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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)

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dammit, my friend bailed on me for seeing it in 3d tonight but i still want to go. the thought of going to a movie alone though isn't appealing

halp gaf what do i do
 
EzLink said:
dammit, my friend bailed on me for seeing it in 3d tonight but i still want to go. the thought of going to a movie alone though isn't appealing

halp gaf what do i do
Click to expand...

go by yourself.
 
SpeedingUptoStop said:
Movie was pretty well put together. The editing and pacing were the best part - everything flowed together, one scene into the next, very well. Acting was good & well, action was sharp. Story was basic, but atleast it wasn't weighted down by any bullshit subplots. I wasn't blown away by the visuals really, but I'll say I was immersed, not much flaw at all in the CG. 3d at some nice depth, but I'm on the fence as to how critical it was to the viewing experience. I think it allows the humans to blend with the cg a lot better than 2d would've, but that's all I can say for now. Jake narration isn't as poor as Sarah Connor's in T2 and for the most part didn't overstate any scenes. It fit well into the film.

About the actually story and such, though, I dunno. I can't say I was really engrossed in that aspect until the 3rd act. They say the Na'vi are incredibly dangerous to humans, but you don't really see it. They talk about it a lot, they show you Quaritch's scars, but for a long ass time, you don't see any real danger posed by these natives, and it doesn't help
they get their asses whooped in the first showdown
. Same goes for the Na'Vi Zoe Saldana was supposed to marry - he's all like "I'm a great warrior!"
and in less than 3 months, Jake hands his ass to him in a fistfight.
And the same goes for the Na'Vi - this environment is supposed to be very dangerous and while I expect that they know how to navigate it, I didn't expect them to all universally excel at not dying
(with the exception of one burial, no Na'Vi get killed or even hurt in this highly dangerous enviroment for 2/3 of the movie)
. What I mean is, we see Jake clumsily make his way through training, but I never really feel danger or death is that close - the movie could've benefited from a redshirt Na'Vi here or there, to show some real consequences for Jake fucking up. I understand we're not gonna kill Jake before the big 3rd act here, but he's apparently stumbling through training half assed as fuck with not a whole lot of consequence - if we can't kill/injure him, I would've liked to see atleast someone else feel the impact of fucking up time & time again. Finally, it was a little weird how they never really brought up
the other tribes until they needed them to fight - their differences (outside of the animals they used and why they couldn't all just have lived by the tree of life) weren't really explained, and the time span Jake had to get them all together for the fight and how far across the planet he had to go
was never really clear either. I may have missed something in the film on that last point, tho. And Michelle Rodriguez's character was kind of underwritten and was the biggest tool for the story out of all the characters.

I also felt the film could've explored the concepts of the blurring of the two worlds a lot more. You got Jake in his Avatar and you got Quaritch in his Mech suit and no one really sees the irony of that? Also, when the hell did Jake sleep? I could never figure that out. Was his body resting while he was in the Avatar and vice versa? We saw him fall asleep once, but that's about it. How does he make time for living in both worlds? That's about as nitpicky as I'll get about the movie right there.

I enjoyed it, yes. I wasn't awed and didn't really feel like this was a massive leap forward for film or anything like that. But it was a good time at the movies, for sure. I give it about an 8/10.
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As far as the Navi being dangerous to humans, I don't remember them saying in the movie that they had attacked humans, so much as that they were concerned of an uprising and wanted to handle things diplomatically. I thought it was pretty clear that they had peace, but it's possible some Navi may have acted independently and attacked in an isolated case. Kind of like how Naytiri was going to kill Jake. As far as Quaritch goes, I assumed he was attacked by an animal, not a Navi.

Concerning sleep, I took it that whenever you are in your Avatar, your human body is asleep and vise versa -> Your Avatar is asleep when you are in human form. There are certainly some things to nitpick about. For example, I never was upset at any of the deaths in the movie. I didn't feel attached to them. That was greatly made up for the relationship between Naytiri and Jake and their connection to the world. I also thought James Cameron did a good job at making you hate Quaritch.
 
EzLink said:
dammit, my friend bailed on me for seeing it in 3d tonight but i still want to go. the thought of going to a movie alone though isn't appealing

halp gaf what do i do
Click to expand...

Do it. Go alone. I've never gone alone to a theatre by myself, but from watching movies on the big screen at home by myself, I find my appreciation and involvement in the film is 100x more when I'm alone.
 
Dammit, I guess I will go alone. Nothing else to do tonight

Oh well though, weed+3D+amazing movie should be enough to hold my interest :P
 
genjiZERO said:
So how's the Uncanny Valley in this film?
Click to expand...

