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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)

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The line "The strong prey against the weak, and nobody does a thing about it" from the trailers was actually from the earth scenes.

The one downside to the earth scenes it that the movie no longer opens with the first shot of Jake opening his eyes, mirroring the final shot. (unless JC shot if differently)

After reading the script, the loss of the earth scenes dont seem like such a big deal anymore. The cut Na'vi scenes and Grace backstory are a much bigger deal I think...
 
Out of sight of Tsu’tey, Neytiri takes his hand and squeezes
it. Jake feels a rush of emotion, but she breaks away like
it didn’t happen. He is on his own, on the ledge with --
The BANSHEES.


I wish this scene would have been left in. Just to further move along that she was beginning to have feelings for him.

edit: Well shit theres a ton in this script I wish they would have left in...like the hunt and dance afterwords...pleaseeee give us these scenes!
 
From the AICN talkbacks, something Cameron said in EMPIRE (I know its AICN, but its backed up by it being mentioned elsewhere as well)

"I ended up cutting about 30 minutes of footage to make the theatrical cut" Cameron tells Empire.

"Though you cant use the half hour as metric, because a lot of it came out in what I call 'frame fucking' - nibbling away six frames here and ten frames there. But there were whole scenes lifted which we'll put onto the blu-ray.

We wound up with a high-class problem on this film, which was that nothing was disappointing in and of itself. There were some beautifully acted scenes - and ones which gave you a more complete understanding of the world - but they just didnt serve the greater narrative and slowed the pace."

Cameron hints that there'll be something thrilling for fanboys: Navi boobs: "We came up with this free-floating array of feathers to cover Neytiri's breasts, but when we rendered one shot, she landed on the ground next to a fire and her nipples got lit up. As we were trying to make a family film we ended up having to fix it. But it'll probably end up on the Special Edition!"
 
I actually would have been perfectly content with this as a solo movie...I thought the ending was perfect. Not sure how I feel about a sequel.

Faith in Cameron I guess.
 
a Master Ninja said:
Not sure if want.
I wasnt sure if i wanted Avatar 1. He has proved me wrong, and billion dollars later, im sure they will throw more money and awesome at Avatar 2 than you can imagine.
 
All right, I have to admit I was wrong about this movie. I thought that this movie was going to be horrible, hell I didn't even know that movie wasn't based on the cartoon until august. When I looked into the movie I thought that the simple story and the possible awkwardness of the navi characters. A friend finally convinced me to go see the movie with him and I couldn't believe how wrong I was. Yes the story was fairly simple but it worked well with this movie, and the cgi was simply amazing! Now its the only movie that I have ever seen more than once in a movie theater (both in 3d but not in imax) and I want to go see it again, and I would love to see some of the cut scenes and see how much it would add to the story.
 
NeoUltima said:
I hope my death can be as awesome as his
I dunno.
Shot with machine gun. Plunges thousands of feet to the forest floor. Scalped and left for dead. Mercy-killed.

I really liked him, and while I'd have liked to see more of him, I don't like to think of those last two. :(
 
GhaleonEB said:
I dunno.
Shot with machine gun. Plunges thousands of feet to the forest floor. Scalped and left for dead. Mercy-killed.

I really liked him, and while I'd have liked to see more of him, I don't like to think of those last two. :(
I liked the guy too. I kinda felt bad that he always had to play second to Jake and then died an shitty death in the film.
(Though would the extended death be more glorious because it's more brutal? :/)
 
TacticalFox88 said:
Best Blu-Ray Extented Cut of all time? Yeah Cameron got this too.

i99464_kingdom.of.heaven.cover.jpg


I doubt it.
 
hirokazu said:
I liked the guy too. I kinda felt bad that he always had to play second to Jake and then died an shitty death in the film.
(Though would the extended death be more glorious because it's more brutal? :/)
Perhaps if they expand his role a great deal in the extended cut, his longer
death sequence
would be more justified. As is it wouldn't have as much resonance.

Reading all of what got cut is just painful. It's remarkable that so much great stuff was in there and the movie still came out incredible. So many movies get that much chopped and end up just a mess.
 
duckroll said:
Here are some of the scenes I felt really should have stayed in the movie:

- The backstory of Grace's school, and how she sees Jake as going through the same journey she did, but going further than she could allow herself to go. The ruins of the school, the background about Neytiri's sister and the closing of the school, those stuff seem really important to me.

