Avatar (2009)

[Azusa]

Except The Matrix had a great plot. :p

did it i don't remembering it having a good one.

[y2kboy23]

did it i don't remembering it having a good one.

I think the first one had the best plot. The other two were mediocre.

[Growled Member]

The plot was simple but it was compelling for the most part. It was nothing new, as has been stated many times. The acting was just average. The CG was superb, of course. The overall effect was for me one of the best movies I've ever seen. 9.5/10. Cameron has definitely raised the bar on sci-fi movies.

[deletedxyz]

I think the first one had the best plot. The other two were mediocre.

There were no sequels. :pinch: I actually enjoyed the two sequels with the exception of the lame spider robots.

[Cy-Kill]

I am never going to get to see this, it's always sold out in IMAX 3D, and I do not want to watch it any other way!

[Andre S. Veteran]

This is the first 2h45+ long movie I don't find unecessary long or boring at any point. It's a complete visual delight from start to finish, although I had wished for a more involved sex scene, I mean, how awesome would that have been, with ten-feet-tall blue motion-captured cat-like multi-million dollar CGI aliens and a creative vision, but anyway maybe that's just me. :p

I was hoping for some moral depth but unfortunately it was pure evil/good, and when I realized this I then hoped for the bad guys to win, but no, in the end the good have suffered but they win in extremis, AGAIN. But it didn't matter much because of all the background detail and symbiosis of alien culture and simplistic plot elements, it's extremely well done despite being a predictable storyline, so it's still an engrossing experience.

As for 3D I am not completely sold on that because depth of field doesn't work the way it does in 2D, since you're under the illusion that you can focus on any depth in the scene, and it's a lot of work for the brain to figure out where you're supposed to be focusing your attention on the z-axis. I think ideally, 3D movies should be rendered in a special way that eliminates depth of field, especially if they're all or mostly CGI. Also the IMAX screen is kinda grainy, I think it's all the microscopic holes that let the sound pass through. But overall it worked and I think this movie was created for IMAX 3D and that's still the best way of seeing it.

I am never going to get to see this, it's always sold out in IMAX 3D, and I do not want to watch it any other way!

You have to buy the tickets like a day before at least. That's what I did, there is only one IMAX theater in Montreal and I had a bad surprise going there with a few friends last week, taught me a hard lesson.

[John Freeman]

As for 3D I am not completely sold on that because depth of field doesn't work the way it does in 2D, since you're under the illusion that you can focus on any depth in the scene, and it's a lot of work for the brain to figure out where you're supposed to be focusing your attention on the z-axis. I think ideally, 3D movies should be rendered in a special way that eliminates depth of field, especially if they're all or mostly CGI.

Umm, im not quite sure im following you. Depth of field is what actually keeps your eyes from going bonkers in 3d movies. In a way guiding your view onto what you should be looking at.

[Sethos]

Posted this on another forum and can't be arsed editing it;

Avatar and can I say, what a complete and utter disappointment - Especially considering the massive media hype surrounding this movie. I was totally psyched to see this, I really thought this was going to be an epic experience, bit like the first time watching any Lord of the Rings.

As the movie starts out, everything is okay - None of the major plot twists has been revealed and the entire story is still open yet nothing, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens! Watching the trailer and reading the general plot should already clue you in just how generic, just how textbook this story is ... Cheesy Hollywood Plot #22345. Everything happens just as you'd expect, everything is so utterly predictable which hits you not even half-way through the movie.

I won't outline anything as I'd deem that a spoiler but have you actually watched over 10 movies in your life, Avatar should seem like a repeat of some of those with fancier effects which is the only thing this movie has going for it, the CG. Yes, while the CG effects are mighty impressive the entire film is bathed in them and is the only thing keeping it afloat which doesn't impress me, however.

So a generic, predictable Hollywood plot in a movie only kept hyped up because of its effects?

5/10 and I'm being generous here ...

Oh by the way, from one military nut to another: can anyone tell me how the hell the human race managed to perfect space travel, jump leaps and bounds within science and generally put our species hundreds of years forward on the progression table yet they haven't managed to further research weapons and military technologies? I mean, projectile based weapons all-around which carries the characteristics of current-gen or even last-gen weaponry on earth anno 21st century? I saw a marine carrying a weapon closely resembling a Type 95 ...

This wouldn't be such a big deal if the weapons weren't just current-gen weapons with a re-skin, they all carry what appears to be 30 rounds and they all look very, very cumbersome - Not even kidding, there's an MG42 with a Drum Mag in the movie ... Obviously it's not but the resemblance is so ridiculous you don't even want to contest the fact.

