Review: Avatar (what did you make of the movie?)

[Meadow Whisper (Natasha)]

Ah, apparently so. I'd merge them, but I have no power here.

[Myles Shadowsun]

The movie would have been a lot better if they had spent more time building on the relationships between the main character, the scientists, and the military. Then again better if no-one listens to me since if I had it my way most films like this would be 5 hour long Epics. Amazing visuals, though. And James Cameron ended up making a billion with it so I guess any flaws in the film's plot don't matter.

[nickrak]

I thought it was a great movie in all areas except one... 3d, which I still blame on the fact that we just don't have the technology to make a legitimately good 3d film.

From a technical standpoint, everything was filmed high aperture, which creates a heightened sense of depth of field. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of what you want in a 3d film, the purpose of 3d is to allow your eye to focus anywhere on the screen and see an image as if you were actually able to see into the screen. The RealD system is just dual camera recording, overlayed using polarized projectors. So, consequently, the image in 3d is great if you are focusing where the camera is... but if you attempt to look at the background (or rather anywhere out of focus), your brain gets confused cause the rest of the screen is 3d, but you can't focus on this part... resulting in me leaving the theatre with a headache, and wishing I'd seen the 2d and had the extra 3 bucks back in my pocket. This film was obviously not designed from the beginning to be 3d, which was added during the sfx stages. So, many scenes appear to be made for 3d, with things popping off the screen inches from your face.. while others looked flat and fuzzy...

Overall, I enjoyed it, the storyline was not completely original, but they played it out so well that you don't really notice. Avoid the 3d and I'll give it 5 stars.

[Milo]

The movie started out good, but after the 2nd hour, I was ready to leave. It was soooo long! Maybe if they cut it by half an hour I'd say more possitive things on it. But seriously, they should've kept all the money from Avatar and District 9 to continue making the Halo movie. That would've been a movie of a lifetime!

[Varlen]

Using a weak-to-average storyline designed for a videogame and applying it to a movie is the movie of a lifetime? No. The Films that will define our generation of movie-making is either The Lord of the Rings or the Matrix trilogy. That, or we'll be remembered as comic-geeks who hate to read. Srsly, what's with the endless comic based movies? They totally suck.

On topic: I read in a movie-mag (forget which one now) that for every second left in the final cut of Avatar, there was a fifth of a second edited out, which is about an hour of story line left on the floor. Man, the directors-cut will be as long as Long Cat. I mean, SRSLY. Four hours of movie? That's like two of any other film, and then some!

[AK]

Using a weak-to-average storyline designed for a videogame and applying it to a movie is the movie of a lifetime? No. The Films that will define our generation of movie-making is either The Lord of the Rings or the Matrix trilogy. That, or we'll be remembered as comic-geeks who hate to read. Srsly, what's with the endless comic based movies? They totally suck.

On topic: I read in a movie-mag (forget which one now) that for every second left in the final cut of Avatar, there was a fifth of a second edited out, which is about an hour of story line left on the floor. Man, the directors-cut will be as long as Long Cat. I mean, SRSLY. Four hours of movie? That's like two of any other film, and then some!

I fully plan to buy it, if it followed the drafts of the script I read it should be an almost completely different movie unedited.

[Aragon]

Question: Would you recommend it to use a free movie tuesday pass on, or wait till it comes to DVD release. Just wondering since I have had mixed emotions from everyone I have talked too

[Acrisuis]

Probably see it in the cinema. I imagine that this movie would lose a lot of the 'wow' factor on the small screen

[Aragon]

I got a 56 inch plus surround sound XD but I will keep trying to get Milo to go to it...even though he doesnt want to XD. Thanks for the response though
-Aragon

[Mertiwillow]

Im going to go see this over the weekend sometime. I might take one of my buddies with me, but one of them has already seen it and said it was really good

[Meadow Whisper (Natasha)]

Finally saw it, and I absolutely loved it!  Especially in 3D, wish we would've gone to the IMAX one though.  Maybe next time.

That said, I have no delusions of it being some cinematic masterpiece; that doesn't make it any less enjoyable or fun though.  Especially to someone like me who's quite the treehugger

[EmmiKat]

I agree, the plot was so so, we've alls seen it before. None of the characters really had a unique personality...but the movie was still SDKFHAJS INCREDIBLE. The special effects were amazing, and just....beautiful. I actually felt a longing to visit Pandora when I was watching the movie.

Also, I want to be a Navi....seriously.