As a reviewer on AICN said "Cameron just straight-up trebuchet-launches across the Uncanny Valley. The work on capturing tiny facial performance -- which few consumer-grade filmgoers will think to notice -- really is as impressive as promised. It's next-level shit, the movie's single greatest achievement. You forget you're watching pixels."

Scullibundo said:
I have a feeling that this overseas numbers for this film are going to be huge. Reading about how its sold out for ages in London etc, and knowing its sold out past Christmas in a few places here gives me hope. I really want this film to rip shit.
Click to expand...

I want this film to do gangbusters, and not just because I really like it, but also because I buy into the thinking that a big showing from Avatar could push the Halo movie to finally be greenlit.
 
MadOdorMachine said:
As far as the Navi being dangerous to humans, I don't remember them saying in the movie that they had attacked humans, so much as that they were concerned of an uprising and wanted to handle things diplomatically. I thought it was pretty clear that they had peace, but it's possible some Navi may have acted independently and attacked in an isolated case. Kind of like how Naytiri was going to kill Jake. As far as Quaritch goes, I assumed he was attacked by an animal, not a Navi.

Concerning sleep, I took it that whenever you are in your Avatar, your human body is asleep and vise versa -> Your Avatar is asleep when you are in human form. There are certainly some things to nitpick about. For example, I never was upset at any of the deaths in the movie. I didn't feel attached to them. That was greatly made up for the relationship between Naytiri and Jake and their connection to the world. I also thought James Cameron did a good job at making you hate Quaritch.
Click to expand...

PANDORA WILL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE AND SHIT YOU OUT DEAD.
 
Saw Avatar this morning. I was one of the haters back in the day... if you read through the old threads, I thought the character designs looked terrible and the plot sounded lame. But as the release neared and all of the positive reviews came out, I actually started getting kind of hyped. By the time I went to see it this morning, I was ready to be blown away and forced to eat crow.

Well, that didn't happen. It was pretty much exactly what I'd expected. Tired, ham-fisted story with a great use of CG and 3D. Though I will admit the CG in particular really did impress me. I thought it looked pretty bad in the trailer, but it was great in the finished product. Hard to believe nearly the entire film was computer generated. Loved the restrained use of 3D also. Wouldn't mind every film being in 3D if it's handled similarly.

As an 'experience', it was fun I guess. But it's nothing I'll ever want to watch again. And certainly not in 2D (I saw it in IMAX 3D, btw).
 
I watched it last night in 3D IMAX!!

The movie is amazing!! You owe it to yourself to watch it in IMAX, because there won't be a movie like this for a while!! James Cameron is a freaking genius, hopefully he will reap the rewards of his hard work!!
 
harSon said:
I think that quote had more to do with the other species on Pandora
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I agree, I think in terms of the danger of the planet, Quaritch and his bunch were mainly concerned about the animal life (
and it was with good reason too as evidence about how badly they got owned at the end by them
). When they were talking about taking on the Na'vi, they didn't seem to think of them as that much of a threat (
until the end when they noticed them rallying in numbers
 
Get ready to see Worthington in 3D again soon:


Clash of the Titans Adding Scenes, 3D Upgrade Possible

Sam Worthington at AVATAR screening said:
We’re going to be going back and shooting more scenes for it, they cut loose with some money so we can add to it. We’re going to be shooting…in January, so we’re going to be right up against it — the movie comes out in March.There were some creaky parts but they are the parts that we knew were creaky and that we knew were going to be creaky going into it. The studio is also letting us add some gods and scenes. And they’re talking about making the movie a 3D film.
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There is no way this is going to happen. 3 months to change the entire film to 3D? :lol
 
Saw it last night in RealD. I'm snowed in, with no power, and running of this laptop's crappy battery so I'll be brief: incredible.
 
So had any if the navi met Tony (or was it Tony?) in avatar form? I get the feeling that the avatars were shipped with them, however.
 
mrkgoo said:
So had any if the navi met Tony (or was it Tony?) in avatar form? I get the feeling that the avatars were shipped with them, however.
Click to expand...

His and Jake's avatars were shipped with them. He mentions how they matured on the flight over.
 
Valkyr Junkie said:
I can't wait for the inevitable analysis of the animals on Pandora from biologists.

"Animal nostrils are in their chests; Darwin weeps." :lol
Click to expand...