Not to mention every flying aircraft just looks like an Apache helicopter made slower and fatter and they all carry missiles and machine guns, how very futuristic.

It looks like the humans were just gimped when it comes to military technology to give the retarded cat people a fighting chance.

Let me leave you with a quote for the above complaint; ""Humans didn't invent war, we just perfected it."

Guess I won't be joining the Avatards crowd. Oh by the way, Colonel Miles looks liked an oiled up Kent doll.

[Cy-Kill]

You have to buy the tickets like a day before at least. That's what I did, there is only one IMAX theater in Montreal and I had a bad surprise going there with a few friends last week, taught me a hard lesson.

I don't have a credit card, and even though they use Interac Online, it only supports 4 banks, and mine is not one of them. I don't want to go down to Scotiabank Theatre just to buy a ticket for the next day, if I am going to a theatre it's to buy ticket for that day.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Umm, im not quite sure im following you. Depth of field is what actually keeps your eyes from going bonkers in 3d movies. In a way guiding your view onto what you should be looking at.

Depth of field makes parts of the scene be out of focus. But in a 3D movie, you are under the illusion that you are looking into a real 3-dimensional scene where you can focus on any plane along the z-axis. It's a difficult adaptation for the brain when it realizes parts of the scene are out of focus whatever effort you make to focus on them. This is why many people get mild headaches. I often found myself trying to see things that were out of focus and not figuring out where I was "supposed" to look many times during the presentation.

I don't want to go down to Scotiabank Theatre just to buy a ticket for the next day

That's what I did, I wanted it that bad. :p

[John Freeman]

Depth of field makes parts of the scene be out of focus. But in a 3D movie, you are under the illusion that you are looking into a real 3-dimensional scene where you can focus on any plane along the z-axis. It's a difficult adaptation for the brain when it realizes parts of the scene are out of focus whatever effort you make to focus on them. This is why many people get mild headaches. I often found myself trying to see things that were out of focus and not figuring out where I was "supposed" to look many times during the presentation.

I know what dof is, but i have exactly the opposite feeling - first movie i saw in 3d was journey to the center of the earth, and as far as i remember mostly it had really deep dof, which resulted in a bit of a mess, and consequent eye strain. Atleast for me. Avatar on the opposite did it better, kinda guiding your eye with mostly quite subtle depth of field.

[Hurmoth]

@Sethos: That review is exactly the way I feel. Don't get me wrong, as I've stated before, the film is beautiful, but it does not make up for the lack of a plot. Everything that happens is SO predicted and the entire film is exactly what is in the trailers. I was bored to tears with this film.

And another think that ticked me off was that the film pretty much stated that humans have no humanity left. Out of the entire human population on Pandora, only, what 5 people would stand up to help save the Navi?

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

I'm actually off to see this movie tomorrow :) I really need to know what all the hype is about.

[Growled Member]

I was reading just yesterday where a lot of reviewers think it might be nominated for Best Picture and actually have a chance to win.

[BoredBozirini]

I was reading just yesterday where a lot of reviewers think it might be nominated for Best Picture and actually have a chance to win.

Like Gabriel Iglesias says: "Oh, hell no!"

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

Alright, I seen Avatar tonight and let me start off by saying, not the greatest movie ever, but definitely not a horrible one.

I went in expecting it to be some guy slowly mutating into one of these blue creatures, and found out they were controlling them. The first hour or so were boring and they could have cut that down to at least half the length.

After I got over the fact there were already many mistakes and that it takes place in the future, and that these ideas were very far fetched, I finally got into the movie.

I thought somethings could have been left out, I mean, if James Cameron was going to make all these wild creatures and worlds, at least change the human aspect of things. Why did these Avatars cry and kiss, and fall in love with a human?, I could have done without that, but there had to be a story, I know.

A side from the small imperfections, I thought the last half of the film was enjoyable, and will possibly watch it on Blu-Ray when it comes out, hopefully I be able to get into this film a little easier and enjoy the whole thing.

I'll give Avatar a 7.5/10 for now, but may update my rating once it comes out on Blu-Ray in the future.

[Umbrello]

Having seen it twice in IMAX 3D with middle and center seating this film is nothing short of extraordinary. You can tell A LOT of heart, soul and dedicated time was put into this masterpiece. Never have I seen anything as impressive as "Avatar" before. Cameron develops 'Pandora' as a whirlpool that swallows you whole with its immersion. The amount of detail and thought gone into this picture is absolutely monstrous. 3D is utilized to aid this effect and not just tacked on as a gimmick. Does it matter about the somewhat prosy plot? Not in the slightest. An adventure like no other.

