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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)

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Zeliard said:
The story in general was definitely very predictable, but there were still a couple neat twists. Like how it's apparently impossible for
a human to die or become physically hurt no matter what happens to his Avatar, or even if he's just suddenly unplugged. It basically takes it in the opposite direction of the most popular alternate version of that basic idea, The Matrix.

That's not completely true.
When the jarheads were yanking them out of the machines, Norm was saying they don't know what could happen. And when Norm was shot up, he was obviously in a lot of pain--almost looked like a heart attack.
 
I might've missed this (I did watch the movie only once) but did they ever explain how the humans are able to remotely control their Avatars? Is there like some radio/transmitter implant involved that receives signals from the neural chamber?
 
I still haven't gone and see it for the second time and I'm suffering from Pandora withdrawal.

Some friends that haven't seen it yet can only go after xmas, meh. I'll probably go alone before. And then I'll go with them again ha!

I've been surviving by playing the game (yes I bought it just to go back for a while lol) and reading the scriptment! So far from what I've read there's so much background info that gets cut off, and stuff that was simplified for the movie... I really wish it had been 3 hours.
Or more, even, but it's not realistic to expect a studio to gamble so much. Damn those IMAX length limits.

Hey Sculli have you stopped grinning since the movie came out? :D
 
FirewalkR said:
I still haven't gone and see it for the second time and I'm suffering from Pandora withdrawal.

Some friends that haven't seen it yet can only go after xmas, meh. I'll probably go alone before. And then I'll go with them again ha!

I've been surviving by playing the game (yes I bought it just to go back for a while lol) and reading the scriptment! So far from what I've read there's so much background info that gets cut off, and stuff that was simplified for the movie... I really wish it had been 3 hours.
Or more, even, but it's not realistic to expect a studio to gamble so much. Damn those IMAX length limits.

Hey Sculli have you stopped grinning since the movie came out? :D

how is the game? I was thinking about renting it...
 
U K Narayan said:
I thought they did do this? Isn't that how they mate? Doesn't look like they're packing much down there, if anything at all.

Who gives a fuck if they kiss?

And use the same thing they bond with ikran and horses? best not to think too much about that. In any case, it's no big deal. The only actual 'bad' moment I had was with Selfridge's exposition to Grace at the beginning about unobtanium. Overall, i think I will like the film better on a second viewing.
 
I saw this yesterday in IMAX 3D and initially thought it was overly long and predictable, but after letting it settle in my mind, I find that just the sense of being there on this other planet was amazing. The detail of the world was incredible.
 
I had no expectations going in to see the movie, and I've gone back about 6 or 7 pages to see if anyone mentioned this. I loved the movie, very glad to see James Cameron was back to doing movies, but the only part that I didn't like was
Jake's narration. It felt sort of out of place and unnecessary. Kind of like Harrison Ford's narration in the theatrical version of Blade Runner, or Kiefer Sutherland's narration at the start of Dark City. All Jake is doing is saying what is inferred or mentioned anyways, and was redundant and felt like its only purposes was to dumb it down for the popcorn crowd.
Everything else was great though. Bluray day 1.
 
vehn said:
whats the difference between XD 3D and just regular 3D (other than one costs $14 >.>)
On is active LCD shutter, one is polarized. There is a Gaffers impressions of XpanD a couple of pages back.
 
U K Narayan said:
They have sex ALL THE TIME! :O
The Na'vi can't mate until they have claimed a banshee, the teens have got to do something to pass the time. It's an effective method of preventing underage sex though.
 
FirewalkR said:
I still haven't gone and see it for the second time and I'm suffering from Pandora withdrawal.

I've been surviving by playing the game (yes I bought it just to go back for a while lol) and reading the scriptment! So far from what I've read there's so much background info that gets cut off, and stuff that was simplified for the movie... I really wish it had been 3 hours.

Where can I find the scriptment?

And how's the game? The game looks rather mediocre from what I've seen so far, but damn ... I want another Avatar fix really bad... If the game has a lot new background stuff about Pandora I could see myself buying it despite the bad reviews ...
 
