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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)

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Binabik15 said:
True. Thankfully only one out of four times some stupid little punks started to talk/laugh during the movie and were verbally demolished by an angry middle aged woman :lol

The floating mountains I could buy, because it was very clear that there was Unobtainium AND a strong magnetic field. Errosion shifting the rock to Unobtainium rate until chunks break of and float, only held back by those gigantic vines. Otherwise they´d float up, drop down and bounce up again. OR crash.

What was really iffy was the Avatar programm itself, IMO. Yes, I could buy that they can send the massive data streams needed to control a body around the enviroment (200 muscles are invovled in every step a human takes, for example), but over several kilometres and quick enough that Jake can fight an expert warrior (Tsu´tey) or run from a Thanator? All living beings already suffer from "input lag" from their limbs to their brain without a W-LAN in between. Or is the whole consciousness transported into the Avatar, using its brain for decision making and though, leaving the human body behind as a vegetable?

And I´ll need to see this a fifth time :D

They are using OnLive as server hub for AVATAR control.
 
Scullibundo said:
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Somnia said:
I'm pretty sure he corrects himself in his addition at the bottom of the page regarding oxygen and breathing on pandora, but I'd have to re-read it. He talks about how most of his early issues with the science are all thought of by Cameron and co. and he appreciates how much thought they put into it.

finished the update part.

Oxygen atmosphere: I said that Pandora doesn't have an oxygen
atmosphere, but I was wrong about that -- it does, but it has other
gasses that are poisonous to humans. Clearly Cameron, a fellow diving
and deep sea enthusiast, thought of this, because the people only need
simple gas masks to breathe, and not huge oxygen tanks.
 
hirokazu said:
I thought the floating mountains were sufficiently explained for a science fiction film. Well in the film itself, they didn't even attempt to explain it much, but they do explain the unobtanium and magnetic field on Pandora itself as well as the magnetic flux between Pandora and whatever planet it orbited.

I must have missed a couple of those clues while watching cause I didn't make the connection
I was stoned out of my mind
, but I see now that you could say it was "sufficiently explained".

Doubledex said:
These "people" are maybe the biggest fucking idiots in the history of cinema.
Just SHUT THE FUCK UP and watch the movie. But noooo, you have to show how cool and what kind of a cinema-pro you are. "hehehe tehehe look how funny hehehehe".
Retards!

What the hell? You can't decide or control when you are going or to laugh or not, it's a natural and automatic reaction that happens when you find something funny. And that's exactly what happened, nobody was deliberately forcing themselves to laugh, at least I know I wasn't. I literally found the scene first to be uncomfortable, then just embarrassingly funny.

And hey, it's A MOVIE. If you can't handle hearing some laughter in the theater, then you should stay home.

Edit: Then again, and to be fair, I do sympathize and see where you're coming from. For ex[ample if someone laughed during Gandalf's "death scene" in Fellowship of the Ring, I would be furious and hate their guts. So I suppose it's a similar situation with Avatar for you... I just really couldn't help it with the furry porn :)

I guess sitting with some audience that doesn't appreciate what you do is a necessary evil with the nature of cinema, which is why I rarely go the theater. I prefer to watch films alone at home. And if I do go to the theater I try to pick a time when it's the least crowded. Although that seemed impossible with Avatar, since theaters are still almost fully packed every day, all day.
 
Those, like me, who are hoping for an extended cut on the blu-ray may be out of luck, according to an interview with Cameron in the latest Empire magazine :

==========================================

RUMOUR HAS IT THAT YOU CUT AROUND 40 MINUTES OR SO FROM THE FILM. WHAT DID YOU CUT?
It started on Earth, which is about four minutes at the beginning of the film. We didn't have big fly-over shots like in Blade Runner. It was told from the standpoint of a guy in a wheelchair in this big crowded and unfriendly place. It just felt to me at a certain point that the movie started twice. I thought, "Let's just start once." But we even worked on the visual effects, which are mostly finished for Earth, so that'll be a little treat for the Blu-ray audience.

