Avatar

[hefdaddy42]

No.

It's like when people say they hate oasis but if you dig a little deeper - they like the music but hate the singer.

But it's *cooler* to say you hate oasis so they just go with that.

No, it's *easier* to say that.  Because who wants to dig deeper on something they don't like?

I mean, I wouldn't personally use the word "hate" but since that's the word you used, I actually DON'T like the singer for Oasis, even though I like some of their songs, so to shorthand it in conversation and spend time talking about something I don't like, I would say "I hate Oasis."  Not because it's "cool".  Because it's simple.

[Implode]

That's still a pretty poor argument that, like hef said, does not make a whole lot of sense. From where I stand, it deserves the criticism because at the most it's no better than something like Transformers. All flashy visuals, no or very trite, uninspired story, one-dimensional characters, unimaginative world, really shallow dialogue. It's a popcorn flick, but like me and many others there should 've been something more. If your friends are going to outcast you for saying you liked a movie then I can't help you there.

Avatar is not comparable to the Transformers movies. The biggest problems of Avatar that I hear are that its story is unoriginal and the antagonists are exaggerated caricatures that don't act like human beings. At least it has a coherant story and actually makes you feel emotion (it pulls every trick in the book and is a little cheap, but it works). Transformers is just mindless colors on a screen with an audio onslaught and a few poopoo jokes thrown in for good measure.

[Chino]

That's still a pretty poor argument that, like hef said, does not make a whole lot of sense. From where I stand, it deserves the criticism because at the most it's no better than something like Transformers. All flashy visuals, no or very trite, uninspired story, one-dimensional characters, unimaginative world, really shallow dialogue. It's a popcorn flick, but like me and many others there should 've been something more. If your friends are going to outcast you for saying you liked a movie then I can't help you there.

Avatar is not comparable to the Transformers movies. The biggest problems of Avatar that I hear are that its story is unoriginal and the antagonists are exaggerated caricatures that don't act like human beings. At least it has a coherant story and actually makes you feel emotion (it pulls every trick in the book and is a little cheap, but it works). Transformers is just mindless colors on a screen with an audio onslaught and a few poopoo jokes thrown in for good measure.

Sam's mother is arguably one of the worst characters in a movie... ever. Don't even get me started on the cheesy dialogue and those fucking twin-thug bots.

[Kotowboy]

No.

It's like when people say they hate oasis but if you dig a little deeper - they like the music but hate the singer.

But it's *cooler* to say you hate oasis so they just go with that.

No, it's *easier* to say that.  Because who wants to dig deeper on something they don't like?

I mean, I wouldn't personally use the word "hate" but since that's the word you used, I actually DON'T like the singer for Oasis, even though I like some of their songs, so to shorthand it in conversation and spend time talking about something I don't like, I would say "I hate Oasis."  Not because it's "cool".  Because it's simple.

Just for the record - I was a HUGE oasis fan in the 90's but always thought Liam was a prick. And he's confirming that on a daily basis

[orcus116]

That's still a pretty poor argument that, like hef said, does not make a whole lot of sense. From where I stand, it deserves the criticism because at the most it's no better than something like Transformers. All flashy visuals, no or very trite, uninspired story, one-dimensional characters, unimaginative world, really shallow dialogue. It's a popcorn flick, but like me and many others there should 've been something more. If your friends are going to outcast you for saying you liked a movie then I can't help you there.

This escapes me.

I don't see how. 95% of Pandora is exactly what Earth is. Throw in some glowing plants, goofy hybrid of animals we have here, floating mountains and you have Pandora. There was absolutely nothing introduced about the planet that made me go "wow that's really unique". It's either all rehashed ideas or stuff that literally anyone could've thought up in 15 minutes. People keep lauding Cameron for making the planet realistic and that's really because he did not have to try very hard at all.

[Zook]

You and I don't because we don't pretend to like/dislike something because everyone else appears to.

Where did this assumption come from?