[Kambo]

I just got an opportunity to watch it last night in IMAX 3D. I havn't seen a 3D movie for a couple of years, so it was pretty dang cool. As far as the story goes, I think the makers had a choice between really long and decent vs. normal length and a story that moved too fast. If you have the endurence to watch it that long, I'd say it was really good.

[CJ the Husky]

I loved this movie!!!!!! I was able to see it in the IMAX in 3D which was amazing! I have seen it twice, and the movie just amazes me. I think it was very well done, yet the plot is very predictable, but I enjoyed it, and still want to go see it again!

[Wolfbaine]

Okay, I just got back from seeing one of the most eye opening movies I've ever seen: Avatar. It was a beautiful experience and I've heard so much about how gorgeous the scenery and images in the film, I wasn't disappointed. The world of Pandora was filled with imagination and wonder. The imagination the creators of this world have such open minds and creative instinct that it really makes you think twice about the people who think with the right side of their brain. But I actually found more beauty in the story of the movie. How man's goal to prosper has the effect of hurting the world around us.

 As I sat there watching the military hurt this magnificent world, I wondered so much about where I am today. How many animals were hurt to give me this home where I type these words? How many homes were destroyed? How many lives were taken? Some people believe that creatures we do not understand are savages, such as the Na'vi. But who are the real savages? The ones who are strange and unnatural, or the ones who judge them and destroy so that they can develop? I thought, "Am, I savage?", "Are my friends savages?", "Is my family savages?" because we are now living upon land which was not originally ours? And, there's no real answer to that question. What truelly makes a person a savage is the actions they make. The choice is ours when it comes to being a good person.

Unfortunately, for some of us, it takes the sight of pain and despair in another's eyes to see the negative decisions we have made. That's why it's to important that there are people like the character Jake Sulley in the world we live in today. People who have the purity in their hearts to discover how others will be effected by their decisions. He didn't need to see the torture of the Na'vi people to know the difference between right and wrong.

All he needed to see was the beauty of Pandora and the beauty of the Navi's hearts. And with his purity came his passion to care for the Na'vi. That's what people who have this purity in their hearts do. They make sure that the ones they care for are not hurt in any way, shape, or form. That they do all that's in their power to make sure that the ones they care for are happy and safe. And that's why it hurts even more when you fail.

 But, when you fail, you need to keep going, because when you quit, that's when you truly have failed. Persistance, love, and the good in people's hearts is what makes this world of ours spin. Life brings us many disasters, such as the one in Avatar, (not saying what it is, in case you haven't seen the movie yet) and the best thing we can do is hope there are those out there to help us through them. The way I see disasters is that there are 3 people involved. Take a car accident for example, there's the person who watches the crash, the one who causes the crash, and the one that helps whoever was in the crash. I'm not even sure myself which of these 3 I am.

I only know who I can try my best to become and hope that it follows through in my life until my last breath. This movie has opened my eyes more to the way life works and the cycle we all must go through. We must not forget that the homes we live in today were once homes to other creatures which are now gone. And we must remember to respect the world around us. Mother nature has given us so many blessings and it's our duty to her to care for these gifts. The gift of life, joy, and life. We must remember that all life is precious. Whether it is the enormous elephant, walking through the savana, or the miniscule housefly, buzzing through the air. We must take into consideration that all life has meaning, and that no race or species is more important than the next.

We are all equal in the eyes of life and we must treat all so. The Earth is just one more of the creatures we must provide love to. I've heard people talk about how they wish Earth was like Pandora, but did they ever actually consider that it WAS? Before mankind came, Earth really was sorta like Pandora. Greenery everywhere and surrounded by lustrious life. That was before shopping malls and buildings came along. I'm not saying go on a mad protest against factories and it demolish anything that harms the Earth, but try to remember where you are standing . You are standing on a living, breathing creature, and we need to care and nuture it. If not, our home will die, and we will go down with it. We should take a lesson from the Na'vi to find the beauties of the world and to look past our industrialized lifestyle to the divine space we inhabit. The natural wonders are much more ideal than any movie you could see. The blossoming of a flower, a butterfly hatching from it's caccoon, the love a mother wolf shows her pups. That is what true beauty is. I give Avatar a high 5/5

[Meadow Whisper (Natasha)]

Merged Wolfbaine's post with the existing thread on Avatar.  Also, paragraphs would make this post a LOT more readable.

[Wolfbaine]

Merged Wolfbaine's post with the existing thread on Avatar.  Also, paragraphs would make this post a LOT more readable.

I'm terribly sorry about my mistake. I wasn't thinking when I posted that. I modified it so now that it has paragraphs.