RTTP: Avatar (extended edition)

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I fucking love Avatar and, especially, the extended cut, which works just like the DCs and EEs of LoTR: FotR, CoR, BR, and KoH to leap over the theatrical cut to arrive at the intended destination. There's so much CG and layers of PP work that define the look, that it's basically an animated film, easily one of the most impressive ever. I never understood the hate beyond the usual lopsided success-to-opinion ratio which makes people look to shit on it at all turns, but Avatar is so far above the competition for what it's gong for that it won't surprise me if it ends up remaining the greatest animated action-adventure film of all time for many more years to come, possibly still reigning over its sequels years from now.
 
Hasardeur said:
these are my exact thoughts about this movie - been there, seen it before.
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Lol, there's nothing new in fiction. Anyone who believes there is hasn't seen/read enough stories. It's all about the telling, and Avatar is extremely competent in that area.
 
Scullibundo said:
Speaking of the bad internet buzz leading up to Avatar. I wonder if anybody now doubts it was a game-changer/revolutionary. People were laughing their asses off at the concept that the movie would change anything.

Now years on and it's more of a struggle to find a 2D screening of a blockbuster film.
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I was one of the people trying to convince my friends this movie will change cinema. No one fell for the hype quite like I did. However I do think this movie changed the blockbusters of today, like you said there's hardly any blockbuster movies that don't have 3D.

Plus the CG still exceeds everything that came out after it. I'm guessing we won't get visuals at that level again until Avatar 2.
 
I'm impressed that Cameron managed to make a movie this well shot despite the terrible script he wrote. Watching the EE on blu ray recently it felt like watching a great director conducting a movie with his hand tied behind his back, as if he had just challenged himself to do the most he could with the most generic story possible. Except of course Cameron didn't make this choice for creative but mercantile reasons.

I will say that the first five minutes or so are incredibly well edited and really grabed me right off the bat. They sell you on the universe, create some pathos for the protagonist and excitement for the planet you're about to visit in an amazingly short amount of time. My favorite part of the movie.

But the narrative structure of the remaining two hours is just the laziest shit anyone could come up with, and make the overall film really boring to me.

I'd say it's one of the most generic movies with the best direction ever made.
 
Scullibundo said:
Speaking of the bad internet buzz leading up to Avatar. I wonder if anybody now doubts it was a game-changer/revolutionary. People were laughing their asses off at the concept that the movie would change anything.

Now years on and it's more of a struggle to find a 2D screening of a blockbuster film.
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That can't be argued against. However, and through no fault of its own, it's led to generally higher prices for shitty post-converted 3D. For every brilliant Hugo, it's unfortunately resulted in 20 Thor levels of atoricious 3D movies.

The film has significantly impacted the movie going experience, but at a net cost to movie goers.
 
I actually preferred watching this on bluray than I did in the cinema.
It's a great movie and I look forward to watching it again with my son.
I still remember having arguments in high-school about which film is better, terminator or robocop. Truth is they are both great films and who gives a shit which is better.
 
I really, really loved this film. My bloke, however, fell asleep watching it at the cinema, and his only favourite bit was when they blew the tree up. What an ass.
 
Cameron seems like the kind of guy who wants to have his cake and eat it, and often can do and does. I don't see how they couldn't have had the characters to match the visuals. I do find the visual design of Pandora to be quite excellent, but other bits irritate me- I find the alien design a bit inconsistent (the bird things I love, the horse things less so) and the Na'vi I'm not mad about either. Either way, the protagonist being the acting equivalent of day-old porridge basically stops this from ever being great in my book- it's a shame, because the Sully character is pretty great on paper, and there's lots of things they could have done with him, but Sam Worthington just sucks.

I loved the military stuff. The army dude is fucking great. The film does a good job of convincing you its bad guys are scum- it's nowhere near subtle (shitty business guy! Ridiculously prejudiced army general!) but sometimes you don't need subtle, you just need entertaining. It's a good film. As far as Hollywood blockbusters go, it's some great stuff. But the protagonists being dull is a bummer, and it's a big enough issue to stop me from ever calling this a masterpiece.
 
Movie was pretty mediocre from an engagement standpoint. Visually it was very nice and everything about the direction and camera work tried like hell to drag you into being invested. Not in the characters but in the world the characters inhabited. It didn't generate enough interest for me to finish the movie though. The DVD skipped, froze, and wouldn't move on and I did not need to find another to watch the predictable climactic scenes to follow. All in all, the first hour and a half was the worst Cameron movie I've seen. Which isn't bad for a movie, because he makes good movies.

From a design stand-point it's very good however.
 
marrec said:
Movie was pretty mediocre from an engagement standpoint. Visually it was very nice and everything about the direction and camera work tried like hell to drag you into being invested. Not in the characters but in the world the characters inhabited. It didn't generate enough interest for me to finish the movie though. The DVD skipped, froze, and wouldn't move on and I did not need to find another to watch the predictable climactic scenes to follow. All in all, the first hour and a half was the worst Cameron movie I've seen. Which isn't bad for a movie, because he makes good movies.

