Avatar: The Movie [Archive]

DjVoyager

12-06-2009, 05:02 PM

The CG looks cool, yeah, but that should be expected of James Cameron.

As far as the plot goes, I haven't seen the movie but I can make a wild guess from the trailers. US (it's usually the US) trying to occupy a foreign land/planet. The protagonist is one of their best men for the job. He tries to get in with the natives to figure out their habitat etc. but ends up falling in love with one of them, the hot one with influence. Then he and she spends the rest of film trying to persuade their respective sides to drop the war and live in peace and harmony. Now it goes without saying none of the sides are persuaded until some serious destruction happens so we get to see awesome battle scenes. In brief, it's a sci-fi Pocahontas story. Pocahontas and Delgo. The creatures here remind me of Delgo for some reason.

pencilPen

12-08-2009, 10:44 AM

Avatar looks pretty cool, but I have a question regarding IMAX 3D showings of the film. To my knowledge, there was some special 16-minute sneak peek of the film in IMAX 3D showing in some theaters, like Universal Citywalk, a couple of months ago. To anyone who saw that IMAX preview: was the Avatar presentation in IMAX 3D letterboxed or not? I was thinking of seeing the film in regular digital 3D, but if the IMAX 3D version isn't letterboxed, like many films converted to IMAX format, I was thinking of seeing Avatar that way. Thanks.

deathwish

12-08-2009, 10:45 AM

to be honest it sounds very similar to terra but the effects are what will sell it.

gotta say though i am looking forward to it

chrisg

12-21-2009, 09:35 AM

Went to go see it in IMAX 3D and it was amazing.

Make time to see it in 3D. It's an experience.

danlefeb

12-21-2009, 10:01 AM

Saw it in IMAX 3D over the weekend as well. PencilPen, when I saw it in IMAX it wasn't letterboxed at all. It is certainly a game-changer as far as FX goes. The bar has been raised.

DjVoyager

12-21-2009, 10:40 AM

Saw it in IMAX 3D over the weekend as well. PencilPen, when I saw it in IMAX it wasn't letterboxed at all. It is certainly a game-changer as far as FX goes. The bar has been raised.

I have to say something about "The bar has been raised" comment. The budget for this movie was humongous;
"As of December 2009, with an alleged budget of US $230,000,000 (estimated), this is the most expensive movie ever made." - IMDB
So I did not expected to see anything less fitting. CG artists also need good direction (and machines) to make something this awesome, and Cameron really did a great job of that.

That said, those Navi cat-people did looked CG to me. Pandora, on the other hand, was stunning. The vegetation and the action sequences were very well done. I was squirming just at the thought of the poly count in there :D

As for the plot...meh! Very predictable. A sci-fi Pocahontas story and not the real one either, it was right out of Disney! complete with that tree spirit thing...well, they have to mature it for adult audience but the concept was almost the same.

The plot is not what Avatar is about, IMHO. If you're looking for some heart-pumping action in pushed to the limit CG then this movie is for you. But as Chris and Dan suggested, see it in IMAX 3D for a full experience.

danlefeb

12-21-2009, 11:09 AM

Yes, its expected that with a big budget you would have bar-setting effects. And while big-budget films will have good effects, its rare that they have great effects. For example, you have movies like Spiderman 3, which cost $258m, Half-blood Prince, $250m, etc. that have good effects but still don't come anywhere close to the ground-breaking likes of Avatar's effects. Of course, in my opinion, the effects (and story) in the $30m District 9 were much better than the $258m Spiderman 3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_films

DjVoyager

12-21-2009, 11:33 AM

Of course, in my opinion, the effects (and story) in the $30m District 9 were much better than the $258m Spiderman 3.

District 9 was ground breaking in the sense that it made poor guys feel that you don't have to have a big budget to produce something of that scale. The story was good as well.

I felt that the CG for Spiderman and Harry Potter fit their theme. We all know Spiderman from cartoons and comics, and HP is a children's series so there was an already pre-existing notion of the style and effects, and so the directors had to work to at least achieve that limit, in my opinion.