[Grizz]

That's still a pretty poor argument that, like hef said, does not make a whole lot of sense. From where I stand, it deserves the criticism because at the most it's no better than something like Transformers. All flashy visuals, no or very trite, uninspired story, one-dimensional characters, unimaginative world, really shallow dialogue. It's a popcorn flick, but like me and many others there should 've been something more. If your friends are going to outcast you for saying you liked a movie then I can't help you there.

This escapes me.

I don't see how. 95% of Pandora is exactly what Earth is. Throw in some glowing plants, goofy hybrid of animals we have here, floating mountains and you have Pandora. There was absolutely nothing introduced about the planet that made me go "wow that's really unique". It's either all rehashed ideas or stuff that literally anyone could've thought up in 15 minutes. People keep lauding Cameron for making the planet realistic and that's really because he did not have to try very hard at all.

I suppose you missed the point that the planet itself was alive (more connections than the human brain) and was the god they worshiped?

[orcus116]

To me that fell into the "anyone could've thought that up in 15 minutes" category. I didn't miss the point, it just wasn't really original or interesting.

In fact, it's pretty much just a plot point ripped out of an 1979 Frank Herbert book:

"The planet Pandora itself with its non-human inhabitants is another main character of the book, echoing a strong version of the Gaia Hypothesis. As the book progresses, the reader discovers that the kelp, the hylighters, and other creatures of the planet appear to be linked into a large entity with a shared consciousness, Avata."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jesus_Incident

[Chino]

   




https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/10/first-look-avatar-to-come-to-life-at-disneys-animal-kingdom/

[Cable]

I received crickets in my post last Saturday;

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=39467.msg1695529#msg1695529

I think it looks great, like I expected. The park needs this attention more than anything.

[Kotowboy]

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?

So I finally got around to watching the 3 hour version of this and I enjoyed the new scenes quite a bit.

Especially the added flying scenes with the Ikran (?) and the scene where Grace explains what happened at the school.

I've only watched Disc 1 so far - leaving Disc 2 for tomorrow night.

Still love it btw. Plus i've not watched it in a long time.

[Grizz]

Hmm... perhaps I'll watch this on my upcoming bus ride to Virginia.

[PetFish]

My favourite added scene is when Jake returns Tsu'tey back to Eywa.  Very powerful and emotional.

[Chino]

My  favorite was all the other people in the Avatar program laying waste to the control room.

[Kotowboy]

I haven't got that far yet. I stuck it on last night but it was already 1:30am when I started so leaving part 2 for this evening.

[Kotowboy]

https://www.reddit.com/user/jamescameronama

Jim Cameron did an AMA yesterday.

[robwebster]

https://www.reddit.com/user/jamescameronama

Jim Cameron did an AMA yesterday.

Looks like he was still active 20 minutes ago. He's so cool! I'm not a big fan, I really like a couple of his movies, but I'm not bothered one way or the other on balance - never seen Avatar, not sure why I clicked this thread. Glad I did, though. Reading his posts, he's a really good communicator. Engaging and chatty, talks as a person rather than as a broadcaster. That's quite refreshing. Even in a question and answer scenario, a lot of people just transmit. Not him - just skimming, at present, but that's a really interesting Q&A. I'm going to read it properly later.

[Super Dude]

I'm not sure how many of you know, but: https://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar_Land

See I'm not a fan of the movie really, but this is something I think will be cool. And that's because Avatar to me really relies on its more visceral features, which to me work for a movie only so far. But for a park this is an awesome idea.

[Chino]

I shat my pants with excitement when I first read about that a couple years back. I'll be there opening weekend.

[Super Dude]

I'm sure you did literally shit your pants.

[Kotowboy]

I had a thought - maybe Chino knows the answer.

If Jake Sully dies in his avatar body - does he die in his human body ?

Or does his consciousness just return to his human body as if he woke up ?