SO NO ALIENS-STYLE EXTENDED CUT?
I don't think so. If we tried to reconstitute the film to a longer version, it would be intercutting this template material, which might be strange.
==========================================

Someone on IMDB transcribed the interview from the magazine:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/board/flat/156281998

Damn, I was really hoping for an extended cut...
 
GhaleonEB said:
Bravo. :lol

Random box office update:

Domestic: $561,317,325
+ Foreign: $1,336,042,345
= Worldwide: $1,897,359,670

Will hit $1.9b tomorrow, and blow past $2b by the weekend. It's been eerily steady all week.


Code:
Day	 Domestic 	 International 	Total
Monday	 3,240,192 	 16,519,685 	19,759,877
Tuesday	 3,198,046 	 16,265,755 	19,463,801
Wed.	 3,137,588 	 16,196,083 	19,333,671
Total	 9,575,826 	 48,981,523 	 58,557,349

All those "<250 million domestic" predictions look completely ridiculous now.

So glad that this has doubled and may triple Transformers 2's worldwide gross.
 
cloud_sleep said:
Those, like me, who are hoping for an extended cut on the blu-ray may be out of luck, according to an interview with Cameron in the latest Empire magazine :

==========================================

RUMOUR HAS IT THAT YOU CUT AROUND 40 MINUTES OR SO FROM THE FILM. WHAT DID YOU CUT?
It started on Earth, which is about four minutes at the beginning of the film. We didn't have big fly-over shots like in Blade Runner. It was told from the standpoint of a guy in a wheelchair in this big crowded and unfriendly place. It just felt to me at a certain point that the movie started twice. I thought, "Let's just start once." But we even worked on the visual effects, which are mostly finished for Earth, so that'll be a little treat for the Blu-ray audience.

SO NO ALIENS-STYLE EXTENDED CUT?
I don't think so. If we tried to reconstitute the film to a longer version, it would be intercutting this template material, which might be strange.
==========================================

Someone on IMDB transcribed the interview from the magazine:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/board/flat/156281998

Damn, I was really hoping for an extended cut...
Aw, that is a shame. Oh well, guess we'll have to just read the novel to get those cut scenes. Whenever he can get to writing that anyway.
 
Dead said:
wtf, how many times is he going to change his story?
He's been consistent, you just have to really zero in on the context. He's said there were 40 minutes cut, and the "fan cut" would be about 12 minutes longer, incorporating the material that was both finished and cut. The rest of the stuff was cut before it was finished, which we may or may not see in extras. I suspect ideas he tossed specifically to revisit in the sequel won't be on the DVD/Blu-Ray, but we'll see.
 
GhaleonEB said:
He's been consistent, you just have to really zero in on the context. He's said there were 40 minutes cut, and the "fan cut" would be about 12 minutes longer, incorporating the material that was both finished and cut. The rest of the stuff was cut before it was finished, which we may or may not see in extras. I suspect ideas he tossed specifically to revisit in the sequel won't be on the DVD/Blu-Ray, but we'll see.
Well on the bright side, this is the first time he's ever mentioned we'd see the Earth scenes on the Blu-Ray
 
Yeah uhh, I just got back from seeing this in an IMAX theater and HOLY SHIT, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I HAVE EVER SEEN. James Cameron took it to a whole new level, didn't he? I seriously cannot believe how amazing this movie is.

I never expected it to be this good. I now see what all the hype was/is about.
 
Diablos said:
Yeah uhh, I just got back from seeing this in an IMAX theater and HOLY SHIT, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I HAVE EVER SEEN. James Cameron took it to a whole new level, didn't he? I seriously cannot believe how amazing this movie is.

I never expected it to be this good. I now see what all the hype was/is about.

This feels like sarcasm for some reason.
 
just watched it with the wife.
I was really expecting to hate it, but man I was floored. It certainly lives up to the considerable amount of hype.

The colonel was my fave by far, however the ending with the whole
deus ex machina "teh planet gets angry lolz!" really put me off. I felt like it robbed the Navi of their victory and I really didn't like it as storytelling.

