James Cameron's Avatar
 

This movie is a great, epic tragedy. It is set in the distant future when a starving Earth travels to a distant planet searching for resources. The story's protagonist is a heroic, but ultimately doomed, mercenary colonel who fights to bring civilization to this backwards planet and tap its wealth for the good of all mankind.

Standing in the way of progress(and threatening humanity with famine and collapse) are a race of primitive, superstitious savages that look like elves with blue skin. The space elves exist in an appalling state of barbarism that could only be admired by people who have never had to shit in a slit trench and watch their children die of malnutrition. These brutes are so mean-spirited and petty that they are preventing humanity from developing a planet that could be used to help billions. They are aided in their selfish obstructionism by a psychic human scoundrel who betrays not only his his comrades but his entire species, making him the greatest Quisling in human history. Much of the movie is unfortunately consumed with this one-dimensional idiot's personal dramas as he lives among the elves.

But then enter the heroic colonel. The colonel is simply the most badass motherfucker in the entire universe. He is lethally efficient, cooly incinerating his enemies by the hundreds over a cup of coffee. Leading an army from the front, he drops from the sky piloting a giant war robot and lays waste to all before him. Savage hordes of space elves fall under his machine guns like wheat under a thresher. Then he blows up everything from horizon to horizon before engaging in personal combat with the traitor.

Like the warriors in Norse mythology, the colonel is ultimately doomed. The writers of hollywood, with their naive idealization of the primitive, will not allow such a figure to survive. But the tragic nobility of his struggle and the sheer badassery of his final battle make this epic tale worth seeing.

I don't think Jake is an idiot. I think he lived under the shadow of his twin brother all his life (which I got the impression he didn't mind and admired him just as much as everyone else) and became a marine to BE something and even the loss of the use of his legs didn't make him bitter toward life or put any blame on his choice of career. After his twins death he had an incredible opportunity to become part of an amazing scientific experiment to literally become part of and learn about the indigenous life on a soon to be strip-mined planet to save a dying earth and even though he KNEW he wasn't what everyone wanted him to be, he wanted to Learn and that's why he was 'chosen' to become an important part of Navi history...he was "pure" and "like a child".

And Col.Quaritch was a psychopath with a gun and nothing to stop his crazy ass. There was not an inch of honorable solider in that man.

This an almost a spiritual film and everyone should see it.
Everyone will have their own take on it & all will have a hell of a ride watching it.
The visuals alone make it worth paying theater prices.

I heard it was Dances With Wolves with amazing visuals. Don't know why but I'm not really stoked to see this. The visuals are about the only thing I'm looking forward to seeing but how many eye candy flicks can one go to?

Everything I've heard pretty much said "the plot isn't original but it looks amazing." that's pretty much the equivalent of meeting your friends' new girlfriend and he tells you "She can't tie her shoes on her own or breathe without being reminded, but she has big tits!"

Dances with Wolves? god no

& mm-See it, you'll love it:cool:

I can see how people would make that connections. The premise' are very similar but there are enough differences to make it worth seeing.

26 January 2010


Source: The Hollywood Reporter



And that's it folks: throw out the history books because they all have to be re-written to say John Major Punched The Q… Wait, no, that's The Day Today. It's finally time to write a story about Avatar winning something at the box office. Yes, James Cameron's sci-fi pic has passed his other big film to become the highest worldwide grosser of all time.

While final figures aren't available yet, Monday's earnings were expected to be around $15 million, which would put Avatar, previously on around $1.838 billion following its sixth weekend run at the top of the charts, past Titanic's record $1.84 billion haul.

Of course, there will be the usual caveats: adjustments for inflation, 3D ticket prices being higher and blah-de-blah, but right now, the only record Avatar hasn't taken from Titanic is its US domestic earning crown. Though with $49 million separating them, it's likely that it'll fall before Jake and co leave cinemas across the pond.

James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi film Avatar has toppled his 1997 box-office blockbuster Titanic after grossing nearly 2 billion dollars in ticket sales worldwide.

The epic movie, set in the year 2154, raked in a staggering 1.841 billion, becoming the best-selling international release of all time.

Titanic, that bagged 11 Oscars, earned 1.843 billion at the box office between 1997 and 1998, reports the Daily Express.

It was pipped after Avatar recently pocketed another 22.5 million pounds at theatres worldwide.

http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltim...ion=world-wide

There ARE other films more deserving, but I do agree that this Avatar was more worth it than Titanic. Whilst Avatar was horrendously predictable, it did at least have some surprises. Not like, "oh no, the boat just hit an ice burg...oh, wow, it sank!" Yeh, because it's not like everybody didn't already know that...

it IS dances with wolves (wrapped around Return of the Jedi) but it is definitely worth seeing.

Box-office bean counters haven't had much time to sleep in the six weeks since the release of James Cameron's epic "Avatar." The potent combination of effusive word of mouth and critical praise helped the film glide right past "The Dark Knight" this past weekend to capture the #2 spot — behind Cameron's "Titanic" — on the list of all-time top-grossing domestic releases.

So who's driving these intergalactic numbers?

While casual moviegoers certainly play a huge role, "Avatar" junkies make "Titanic" devotees look like a regional fan club. And these are by no means closet cases: Coaxing Pandoraholics to dish about the movie's merits requires as much prodding as asking Lady Gaga fans why they love her.

So how do you know when you're officially a Pandoraholic?

Judging from conversations with MTV News and fan comments on Ain't It Cool News and the Vancouver Sun, losing count of how many times you've seen the film is probably a good start. "I've been to the theater nine times to watch 'Avatar' and a few of those trips were for multiple showings," a fan named Burt unapologetically gushed. "All told, I think I'm on number 16 or 17, but I lost count after 12! I can't say I love this movie, because that's just too weak of a description. Worship comes closer, but that's still a long way off!"

'Fessing up to multiple screenings of the sci-fi epic is no point of embarrassment for Pandoraholics, who look upon their "Avatar" ticket stubs as badges of honor. "I've seen the movie seven times, and won't be stopping there," professed Zoey, whose conspiracy theories about the Vatican's secret plan to subvert the juggernaut are alive and well. "It is a spiritual experience for me in ways I won't go into here."

And for the junkies who see no end to future screenings in sight, do they consider their time and money well spent? "It was like going on Space Mountain five times — it was an amazing feeling!" Some even said they have a goal in mind — a certain double-digit number they want to hit, presumably before "Avatar II: The Blue is Back" comes out.

Like music enthusiasts who follow their favorite bands to every far-flung show in order to understand every facet of the music, several Pandoraholics said they feel compelled to see the film in every form available. So whether it's 2-D, real 3-D, IMAX 3-D or varying the type of glasses (Dolby, linear polarized) worn, super-fans seem to be in agreement that one can't really see "Avatar" until one sees all of "Avatar."

Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, attributes the unprecedented box office numbers in part to the movie's 3-D advantage, but he also dubs "the fanatic factor" to be the real driving force behind the film's money-making momentum. "The fact that the realm 'Avatar' creates is a world that begets further exploration is why fanatics flock to these kinds of films over and over. Simply put: they can't get enough of the blue stuff."

With reports that some fans experience withdrawal symptoms from living in their [spiritual] motherland, Pandora, Bock credits James Cameron "for creating a true blue blockbuster using Hollywood's most successful mythic paradigm: the fantasy film."

As Pandoraholics continue to send their message to Hollywood loud and clear, there's little question that the film has fast joined flicks like the "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" series in spawning its own cult of rabid fans.