Was Avatar good/bad?

Jono said:
Wasn't it basically dances with wolves, set in space?
I actually quite enjoyed it, even the ridiculous bits and questionable acting.
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+1

I still whack it on every now and then to just enjoy the quality home cinema experience without getting carried away with finding things to criticize.
 
I didn't see Avatar when it originally came out. So I watched it later in 2D on Bluray and then the extended addition. I really enjoyed it. Still haven't seen it in 3D. I don't really get all the disdain for it. I enjoy rewatching it. I like Sci-fi though.
 
The problem with Avatar for most people is a classic film criticism one - you've seen a lot of other movies so it's very difficult to review it in isolation since it's a derirative story, albeit in an original setting, using a lot of well-worn tropes (although part of the reason tropes are recycled so much is because people enjoy things like the hero's journey etc). If you take that away and also ignore the technical/visual aspect, it's a competently put together story - for all James Cameron's faults, he is a testament to the power of sticking to the basics and being straightforward/obvious about everything which is why so many of his movies have done so well. He knows how to tell a story, even if it's an unoriginal one.

This is more than can be said for a lot of the stuff that gets churned out these days, so I wouldn't lump it in with some of the tripe that Hollywood keeps green-lighting... although equally it's not unfair criticism to say that his by-the-numbers approach won't win any awards for challenging an audience, making them think etc.
 
SixTwoSix said:
So basically Star Wars when it came out then. There was nothing original in the first SW in terms of the story (just a western/save the princess story in space) and the acting is nothing special. Star Wars is only saved by ESB and ROTJ, as a standalone film, effects aside, it's fairly poor.

Not even trolling, not one little bit.
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None of the SW movies have a good story line. The whole things is a mess. But that because it wasn't written as one whole story. I was created piecemeal as a bunch of scene's then the best idea stuck together.

A lot of SciFi has fairly mediocre story lines/scripts. Avatar is no worse than a lot of classic scifi in that regard.
 
Even lotr look terribly fake and unconvincing if you watch it now. I remember when they were banging on about how advanced and amazing the 'massive' engine was.
 
I like the film's story. Nothing amazing but I found myself sufficiently empathising with the lead as he struggled with moral dilemmas as well as going from disabled to...super-abled? and back again repeatedly.

What set the film apart was how, at the cinema, everyone had their mind's blown by the visuals. It looked absolutely amazing. Coincide it's visuals with 3D and it's fair to say people had never seen anything like it before. Everyone was stunned and insisted their friends watch it too etc. This is why is was so successful.
 
excellent 3d okish 2d film. Quite like the film score as well (James Horner RIP)

Dances with wolves is better though.
 
SixTwoSix said:
So basically Star Wars when it came out then. There was nothing original in the first SW in terms of the story (just a western/save the princess story in space) and the acting is nothing special. Star Wars is only saved by ESB and ROTJ, as a standalone film, effects aside, it's fairly poor.

Not even trolling, not one little bit.
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Star Wars was not released as a standalone so you can't really judge the first film without considering the other two parts.

As for Avatar, it had no plot, the visuals were ok but not amazing for anyone who has been exposed to gaming since 2005, the acting was laughable. Not only was there no character development, there were literally no characters. They were soulless entities with the purpose to push forward the non existing plot and make noise in the CGI jungle. If someone disagrees, go ahead and describe Jake Sully, using 4-5 adjectives. What about Neytiri? That's right, you can't because there's nothing to describe.
 
Star Wars was released as a stand alone. I watched it originally as a stand alone. It was 3yrs till the next one. Its the main reason the storyline makes no sense from one movie to the next. Lucas has to a bit of revisionism to make out he had it all planned but the facts don't support it. (or the storyline). "Journal of the Whills" Pfffsssssss.

5 adjectives is a no brainer. I could do that about a plain empty box. I don't get what that proves. The characters are all very stereotypical. But thats true of many movies.
 
Eventually watched it in 2D. Effects aside, it was complete meh, no engagement with the actors, I can only approximate the plot because it's notoriously 'Dances with Smurfs', the film itself was completely forgettable. I couldn't even have told you the names of the main characters a month later.

If the visuals were crap, it would be a straight to DVD type movie.
 
Its not a good film, but its effects were ground breaking.

I dont like to think of it as a Dances with Wolves, more of a The Last Samurai :P
 
Stunning in 3D and a solid enough plot to carry it off. Yea, it was nothing new, but at least it did it well.

The shuttle explosion at the end... kaboom!
 
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It wasn't bad but nowhere near the 'marketing hype' regarding plot or the visual effects.

I was literally waiting to see something Japan/Asia hadn't done before during the whole movie in regards to the visual effects, admittedly some was slightly better quality but then the budget for Avatar was massive compared with most Asian films. I've never been a fan of 3D movies and this was one of the first.

Also it was a tad irritating at the time that it forced the Avatar the last airbender movie (I like the series) to change it's name to just the last airbender.... but in hindsight that was a good thing because that's a seriously bad movie and doesn't deserve to be associated with the series lol
 
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