From a design stand-point it's very good however.
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Not that I disagree with your point, but I'd expect shit incoming if you're saying you didn't watch the whole film. (You also missed the best parts if so :/)
 
Green Scar said:
Cameron seems like the kind of guy who wants to have his cake and eat it, and often can do and does. I don't see how they couldn't have had the characters to match the visuals. I do find the visual design of Pandora to be quite excellent, but other bits irritate me- I find the alien design a bit inconsistent (the bird things I love, the horse things less so) and the Na'vi I'm not mad about either. Either way, the protagonist being the acting equivalent of day-old porridge basically stops this from ever being great in my book- it's a shame, because the Sully character is pretty great on paper, and there's lots of things they could have done with him, but Sam Worthington just sucks.
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Worthington played the character fine. He's an earnest handicapped soldier in an alien world. The acting scope was limited to portrayals of surprise, confidence, and bravery. Don't think a better actor would have done much different.
 
Green Scar said:
Not that I disagree with your point, but I'd expect shit incoming if you're saying you didn't watch the whole film. (You also missed the best parts if so :/)
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Well, the film did not make me want to watch the rest of it. It was quite a chore just getting an hour and a half in. I'm just giving my experience with it which is that the film ended 30 minutes early for me and I was fine with not ever watching the last bits.
 
marrec said:
Movie was pretty mediocre from an engagement standpoint. Visually it was very nice and everything about the direction and camera work tried like hell to drag you into being invested. Not in the characters but in the world the characters inhabited. It didn't generate enough interest for me to finish the movie though. The DVD skipped, froze, and wouldn't move on and I did not need to find another to watch the predictable climactic scenes to follow. All in all, the first hour and a half was the worst Cameron movie I've seen. Which isn't bad for a movie, because he makes good movies.

From a design stand-point it's very good however.
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Doing it wrong.
 
marrec said:
Movie was pretty mediocre from an engagement standpoint. Visually it was very nice and everything about the direction and camera work tried like hell to drag you into being invested. Not in the characters but in the world the characters inhabited. It didn't generate enough interest for me to finish the movie though. The DVD skipped, froze, and wouldn't move on and I did not need to find another to watch the predictable climactic scenes to follow. All in all, the first hour and a half was the worst Cameron movie I've seen. Which isn't bad for a movie, because he makes good movies.

From a design stand-point it's very good however.
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LOL. Watches all the build up. DVD skips. Misses the payoff.

It's like having Eva Green rub your cock outside the pants for 90 minutes, then right as she starts unbuttoning her dress your Grandpa waltzes into your apartment and asks you to take him prune-shopping.

Then you call Eva Green a shitty lay.
 
Green Scar said:
Not that I disagree with your point, but I'd expect shit incoming if you're saying you didn't watch the whole film. (You also missed the best parts if so :/)
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Are you talking about the battle at the end? My favourite parts were Sully nearly getting run over by an overly large construction vehicle, and Sully and his Navi buddy playing with the glowing tentacle plants. The rest, hmm...marrec saw enough I think.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
Doing it wrong.
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The film was yes.

Scullibundo said:
LOL. Watches all the build up. DVD skips. Misses the payoff.

It's like having Eva Green rub your cock outside the pants for 90 minutes, then right as she starts unbuttoning her dress your Grandpa waltzes into your apartment and asks you to take him prune-shopping.

Then you call Eva Green a shitty lay.
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I think you're missing the point. Eva Green rubbing my cock for 90 minutes would be uncomfortable after 30 minutes.

If this is the film equivalent to Cameron rubbing my cock for 90 minutes and then giving you 30 minutes of great sex, I'd still say the first 90 minutes of him molesting me were a chore and not worth sitting through.

Also I didn't say the movie was shitty, it was fun to see visually, everything else about it was boring however. Boring does not equal shitty, just... uninteresting.

All in all I would call my experience with Avatar extremely 'Meh'. Not shitty, not good.
 
Good Job Bob said:
I bet a lot of the people who are shitting on it for having a generic/predictable plot will be first in line to see 'The Avengers' at their local movie theater.
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It IS kind of hilarious/hypocritical that Avatar gets panned for being sheer spectacle while Avengers is getting praised for it

:lol :lol :lol

Haters gonna make it the highest grossing movie ever
 
Solo said:
It IS kind of hilarious/hypocritical that Avatar gets panned for being sheer spectacle while Avengers is getting praised for it

:lol :lol :lol

Haters gonna make it the highest grossing movie ever
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I haven't seen the Avengers yet, but I believe it's getting praised just as much for it's Witty dialog and excellent use of the actors.

If you want to tell me that Avatar is Witty... well, that's fine, but I'd strongly disagree with you.
 
marrec said:
The film was yes..
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The main reason to see the film was to absorb the beautifully crafted world. In SD that's a fraction of the experience.

