James Cameron's Avatar

Also, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118013104.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&ref=vertfilm

Avatar exceeds Sherlock and Chipmunks and only has a 2.6% drop from opening weekend. At this moment it has made over $660 Million WW ... and by most estimates will have a very good shot at being #1 or #2 top grossing box office hit of all time. Roger Ebert said that Avatar is our generation's Star Wars. Both financially and critically it seems that is true. Hopefully Avatar 2 will be the next Empire Strikes back

it's not star wars. calm down.

  On 12/28/2009 at 3:16 AM, zaphod said:

it's not star wars. calm down.

You're right its more of a fantasy then sci-fi... and I would rate Star Wars : A New Hope > Avatar (that could be nostalgia though)... but these numbers are EXTREMELY impressive. Like out of this world, especially for a new franchise. So in that sense it is very much Star Wars and also in the sense that its pushing technology (like Star Wars did)... Ebert : "Watching "Avatar," I felt sort of the same as when I saw "Star Wars" in 1977"

I have a question Zaphod... do you not like me or are you always a negative nancy, so to speak?

  On 12/28/2009 at 3:25 AM, karmakramer said:

I have a question Zaphod... do you not like me or are you always a negative nancy, so to speak?

zaphod is an equal opportunities hater. you're not special.

pretty sure zaphod is just trying to be your equilibrium down to earth.

  On 12/28/2009 at 3:26 AM, kaini said:

  On 12/28/2009 at 3:25 AM, karmakramer said:

I have a question Zaphod... do you not like me or are you always a negative nancy, so to speak?

 

zaphod is an equal opportunities hater. you're not special.

k

i'm not being negative. why is it negative to come in here and say maybe let's reconsider this thing, maybe it isn't the greatest achievement in film ever guys. it was impressive, it isn't star wars. calm down. your response time to every post i've made is evidence that you need to calm down.

i get annoyed that presenting an opposing opinion is automatically negative. to a degree, i'm joking around posting in this thread because it's amusing how fast karmakramer is back in here defending the movie. i said in multiple posts the movie is worth seeing, definitely, but it wasn't this life changing experience.

the original star wars series from what I understand was literally a blockbuster, people standing in line for blocks with enough excitement to kill their grandma to get in and see it for the 6th time, I don't think we can compare that to Avatar really

i actually know very few people who've even seen avatar yet. it's simply not star wars. there will probably never be another star wars. that's just the context of movies at that time in 70's, the fact that the blockbuster basically didn't exist, that big budget science fiction didn't exist, space opera didn't really exist on film. and then star wars was just memorable, everything in it is immediately recognizable and is imprinted in pop culture. i doubt we'll remember anything about avatar in five years, besides maybe that it made a shit ton of money and broke some ground for 3d.

fuck, i'm just being reasonable here. cmon guys.

  On 12/28/2009 at 3:34 AM, zaphod said:

i actually know very few people who've even seen avatar yet. it's simply not star wars. there will probably never be another star wars. that's just the context of movies at that time in 70's, the fact that the blockbuster basically didn't exist, that big budget science fiction didn't exist, space opera didn't really exist on film. and then star wars was just memorable, everything in it is immediately recognizable and is imprinted in pop culture. i doubt we'll remember anything about avatar in five years, besides maybe that it made a shit ton of money and broke some ground for 3d.

 

fuck, i'm just being reasonable here. cmon guys.

you are a wise man

  On 12/28/2009 at 3:29 AM, zaphod said:

i'm not being negative. why is it negative to come in here and say maybe let's reconsider this thing, maybe it isn't the greatest achievement in film ever guys. it was impressive, it isn't star wars. calm down. your response time to every post i've made is evidence that you need to calm down.

 

i get annoyed that presenting an opposing opinion is automatically negative. to a degree, i'm joking around posting in this thread because it's amusing how fast karmakramer is back in here defending the movie. i said in multiple posts the movie is worth seeing, definitely, but it wasn't this life changing experience.

I'm just quick on the computer. And I've just noticed a trend in you disagreeing with my comments (not just in this thread). Which has led me to believe something else is going on rather then coincidental differences. But you sound honest, so I believe you.

And I wouldn't say Avatar is life-changing, but I do think it will be the landmark film that will lead us into 3D filmmaking. I also think its the first film to use CG to such a convincing degree, most people scratch their heads at how things look so real. I saw it today at IMAX (first time) and damn I should have just always gone to IMAX... but anyway the reason I went was cause my mom wanted to see it, and she asked me a few times if they had people in blue sit and do those spiritual chants... she didn't really understand 70% of the movie was computer.

Its funny the stark difference in excitement from this forum to others I visit. On one forum that I have been using for about 6 years now, and I normally post more there, I am barely the top 20th poster in the main Avatar thread. A lot of the stuff I post here is from that thread, that I copy... I think this whole circumstance is hilarious, so just relax and realize I am perfectly calm. I am not foaming at the mouth anytime someone doesn't like the movie, or anything. Thats ridiculous. I wouldn't even say this movie is the best movie of the past few years (definitely best action scenes in a long time though)... however I do think this movie represents a lot of very good things. So its success will lead to a lot more good things. So I am very happy it is doing well.

