James Cameron's Avatar

[snemmy]

Pretty amazing CG, awestruck the whole time. Didn't once forget it was CG though, as seeing 9ft tall cat people is apt to do.
But after 3hrs, my head hurts from overstimulation.
Blue boobies with some nipple flash and most often just barely covered by a feather!
15/10

Some good character and creature designs, but if all the animals have four arms why don't the Na'vi... everything has a connector though. O.o
The flora is amazing. Such beautiful plants and colors.

Storywise it's the same story we've seen quite a few times (Fern Gully), no surprises there, just some tech advances. Very safe. No one steps out of their tropes. You get the whole story in the trailer unfortunately.
2/10

Cinema changing epicness of a scale the world has never known?
0/10

[AMK]

But really, it was simply impossible for me to really take the movie seriously after hearing that the humans are after what is called "Unobtainium." The name is not even used in a humorous light, like it was in The Core, that's what James Cameron decided to call it.

Regardless, those robot suits look spectacular and the critters were well designed.

[evilmidget]

i pissed off quite a few people in the theater after it was over. i just simply screamed, "THAT WAS TERRIBLE!" and ran for it. all in all, the visuals were amazing, especially in 3D. but it was horrifically formulaic, the characters lacked depth, the bad guys were actually too bad (like, infuriating "put a bullet through their fucking heads already" bad), and i didn't even want a refund due to sympathy of the fact that this movie was four years in the making.

the hype is not worth it people. but if you are near an IMAX, by all means watch the fucking movie. it is best watched in IMAX 3-D. but truth be told, its only good to watch in the theaters. once it comes out on DVD, avoid it.

all in all, it was simply an experience. the fact that it has made so much money goes to show you how low our entertainment standards have gotten.

[Squeek]

Haven't seen it yet, but after watching the trailer it was clear that it was just a re-done story that has been done over and over..
like Ferngully, or Pocahontas, Disney's Atlantis (or the original anime version of it: Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water)
or I just recently watched District 9 and honestly the basis of that story was the same, as well...
Man hates race, wants something from race, man is forced to be around
race or becomes like them in some way,
man becomes sympathetic to race and fights in their favor.
(loved the movie, regardless..)

Not saying that we don't do this with almost everything that humans create..
"re-inventing the wheel" is something we have to do..as nothing is truly original anymore..
we're always building on something those before us have already done..
We make "fresh" ideas from the things we learn...
What makes things "original" or "unique" is different people's perspectives on those same ideas.

In other words, I don't expect a completely new story...
but I want to see it anyways b/c the CG looks amazing.
but yea, I don't expect it to be any sort of good on DVD...

[Slinker]

Is it only me, or do you get A LOT less impressed with special effects when the movie has one of the biggest wallet ever? I do. When like a thusand people work on those stuff I just can't get that impressed with what I've seen so far.

And among those things are because it really feels like a lot of people had to agree with eachother how things in the movie should look. It sort of lacks of style. Not saying all big budgets movie are like this. In fact, the really good similar once like Star wars, and Lord of the rings has a clear style throw the whole movie. You can watch any scene and you know instantly what movie it is. Not that I have seen avatar, just a couble of scenes and the trailers. But this is something I really feel is missing when I watch it. I would actually say the same with King kong in some ways. Try watch the making of king kong when they talk about how they worked with the audio in it. It will make the whole movie feel a bit overworked.

But I shoulod probably watch the damn thing before judging it. Just trying to figure out why I don't really feel like watching it at all.

[snemmy]

Squeek:
D9 still gets my vote as top scifi movie of the decade. Sure the story is the same as others, but it's the way it is presented. It still surprises you. You feel for the characters. Even though the main character is an utter douche, you root for him.

Avatar is without a doubt one of, if not THE most visually impressive movie I have ever seen. I can never fault it on visuals. But beneath that GORGEOUS coat of paint isn't much.

I feel bad and justified for ragging on it..but it frustrates me so much, just a little bit more work on the story and it could have been one of the most memorable movies of the decade. Over 10 years in preproduction and 300 MILLION dollars and that's your story?! WTF?!