- The little subplot about how Norm was actually getting angry at Jake because he felt he was the one who put in all the hard work and study into this, but Jake is getting all the glory. In fact they even kept the line from Jake about how Norm was "back on board" and it never made any sense in the current cut because Norm was never shown to ever actually voice serious displeasure at Jake.

- The vision quest. It's a big foreshadowing scene, and it definitely "completes" Jake's journey as a warrior. In the current cut it just seems like the big event he wanted to stay behind for was just a body painting process which ended with everyone touching him. It definitely felt more important when he told Quatrich that he had to stay to do this one last thing to become "a man".

- The ending battle scenes with Max taking over Hell's Gate with the scientists, and eventually letting the Navi warriors in easily to surrender the base. This really gives Max a big pay off at the end, and also explains how the Navi didn't actually have to fight to get through the defenses of Hell's Gate.

- Tsu'tey's death. Another character ending which felt empty in the current cut. In the script he actually falls and survives, but the bald asshole AMP suit pilot finds him and cuts his hair bond off. Later he gets killed by Neytiri on the Thanathor, and after the entire battle Jake has a final chat with Tsu'tey where Jake is made the new leader of the clan, before ending his life at his request.
Agreed with all these. But, probably best not to raise any expectations for what may come in the final cut. At least Tsu'tey's extended death should be in since that part was rendered. The Hell's Gate takeover sequence was definitely filmed (as evidenced from the B-roll film) but probably wasn't rendered, or only partly rendered. The subplots with Norm and the secondary characters should be there since they're referenced in the movie. Dunno about the vision quest, that's probably the least likely that was even filmed.

But hey, they filmed an extended sex scene, so who knows what got filmed. :lol
GhaleonEB said:
Reading all of what got cut is just painful. It's remarkable that so much great stuff was in there and the movie still came out incredible. So many movies get that much chopped and end up just a mess.
Ah, it's just yet another credit to Cameron's abilities as a Director. But of course, he's done it before. Aliens was an incredible film in its Theatrical Cut, but it was simply amazing in it's Extended Edition. Hopefully Avatar will follow suit with a good chunk of extended material.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Perhaps if they expand his role a great deal in the extended cut, his longer
death sequence
would be more justified. As is it wouldn't have as much resonance.
Tsu'tey has some nice stuff in the Script that didnt make the film.

The scene where he challenges Jake to a drinking match is really nice, and Tsu'tey also begrudgingly respects Jake more after the Sturmbeest hunt. These are all filmed and msot likely finished, since Cameron said these would be on the Blu-Ray

Tsu'tey also gets more visibly angry about Neytiri mating with Jake in the script:

Tsu'tey: "Neytiri was promised to me! Everything is changing. Everything is being Destroyed!

- Tsu'tey pointing to Jake as his pain shifts to rage

Tsu'tey: These aliens kill everything they touch, like poison!
etc
 
~Kinggi~ said:
Fucking movie got butchered. Makes me shed a tear for poor brother Ridley :.(

I have yet to see this. My brother had seen the original release and told me that he hated the movie but a year ago, i went over to his place and saw the director's cut and he told me that this version is much better. I guess because of his first opinion i never gave it a shot.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Perhaps if they expand his role a great deal in the extended cut, his longer
death sequence
would be more justified. As is it wouldn't have as much resonance.

Reading all of what got cut is just painful. It's remarkable that so much great stuff was in there and the movie still came out incredible. So many movies get that much chopped and end up just a mess.

There were a lot of great scenes I hope get put back in. If we can only get a couple I want
Jakes hunt and the dance after (when you truly start to see Neytiri/Jake becoming a lot closer). The dream sequence to becoming one of the people. The scene with Jake/Tsu'Tey

OH btw something I noticed, but forgot to say. At the end
When the humans are being escorted out, Jake clearly has the red necklace that Tsu'Tey was wearing earlier on to show he is the clan leader.
 
I'm glad that the 3D stuff will work on HDMI 1.3, albeit somewhat gimped as I'll have to settle watching the stuff in 1080i. I guess that isn't so bad, if it's true anyway.
 
CassidyIzABeast said:
The vision scene definitely didn't make it
Im sure it was shot with the actors but It was probably just too much, visual effects wise.

Its definitely a very nice scene, and ties Jake as being the Toruk Makot even better, but there is no chance it ever got past basic preliminary effects work.
 
ryutaro's mama said:
Why are we still using spoiler tags almost 4 weeks after it's release?

I debated on it, but didn't want to risk ruining a part for someone if they hadn't seen it yet. Ya never know...
 
