What did you guys think of Avatar?

[SnucklesMan]

I really liked it but the people I went to the movie with hated it. I'm interested in other opoinions.

 

[splatterguy734]

I thought it was good, not brilliant, though quite predictable

 

[Nmil-ek]

Sotry was meh, seen it before the characters I rather liked minus the colonel villain guy he was a straight up military stereotype to the max (go bomb them blue monkeys for their oi... I eman unobtanium yeehaw!)

But the CGI is fucking stunning maybe it wont be so impressive in 10 years time but for the moment hell yes, the world itself is interesting very alien. And Cameron can still shoot one hell of an action sequence even in full CGI overall I liked it just felt the plot really mired it down, too much focus on immersion not enough story.

 

[QuickDEMOL1SHER]

I thought it was meh.
My main problem with the film was that the Na'vi were just too fucking nice. They love trees, the are in contact with nature, they are wonderfully spiritual and they never do ANYTHING bad. In order to make them interesting they need to have actual flaws to overcome. Being perfect, they cannot grow for the audiance.

Problem number two comes from the fact that I am sick of humans being total dick holes in movies and this did it a hundred times worse.

My third problem with the movie was that bullshit win that they pulled off at the end. Massive creature? Cool. A crap load more tribes come? Fine. Mother nature gathers all her big stompy creatures and proceeds to annihilate the heavily armed marines? Bullshit.

My final problem is the story. Yeah, I know that this observation has been made about 3 billion times, but the story was a ripoff of so many movies. If you want a list, google it.

However bad it may have been, it still gets a B+ simply because of the wonderfully created world, incredible CGI and groundbreaking 3D.

Overall, it was kind of like a porno. No interesting storyline or characters, but still very fun to sit through.

PS: For all you elitist assholes who are going to say "This thread already exists!!!" and "Use the search bar!", shut up, he's new.

 

[SnucklesMan]

I thought it was meh.
My main problem with the film was that the Na'vi were just too fucking nice. They love trees, the are in contact with nature, they are wonderfully spiritual and they never do ANYTHING bad. In order to make them interesting they need to have actual flaws to overcome. Being perfect, they cannot grow for the audiance.

Problem number two comes from the fact that I am sick of humans being total dick holes in movies and this did it a hundred times worse.

My third problem with the movie was that bullshit win that they pulled off at the end. Massive creature? Cool. A crap load more tribes come? Fine. Mother nature gathers all her big stompy creatures and proceeds to annihilate the heavily armed marines? Bullshit.

My final problem is the story. Yeah, I know that this observation has been made about 3 billion times, but the story was a ripoff of so many movies. If you want a list, google it.

However bad it may have been, it still gets a B+ simply because of the wonderfully created world, incredible CGI and groundbreaking 3D.

Overall, it was kind of like a porno. No interesting storyline or characters, but still very fun to sit through.

PS: For all you elitist assholes who are going to say "This thread already exists!!!" and "Use the search bar!", shut up, he's new.

YES! Thank you. I'm glad to meet someone who is nice on here. My main problem was with the story but i can get past predictability and human assholeyness if it has badass action scenes...and this movie did

 

[FranzTyphid]

it was fucking beautiful

 

[Triangulon]

I loved it. It is like a combination of Dances With Wolves, Ferngully and Brian Aldiss's amazing novel Hothouse. Yes it wasn't that original but how many movies really are? If you want originality read some early science fiction novels or short stories. I did enjoy the story and characters. In actual fact I could have watched it for much longer. I felt that the slower sequences were rushed. The CGI was incredible in 3D, and I am not usually a fan of excessive CGI in films. Extremely immersive.

Problem number two comes from the fact that I am sick of humans being total dick holes in movies and this did it a hundred times worse.

I think it is also important to note the theme of redemption as there are a number of humans who are not complete dick holes including the main character (who undoubtedly was previously). However, the film is a rather unsubtle commentary on current overexploitation of natural resources which is distinctly dick holeish behaviour.

