James Cameron's Avatar

[Silent Hunter]

I seriously hope and pray to Jesus-on-a-Buddha that it isn't some bizarre desire not to see any "furry movies" that inexplicably kills Avatar at the box office. That will be too stupid for words.

No offence but furries are pretty much obscure as far as general knowledge of them goes. I bet 9/10 that you if you asked someone going to see Avatar what a furry was, they'd not know or give you a different answer. To be blunt, furries are not that important that such an event that you fear could happen.

[Sebiale]

Most people don't know what furries are. I doubt they'll recognize an alien as a furry until they are actually in the theatre.
Spill.com isn't very high on my list of movie critics.

[PariahPoet]

Saw the midnight show last night. It was pretty darn cool. The 3D effects were actually really good. It was a little preachy and the story wasn't anything new, but it was pretty enough that I can forgive that.
The previews made it look more like a fighting movie, but there's a lot more to it than that(Think- Dances with Wolves, not G.I. Joe).

All in all, I think I liked it well enough to buy when it comes out just to see the lovely visuals again.

[Sebiale]

Alot of Dances with Wolves references.

[Terastas]

No offence but furries are pretty much obscure as far as general knowledge of them goes. I bet 9/10 that you if you asked someone going to see Avatar what a furry was, they'd not know or give you a different answer. To be blunt, furries are not that important that such an event that you fear could happen.

I'd like to believe that, but every time I try to tell myself furries are still obscure/unknown, somebody else in the media always seems to come out and make a random furry joke.

This week it was Spill.com. The last time was in October, and the guy that made a comment about them was Jay freakin' Leno.
Would I like to believe that furries are pretty much obscure? Yes. . . But it gets harder and harder every day.

[Gevaudan]

There was also a lot of indirect references to the story of Zhuangzi dreaming that he was a butterfly. And I agree with PariahPoet; I've heard most of the lessons taught by this movie before. Even so, the way that James Cameron presented it all was breathtaking.

[IndianaJones]

I watched Avatar last night. James Cameron's new movie is great! The story is similar to 'Dances with the Wolves' and the other Native-themed movie with bad humans trying to steal and take over their lands. The CGI is wonderful, most part of the film look realistic, including the natives themselves. The human vehicles look realistic as well. It's interesting how they make the blue humanoid's world, it is very alien and beautiful.

This movie made the humans look bad, because they're doing a wrong thing. Greedy, ignorant, and arrogant, but those are just the negative traits.

I would recommend most people to see this movie. Since it is kind of 'different.'

[Morkulv]

Just saw a couple of scenes of the movie at a friend who had a pirated version on his computer. My first impressions are that for a movie that supposedly is in the works for 10 years or something its quite disappointing and I wasn't exactly blown away by what I saw. Maybe its because of the hype, and I'm still going to watch the complete movie ofcourse hopefully in theater, but I'm not having really high hopes for this one.

[Gevaudan]

Just saw a couple of scenes of the movie at a friend who had a pirated version on his computer. My first impressions are that for a movie that supposedly is in the works for 10 years or something its quite disappointing and I wasn't exactly blown away by what I saw. Maybe its because of the hype, and I'm still going to watch the complete movie ofcourse hopefully in theater, but I'm not having really high hopes for this one.

It's because you saw it on a computer. It translates much better on the big screen, especially in 3D, than it does to a TV or a computer. People who were skeptical of the trailer online were blown away by the actual movie. Trust me; it's better than it looks.

[Sebiale]

Just saw it on Imax SXHD. No 3-d, which if the visual are anything to go by, would be beyond fantastic.
That said, Avatar is awesome, 9/10.
Without a doubt the most realistic CG ever made. Just astounding visuals.
Quatrich is a f*** bad-a** marine.
My only issue was that the ending was kind of deus ex machina. Even with the possible explanations for it. And Jake's original flyer kind of disappeared...