But despite all that I loved the movie, really it must be watched in 3d so I really hope when it comes on DVD that there's a 3d version.

Also I was surprised by how Miyazaki-esque the whole thing was.
 
PhoncipleBone said:
What happened to the box office thread about this? Did it get shut down after the endless arguments about "inflation this, 3d that?"
If fizzled out after all the arguments about inflation. Should be revived when it passes the domestic shortly after the weekend. (Hopefully search will be enabled so we can dig up some crow at that time.)
 
Binabik15 said:
What was really iffy was the Avatar programm itself, IMO. Yes, I could buy that they can send the massive data streams needed to control a body around the enviroment (200 muscles are invovled in every step a human takes, for example), but over several kilometres and quick enough that Jake can fight an expert warrior (Tsu´tey) or run from a Thanator? All living beings already suffer from "input lag" from their limbs to their brain without a W-LAN in between. Or is the whole consciousness transported into the Avatar, using its brain for decision making and though, leaving the human body behind as a vegetable?

That was the other main "science thing" that bothered me (besides the floating mountains, which I'm fine with now)... I kept thinking "Damn, that's some really fast Wi-Fi signal."

I'm all ears if anyone has convincing arguments for it.
 
Just got back from seeing it. Personally, I thought the movie was awful. It's very hard to explain. I thought the movie was fun to watch, but as a movie, I thought it was horrible.

Also, did anyone get a weird Lion King vibe from some of the scenes?
 
Puddles said:
I don't think I've EVER seen the theatrical cut of Aliens. What is missing from the director's cut?
Extended scenes on earth, Ripley learns about her daughter.
Seeing Newt's dad (I think) getting face hugged.
The sentry guns

Those are the scenes I can remember being only in the directors cut.
 
Puddles said:
I don't think I've EVER seen the theatrical cut of Aliens. What is missing from the director's cut?

The major scenes are Ripley being informed about her daughters death, the scene with Newt and her family discovering the alien ship, and the turret scenes. There are some other snippets as well, but these scenes are the most substantial.
 
eLGee said:
The major scenes are Ripley being informed about her daughters death, the scene with Newt and her family discovering the alien ship, and the turret scenes. There are some other snippets as well, but these scenes are the most substantial.
And just so Sculli doesn't come in and tear you a new one, Hicks and Ripley exchange first names at the end, right as she's heading out to rescue Newt.
 
Re: the latency and power of driver/avatar wireless connections

Unless it's somewhere on the wiki or such, a few folks I know like to fanon up the idea that it's some kind of quantum bit telecommunications system. It does say somewhere that the humans DO HAVE FTL communications with Earth even if it's not shown on screen. I'd assume, since there's no "hyperspace" or "subspace" in the universe, that it must be some kind of quantum transceiver technology.

The big MRI-like magnetic (??) rings they shove the driver's bed into seems like it can be rationalized to be part of some sort of field generator.
 
GhaleonEB said:
And just so Sculli doesn't come in and tear you a new one, Hicks and Ripley exchange first names at the end, right as she's heading out to rescue Newt.

THANKYOU! :D

I was actually reading his post and thinking 'No this is the most substantial loss! :lol

Its such a beautiful moment. Last goodbyes between comrades before descending into the depths of hell.

'See you, Hicks'
'Dwayne, its Dwayne.'
'Ellen.'
'Don't be gone long, Ellen.'
 
FRIDAY FIRST NUMBERS: #1 'Avatar' $7M, #2 'Edge Of Darkness' $6.2M, #3 'When In Rome' $4.3M​
Bwahahaha

Almost the exact same jump as last Friday, 122%. Probably tracking to $28m or so for the weekend, $592m total through Sunday.
 
GhaleonEB said:
FRIDAY FIRST NUMBERS: #1 'Avatar' $7M, #2 'Edge Of Darkness' $6.2M, #3 'When In Rome' $4.3M​
Bwahahaha

Almost the exact same jump as last Friday, 122%. Probably tracking to $28m or so for the weekend, $592m total through Sunday.
Booo, that's a 20% drop, Titanic only dropped like 10% this weekend. Though it was admittedly coming off of Superbowl Sunday.
 