I didn't find the story dull on the first viewing, but I did on repeat viewings so I'm not disagreeing with you too much there, but you really need to just watch it in on BluRay. Seriously.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
The main reason to see the film was to absorb the beautifully crafted world. In SD that's a fraction of the experience.

I didn't find the story dull on the first viewing, but I did on repeat viewings so I'm not disagreeing with you too much there, but you really need to just watch it in on BluRay. Seriously.
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Then I need to get a BluRay. :D

I'm not disagreeing about it being very good visually. It was interesting and varied in that sense.
 
Salvor.Hardin said:
Worthington played the character fine. He's an earnest handicapped soldier in an alien world. The acting scope was limited to portrayals of surprise, confidence, and bravery. Don't think a better actor would have done much different.
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So, you're saying it's a bad character? Or they needed to widen that scope? I feel like they could have played with the kind of addiction to freedom a character like Sully could feel in this situation a lot more- they do touch on that, a fair bit, but he falls into this generic hero archetype fairly quickly without ever feeling like he went to a depth that he needs to redeem himself from.

Also I should probably watch the BD too, but even the SD version, it's a damn fine looking film.

daviyoung said:
Are you talking about the battle at the end? My favourite parts were Sully nearly getting run over by an overly large construction vehicle, and Sully and his Navi buddy playing with the glowing tentacle plants. The rest, hmm...marrec saw enough I think.
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I like the fight at the end quite a lot. Mainly because I like the designs of the humans vehicles and such a lot, I know it's not original but it still looked cool.
 
marrec said:
I haven't seen the Avengers yet, but I believe it's getting praised just as much for it's Witty dialog and excellent use of the actors.

If you want to tell me that Avatar is Witty... well, that's fine, but I'd strongly disagree with you.
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I haven't seen Avengers yet myself either. But Ive been in that thread enough times to see Gaffer reviews calling it big, dumb, loud fun to make me chuckle a bit, as I know lots of them are vocal Avatar haters.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
Yeah I know you said it looked good, but having watched it in SD you have no idea :P
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Dat blu.

VLtgy.jpg

Pf07T.jpg

0yXwl.jpg
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
I really enjoyed it the first time I saw it, but repeat viewings drag because the story sections are so dull. I find myself fast forwarding just to get to the action/eye candy sections.

It was a great first viewing though. It's just one of those experiences that don't hold up after that.
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I like seeing you post about films.
 
From my experience it's almost a love/hate movie - not many of my friends were 'in between'. Personally, I loved it and still do. From the 15 minute teaser preview thing we saw in 3d right til the film came out, I thought it was fantastic. It's a family movie so didn't expect much in the way of depth, to be honest. It gets far too much hate. I thought it was wonderful - I'm a cynical bastard when it comes to movies with that sort of tone, generally, and I was completely sucked in.
 
The part where it starts showing all the action and mentioning Cameron's past films got me so hyped I could have exploded out of my chair.

Also, I just went searching for the Neytiri drinking gif and somebody replaced the plant with a Na'vi penis.
 
Solo said:
I haven't seen Avengers yet myself either. But Ive been in that thread enough times to see Gaffer reviews calling it big, dumb, loud fun to make me chuckle a bit, as I know lots of them are vocal Avatar haters.
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I'm speaking strictly of professional reviews.

Foliorum Viridum said:
Yeah I know you said it looked good, but having watched it in SD you have no idea :P
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I don't think it looking even prettier will change my opinion on the quality of the movie. That's like suggesting that I should see it in 3D...

Scullibundo said:
I think watching more than half the movie might.
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Hmm, what could I have possibly missed that would make me think anything besides the visual aspects of the film are worth mentioning? Did the acting suddenly become amazing? The story touched your heart? The dialog not wooden?

Thanks, but no thanks, I have no intention of finishing a mediocre film. If it's on TV someday and I'm really bored maybe I'll catch the last 30 minutes.
 
Definitely don't see it in 3D. Washed out colours ruin the look of the film.

My 2D viewing was infinitely better than the 3D one.

But you'd be surprised how much the increased visual fidelity would pull you in, I think.
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
Definitely don't see it in 3D. Washed out colours ruin the look of the film.

My 2D viewing was infinitely better than the 3D one.

But you'd be surprised how much the increased visual fidelity would pull you in, I think.
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Seek out a new theatre because your current one obviously isn't doing it properly.
 
I saw it at an Odeon. Very good cinema.

How is it possible to not have the colour washed out when wearing glasses? The only way to achieve that is for 3D without glasses, no?
 
Foliorum Viridum said:
But you'd be surprised how much the increased visual fidelity would pull you in, I think.
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Perhaps. Again, I'll probably catch it on Blu-Ray sometime in the Future.

Please understand that I'm not shitting on the movie, it was well made and obviously many people enjoyed the experience... it just doesn't rise above any other Cameron work for me and elicited a neutral response.
 
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