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#351925 - 12/21/09 08:14 PM
Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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bobalicious
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So much hype. So much dazzle. So much anticipation and build up that we need to clear all that away and ask the simple question: Is it a good movie?
And the answer is OH FUCK YES!!!!
James Cameron has made an absolutely awesome movie (something that is very rare these days). I enjoyed it so much, I honestly didn't want it to end! 160 minutes wasn't enough for me!
The visuals are amazing! Literally stunning. I am so glad that this is the first movie that I decided to see in 3D. There was a scene with small insects buzzing around and people were itching and swatting because it seemed so real and immersive. The animation was so believable that you just stop thinking about it and just enjoy it. The Pandorans seemed so surreal yet so realistic, it was amazing!
The story is simple, yes, but it is told so beautifully. You really do fall in love with the people (especially the half-naked blue ones). Zoe Saldana's character was fantastic, definitely my favourite character in the whole movie.
And thats it. I just got back about 20 minutes ago and had to vent that.
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#351931 - 12/21/09 08:54 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: bobalicious]
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unsupervised
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thanks Bob
I plan on seeing it over the holidays with my son and my g/f. The only mixed reviews I've heard are on the simplicity of the story line.
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#351933 - 12/21/09 09:16 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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bobalicious
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I actually think that a more complicated storyline would have taken away from the movie.
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#351958 - 12/22/09 12:56 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: bobalicious]
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OldFolks
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So far I only know that it's about a bunch of half-naked blue people. I wanna see it for the visual experience but what the hell is it about?
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#351959 - 12/22/09 12:57 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: OldFolks]
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OldFolks
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I'm old remember. I don't know about all these new fangaled folks.
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#352225 - 12/31/09 02:05 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: bobalicious]
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A V
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I actually think that a more complicated storyline would have taken away from the movie.
I agree. One big mistake that movies are making these days is creating a very complicated and confusing storyline, in my opinion. I think a lot of sequels suffer from this especially. Pirates of the Caribbean is a perfect example. The first one was great, and the story was fairly simple. but the second and third ones had very complicated and confusing plots, and I thought that those movies were terrible.
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#352350 - 01/02/10 09:50 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: bobalicious]
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JapanFan14
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Just saw it today with the family and I really did love it. Neytiri sounds like my aunt it's scary. And her mother sounds like chia haha.
It was like watching a really cool version of the history channel. The treatment of indigenous people in Africa and America is pretty similar to the Na'vi.
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#352358 - 01/03/10 12:35 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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bobalicious
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Yeah, it was definitely worth waiting the 12 years.
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#352376 - 01/03/10 06:57 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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unsupervised
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I actually think that a more complicated storyline would have taken away from the movie. I agree. One big mistake that movies are making these days is creating a very complicated and confusing storyline
yet, I find a typically dumbed down, Hollywood plot to be absolutely insulting. Like I said about Avatar, the heavy handed plot elements were distracting. The army guy, the corporate guy, the science girl... all totally flat characters. I don't know about you but I think I would have understood the plot even if the characters had a bit more natural human duality.
Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But I cannot defend the lack of originality or depth in the story.
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#352378 - 01/03/10 07:37 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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A V
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I actually think that a more complicated storyline would have taken away from the movie. I agree. One big mistake that movies are making these days is creating a very complicated and confusing storyline yet, I find a typically dumbed down, Hollywood plot to be absolutely insulting. Like I said about Avatar, the heavy handed plot elements were distracting. The army guy, the corporate guy, the science girl... all totally flat characters. I don't know about you but I think I would have understood the plot even if the characters had a bit more natural human duality. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But I cannot defend the lack of originality or depth in the story.
I agree that "dumbed down" movies can be insulting. But I don't necessarily agree that a simple story means a dumbed down movie. There can still be a simple overall story that still goes very in depth into things like the theme or characters. I actually find that some of the movies with an overly complicated plotline are "dumbed down" or insulting to one's intelligence. A lot of these movies just try to throw everything that they can into one movie, with all these plots and sub-plots, and countless twists and turns. And then, of course, other movies just have explosions and destruction galore with no real story (2012).