"Opening to critical acclaim, it grossed an estimated $27 million on its opening day and an estimated $77,025,481 domestically on its opening weekend. Worldwide, the film grossed an estimated $232,180,000 on its opening weekend, the ninth-largest opening-weekend gross of all time, and the largest for a non-franchise, non-sequel and original film."
"adjusted for inflation, it would rank second after The Da Vinci Code regarding a non-franchise, non-sequel opening"
-Excerpts from Wikipedia

[fredriksam]

This is a really really great movie. I give it 10/10. I,ve seen it quite alot of times already (could be because i work in a cinema). On the premire showing, the audience clapped their hand at the end of the movie. This is very unusual in Sweden.

Also i,ve seen many staying for the funny outtakes. Mostly people just exit the saloon very early.

We dont have 3D System on the theatre i,m working at, but we do have new speakers installed. Also we have a new system to detect "pirating". Fox have make sure this is installed on most theaters, which is a good thing.

So far, every showing of Avatar has been sold out.

As for the movie, Its cool to see where humans are bad and aliens good. Also good that Cameron teach us to be more gentle with nature and start hugging trees.

I really like some of the creatures in the movie. The Thanator is wicked cool and of course, The banshee. Who wouldnt like to fly on a banshee? Then we have the navi. Especially Neytiri. The love scene is kicking good.

Only bad thing with the movie is the ending song. It sounds like "My heart will go on" all over again. Could have been better song there.

Top rate from me.

[Sebiale]

Really? Doesn't sound anything like Titanic theme to me. Only similarity is that it's in the same genre of music.

[Scott Gardener]

I saw Avatar two days ago, and I was really blown away! I can honestly say that I think this is Cameron's best work, topping even The Abyss and Terminator 2 easily. I can't stop thinking about it or the images within it. It is haunting and beautiful. Critics may say that the story and characters are simplistic, predictable, or re-hashes of old ideas, but they said the exact same thing about Star Wars, and they may have been right. The important thing with both is that the stories are very layered, with a simple outer layer floating over numerous deeper textures and undertones; and, if you can let go and let yourself feel the story, it will burrow deep into your subconscious. Not many movies can hang with you this way; it's been awhile.

I can't stop thinking about this thing. Each time I close my eyes, I'm watching it again. When I go to bed at night, I expect to wake up a Na'vi. Apparently, I'm not the only one, either, as I see those haunting bright yellow eyes on blue on every other web page from entertainment news to DeviantArt fan art. But, everything else reminds me of the movie, too. I am at work, adjusting my pony tail, and I'm thinking about the symbiotic linking ability. I think about having to take down the Christmas tree, and suddenly I feel a twinge of guilt about doing anything to trees that glow. I bet half-way into tomorrow, a dandelion seed will find its way onto my shoulder, or someone will be playing "Blue Man Group" or watching "The Smurfs."

Go, see it. If you just want a brainless action film in which things blow up, prepare to be brain-whacked, but you'll get more action and visual effects in this movie than you can squeeze out of an X-Box 360 in a week, so you won't be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you enjoy and long for thought and emotion, this will be an even greater sensory overload. And, if you're a Therian, Wiccan, Otherkin, or otherwise prone to experiencing a metaphysical calling, you'll kind of get the feeling that someone else out there gets it.

[Sebiale]

I already know some people who have seen it three times.

My father refuses to believe it could even get close to Titanic's income, adjusting for inflation. He doesn't seem to think that demographics have changed since the days of Titanic...
Nerd explosion.

[outwarddoodles]

For those who were a little more than disappointed* in regards to the plot in Avatar, Cameron's original vision may have been worth more hype: http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/2 ... Page1.html

* I wasn't really so much dissapointed, as much as I didn't expect much from the story line in the first place and saw the movie to prove it.

[Sebiale]

For those who were a little more than disappointed* in regards to the plot in Avatar, Cameron's original vision may have been worth more hype: http://www.chud.com/articles/articles/2 ... Page1.html

ZOMG 0.0
That would have bene so much better.
Minus the original name, I prefer Jake.

[Scott Gardener]

The original draft would have taken too long. At two and a half hours, it's already pretty epic. If the original ran any less than four hours, it would have felt rushed or too complicated to follow. Audiences love a great movie, but they have to pee at some point.