Dead said:
Im sure it was shot with the actors but It was probably just too much, visual effects wise.

Its definitely a very nice scene, and ties Jake as being the Toruk Makot even better, but there is no chance it ever got past basic preliminary effects work.

I wonder if they could just re-use scenes in certain ways to do this scene since basically all it is is a quick flash (the vision part)
 
Somnia said:
I debated on it, but didn't want to risk ruining a part for someone if they hadn't seen it yet. Ya never know...

Yeah but if you're coming into the AVATAR thread at THIS point, you know what's up.

I personally stay away from movie threads if I haven't seen the film yet, but that's just me.
 
Dead said:
Im sure it was shot with the actors but It was probably just too much, visual effects wise.

Its definitely a very nice scene, and ties Jake as being the Toruk Makot even better, but there is no chance it ever got past basic preliminary effects work.
yeah and to me it just sounded like the hometree aftermath scene in flashing glimpses.
 
Here are the things I want to see put in an extended cut, taking into account scenes that have no chance of beign done:

- Earth intro. Not as necessary as I initially thought, but still good. Also, its a finished scene.
- Extended dinner scene when Jake first comes to the Na'vi. Gives better context for what the Na'vi would want to train Jake. I dont think its a stretch to imagine this being something that was cut at the last minute.
- The Sturmbeest hunt and party. No brainer.
- Any finished scenes involving Jakes time with the Na'vi
- All of the Grace and Jake character beats. Fleshes out the characters way more. Info about School needs to be in the movie.
- More Quaritch and Selfridge character beats.
- The Jake and Tsu'tey scene from the end of the movie.

This is the stuff that I think are realistically possible to see in a new cut of film.


I would like to see the Vision, and the Hells Gate attack, but no way are those even close to being done, nor do I think they would realistically be finished.
 
I'm obviously not a big fan of Avatar, but I feel it could really be improved in an extended cut if we get to spend more time seeing and understanding the Na'vi culture (the same we we spent a long time in Hobbiton in Fellowship of the Ring).
 
I remember a while ago in some Oscar watch podcast, the host said that Avatar was a great example of a film from a brick and mortar filmmaker.

What she meant by this is that every sequence and scene is constructed on top of each other to serve the film. Basically that every single thing introduced has some significance to the payoff of the movie.

If you think about it, this is very true of Avatar. There is not a single wasted prop, creature, or event. Every creature and aircraft introduced is seen in the climax, and even seemingly inconsequential events like Jake and Neytiri using leaves to slow their fall are paid off in the end. What it results in is a film that is economical and well crafted. Everything makes perfect sense and fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Looking over some of those scenes such as the Sturmbeast hunt, and many of the periphery stuff like the Na'vi school, and even the Earth scenes, it's clear they why they were dropped. In order to include them, much more would have to be paid off in the rear end of the film, and the thing would just feel bloated.

The character stuff I agree could potentially be good additions however, as these are the backbone of the story. Settings, creatures etc. not so much.

I don't think anyone in love with Pandora could resist as many extra scenes as possible, but in the end it has to serve the film.
 
Justinian said:
I remember a while ago in some Oscar watch podcast, the host said that Avatar was a great example of a film from a brick and mortar filmmaker.

What she meant by this is that every sequence and scene is constructed on top of each other to serve the film. Basically that every single thing introduced has some significance to the payoff of the movie.

If you think about it, this is very true of Avatar. There is not a single wasted prop, creature, or event. Every creature and aircraft introduced is seen in the climax, and even seemingly inconsequential events like Jake and Neytiri using leaves to slow their fall are paid off in the end. What it results in is a film that is economical and well crafted. Everything makes perfect sense and fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Looking over some of those scenes such as the Sturmbeast hunt, and many of the periphery stuff like the Na'vi school, and even the Earth scenes, it's clear they why they were dropped. In order to include them, much more would have to be paid off in the rear end of the film, and the thing would just feel bloated.

The character stuff I agree could potentially be good additions however, as these are the backbone of the story. Settings, creatures etc. not so much.

I don't think anyone in love with Pandora could resist as many extra scenes as possible, but in the end it has to serve the film.
Earth scenes - give more dimension to both Jake and the RDA
Sturmbeest scenes - Showcase Jake as truly growing as a Na'vi hunter, making his taming of the Toruk, and his later scenes in the final battle be more in line with his character

etc

They're scenes that, indeed, can safely be removed and have the whole film still run along smoothly, but they add a lot more detail that make the movie into an even more impressive and cohesive whole, imo.