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#352397 - 01/04/10 10:43 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: bobalicious]
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OldFolks
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Saw Avatar it was good, visually stunning anyway. I thought the storyline was lifted almost verbatim from Dances With Wolves. Beyond here may be a spoiler so quit reading if ya don't want to know. I went to see it with my wife and my cousin. My cousin and I, as NDNs, both walked out of the theater depressed. We both know there's no stopping whitey when there's valuable resources at stake. He'll be back in 13 years to take what he wants. The big blue guys will be rounded up and herded onto the least desirable part of the planet. There will be developments all over the floating mountains with condos going for ten million each... more if your next to a waterfall. Big game guilds will be selling the ultimate safari experience to big game hunters, until all the dangerous animals are cleared out for corporate lumber ventures. The people of plains will have to be reined in so as not to get in the way of farm expansion to feed the ever growing earthly population. And finally the people of the sea board will be out fished and face near starvation as commercial fishing strips populations of edible fish that they then sell back on earth for premium. Pandora in three or four generations will be criss crossed with roads and the atmosphere will be altered to better suit human habitation. Think about it the natives where getting there asses handed to them when all they could muster was around 2000 warriors until E'wa stepped up and sent a bunch of animals to help them out. And we know a few rogue animals and some hapless natives with bows and arrows are just kiddy play for whitey. He'll be back and he'll be pissed and killing off three-quarters of population with germ warfare just to soften 'em up.
My cous' and I both found it depressing and don't care to see it again. All this shit has already happened many places on earth and is still happening to people of the amazon and south and central America and many other aboriginal places the world over but I imagine we as a society will have more sympathy for these fictional blue guy than we will for real people that inhabit our world who are facing the same challenges.
Long and short, if your a native... don't expect to come out of theater feeling good.
I did love Up In The Air, would love to see it again.
Edited by OldFolks (01/04/10 11:48 AM)
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#352513 - 01/06/10 07:05 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: JapanFan14]
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bobalicious
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And the scenery made it all the more... ahmayzeeng.. 
I loved the scenery so much in the movie. So much so that I actually got the software they used. Its called Vue.
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#352520 - 01/06/10 10:39 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: JapanFan14]
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OldFolks
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Well get ready, when the dvd is released it's going to include an extended sex scene... or so I heard this morning.
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#352523 - 01/06/10 11:12 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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unsupervised
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I hope it's not too extended, the poor guy already has blue balls
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#353296 - 02/08/10 10:48 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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thor
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Well get ready, when the dvd is released it's going to include an extended sex scene... or so I heard this morning.
It figures...I'm surprised it wasn't included in the cinema release.
But I agree with you that it reminded me VERY much of Dances with Wolves...all except the very ending. But that's the happy-ending of a fairy-tale (Avatar) contrasted with cold reality (Dances with Wolves). In fact, the tribal leader in Avatar is portrayed by the same full-blooded Cherokee that appeared in Dances with Wolves, and who also played "Magua" in "Last of the Mohicans"...can't remember his name off hand.
I don't understand, though, what all the religious hype was about. While I see the natives hold a reverence for their planet, it's not really a God...it's a scientifically explainable entity (with a lot of mystery involved). That's what the audience is lead to believe, I think. But the symbiosis is much more direct (and therefor apparent) than what we have in our world. I think the movie makes (or tries to) much more of an environmental statement than a religious one.
BTW, I understand that there WILL be a sequal.
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#353298 - 02/08/10 12:27 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: thor]
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sdp
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I just saw it on Saturday.. Pretty cool. It took me a little while to acclimate to the 3-D. The computer graphics/animation is pretty amazing compared to what I've seen when my kids were younger.
Knowing what was discussed here, I agree that the religeous hype was over the top.
