have been pretty easily outnumbered.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by Habhome

Spoiler for Movie:

Well, they didn't seem to be very many humans there, and they got worried when the Na'vi count started to reach 2000. And that was after the clans started to cooperate. So their initial plan to take out the Omathakaian(?) clan would have worked. Still, as you say, limited to 4200 metric tons they should have been pretty easily outnumbered.

Spoiler:

Well the 4200 metric ton limit isn't quite relevant to that final battle in the movie, since the RDA had years to build up a manufacturing base on planet from which they could produce their own weapons/equipment/ammo on site. Any new human mission would not have that advantage and would get quickly overwhelmed in the face of a dedicated attack.

So for all practical purposes, the humans either have to go RKKV(Relativistic Kill vehicle) on the planets ass, or try to be VERY polite next time.

And Quaritch wasn't worried about 2000 Na'vi warriors. He was worried that in about a week there numbers would be 20,000 Na'vi warriors. At which point they represented a very real threat of overrunning his perimeter.

[james0246]

Because I found it a little funny: Deleted Avatar Sex Scene Opens Up Some Serious Bestiality Issues.

[Habhome]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

Spoiler:

Well the 4200 metric ton limit isn't quite relevant to that final battle in the movie, since the RDA had years to build up a manufacturing base on planet from which they could produce their own weapons/equipment/ammo on site. Any new human mission would not have that advantage and would get quickly overwhelmed in the face of a dedicated attack.

So for all practical purposes, the humans either have to go RKKV(Relativistic Kill vehicle) on the planets ass, or try to be VERY polite next time.

And Quaritch wasn't worried about 2000 Na'vi warriors. He was worried that in about a week there numbers would be 20,000 Na'vi warriors. At which point they represented a very real threat of overrunning his perimeter.

True true... Well, I already know my memory is bad so I often come to the wrong conclusions about movies xD