Kaijima said:
Re: the latency and power of driver/avatar wireless connections

Unless it's somewhere on the wiki or such, a few folks I know like to fanon up the idea that it's some kind of quantum bit telecommunications system. It does say somewhere that the humans DO HAVE FTL communications with Earth even if it's not shown on screen. I'd assume, since there's no "hyperspace" or "subspace" in the universe, that it must be some kind of quantum transceiver technology.

The big MRI-like magnetic (??) rings they shove the driver's bed into seems like it can be rationalized to be part of some sort of field generator.


But the script (the first one, afaik) says that the instant communication with earth costs 8 grands per byte (or bit?). Seems hellish expensive to use something similiar in the Avatars with their constant data transfer.

But I can overlook something like this during the movie and love it, the nitpicking is only when I´m done with it.
 
Kaijima said:
Re: the latency and power of driver/avatar wireless connections

Unless it's somewhere on the wiki or such, a few folks I know like to fanon up the idea that it's some kind of quantum bit telecommunications system. It does say somewhere that the humans DO HAVE FTL communications with Earth even if it's not shown on screen. I'd assume, since there's no "hyperspace" or "subspace" in the universe, that it must be some kind of quantum transceiver technology.

The big MRI-like magnetic (??) rings they shove the driver's bed into seems like it can be rationalized to be part of some sort of field generator.

Really? Why do we care about this?
 
border said:
People want inflation to be ignored because if they didn't ignore it that would pretty much end the box office circle jerks you see in this thread and others. People like to pretend that whatever movie they are rooting for is some kind of incredible cultural phenomenon that is far greater than anything that came before it.

One look at that inflation-adjusted chart ends everything, because you realize that nothing now or ever will top the tops of yesteryear.
Avatar has only now cracked the Top 30, and only recently passed the likes of Ghostbusters and Independence Day.

Every other artform tracks a static and unchanging figure for records-keeping -- books/abums/games go by units sold, television tracks viewer numbers, etc. Only the film industry is so insecure as to intentionally set up a system that will always appear to show progress simply due to the way currency gets devalued. But just like no television show will ever be able to beat the M*A*S*H* finale.....just like nobody will ever sell as many records as Elvis/The Beatles.....I don't think any movie is ever really going to be able to touch the likes of Jaws, ET, Star Wars, etc.

I'm skimming the latter part of this thread and that's definitely the tone *Inflation? I can't hear you! LALALALALA*

And aside from inflation, this movie benefits from a clear and distinct advantage: being developed particularly for a 3D experience.....and it's supposedly the advent of the "true 3D" movie-going experience.

Kudos to Cameron for making the first major release movie meant to be seen in 3D, but that means one thing: its only inevitable that Avatar's records will be shattered after another (perhaps better) "you gotta see it in 3D/4D/5D/holograms" movie is released because with new technology comes higher admissions.

Anyways, I'm being deterred more and more from seeing this movie. The more I read about it, the more I hear "The 3D is amazing, but that's pretty much it". On the flip side, nobody has said that the movie is BAD or anything so maybe it really isn't that big of a deal. Plus, I've never seen a movie in 3D and I guess now would probably be the best time to see one....if not simply for the " zomg 3D experience". Hell, I saw Transformers 2 for much less.
 
GhaleonEB said:
FRIDAY FIRST NUMBERS: #1 'Avatar' $7M, #2 'Edge Of Darkness' $6.2M, #3 'When In Rome' $4.3M​
Bwahahaha

Almost the exact same jump as last Friday, 122%. Probably tracking to $28m or so for the weekend, $592m total through Sunday.
If I'm not wrong that weekend total is on the lower side of predictions, still great and it will get the record for the 7th weekend also.
 
Scullibundo said:
THANKYOU! :D

I was actually reading his post and thinking 'No this is the most substantial loss! :lol

Its such a beautiful moment. Last goodbyes between comrades before descending into the depths of hell.