Sotry was meh, seen it before the characters I rather liked minus the colonel villain guy he was a straight up military stereotype to the max (go bomb them blue monkeys for their oi... I eman unobtanium yeehaw!)

I really liked the colonel. Stereotypical to the max indeed but a perfect counterpoint to the hippyish sensibilities of Sigourney and friends. Also

Spoiler

when he kicks the door in and starts shooting at the thopter without a mask is sweet!

 

[silasbufu]

It was great. You're all nitpicking on the story and useless details when it's all so clear that this movie's highlight is the new 3D technology (which is an incredible step towards a new 3D movie era).
In a few years you'll be able to see all your fanboy story movies the same way.

 

[SextusMaximus]

It was alright I guess. Not much to say for it except that it was extremely well made.

 

[DoctorNick]

I thought it was meh.
My main problem with the film was that the Na'vi were just too fucking nice. They love trees, the are in contact with nature, they are wonderfully spiritual and they never do ANYTHING bad. In order to make them interesting they need to have actual flaws to overcome. Being perfect, they cannot grow for the audiance.

Problem number two comes from the fact that I am sick of humans being total dick holes in movies and this did it a hundred times worse.

My third problem with the movie was that bullshit win that they pulled off at the end. Massive creature? Cool. A crap load more tribes come? Fine. Mother nature gathers all her big stompy creatures and proceeds to annihilate the heavily armed marines? Bullshit.

My final problem is the story. Yeah, I know that this observation has been made about 3 billion times, but the story was a ripoff of so many movies. If you want a list, google it.

However bad it may have been, it still gets a B+ simply because of the wonderfully created world, incredible CGI and groundbreaking 3D.

Overall, it was kind of like a porno. No interesting storyline or characters, but still very fun to sit through.

PS: For all you elitist assholes who are going to say "This thread already exists!!!" and "Use the search bar!", shut up, he's new.

While I largely agree with all of the above, I'd like to discuss the failings of the story in more detail.

Before I do that, let me say first of that it was a visually stunning movie and had an extremely detailed and fascinating world. Also, while the story is my major beef with the movie I'm forced to admit that the movie was probably intended to be primarily visual and the story mostly felt to me to be the excuse engine that kept the plot train on the rails. In that regard it did succeed.

Now then, lets get down to the juicy shit of it.

The first issue I had right out the gate was that the basic premise has been done before AND DONE BETTER. If your story boils down to 'Dances with Wolves' meets 'No Blood For Oil' then you are going to have to have some god damned amazing storytelling and characters to overcome that fact...

...which it did not.

Think about it, all of the characters are just boiled down stereotypes, you've got the native princess who HAS to fall for the protagonist, you've got the evil to the point of unbelievability corporate shill, the amoral mercenary who's just in it for the money and the lulz.

Fuck, take the Na'vi themselves, all they are is old STEREOTYPES of 'the noble savage' taken to the nth degree and then put IN SPAAAACCCEEE.

Now, these would be relatively minor issues if the characters actually underwent, you know, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT but again, who at the end of the movie was really any different or had grown in some way? The only one I can think of was the main character, Mr.Designated Protagonist Jake Sully, who went native and got to start banging the native princess.

Which segue-ways nicely into my my final point, the message of the movie seemed to me to be 'Displacement and Exploitation of Native Peoples is Bad' which at face-value I can more or less agree with, but they were all UTTERLY HELPLESS until Mr.Protagonist went native and helped them!

Think about that for a second, the beaten-into-the-fucking-ground dead horse trope of 'Mighty Whitey' rears its head here, the fucking natives were utterly helpless until mighty whitey goes native, AND OUT NATIVES THEM to save the fucking day.

...How am I the only person who seems to see a MAJOR problem here?

 

[GuerrillaClock]

It is a brilliant experience, flawed maybe, but most definitely worth the price of admission. It's one of those films that bears up to repeat viewing, but you really are missing out by listening to the snobbery of some of the critics. Yes, we know the story isn't original, Cameron has said himself it's a retelling of the Dancing With Wolves/Pocahontas tale! If you're going to slam retold tales, you're slamming some of the most iconic films of all time. Nosferatu? West Side Story? Magnificent Seven? Star Wars? The list goes on.

