Well, that was a such a dogmatic "indians win every time" movie that it lacked sufficient amount of elements of surprise. Yea, there were visually stimulating scenes here and there, but the movie as a whole left an empty feeling.
The movie was good looking and the music fitting except for that ending song, which I skipped and ran away from the theater.
The 3D was more or less non-existant or just different from what I expected. Very light.
Effects were pretty good. Didnt have that "Shit fuck how goddamn cheap and bad cgi this is" feeling at all during the movie. My gf is bugging me to go see it a second time.. so will see.. I wouldnt mind really. :P
The moment they step out of that "chopper" on Pandora and Sigourney Weaver's character says that one idiot with a gun would be enough I was LOL. If I had been the guy with the gun I would have replied: "If you ever get attacked by a wild animal, I promise, I won't shoot." :D
Awesome!! Go see it, you won't regret it!! (Well for those of you who don't get sick from the 3D effect that is.)
Be advised that you should go to the bathroom before the screening session and that you shouldn't drink anything before otherwise the last two hours of the movie will seem like an eternity. Judging by the "ralphing" noise in the toilet stalls afterwards, I'd say the mileage of your 3D experience may vary quite a bit. :D
So consider this your one and only warning!
FYI, these were the [URL="http://www.xpandcinema.com/products/glasses/"]3D glasses[/URL] that were used for the 3D screening.
Wow! I just saw it. More or less speechless from it.
But I can say this: Irregardless (:D) of the amazing effects. This is the first film in quite some time to engage me emotionally in not just the main plot, but also the characters.
Biggles<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fucking awesome.
Messiah: while I've found other movies this year to also be emotionally engaging, one thing that really pleased me about Avatar is that it has stunning visual and sound effects and excellent action scenes, as well as characters that I found to be believable and engaging. That's a rare combination in this world of baysplosions.
It is indeed Biggles. I also felt that the movie [i]focused[/i] on the story rather than the visuals, it felt like the stunning visuals were there to tell the story and not the other way around, unfortunately a rare occurrence today as well.
I didnt even remember that it was in 3d after about halfway through.
It was entertaining. I enjoyed the effects and the way the world and it's inhabitants interacted. My favorite scene was Spoiler: when Sully picked his flying-bird-thing
That said, it was fairly predictable and the message was quite heavy-handed. To the point of distraction. Several times it felt like I was sitting through a two-and-a-half hour sermon about the evils of 18th-19th century American expansion.
As we were leaving the theater I asked my wife, "So, do you feel bad now for what the US Government did to the American Indians?"
I went in knowing the movie was dancing with wolves in space. And you know what, who cares? There is nothing wrong retelling a story in a new way. Knowing what happens next can also be a great form of story telling. One of the basis of Greek Tragedies is knowing what happens to the hero before it happens.
We are so quick to forget our lessons from history. Already the same voices are now heard again. It can be heard as whispers in some parts of the country, or shouted with arrogant pride in others.
I think you forget that the message is the story, and the story is the message.
But in the end, for my tastes, the overall thrust of the message in Avatar was just as jarring and off-putting to me at times, as the last minute of RDM's Battlestar Galactica.
At least James Cameron had a more meaningful point to illustrate, in my opinion:)
I think the movie was setup such that everyone got a different message depending on his or her own background.
To me the message was a lot more general and not that political at all. I mean we all got his point about good versus evil, technology versus nature, so-called civilized versus tribal communities. He didn't cover new ground here.
The most important message for me was that nature will survive, whatever we do to it. In the end we may eradicate ourselves from the surface of our planet, but nature will prevail. It's up to us (or not) if we want to be part of this world or if we prefer to keep staying on this imminent train wreck that is globalization or not. Whatever we decide to do, life will prevail.
Climate change or not, it doesn't really matter. Nature will find a way. This planet has seen worse than us. If we just stopped navel-gazing and grew the heck up, we might actually stand a chance.
That's the message as far as I understand it, and then you add all the blows and whistles of SFX and 3D, great cast, story and action. What's not to like?
Well, it was just medium+ fantasy story for me, filled with the most common movie stereotypes which shouldn't be there.
Some mild spoilers may follow ahead:
Spoiler:
I mean, strict military commander who is planning world war XVII on some little rock... The usual "bad guy", who cares nothing but money with no respect from the crowd. Then these helpless creatures who fight a battle they can not possibly win, but then something odd happens and they win anyway. Then some cat porn, made me wonder how human and navi's make probably good looking children..
Of course, the money they have put in the movie shows. The CGI was great, but the 3D... meh... Not the next "great thing" unless you can find a way to get rid of glasses.
It took me half of the movie for my eyes to get used to 3D... But anyways, only great things in 3D were the HUD's, and some shiny particles giving some depth into the picture, everything else was on the way of sight. I also didn't like the way they focused the target in screen for me, even though I wanted to look other directions.
Then the sounds, I dont know who to blame, but they were awfully loud. I didn't enjoy the feeling of having some oversized blue smurf right next to my ear, screaming.
Anyway, I can give it 7,5 or 8 as far as the movie goes. The CGI is top notch, and ended up to be the only reason what made the movie worth watching.. But the story itself, we have seen this so many times that calling it epic is self-betrayal.