'See you, Hicks'
'Dwayne, its Dwayne.'
'Ellen.'
'Don't be gone long, Ellen.'

If I had a dollar for every time you've said this...:lol
 
irfan said:
If I'm not wrong that weekend total is on the lower side of predictions, still great and it will get the record for the 7th weekend also.
Yup on both counts. Avatar seems to be setting into fairly predictable 20% daily drops, and less than that on Saturday. If it ends up on the high end of expectations it might have a shot at the #8 record, but that's a stretch. And the storms in the southeast might preclude that.

Is it me or has Avatar had some pretty decent competition, but it's not really flinching from any of them? It's just doing its own thing.

Edit: from the BOM forums:
Film | Friday | week-to-week drop
Avatar | 7 | -22%
The Book of Eli | 2.3 | -53%
Legion | 2 | -70%
The Tooth Fairy | 2.1 | -41%
The Lovely Bones | 1.3 | -50%
Sherlock Holmes | 1.1 | -44%
Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 | 0.75 | -46%
It's Complicated | 0.95 | -45%​
Everything got smacked harder than usual, so the storms might well be a factor.
Blader5489 said:
If I had a dollar for every time you've said this...:lol
I've learned three things in this thread when it comes to Sculli:
  1. Don't post an old link.
  2. Don't mention that you want or think Battle Angel is Cameron's next.
  3. Don't forget to mention that scene when describing the Aliens SE.
Failure to adhere to these rules will result one angry Australian.
 
MIMIC said:
I'm skimming the latter part of this thread and that's definitely the tone *Inflation? I can't hear you! LALALALALA*

And aside from inflation, this movie benefits from a clear and distinct advantage: being developed particularly for a 3D experience.....and it's supposedly the advent of the "true 3D" movie-going experience.

Kudos to Cameron for making the first major release movie meant to be seen in 3D, but that means one thing: its only inevitable that Avatar's records will be shattered after another (perhaps better) "you gotta see it in 3D/4D/5D/holograms" movie is released because with new technology comes higher admissions.

Anyways, I'm being deterred more and more from seeing this movie. The more I read about it, the more I hear "The 3D is amazing, but that's pretty much it". On the flip side, nobody has said that the movie is BAD or anything so maybe it really isn't that big of a deal. Plus, I've never seen a movie in 3D and I guess now would probably be the best time to see one....if not simply for the " zomg 3D experience". Hell, I saw Transformers 2 for much less.
This is seriously the dumbest thing I've ever read. I hate to get into this but it's exactly what you are doing.

MIMIC said:
"2 billion dollars? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" *INFLATIONINFLATIONINFLATION*
People don't care because it has nothing to do with the movie or it's success. They're happy being happy for it but you guys feel the need to bring it down for whatever reason, even when you havn't seen it.
 
MIMIC said:
Anyways, I'm being deterred more and more from seeing this movie. The more I read about it, the more I hear "The 3D is amazing, but that's pretty much it". On the flip side, nobody has said that the movie is BAD or anything so maybe it really isn't that big of a deal. Plus, I've never seen a movie in 3D and I guess now would probably be the best time to see one....if not simply for the " zomg 3D experience". Hell, I saw Transformers 2 for much less.

I was exactly in your shoes. I didn't want to see the movie, and I had never seen a a 3D movie before. But constant recommendations from friends and family members, and the intrigue of 3D eventually lured me in... and I personally hated the film AND the 3D.

Perhaps hated is a strong word, as I can't deny that there were parts in the film that were enjoyable and a few even emotionally gripping. But I couldn't get past all the cliches of the script. It was typical by the numbers hollywood, except on a grander scale, which doesn't appeal to me.

However, I don't share a similar sentiment with the 3D. I positively hated the effect and would have much rather watched it in 2D. The glasses used in the theater I went to killed the color and contrast of the image, everything looked toned down. And I found the "3D effect" totally gimmicky, it wasn't much better than the effect from the 3D glasses I got with an nVIDIA GeForce card many many years ago. I don't know how much better other applications of 3D are (I'm guessing much better), but unfortunately we don't have IMAX here and this was the newest and best theater in the whole country (Jordan).
 
