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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)

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“I’ve moved on creatively from The Terminator, so I’m not really interested in that imagery and even those ideas anymore — and I’m not sure the world is that interested either. It’s run its course, I feel.”

“I wish I hadn’t sold the rights for one dollar,” Cameron says, referring to a deal he struck in exchange for the chance to direct the 1984 original.

“If I had a little time machine and I could only send back something the length of a tweet, it’d be — ‘Don’t sell.’”
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http://www.torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/2009/12/17/12192301.html

Sounds like he might've eventually come back to the franchise had T3 and T4 not existed.
 
okay i saw it tonight. i liked it. the pandora/alien stuff was amazing but i hated all the military stuff. they are portrayed so ridiculously that it is hard to ignore it. and the dialogs of the military guys, geeze. it might be though that the german synchro is worse than the original. i guess ill go watch it in english when i am back home again.

one soldier seriously screamed: "come to papa!!!" :lol

oh and the design of the miltary is also pretty bad (gunships with tons of rockets and machine guns, mechs out of mechwarrior, sleeveless soldiers ....) and on the other side the design of pandara, the nature, the aliens etc is awesome.

the story is basically pocahontas but that didnt disturb me that much.

i would give it a 8/10. would have given it a 9.0 if the design/dialogs/portray of the military would have been better.

oh and i saw it in 3d. not imax though. the 3d effects looked quite nice. i liked that they mainly used it to give the movie depth.

edit: when i saw the first trailer i really hated the design of the navis but now i like it a lot.
 
Roude Leiw said:
okay i saw it tonight. i liked it. the pandora/alien stuff was amazing but i hated all the military stuff. they are portrayed so ridiculously that it is hard to ignore it. and the dialogs of the military guys, geeze. it might be though that the german synchro is worse than the original. i guess ill go watch it in english when i am back home again.

one soldier seriously screamed: "come to papa!!!" :lol

oh and the design of the miltary is also pretty bad (gunships with tons of rockets and machine guns, mechs out of mechwarrior, sleeveless soldiers ....) and on the other side the design of pandara, the nature, the aliens etc is awesome.

the story is basically pocahontas but that didnt disturb me that much.

i would give it a 8/10. would have given it a 9.0 if the design/dialogs/portray of the military would have been better.

oh and i saw it in 3d. not imax though. the 3d effects looked quite nice. i liked that they mainly used it to give the movie depth.
Click to expand...

I thought the military dialogue was classic Cameron and the best part. I felt the opposite toward the native dialogue.

stuburns said:
What's spoilery about that?
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He's basically telling people what has been omitted, something that has been talked about and rumoured as being seen. Just let people find out. If I hadn't seen the film first I would have been annoyed.
 
Yeah I watched this in RealD. I'll say something about digital projection. Sometimes it looks really clear and defined, sometimes not. The latter is the case with the Avatar Day footage and the final release. I was a little disappointed that it didn't look crystal clear. The regular film showings probably have better image quality. When I watched Inglourious Basterds in my regular theater it looked...glorious. :P 2K resolution(which is what Fox supplied to digital cinemas) is just not good enough for the big screen. On the other hand stuff like Ice Age 3 and Christmas Carol I had zero issues with in this aspect. I wonder if they were shown in 4k.

Scullibundo said:
Dude, SPOILER THAT SHIT for those who haven't seen it yet.
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lol how is that a spoiler? :P

Seems like quite a few things were cut. The pace of the movie was insanely fast.
 
watched it again today and the 720/60p thing was just for the commercials. after that they switched the projector and everything was as it should be.

though tonight there were two movie trailers in 3D before avatar. the one with the dragons from Dreamworks and Alice in Wonderland. both will be pretty nice in regards to 3D I guess :)
 
Scullibundo said:
I thought the military dialogue was classic Cameron and the best part. I felt the opposite toward the native dialogue.
Click to expand...

oh thats weird, i think the navi dialog was quite okay. i think it might be the synchro then.
 