Oh SHIT. In the Charlie Rose interview Cameron says that while simplifying the original scriptment he'd circle sections and go "well this goes on the sequel".

Now I can't even continue to read the scriptment. :(

LLaMa-Tech said:
how is the game? I was thinking about renting it...

There's a demo (for PC at least), try it if you can. Gameplay isn't great, seems pretty repetitive and character progression/skill upgrading seems to leave you little choice. I have played little yet so I don't know if further ahead in the game the skills you choose make more of a difference. The graphics on the PC are really _really_ good if you have a recent PC, since it's the Far Cry 2 engine, probably optimized. Pandora looks beautiful. :D

Vehn was asking about XpanD, my first (and only so far) viewing of Avatar was with that system. In a nutshell, the glasses are somewhat uncomfortable because they're _heavy_ (infrared receptor+battery), you can't rotate your head too much or the infrared receptor in the glasses will loose signal. 3D image quality was great (RealD level at least, I guess) but it was a bit dark, although I'm not sure if that's partly the fault of the theatre guys. The main niggle was the glasses' weight, but it was still a great experience. I'm still gonna see it in RealD. Several times I hope. :)

Solo said:
I doubt many have. Its hard to not find my thoughts drifting towards it at all times

I sure haven't stopped grinning about it. :D And my mind still drifts towards the memories too. Cameron delivered pure awesome.
 
I saw it twice, the firt theatre was a midnight showing in what i thought was the best theatre to go to in colorado. It was horrible, no air conditioning, they handed out some yellow framed glasses and the colors seemed dull.

Went to the theatre i saw the 15 minute preview the second time, its a digital Imax REALD theatre. Frickin amazing!!!! It was almost as if I was watchign it for the first time cuz it was so much of a better experience.
 
How do you think this bizzare addictive effect that the movie seems to be having on most people will affect repeat viewings? Greatly?

Titanic was great repeat viewing for the female demographic predominantly, but Avatar seems to have more universal appeal.

I seriously have never craved seeing a movie again as much as I do with Avatar. The same thing seems to be happening everywhere, people are suffering withdrawal, and then when they do see it again, it gets better and better.

If a turgid piece of shit like 2012 can perform so admirably at the box office (without many repeat views I presume and hope), isn't it a given Avatar will do many times the takings?
 
Near said:
The best scene had to be
when Neytiri was holding human Jake in her arms imo. It was beautiful because it was the first time the two had actually seen eachother for what they were. Such huge difference in physical scale between them, but little in the love they shared. Served with sweet dialogue... "I see you", defining the theme, it was just too overwhelming. :'(

As mentioned earlier in the thread, it was one of my favorite scenes too
(along with the conversation before the "sex scene")
. I am a sucker for good romance in an action movie. It has more weight than if I were simply watching a romance for some reason.
 
Justinian said:
How do you think this bizzare addictive effect that the movie seems to be having on most people will affect repeat viewings? Greatly?

Titanic was great repeat viewing for the female demographic predominantly, but Avatar seems to have more universal appeal.

I seriously have never craved seeing a movie again as much as I do with Avatar. The same thing seems to be happening everywhere, people are suffering withdrawal, and then when they do see it again, it gets better and better.

If a turgid piece of shit like 2012 can perform so admirably at the box office (without many repeat views I presume and hope), isn't it a given Avatar will do many times the takings?

It will. It's not going to do Titanic numbers so the repatings won't be as great or as deep into the next year, but it reminds me of Dark Knight, where I had wanted it to see it immediately again just for the pencil trick and the bank heist. However, repeat viewings opened up more things to me.

TDK made the money it did largely because of male/teen repeaters- just like Jurassic Park and Star Wars before it. I think Avatar will do similar but perhaps with an even wider demographic as I imagine a few girlfriends/wives will want to see it again too.
 
I was hyped fro TDK but I didn't see it in theaters or again after watching it on my TV. I'll see it again eventually most definitely.

