Avatar reviews - Attention : spoilers

[messfx]

Re: Avatar reviews

Oh, PS. The art of Avatar book? crap. thin, not a lot of in it. what is there is pretty, but its garbage, its a mere appetizer.

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed in the book. It didn't show much of the design process at all and the print quality was poor. There were thousands of paintings done for the film over 4 years. Stromberg personally did hundreds of amazing pieces and only a couple are in that book.

-Steve

 

[barbatus]

Re: Avatar reviews

Most of the movies that people here say are crap, I enjoy.

Ehm ... yeah ... following that scheme, you at least can't blame me if you don't like the movie :lol

 

[lonepigeon]

Re: Avatar reviews

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed in the book. It didn't show much of the design process at all and the print quality was poor. There were thousands of paintings done for the film over 4 years. Stromberg personally did hundreds of amazing pieces and only a couple are in that book.

-Steve

That sucks, although I'm not sure I'd be interested in the art book anyway.
None of the designs in the movie struck me as very innovative.

 

[saxe coburg]

Re: Avatar reviews

Saw it last night… the CGI was great and if they had done “Halo”, it would have been great. But for me Avatar ended up being a 3hr journey of black-light hippy acid trip wet-dream with a political-correct mother-earth story rammed down my throat. :unsure

 

[Clerval]

Re: Avatar reviews

For all the spectacle, scope, SPFX†, SFX, and stereoscopic wizardry, it's missing one vital element: a story... in particular, interesting characters.

For a three-dimensional movie, the characters are awfully two-dimensional.

I just wish more blue pixies had died.

†Can we still call them that?

SPFX = boom.

VFX = tap tacka tap click tap tap...

 

[The Stig]

Re: Avatar reviews

Here's my review:
The prettiest cartoon ever... But, you've seen this movie a million times before.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Re: Avatar reviews

Saw it... liked it... blown away.

 

[Darklighter]

Re: Avatar reviews

Here's my review:
The prettiest cartoon ever... But, you've seen this movie a million times before.

lol

 

[CTF]

Re: Avatar reviews

But, you've seen this movie a million times before.

And done better... each and every time!

 

[The Stig]

Re: Avatar reviews

For ****s and giggles I present you with:
5 reasons to avoid Avatar
Also:
5 reasons you must see Avatar

 

[AT-AT Luvah]

Re: Avatar reviews

I saw Avatar today in RealD 3D on a huge screen with a very receptive audience. Here are my quick thoughts on the debate raging here and the fillm itself, which I fear will get lost among all the negativity:

This is a MONSTER of a movie. The size and scale of it is astonishing. Cameron's universe-building is a thing of such intricacy, that it seems completely believable and tangible. The editing is brisk and it is a very lean 2 hours and 40 minutes to me.

The technical mastery of the film is certainly next generation.

I find it sad that people on this board are so jaded that they cannot give credit where credit is due. The visual effects in this film ARE amazing. They ARE jaw-dropping. If your cynicism is such that you don't want to admit that, it is a pretty sad comment on your ability to be amazed.

I love that we have grand-scale storytellers like Cameron and Spielberg still working on huge canvases. I wouldn't have it any other way. I am pumped that Cameron is swinging for the fences and I would say Avatar is, at minimum, a sliding triple in the bottom of the ninth of a very close game.

A HUGE point for me is that Cameron shoots and stages action so clearly and beautifully. I am so sick of movies where I can't tell what's going on - it is cheap and poorly done. Here, the multiple levels of warfare are clearly mapped out and we always know who is where relative to the landscape and each other. Beautifully done.

For those who say the story is cliched or a Dances with Wolves retread, they may have a point. But if they discount Avatar simply because of that, then they are clearly grading ridiculously harshly.

For somebody who's given us Terminator, Terminator 2, True Lies, The Abyss, and Aliens, I would think people would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt while still holding him to a much higher standard than your average director.

Cameron delivers.

Believe it.