Scullibundo said:
He's basically telling people what has been omitted, something that has been talked about and rumoured as being seen. Just let people find out. If I hadn't seen the film first I would have been annoyed.
Click to expand...
So people can't even discuss things that aren't in the movie without spoiler tagging? You're crazy dude.
 
I just saw it. Full impressions later tomorrow so it can settle down on me. However I will see that seeing it in 3D wasn't all that I expected it to be, it had its drawbacks for me personally.

Note: I saw it in Odeon 3D in Wimbledon
 
Oh I forgot to mention something funny about my first showing. When my friends and I found our seats, there were these other dudes already sitting in them. These are allocated seats mind you.

'Hey guys, you're sitting in our seats.'
He then points toward the rows in front and speaks in broken english 'Look, lots seats still free!'
'Then go sit there, we have tickets for these seats.'
'Ooohh.. ' Then this dude and his two friends started looking at each other as if questioning whether they should actually move.'
'Get. Up.'

They got up.

They moved and we saw them go through the same thing with another group of people. Fucking idiots.
 
Scullibundo said:
Oh I forgot to mention something funny about my first showing. When my friends and I found our seats, there were these other dudes already sitting in them. These are allocated seats mind you.

'Hey guys, you're sitting in our seats.'
He then points toward the rows in front and speaks in broken english 'Look, lots seats still free!'
'Then go sit there, we have tickets for these seats.'
'Ooohh.. ' Then this dude and his two friends started looking at each other as if questioning whether they should actually move.'
'Get. Up.'

They got up.

They moved and we saw them go through the same thing with another group of people. Fucking idiots.
Click to expand...

Fucking idiots would be the people who decide to have assigned seating at a movie theater.
 
DrForester said:
Fucking idiots would be the people who decide to have assigned seating at a movie theater.
Click to expand...
You're crazy, I'd love that shit.

Although with Avatar we got in the priority seating which is the best in the theater, it's a gamble though.
 
Pizza Luigi said:
Came back from the theater just now. Watched it in IMAX 3D and when I say that I'm impressed I am simply lying. There are not enough words to describe what I just witnessed. Sure, the storyline isn't as special or innovative as it could've been and there are a few plot points that could've been stretched out more, simply because they would've been pretty interesting.

But I watched this movie and for three hours I wasn't in my seat, sipping on my bottle of Nestea and awkwardly making hand movements that reflected irritatingly in my 3D glasses. For three hours I was on Pandora, I was on a world that does not exist, but looks and feels like it is very real indeed. I met the Na'Vi, a beautiful species that look as human as we do. When they laugh there is an actual twinkle in their eye and their mouth moves just as ours. I don't think I just watched a movie, I experienced it. Just as Jake Sully was introduced to the most magical world the history of cinema has ever had the honor to meet, was I introduced to an alternate reality, an alternate dimension, in which evil is evil and good is good, and one in which the beauty of life is sacred.

Thank you James Cameron and all the wonderful people who participated on this movie, for amazing me.
Click to expand...
This is practaclly an account of how I experienced the movie.

Greatness, that is so great it brought a tear to my eye as I was walking away from the cinema thinking it was over.

I was absolutely speechless.

All the sceptics will be shut up, I think it will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't consider it amazing.

5 stars

(my first 3d movie experience also)

I forgot who I was and lived in pandora, so many times I actually felt like it was my eyes there looking at what I was seeing, not a projection screen.

Even the action was perfectly done,
fast paced parts are framed perfectly so that you're JUST capturing it but can't quote keep up, you're thinking arg slow it down a bit and then click it changes to a slow mo shot where u can just gaze around and take in all the detail you felt you were missing. Thos few scenes rendered me a visual nerdgasm quite a few times
.
 
JB1981 said:
Fuck. Thinking about seeing this in IMAX 3D now.
Click to expand...

For the last time just do it.

IMAX 3D version of this is impeccable. I'll be seeing it again in LieMAX 3D Digital later this afternoon and I'm pissed. The only reason I'm seeing it like this is because proper IMAX 3D is sold out here until the 27th.
 
