Avatar {2009}

[FordPrefect]

http://blip.tv/play/hIVVgbiFVgI

[JonnyFrag]

Saw this on Saturday , 3D (non Imax)

Sigh

Everyone is going on and on about the amazing visuals (they are amazing) but man is the story thin. They have about and hour and a half worth of story stretched into a 3 hour movie. There was one part in particular where the tree is destroyed and the 'mother' smurf is crying about the father smurf dying and the look on her face....it's REAL emotion...from CGI visuals....it really is something
but overall the movie is really kinda 'meh.' It's not terrible, it's not great but it looks fantastic with a crappy lightweight story.

Mike and co will have to really put in a bunch of time to make this one worthwhile. When the inevitable Rifftrax comes out for this, it's going to have to battle a seriously difficult foe. It is going to be HARD to riff the long stretches of CGI tree fest and not repeat jokes over and over. 

[Lovye]

Moleman and JonnyFrag, thank you for sharing those reviews, FordPrefect, thank you for posting that.

Here's a question, after reading Moleman's review and watching the review FordPrefect posted, do you think that the natives being blue is furthering the propeganda?  "The blue people are the good guys," and such.  They could have been any colour or lack there of, but, those doing this movie went with blue.  Was it to counter and compliment the "red-man"/Native American type of propeganda?  "What is the opposite of red?  Blue.  Red is bad, blue is good, let's have everybody want to help the blue people."

[Vent]

Do you think that the natives being blue is furthering the propeganda?  "The blue people are the good guys," and such.  They could have been any colour or lack there of, but, those doing this movie went with blue.  Was it to counter and compliment the "red-man"/Native American type of propeganda?  "What is the opposite of red?  Blue.  Red is bad, blue is good, let's have everybody want to help the blue people."

Ummm... I gotta say that's a bit of a stretch.  Especially considering native Americans* technically aren't red.  Nor are Asians yellow, or black people black or white people white...




*However inaccurate the label, let's stick with it for arguments sake.

[Tripe]

Yeah I just think blue works as a colour for alien species, both technically and ascetically,  better than green in fact.

That does remind me of a lecture I once attended where the professor digressed to talk about how Darth Vader's lightsabre was red because red used to symbolize poison. As opposed to the fact that it looks cool with the all black get up or something.

Another time the same professor deduced that Connie Chatterley is trembling in the presence of a rampant Mellors because he had become a religious obsession for her (as opposed to the fact that she was about to get her first good rogering in ages, possibly ever, the book is quite forgettable)

[Moleman]

Nah I think the blue was just to further that they're alien and different from us.  I don't think that's important at all.

[vultar]

I think they probably got a lot of the colors from tropical plants, as there's quite a bit of plant infulence on the rest of the critters.  I don't doubt there was probably a 'deeper meaning' to the choice of blue, maybe it was supposed to help us feel sad for them (although, that was a really bright blue).  Overall though, I though they at least looked like they belonged on that world.  The only problem I had design-wise, was that seemed odd to me that ever other terrestrial beastie had six limbs while the cat people have four.   

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

I just remembered what I saw the awesome Colonel Quaritch from

Spoiler

[a pretty girl is like]

I just remembered what I saw the awesome Colonel Quaritch from

Spoiler

  !niw uoY

[Moleman]

lol I made that same observation in another comment at spoonyexperiement.com:

"You don't think their behavior was insulting stereotypical military marine behavior? Even the Colonel bad guy character? I swear I was watching Small Soldiers there for a while."

[Nergol]

My review

And addendum

[MartyS (Gromit)]

My review

And addendum

Like the addendum...

A comment on the io9 article, asking to have a story told without injecting some human into the story.   

Many times over on Alan Dean Foster's website people have asked him why he doesn't do that kind of book, since there are so many alien cultures in his commonwealth.  He always answers that the publishers will not look at a book that doesn't have any humans in it....

So I'm guessing Hollywood is the same as the publishers.  Heck, watch the documentary about Blade Runner that's in the latest set and you'll see the business people that funded the movie saying they liked the version with the commentary because without it they were confused...  Lowest common denominator means we will always have some human in there to "explain" things about the plot from the human perspective.

[stansimpson]

Just got done watching this in 3D.  Can't wait to write an in-depth reaction to it.  I wanted know if anybody pointed out the plot:

It's "Ferngully: The Last Rainforest".

Throw in a "Matrix" premise with a "Dances With Wolves" character arc and PRESTO!  The plot to "Avatar"!  Btw, I absolutely loved the movie and am seeing it again tomorrow.

[ScottotD]

I described it as "like Dances with Wolves but good and with an awesome battle" to someone at work today

[Darth Geek]

Just got done watching this in 3D.  Can't wait to write an in-depth reaction to it.  I wanted know if anybody pointed out the plot:

It's "Ferngully: The Last Rainforest".

Throw in a "Matrix" premise with a "Dances With Wolves" character arc and PRESTO!  The plot to "Avatar"!  Btw, I absolutely loved the movie and am seeing it again tomorrow.

There is a frustrated magician and his hungry rabbit in this movie?