james cameron's AVATAR in 3-D

[Edward]

I dont think it would be comfortable without the glasses...not nearly as bad as watching the colored 3D without the glasses but more subtle in it's effect.

I believe what might be happening is that the 3D effect is created by alternating differently polarized images - one image at a time - on the screen. The polarized glasses only lets one eye see a given polarized image without ever seeing the "other" image which is what the "other" eye would be seeing. Take the glasses off and your brain tries to fuse two slighly different images and can't make up its mind which is the real image. You quickly get into an eye strain mode which looks a bit fuzzy and you can't quite figure out why. I probably didn't say that very well but it should convey the idea.

Ah, it must be rather different than the Who thing, then, which produced the 3D effect purely by movement and the glasses - with them, it was just liek watching any TV. Still, seems like it would be a fairly simple thing to put out on a regular TV set... 3D probably is the next step, once larger screens and HD are the norm for all.

 

[MK]

BTW, I did see AVATAR in 3D. I'd be curious to see it on an IMAX screen, maybe in a few weeks. Actually I dont like going to the movies to watch the same movie over & over, but then thats the allure of a well done movie on this new specialty format.

Enjoyable movie. Its interesting to see Cameron's sci-fi style back on the big screen. I enjoyed the CGI alien utopia that borders on fairytale jungle utopia. And its fun to see the updates of the hi-tech Marines that we all saw back in ALIENS 20 years ago. Funny, most of them dont seem to wear helmets, jsut breathing masks. Theres also the motiffs from DanceswithWolves, MedicineMan, Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans , etc that illustrate a peaceful indigenous population beset upon by whats essentially white imperialism.
But thats the grand thing about sci-fi, we can enjoy the spectacle of the sciencefantasy without arguing the politics.

It will be interesting if this movie will be sold as some sort of 3-D BlueRay that we could enjoy at home.

Agreed on all points.

I am glad I knew going in that it was the evil white men oppressing the people...weak minded thinking plot. That allowed me to set that aside and just enjoy the movie. Like you, I saw Aliens nostalgia all over the place. Many of my younger co-workers never saw Aliens and missed that.

The 3-D helps pull off some of the CG characters. I think I would have a harder time with the visual credibility in 2D. In the trailers online, I thought they looked animated.

Even though it was predictable, it was a fun ride.

 

[Christy]

Thats even more unoriginal.

LD

Well, if it's looked at from the aspect of foreign people giving a new place a name it would kind of make sense that the name they chose for it was unoriginal. For example, the thirteen colonies did not have very original names. Just offering a different way to look at it.

 

[MrBern]

box office juggernaut

Wow, this movie could be on track to outpace Titanic at the box office:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_box_office_movies

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/movies/11arts-AVATARKEEPST_BRF.html

Fox’s “Avatar” remained in first place, with domestic ticket sales of $48.5 million, down from $68 million the week before, according to box office tracking services. That puts the domestic cumulative total for “Avatar” at $429 million.

 

[MrBern]

a new nerd designation

BTW, I've read that the name for an Avatar diehard fan is....avatard

 

[Son_of_Atropos]

You cannot argue someone's opinion. Everyone is the foremost authority on their own opinions and they are as much entitled to theirs as I am to mine. Some people are better at supporting their opinions than others. Some people attack a film without supporting their points and they are well within their rights to do so. It's just that contrarian's opinions tend to carry less weight, since it is so very easy to simply disagree and to snipe.

Personally, I would encourage everyone to see this film. You get your money's worth. It is worthy of the time and effort. The effects are dazzling.

The film is impressive not so much for its original premises or unoriginal premises, not for how creatively planets are named, but for how emotional it is and how it affects you. Go in with an open mind and no expectation.

Opinions can be criticized and argued. The strength of an opinion lies in whether it is based on subjective or objective standards. Whether you enjoyed a movie and the movie is good are two completely different things.

For instance, "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" or "Twilight: New Moon" generate huge returns so subjectively people enjoy those movies. However, objectively those movies are terrible. (I recognize how conclusory my statements are but those movies are bad, c'mon I'm not going to waste my time arguing those merits).

Emotion clouds judgment. [see fanboys regarding anything.] I think the true test for "Avatar" will be whether 10 years from now it is still an enjoyable movie. I doubt it.

 

[John in Covina]

Opinions can be criticized and argued. The strength of an opinion lies in whether it is based on subjective or objective standards. Whether you enjoyed a movie and the movie is good are two completely different things.

For instance, "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" or "Twilight: New Moon" generate huge returns so subjectively people enjoy those movies. However, objectively those movies are terrible. (I recognize how conclusory my statements are but those movies are bad, c'mon I'm not going to waste my time arguing those merits).

Emotion clouds judgment. [see fanboys regarding anything.] I think the true test for "Avatar" will be whether 10 years from now it is still an enjoyable movie. I doubt it.

****

This reminds me in a way of my beer judging experience. As a certified judge for home brew beer competitions the tough job was to accurately judge beers that were in styles one did not like. So that a beer was well made and correct to style was as important as to whether it tasted "good."