It's probably for the best that Mimic not see it. If he does, he'll only contribute to its inflated box office gross, and the anguish might cause him to go insane.

Also, Guru is reporting Avatar at $7.5m:

FRI BO: Avatar $7.5M/$26-29M wknd, Edge of Darkness $5.7M/$17-19M, When in Rome $4.3M/$12M, Book of Eli $2.5M/$8M.

Which lowers the week over week drop to 17% on Friday.

And Mojo updated with Thursday's international figure, of 16,904,728, off 16% from last week. Pretty consistent drops world wide.
 
GhaleonEB said:
It's probably for the best that Mimic not see it. If he does, he'll only contribute to its inflated box office gross, and the anguish might cause him to go insane.

I don't think he should see it simply because, based on his posts, he's already set himself up mentally to hate it.

I'm not sure he can have an open mind at this point.
 
This may sound crazy and a bit high horse but I feel bad for those who don't connect with this film. After 4 viewings I feel so strongly for this movie and its message, world, and characters.

Simple yes but archetypes are simple for a reason.
 
krypt0nian said:
This may sound crazy and a bit high horse but I feel bad for those who don't connect with this film. After 4 viewings I feel so strongly for this movie and its message, world, and characters.

Simple yes but archetypes are simple for a reason.
I kind of relate to that. And on a similar note, I came out of my first viewing of Avatar just reeling; it was the best experience I've ever had in the theater. Every now and then someone pops in here just awestruck, at a loss for words, and I'm reminded of that feeling. It was such an overwhelming, memorable experience that I want everyone to have. But of course, not everyone will.

One of the reasons seeing the box office success is fun is that it's an indication of how many people the film has connected with.
 
krypt0nian said:
This may sound crazy and a bit high horse but I feel bad for those who don't connect with this film. After 4 viewings I feel so strongly for this movie and its message, world, and characters.

Simple yes but archetypes are simple for a reason.

It does.

Avatar is a cool ride but nothing for me to latch onto emotionally. For that, I would look to films like 500 Days of Summer, Up in the Air, and even the first 20 minutes of UP. Those movies, I can connect to.

I'll grant you that it's certainly possible for people to connect with the film's message, even though I personally think it's condescending bullshit.
 
krypt0nian said:
This may sound crazy and a bit high horse but I feel bad for those who don't connect with this film. After 4 viewings I feel so strongly for this movie and its message, world, and characters.

Simple yes but archetypes are simple for a reason.

1 viewing is more than enough for me.

I've never watched a movie twice during its theatrical run. I really don't get people who do so.
 
Just came back from a trip to London. Saw Avatar for the second time at the BFI Imax which was sold out at a midnight showing!
Holy shit. It's just something else. The first flight over the forest scene made me feel like I was there.

Some of the 3d was a bit wonkier than RealD but the sound totally made up for that.
 
(Probably) more accurate Friday estimates from Variety:

Avatar $7.5m
Edge of Darkness $5.7m
When in Rome $4.38m
The Book of Eli $2.48m
The Tooth Fairy $2.25m
 
Razorback PT said:
Just came back from a trip to London. Saw Avatar for the second time at the BFI Imax which was sold out at a midnight showing!
Holy shit. It's just something else. The first flight over the forest scene made me feel like I was there.

Some of the 3d was a bit wonkier than RealD but the sound totally made up for that.
Gah! I've been trying to find an IMAX cinema near me but they're all RealD. I saw it in Bluewater (UK) the other day and the Dolby 3D was pretty bad.

In terms of vibrancy, 2D was the best, then RealD, then Dolby which was way too dark. Now I just need to see it in IMAX.
 
Regulus Tera said:
1 viewing is more than enough for me.

I've never watched a movie twice during its theatrical run. I really don't get people who do so.

I'd rather pull my own finger-nails out than sit through Avatar again
 
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