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[Amir0x]

I wish it were hyperbole, but I literally would rather sit through Gigli then ever see another Transformers movie.

 

[Combine]

TRANSFORMERS action scenes were like some seven year old broke into ILM and proceeded to have a seizure while editing.

I admit, I totally :lol :lol

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

worldwide gross as of today $301,308,992

Incredible...AVATAR crushing all the doubters!

I just have one question: Is there anyone who had practically no interest in the movie based on the trailer, saw it anyways, and is now a total convert?

Not me. I said it when the trailer was released and I’ll say it again, I think it’s quite possibly the best trailer I’ve ever seen for a movie. I think it’s fantastic!

And again, I seriously can’t believe so many people doubted AVATAR. It boggles my mind that anyone thought the CGI/special effects were gonna be crap.

And for the record AVATAR >>> The Dark Night. The Dark Night is solid, but I found a lot of it boring, and the exaggerated hype didn't do it any favours.

This was hilarious. And still is:

:lol

That reminds me.......we need more AVATAR avatars made!

 

[Tobor]

Yeah I'm pretty much the biggest Biehn fanboy there is and I'm glad he didn't play Quaritch.

I want Biehn somewhere in Cameron's next movie though.

Does Biehn have his shit together, though? I have some friends who worked with him on a film in 2001 and they said he was a trainwreck.

 

[JayDub]

Hey guys,

I haven't read through this whole thread, I admit.

I just have one question: Is there anyone who had practically no interest in the movie based on the trailer, saw it anyways, and is now a total convert?

I'm not trying to troll here, honestly. The trailer did nothing for me, but I am curious based on the reviews it's been getting. Also, I loved Aliens.

For anyone who was converted, what was the main thing about the film that made you a believer?

I was on the fence. After reading reviews my interest peaked; if so many critics loved it I should be in for a treat. The trailers also did nothing for me; and in fact turned my friend off. She hates science fiction movies. She's as casual as casual can get; her fav movies are The Notebook, she watches One Tree Hill cause "the guys are hot," and think "Dirty Deeds" is the funniest movie of all time (I loved DD, :lol ). She LOVED the movie. Fuckin loved it. But a couple of things she and I agreed on:

1. All this talk of some groundbreaking, game changing implementation of 3D went over our heads. Nothing really stood out, nothing made us think "wow, this movie couldn't have been done any other way." The whole time, we were thinkin, "the fuck, we should have just gotten the 2D showing." If you people are going to make statements about the tech, it has got to blow the minds of those who are NOT versed in the "art of 3D." When the implementation of a tech only really impresses those who are knowledgeable in it, then it means nothing for the casuals.

2. The first hour or so dragged. It was so boring. Something about the editing of the origins of Jake and how the movie started also bugged me.

3. The story was touching. The characters were believable and likable.

I admit, I totally :lol :lol

:lol Every time, EVERY TIME a Transformer started shooting, they did some sort of pose where they would do a 360 and then shoot.

The fuck? And when one of those robots got shot in the middle of his showboating 360 spins I :lol so hard.

 

[g23]

This was hilarious. And still is:

:lol

OMG so many possibilities! :lol

 

[duderon]

Completely agreed. I am reading the gushing love for this movie in this thread and completely don't understand it. The movie was a cliched, cheesy crapfest. It looked great visually, sure, but it was a pretty crappy movie.

I think too many people in this thread have been beguiled enough by the CG and special effects that they have overlooked how lame the actual movie is.

My friends and I walked out of the movie laughing about how bad it was. To come in here and read the glowing love in this thread is so confusing. WTF?

The overwhelming praise is mostly coming from Cameron fanatics, but it does seem like there is a minority of people going "What's the big deal?". I understand that the CG effects and the movie direction were great, I really enjoyed the final battle, but the story goes where you expect it to and the dialogue delivery by most of the actors is flat. I wanted to love the film when I left the theater, but the mediocre story left me unsatisfied.

 

[Dabookerman]

I wish it were hyperbole, but I literally would rather sit through Gigli then ever see another Transformers movie.

I think I would too, but I haven't seen it. So to compare, I would rather sit through.. uh... uh.. Not Battlefield Earth.. or Sharktale. A Martin Lawrence movie.

 

[Ding]

My friends and I walked out of the movie laughing about how bad it was.

You guys are so cool.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Completely agreed. I am reading the gushing love for this movie in this thread and completely don't understand it. The movie was a cliched, cheesy crapfest. It looked great visually, sure, but it was a pretty crappy movie.

