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I think its a bit of a stretch to call this Michael Moore in a video game setting. Look- movies are a form of art- and not everyone will enjoy or interpret the same media in the same ways. Every director is entitled to put their spin on their own piece of work. THEU, if you directed this movie I'm sure some liberals may call it Rupert Murdoch style propaganda. That's just the way it goes.

Disagreeing with one's politics is one thing, but to say the movie was poorly directed or had a horrible plot is another. Politics aside, I thought the movie was great, but could have been not so dumbed down in the plot. E.g. don't spell everything out so much for the audience- let us try to think a little. I give it an A+ for what the movie accomplishes technically, and a B for the plot.
 
mcbrett,
I agree with much of what you said. I just don't like the idea of an animated world. This movie was just almost entirely CG, which isn't my cup of tea. I think it does look like a video game because the entire movie looks fake to me. I like seeing great sweeping shots, and tried to include some movies that are like that.
btw, the 3 newer Star Wars are too CG for me as well in places. I would give it an A+ for the technology used in the film. I just don't think that makes it a good movie. The movie sucked IMHO. The way it was made was not my cup of tea... that is probably a better way to say it than I did before.
The plot is really what got me... it was just a bit of a boring film plot, propped up by the CG stuff. I would give the plot a C at best....
I am actually more of a foreign film artsy type movie guy anyway. I thought Transformers was the worst movie I have seen in probably 10 years (but I saw it on video). Some of the guys here I am sure liked it. It made me dizzy being full of CG and nanosecond lenghth snippets of fighting clipped together. I like things like Gettysburg, and Gods and Generals.
And I really don't like politics in movies that are supposed to be more fantasy anyway. mcbrett... I pretty much want entertaining films to be just that... which this just wasn't to me.
 
i agree with your second post here much more. I too love a ton of foreign films- Stalingrad, Das Boot, Y Tu Mama Tambien etc.

I can agree with your logic on this post much better- I too hate films where the CG makes you feel like you're in a giant smurf like cartoon. But, with that said- Cameron went to the Nth degree to overcome that issue with this film which is probably why it cost about $400MM to make. (I may be off a few million, but close.)

Re: politics- like I said these guys are artists, and when you're the creator you are entitled to create anything you like. As the consumers- we just don't have to buy a ticket if we disagree so strongly or don't feel like spending 2 hours in someone else's point of view. I was ok with it- just thought the plot could have been improved.
 
Doing the 'rankings' by box office reciepts.. I have NEVER understood that. As a 33 year old ticket prices have already quadupled in lifetime remembrance. In HS I could go for 3.25, now I pay up to 12 bucks.
They need to go by tickets SOLD. Not to knock any movie for anything, but you just can't compare because ticket prices have changed so dramatically.
 
They do have adjusted rankings too, which older films always win. Gone with the Wind is far beyond anything else. Of course a current run will not be up there. Most movies at the top of the adjusted list have had multiple theater runs, and the advantage that movies used to run much longer at theaters and no home video competition.

-Avatar is only $47 million behind Dead Man's Chest for #3 all-ime and about $100 million behind Return of the King for #2. Titanic is #1 though at $1.8 billion, about $800 million ahead of Avatar. What's amazing is how its smashing records for post opening weekend. Very steady for such large box office. Unless something dramatic happens, this movie will make Dark Knight like money or more
 
btw,
What does 'unobtanium' do?

Why could Cameron not come up with a decent name for this material? 'Unobtainum' is obviously a lie, because they seem to be obtaining it, and it also has a market price.

Little things like that piss me off about all types of movies.
 
“Gone with the Wind” will never (never say never) be outdone when inflation is factored. Read about the culture of the 30s, 40s and early 50s; there was no TV or internet. Close to 90% of the American population was in a theater on the weekends.

Oh - and if you're wondering why filmmakers are making such dumb derivative movies, stop. The market mostly decides what movies get made. T2 & Avatar's popularity is the new blueprint. We are entering a dark age. I think Avatar is about as good as it gets. Did Hurt Locker even climb into the top 5?

(adding Transformers 2 and Avatar are in the same league visually, but Avatar, although cliche, at least has some character, intelligence, and plot. I think most people just want to zone out and watch fireworks - i'm not judging them nor do i think i'm better than them - we like what we like.)
 
Saw it in 3D today. Like everyone else said, it has amazing visuals.

Some spoilers


Unobtainium made me roll my eyes. And I too want to know why it's so valuable. Maybe they'll cover that in the sequel when the humans come back with more firepower.

The thing that got me was the floating mountains. How do huge masses of material float in the air? I thought to myself. OK. Suspension of disbelief. Maybe, the life force thingy caused some sort of disruption in gravitational pull. Nope. One of the floating mountains had a waterfall. Water rushing off it and descending. Later, the smurfs jump from floating boulder to floating boulder. So gravity is present. It requires the viewer to inconsistently suspend your disbelief.

And, the "we're not in Kansas anymore" line was very Independence Day.
 
to be fair, Tom Cruise and Sam Worthington's characters become better as well.




I loved it and I'm not some American hating commie either.



sooner, maybe other galaxies have magical places and the things that apply here on earth don't apply there? One of the points of the movie was that the trees had a way of communicating with each other.
 
It's been a few weeks and Avatar is fading from memory. Cool visuals, but the plot is evaporating very quickly. No memorable lines.

More of an amusement park ride than anything else. I guess for me, the Terminator movies and Aliens remain Cameron's best work by far. They were smarter and more fun.
 
Joe Fan gave the best review of this I've seen. Very impressive visual effects and technology. Story line, character development, and everything else that goes into making a movie could have been done as well by a high school freshman. I'm a huge science fiction fan, and I was very disappointed. Someone above compared it to Star Wars. Way off base. SW was a great story compared with great (for its time) special affects and technology. Avatar doesn't compare at all.

Everyone should go see it (and it seems everyone is), but that doesn't mean it's a great movie. It's a very average movie with great effects.
 
I grew up being a Star Wars fan but I will never again in my life set eyes on that abortion of film. Horrible ******* movies now. Pieces of **** more like. Good job, Lucas. I will see Avatar ten times before I will ever see Star Wars or anything Star Wars related. (hint: I may see Avatar once more over time)
 
Saw it Saturday with my wife. Liked it VERY much. Good diversion from the disappointment of the Game.

It helped that they stressed that the soldiers were mercenaries, not Americans fighting under the American flag.

Still, I have a few Quibbles:

1. But wouldn't a group of mercenaries be composed of people from several nations?

2. Why would a smart corporation put a raving lunatic in charge of its security arm?

3. 140 years from now, won't weaponry have advanced quite a bit? So why were the Earth forces fighting with weaponry from the early 2000's?
 
Sounds like I would enjoy this film. I'm having trouble talking Ms.Accurate into attending, though. It doesn't exactly sound like Sleepless in Seattle.
 
You could tell Mrs. Accurate there is a romance in the story, and it is about transcending family and racial barriers to bring two wounded hearts together- much like the Capulets and Montagues faced in a Shakespeare novel.

And there is a army of mercenaries involved.
 
Once you spend all the money to create a film like Avatar, it's relatively cheap to make a sequel. Relatively cheap.
 
Anyone who says this is a 'waste of time' has no credibility as a movie critic and probably should avoid seeing any movie. The plot isn't going to set the world on fire (But then again Star Wars was just a retelling of the Iliad and Odyssey), but it is far from bad. This visuals are stunning and unreal.

If ever there was a movie. This is it.
 
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