Avatar?

Just got back from a showing tonight. The movie exceeded my expectations, and I found it to be one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The story was perfectly told, and JC knows how to draw you in. The characters and animations were completely believable.

There still needs to be work done to get 3d in a better state. Every now and then, it blurred, and pulled me out of the movie.

 

Dont sit too close and get as close to center as possible. It will take some time to adjust to the 3D but sooner than you know you will have forgotten the gimmick and let it take you int the movie.

 

Plots & emotion are more important to me than graphics. I'll be waiting till it hits the dollar theaters.

 

Just got back. Awesome story and graphics. James Cameron doesn't dissapoint with
this one!

 

Agreed. I have absolutely zero desire to see this movie.

I respect Cameron for putting such effort into this project and seeing it through, but it doesn't appeal to me at all. Although I may not be the best gauge as I find most "blockbuster"-type movies to be incredibly mind-numbing.

 

I dont say this lightly...but if you like really well done epics like Star Wars or Dances With Wolves you will love Avatar.

Make no mistake it is not just mindless eye candy like Transformers. its incredibly moving and touching.

 

Incredible movie: I said "wow" out loud involuntarily several times. I did not really know what to expect here. I have never seen a 3D movie so I wasn't sure how good the 3D was, and in fact took my glasses off in the beginning because I didn't "see" the effect.

It took me ~45 minutes to finally stop having things that didn't "look" right pull me out of the scene. The bodies and the animals are incredibly well done. It's the first time where CGI is almost undetectable and at times, is.... it doesn't have that cartoon feel that I normally associate with CGI.

I thought the dialogue between the Na'vi was beautiful and elegant, but clumsy and awkward when the scene came back to the human side. Several times the dialogue was so bad and poorly delivered (or totally unwelcome) that it pulled me completely out of the movie, ("fight terror with terror" comes to mind). In fact, the "human" side of the screen was poorly acted for most of the movie, especially at the beginning! His human dialogue within the Na'vi body is terrible, just totally unnatural. Spend 500MM and you don't get the lines right? But the movie progresses out of this very quickly and things flow much better.

The 3D effect really comes into its own in the action scenes and scenes where there is a nice amount of depth shown, but I noticed a couple of characters out of proportion, etc. But it's very well done.

The visual contrast between the Na'vi world and the human world are stunning. Hard, ugly surfaces and harsh lighting, but Na'vi world is remarkably colored and beautifully lit; you as a viewer don't want to go back to the 'real world' when you are accustomed to Pandora. When you come back to the 'real' world, it's almost visually shocking. I think you will be blown away by this when you see it.

All of this means to me that I just witnessed the beginning of an entirely different kind of movie (and real-world) experience. Think about someone wearing 3D contacts around in real-life and visuals would all be shot in 3D HD. Think about the way devices and people will interact! Neat, first-in-a-lifetime experience. Also, when watching this movie, I was totally aware that more of my senses were being stimulated while watching. Very cool!

 

IMO it looks awful, probably won't ever see it.

 

Great review and meaningful as you arent a James Cameron fanboy or a filmmaker.

I have yet to meet a single person who came away from seeing this film saying that they wished they hadnt bothered. Even people who had no interest but were dragged by others come out being happy they experienced it.

It is truly breathtaking.

 

If you don't want to see it, then pass on it.

I can tell you I was in the "take it or leave it camp" especially after seeing the trailer.

I saw the movie yesterday, and without a critique or review, I can recommend that anyone on the fence should invest in a ticket. I'd be surprised if you're disappointed.

 

Just got back, and have this to say...

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Fresh back from the matinee (and dinner) and holy crap... as I mentioned, I haven't seen any of the other recent 3d movies, but this film was revolutionary from the technical standpoint, and riveting from the plot perspective. Yeah, I knew where it was going, but that was where I wanted it to go, so it was like seeing my own dream, so this was not a bad thing at all. (Although I did have a slightly different take on how it would end, but I won't add spoilers to this post.)

The 3d was absolutely incredible. Yes, there were a few foreground 'floaters' that I noticed that were a bit distracting in the sense that they reminded me of the 3d that I was witnessing, but once my eyes adjusted (15-20 minutes in) I was so enrapt that the nearly three hours felt like one and a half. I'd like to see them throw in 10-15 minutes of 3d 'filler' on the frontside- previews or whatever- to allow your eyes to adjust before the film begins, but it is what it is.

The eyes and animation of them, muscles, and trees and... well... everything was 99% spot on. What little there was to nitpick isn't worth mentioning, and you will definitely see the influence of Cameron's time filming underwater in the fauna of Pandora (especially if you've done much diving or reefkeeping).