I think too many people in this thread have been beguiled enough by the CG and special effects that they have overlooked how lame the actual movie is.

My friends and I walked out of the movie laughing about how bad it was. To come in here and read the glowing love in this thread is so confusing. WTF?

You and your friends sound awesome and cool.

EDIT: Haha

 

[Tobor]

The overwhelming praise is mostly coming from Cameron fanatics, but it does seem like there is a minority of people going "What's the big deal?". I understand that the CG effects and the movie direction were great, I really enjoyed the final battle, but the story goes where you expect it to and the dialogue delivery by most of the actors is flat. I wanted to love the film when I left the theater, but the mediocre story left me unsatisfied.

Well said. I don't feel like it was a waste of my money, certainly. It's a spectacle, and decent enough for what it is, but I can't help but drool over what Cameron could have done with this tech and a good script.

 

[JayDub]

The overwhelming praise is mostly coming from Cameron fanatics, but it does seem like there is a minority of people going "What's the big deal?". I understand that the CG effects and the movie direction were great, I really enjoyed the final battle, but the story goes where you expect it to and the dialogue delivery by most of the actors is flat. I wanted to love the film when I left the theater, but the mediocre story left me unsatisfied.

Like I said, a lot of the casuals I know loved the movie and it wasnt because of the 3D or CGI. I still think that the CGI is still too CGI-ey for my taste. There are certain scenes where it is so damn noticeable.

The backgrounds and a lot of the creatures from the world are really nice though.

Oh, and what I dont get is the people hating on this movie for supposedly having a bad story. What the hell? I realize it is a retelling of Dances with Wolves; but since when was that considered a "bad story"? How about the execution? Quaritch was a cheesy (yes, I agree with that), bad ass general..in a good way. Sully's real life performance wasn't all that, but in his Avatar, Jake was likable and believable in his transformation. Grace's character grew also.

Really? Cliche? Were you born yesterday? Since when did a big hollywood movie not contain cliches? It wasnt even tasteless in this movie. No walking-slowly-away-from-an-explosion. Jake's "speech", which was cringeworthy in the trailer, was great in the movie. It was quite inspiring. I mean, it wont be a monologue piece for your film/acting class, but it definitely did its job.

Im beginning to think some people saw the trailer (and yes, it looked cliche and cheesy in the trailer) and are basing it off that. Or, they went into this movie expecting it to be the best thing ever.

I guess, from the hype, Im not surprised some of you went in expecting that.

 

[Particle Physicist]

The overwhelming praise is mostly coming from Cameron fanatics, but it does seem like there is a minority of people going "What's the big deal?". I understand that the CG effects and the movie direction were great, I really enjoyed the final battle, but the story goes where you expect it to and the dialogue delivery by most of the actors is flat. I wanted to love the film when I left the theater, but the mediocre story left me unsatisfied.

not true. there are a bunch of people that hated on the movie before seeing it.. i actually fall in that category.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

I for one had no interest in the movie. I had even seen the GAF thread for months before the release and wasn't even sure what the movie was about, yet I came out of the theater and loved it.

By no means am I a Cameron fanatic, I don't like Titanic, I have never seen Aliens, and Terminator 1 and 2 were decent. But on this movie I became a believer.

I know the story has been seen before, and there were some cheezy lines but overall the movie hit a home run. I think the thing that pushed me over the top was the depth and detail to Pandora and the Na'vi people, I have never been so drawn in to a movie before.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

when are we getting the overseas numbers for Avatar tuesday?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I didn't mean to imply no one had similar tech, just that Cameron said in an interview that he approached your studio and Weta saying he wanted to do motion cap by mounting a camera on the actors face. He claimed to have come up with the process, if your studio did, then I apologize. No offense was intended.

I believe both Weta and ourselves had our own ideas at the time on how to get the desired effect through different processes, and both companies have progressed their own methods since then. Will they be just as good? We'll have to wait and see until a show comes around to either group and decides to do something as ambitious as Cameron.

TRANSFORMERS action scenes were like some seven year old broke into ILM and proceeded to have a seizure while editing.

hatersgonnahate.gif

 

[Guiberu]

Saw it.

Loved it

Want to see it again.

Can't stop listening to the soundtrack.

 

[Dabookerman]

I believe both Weta and ourselves had our own ideas at the time on how to get the desired effect through different processes, and both companies have progressed their own methods since then. Will they be just as good? We'll have to wait and see until a show comes around to either group and decides to do something as ambitious as Cameron.

Who would win a fight? Weta or ILM?

