<p>Just saw the 3-D version this evening, and wish those glasses were more comfortable, especially for those of us who are putting them on top of our own glasses. I very much enjoyed the visual experience, agree that the story was mediocre and the dialogue really weak, plus I thought the actor who played Jake was remarkably uncharismatic and wooden for a lead. I think Cameron gets so caught up in the minutiae of the visual spectacle that he neglects other elements that make a movie great. (E.g, everything from the dinnerware to the chandeliers on Titanic were exact replicas, but Jack handcuffed to a pipe with the water rising, at the connivance of Snidely Whiplash, or whatever Rose’s fiance was called, was just cheap storytelling.) I was really hoping that either Jake or his blue girlfriend would die at the end to lend a little more depth and poignance to the tale. I also thought the antiwar and environmental messages were very heavy handed and trite. All in all, while I think everyone should see Avatar for it special effects achievements, it’s not a movie I’d want to see or again, nor one that will stay with me in any way.</p>
<p>Glad that neither Jake nor girlfriend died (although both were in mortal danger at the end). Have buried two friends this past December–I needed some happy time!</p>
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<p>I was wondering when somebody was going to say that! This is the first time I’ve seen it said, on this or other forums discussing Avatar, but I think that is a major reason why a lot of people actually disliked the film.</p>
<p>The military violence was pretty cartoony (or maybe graphic-novel-y), but it isn’t much of a stretch to see the parallels vis-a-vis Iraqi oil and ‘unobtainium’. My H, who is/was a Marine, says he knows people who are a lot like Colonel Miles.</p>
<p>(LMNOP – my condolences on your losses. May 2010 be better for you.)</p>
<p>I saw the movie as a replay of Europe vs. Native Americans with the Native Americans winning. Civilized society has not been kind to the fate of aboriginal peoples.</p>
<p>^In that case, like the Indians, the Na’vi are in big trouble over the long run. Like the Europeans, the bad guys will be back - a lot more of them and with bigger weapons.</p>
<p>Or the Na’vi could work with Earth partners to develop their unobtainium deposits–more of the Middle Eastern oil model.</p>
<p>“In that case, like the Indians, the Na’vi are in big trouble over the long run. Like the Europeans, the bad guys will be back - a lot more of them and with bigger weapons.”</p>
<p>I expect Avatar – part 2, and I don’t think it will be a good movie, though I do expect its special effects to be spectacular.</p>
<p>Just saw it in the 3D IMAX format. very nicely done. However, would like to have more dramatic 3D effects.</p>
<p>Saw it at Imax 3D today. Love it.</p>
<p>I’ve read James Cameron plans an Avatar trilogy. The plots haven’t been written yet, but he’s said they might be about other moons of the giant blue Jupiter-ish planet of which Pandora is a moon.</p>
<p>I figured out that the Na’vi language had cases while I was watching it, so I was pretty happy about that.</p>
<p>^An article about the creation of the Na’vi language and USC professor who did it:</p>
<p>[USC</a> professor creates an entire alien language for ‘Avatar’ | Hero Complex | Los Angeles Times](<a href=“Archive blogs”>USC professor creates an entire alien language for 'Avatar')</p>
<p>Avatar box office collects more than a billion dollars now.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/03/boxoffice.avatar.ew/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/03/boxoffice.avatar.ew/index.html</a></p>
<p>coureur:
…and they will destroy their basic food/clothing/ritual sources, herd them into reservations, bring diseases, destroy the environment, and violate treaties whenever they feel like it.</p>
<p>“We have met the enemy and it is us.”</p>
<p>^^Yes, except for the “bring diseases” part. I doubt that life forms that arose and evolved completely separately on different planets could share diseases. For all we know life on Pandora does not even use DNA as a template. The chances that their germs could infect us and vice versa is pretty remote. But on the other hand, in Hollywood anything is possible. Logic and probability do not necessarily carry the day.</p>
<p>My prediction for the future: Avatar II - the bad guys come back with a new, even more terrible weapon and gain the upper hand. Calamity ensues. Avatar III - a resitance movement is formed. The intrepid Na’vi, aided by a few sympathetic earthlings, triumph in the end.</p>
<p>Right, great point.</p>
<p>Speculation (the internet! so, take it with a boulder of salt) centers on the action happening on the planet Pandora is a moon of, or on one of the other moons.</p>
<p>This is really hilarious:</p>
<p>[Avatar=</a> Pocahontas In Space (PICTURE)](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>'Avatar' = 'Pocahontas' In Space (PICTURE) | HuffPost Entertainment)</p>
<p>^^LOL of the day :)</p>
<p>I waited to read this thread until I had a chance to see it. My son and I went last night and saw it in a regular theater. I have a bit of a fear of heights and we both wear glasses. Son said he doesn’t like to watch 3D movies with glasses. I don’t think I would have liked seeing some of the more violent scenes in 3D. </p>
<p>I loved Avatar and am looking forward to buying it when it comes out in DVD so I can see the cut portions and get more info about how it was made.</p>