Avatar (2009)

[nj1]

My mate went to watch it over the weekend.
What did you think I asked?
'Rubbish' he said.
'Really?' I replied, 'didn't you like the 3D?' .
'3D?' he said 'No, we watched it in 2D and it was just a long, predictable, boring film'

I then went on the explain to him that the whole point of the film was to watch it in 3D. He blamed his missus for being too tight to pay the extra £2 odd per ticket for 3D and he had to watch an average film as a result (his words, not mine)

 

[CyBeR]

I went and saw the film a couple of days ago in 3D as well.
It's been long since I've had such a great experience at the movies honestly. Sure, it's not the most thought provoking film, nor is it the most original...but sure as Hell it's the best experience.

Indeed the 3D adds to the experience. It was my first time seeing a 3D film and I was expecting to get either sick or get a headache, which I can't say was the case. As such, I focused on that beautiful world of Pandora and I wish the second act of the film would've gone on for at least another half-hour if not a whole full hour.

For me, "Avatar" is easy to summarize: great first act, an extraordinary second act and a good, if otherwise pretty mundane third act.

I don't find this film to be about story. It's big and beautiful and the immersion either wins you or loses you. Cameron may have had a host of influences for his world, but he crafted them together beautifully and Pandora was simply alive and untamed. It indeed seemed like a real far away place that could be there (let's not get into technicalities, ok? Ruining the wonder for sheer pleasure of it I've always found to be in bad taste), waiting to be discovered.

Yes, it would seem I'm not a very hard to please film goer. For me it boils down to: "Did I have a good time watching this?" and the subsequent answer. There are films to watch with your brain turned on, and there are films to watch with your sensibilities turned on...the later was the case here.

 

[Thadlerian]

But this story is exactly the same: the Earth is a dying concrete wasteland, a colony on a far away planet must harvest resources for it, doing so is endangering the native indigenous population, they live in an airy fairy harmony with their eco-system, the psychotic military commander, Vietnam motifs abound, and it just goes on like that.

This is an example of why I believe that a lot of the criticism Avatar receives is unfair. You haven't summarized the story, only the setting and part of the premise.

The story is about a man who is lent a new body, which makes his life far more comfortable and interesting. He is sent out to do a job, and has a lot of fun and adventure along the way. Only, half-way through, he is forced to come to terms with the fact that this new way of life implies some heavy responsibilities as well. Especially when he starts getting confused as for what he actually is - human or Na'vi?

That's the story. It's not at all Dances With Wolves or Pocahontas. As mentioned earlier in the thread, the premise is the same as Poul Anderson's Call Me Joe, but then again, that story is completely different.

 

[elvet]

James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues - CNN.com
I've heard it all now!

 

[Ursa major]

* Wonders: Have they also been experiencing a need to visit a personal injuries lawyer. *

 

[HareBrain]

I must admit, many years ago I had a milder case of that after reading about Andelain (and the Land in general) in Stephen Donaldson's Covenant books.

However, this:

"I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.' "

is, frankly, terrifying.

 

[Parson]

Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues - CNN.com
I've heard it all now!

This is just wrong! People who can't separate fantasy from reality shouldn't be allowed to watch a film like this.

Even on the level of the movie you have to suspect that there is some hidden darkness. We have two big hints in that direction. First: the NAME!!! Pandora is associated with the myth of letting evil loose, which can't be put back in the box. Second, you will notice that the Na'vi know and respect what a warrior is. They know how to fight and they have weapons. This suggests strongly that there have been wars, and probably still are. No, Pandora only seems like Paradise, and that's only if you don't count the dangers that are shown; note that some of the animals eat the natives.

 

[Moonbat]

Wow! People actually feel depressed when the movie ends and they have to go back to reality. It seems 'BTL' is not too far away.

 

[Ursa major]

Isn't Avatar meant to be the first of a trilogy, Parson? If so, your comments may provide clues as to what happens in the later films.

 

[The Procrastinator]

Ironic that Cameron has managed to create an "alien" world so near to our own that its giving people homesickness. Get outside more, people!

In a way I can understand their feelings (I had a touch of the Andelain thing too - and Middle-earth - and Narnia...) but surely if we don't want to end up like the baddies on Pandora then we should appreciate our own planet a bit more?

 

[Pyan]

Perhaps they could put out an alternative "therapy ending", in which the Na'vi lose, and the planet is turned into one enormous strip-mined dustbowl...

 

[Parson]

Perhaps they could put out an alternative "therapy ending", in which the Na'vi lose, and the planet is turned into one enormous strip-mined dustbowl...

LOL & FOF!!! That's too rich!!

Moonbat> BTL=Branching Temporal Logic? This is the best guess I could summon from acronym finder.

 

[Moonbat]

BTL - Better than life. It's from Red Dwarf, a virtual world that is everything you would ever dream of.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

I believe Moonbat was thinking of "Better Than Life!" the reality simulation game which was used in an episode of the Red Dwarf TV series (series 2 I think?). Classic episode.

EDIT: And there we go

 

[Parson]

Ahh! British SF humor. (Parson says thinking that Red Dwarf has never appealed to him on any level.)

If Avatar wasn't meant to be a trilogy, it is now, after the astounding income numbers it is continuing to put up.

 

[Ursa major]

Perhaps they could put out an alternative "therapy ending", in which the Na'vi lose, and the planet is turned into one enormous strip-mined dustbowl...

There's always someone who wants a happy ending....

 

[Pyan]

BTL - Better than life. It's from Red Dwarf, a virtual world that is everything you would ever dream of.

And here was I thinking it was a sandwich with more tomato than lettuce, but more bacon than either...

There's some news on possible sequels...

According to a recent LA Times Hero Complex interview, which occurred on Avatar’s opening night, Cameron is considering exploring the other moons surrounding the gas-giant planet Polyphemus, which Pandora orbits. This confirms an earlier rumor by Market Saw, and it gives us an idea about the increased scope of the Avatar universe.

More Avatar Sequel News

 

[J-WO]

I can kind of see where these people are coming from. I've had similar (if no way near-intense) feelings every time I've finished reading a novel set in the Culture and then have to go to a low paid job for eight hours. Real life, for the main, is quite simply arse. And the people in charge of it have little furrowed brows and squat on cash bonuses while children starve in countries no one recalls the names of.

But one should get angry, not suicidal. Sf should make people want to change things, never wallow in their own bellybutton.

 

[gully_foyle]

the plot is like Fern Gully meets Dune!!!

Can't say I've seen Fern Gully even though it is based on the place where I grew up (so someone told me).

But I have seen and read Dune and couldn't help but notice the minor similarities. One was about a young man on the side of the big mining concerns who goes native, falls in love with the daughter of the native's leader, and manages to control the planet's ecosphere in the final battle with the baddies. And the other one was the same.

But the ripped off story line plays second fiddle to the amazing effects and visuals in this movie. It was pure eye candy. 4/5 from old (Fern Tree) Gully.

 

[Pyan]

Well, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association liked it enough to give it two Golden Globes - Best Director for James Cameron, and Best Film Drama ...

Blockbuster sci-fi epic Avatar has been named best film drama at the Golden Globe awards, boosting its chances of further glory at the Oscars in March.

Its director James Cameron was also honoured at the event, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

BBC News - Glory for Avatar at Golden Globes