I also don't remember the rottenwatch thread so eager to see it again. But I also didn't pay much attention to it. Maybe some of you do remember it.

I want to see Avatar again multiple times. So.. there's my 2 cents.
 
FLEABttn said:
I had no expectations going in to see the movie, and I've gone back about 6 or 7 pages to see if anyone mentioned this. I loved the movie, very glad to see James Cameron was back to doing movies, but the only part that I didn't like was
Jake's narration. It felt sort of out of place and unnecessary. Kind of like Harrison Ford's narration in the theatrical version of Blade Runner, or Kiefer Sutherland's narration at the start of Dark City. All Jake is doing is saying what is inferred or mentioned anyways, and was redundant and felt like its only purposes was to dumb it down for the popcorn crowd.
Everything else was great though. Bluray day 1.
I loved the
narration. I like his voice a lot.
 
gdt5016 said:
When will we get those?

Roughly 5 hours from now is when they usually roll in for weekdays. Also, see this again ASAP, gdt! So much better the second time. You'll be smiling throughout.
 
Went to a packed showing last night with my mom and sister, IMAX 3D. My mother absolutely loved it, sister liked it (can never tell with her) and i loved it as well. This movie is going to be crazy over the holidays...going to see it again with mother and girlfriend. I have to DRAG my mother to the movies..this one she wants to see AGAIN. Amazing.
 
jett said:
I'll say something about the score, I actually liked it more on my second viewing.


I liked the instrumental flourishes of "I See You" throughout the movie. Horner did the same thing with "My Heart Will Go On" in Titanic, and it worked great in both movies.
 
Near said:
The best scene had to be
when Neytiri was holding human Jake in her arms imo. It was beautiful because it was the first time the two had actually seen eachother for what they were. Such huge difference in physical scale between them, but little in the love they shared. Served with sweet dialogue... "I see you", defining the theme, it was just too overwhelming. :'(

I really liked that part too and also
before the bodyswitch, she stays with his human body and kisses i believe both cheeks before slowly going to Jake's avatar body. Nice little touches like these that show that she really does love his soul,spirit and accepts his origin.

Enosh said:
I also didn't like the deus ex machina at the end, I think the movies message of "colonization=bad" would be much more stronger if the na'vi would have actualy lost, to realy show THIS is what happens when you do shit like this and that's why it is bad

Disagree, that ending would suck balls.
There are more then enough movies that end like that, The last of the mohicans,Dances with Wolves,Last Samurai,ect. All those movies in the end have the natives lose against the invaders in the long run.
If people don't even realize why it's bad then there has to be something seriously wrong with them.
And if your ending had happend then it means the "aliens" won, giving the message that you can do/take whatever the fuck you want with no consequences. How awesome would Independance day be if in the end the human race was enslaved?
 
FLEABttn said:
I had no expectations going in to see the movie, and I've gone back about 6 or 7 pages to see if anyone mentioned this. I loved the movie, very glad to see James Cameron was back to doing movies, but the only part that I didn't like was
Jake's narration. It felt sort of out of place and unnecessary. Kind of like Harrison Ford's narration in the theatrical version of Blade Runner, or Kiefer Sutherland's narration at the start of Dark City. All Jake is doing is saying what is inferred or mentioned anyways, and was redundant and felt like its only purposes was to dumb it down for the popcorn crowd.
Everything else was great though. Bluray day 1.

Hrm.. I actually didn't mind it.. and it kind of served as the reason why the
military guys ultimately decided to go with guns blazing
.. that said.. was i the only one that noticed his australian accent during the opening narration, which quickly died down after he had arrived in pandora?
 
DeathNote said:
I was hyped fro TDK but I didn't see it in theaters or again after watching it on my TV. I'll see it again eventually most definitely.

I also don't remember the rottenwatch thread so eager to see it again. But I also didn't pay much attention to it. Maybe some of you do remember it.

I want to see Avatar again multiple times. So.. there's my 2 cents.

Before I was able to post, I lurked the thread and there seemed a huge fervor over it.