Avatar is James Cameron's brain child. Only he knew and thus had the power to make this fictional world however he wanted. With the budget he got it must have felt like a dream come true. Wouldn't we, the crazy imaginative artists that we are, would love to have that. :)

ayanakbar

12-22-2009, 03:44 AM

well i saw the movie recently and its definately a bar raiser as many observed. The thing is the in spite of the film being longer than usual and predictable , the whole new concept of watching it in 3D kept me hooked on to it like glue.
I did not want to come out of this dream world called "Pandora" :)

The problem is that now no matter how good they say the graphics are, i would only like to see them in 3D :P

purplemikey

12-31-2009, 02:28 PM

one word : believe
They did what most can't do
The World was fantastic just as Tolkien's world was.

Even insects have been included...
plants and culture is instaled just like if it really exist
I think its the best movie I've seen
and it worth the 15$ I paid to see the movie in 3D

danlefeb

12-31-2009, 02:53 PM

The World was fantastic just as Tolkien's world was.

Personally I think the Lord of the Rings trilogy was, overall, still better in their use of everything from film, special effects, visual effects and compositing of it all. Avatar was amazing visually for sure, but I still think LoTR made better use of all the aspects of film making.

DjVoyager

12-31-2009, 03:10 PM

Avatar is a thrill ride. That's my perception of it.

LOTR draws you in with its story, Avatar draws you in with its visual effects. Next time I think James Cameron should actually reconstruct the theaters or at least develop some kind of device that will make the audience feel the environment, i.e. the wind, hot, cold etc....it'll be the first movie with warning for children and heart patients.

stwert

12-31-2009, 03:48 PM

I agree that LOTR was better filmmaking, but I don't want to compare avatar to other movies as that's more opinion.
What avatar really did was lean very heavily on the stunning environment. Everything else was decent enough, but the only thing that kept me glued to the movie was the cutting edge 3D environment, characters and animals. And as we know from history, if what you've got going for the movie is cutting edge special effects, it won't stand the test of time. I really really enjoyed the movie, but I couldn't help feeling that if I'd have seen a brave new world realized like that before (and I have in my head :)) it wouldn't be anything special.

Hope that made some semblance of sense. I can't really put it in words very well.

purplemikey

01-01-2010, 02:21 AM

I dont want to talk about the movies im talking about the world

James Cameron did an awesome job creating a world from his imagination just like Tolkien did
He created a whole world with creatures and civilisations

stwert

01-01-2010, 01:13 PM

I also think that the world was amazing, but my gripe was that he relied too heavily on that to tell his story. I also think the creatures and biomechanics were quite similar for several of the species, and too much bioluminescence that glows when you touch it. :)

purplemikey

01-02-2010, 12:21 AM

I really like the fact that at nights everything glows... I think its the most interesting I saw in the movie I was sticked to the plants
Other than that... the technology and the culture are realistic and the hair thing is awesome!

juanmanuel

01-02-2010, 02:58 PM

The thingies from the hair um.. thingy gave me goosebumps. Very believable environment and creature and etc design. Imagine LOTR storytelling with this kind of environment prowess. Mind boggling.

purplemikey

01-15-2010, 11:55 AM

Heard that Avatar will be a trilogy... James Cameron said that the underworld is not yet explored and there's still many things to see on pandora... hope he's right and won't do a bad sequel that will drop his movie down!

brandeil

01-15-2010, 12:00 PM

I wondered about that, was also thinking it could take away from the magic and not be so good. Never know.

DjVoyager

01-15-2010, 12:05 PM

Yeah, I read that too. It would be great if he brings back the same experience, though considering James Cameron he'll probably kick it up a notch :jump

purplemikey

01-15-2010, 12:12 PM

I agree with the fact that the world is awesome and James Cameron too
but will he be good as Goerge Lucas and JRR Tolkien?
not sure about it... The end of the story leaves no hope for the human to take over the place
and the Na'vi world is destroyed so... will it be about rebuilding their lives?
If it is... I think it will be more like... a documentary then a movie...
Or maybe humans will come back even more powerful... but It would be too repetitive and irrevelant.