What a phenomenal film. I saw it in regular 3d today, and am going online to look for IMAX tickets for the wife and I (she felt the same about it) asap.

I want to go back to Pandora... and I never want to leave.

IMO, The only 'bad' part of the movie is how poignantly it reminds you that for the most part, humans suck.

No skin in the game, but damn... go see this movie in 3d!

-Tad

PS- As Jerry mentioned, sit centered, and about halfway back in the theater, so it's bigger than your TV but not so big you have to move your head to see it all... amazing!

PPS- No one has said it yet, so I'll make this bold prediction: This will outperform even Titanic when the chips are counted. See it early before the buzz (and McDonalds' commercials) gives too much away!

 

I think I'm going to see it tomorrow, so hopefully I'll like it.

 

Saw it tonight.

It was a very good movie....I was turned on by some of the female avatars .

I'm quite pleased with the amount of detail and creativity that went into this film.

I wonder if there will be a sequel?

 

Cameron has said he would like to do a sequel. Time will tell

 

More thoughts on Avatar:

The story is much better than I anticipated. Very well done. The detail through which the actors are translated into CGI is remarkable, it's almost perfect to my eye. I cannot even fathom how much computing power went into building this movie.

Executing this 3D concept means several good things to theaters and movie companies: this movie is so much better in 3D than normal viewing that it's almost pointless to watch the movie outside of the theaters. So you're locking your audience into paying the ticket pricing, increasing your revenues and decreasing the piracy percentage/view. Showing movies in 3D creates an entirely new movie paradigm that is really excellent for the industry.

 

Clint you are dead on with the reason why Hollywood is embracing 3D with such open arms. Everyone needs a reason to keep drawing people to the theaters...3D is it in theory.

But its expensive and the budgets are growing.

 

Just got back from seeing it in IMAX 3D. It's the first time I felt IMAX was totally worth the price.

Didn't really expect to like it, but ended up enjoying it a lot. There was a lot of discussion in the car on the way home about what was "real" and what was "not". For me, from a non-trained eye, there was a lot that could have gone either way - so I guess the CGI was pretty damn good.

The 3D was great - but the IMAX 3D preview for the NASA Hubble movie was unbelievable! I can't wait to see that..

 

My question is how did they do the weightlessness in the beginning of the movie?

 

I watched it last night with my 2 cousins. Fantastic movie, IMO. Awesome story line, awesome effects and graphics.

 

I'll give it a shot today since many on here said it looked better than the previews (which really looked just like a video game).

I remain sceptical and have low expectations. It is the Cameron name that draws me in as I loved all his other movies.

 

Looked like wire-work coupled with CGI. It is possible the sequence was shot the "Vomit Comet" way, but improbable for such a small sequence.

 

This movie is unbelievable. Do yourself a favor and go see it!!

 

Vomit comet is unlikely as it was too big a space for it. Wires and CGi is my bet.

Anyway, this is an amazing movie that totally captivated me.

Whoever put the previews together should be fired. They don't get even close to bringing across what this movie is like, nor do they do it any justice in the way the real deal looks.

Some CGI stuff was bad, particularly right at the beginning: Hasn't Star Wars taught us 30 years ago how space ships should look realistically? The one in the opening sequence looked like it was done in my basement. Same goes for the planet.

But once the plot with the avatars starts the whole thing comes together perfectly. I have little patience for movies approaching two hours, but when this was over, I just wanted to sit there and watch more and more and more.

I can't wait for the sequel.

On a 4 **** movie rating, this one gets a 5. And hopefully some Oscars: Best Movie, Best Director, Best Original Script, Best Visual Effects, Best Costumes would be some categories.

 

Is the 3D better than Captain EO?

 

Captain EO was Michael Jackson from like years ago?

If it is, then I saw it, but can't say it was any better or worse.

Personally I don't quite get the talk about better or less good 3D. Maybe it is because I have no problem adapting to it within seconds. It all looks real to me. The "old" 3D from when we only had red and blue glasses to Captain EO to this.

Unlike older 3D glasses, these were light weight and comfortable to wear through an entire movie. I once had 3D glasses at the local IMAX for a Space station movie of maybe 20 minutes and those suckers had speakers built into them. Along with the batteries, they weighted a ton on your head and caused discomfort and headaches.

A few times during the movie I took off the glasses just to see the difference. Aside of course from double vision blurryness, you see how flat a 2D movie looks in comparison.

My biggest question remains however: Is this movie really going to change the industry and lead us all to buy 3D TV sets and Hollywood to focus on 3D movies?

I doubt it. Simply because 3D technology has been around for decades and never caught on. I don't see why this movie would change that. As I said, it all looks real to me, but has so for at least 20 years.