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Who would win a fight? Weta or ILM?

You expect me to give a non-biased answer to that? :lol

 

[StuBurns]

I believe both Weta and ourselves had our own ideas at the time on how to get the desired effect through different processes, and both companies have progressed their own methods since then. Will they be just as good? We'll have to wait and see until a show comes around to either group and decides to do something as ambitious as Cameron.

Based on the fact we see all this kind of thing on dvd extras and stuff, is it possible to mention however briefly, the method your studio is pursuing? My understanding of Cameron's approach is full body motion capture must be done at a distance that allows the whole 'scene' to be captured, and the problem with this is for the minute detail of facial capture is lost just because of the lack of tracking fidelity the equipment has, so using a normal approach for the body, and a close camera directly on the actors faces at all time solve the issue. Is that correct?

Who would win a fight? Weta or ILM?

DigitalDomain shunned.

Spoiler

Whoever did the water when Neytiri throws Jake's spear/torch in there, holy shit that shot is incredible

 

[Dabookerman]

You expect me to give a non-biased answer to that? :lol

Sure, be as objective as possible. We won't tell anyone!

 

[JumpJeff84]

I'll definitely see this one in the theatre.

Now the question is, 3D or not 3D?

 

[Expendable.]

I'll definitely see this one in the theatre.

Now the question is, 3D or not 3D?

3D, no question.

 

[miked808]

Just returning home from the IMAX 3-D showing. I absolutely loved it.

 

[seanoff]

I'm not a movie fanatic, I go, i see them, i'm entertained, I go home.


I was gob smacked. that was a tour de force on a level i can scarcely comprehend. Special Merit Award (Technical) for Cameron for this one i suspect.

the story was a little cliched, but decent enough to keep me entertained and involved.


btw it's doing massive business in Australia.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

I for one had no interest in the movie. I had even seen the GAF thread for months before the release and wasn't even sure what the movie was about, yet I came out of the theater and loved it.

By no means am I a Cameron fanatic, I don't like Titanic, I have never seen Aliens, and Terminator 1 and 2 were decent. But on this movie I became a believer.

I know the story has been seen before, and there were some cheezy lines but overall the movie hit a home run. I think the thing that pushed me over the top was the depth and detail to Pandora and the Na'vi people, I have never been so drawn in to a movie before.

There is a big problem right there. Probably one of the most intense and relentless action films ever made. Just about every futuristic military movie or game has ripped off design work from this film. And with good reason. You cant improve on perfection.

 

[Solo]

You know what I love? Never seeing this thread fall past halfway down the main page in almost 3 weeks

Does Biehn have his shit together, though?

He was great in Planet Terror in 2007, and I saw him interviewed in 2008, and he seemed just fine there too. Also, he was going to be in Avatar until Cameron decided it was too much Aliens redux with him and Signourney.

tl;dr hes fine

 

[Trevelyon]

Now the question is, 3D or not 3D?

 

[Lau]

And for the record AVATAR >>> The Dark Night. The Dark Night is solid, but I found a lot of it boring, and the exaggerated hype didn't do it any favours.

The Dark Night?

Oh, and you speak nonsense. Nolan's mix of characters is far more interesting than the bunch of aliens and humans in Avatar. Nontheless, it's a great movie and I'd love to see this universe being explored more.

 

[Karma Kramer]

Man that looks amazingly real... I wonder if I should see this in 2D now? Seems like you can see a lot more detail... anyone who has seen both care to comment?

I've seen it 4 times now btw

 

[Defcon]

Group me in with those that think Avatar is a more entertaining movie than TDK. I loved Batman Begins but TDK was quite dull.

 

[jman2050]

Like I said, a lot of the casuals I know loved the movie and it wasnt because of the 3D or CGI. I still think that the CGI is still too CGI-ey for my taste. There are certain scenes where it is so damn noticeable.

The backgrounds and a lot of the creatures from the world are really nice though.

Oh, and what I dont get is the people hating on this movie for supposedly having a bad story. What the hell? I realize it is a retelling of Dances with Wolves; but since when was that considered a "bad story"? How about the execution? Quaritch was a cheesy (yes, I agree with that), bad ass general..in a good way. Sully's real life performance wasn't all that, but in his Avatar, Jake was likable and believable in his transformation. Grace's character grew also.

The execution was really questionable to be honest. There's nothing wrong with "cliches" or simple stories, but there is such a thing as being TOO derivative, and with as many things that Avatar did right (and they are plenty), the way the plot and characters developed was blatantly paint-by-numbers and the most frustrating part is that I KNOW Cameron can do better. Titanic and Terminator both walk all over Avatar as far as story and characters go.