[Growled Member]

My sister-in-law just saw it today and she hated it. The only reason she went was to see what all the hype was about. Just goes to show you can't please everyone.

[Ayepecks]

I thought Avatar was a good movie, but just simply not engrossing for the entire (roughly) 3 hours it took to watch. The ending was spectacular. The start was entertaining. But somewhere along the way, I just lost interest somewhat only to be snapped back into movie viewing mode when I could sense the grand finale coming.

The acting was great, for the most part. I'm not sure who said it, but I actually thought Michelle Rodriguez did well... I was expecting far worse from her. I was fairly letdown in Sigourney Weaver's character at the beginning, though. I don't know why; maybe it just felt like the lines were a little bit forced and there wasn't a whole lot of emotion behind them.

The story was definitely the weakest part of the movie, but anyone who says it's a "been there, done that" story is really stretching the truth. Yes, it was fairly predictable, but a lot of times that's the best way a story can go. I'm not sure what people were expecting other than what was delivered. Cameron's movies all seem predictable to me, so if you knew his previous work, what were you honestly expecting? I thought all the Lord of the Rings movies were extremely predictable (and far more boring, to boot), personally. The main complaint I have with the story is that I would've liked to see a bit more human time in the movie, and a bit more of a human side, but oh well.

Visually, the film looked amazing. The CGI was absolutely spectacular, and while technology is constantly improving, I don't think we'll see a movie that trumps this one visually for at least a year or two.

Overall, a good movie, just not spectacular. I don't think it's worthy of an Oscar nomination, and I'm somewhat annoyed it's bumping District 9 out of a lot of the awards talk, because I felt that movie was far more engrossing, original, and quite simply, entertaining. I think there were a lot of Avatards in the audience because there was a large amount of people in the back of the theater clapping, when I didn't feel it was one of those rare movies you give a standing ovation to.

4/5

[GreenMartian]

Why did these Avatars cry and kiss, and fall in love with a human?, I could have done without that, but there had to be a story, I know.

When they got to the kissing part, I felt like I wanted to throw something at the screen.

The story was definitely the weakest part of the movie, but anyone who says it's a "been there, done that" story is really stretching the truth. Yes, it was fairly predictable, but a lot of times that's the best way a story can go.

Speaking of "been there, done that", I could name at least three movies with similar plots: Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, and The Last Samurai. That's just from the top of my head. I'm sure there's (many) more.

Don't get me wrong, I still loved the movie. It never boasted itself to be "the greatest love story of all time". It was an awesome CGI-fest, and it did not dissapoint in that department.

[Cy-Kill]

Why did these Avatars cry and kiss, and fall in love with a human?

Come on now, James Cameron has created a new type of pornography: xenophilia.

[Growled Member]

Speaking of "been there, done that", I could name at least three movies with similar plots: Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, and The Last Samurai.

I don't remember any of those films having the lead character's consciousness going back and forth from himself to his alien body.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I think what would happen is borrow ideas from other movies to make a NEW one based on that (Cross over)

I always kinda want to make a Resident Evil-Star Wars-Transformers kind of movie myself ... putting them all in one package, but NO Not the RE crap from these RE movies, actually RE atomosphere from the GAMES with puzzles ... Scarier and Creepier! With acting more like James Cameron movies than the other crap. Maybe I will also add some Tomb Raider element to it too LOL

And there is a scene in Avatar, these monster-looking Dog creatures - very scary like those you see in Resident Evil! :

It's in this video -

the guy that did the British version of Planet earth is MUCH better.

[GreenMartian]

I don't remember any of those films having the lead character's consciousness going back and forth from himself to his alien body.

I said similar plots. Guy gets into an alien society. Guy falls in love with the culture (and, usually, a woman). Guy becomes one of them, and fights against his own.

The 'why' and 'how' they did it may be different. The general plotline themselves are undeniably similar, though.

[Ayepecks]

I said similar plots. Guy gets into an alien society. Guy falls in love with the culture (and, usually, a woman). Guy becomes one of them, and fights against his own.

The 'why' and 'how' they did it may be different. The general plotline themselves are undeniably similar, though.

There are a lot of similarities between my life and many of my friends' lives. But to say we're ripping one another off is a bit of a stretch ;) Avatar isn't a blatant rip-off of any of those movies, although it obviously does have a general similarity that you've mentioned. But it's a storyline that makes sense, so I really don't see anything wrong with it. It's not like he went into it thinking "alright, let's make Dances with Wolves... in space!"

I mean, if you look hard enough, you're going to find similarities in many different movies. But what sets Avatar apart is that while the general storyline is similar, the way it goes about showing it is radically different -- what Growled said is a major difference, for instance. You can't simply ignore the differences and point out the similarities.