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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)
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Count Dookkake
Member
silverbullet1080 said:
Yes, really. You are entitled to your view on the relative qualities of each film, but your comment has nothing to do with what I am talking about. :lol
beelzebozo
Jealous Bastard
y2dvd said:
we taught a lion to eat tofu.
Wow, those are awesome numbers from the foreign grosses, and not bad domestic ones, but you can tell it was hampered by the big snowstorm. And that's awesome that the full number just topped the "official" 230m production budget numbers.
Hopefully next week we'll see how good the movie's legs are. I would imagine the Christmas week will do good for it.
Hmm, about D9 vs. Avatar. I loved D9 a lot and it was my favorite movie of the year, before Avatar. D9 may have better aspects than Avatar in some areas, but I felt that overall, I just had more plain fun with Avatar. When it comes to movies, as with games, fun should be number 1.
Hopefully next week we'll see how good the movie's legs are. I would imagine the Christmas week will do good for it.
Hmm, about D9 vs. Avatar. I loved D9 a lot and it was my favorite movie of the year, before Avatar. D9 may have better aspects than Avatar in some areas, but I felt that overall, I just had more plain fun with Avatar. When it comes to movies, as with games, fun should be number 1.
duckroll said:Well good for you, I'm sure lots of us think you have terrible taste too.
Yeah well what do they say about the millions of flies
Pretty seldom do other peoples opinions affect the lifes of others overseas and about movies. You having bad taste doesn't comment in the quality of your life man.
Expendable.
Member
Wouldn't Trudy have gotten in trouble for
That bugged me both times I saw it.
leaving the battle when they were destroying the hometree?
That bugged me both times I saw it.
I wonder how much higher the take would have been if not for the blizzard that hit a good chunk of the east coast? There sure as shit wasn't anybody going to see the movies in Virginia or anywhere near D.C. yesterday, or probably even today.
The early box office numbers are encouraging though, and like it's been said a number of times, the legs should be good as the movie is great and I think a lot of folks will want to experience it multiple times for varying reasons (like the 3D being fantastic or just simply enjoying the movie a second time).
The early box office numbers are encouraging though, and like it's been said a number of times, the legs should be good as the movie is great and I think a lot of folks will want to experience it multiple times for varying reasons (like the 3D being fantastic or just simply enjoying the movie a second time).
PhoncipleBone
Banned
I never imagined that a District 9 vs. Avatar discussion would come out of all of this. Can we not agree that both are great movies and this has been a spectacular year for science fiction in general? While Moon just sits patiently on the sides talked about only in hushed circles due to its low theater run. (I didn't get to see Moon in theaters, and am anxiously awaiting the US Blu release of it.)
duckroll said:
What Cameron has essentially done with Avatar, and in my opinion rather brilliantly, is taken an old-fashioned storytelling style with an archetypal 3-act plot, and combined that with incredible technology that resulted in a sumptuous visual feast.
The storyline is the opposite of ethnocentric (as found in so many American films) - it's the sort that can and does apply to every culture, as it's telling a very universal story. It's predictable, and we've seen it many times before, but that also means it doesn't bog anything else down (which could have easily happened with the near-overwhelming visuals and a 2:40 minute runtime). He's telling a simple, well-known love & conflict story and conveying it through stunning means. Could it have done with another writer to come in and work on the details - character arcs and dialogue? Yes. But it hardly kills the film, or even hurts it significantly. It simply would have taken something great and made it perfect. I'll settle for a great cinematic experience.
From 12,000 to 23,000 votes, Avatar still has an 8.9 and is already #25 in the Top 250 rankings http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/
Don't ratings usually...drop as more votes come in? Avatars score seems to only be going up
Don't ratings usually...drop as more votes come in? Avatars score seems to only be going up
John Dunbar
correct about everything
Dead said:
They start dropping with big films like this when it's 100,000+ or thereabouts. The Dark Knight for example was number 1 for a while and then dropped down to 9.
I can't find the interview - it was one of many I read in the last few weeks - but Cameron commented on the generally predictable plot. He said that since he was going to be throwing so much at the audience visually, with the avatars and the spectacle of Pandora, he wanted to give them something familiar for them to grab onto. He didn't want to have this overwhelming visual experience coupled with a challenging, unusual narrative because that would lose the audience. So he settled on a narrative arc they would be able to latch onto and anticipate, and the twists would be in the visuals and in the execution.Zeliard said:
I'm still not sure if he's selling audiences short or not. But it made me think Cameron is being a bit more clever than given credit for with the story; he'd thought it through and decided the visuals are where he'd challenge people, not on the plot. And since he was aiming for a wide audience, it kind of makes sense.