TDK was a little different because it was so intense (Joker & 2 Face destroy every villian in Avatar 10 fold IMO), so I can understand some holding off seeing it. However, I would be hardpressed to believe that TDK will wind up with more unique viewers than Avatar because of the number of people that saw it multiple times. I also think that Avatar will not have as many repeats. I think most will stop after the 2nd or 3rd viewing.

I knew some people that saw TDK 4-5 times which is insane to me. At the same time, I knew several people who never saw it until it hit DVD despite it's box office. This is why I think Avatar will not get to Dark Knight numbers US wise, but shoul be within close range worldwide since it is more of a global appeal type movie. Half of it's revenue will not come from US, more like a 3rd to a 4th.
 
I just saw this last night for the first time in 3D. A few thoughts-

1. WOW. That 3D technology is incredible. It didn't seem gimmicky at all and there were multiple times where I felt like a piece of ash or a bug was flying towards my eye, haha. (On a sidenote, the gimmick from the previews for Alice in Wonderland DID seem awesome to me, when it had the Cheshire Cat just coming in front of your face and smiling at you. Thought that was cool.)

2. I think that now I can understand how people felt when they first saw Star Wars in the theaters so many years ago. This just seems like a total gamechanger as far as movies go.


Overall I'm still just stunned with how awesome the movie was. I can't believe I ever considered not seeing it. I can't wait to get to work today so I can tell everyone to go see it :lol
 
jett said:
I'll say something about the score, I actually liked it more on my second viewing.
This. Yeah you hear your stereotypical tribal and jungle motifs, but the way the few distinct, albeit simple themes are woven into the movie at certain times is very well done and is something I miss from many movie scores these days.
 
tabsina said:
Hrm.. I actually didn't mind it.. and it kind of served as the reason why the
military guys ultimately decided to go with guns blazing
.. that said.. was i the only one that noticed his australian accent during the opening narration, which quickly died down after he had arrived in pandora?
His Aussie accent went in and out for the whole movie just like terminator salvatin.
 
Zoe said:
That's not completely true.
When the jarheads were yanking them out of the machines, Norm was saying they don't know what could happen. And when Norm was shot up, he was obviously in a lot of pain--almost looked like a heart attack.

They did note at one point that it could be dangerous to
just unplug the person, but it's done a few times throughout the film to seemingly no adverse effect. I'm led to think they were just saying that to try and keep Quartrich from unplugging them. Later on Jake drifts in and out of consciousness, and in between bodies, but he's only affected by the lack of oxygen.

Also, as far as Norm, that struck me more as
he was scared shitless probably because he could feel the bullets in his Avatar form, and also possibly because he may not have known what happens to him if his Avatar dies. It didn't seem to me like he was in any actual physical pain. He started grabbing at his chest area when he woke up because that's where he got shot as an Avatar.
 
Enosh said:
one thing I realy didn't like was the
kiss, why again do the na'vi have the exact same way to kiss as humans do?
Why not? They are humanoid, the walk and talk like humans. It would've been jarring as someone else mentioned, if they were to get all erotic from something unfamiliar to us. It has been done in other sic-fi movies and just sticks out to be weird. You have to ask yourself why humans do it. It's just a very intimate action to share such a personal part like that. I have no problem with that.
I also didn't like the deus ex machina at the end, I think the movies message of "colonization=bad" would be much more stronger if the na'vi would have actualy lost, to realy show THIS is what happens when you do shit like this and that's why it is bad
I don't think the message was ever that 'colonization=bad'. Did we see the same movie? Not any moment were the humans trying to colonize the land. Aside from Jake the only mention of integration/assimilation of either culture were carried out by the scientists for knowledge. The corporation was there to mine the mineral, not to colonize.
 
I haven't been able to see this yet but I'm going tonight in IMAX. :D
So pumped. I've only seen a couple IMAX documentaries and they weren't in 3D so this should be really cool.
 
Okin said:
So I guess you watch the same movie over and over because they're all the same? A baseline idea can be crafted in to something unique in many different ways, but the Avatar story was about as bland as they get.