I was with you at the start, you nearly made me eat my words. You built it up and built it up. This was going to be THE swing, the one that changes everything. You stepped up to the plate. You had the look, the stance, even I was waiting for the pitch and swing...
You hit the ball out of the park, farther than anyone has before. The crack was as if Thor himself swung mighty Mjolnir and struck down Loki for the final time...
Everyone stands there watching it in amazement, as you walk away smiling.... The crowd goes wild. The media goes crazy. You get a parade.
BUT it went foul staying just a foot or so outside the line....
I stand there, awestruck at the power and spectacle, thinking to myself, "but.. but.. It doesn't count. It's a foul ball..."
I tell people, they don't care, caught up in the frenzy of it all.

As it stands, it's just a few notches above Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and the Star Wars Special Editions. It will be memorable for the CG only, quickly eclipsed in a few years when the next big budget special effects movie comes out. It will become trivia questions in regard to the awesome new tech they developed to make the movie.

They played it too safe.
It's the world's most expensive, awe inspiring, exquisitely crafted, intricate, state of the art t-ball stadium.
The grandest, most glorious church ever created, beautiful music, amazing murals and stained glass windows, beautiful servants, comfy seats, free cookies, wherein the pastor says 'Be nice' and walks away.
It's enough to impress the natives and convert quite a few, but there's not a lot of 'stick' to it.

Terminator, Alien, The Abyss.. marvels of film, technology and great stories. What happened James?!
Even Twilight had a more original take on a classic story... o.o;;

[Slinker]

The best looking movie ever?

Intresting topic, I would probably give that title to several of movies. Perhaps even these:

House of flying daggers:

http://www.youtube.com/v/zLkedDMb ... re=related

Blood: The last vampire (James liked this movie aswell. )

http://www.youtube.com/v/tYnciEGup9k

Guess I am a sucker to asian stuff.

Lost in translation:

http://www.youtube.com/v/FNn-2CTXzAw

(Can't really explain how that one looks so good.)

Aaaaand Alien:

http://www.youtube.com/v/ojhGdRSkiUw

Yes, James made it to the list. But lets not forget an really awesome artists thats work on Alien gave it much of it's looks.

H.R. Giger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._Giger

These are movies that I watched hundreds of times just because they looks so fucking good. And are bareable to watch more than once. But yes, most of them has a good story too.

[alphatroll]

i pissed off quite a few people in the theater after it was over. i just simply screamed, "THAT WAS TERRIBLE!" and ran for it. all in all, the visuals were amazing, especially in 3D. but it was horrifically formulaic, the characters lacked depth, {....}

Funny, that was exactly my response after Stargate a decade ago! I still haven't walked out of any other movie that pissed off. I'll go ahead & heed the warning!

Is it only me, or do you get A LOT less impressed with special effects when the movie has one of the biggest wallet ever? I do. When like a thusand people work on those stuff I just can't get that impressed with what I've seen so far.

To put it another way, I'm definitely *more* impressed when they pull it off (relatively) on the cheap. Though really big crews don't bother me; it takes good leadership to keep them all on the same track, but I wouldn't expect a *small* group to take on such a big job.

Just re-watched Hellboy II last night, & though that wasn't a *small* budget, it *was* less than half of most big spectactular flicks that year, and I'd still much rather drop, say Transformers 3 in del Toro's hands than let Bay near it. They used digital effects when they *needed* to, not because they *could*. Prince Nuada's huge-ass troll buddy was *a guy in a suit*, with some CG face-paint for the more extreme expressions. That whole brawl scene was acted out *practically*, with just some wires to help Hellboy catch air, and impressive articulation to let the stunt guy do Mr. Link's moves. Every move was essentially *puppetry*. And if yer talking pure *looks*, ain't much that beats that one.

D9 still gets my vote as top scifi movie of the decade. Sure the story is the same as others, but it's the way it is presented.
{....}
Terminator, Alien, The Abyss.. marvels of film, technology and great stories. What happened James?!