Revelations
Banned
DanielPlainview said:
Not essentially, since they were only guns for hire. There was no official military structure there. Just mercs with no official rank and file.
Dabookerman
Member
Nice one Avatar, well deserved. I want to see it again at some point on RealD
Oh and the musical score. Everyone keeps bringing up story and dialogue when discussing Avatar's weaknesses, but it's really the score that hurts it in my view. There were a lot of scenes where the score just really didn't fit - it was bombastic instead of soft - and other important or beautiful scenes where there was simply nothing memorable about the accompanying music.
It's unfortunate because that issue cropped up a lot of the time during the most visually stunning parts of the film. And I don't know if it was my theater (a LieMAX), but even the sound design didn't feel special at all outside of a couple of neat surround sound effects at times. The resulting music and sound almost felt like playing some glorious graphical wonder of a videogame in stereo instead of 5.1. Tremendous visuals, but what about the audio?
I do think it was intentional on some level, since he's taken such a familiar story. I don't think even his biggest detractors would say the guy lacks creativity or imagination, and his films always have a fairly simple overlying story and structure, where he uses great technology and great directing in general to enhance them as opposed to great writing.
I'd put much greater faith in Cameron to give us a unique storyline as opposed to someone like George Lucas these days, but I don't think Cameron frequently intends to - what already makes him unique is what new tech he uses, and how.
Sculli said the original script for Avatar contains a lot more detail that didn't end up being filmed, or making the final cut. I might check it out one day to see what was in there.
It's unfortunate because that issue cropped up a lot of the time during the most visually stunning parts of the film. And I don't know if it was my theater (a LieMAX), but even the sound design didn't feel special at all outside of a couple of neat surround sound effects at times. The resulting music and sound almost felt like playing some glorious graphical wonder of a videogame in stereo instead of 5.1. Tremendous visuals, but what about the audio?
GhaleonEB said:
I do think it was intentional on some level, since he's taken such a familiar story. I don't think even his biggest detractors would say the guy lacks creativity or imagination, and his films always have a fairly simple overlying story and structure, where he uses great technology and great directing in general to enhance them as opposed to great writing.
I'd put much greater faith in Cameron to give us a unique storyline as opposed to someone like George Lucas these days, but I don't think Cameron frequently intends to - what already makes him unique is what new tech he uses, and how.
Sculli said the original script for Avatar contains a lot more detail that didn't end up being filmed, or making the final cut. I might check it out one day to see what was in there.
polyh3dron
Banned
You have never heard someone cite fans of something as being the reason they hate something? Like if the tween crowd catches on to something? Wow.Amir0x said:
Watched it yesterday in IMAX 3D and it totally blew my mind. The theatre was packed and at the end, everyone was clapping. I saw The Dark Knight twice and there wasn't any fucking clapping.
One complaint I have is the IMAX 3D glasses. They weren't smudged (once I wiped them off), but in the brighter scenes I could see my own reflection on the lenses.
Going to watch it again this week. IMAX 3D again or RealD?
One complaint I have is the IMAX 3D glasses. They weren't smudged (once I wiped them off), but in the brighter scenes I could see my own reflection on the lenses.
Going to watch it again this week. IMAX 3D again or RealD?
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
Zeliard said:
Agreed on the score. It was flat out awful. Not a single memorable motif in the entire movie, pretty hard to do for a 2 hour 40 minute movie.
I'm curious as to why you thought the sound effects were bad. The panther chase scene to me was the best audio mix I've heard all year. No bullshit, just quick and snappy crunches that lent a lot to the intensity of the chase.
Messypandas
Member
an imax just opened near me and me and mates are checking this out on tuesday! i'm actually giddy, never been like that since Matrix reloaded
Hasphat6462 said:
I didn't necessarily think they were bad, just that they never stood out to me outside of a couple of scenes (like the one you mentioned). Most of the time it felt too quiet (as distinct from subtle), which is why I think that aspect of it might be the theater I went to. The mix sounded a little bit low - even the dialogue at times wasn't completely clear. I want to go see it again in a real IMAX and see what difference that makes, especially in terms of sound.
Maybe she did get questioned and probably made an excuse of her equipment being dodgy, forcing her to retreat? Maybe she probably had proven herself to the colonel before, enough for him to trust her?DanielPlainview said:
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
Dead said:I really like the score. The main theme is really memorable imo
There was a main theme? I didn't even notice. :|
Where's Hans Zimmer when you need him!?