It took me just 5 minutes or so to get used to the glasses. They are battery powered, maybe yours had a problem. That's not the film's fault either.
[sp]There was no human/Navi mingling. Sully transferred his consciousness into his avatar at the end and left his human body behind. EDIT: Apparently the Navi models do not have genitals. :D[/sp]
Biggles<font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
Comments
The 3D was more or less non-existant or just different from what I expected. Very light.
Effects were pretty good. Didnt have that "Shit fuck how goddamn cheap and bad cgi this is" feeling at all during the movie. My gf is bugging me to go see it a second time.. so will see.. I wouldnt mind really. :P
And damn.. They should make a warhammer 40k movie using this technology! :D
The moment they step out of that "chopper" on Pandora and Sigourney Weaver's character says that one idiot with a gun would be enough I was LOL. If I had been the guy with the gun I would have replied: "If you ever get attacked by a wild animal, I promise, I won't shoot." :D
[IMG]http://www.geekologie.com/2009/12/19/avatar-spoiler.jpg[/IMG]
Awesome!! Go see it, you won't regret it!! (Well for those of you who don't get sick from the 3D effect that is.)
Be advised that you should go to the bathroom before the screening session and that you shouldn't drink anything before otherwise the last two hours of the movie will seem like an eternity. Judging by the "ralphing" noise in the toilet stalls afterwards, I'd say the mileage of your 3D experience may vary quite a bit. :D
So consider this your one and only warning!
FYI, these were the [URL="http://www.xpandcinema.com/products/glasses/"]3D glasses[/URL] that were used for the 3D screening.
Oh my god. I never have been so sad to have a movie end.
Biggles said it best.
That was [i]FUCKING AWESOME[/i].
But I can say this: Irregardless (:D) of the amazing effects. This is the first film in quite some time to engage me emotionally in not just the main plot, but also the characters.
Messiah: while I've found other movies this year to also be emotionally engaging, one thing that really pleased me about Avatar is that it has stunning visual and sound effects and excellent action scenes, as well as characters that I found to be believable and engaging. That's a rare combination in this world of baysplosions.
I didnt even remember that it was in 3d after about halfway through.
That said, it was fairly predictable and the message was quite heavy-handed. To the point of distraction. Several times it felt like I was sitting through a two-and-a-half hour sermon about the evils of 18th-19th century American expansion.
As we were leaving the theater I asked my wife, "So, do you feel bad now for what the US Government did to the American Indians?"
Worf
I went in knowing the movie was dancing with wolves in space. And you know what, who cares? There is nothing wrong retelling a story in a new way. Knowing what happens next can also be a great form of story telling. One of the basis of Greek Tragedies is knowing what happens to the hero before it happens.
We are so quick to forget our lessons from history. Already the same voices are now heard again. It can be heard as whispers in some parts of the country, or shouted with arrogant pride in others.
I think you forget that the message is the story, and the story is the message.
But in the end, for my tastes, the overall thrust of the message in Avatar was just as jarring and off-putting to me at times, as the last minute of RDM's Battlestar Galactica.
At least James Cameron had a more meaningful point to illustrate, in my opinion:)
To me the message was a lot more general and not that political at all. I mean we all got his point about good versus evil, technology versus nature, so-called civilized versus tribal communities. He didn't cover new ground here.
The most important message for me was that nature will survive, whatever we do to it. In the end we may eradicate ourselves from the surface of our planet, but nature will prevail. It's up to us (or not) if we want to be part of this world or if we prefer to keep staying on this imminent train wreck that is globalization or not. Whatever we decide to do, life will prevail.
Climate change or not, it doesn't really matter. Nature will find a way. This planet has seen worse than us. If we just stopped navel-gazing and grew the heck up, we might actually stand a chance.
That's the message as far as I understand it, and then you add all the blows and whistles of SFX and 3D, great cast, story and action. What's not to like?
Some mild spoilers may follow ahead:
Spoiler:
I mean, strict military commander who is planning world war XVII on some little rock... The usual "bad guy", who cares nothing but money with no respect from the crowd. Then these helpless creatures who fight a battle they can not possibly win, but then something odd happens and they win anyway. Then some cat porn, made me wonder how human and navi's make probably good looking children..
Of course, the money they have put in the movie shows. The CGI was great, but the 3D... meh... Not the next "great thing" unless you can find a way to get rid of glasses.
It took me half of the movie for my eyes to get used to 3D... But anyways, only great things in 3D were the HUD's, and some shiny particles giving some depth into the picture, everything else was on the way of sight. I also didn't like the way they focused the target in screen for me, even though I wanted to look other directions.
Then the sounds, I dont know who to blame, but they were awfully loud. I didn't enjoy the feeling of having some oversized blue smurf right next to my ear, screaming.
Anyway, I can give it 7,5 or 8 as far as the movie goes. The CGI is top notch, and ended up to be the only reason what made the movie worth watching.. But the story itself, we have seen this so many times that calling it epic is self-betrayal.
[sp]There was no human/Navi mingling. Sully transferred his consciousness into his avatar at the end and left his human body behind. EDIT: Apparently the Navi models do not have genitals. :D[/sp]
In other news, it looks like Avatar is going to beat Titanic for highest-grossing movie.
I heard from unverified sources that Avatar 2 is on the planning stage... I suppose that's better than having Titanic 2.
Worf