D9 rates a 'Top Shelf' spot at the very least! I *know* that one had a pretty teeny budged by movie standards. And even though a lot of people dissed The Abyss, I enjoyed it just fine!

(& while I'm not usually impressed with baseball metaphors, that one was pretty dead on )

The best looking movie ever? Perhaps these:
House of flying daggers

If all movies looked *that* good, I'd get a catheter & a snack-fetcher & never leave the theater! And it *finally* nailed the ol' 'ninja' coffin shut; they just don't cut it after those "forest demon" guys

{....} Aaaaand Alien {....} they looks so fucking good. And are bearable to more than once.

Aaaaand budget? What budget?! And after *that* one you can't even *make* a suspenseful movie without dangling chains & dripping water. (Giger designs are still optional, but they sure don't hurt!) Being able to enjoy watching it at least twice *in a row* is one of my 'required' traits for anything to qualify as a *good* movie!

It occurs to me that Monster House was a good movie that might have been great with better visuals. But cases like that are few and far between! Visuals can *support* a movie, but they can't *make* a movie.

[Slinker]

Being able to enjoy watching it at least twice *in a row* is one of my 'required' traits for anything to qualify as a *good* movie!.

For me it's pretty much the oppsite. A movie can be fantastic for me, but I rarly wish to see it twice. If I do that, then the movie has really succeded for me. It's times like that you feel like you found some sort of holy relic.

And yes, Guillermo del Toro does some really good looking movies and the Transformers 3 thing is a great idea. But then, his probably busy with making the Hobit, so I guess we can leave crappy toy-movies for idiots like Bay.

[alphatroll]

And yes, Guillermo del Toro does some really good looking movies and the Transformers 3 thing is a great idea. But then, his probably busy with making the Hobbit, so I guess we can leave crappy toy-movies for idiots like Bay.

No! Nothing for Bay! Nothing!

If anyone can be said to have "stolen" their career, it's Michael Bay. Give me an extra half-hour to waste & I could find dozens of better-qualified directors. That unknown guy who made Terminator: Salvation is just one obvious case that comes to mind.

[Slinker]

Terminator: Salvation?

But that movie wasen't that good.

Well, better than Bay's transformers. But still, if we're gonna compare every director with Bay's standards we could aswell make them all direct Transformer 3.

[snemmy]

http://chud.com/articles/articles/21969 ... Page1.html

1996 version of script compared to the produced movie version.
Now THAT would have been epic!
That version would have cleared up all the problems I had with the movie and really pushed it to greatness.

[Slinker]

It's very easy to point at that kind of stuff and say "That would have been so much better!"

Good books usally have a better story than good movies.

But I agree that the idea sounds way more intresting.

[Squeek]

I'm going to wait to read that article until after I watch the movie...
b/c if I watch it now and then go see the movie- my brain might expect to see the elements of the original story in it...
and then I'd come out disappointed.

Squeek:
D9 still gets my vote as top scifi movie of the decade. Sure the story is the same as others, but it's the way it is presented. It still surprises you. You feel for the characters. Even though the main character is an utter douche, you root for him.

I wasn't trying to imply that it wasn't a good movie...I loved it like whoa...
I don't think it goes on the top of my list...but it was certainly good...
(though I didn't see it in the theater n all that...)
I was just trying to make the exact point that you made.
In that just b/c something doesn't have an original story (which most things don't)
doesn't mean that it can't be good.
It all just depends on how it's handled. It seems like, today,
American Hollywood just spends way too much time focused on trying to make a
visually thrilling/ epic movie, and ends up throwing the storyline to the side..


man.....now I want to watch the Abyss again..
I still remember the first time watching that movie...
I was absolutely blown away..

[subobeyliminal]

I was not impressed in the least by the story or the dialog, in fact, I found it to be incredibly mediocre.

The CG effects were stunning, (I was enthralled with the bioluminescent forest) but this film basically embodies the whole flashy FX > actual content trend that has been steadily consuming Hollywood these days.

My opinion on the story can be summed up with this.

Also, just recently watched Dances With Wolves and thoroughly enjoyed it.