I've got to wait till I'm back in London to see it at the BFI. I was really happy with the image quality last night though, I'm going to the same LieMAX Saturday.
 
jett said:
Okay people, I just got AVATAR'd.

First off:

qqpl35.gif


Second:

cameron.jpg


Return of the king, baby.

Forget the CG, the 3D, and any other techincal aspect of this. Simply put it's just a fucking awesome movie. I won't bother spoiling any moment of the movie.

Now let's get on to all the crap I told you to forget. :P The 3D was beautifully done. One drawback of previous 3D movies that I've mentioned here is that it distracts and that it's never clear where to focus your view on. I was never distracted in Avatar. I'm not sure how JC did it, but he accomplished this feat. Also, a few 3D-composited shots are quite mindblowing and would totally not work in 2D. They would just be another frame of the picture. But in 3D HOLY CRAP. I'm a believer of 3D now, but not an apologist mind you. :P Avatar still suffers a couple of technical issues that plagues current 3D projection: dimmer lighting and not entirely accurate color reproduction. Once that shit is somehow figured out it's over for 2D film making.

The CG is just amazing and there's absolutely no way it can lose at the Oscars. It looks real. That's it.

Watch this in 3D.
Click to expand...

Good merciful christ. Now all we need is Solo and life is complete.
 
julls said:
what i really loved about the
aerial battle scene
was how you really get an idea of how the area is laid out, a real sense of how the scene works spatially.

following on from Tricky's review, i thought emotionally, the moments that hit me hardest were when
Neytiri finds out about Jake's betrayal and her face falls, and she starts to cry;
and when
Michelle Rodriguez' character dies. the final missile hitting her ship really hit me in the gut. i didn't expect it, and it resonated hard. felt the same way on the second viewing too. she doesn't get much screen time, but i really became attached to her.
Click to expand...

Yes the part when
Neytiri finds out about Jake's betrayal
was very well done. I had forgotten about that part but yeah, even though I had seen it on the internet heaps of times I was still impressed by it. It was definitely a big "whoa" moment. :D

The same can't be said about when
Trudy died
. I mean I liked her character (Michelle Rodriguez was actually extremely tolerable for once!) but I thought she needed more screen time. I loved the part when she
rescued the team from the prison
.



Krev said:
Again, completely agree. The
burning horse and Tsu'Tey falling from the cargo hold were similarly affecting
.
Click to expand...

The
burning Direhorse
was indeed a great scene (good sense of dread). Again, I felt nothing when
Tsu'Tey died
.



Scullibundo said:
Just reading back over the full treatment now, it is ridiculous how much was cut out and changed from the original treatment.
Click to expand...

I was disappointed that this scene (go to the 3:27 mark - Spoilers!) was cut. Hopefully it’ll be added for the DVD/Blu-Ray release.



jett said:
Okay people, I just got AVATAR'd.

First off:

qqpl35.gif


Second:

cameron.jpg


Return of the king, baby.

Forget the CG, the 3D, and any other techincal aspect of this. Simply put it's just a fucking awesome movie. I won't bother spoiling any moment of the movie.

Now let's get on to all the crap I told you to forget. :P The 3D was beautifully done. One drawback of previous 3D movies that I've mentioned here is that it distracts and that it's never clear where to focus your view on. I was never distracted in Avatar. I'm not sure how JC did it, but he accomplished this feat. Also, a few 3D-composited shots are quite mindblowing and would totally not work in 2D. They would just be another frame of the picture. But in 3D HOLY CRAP. I'm a believer of 3D now, but not an apologist mind you. :P Avatar still suffers a couple of technical issues that plagues current 3D projection: dimmer lighting and not entirely accurate color reproduction. Once that shit is somehow figured out it's over for 2D film making.

The CG is just amazing and there's absolutely no way it can lose at the Oscars. It looks real. That's it.

Watch this in 3D.
Click to expand...

