Avatar

[Super Dude]

Avatar was fun, but something tells me its legacy will not be as enduring as that of Star Wars.

[Bombardana]

Avatar was fun, but something tells me its legacy will not be as enduring as that of Star Wars.

Most people I know don't care for Star Wars.

[ogrejedi]

I do. It had an obvious message, cliche characters, cliche dialog, and a plot that was essentially "Disney's Pocahontas in Space." It was visually stunning, though, so it's kind of like a turd wrapped in bacon.

[antigoon]

*raises hand*

Granted, I saw it on a computer screen in poor quality so I couldn't even appreciate the visual fidelity.

[lateralus88]

You have NO idea.

[TheVoxyn]

From the other thread but can't be posted enough:

[antigoon]

I love the IMHO at the end

[Ultimetalhead]

I thought it was a rather uninspired pile of shit.

[Jarlaxle]

I did! Some of the visuals were amazing, but other than that it didn't make up for a boring storyling, boring characters/love story and dragged out plot

[RobD]

I haven't seen it still. With all the ridiculous amount of hype about it, it would be nothing other than disappointing.

[ogrejedi]

I had no idea my opinion was so popular. For months people have been telling me to see Avatar and when I finally did I wanted those 2 hours back.

[lateralus88]

Also, inb4 Chino rage.

[ogrejedi]

 

I didn't realize there was a thread about Avatar already on the frontpage. Whoops!

[Darkes7]

I really enjoyed it both on the visual level and the story. Sure, it's simple and fairly one-dimensional, but it's just done very well and with a kind of finesse.

[AcidLameLTE]

LOLDARKES

[TheVoxyn]

LOLDARKES

[lateralus88]

>Sure, it's simple and fairly one-dimensional, but it's just done very well and with a kind of finesse.
>but it's just done very well and with a kind of finesse
>but it's just done very well
>done very well
>the story

lulzno

[Darkes7]

Ah, get the hell out.

[Jarlaxle]

Its way too predictable as well. I figured out what was going to happen soon after the oopening credits rolled

[Chino]

Yeah. It's going to have black lights and only tropical fish that will glow under it.

That's probably not the best idea.

Why?

[73109]

*waits for Chino*

[lateralus88]

Ah, get the hell out.

If a story is going to be considered well done, it can't be so predictable to the point where I know exactly how shit is going to go down 2 hours later into the film. Nothing about it kept me interested and wanting to know what would happen next.

[ariich]

The amount of hatred for it is way over the top.

I saw it, and found it highly enjoyable. If you were expecting something deep and profound and so were disappointed by a fun fantasy action flick then that's kinda your own fault really. The story was cliche (literally a cross between Pocahontas and Fern Gully... I kept waiting to hear Tim Curry singing!) and the dialogue was occasionally iffy, but there were some nice lines, lots of good acting, nice characters and great visuals. Not a great film by any means, but there's still plenty to like.

[Darkes7]

Ah, get the hell out.

If a story is going to be considered well done, it can't be so predictable to the point where I know exactly how shit is going to go down 2 hours later into the film. Nothing about it kept me interested and wanting to know what would happen next.

Well, it was predictable, but I think you're seriously exaggerating it. Plus, I think it's obvious it wasn't trying to be the most shocking and unpredictable film ever created. Quite the opposite, the point was to get an important point across with simple means, and well, it works. And still, you have the message beneath the storyline and not the other way around like in some otherthedarkknight more praised examples.

EDIT: Oh, thanks for support ariich.

[ariich]

Oh by the way, the whole "I knew exactly what was going to happen" thing is BS. For example, whether a couple of the main characters lived or died at the end could easily have gone one way or the other. Either way has been done plenty of times before, so whichever they had gone for, cynics will say "I KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN LOL".

[zxlkho]

It didn't suck, but it certainly did not deserve all the praise it received.

[lateralus88]

Ah, get the hell out.

If a story is going to be considered well done, it can't be so predictable to the point where I know exactly how shit is going to go down 2 hours later into the film. Nothing about it kept me interested and wanting to know what would happen next.

Well, it was predictable, but I think you're seriously exaggerating it. Plus, I think it's obvious it wasn't trying to be the most shocking and unpredictable film ever created. Quite the opposite, the point was to get an important point across with simple means, and well, it works. And still, you have the message beneath the storyline and not the other way around like in some otherthedarkknight more praised examples.

I'm not saying it needed to be like The Prestige in terms of story telling and screenplay writing, but what I am saying is that there is a problem when I could predict the climax of the film 20 minutes into it.

And as for the film as a whole, beyond the visuals, I felt the movie to just be plain boring. I don't like most action flicks. They bore the fuck out of me. If I am going to watch a film, I feel as if there should be something I should be getting out of it, like plenty of people do with reading books. Avatar had this message I've already seen in so many other films, thus causing me to not give a shit about it's "deeper meaning" or theme.

