James Cameron's 'Avatar' - The next gen of cinema

Just been to see it in Leicester Square in 3D. Awesome film (for all the already listed reasons), people were clapping and whooping at the end, I almost joined in. Glasses made my ears ache by the end, but it was well worth it.

Enjoyed it immensely.


rp2000
 
I actually worked on the film, but it's the first time I've seen it in its entirety.

Visually it is stunning, and it uses the 3D in the right way... It's not about silly uses of it, as in a lot of the 3D animated films, where you have things flying out the screen, instead it uses it to enhance the field of view.

For instance, when the characters are in the cockpit of a vehicle, you will get a feeling of a realistic depth of field as to how the outside world looks if you were stood inside it.


Story wise, it's a very generic film that's been done dozens of times before. As others have already said, the character of the General is very over the top, and from the minute we meet him, we know he is our bad guy.

But that aside, everyone really should go and see the film, as it's a real spectacle.
 
Oh right, i just found it strange that on a page full of very positive reviews with people stating it as the best film they have seen or at least in the top 5 that he chose to pick 1 sentence from 1 guy and then gives it 5/10.
 
sanaxe1 said:
Oh right, i just found it strange that on a page full of very positive reviews with people stating it as the best film they have seen or at least in the top 5 that he chose to pick 1 sentence from 1 guy and then gives it 5/10.
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Look at his previous posts in this thread... It's completely in keeping with them :)

Now again, I've not seen it, so I can't comment on it.

When I do, I may love it, or be disappointed. I may even agree with Evangelion :)

But at least I will wait until I have seen it, and then cast judgement on it as fairly as I can... Rather than guessing and just picking and choosing material to quote to boost my own (unfounded) opinion...
 
I saw this last night and thought it was very average. Sure the visuals are good but I really don't know how much the 3D aspect added other than the gimmicky embers and splinters flying towards you.

The story was generic and it went on too long. I certainly wouldn't watch it again.
 
One thing I've noticed from all the reviews above, is that there is a lot of talk about the technology and CGI, but very little about the actual plot/acting/script etc.

I'm hoping that this movie isnt another Transformers2 - great CGI but such a poor storyline that those who wrote the movie should be jailed.

There is only 1 proper review (Phonesis) and aside from the CGI, visuals and 3d effects, he clearly states that it isn't really a great movie.

Myself, although I love great special FX, as was the case with Transformers2, I value a good storyline more. Perhaps it is my age (35), where flashy graphics no longer take centre stage.

I'll still be watching it, though. ;)
 
sunama said:
One thing I've noticed from all the reviews above, is that there is a lot of talk about the technology and CGI, but very little about the actual plot/acting/script etc.

I'm hoping that this movie isnt another Transformers2 - great CGI but such a poor storyline that those who wrote the movie should be jailed.

There is only 1 proper review (Phonesis) and aside from the CGI, visuals and 3d effects, he clearly states that it isn't really a great movie.

Myself, although I love great special FX, as was the case with Transformers2, I value a good storyline more. Perhaps it is my age (35), where flashy graphics no longer take centre stage.

I'll still be watching it, though. ;)
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Agreed... Great visuals can help, but the story/script is key. Take The Matrix for example...

I suspect story might be a little too simplistic for my liking, but I'll watch and see :)
 
If you've seen Dances with Wolves or Pocahontas... or infact any film where somebody attempts to infiltrate another faction, but then ends up siding with them and turning the back on their own (Point Break, The Fast and the Furious, dozens of other films...) then you already know the story and how it's going to end.

The story certainly doesn't challenge you and it's made quite clear who is good and bad. This could be because it's a family film, so making everything very simplistic and obvious to cater for all ages.

As I said earlier, the 3D in this film isn't about silly things popping out of the screen, it's mostly used to enhance the depth of field, which I'm sure anyone else has seen it will agree on. There were more things flying out of the screen in the trailers before the film began.

I notice Evangelion taking my comments about the story and then deciding a 5/10 review for it. While it's certainly nothing new in that aspect, and it might not be your favourite film ever when you do see it, you just have to see it regardless!

I personally don't even know how I'd rate it...
It's certainly not going to win any awards for Screenplay or Acting, but for the spectacle alone it has to be a 10/10, especially when I went in thinking I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it.
 