Depends on the person, I guess, because I like this kind of story. Even in its most bland form. I'd hardly call Avatar bland, though - the visuals kind of made it unique. But true, if it had an AMAZING story, or better sense of telling the story, Avatar would've been much better.
 
Zeliard said:
They did note at one point that it could be dangerous to
just unplug the person, but it's done a few times throughout the film to seemingly no adverse effect. I'm led to think they were just saying that to try and keep Quartrich from unplugging them. Later on Jake drifts in and out of consciousness, and in between bodies, but he's only affected by the lack of oxygen.

Also, as far as Norm, that struck me more as
he was scared shitless probably because he could feel the bullets in his Avatar form, and also possibly because he may not have known what happens to him if his Avatar dies. It didn't seem to me like he was in any actual physical pain. He started grabbing at his chest area when he woke up because that's where he got shot as an Avatar.

I thought the 'rules' of the Avatar system needed to be written out more clearly for the audience. Even if that meant highlighting the fact that they didn't know exactly how it all worked, or what would happen if the Avatar died (like earlier in the introduction, not when the marines were on a rampage). I was confused throughout the movie wondering if I was supposed to be fearful for the Avatars or not. I get the idea that the bodies are grown, and as such are one of a kind, at least for a certain time span (why not make a couple for each person , if the project is so important?).

Anyway, Norm's Avatar didn't die, so I guess we still don't really know.
 
Zeliard said:
They did note at one point that it could be dangerous to
just unplug the person, but it's done a few times throughout the film to seemingly no adverse effect. I'm led to think they were just saying that to try and keep Quartrich from unplugging them. Later on Jake drifts in and out of consciousness, and in between bodies, but he's only affected by the lack of oxygen.

I was under the impression they did this only
to stop the military from pulling the plug at that particular time- basically to slow them down.
 
mrkgoo said:
Anyway, Norm's Avatar didn't die, so I guess we still don't really know.

It didn't?
When they were kicking the humans off the planet, he was standing there in his human body with the bearded doctor Max watching them all leave, right? And you don't see his Avatar in any of the last few scenes right? You don't see the body take a fatal hit...just the shoulder, but I was thinking that his Avatar was dead/killed.

I'd like to know if I'm wrong about that. Would really suck for Max
to be the only human left on the planet with no Avatar he could get into.

Also, they say
only a select few humans were allowed to stay. Is it just Norm and Max? Where there any others?
 
Askani said:
It didn't?
When they were kicking the humans off the planet, he was standing there in his human body with the bearded doctor Max watching them all leave, right? And you don't see his Avatar in any of the last few scenes right? You don't see the body take a fatal hit...just the shoulder, but I was thinking that his Avatar was dead/killed.

I'd like to know if I'm wrong about that. Would really suck for Max
to be the only human left on the planet with no Avatar he could get into.

Also, they say
only a select few humans were allowed to stay. Is it just Norm and Max? Where there any others?

He appears in Avatar form in one of the final frames during the human exodus scene

blink it and you miss it :P
 
jett said:
He appears in Avatar form in one of the final frames during the human exodus scene

blink it and you miss it :P

How is that possible when his human body is shown standing there with an oxygen mask on?
 
Might go see this today with some friends as they want to see it and I am bit curious now. Is it going to be ok watching it on the fake Imax screen cause I think that is what I am going to watch it on. What's the headgear going to be like?
 
Solo said:
How is that possible when his human body is shown standing there with an oxygen mask on?

Not in the frame where his Avatar appears. It's right there with the same clothes he wore during the whole movie. Unless there are more Avatars than the ones shown in the movie.
 
reflecting back, there were one or two scenes that seemed digitized almost jpeg artifacts type thing.
one was near the beginning with the doctors waking everyone up.
and in one or two of the action scenes, kinda like the models juddered for a split second.

Still love it and my movie of the year
 
Another small touch I loved: when Jake was Torok (sp?) he had this really elaborate headdress that was quite awesome.
 
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