Hector

 

[silverskyes402]

Re: Avatar reviews

I full heartedly agree with everything that you have said AT-AT Luvah, the movie was nothing less than epic

 

[SithLord]

Re: Avatar reviews

Just saw it in digital 3D and that was my first digital 3D movie....it was just simply a beautiful work of motion picture artistry. It has a simple story, but I think that is what gives it its charm. As someone with a background in biology, the attention to detail of the lifeforms was just astonishing, and I think an accomplishment in and of itself. If anyone has a sense of wonder left, this is the film for them. If you just like to go to movies to criticize them, save your money then....

 

[CTF]

Re: Avatar reviews

I find it sad that people on this board are so jaded that they cannot give credit where credit is due. The visual effects in this film ARE amazing. They ARE jaw-dropping. If your cynicism is such that you don't want to admit that, it is a pretty sad comment on your ability to be amazed.

I'm not denying its scope. Not at all (read post #99 in this thread). But I guess I didn't realize that's what made a good movie...

I just feel that the most awesome visual extravaganza -- in stereo, no less -- is nothing when it has such lackluster designs, story and performances. And I'll be the first to admit that the Na'vi look like real blue pixies (seriously, I don't know what else to call them) in 95% of it, so I'm not denying the achievements of the FX houses; or James Cameron's vision, for that matter ('cos it would be nothing without Jim at the helm). I just don't think this is the future of cinema, is all.

No biggie.

I'm happy it's getting people into cinemas, though.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Re: Avatar reviews

Still haven't seen Avatar (got tix for the IMAX on Tuesday) but I'm amazed by the similarities between the negative comments it's getting relative to the negative reviews garnered by the original Star Wars back in `77.

Underdeveloped characters, simplistic narrative, derivative thematic elements, overly "loud" soundtrack... etc. Initial reviews called SW "Seven Samurais in Space" as if that was a bad thing. Me, I hear Avatar described as "Dances with Wolves in Space" and I think, great, why not? Bring it on! Connect those particular conceptual dots Jim Cameron, because so far as I know they've never been connected before.

The alleged lack of "character development" is particularly amusing, as if this is a requisite ingredient for a good sci-fi movie. Luke, Han, and Leia have the emotional and psychological complexity of a cornflake, but that didn't stop them from becoming some of the most beloved characters in the history of cinema.

If I want emotional complexity and literary nuance I'll read a ****ing John Updike novel. I could give a rat's *** for what a director thinks... I want to know what he sees.

 

[CTF]

Re: Avatar reviews

overly "loud" soundtrack...

Yeah, but Star Wars had John Williams, while Avatar has James Horner.

 

[CTF]

Re: Avatar reviews

I could give a rat's *** for what a director thinks... I want to know what he sees.

Look up Michael Bay!

 

[Carson Dyle]

Re: Avatar reviews

Yeah, but Star Wars had John Williams, while Avatar has James Horner.

Yeah, whatever.

2001 had Richard Strauss, while Star Wars has John Williams.

We can go down that road if you'd like, but it's a slippery ****ing slope.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Re: Avatar reviews

Look up Michael Bay!

Please.

James Cameron has created some of the most memorable cinematic moments of all time. Michael Bay specializes in filming what amounts to two hour-long car crashes in which the act breaks are essentially determined by changes of background scenery (robots fight in desert, robots fight in city, robots fight in woods, etc).

Both directors employ technology to accomplish their goals, but artistic comparisons end there.

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

Re: Avatar reviews

Well, I enjoyed the movie. It was a decent story with quiet a few holes and obvious paths. The effects and 3D were nothing short of spectacular.

The things that bugged me...what the hell was the mineral for that it was so expensive? How the hell did the Colonel last longer than the 20 seconds it took to make you unconscious breathing that gas? If oxygen was not the main gas, why were the flames yellow, as was ALL of the alien blood?

Yes, those really ARE nitpicky points. In the almost three hours, to say that is all I found speaks highly of this movie. Is it groundbreaking? No, not really, but it DOES add a coat of polish on stuff that was done already. The animation, especially from the speaking Na'vi, was better than I have seen from anything else.

I'd recommend it.