James Cameron's Avatar

[W-Lupus]

I think the real sucess of Avatar is the fact that as far as i know , it is unique. There's not much about this film that anyone can find familiar. Granted , there are political undertones , and of course people , but for most of the film , humanity doesnt take the spotlight so to speak. The majority of the film is based from the perspective of the avatar , and therefore , the Na'vi , which makes it stand out from most movies. To many people seem to like Avatar because of the stunning visuals , not the actual story itself. I also found it quite refreshing to see a film where good and bad wasnt set out.

I think its fair to say that Avatar is a great example of the fantasy genre. While films like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy were masterpeices in thier own right , i dont think you can compare one fanatasy film with another. They're far to diverse.

While you are probably quite right in saying that it is not the best film ever , i challenge you to define what the best film ever would have to be. I'm pretty sure your definitions would vary.

Terastas , you compared Avatar to District 9 , but im not sure that District 9 was that great a movie either. I don't know why , but i just didnt like the plot. It left alot of questions that cant be answered , but I'm more inclined to think that its probably just me being picky. I just didnt like it.

My point is that there can be no official movie that is the best film ever. Films are getting more shophisticated , and probably in a few decades some of the great movies of our time will fade. Ever , is just a timescale that makes it impossible to select the best film. Something better always lurks in the future. Personal taste is too much of a factor. I enjoyed avatar , but didnt like district 9. I liked Lord of the Rings , but am not so keen on Harry Potter. Fantasy appeals too much to our own taste , so who am i to say what is the best , when somone else has thier own opinion?

[Wselfwulf]

I think the real sucess of Avatar is the fact that as far as i know , it is unique. There's not much about this film that anyone can find familiar

Not to be finnicky, but there was Fern Gully, Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas...oh, and Call Me Joe

Not to detract from the magic of approriation, but just to give credit where it is due.

[W-Lupus]

I think the real sucess of Avatar is the fact that as far as i know , it is unique. There's not much about this film that anyone can find familiar

Not to be finnicky, but there was Fern Gully, Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas...oh, and Call Me Joe

Not to detract from the magic of approriation, but just to give credit where it is due.

fair enough. i can see the the similarities with Avatar and Dances with wolves.

[Aki]

I think the real sucess of Avatar is the fact that as far as i know , it is unique. There's not much about this film that anyone can find familiar. Granted , there are political undertones , and of course people , but for most of the film , humanity doesnt take the spotlight so to speak. The majority of the film is based from the perspective of the avatar , and therefore , the Na'vi , which makes it stand out from most movies. To many people seem to like Avatar because of the stunning visuals , not the actual story itself. I also found it quite refreshing to see a film where good and bad wasnt set out.

Not to restate things, but as Wselwulf mentioned, Avatar draws from a number of places. Hell, here's an entire article highlight any number of sources it might have used for inspiration. Most notable are Call Me Joe and Winds of Altair which both feature the whole "remote bodies" bit.

And frankly, I don't think the viewpoint of the Na'Vi makes it a unique film. It might have if the Na'Vi actually had an alien viewpoint - maybe if Cameron had focused more on the whole "Synch" thing how it might affect Na'Vi psychology. For example, explaining in a more satisfactory manner why no Na'Vi sided with humanity against their brethren - if perhaps Cameron had shown that Na'Vi find the concept of deceit or betrayal foreign due to the synch, which might explain why none of the African/Indian allegory aliens didn't side with the foreign invaders against their fellow tribes as the actual African/Indians did in real life (namely for firearms and medicine).

Instead we're treated to a viewpoint that is pretty much utterly human (which is why it resounds strongly with some) which isn't terribly unique as the whole coming to understand the culture of your fellow man is something movies explore over and over (ex. The Last Samurai, Dances with Wolves, any number of movies based in 1960's America about folks overcoming the racial divide, etc. )

I think its fair to say that Avatar is a great example of the fantasy genre. While films like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy were masterpeices in thier own right , i dont think you can compare one fanatasy film with another. They're far to diverse.

No films in a single genre are too "diverse" to be compared. Films from different genres, sure (comparing Titanic to Shoot 'Em Up is silly), but the same one? No way. After all, we'd have to say that within the context of the werewolf genre that we can't compare American Werewolf in London to Dog Soldiers or Darkwolf or such because "they're too diverse."

While you are probably quite right in saying that it is not the best film ever , i challenge you to define what the best film ever would have to be. I'm pretty sure your definitions would vary.

One that excels in every single area, naturally.

Of course, such a thing will never exist, much like any "best."

Terastas , you compared Avatar to District 9 , but im not sure that District 9 was that great a movie either. I don't know why , but i just didnt like the plot. It left alot of questions that cant be answered , but I'm more inclined to think that its probably just me being picky. I just didnt like it.

