Rate Avatar (James Cameron)

[Impeesa]

If the writing was actually lazy and hackneyed, the corporate guy would have died going into the third act while the military guy went off the rails, allowing the human side to throw away any consistent motivation for the sake of an explosion-filled finale. Search your heart, you know it to be true. Instead, their established relationships and motivations continue to matter even while we still get our explosion-filled finale.

Also, I liked how they showed the shared evolutionary roots of all the animals via the doubled forelegs, with even the flying creatures having analogous wing structures. This gave a nice physical parallel to the universal plug-n-play nervous systems, underscoring that interconnectedness. I love this sort of worldbuilding detail. It does frustrate me now, though, trying to figure out why the Na'vi don't have four arms. :|

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Joker]

It's a general criticism of the film. The writing is particularly cringe-worthy during the Tarok Macto speech.

I liked the film a lot and it's replaced Independence Day as my favorite action spectacle blockbuster. I just ignored what they said mostly and let my self be taken on a ride. This is American film making at it's finest in terms of entertainment.

I took my parents to it and they absolutely loved it. My mom was talking about it throughout the evening. They don't see as many films as I do but that doesn't lessen their opinion of it. They thought it was beautiful and totally engrossing.

 

[Joker]

The only thing I didn't like was the portrayal of the military, but technically these guys weren't true military. They had been at one time, but now they were a private corporate army. Essentially mercenaries. Although, very well organized, disciplined and equipped mercenaries. Very few people like that exist anymore in todays modern militaries. For most people in the military today, Honor is a very real and crucial thing.

Well, the military is pretty much a cross-section of a given society. You have people from every walk of life and every outlook. Most *people* would not be so sociopathic but some would as you say. However, mores and codes of honor may have changed dramatically as resources dwindled back on earth and people had to fight for basic needs. I mean, would you really respect the aliens' desire for life and prosperity if your own people were dying from whatever it is they're dying from?

 

[catsclaw227]

Uhmm...may I ask who you are responding to? I went back a page and a half (about a week and a half of posts), and didn't find anyone calling the writing lazy and hackneyed. Perhaps you can quote the person you're responding to, or if it's a conversation outside of the thread perhaps you could let is in on the discussion?

He may have been referring to this message post, where Canis called it lazy writing and later in teh post, when describing the lessons being taught future film-makers, he infers a "hack" writing style. I agree with the lazy part of Canis' comments, but not about lessons learned.

One good thing, is that this movie is generating discussion, and at least Cameron tried to inject a story with a message. Now, if only the message wasn't Sesame Street level intelligence and he didn't use a nuke to deliver the message instead of a rapier.

I want to see it again so that I can look deeper at the story instead of the visuals, but the world-building and level of detail expressed in that process was like nothing I've seen before in film.

 

[Impeesa]

Uhmm...may I ask who you are responding to? I went back a page and a half (about a week and a half of posts), and didn't find anyone calling the writing lazy and hackneyed. Perhaps you can quote the person you're responding to, or if it's a conversation outside of the thread perhaps you could let is in on the discussion?

Some people called it lazy (or implied as such by way of 'unoriginal' or 'predictable'), but I was also just making an observation on something a lesser writer might have done that they didn't. Had I stopped the movie halfway through to discuss, I would have put money on that guy dying.

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Aeolius]

There is a ride, in EPCOT at Disney World, called Soarin'. On this ride, you strap into a mock hang-glider while watching an IMAX-like screen. As the hang-glider turns and twists, you soar over different terrains. One terrain is an orange grove. You can literally smell the oranges, mainly because they pipe in the smell.

That is what Avatar needed - scents. Imagine if a cartridge-based device could be plugged into each theater playing Avatar and synced with the movie. You could smell flowers, wood burning, the musk of animals, and the stench of machinery. Another layer of immersion.

 

[Joker]

That is what Avatar needed - scents. Imagine if a cartridge-based device could be plugged into each theater playing Avatar and synced with the movie. You could smell flowers, wood burning, the musk of animals, and the stench of machinery. Another layer of immersion.

The smell of burning corpses, blood and napalm. When they're in space they should create a vacuum in the theater and flood the room with radiation.

Looking forward to it .

As an aside, does anyone hold their breath when a character on screen does so?

 

[Merkuri]

As an aside, does anyone hold their breath when a character on screen does so?

Sometimes, but I've come to the realization that characters in the media either have practiced holding their breath more than I have or are inhumanly able to hold their breath, so lately I've been having to tell myself not to do it.