I agree that the expanded plot points might have been more interesting, but part of the beauty of Avatar was that in its final form, it was just layered enough, just simple enough, and the right length. Star Wars was a great movie with a straightforward main story coupled with layers upon layers of undertones and implied back-story. We're left to wonder about a lot. By comparison, The Phantom Menace vomits everything it can at you and tries to squeeze in as much painstakingly developed background. I know it's an extreme example of contrast, and by comparison, Project 880 would probably have still been pretty spectacular. But, I think Cameron made the right decisions.

As a side note...

http://scottgardener.deviantart.com/art ... -149925746

[outwarddoodles]

Dances with Wolves is nearly 4 hours long. >_>

[RedEye]

After reading the comments on the original scriptment; my take is this:

Done as per Script, it would have been too complex for the audience it's intended for.
The intended massacre of the Na'avi at Home Tree is too overdone.
And finally, Pandora giving any humans who return a virus that will destroy humanity means...
NO SEQUELS!

That last part alone would have triggered a re-write.

[Terastas]

And finally, Pandora giving any humans who return a virus that will destroy humanity means...
NO SEQUELS!

Well, it was only a threat of giving a virus. Though I could think of a few possible ways in which there could have been a sequel (such as the integration of the human element into the Na'vi increasing their awareness to the point of thinking/acting against the will of the hive mind), but yeah, omitting the virus threat leaves room for a lot of additional possibilities with the sequel.

[vrikasatma]

[Chris]

And finally, Pandora giving any humans who return a virus that will destroy humanity means...
NO SEQUELS!

As mentioned, it was only a threat of a virus. It says right after that, that it's not true.

I do have to wonder, though. Assuming the estimated length of the script was around 4 or 5 hours or so, if it wouldn't have been better to expand on it a bit, then make it a trilogy. IIRC, that's exactly what George Lucas did with the original Star Wars.. he had a (rather lengthy) script, and was told there was no way they could fit it all into a movie. It would've been too long. But instead of cutting it down (and losing several characters and their histories/motivations/etc, background info, and even the entire reason for the events of the story), he expanded on what he had and went on to make it the trilogy we know today.

Just imagine if we skip past most/all of Luke's introductory scenes, never see his (adoptive) get killed or even get mentioned, get very little reason for Luke's Jedi training, having Han Solo and Chewie get the cut, Darth Vader's role massively reduced, etc, so it could all to fit into a single (if lengthy) movie. Sure it could still be good (difficult not to be with Mark Hamill in the lead), but it would be missing a lot of what made it extraordinary. Having read the ideas for Project 880's story, I can't help but feel this is what happened to Avatar.. we got a good Pocahontas clone, instead of a potentially extraordinary piece of cinema.

[John Wolf]

Good movie, I liked the blue aliens and they won in the final part.

[Terastas]

You can tell it's a good movie because the Republican Party and the Vatican have both decided to weigh in on it.

Heaven forbid anyone should ever be exposed to new ideas or think for themselves. You can tell a lot, both about a single individual or a whole group of people, I believe, based on what in the media they choose to express their offense to.

Republicans: "Foul! Foul! Liberal propaganda! Liberal propaganda! Foul! Foul!"
Vatican: "Foul! Foul! Nature worship! Nature worship! Foul! Foul!"
Us: "Shaddap! We're trying to watch the movie!"

[alphanubilus]

You can tell it's a good movie because the Republican Party and the Vatican have both decided to weigh in on it.

Heaven forbid anyone should ever be exposed to new ideas or think for themselves. You can tell a lot, both about a single individual or a whole group of people, I believe, based on what in the media they choose to express their offense to.

Republicans: "Foul! Foul! Liberal propaganda! Liberal propaganda! Foul! Foul!"
Vatican: "Foul! Foul! Nature worship! Nature worship! Foul! Foul!"
Us: "Shaddap! We're trying to watch the movie!"

You forgot...

Decomcrats: This is what happens when Global Warming runs rampent.