Lol......awesome! :D
 
Karma Kramer said:
haha you're like bizarro sculli
Click to expand...

There are two great tracks and the rest is just okay. My issue with the score is how he integrates them in scenes, where one cue will retcon all the tonal work and emotion that previous track just brought about.
 
By the way, I seriously fell in love with Neytiri tonight. As strange as it may sound, she blows Zoe Saldana away in charisma and beauty. My god at Neytiri's smile...fucking stopped my heart
 
Karma Kramer said:
CorporalDork! Nice Review! Where did you see this? RealD? IMax?
Click to expand...
I'm in Australia and there is only one IMAX cinema in Melbourne which has
been booked for months and doesn't have allocated seating, no way was I going to risk not having awesome seats.

The screen wasn't masive but it was perfectly sized so that the screen just filled out to the edge of the 3d glasses and swept me away into the world.

It's funny but I was constantly blown away by the glass, and the glass screens in the human parts (any glass really) - tiny little things like that that really look real and totally help to absorb you. It feels like Cameron meticulously went over the framing and positioning of everything in every scene and made it perfect.

Initially I was a little dazzled that things in the forground and background were out of focus because of depth of field, but about 15 minutes in I forgot to look for the 3D and just lived it, I don't know how he did it but pretty much every scene draws your eye to the right place so that you're there.

Can't say enough good things about this movie.
 
Thanks for all the impressions!

I hope to see this relatively soon! I feel like it'll probably have one of the longest runs for an Imax movie to date.

I hear people keep saying that the story isn't anything special but, whether or not it is photo realistic, that over time you feel as if you are in Pandora or that it is real. Whether that is due to the effects being THAT good or them being good enough that over time you get used to it.

Almost makes me wish they made it from the viewpoint of a soldier required to film/document the planet at first touch down. That way you could learn so much more about Pandora, the planet, get some insight of the Navii (If thats how its spelt.) But not ever learning more than the Humans know at this point and it would be cool to just have peaceful shots of someone trying to explain/figure out what a specific plants role in the planets ecosystem was just to have Navii and Soldiers bust into frame and start fighting.

I dunno, almost like a District 9 idea. I just always end up more interested in the planet and alien races. Like the scientific outlook on them. What they eat, if they sleep, how their ecosystem works. How they breed, etc. I guess its why I like The Speaker For The Dead book so much. /shrug
 
CorporalDork said:
I'm in Australia and there is only one IMAX cinema in Melbourne which has
been booked for months and doesn't have allocated seating, no way was I going to risk not having awesome seats.

The screen wasn't masive but it was perfectly sized so that the screen just filled out to the edge of the 3d glasses and swept me away into the world.

It's funny but I was constantly blown away by the glass, and the glass screens in the human parts (any glass really) - tiny little things like that that really look real and totally help to absorb you. It feels like Cameron meticulously went over the framing and positioning of everything in every scene and made it perfect.

Initially I was a little dazzled that things in the forground and background were out of focus because of depth of field, but about 15 minutes in I forgot to look for the 3D and just lived it, I don't know how he did it but pretty much every scene draws your eye to the right place so that you're there.

Can't say enough good things about this movie.
Click to expand...

About the 3D, how much of it fills your peripherals? And is your vision always consistently enveloped, or does the intensity of the 3D sort of come and go depending on the scene?
 
stuburns said:
Where is the scriptment? I fancy reading it.

The only music that really stood out to me was when they both go flying together.
Click to expand...

If you pm me your email I'll gladly send it to you. Its the old '97 scriptment (which isn't written in proper script form).

Anyway, another thing I just remembered loving is
where they sleep. Those awesome cocoon/hammock things and how they get down to them was really great. Its the little intricacies like that which were special. Its not just, here's a cool idea, this is what they sleep in; its 'okay, but where are they located, how do they get from this place to that place, what are the dynamics of that?

It is definitely encouraging for this movie's B.O that everybody I've spoken to that has seen it has expressed a wish to see it a second time.
 
