"Avatar"

[MikeBSG]

Has anyone seen "Avatar"?

I saw the "flat" version on Wednesday.

It was good, if long. Also, Cameron seemed to repeat a lot from his earlier work, such as "Aliens" "The Abyss" and "The Terminator." So I knew where things were going. But I didn't mind that, and I have to say that the look of the film was terrific.

Apart from Sigourney Weaver (who has a supporting role) and Stephen Lang (who plays the bad guy), I have to say that the cast was pretty non-descript. That was a big difference between this and "Aliens."

Hats off to Cameron for pursuing his vision for so long and finally bringing it to the big screen.

[knitwit45]

Mike, I really enjoyed it, I saw the 3D version on Weds. (The glasses eventually settled on my face, it took forever to find the right spot for them) My son liked it too, he sees a ton of movies, but he really didn't see the point of the 3D effects. I loved them, it gave the movie such depth, especially the flying scenes, both in the airships and on the creatures. The story wasn't new, but it was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I love visiting other "worlds", with their own languages, customs, etc.
The editing was bit choppy at first, didn't you think? Sigourney Weaver's character goes from active dislike to warm sympathy awfully quick, with no apparent explanation. Still, I really liked the movie, that bad dude was EVIL!!!!!!!

[MikeBSG]

Yes, I had a little trouble with Weaver's character. She didn't like the hero at first, but then warmed to him very quickly. Then she somehow was accepted among the Na'vi more so than the other characters, but then the hero became more Na'vi than her. It seemed as if her character was there because Cameron needed certain functions in the story fulfilled rather than she was an organic part of the story.

However, I would say that as a performer, Sigourney Weaver was very necessary to "Avatar." She provided the star power that the film doesn't really have.

[knitwit45]

I think it was mentioned that she had been a teacher to the Na'vi, and was accepted before JakeSully appeared. But the quick turnaround in her attitude was confusing, wasn't it? I might have to see it again to clarify a couple of points...maybe when it comes out on DVD.

[srowley75]

I vowed I'd never go to see a Cameron film again until he could produce something that had as much substance as flash. Titanic's critical reception and box office receipts were inversely proportional to its depth, and I could've virtually murdered Cameron for taking a true event with so much real-life poignancy and making a silly, petty soap opera out of it. If Cameron had done little else but transfer Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember into screenplay form, he'd have had a much, much better (and more accurate) film version of the disaster. Instead, as one might've presumed, the story and cast were fresh from the Hollywood marketing dept. - the type of thing you'd have seen from Cecil B. DeMille 75 years earlier, but updated with nudity to attract modern audiences. And I think it's safe to say that there won't be another Titanic movie made in our lifetimes, and this dud will likely color people's impressions of how things went down.

A recent poll of British movie fans rated Titanic the most overrated film of all time (I wish I still had the link, but it's been too long). And the fact that the film has gone from blockbuster to curio in the estimation of many a fan and critic should say something (of course, part of this is due to the transition from big to small screen, and judging from what I've heard, I imagine Avatar will suffer the same fate).

[MikeBSG]

I've been reading some "year in review" articles, and they caused me to remember that Stephen Lang, who is so good as the bad guy in "Avatar," was the sympathetic marshall/G Man in "Public Enemies." In fact, he was the only actor in that film, other than Johnny Depp, to stick in my memory.

[MikeBSG]

Now that the Academy Awards are over, does anyone have any comments on the failure of "Avatar" to get the big prize?

I'm glad "the Hurt Locker" won. "Avatar" was too long and the characters weren't that involving.

Cameron, in this week's Time (with Tom Hanks on the cover) basically said that a sequel to "Avatar" is inevitable.