I read a breakdown somewhere of the different species and whether their varied appendages would actually serve a use or where just decoration by the artists by an animal expert. Can't remember where though. Total film maybe
 
MetalAlien said:
I had to modify my review for GAF, sorry. :)
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both 'reviews' are retarded though.

the CGI was leagues and leagues better than Spirits Within.

and

any religious stuff in the movie was explained away scientifically.
 
Seen Avatar twice so far, first on IMAX 3D and then on RealD 3D. Incredible movie. Best visual effects I've seen thus far. I still can't believe how much of this movie was done in CG. The sheer scale and complexity of the animations, its quite mindblowing. I can't believe some ppl in the thread not being impressed by the visuals. I can't recall any movie that even comes close to what Avatar has accomplished.

All I want to do is soak in the 'behind the scenes' and 'making of' videos and articles out there. Finding out how they were able to pull this off just makes me appreciate the movie that much more.

I wish they had a scene where Jake tames the Tauruk (the red banshee), would have loved too see them wrestling it out in midair.
Maybe they'll have it in the bluray extended cut?
 
quadriplegicjon said:
both 'reviews' are retarded though.

the CGI was leagues and leagues better than Spirits Within.

and

any religious stuff in the movie was explained away scientifically.
Click to expand...


I should know, I had to get the message of the movie removed the in ER.
 
Rengoku said:
Seen Avatar twice so far, first on IMAX 3D and then on RealD 3D. Incredible movie. Best visual effects I've seen thus far. I still can't believe how much of this movie was done in CG. The sheer scale and complexity of the animations, its quite mindblowing. I can't believe some ppl in the thread not being impressed by the visuals. I can't recall any movie that even comes close to what Avatar has accomplished.

All I want to do is soak in all the 'behind the scenes' and 'making of' videos and articles out there. Finding out how they were able to pull all this off just makes me appreciate the movie that much more.

I wish they had a scene where Jake tames the Tauruk (the red banshee), would have loved too see them wrestling it out in midair.
Maybe they'll have it in the bluray extended cut?
Click to expand...

I love your Avatar.
 
I feel like anyone that wants to see Avatar is going to see it anyway (eventually). Word of mouth can only grow stronger. I can't wait to see what happens next weekend.
 
Snaku said:
Tell me about it. The drive home from the theater last night was horrifying. Totally killed my Avatar buzz. :lol
Click to expand...

The first time I saw Avatar we had to stop and sleep over at a motel the snow was so bad....beat that! :lol
 
DanielPlainview said:
I feel like anyone that wants to see Avatar is going to see it anyway (eventually). Word of mouth can only grow stronger. I can't wait to see what happens next weekend.
Click to expand...

But all those people who could have seen it could have been the cause of even more word of mouth, before they themselves saw it again.

I just imagined Michael Bay on the steep of a castle tower chanting at the snowy mountains in the distance Saruman style.
 
DanielPlainview said:
I feel like anyone that wants to see Avatar is going to see it anyway (eventually). Word of mouth can only grow stronger. I can't wait to see what happens next weekend.
Click to expand...
I'm finding that some plan to rent it from netflix or blockbuster in the future. A lot don't know anything about the tech and don't have an incentive to see it in 3D. If they like the 2D trailer then they are programmed to know it'll look good in 2D.

Few months ago I saw Watchmen in 2D instead of 3D.
 
Scullibundo said:
But all those people who could have seen it could have been the cause of even more word of mouth, before they themselves saw it again.

I just imagined Michael Bay on the steep of a castle tower chanting at the snowy mountains in the distance Saruman style.
Click to expand...

Very true. :lol

Avatar should have been a summer film!
 
Snaku said:
Tell me about it. The drive home from the theater last night was horrifying. Totally killed my Avatar buzz. :lol
Click to expand...

Go ahead and rub it in. I now have to wait until tomorrow because my mom won't come over and babysit the kids tonight. It's only like 8" of snow.
 
ZombieSupaStar said:
So im guessing this 3D fad a new way to get people to actually go to movies in a theater again?
Click to expand...

No, it is decades old.

Scullibundo said:
I just imagined Michael Bay on the steep of a castle tower chanting at the snowy mountains in the distance Saruman style.
Click to expand...

If Pearl Harbor was his Titanic, what obscenity shall Avatar spur?
 
I liked that the avatar theme ran deeper than just the Avatar program. It's applied in layers.

First there's Jake "stepping into the shoes" of his dead twin brother via his avatar, beyond simply being an avatar of Jake.

And then there's the bonding via that braid that all the animals and Na'vi can do, channeling their thoughts into other animals and to one another.