DjVoyager

01-15-2010, 04:41 PM

Personal opinion: Lucas and LOTR films tend to have both strong characters and well developed fantasy locations. Their stories have elements of surprise which, IMHO, is probably one of the best and difficult ways to draw in the audience. Avatar is a completely different ballgame. James Cameron relies heavily on cutting-edge technology to deliver his story to the point that it sometimes overshadow the characters. We feel ourselves immersed in the beauty of the 3D environment rather than the plot, especially when most of us already know what's gonna happen.

I have no idea what the sequel is gonna be about but if Cameron is following the same formula as Avatar then it will be something like adventures in Pandora. Wild guess: The Navi will be faced with an enemy but it will be on Pandora itself, and most likely not human, but we get to explore the land. Wild guess 2: The princess's life will be threatened (it's always the girl) and Jake will go in search of the cure, we explore more of Pandora. Thrilling rides throughout :)

purplemikey

01-15-2010, 04:57 PM

Yeah well... I think he really need to focus around the two main character that we really been exploring in the first one
cuz now we know 'em and we need them to a sequel.

I think James Cameron should try to focus on a good story for the second film cuz we saw the special effet, we saw the 3D now we need something more... something that will not be just like watching the first one in our DVD (I personnaly don't go to the cinema only to see the images pop out of the screen).

For the first one it was ok to focus on the graphics and technology because he created a completely new world with a lot of things to discover. But the second film will need something more... thats my personnal opinion... I would have stop Avatar right there with one of the best success of hollywood

brandeil

01-15-2010, 06:33 PM

I heard a news report that some of people have gone into depression after seeing the movie because its such a "perfect" world the way they live, that people want to be able to be part of that world.
Apparently the same situation with some people have happened to astronauts, its so peaceful in space that when they come back their back in their hectic world on Earth.

DjVoyager

01-16-2010, 09:45 PM

Doesn't surprise. There's always a bunch like that.

I forget if it were the animated series Phantom 2040 or some other show but it was set in this future where people are addicted to a virtual machine. They wear some headgear, go into their virtual world, get hooked and lose perspective of reality. I think the game Dreamfall had a similar device, though the virtual machine was treated as an illegal and dangerous substance. Are we moving in that direction with 3D?

purplemikey

01-20-2010, 10:27 PM

we, 3D modeler, texturer, animator and all the jobs around 3D, should build a 3D world. A realistic world without all the problems on earth... and let people enter in our world with 3D glasses and live a life... a kind of "game" that need a really powerful computer... And have a second life.
If someone create that kind of "simulation" one day im pretty sure that they'll use it as a therapy

stwert

01-20-2010, 10:41 PM

Well... sounds good, but there does exist "second life" computer programs and people live in them, trying to escape the real world, and the unfortunate part is they lose sense of reality and probably should get therapy.

Anyway, watch this making of. Very cool.
http://seqmag.com/2010/01/making-of-avatar/

Blazevic

02-05-2010, 10:09 AM

Here is another motion capture video which i though was awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2_vB7zx_SQ&feature=player_embedded

DjVoyager

02-06-2010, 09:26 AM

This technology will be a huge relief for some of those wonderful actors who hate to go through all that makeup and costume, which sometimes limits their performance. The only disadvantage I see is that this process really does relies heavily on the technology. If even one of the devices short out it will affect the entire performance.

Future in-demand job: Technical support for CG mo-cap performance.

I see Motion Builder in there too :bang

Megatron117

02-06-2010, 05:31 PM

I thought the Avatar Movie was pure genius. The native creatures were something out of this world. James Cameron seem like he was playing god when creating these creatures. I thought it was cool naming the natives planet Pandora. Those marines were so greedy and selfless. They thought nothing about the consequences of endangering the Avatar's habitat when tearing their tree down. Pandora almost reminds me of the planet Feluccia from Star Wars. Great CGI!

thennek

02-10-2010, 09:57 PM

I think one of the more exciting things about the movie is that it completely breaks the idea of many recent vfx films which is most of films of this type is a license of a comic book, a cartoon, or some already well known legend or story. This proves that if the vfx work is astounding and if the movie is well directed then fresh ideas can make their way to the big screen!

Not to mention the movie was AWESOOOOOOME!!!