It is kind of similar to the LOTR extended cuts. Most of the scenes werent necessary to the films as a whole, but they add so much more detail to the experience it makes for an even more gratifying home viewing experience.
 
Justinian said:
I remember a while ago in some Oscar watch podcast, the host said that Avatar was a great example of a film from a brick and mortar filmmaker.

What she meant by this is that every sequence and scene is constructed on top of each other to serve the film. Basically that every single thing introduced has some significance to the payoff of the movie.

If you think about it, this is very true of Avatar. There is not a single wasted prop, creature, or event. Every creature and aircraft introduced is seen in the climax, and even seemingly inconsequential events like Jake and Neytiri using leaves to slow their fall are paid off in the end. What it results in is a film that is economical and well crafted. Everything makes perfect sense and fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Looking over some of those scenes such as the Sturmbeast hunt, and many of the periphery stuff like the Na'vi school, and even the Earth scenes, it's clear they why they were dropped. In order to include them, much more would have to be paid off in the rear end of the film, and the thing would just feel bloated.

The character stuff I agree could potentially be good additions however, as these are the backbone of the story. Settings, creatures etc. not so much.

I don't think anyone in love with Pandora could resist as many extra scenes as possible, but in the end it has to serve the film.
I don't think we can say that until we see them. I think the sturmbeest hunt would have been a nice counter to the thanator chase, seeing Jake go from being the hunted to the hunter, for starters. And the ending at Hell's Gate would have given Norm more to do that run off into the woods and then stand around at the end; he needed more of a reason to exist than that.
 
I still don't get why the bond tendril thing is in their hair.

It makes sense that it connects to their brain, but the fact that it comes out of a braid just seems silly. Do they braid it in?does it grow hair?

I understand that their is design symetry with the rest of the ecosystem if it cones out of their head, but all the other fauna have two so it is already inconsistant.

I would have used the tail. Would have made the get some native tail line funnier to boot.

Edit: I would also have accepted two connections on the lower back sides of their heads to match up with the animals better.
 
scola said:
I still don't get why the bond tendril thing is in their hair.

It makes sense that it connects to their brain, but the fact that it comes out of a braid just seems silly. Do they braid it in?does it grow hair?

I understand that their is design symetry with the rest of the ecosystem if it cones out of their head, but all the other fauna have two so it is already inconsistant.

I would have used the tail. Would have made the get some native tail line funnier to boot.
I don't think it comes out of their hair

They have a tentacle that comes out of the back of their head, and hair grows around the tentacle most likely.

If you see the Brain scans at the start of the film, you can see the nerves coming out of the brain and then coming out of the head as a tentacle.
 
Jtwo said:
:lol :lol :lol :lol

That whole scene is worthwhile:

ACROSS THE CIRCLE, Tsu’tey, Mo'at and Eytukan sit together,
glancing up occasionally from their food to the stranger.

TSU’TEY (subtitled):
These aliens try to look like people, but they can’t.

MO'AT (subtitled):
He seems dim to me. And his eyes are too small.

NEYTIRI motions for Jake to take portions from the serving leaves onto his own leaf.

JAKE:
Your mom likes me. I can tell.

MO’AT, watching Jake and Neytiri, leans over to Eytukan.

MO'AT (subtitled):
Neytiri will test this “warrior.” He may learn nothing -- but we will learn much.

EYTUKAN:
You speak truth. We must understand these Sky People if we are to drive them out.

Jake munches on a white shrimp-like thing.

JAKE:
These rock. What are they?

NEYTIRI:
Teylu. You call beetle larvae.

Jake blanches. She heaps some more onto his leaf -- a CHALLENGE -- and Jake meets her eyes, takes a handful, and starts munching enthusiastically.

JAKE:
That’s some damn fine teylu. That’s like grandma’s teylu.

CUE TSU’TEY, warily eyeing Jake --

TSU’TEY (subtitled):
I say she will kill him.

Also, Neytiri's 18, according to the script. I'm not sure how that makes me feel.
 
Count Dookkake said:
Most obvious answer is that it makes it less gross.
I think it is gross that it comes out of their hair. I guess the alternative was tentacle pr0n :(

No right answer to this
 
Wait, the next big 3d movie is alice in wonderland.. in march. Avatar is going to do gangbusters on imax 3d for quite some time till it gets pulled in march.
 
adg1034 said:
Also, Neytiri's 18, according to the script. I'm not sure how that makes me feel.
Well, according the script, Jake is 22.
 
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