Avatar

[BlackInk]

I bought it from this swedish site called CDON.

https://cdon.se/film/avatar_-_extended_collector%27s_edition_%286_disc%29_%28dvd_%2b_blu-ray%29-12217539

By readig here and remembering stuff I think we it's pretty much the same stuff but with 3 blu-ray discs and then 3 DVDs with what I actually think is the same stuff.. But I'm stuff really happy with the purchase.

[Zantera]

So this movie is still the worst thing since Hitler.

[Chino]

Cool story bro.

[bosk1]

JC plays it off like it's going to revolutionize movie making like Star Wars, but I'm sure in 30 years, it'll be forgotten.

It pretty much already has been by most.  Not that it doesn't have its share of hardcore fans, but it never really pervaded the mainstream on anywhere near the scale that Star Wars (or any other major, successful movie franchise) has, and I don't really see that happening.  Yeah, the sequel will make a boatload of money and put a bunch of people in theaters.  But I don't see it really giving a huge longterm boost to the franchise as a whole.  Could be wrong, but that's how I see it.  I think it'll go the way of the Transformer movies and be remembered as "just another string of blockbuster summer movies with neat visual effects."

[Kotowboy]

Avatar is far superior to Transformers.

At least Avatar *tried* to have a plot, even if it was a familiar trope.

Besides - sometimes films are more enjoyable when you know what's coming and you're waiting for the big battle at the end.

[ i know how this sounds but I can't really explain it...the anticipation maybe ? seeing how the big bad boss will be offed ]

I thought Avatar built really well and had great pacing. It was a long film but I didn't feel like it sagged at any point.

The 3D was really well used and wasn't intrusive in any way. And the cinematography and direction were both great.

It was spectacular and was a great fun ride whereas Transformers was primarily just action from a hack director.

[Super Dude]

Yes, but instead of explosions excusing bad writing, they used beautiful CGI. Doesn't change the fact that dazzle was used to cover up glancing flaws.

[Kotowboy]

Yes but instead of "writing" a new Transformers film overnight which is apparently what happened on the last two - Cameron worked on

the idea for Avatar in the 12 years since he finished Titanic.

He actually waited 12 years to make it so the technology would exist to make it the way he envisioned it.

He originally wanted to make it right after Titanic but waited 12 years for the tech to catch up.

Can't really see Michael Bay waiting 12 years between Bayformers movies in order to make an action film.



You can say what you want but I loved Avatar . It was just an entertaining ride from start to finish and James Cameron is one of my favourite directors for that genre.

[Implode]

Avatar was a much more competent movie than Transformers though. When you strip them down to the basics, Transformers was awful while Avatar was okay. On the story telling level, Avatar did nothing new; it just took advantage of common techniques that have been perfected over the years. I think that people want to hate Avatar because of how much it's loved by some or how much it was hyped by JC. But it doesn't really deserve the hate it gets.

It pretty much already has been by most.  Not that it doesn't have its share of hardcore fans, but it never really pervaded the mainstream on anywhere near the scale that Star Wars (or any other major, successful movie franchise) has, and I don't really see that happening.  Yeah, the sequel will make a boatload of money and put a bunch of people in theaters.  But I don't see it really giving a huge longterm boost to the franchise as a whole.  Could be wrong, but that's how I see it.  I think it'll go the way of the Transformer movies and be remembered as "just another string of blockbuster summer movies with neat visual effects."

Yup. And I may have already said this in the thread as well, but to be fair to Avatar, it's unlikely that any film regardless of how good it is will ever have an effect of the film industry like Star Wars because of how over saturated the industry is anyway.

[Kotowboy]

You're right about the hate.

If that movie had done well instead of being #1 movie of all time I think people would accept it more as a summer blockbuster.

If it had done something like $600m instead of $2.8bn I think it would be like

" hey did you see Avatar ? "

" yeah it was cool "

[bosk1]

Avatar is far superior to Transformers.

At least Avatar *tried* to have a plot, even if it was a familiar trope.