And then the slowly revealed reality of the planet, that it's essentially a giant neural network, and Na'vi "spirits" can be transferred into it upon death. Which means that everyone's body really is just an avatar for the spirit, for a time. And Cameron didn't really hammer any of these themes in, just establishing them and built them out in layers.

I also liked the visual imagery after Jake was made a formal member of the tribe, the way the Na'vi formed that big network of arms on shoulders, metaphorically similar to the network of the trees that they were in tune with.

I can see cynics dismissing it as cheesy. But found it a really striking image that fit perfectly into the themes of interconnectedness. And it was never made preachy, or over-played at all.
 
I really enjoyed it. It was slow at first but picks up later on.

Sam Worthington's character was generally likeable.

Quaritch and the company boss (Selfridge?) were the most cartoonish villains I've ever seen in live action, ever. I'm not sure about Michelle Rodriguez either.

I almost couldn't buy Sigourney Weaver's character, but it's probably because I mostly remember her being generally likeable from Ghostbusters and really tough in Aliens, starting off being cynical with the cigarette line was really weird. :lol

At least she was consistent, even until
she dies, and still contemplates taking samples of the Tree of Souls
. :lol

Perhaps the blame for the "cartoony-ness" comes from the writing, which I would go with because I think they're all competent actors.

All the avatars/Na'vi were really nice though. I wouldn't say Uncanny Valley has been beaten yet, because the characters were not meant to look like humans and IMO the flaws weould be more noticeable if they were human. Nevertheless, they were tremendous for today's standards.

I thought it was really convenient that the Na'vi would have
a scientific explanation behind their spirituality. However, it does make for an easier explanation for saying that everything works together; I'll give them that
.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I liked that the avatar theme ran deeper than just the Avatar program. It's applied in layers.

First there's Jake "stepping into the shoes" of his dead twin brother via his avatar, beyond simply being an avatar of Jake.

And then there's the bonding via that braid that all the animals and Na'vi can do, channeling their thoughts into other animals and to one another.

And then the slowly revealed reality of the planet, that it's essentially a giant neural network, and Na'vi "spirits" can be transferred into it upon death. Which means that everyone's body really is just an avatar for the spirit, for a time. And Cameron didn't really hammer any of these themes in, just establishing them and built them out in layers.

I also liked the visual imagery after Jake was made a formal member of the tribe, the way the Na'vi formed that big network of arms on shoulders, metaphorically similar to the network of the trees that they were in tune with.

I can see cynics dismissing it as cheesy. But found it a really striking image that fit perfectly into the themes of interconnectedness. And it was never made preachy, or over-played at all.
Click to expand...

Also:

-audience uses Jake as an avatar
-there are choices of avatars:
organic and friendly or armoredand hostile

MisterHero said:
I thought it was really convenient that the Na'vi would have
a scientific explanation behind their spirituality. However, it does make for an easier explanation for saying that everything works together; I'll give them that
.
Click to expand...

I don't think convenient is the right word. Appropriate or clever might work.
 
genjiZERO said:
So how's the Uncanny Valley in this film?
Click to expand...

Cameron walked right over to it, filled it with his massive amount of shit, and then when it got to the top of the Valley, he was able to walk across it.

In other words, Cameron made the Uncanny Valley disappear.
 
Joe said:
so I'm about to ask this question for the 500th time I'm sure but...

Is "Avatar in Digital 3D" ok? The true imax and liemax's around here are kinda far and the theater near me is showing avatar in Digital 3D.
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Dolby 3D is the highest fidelity method. The downside is it requires expensive glasses, so fewer theaters at this time use this method.


RealD is good. It is more widespread because the glasses are cheap to manufacture.



So if you can choose between Dolby 3d and RealD you want the Dolby method.
 
Karma Kramer said:
3D is here to stay.
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yeah But I dont remember it being on "real" movies, just those weird ones that had the stupid red and blue glasses.

gdt5016 said:
Cameron walked right over to it, filled it with his massive amount of shit, and then when it got to the top of the Valley, he was able to walk across it.

In other words, Cameron made the Uncanny Valley disappear.
Click to expand...

is the gray haired sergeant cgi?
 
Brimstone said:
Dolby 3D is the highest fidelity method. The downside is it requires expensive glasses, so fewer theaters at this time use this method.


RealD is good. It is more widespread because the glasses are cheap to manufacture.



So if you can choose between Dolby 3d and RealD you want the Dolby method.
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really? that's not what scullibundo says.

:/
 
ZombieSupaStar said:
yeah But I dont remember it being on "real" movies, just those weird ones that had the stupid red and blue glasses.



is the gray haired sergeant cgi?
Click to expand...

......No....?

Why would he be?
 
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