Still, again, that's only one component of many, and you shouldn't be at all surprised that people react differently to it depending on how much weight they put into that particular component. Despite the lame story it was still legitimately entertaining and well worth the price of admission.

There's no need for people to be vehemently defending their opinions of the movie as strongly as I've seen people do all over the internet, on both sides.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Group me in with those that think Avatar is a more entertaining movie than TDK. I loved Batman Begins but TDK was quite dull.

 

[Solo]

Dont agree that its dull obviously, but I do find it to be almost impossible to rewatch at home.

 

[Karma Kramer]

Let's not turn this into a TDK discussion... but my 2 cents is yeah TDK is a snooze of a movie.

 

[Dabookerman]

Dont agree that its dull obviously, but I do find it to be almost impossible to rewatch at home.

It's something I can watch all the way through a couple of times a year. Batman Begins has more re-watchability than TDK. Probably because it's a great origin story. Still a great film though.

 

[StuBurns]

TDK has much better pacing than BB, although neither really stand up to repeated viewings that well I think.

As for Avatar in 2D, given the amount of time it'll take me to have decent 3D at home I don't want to 'waste' a cinema opportunity on the 2D version, but watching the trailer on my TV and seeing the Pepsi ad at the cinema, the 2D version looks fuck awesome.

 

[Solo]

Batman Begins has more re-watchability than TDK. Probably because it's a great origin story. Still a great film though.

Yup. BB has a ton of replay value that TDK doesnt, and I enjoy revisiting it each year. The first 50 minutes of BB > the rest of BB and TDK.

 

[Dabookerman]

Yup. BB has a ton of replay value that TDK doesnt, and I enjoy revisiting it each year. The first 50 minutes of BB > the rest of BB and TDK.

Let's be honest, that same can be applied to most if not all origin stories ;p

 

[Solo]

Let's be honest, that same can be applied to most if not all origin stories ;p

Actually, BB aside, I generally find origin story movies to be much weaker than their sequels. X-man is completely inferior to X2, Spider-Man is outclassed in every facet by Spider-Man 2, etc. Origin stories are often so clunky.

 

[StuBurns]

Actually, BB aside, I generally find origin story movies to be much weaker than their sequels. X-man is completely inferior to X2, Spider-Man is outclassed in every facet by Spider-Man 2, etc. Origin stories are often so clunky.

We haven't seen the sequel of course, but what about Star Trek? Lots of set up for the reboot.

 

[Solo]

We haven't seen the sequel of course, but what about Star Trek? Lots of set up for the reboot.

I love ST2009, but similarly, I fully expect its sequel to blow it out of the water now that they're done establishing the cast.

 

[LeMaximilian]

Who would win a fight? Weta or ILM?

Stan Winston Studios! ; ________ ; Made my heart jerk a little bit when I saw the original studio name in the credits, with /Legacy Studios next to it. Sucks Stan didn't get to see the finished product. It's Carl Sagan all over again...

 

[ryutaro's mama]

I just realized my 2 favorite movies I saw in theaters in 2009 both starred Zoe Saldana.

 

[corpserot]

Went with family to see Avatar, wouldn't have otherwise because the trailer killed any excitement i had for it. So glad I saw it, loved the film and the 3D was amazing.

 

[Solo]

I just realized my 2 favorite movies I saw in theaters in 2009 both starred Zoe Saldana.

Have you realized yet that you love her? Thats the next step.

 

[StuBurns]

A gift to all Zoe fans...

Spoiler

My God

EDIT: Removed, don't want to upset anyone.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Have you realized yet that you love her? Thats the next step.

stuburns isn't helping things...

 

[Timbuktu]

It's some shameful backward thinking bullshit if she doesn't even get a nomination, true bullshit.

This type of thing is going to be a lot more common, the academy can't ignore it forever, I know they're typically slow to get on board, but it's such a stand out performance that I'll be really disappointed to see her shunned.

If Zoe's performance was life-action, she might be a bit too melodramatic. I'd say both of the women in Up in the Air did better with more difficult roles. I just don't think the script was written that way where it demanded depth and complexities in the relationships and performance. I would go as far as saying that Up's Carl and Ellie and Carol and TW in Where the Wild Things Are were more suggestive of real relationships and far more affecting for me. If anything, I feel that Jake is still in that infatuation sort of phase.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

I wanna kiss her all over her bawwwwddyy