Besides - sometimes films are more enjoyable when you know what's coming and you're waiting for the big battle at the end.

[ i know how this sounds but I can't really explain it...the anticipation maybe ? seeing how the big bad boss will be offed ]

I thought Avatar built really well and had great pacing. It was a long film but I didn't feel like it sagged at any point.

The 3D was really well used and wasn't intrusive in any way. And the cinematography and direction were both great.

It was spectacular and was a great fun ride whereas Transformers was primarily just action from a hack director.

Aside from terms like "far superior" and "spectacular," I mostly agree with everything you just posted.  But I still don't think that changes even the slightest bit the fact that I don't see Avatar being long remembered as anything more than your run-of-the-mill special-effects-laden summer blockbuster, ala Transformers, or whatever other similar movie you want to hold up next to it.  Was it better than most?  Yeah, probably.  But that still doesn't change the fact that it will likely be forgotten.  Again, it already largely is.

[Kotowboy]

I think it's probably for the best that there will be so long between Avatar movies.

It'll give people a chance to forget the first movie and when Avatar 2 finally comes out in 2015 or whenever -

- people will be like " oh wow another Avatar ? Oh yeah the 1st one was pretty good actually "

Whereas I think If Avatar 2 came out 2 years after the first one it would have been too soon.

[Super Dude]

I think it's probably for the best that there will be so long between Avatar movies.

It'll give people a chance to forget the first movie and when Avatar 2 finally comes out in 2015 or whenever -

- people will be like " oh wow another Avatar ? Oh yeah the 1st one was pretty good actually "

Whereas I think If Avatar 2 came out 2 years after the first one it would have been too soon.

I have to be honest, that doesn't appear to speak much in its favor no matter how you slice it.

[orcus116]

the idea for Avatar in the 12 years since he finished Titanic.

He actually waited 12 years to make it so the technology would exist to make it the way he envisioned it.

While the latter is true it doesn't excuse how flat and uninspired the former is. I mean if you spent 12 years working on a script, storyline, characters, and mythology and come up with what Avatar came out to be it's an incredibly sad "feat" for a filmmaker, especially one of his ilk.

[Kotowboy]

Not if you hated the 1st one no.

If you're a casual cinema goer who liked the 1st one then it works fine.

[Zantera]

I'm curious if they will bother with a plot for the second movie. I don't really have anything against Cameron as a director, but with Avatar it was all about the visuals and everything else was awful. It's really not that different from the Star Wars prequels except Avatar looked better.

[Kotowboy]

the idea for Avatar in the 12 years since he finished Titanic.

He actually waited 12 years to make it so the technology would exist to make it the way he envisioned it.

While the latter is true it doesn't excuse how flat and uninspired the former is. I mean if you spent 12 years working on a script, storyline, characters, and mythology and come up with what Avatar came out to be it's an incredibly sad "feat" for a filmmaker, especially one of his ilk.

He obviously didn't spend the entire 12 years writing the plot [ insert joke here ].. But he wrote it after Titanic came out then put it away whilst he did all of his deep sea exploration stuff. When he saw Gollum in the LOTR trilogy he knew the tech was advanced enough. Then he set about creating his own motion capture cameras / 3D cameras / what have you...

Plus i'm sure before Avatar came out he mentioned that it deliberately had a simple plot.

[Kotowboy]

I'm curious if they will bother with a plot for the second movie. I don't really have anything against Cameron as a director, but with Avatar it was all about the visuals and everything else was awful. It's really not that different from the Star Wars prequels except Avatar looked better.

The thing about TPM is that it looked good for a kid to enjoy and had stupid racist aliens with funny voices but the plot involved tax and trade and treaties which no kid would ever understand so it was pitched all over the place.

*At least* with Avatar's plot - everyone can understand what is going on.

[bosk1]

If the best defense you can come up with is to repeatedly say, "well, at least avatar didn't suck as bad as [movie x]," that really should tell you something. 

[orcus116]

*At least* with Avatar's plot - everyone can understand what is going on.

Well, most people have already seen Fern Gully and Pocahontas.