[BlackInk]

He probably wakes up in his human body, as seen when Norm gets shot and wakes up. Although I'm not entirely sure he died there, but I think so since there was no other reason for him to wake up. I don't think pain is enough for that.

[Kotowboy]

I'm fairly certain you see Avatar Norm when they're shepherding the humans off the planet.

[BlackInk]

I don't recall that, but perhaps you're right, in which case, I have no idea.

[Chino]

Your avatar body can be killed and the human driver will live. The brain goes nuts for a little while though. You see Norman still clutching his chest and panicking, after he is shot, even though he'd gotten out of the link and had scurried across the room. The brain needs time to recover depending on the trauma.

As for Norm's avatar body, we don't know what has come of it yet. There are still handful, maybe even a few dozen humans, mostly those in the avatar program, left on Pandora (the Hells Gate region anyway). I'm unsure whether Cameron is going to convert them all to Na'vi like Jake, or if they are going to have to maintain the link rooms. My guess is that they are going to maintain the link rooms. We may never see Norm in avatar form again, but I doubt that.

You see Norman at the end in his human form. His Avatar may still be out of commission from being shot, or possibly just an attempt to reenforce the fact that Jake is now a full-blown na'vi. I'm assuming the Na'vi are going to help the humans fix Norm's avatar with some Pandora medicine or surgery techniques.

[Kotowboy]

 

[Super Dude]

Your avatar body can be killed and the human driver will live. The brain goes nuts for a little while though. You see Norman still clutching his chest and panicking, after he is shot, even though he's gotten out of the link and had scurried across the room. The brain needs time to recover depending on the trauma.

As for Norm's avatar body, we don't know what has come of it yet. There are still handful, maybe even a few dozen humans, mostly those in the avatar program, left on Pandora (the Hells Gate region anyway). I'm unsure whether Cameron is going to convert them all to Na'vi like Jake, or if they are going to have to maintain the link rooms. My guess is that they are going to maintain the link rooms. We may never see Norm in avatar form again, but I doubt that.

You see Norman at the end in his human form. His Avatar may still be out of commission from being shot, or possibly just an attempt to reenforce the fact that Jake is now a full-blown na'vi. I'm assuming the Na'vi are going to help the humans fix Norm's avatar with some Pandora medicine or surgery techniques.

IIRC, one of the aborted sideplots/characters included an avatar who was traumatized because his Na'vi body was eaten alive by something.

[Chino]

*snip*

IIRC, one of the aborted sideplots/characters included an avatar who was traumatized because his Na'vi body was eaten alive by something.

I haven't heard that one, but it's entirely plausible. I think it showed what a badass Norm is/may actually may become. Part of me thinks it was in there because Trudy just died and he was on a rampage, but he might just be a closet badass. Even without the extra life of his Avatar body, he threw on an exopack, and headed out into the field with a weapon to fight alongside the Na'vi. We have three more movies to go, and an unknown number of avatar program members (there appears to be many though given the clues), we are going to meet some new faces along the way and dig into their past a bit I'm sure.

[Kotowboy]

I'm all for two more movies but I think 4 is pushing it. Even if it IS a prequel.


The upside is that they're all 3 of them being filmed as one enormous movie and then released a year apart.

Once they're all done then Jim Cameron can move onto something else - and i'm excited more for whatever that may be.

[Chino]

Hopefully a 12 part Avatar mini-series on Netflix

[Super Dude]

Hopefully a 12 part Avatar mini-series on Netflix

[Zantera]

So, which famous Disney classic will they rip off for the script of Avatar 2? 

[Kotowboy]

So, which famous Disney classic will they rip off for the script of Avatar 2? 

Which Disney film did they rip off for Avatar ? Was it the one with a really familiar and simple story that's been told many times before it ?

[Kotowboy]

Hopefully a 12 part Avatar mini-series on Netflix

No. Once Avatar 4 is done - he should stop doing Avatar and do something completely different.

[Mister Gold]

Hopefully a 12 part Avatar mini-series on Netflix