Goin to see this tomorrow, I'm kind of looking forward actually. Hope it will bring me back to childhood Cameron days : ) And i'm gonna do my best to tolerate the CGI

Beautiful

  On 12/25/2009 at 9:32 AM, Awepittance said:

  On 12/25/2009 at 8:49 AM, Rubin Farr said:

it was so overwhelming in 3D that it was like waking up from an intense dream after 3 hours.

 

glad you enjoyed it, this just reminded me. I got a really strong lucid dreaming parallel from the plot, the way he would take video journals of his experience in the avatar reminded me of the technique of keeping a dream journal to heighten one's dream recall memory. and it probably doesn't need to be stated again but all of the scenes when you would actually see jake go from being human into his avatar seemed extremely dream like. the transition to a full cgi landscape didn't feel as jarring as a result

another thing i didnt get at the first time was the number of the fingers the navi had. In a dream something is messing with the count of your fingers, so this could be another hint.

I kind of got a mixed reaction, but I would say deep down I really enjoyed the film.

I didn't like the unoriginal story, ending was bland,, but there was some true magic in some scenes, and, coming from someone who's been in 3D circles for a long time, the CGI was awestunning. Definitely believable (except for the evil humans), and I think the na'vi portrayal was beautiful, mostly in the beginning, it kind of got out of control in the end.

The worst thing was probably the music, the god damn danger motif almost ruined the film for me, how the hell can anyone take that seriously anymore.

The humans were so over the top HAY GUYZ WE NEED TO KILL THESE NATIVES TO GET 20 BILLION FROM UNOBTAINABLE UNOBTANIUM.

alot of native american and nature parallels, i'm not sure he really had to dress it up in all the psychedelic colors. i thought it was enough when the na'vi girl said animals deserve to live.

All in all I think you have to admire the ambitious scope of cameron, he obviously had to cut some corners to cater to the mass audiences, but he's a master of making such sterotypes enjoyable.

oh, and I forgot..

MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ AND SIGOURNEY WEAVER IN THE SAME FILM!

i still don't understand why everyone needed unobtanium in the first place, was it an energy source, or just more bling for your chains, Flo-rida?

im pretty sure they explained in the movie that it was a massive source of power

So now that a good amount has seen it... do you guys find yourself leaving the theater on a sort of "high"... then the following day, vaguely remembering the details of the world, but not completely... and then finding yourself yearning to return to it? My thoughts on this is : the 3D creates memory creation, so like with any awesome place you might visit or period of your life... you can never replicate it completely in your mind. But you know its real. In the case of Avatar your mind actually thinks its real, so as days pass, sub-consciously Pandora becomes a reality. I think the sales kind of prove this point. People are seeing this movie multiple times...

People are seeing it multiple times?

It looked beautiful, the 3D was proper lovely, but that was it. Terrible script and shit acting, with loads of action movie cliches. If I'd turned in this script as a film student, I would have been rejected for being amateur. It was still a hundred times better than Titanic.

  On 12/29/2009 at 6:01 AM, karmakramer said:

I think the sales kind of prove this point.

are you taking into account inflation on revenue? that a lot of people are paying 16.50 for 1 ticket in 3D? compared to movies of the past that have made as much money without inflation with much much much cheaper ticket prices?

  On 12/29/2009 at 8:09 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 12/29/2009 at 6:01 AM, karmakramer said:

I think the sales kind of prove this point.

 

are you taking into account inflation on revenue? that a lot of people are paying 16.50 for 1 ticket in 3D? compared to movies of the past that have made as much money without inflation with much much much cheaper ticket prices?

Well I was referring to the 2.6% drop from opening weekend, most movies drop 20%...

  On 12/29/2009 at 8:10 AM, karmakramer said:

  On 12/29/2009 at 8:09 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 12/29/2009 at 6:01 AM, karmakramer said:

I think the sales kind of prove this point.

 

are you taking into account inflation on revenue? that a lot of people are paying 16.50 for 1 ticket in 3D? compared to movies of the past that have made as much money without inflation with much much much cheaper ticket prices?

 

Well I was referring to the 2.6% drop from opening weekend, most movies drop 20%...

being that this wasn't really advertised that well and most people thought it looked its not surprised that word of mouth ("woh it was kinda trippy smoke the rest of your hash and see it" not "wow what a moving piece of cinema" word of mouth") would increase sales slowly.

you understand my point?? with inflation, larger populations, more theaters, at least more than double the ticket prices in some cases with some movies in the past that the sales aren't anything like... the original star wars

  On 12/29/2009 at 8:15 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 12/29/2009 at 8:10 AM, karmakramer said:

  On 12/29/2009 at 8:09 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

  On 12/29/2009 at 6:01 AM, karmakramer said:

I think the sales kind of prove this point.

 

are you taking into account inflation on revenue? that a lot of people are paying 16.50 for 1 ticket in 3D? compared to movies of the past that have made as much money without inflation with much much much cheaper ticket prices?

 

Well I was referring to the 2.6% drop from opening weekend, most movies drop 20%...

 

being that this wasn't really advertised that well and most people thought it looked its not surprised that word of mouth ("woh it was kinda trippy smoke the rest of your hash and see it" not "wow what a moving piece of cinema" word of mouth") would increase sales slowly.

 

you understand my point?? with inflation, larger populations, more theaters, at least more than double the ticket prices in some cases with some movies in the past that the sales aren't anything like... the original star wars

it is tracking to completely out perform the dark knight and lord of the rings return of the king... so I don't understand your point, cause I said nothing about star wars in the last post