There are several movies that were very good but I will not watch again because of how they made me feel, which in a way is a credit to the maker to evoke such deep emotion. I admit they are good but my exasperation is that I do not want to evoke those feelings again. Just as there are so-so movies that I enjoy a lot such as "The Goonies" hardly War and Peace but I find it entertaining.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Opinions can be criticized and argued. The strength of an opinion lies in whether it is based on subjective or objective standards. Whether you enjoyed a movie and the movie is good are two completely different things.

For instance, "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" or "Twilight: New Moon" generate huge returns so subjectively people enjoy those movies. However, objectively those movies are terrible. (I recognize how conclusory my statements are but those movies are bad, c'mon I'm not going to waste my time arguing those merits).

Emotion clouds judgment. [see fanboys regarding anything.] I think the true test for "Avatar" will be whether 10 years from now it is still an enjoyable movie. I doubt it.

an opinion may be argued. Anything may be argued. A subjective thing often inspires more passion and latitude from which an argument is to be drawn, which is what makes film criticism that much more fun to begin with.

I'm nit sure whether that is the true test of this film or any film. Are films designed to be timeless works of art to stand cypher-like and upon which each generation may assign and reassign meaning or are they ephemeral things that perfectly capture the Zeitgeist of their age? And if they are one or the other, is one of these states of being superior? For instance, a film may be great for perfectly capturing its time and have very little value after. Though it may be continued to be enjoyed.

This film is a game-changer similar to the first talkies, the first color processes, the first wide- screen etc. I think it will be remembered for this and for its enjoyable paradigm infused hero's tale.

It's a good film and a better experience. It's gripping, visceral, and emotional. It creates a beautiful world and puts it in peril so that we might see ours as the ephermeral and beautiful world it is. This is a noble message and not nearly as cynical as the average retail promotional tie-in blockbuster usually is.

 

[JimWagner]

".... repeat to yourself 'It's just a show, I should really just relax.'"

 

[MrBern]

Conan OBrien

a little Avatar/Twilight joke from the Tonight Show

http://www.hulu.com/watch/120062/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-conans-navi-assistant

 

[flat-top]

If Avatar were an Atari 2600 game:

 

[MrBern]

SNL skit

Sigourney Weave on SNL, goofing on AVATAR

http://www.hulu.com/watch/121065/saturday-night-live-avatar-chamber

 

[John in Covina]

Just heard a report on the radio that there are people that are experiencing post Avatar depression. The let down of coming back to the realities of a real world has a percentage of the viewing audience finding it difficult to cope, they often continue seeking more info on the idylic fictional paradise as seen in the film.

 

[MrBern]

Chinese officials not happy

'Avatar' pulled from 2-D screens by Chinese government

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/confucius-shoves-avatar-aside/

and

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/01/avatar-pulled-from-2d-screens-by-chinese-government.html

“the move was made at the urging of propaganda officials who are concerned that ‘Avatar’ is taking too much market share from Chinese films and drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue of forced evictions.”

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Just heard a report on the radio that there are people that are experiencing post Avatar depression. The let down of coming back to the realities of a real world has a percentage of the viewing audience finding it difficult to cope, they often continue seeking more info on the idylic fictional paradise as seen in the film.

I heard about that phenomenon too. Apparently the Avatar Forum has a lengthy thread on how to cope with post Avatar depression. [huh]

 

[MrBern]

worldwide record surpassed

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/movies/awardsseason/27record.html?ref=movies

LOS ANGELES — James Cameron’s science-fiction epic “Avatar” has passed his “Titanic” to become history’s highest-grossing film, with a sizable boost from higher-priced tickets for 3-D and Imax showings.

“In just 39 days it has eclipsed the worldwide record,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the president of Hollywood.com’s box-office division. “That’s extraordinarily impressive.”

The world record is sweet vindication, both for Mr. Cameron and for Fox. Skeptics had questioned whether Mr. Cameron could deliver on his promise of a revolutionary visual experience, and whether Fox and its financial partners would profit from a film that cost nearly a half-billion dollars to make and release.

 

[Bugsy]

You know I was excited about this movie until I heard the plot... And your above comments really express all my thoughts much better than I could articulate them... Yeah it does remind me of Fern Gully...

I saw "Avatar" today in 3D. While I admire the computer work in the film, it begs the question, "Where is the plot". Well, it's there; it's been there probably since Shakespeare wrote "The Tempest". I have the same criticism of this Cameron opus as I did of "Titanic", buy an original story line. By the way, am I the only one who thought Horner's score was very derivative of his score from "Titanic"?

 

[Son_of_Atropos]

I saw "Avatar" today in 3D. While I admire the computer work in the film, it begs the question, "Where is the plot". Well, it's there; it's been there probably since Shakespeare wrote "The Tempest". I have the same criticism of this Cameron opus as I did of "Titanic", buy an original story line. By the way, am I the only one who thought Horner's score was very derivative of his score from "Titanic"?

Which begs the question, "Is Avatar to men what Titantic was to women?"

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Some described it to me as "there's no plot but a lot of character development".
Even so, I did enjoyed it I'd like to see it in 3D at an IMAX, that would be a treat.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I thought Gone With the Wind is the highest grossing movie of all time?