James Cameron's "Avatar"

[CMH]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Also, I wish we could talk about race related subjects because there were some things in that film that made me quite uncomfortable but I digress. Even with all of that, I still think it was the best film experience I've had this year.

I refrained from talking to anybody about this after the film because I knew I wouldn't be able to on OS. I didn't want to even begin the discussion in my mind.

I didn't really feel like the film was too long. I did, however, feel that the excruciating exposition in the beginning of the film was way too long. So, maybe the film could have been shorter if the beginning was cut tighter.

And so people don't think I'm just down on the film, I will say that the actions sequences were nice and very well done. The CGI of the natives was impressive. The color palette in relation to real shots seemed a bit off in my mind, but I still haven't decided if that was done on purpose to show us the difference in "worlds" and people or if it's just my mind trying to tell me that it's CGI and not accepting the life-like capturing.

I'll admit that I was under the impression that the 3D would blow my mind away. I kept hearing/reading things like "you feel immersed" and I guess I expected something different. It honestly felt like another 3D movie to me. Was it a well-done 3D movie? Oh yea. It's not anything like the cheesy stuff from when I was a kid. But, I don't see the difference between this new camera and the regular IMAX 3D camera. As I said, Alice in Wonderland looked more impressive and even the Space Documentary using IMAX 3D was just as impressive.

[CMH]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

I forgot to mention that in my post...Alice In Wonderland in 3D is going to be CRAZY. The movie itself was going to be a journey but if you had 3D, I can't picture how realistic you are going to feel in the movie.

My friend said that she thinks it ruined Avatar for her.

I mean, she enjoyed the film, but she said that when she saw the Alice in Wonderland trailer, she expected Avatar to go above and beyond. In a way, Alice in Wonderland exceeded her expectations and Avatar suffered in comparison.

It's unfair, maybe, but when Avatar is filmed with a brand new camera that's supposed to change the 3D industry and it cost $300 MM to make, it's only human nature to expect your mind to be blown away. Especially when Alice in Wonderland looked as great as it did.

[bigfnjoe96]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Was Avatar in full IMAX for only several scenes, like The Dark Knight? Or was the movie completely shot for IMAX throughout the film?

I also saw it in IMAX. Not sure if the movie was shot with IMAX Cameras for the whole movie. I'll tell you I thought the giant screen was gonna over-whelm the movie. Boy was I wrong. In contrast the screen felt small while I watched.

[RockinDaMike]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Was Avatar in full IMAX for only several scenes, like The Dark Knight? Or was the movie completely shot for IMAX throughout the film?

The entire movie was in 3d imax from the 20th century opening. You had to keep your glasses on the whole time so I'm assuming it was imax 3d the whole time.

[Court_vision]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Didn't expect much...my wife made me go along to see it with her.

And it was AMAZING

Great film.

Best movie experience I've had for years.

[mattlanta]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Excellent movie. Zoe Saldana was the girl actress, and she did a very nice job. Very good movie, and I was very impressed... didn't really want to watch it that much before but I'd definitely say it was definitely worth the ~$10 I had to pay to watch it.

[The C]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

I'm eventually going to see it a second time but I've been thinking more about the story.

While it was cliche, I was still on the edge of my seat. The pacing and the presentation just kept me zoned in.

[sva91]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Great movie. Or maybe I should say great experience. It was the most gorgeous film ever created..by far. The colors, 3-D, textures....everything was amazing. I definitely recommend this film, in fact I feel obligated to let people know how good it was just so that Cameron can make enough money to make a sequel. And yes, I understand the storyline was very cliche and unoriginal, but the CGI and 3-D experience was so good and original it made up for any shortcomings. This will be the first movie in like 10 years I will go see at the theater more than once, hell I dont even buy DVD's of movies I have already seen.

[Thrasha]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Hopefully James Cameron has a repeat of Titanic opening.

The numbers show the film only took in about 73 million over the weekend. Some are already dubbing it a bomb. Though Titanic did have a pretty weak opening weekend before word of mouth catapaulted the movie to the highest grossing film of all time.

[CS10029]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

I’ve never been more visually impressed with a film and disappointed with everything else. The CG and 3D were amazing. I did get a little bit of motion sickness at the beginning of the film. Avatar is really beautiful.

The film was way too long. I was starting to get restless at about the 2hr 10 minute mark. The movie just dragged on. Avatar is full is clichés and I found the Neytiri character really annoying. I found myself rooting against her. There is no emotional connection to the story, universe, or any of the characters. While James Cameron might have spent more than 10 years developing this film, it looks like he spent 10 minutes writing it.

Movie Grade: C+

Haha, he developed an entire culture and language for the movie. Plus the movie stayed pretty interesting the whole way through, good pacing.

[aholbert32]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Hopefully James Cameron has a repeat of Titanic opening.

The numbers show the film only took in about 73 million over the weekend. Some are already dubbing it a bomb. Though Titanic did have a pretty weak opening weekend before word of mouth catapaulted the movie to the highest grossing film of all time.

I havent seen anyone dub it a bomb. Its the highest grossing debut film ever in December. It made 200 million worldwide already.

[Quarterbach]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

This was one of my 5 favorite films of this year. Number 1 being the Hangover.

[thaima1shu]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

Just saw it on IMAX 3D. Absolutely loved everything about it. The 3D was actually kind of understated, and I liked that. A lot. Gave the images on the screen an incredible amount of depth. Although I'm not even sure I was looking at a screen, as it did seem like I was looking through a window. The story itself I thought was solid. A few cheesy/corny lines here and there, but nothing downright terrible. I ended up caring about the characters and felt immersed into the planet. An amazing cinematic experience for me.

Hopefully James Cameron has a repeat of Titanic opening.

The numbers show the film only took in about 73 million over the weekend. Some are already dubbing it a bomb. Though Titanic did have a pretty weak opening weekend before word of mouth catapaulted the movie to the highest grossing film of all time.

http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2632&p=.htm

The advent of Avatar obtained $77 million on approximately 7,000 screens at 3,452 sites over the weekend, claiming the highest-grossing opening ever for a movie that's neither a sequel, a remake nor a direct adaptation (though others had greater attendance).

The important thing to note here is that, like the quoted part, Avatar is not a sequel, remake, or adaptation. It's done fairly well and has had a solid worldwide opening. It made more money worldwide than Transformers 2 did in its opening weekend. So I'd call it a success so far.

[Thrasha]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

I was just reading a couple blogs, I guess the author stating his opinion about it being a bomb considering the massive budget.

It's nice to see that it's not quite like the picture they were painting.

[CMH]

re: James Cameron's "Avatar"

The only ones with the right to call a movie a bomb because of its budget is the studio.

The budget doesn't affect the movie-watcher and I'm mostly disappointed that reviewers still base their opinion on this.