Oh by the way, the whole "I knew exactly what was going to happen" thing is BS. For example, whether a couple of the main characters lived or died at the end could easily have gone one way or the other. Either way has been done plenty of times before, so whichever they had gone for, cynics will say "I KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN LOL".

I completely disagree. The second they brought up that whole "Only one person could tame this king dragon creature thing herply derpity", I immediately pointed out "Jake Sully's plot is going to revolve around that beast sometime later in the film, and it's going to prove he is the so called 'hero' of the Na'vi people".

[ariich]

If you don't like action films, then you can hardly give a reasonable un-biased opinion can you?

Yeah of course Jake was going to be the one to tame the creature, why would you expect anything else? It didn't pretend to be anything clever or intricate, it was a fun action blockbuster. If you don't usually like those kinds of film then why bother going to see it in the first place?

[Jamesman42]

It didn't suck, but it certainly did not deserve all the praise it received.

This. Just a fun film with amazing visuals.

[ogrejedi]

This "fun action film" was nominated for Best Picture and hyped as one of the greatest movies of all time, so you can understand where the dissonance in this thread comes from, can't you? Plus it wasn't just a "fun action film"; it had a message which it shoved down your throat the whole time, and it wasn't at all conscious of the fact that that message was an obvious one that had been told a million times before. It did indeed try to be clever and intricate, and failed.

[Jamesman42]

Oh. That's out of my hands. I saw it, enjoyed it, and carried on.

[bosk1]

The amount of hatred for it is way over the top.

I saw it, and found it highly enjoyable. If you were expecting something deep and profound and so were disappointed by a fun fantasy action flick then that's kinda your own fault really. The story was cliche (literally a cross between Pocahontas and Fern Gully... I kept waiting to hear Tim Curry singing!) and the dialogue was occasionally iffy, but there were some nice lines, lots of good acting, nice characters and great visuals. Not a great film by any means, but there's still plenty to like.

This.

Oh, and we already have an Avatar thread.

[ariich]

This "fun action film" was nominated for Best Picture and hyped as one of the greatest movies of all time, so you can understand where the dissonance in this thread comes from, can't you? Plus it wasn't just a "fun action film"; it had a message which it shoved down your throat the whole time, and it wasn't at all conscious of the fact that that message was an obvious one that had been told a million times before. It did indeed try to be clever and intricate, and failed.

Obviously it was way overhyped and didn't deserve most of the nominations it got. Fortunately at both the Oscars and the BAFTAs, those responsible for deciding on the winners were perfectly aware of that and it only won the awards it deserved (i.e. the technical ones).

But as far as I'm concerned, my opinion has nothing to do with how hyped something is, or what anyone else thinks. I watch it and make a judgement purely based on the film itself. So to me, something being overhyped is a bit of a silly reason to like or dislike something (and I'm sure it's happened the other way as well, where people's outright love of the film is in part due to the hype).

In terms of the film itself, obviously some people will like it and others won't, fair enough. But I disagree that the makers weren't aware that it was an obvious message; of course they were, they weren't trying to tell a new story or put across any hugely profound message. They were arguably being lazy when making the film, but to me it seemed pretty obvious that they went with a story and message that had been done before so that the focus would be far more on the effects and general atmosphere of the film.

[lateralus88]

If you don't like action films, then you can hardly give a reasonable un-biased opinion can you?

Yeah of course Jake was going to be the one to tame the creature, why would you expect anything else? It didn't pretend to be anything clever or intricate, it was a fun action blockbuster. If you don't usually like those kinds of film then why bother going to see it in the first place?

To answer your first question, well yes, for the most part. Though, there are a good handful of action films that I have enjoyed quite a bit. Like Planet Terror. On the outside, it's just a faux grindhouse film. Under the surface, it's a brilliantly made film forged to look like an old grindhouse film, from the purposely bad acting to the grainy effect on the film.

But I digress. I suppose I'm just too much of a film snob to enjoy action films such as Avatar.

To answer your second question, I love James Cameron's older work such as Aliens and Terminator. Those were much better, well constructed films. And I was bored and had nothing else to do .

[Chino]

The point of this film was not to bring something entirely new to the table. It wasn't about the story, or the individual characters. It was about the viewer being able to escape and let their minds run wild for 3 hours. The first time I saw it I could give a shit what was happening in the story. I was just sitting back and taking in the Na'vi culture and the world of Pandora. I sat there the whole time paying attention to every little detail that had to with the world, not what was happening within. Seeing how much effort and attention to detail that went into the world is why I love it. Everything fits, the animals, the plants, the ecosystems, the clans. Its exactly how a world like that should have evolved, down to the way the limbs and luminescent shapes on all the creatures. If you pay attention to the colors of the animals and the areas of Pandora, you can figure out what evolved where. That's what I appreciate most.