The story is fine, a classic tail that has been done many times over :) no surprises there. The film itself is just class, because it works so well.
I went in to the film not expecting too much, because of the flashy technology - 'yeah yeah, how good can it be - Transformers 2 etc' but no IT was amazing, something I've never seen before.
Have to see it in 3D.
 
Clipsey said:
The story is fine, a classic tail that has been done many times over :) no surprises there. The film itself is just class, because it works so well.
I went in to the film not expecting too much, because of the flashy technology - 'yeah yeah, how good can it be - Transformers 2 etc' but no IT was amazing, something I've never seen before.
Have to see it in 3D.
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Wait till Evangelion paraphrases you :)

The story, no surprises there! 2/10
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This film delivers, the storyline was set up so well and the movie flows from start to finish....
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I said this earlier on in the thread without going into specifics.

Just because a story is generic in terms of its progress does not mean that it can not be fully effective in the type of film/spectacle it is trying to create. The story works perfectly for the film and I also went on to mention the character development in terms of relationship with the main characters.

However it is hard to go into too much depth without spoiling anything in my opinion so I would rather just give a basic feeling on whether the story worked or not and not an indepth film review which you will see many of throughout the net.
 
sunama said:
One thing I've noticed from all the reviews above, is that there is a lot of talk about the technology and CGI, but very little about the actual plot/acting/script etc.

I'm hoping that this movie isnt another Transformers2 - great CGI but such a poor storyline that those who wrote the movie should be jailed.

There is only 1 proper review (Phonesis) and aside from the CGI, visuals and 3d effects, he clearly states that it isn't really a great movie.

Myself, although I love great special FX, as was the case with Transformers2, I value a good storyline more. Perhaps it is my age (35), where flashy graphics no longer take centre stage.

I'll still be watching it, though. ;)
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Certainly story takes a back seat in Avatar, but the world is so immersive that seeing it is a real experience. I would probably liken it to a theme park ride moreso than a movie. Luckily, this is pretty much what I expected and its exactly what I got.
I am a huge fan and nerd of film & cinema technology and that is what this films all about. I'm just stoked that FINALLY someone is pushing the format again and has absolutely demolished all the other players as its done so.

Also, Transformers 2 did indeed suck. The CGI was nicely done, but the action was very very very poorly directed. This for me meant the film couldn't be saved with its CG alone. James Cameron however knows how to make action scenes flow and be well paced and exciting without resorting to stupid mega zoomed really fast cuts of fists and explosions. Its all The Bourne films fault for making this style popular and it has been the death of recent action movies IMO.
 
thres nothing wrong with a bit of cheese every now and then either

I want to be entertained sometimes not educated
 
Chris1712 said:
Also, Transformers 2 did indeed suck. The CGI was nicely done, but the action was very very very poorly directed. This for me meant the film couldn't be saved with its CG alone. James Cameron however knows how to make action scenes flow and be well paced and exciting without resorting to stupid mega zoomed really fast cuts of fists and explosions. Its all The Bourne films fault for making this style popular and it has been the death of recent action movies IMO.
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Transformers2 was my biggest dissapointment of 2009. It could've been so great, but instead it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen (and sat through for the full duration of the movie). Apparently the CGI was more important than a decent plotline.

Now, the Bourne movies - I loved them. The action was great and conveyed a sense of reality, ie. there were no big jumps or flying across walls with a grand soundtrack playing in the background. What we heard were the grunts and very real sounds of 2 men involved in a real fight, without special FX enhancements or wires to assist them.

In summary, FX can be used to enhance the scenes and the storyline (we saw this used to fantastic effect in Terminator2), but some films take it way too far, to the point where the technology/FX become more important than the story itself, which ultimately leads to a weak storyline. I'm hoping this isnt the case with Avatar.
 
Nexus said:
It's certainly not going to win any awards for Screenplay or Acting, but for the spectacle alone it has to be a 10/10.
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Yeah, bang on. It's self indulgent and has a massively derrivative plot but is also a beautiful, spectacular cinematic experience that goes straight to the wow part of the brain and starts randomly pressing big red buttons. Our seats were over a tenner each and I honestly didn't feel short changed... and I'm proper stingy.

See it in 3D on the biggest screen you can with the loudest surround sound. It's how it was meant to be seen and any other way is just short changing your self.
 
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