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#353303 - 02/08/10 02:51 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: thor]
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bobalicious
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BTW, I understand that there WILL be a sequal.
They better not. The story was told, it was fun. Any sequal would just have the humans coming back and being fought off again, which as Scotty said above, wouldn't happen. The humans would probably nuke them from orbit and then take what they want.
And Magua was played by Wes Studi. I love that film!
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#353314 - 02/09/10 04:54 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: bobalicious]
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NtroducingMyself
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BTW, I understand that there WILL be a sequal.
They better not. The story was told, it was fun. Any sequal would just have the humans coming back and being fought off again, which as Scotty said above, wouldn't happen. The humans would probably nuke them from orbit and then take what they want.
Actually there will be a Sequel.. actually two. Each one will take off right where the other left off.. Cameron already announced it. 
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/01/08/ava...ed-like-to-see/
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#353317 - 02/09/10 06:25 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: NtroducingMyself]
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OldFolks
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A sequel.... Ehhhh. I'm more looking forward to the Cohen brothers remake of True Grit starring Jeff Bridges and Mat Damon. It's supposed to be more authentic to the book and remain a story told from Matty Ross's perspective.
There was another film I heard about that won't be out for awhile but I'm really looking forward to. I can't think of what it was though.... I was thinking about it when I started this reply.... age....
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#353321 - 02/09/10 08:46 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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damien
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A sequel.... Ehhhh. I'm more looking forward to the Cohen brothers remake of True Grit starring Jeff Bridges and Mat Damon. It's supposed to be more authentic to the book and remain a story told from Matty Ross's perspective.
This has the makings of the perfect movie. I can't wait.
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#353325 - 02/10/10 01:36 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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damien
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my concern is that Cameron had years to write and refine the first story.
It took years to write thatstory?!? My 6-year old nephew could've written it in 30 minutes.
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#353326 - 02/10/10 01:57 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: damien]
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unsupervised
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so you've seen it then.
I also read that there was significant sections of subplot removed to make it more appealing to the general slack-jawed, mouth-breathing public
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#353327 - 02/10/10 04:56 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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thor
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I also read that there was significant sections of subplot removed to make it more appealing to the general slack-jawed, mouth-breathing public
This is not so unusual with long films. A film has to be considered by the industry execs to be pretty rivetting before they allow it to go on so long...and even then, they consider themselves to be taking a chance that that audiance won't just get up and walk. Gone are the days when you're given a chance to think during a movie...and, as you allude to, for there to be anything there worth thinking about to begin with. This also, indirectly, allows for "Directors cuts" and "extended versions" to be released later, with the added incentive for purchase that you might get something extra. With "The Lord of the Rings", the extended versions are worth picking up, in my opinion. Usually I don't think it's worth it, though.
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#353328 - 02/10/10 06:30 PM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
[Re: thor]
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bobalicious
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This also, indirectly, allows for "Directors cuts" and "extended versions" to be released later, with the added incentive for purchase that you might get something extra. With "The Lord of the Rings", the extended versions are worth picking up, in my opinion. Usually I don't think it's worth it, though.
If you like Directors Cuts then you need to find a copy of the Richard Donner cut of Superman II. He originaly filmed both the first and second movie together but delayed Superman II to finish the first movie. But due to disagreements with the producers, he wasn't brought back to finsh it and the story was changed so much by the new director. All that stupid crap at the end with him having weird new powers, not to mention that about 15 minutes of Marlon Brando footage was removed.
Its definitely worth a watch, just to see what the movie should have been like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_II:_The_Richard_Donner_Cut
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#353331 - 02/12/10 01:33 AM
Re: Avatar (there had to be athread about it)
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damien
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Nope. But I've heard the "plot", read "plot" summaries, read reviews and criticisms of the "plot" - the most frequent being there isn't much of a plot.
I could see where it would take years to produce a film like Avatar. But I doubt much time was given to the plot.
I will see it in a theater hopefully.
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