[bosk1]

*At least* with Avatar's plot - everyone can understand what is going on.

Well, most people have already seen Fern Gully and Pocahontas.

But not with blue muppets and flying mountains.

[Kotowboy]

If the best defense you can come up with is to repeatedly say, "well, at least avatar didn't suck as bad as [movie x]," that really should tell you something. 

No because I could tell you in bullet points everything I liked about Avatar but then everyone who hated the movie would just come in and go LOL Smurfahontas With Wolves in Space!!!111ONE!!!111

Now - If Avatar resembles Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas and Ferngully; then surely it should follow that all those movies are also the same as *each other*.

[Super Dude]

So let me frame this another way: what separates movies with the same general subject is the quality of the telling of that same story. The telling of Avatar doesn't compare to the telling of Dances with Wolves, because there wasn't much tell to begin with.

[faizoff]

Just ordered by 3 disc Extended BR set. My rating of the movie is about 7/10 where I enjoyed it quite a bit and have seen about 3 times since it first came out. Im a sucker for bonus stuff with documentaries, etc.. and couldn't pass a deal on it. I too wasnt aware of the 6 disc set and am very curious to find out how it differs from the 3 disc set.

EDIT: So wait is that 6 set disc just 3 BR disc and 3 DVDs set of the extended edition?

[Chino]

It easily has the best behind the scenes of any movie I've scene... eight hours of it to boot. Did you see the extended theatrical rerelease?

[faizoff]

I didnt get a chance to see the extended version. Will do so when my set arrives.

[Chino]

I didnt get a chance to see the extended version. Will do so when my set arrives.

There are a few scenes that I can't believe were left out of the original. The stern beast hunt is fucking awesome.

[BlackInk]

^HELL YEAH, OH OH OH!

[PetFish]

The behind-the-scenes for Avatar is great but I don't see anything surpassing the The Lord of the Rings and all its geek goodness any time soon.  Factor in all the commentaries that people actually *want* to listen to and it's the ultimate package.

As for extended scenes, the one where T'sutey is asking Jake to return him to Eywa made me cry, as if I needed yet another moment in the film to wipe my eyes.

[BlackInk]

As for extended scenes, the one where T'sutey is asking Jake to return him to Eywa made me cry, as if I needed yet another moment in the film to wipe my eyes.

Yes, that scene is actually great. Love the symbolism with the "last shadow" thing too.

[Chino]

As for extended scenes, the one where T'sutey is asking Jake to return him to Eywa made me cry, as if I needed yet another moment in the film to wipe my eyes.

Yes, that scene is actually great. Love the symbolism with the "last shadow" thing too.

Completely agree. Especially when he said "we were brothers". In terms of unfinished deleted scenes... I'm so upset that they didn't use that scene where all the other people in the Avatar program hopped in their avatars and took over the control room while Max tore it to pieces with that machine. That would have been soooooo sick if fully finished.  And let us not forget Jake's "vision quest".

[faizoff]

Yea I think of all the extra stuff the Extended editions for the Lord of the rings movies are my absolute favorite. None of them are boring and the commentaries are hilarious. Which reminds me that I need to pick up the extended Bluray versions of the LOTR movies.

anyone using the upgrade and save offer going on in Best Buy at the moment? I've bought like 20 BRs in the process of handing over my old DVDs and getting a $5 off coupon towards any bluray at the store. The kicker is they've been having these amazing sales on blurays which essentially makes the BRs $5 each. There are several triple and double featured editions as well.

That said, my Avatar 3 disc extended edition BR set arrives tomorrow and I cannot wait.

[Chino]

I'm watching it in 3D right now!  (only for a little while though because I have some final schoolwork to do this afternoon )

[faizoff]

I cant stand watching anything on 3D. The glasses give me a headache and I constantly am rubbing my eyes.

[Chino]

As long as it's done well (very rare), I love it.

[faizoff]

I think the 3D usage in Prometheus was amazing and gave a lot depth & texture to the scenes. Of course doesnt help that I didn't like the movie or that I had a headache after watching it in 3D.