I much preferred D9's plot. To not get all the answers is more realistic - life doesn't spell out everything for you. And D9's characters were much more entertaining. Wikus was no Hollywood Hero, easily driven to give up everything for total strangers at the drop of a hat. I liked that. It's more real. I actually thought Wikus was going to be a small, bit character who'd die in a few minutes before the "Real hero" came along.

Instead this bumbling fool turns out to be our hero. And he goes from bumbling fool to a total bad a** slowly throughout the film, growing in competence.

It made for a more entertaining ride than the rather static personality of Jake Sully.

My point is that there can be no official movie that is the best film ever. Films are getting more shophisticated , and probably in a few decades some of the great movies of our time will fade. Ever , is just a timescale that makes it impossible to select the best film. Something better always lurks in the future. Personal taste is too much of a factor. I enjoyed avatar , but didnt like district 9. I liked Lord of the Rings , but am not so keen on Harry Potter. Fantasy appeals too much to our own taste , so who am i to say what is the best , when somone else has thier own opinion?

Just because everyone has their own opinion doesn't say someone else can't be of the opposite one.

[vrikasatma]

[Berserker]

A local grocery store has a deal where if you get a 2L of Coke, a package of popcorn, and a bag of gummy bears, you can get Avatar for $11.99. I figure that's a good deal.

[vrikasatma]

[Scott Gardener]

If tomorrow weren't my birthday, I'd have already gotten the thing by now. If I don't get it as a birthday gift, I'll still get it tomorrow or Monday. I've only seen it six times, and there's parts I haven't memorized yet, like Norm's dialogue in Na'vi when he says, "there's so much to learn."

[fredriksam]

Of course i have bought the Bluray/DVD combo. The picture quality on the Bluray is soooooooo good. My neighbours probably hate me for playing this movie very loud. Oh well, they would like the movie if i invite them for a nice movie night in my apartment.

And...... Neytiri is a sexy fox.....

[vrikasatma]

My friends and I got the DVD a few nights ago (because we live in Oregon and we're too dirt-poor to afford Blu-Ray ;) ).

We went straight over to their place (because I'm too dirt-poor to afford a television, period) and watched the movie. The store we bought it at had a deal where you can get a big box of Crunch 'n Munch (chocolate-caramel!) and a six-pack of popcorn for free, so we even had those

Ohhh, man. Felt great reliving the movie. It's been a couple months since I've seen it in the theatre and the passion has been building since. I started roleplaying in my head, "What if I was part of an expedition to Pandora, complete with avatars?" I guess I'd probably join the Horse Clans of the Plains and be an cultural xenoanthropologist-cum-artist.

We're planning on inviting a bunch of friends over tomorrow for a movie night. This movie is exciting enough to do that

[Morkulv]

With more then 100 years of moviemaking behind us, I don't think its a surprise that Avatar draws inspiration from other work.

[Xenofrobe]

When I first saw the movie, I loved it. Then in the month following that, I read tons of reviews picking apart every little flaw in the movie. When I got the dvd, all the magic was lost. I do like the CGI, I don't know what people are complaining about. It's some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen in a movie.

(Title of best movie ever goes to Donnie Darko)

[Berserker]

Avatar looked like crap on my TV at 720p. I guess the compression was too much for standard DVD. I'll have to catch it on blu-ray sometime.

[Xenofrobe]

I have an Xbox with HDMI and a 1080p 42" LCD screen. It looked fine to me.

[Aki]

Wow, Aki, you read Winds Of Altair, too One of my perennial sf favourites, would love to see it done as a film.

There are tons of Sci-Fi books I'd love to see make the jump to film. Problem is they won't for ages because Sci-Fi authors tend to stick to the axiom of "It's the nature of the future to be dangerous" and explore really controversial areas and issues.

S'why you have things like Star Wars (WWII in spaaaaaaace!), Firefly (Civil War followed by Wild West in spaaaaaaace!), Avatar (imperialism against natives, in spaaaaaaace) with only things like Star Trek having the stones to toe the line here and there.

Movies cost too much money to do things that might offend the audience. Which is kinda funny since controversial-ism tends to make people go see something just to "see what the fuss is all about."

With more then 100 years of moviemaking behind us, I don't think its a surprise that Avatar draws inspiration from other work.

Taking an entire plot wholesale and not changing it a bit is hardly 'inspiration.' You can draw from other work without telling the same story of "Man meets culture, joins culture and sides with it against his own people."

Trying to defend Avatar's plot is like trying to defend the plot of most action or horror flicks. Often it exists purely as a context for explosions (action movies) or teenagers getting butchered (horror) and Avatar's little different. It's story is little more than context for an eye candy buffet. This is not a bad thing, but it's exactly the reason that Avatar only won in the category of visuals at the Academy Awards.

[Morkulv]