DieNgamers
Member
I liked it, too! Especially the main theme.Dead said:I really like the score. The main theme is really memorable imo
Yeah, the main theme and the orchestral version of "I see you" (no damn lyrics!) are great. But yeah, those are the only ones I can remember from the film. That is not good, I don't see how the score can be nominated for an award.DieNgamers said:I liked it, too! Especially the main theme.
There was a repeating motif.Hasphat6462 said:
Also, just wanted to mention that the most impressive visual effect (aside from the obvious) was how they showed the difference between the air on Pandora and what humans breath. Its actually incredibly reminiscent of the visual effect that you see between the mixing of fresh water and salt water in the Planet Earth documentary.
I don't think the score is entirely bad. The main theme is nice and there were a couple of scenes where the music was quite beautiful (I think the
scene was one time I recall the musical accompaniment being quite nice).
They were just way too few and far between. A movie like this should have had a magical, hugely memorable musical score, like almost all of the big "event" movies.
jellyfish-swarming-Jake
They were just way too few and far between. A movie like this should have had a magical, hugely memorable musical score, like almost all of the big "event" movies.
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
Man, I am so utterly excited at the prospect of sequels. They can do so much with them.
Me too. Unless the numbers fall short of expectations or just barely meet them (hopefully not), I would think that FOX would do all they can to ramp up production of the sequels given how popular the film may turn out to be.Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
Although, production of this film took four years, so, it'll no doubt take a while anyway. Plus they'll probably first be focusing on the home release versions of the film too.
Dabookerman
Member
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
I sort of don't want one haha. I dunno. I just can't wait to see more awesome set pieces.
stuburns said:
I saw it in an IMAX theater last night and didn't notice any problems with the visuals or glare or reflections...etc. I thought it was fine. We did have an option to see the RealD or whatever it is, but the person who bought tickets bought ones for the IMAX showing. I'm considering going on Monday with another friend that hasn't seen it yet. Please explain to me what "Scope" means (CinemaScope?) and if I will have a better/same/worse experience in the RealD screen as the IMAX screen. I'm not really up on my "movie tech".
Count Dookkake
Member
Imagine a Quaritch's Revenge game for the 2600.
Hasphat'sAnts
Member
Darkpen said:
Goodness, I really haven't been paying attention, have I?
This is the definitely the first time I didn't remember a single piece from a big movie like this. I feel dumb. :lol
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
Well, they can probably cut down on production time since they have a lot of assets already completed. Plus, part of those four years were devoted to inventing the technology used in the movie, so that time will be cut down. Still, since he said he's probably not looking to jump right back in to a big budget movie, we can probably expect 4-5 years before another one at the very least.
Edit: And I just realized that James Cameron is really not that old. Barring any unforeseen accidents or an early retirement, we should have another 20 or so years worth of films from him.
Edit: And I just realized that James Cameron is really not that old. Barring any unforeseen accidents or an early retirement, we should have another 20 or so years worth of films from him.
lsslave said:
There are definitely some people who want to hate something just because it's popular. It's part of that 'rebellious' nature - people trying to be individuals by going against the grain. They think that something popular is just being a sheep.
It's stupid, because to hate something for its popularity is EXACTLY the same thing as liking something for the popularity.
I knew someone who would refuse to see the Titanic just because he felt he knew everything about it from other people said. It was odd, because he was proud of that. Also people whow disliked Titantic because Leo was a popular pretty boy.
They really did drop the ball with the Avatar game. How sad. Like many have said, why Ubisoft Montreal (of all studios) didn't go with their Assassin's Creed gameplay for the Na'vi was just amazing.
Also, for riding the AMP suit, I think they should have checked out Monoliths FEAR2, which had an awesome mech driving gameplay.
Such a waste of a game though.
Also, for riding the AMP suit, I think they should have checked out Monoliths FEAR2, which had an awesome mech driving gameplay.
Such a waste of a game though.
Snowman Prophet of Doom said:
What's also exciting is that it shouldn't take a huge amount of time to get a sequel, since all of the tech is in place, along with the world and characters and such. They aren't trailblazing a new technological path anymore, so things should be much easier and quicker the second time around. Ideally.
Edit: and you just said all that. Damn you.
Dabookerman
Member
I personally would love to see a documentary like Planet Earth, but set on Pandora. There's a featurette just like that on youtube somewhere. But a good few hours long. Oh yes!
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