Scullibundo said:
If you pm me your email I'll gladly send it to you. Its the old '97 scriptment (which isn't written in proper script form).

Anyway, another thing I just remembered loving is
where they sleep. Those awesome cocoon/hammock things and how they get down to them was really great. Its the little intricacies like that which were special. Its not just, here's a cool idea, this is what they sleep in; its 'okay, but where are they located, how do they get from this place to that place, what are the dynamics of that?
Click to expand...
That'd be great, I'll pm you my address in a bit.

I actually thought that bit when he's looking at her in there was so awesome. They actually do an awesome job of showing a man fancying a woman, despite the biological differences.
 
I just got back from seeing this for the second time in two days and...I didn't this was possible but...I think I actually enjoyed it MORE the second time around?

My criticism of the story and characters still holds true, but I dunno this time I just came away feeling more satisfied with the movie as a whole.

My friend suggested that maybe I enjoyed it more 2nd time around because I focused less on the mundane storyline and lazy characters, and just went with the flow. Since I already knew what was going to happen I didn’t bother to scrutinize the plot and simply went along for the ride.
I think he may actually have a point.

I'm beginning to see it less like a movie and more like a theme park ride - maybe that's where I was going wrong initially? Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood first time around? I dunno, whatever happened, I enjoyed it marginally more the 2nd go around and I'm actually kind of excited to see it for a third time tomorrow :lol
 
Gary Whitta said:
Hey can anyone who saw or is seeing AVATAR this weekend confirm that the Eli trailer is there like it's supposed to be? Thanks :D
Click to expand...

There were no previews whatsoever before my screening. They had the please turn your mobile phones off thing they usually have in Darling Harbour IMAX, then the 20th Century FOX logo came up and people starting shushing. :D
 
Meus Renaissance said:
By the way, I seriously fell in love with Neytiri tonight. As strange as it may sound, she blows Zoe Saldana away in charisma and beauty. My god at Neytiri's smile...fucking stopped my heart
Click to expand...
I don't know about that, I watched Star Trek again the other day, she's a damn good looking woman. But yeah, they do make her quite attractive in the film. My mate actually pointed out she was by far the best looking 'cat woman'.

I'm watching the featurettes on youtube at the moment, I haven't seen a single frame that wasn't in the film yet.
 
Eli trailer wasn't attached when I saw it. Neither was Tron. :( Just a bunch of garbage like Garfield 3D, How to Train your Dragon and Shrek Forever.

shintoki said:
2nd coming of Speed Racer?
Click to expand...

Eh.... :P

p.s. Inglourious Basterds is still my favorite movie this year.
 
NutJobJim said:
I just got back from seeing this for the second time in two days and...I didn't this was possible but...I think I actually enjoyed it MORE the second time around?

My criticism of the story and characters still holds true, but I dunno this time I just came away feeling more satisfied with the movie as a whole.

My friend suggested that maybe I enjoyed it more 2nd time around because I focused less on the mundane storyline and lazy characters, and just went with the flow. Since I already knew what was going to happen I didn’t bother to scrutinize the plot and simply went along for the ride.
I think he may actually have a point.

I'm beginning to see it less like a movie and more like a theme park ride - maybe that's where I was going wrong initially? Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood first time around? I dunno, whatever happened, I enjoyed it marginally more the 2nd go around and I'm actually kind of excited to see it for a third time tomorrow :lol
Click to expand...

Like stuburns said, and the mindset I was always going to go into it with: pretend it's some world doco like Baraka. It's all about the the sensory perception and essentially putting you in the shoes of an explorer.
 
I thought the scene with Neytiri and Jake at the end
when she holds him in her arms, and the camera pans out showing you the difference in size between the two, yet the affection and love between them as strong as ever as he caresses her face lovingly
was probably the most emotive and potent scene in a movie I've seen in a long time. By far the most powerful moment in the film for me

Dabookerman said:
You don't just leave us hanging like that man!
Click to expand...

His silence is deafening
 
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