The fact is, a lot of people would do well to remember the effort that went into this film. This is far from your ordinary blockbuster - it took 12 years for a reason. Cameron brought in biologists to help design the thousands of flora and fauna on Pandora (many of which were not necessarily shown in Avatar, and may not even be in the sequels), linguists to help build the Na'vi language from scratch, geologists and scientists to help construct the unique Pandoran geology, and he even invented a new system of mathematics, based on 8 rather than 10, because the Na'vi only have 8 fingers! How much easier would it have been for him to just add another finger to his design? But he didn't, because he followed his vision all the way, refused to take the easy way out, and actually thought his work through and that has to be admired.

All these pains Cameron took show through on screen. It's the most immersive universe ever seen on film, with a real sense that Pandora has always existed, that there's far more going on offscreen than we could ever see, and we're just visitors there, rather than just a planet created through convenience with a lot of pretty things on it.

So yeah, I liked it, if you couldn't tell.

 

[Ryuk2]

I didn't like it. Meh.

 

[Altorin]

It was pretty good. Not a masterpiece per se, but definitely fun to watch.

 

[SnucklesMan]

I thought it was meh.
My main problem with the film was that the Na'vi were just too fucking nice. They love trees, the are in contact with nature, they are wonderfully spiritual and they never do ANYTHING bad. In order to make them interesting they need to have actual flaws to overcome. Being perfect, they cannot grow for the audiance.

Problem number two comes from the fact that I am sick of humans being total dick holes in movies and this did it a hundred times worse.

My third problem with the movie was that bullshit win that they pulled off at the end. Massive creature? Cool. A crap load more tribes come? Fine. Mother nature gathers all her big stompy creatures and proceeds to annihilate the heavily armed marines? Bullshit.

My final problem is the story. Yeah, I know that this observation has been made about 3 billion times, but the story was a ripoff of so many movies. If you want a list, google it.

However bad it may have been, it still gets a B+ simply because of the wonderfully created world, incredible CGI and groundbreaking 3D.

Overall, it was kind of like a porno. No interesting storyline or characters, but still very fun to sit through.

PS: For all you elitist assholes who are going to say "This thread already exists!!!" and "Use the search bar!", shut up, he's new.

While I largely agree with all of the above, I'd like to discuss the failings of the story in more detail.

Before I do that, let me say first of that it was a visually stunning movie and had an extremely detailed and fascinating world. Also, while the story is my major beef with the movie I'm forced to admit that the movie was probably intended to be primarily visual and the story mostly felt to me to be the excuse engine that kept the plot train on the rails. In that regard it did succeed.

Now then, lets get down to the juicy shit of it.

The first issue I had right out the gate was that the basic premise has been done before AND DONE BETTER. If your story boils down to 'Dances with Wolves' meets 'No Blood For Oil' then you are going to have to have some god damned amazing storytelling and characters to overcome that fact...

...which it did not.

Think about it, all of the characters are just boiled down stereotypes, you've got the native princess who HAS to fall for the protagonist, you've got the evil to the point of unbelievability corporate shill, the amoral mercenary who's just in it for the money and the lulz.

Fuck, take the Na'vi themselves, all they are is old STEREOTYPES of 'the noble savage' taken to the nth degree and then put IN SPAAAACCCEEE.

Now, these would be relatively minor issues if the characters actually underwent, you know, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT but again, who at the end of the movie was really any different or had grown in some way? The only one I can think of was the main character, Mr.Designated Protagonist Jake Sully, who went native and got to start banging the native princess.

Which segue-ways nicely into my my final point, the message of the movie seemed to me to be 'Displacement and Exploitation of Native Peoples is Bad' which at face-value I can more or less agree with, but they were all UTTERLY HELPLESS until Mr.Protagonist went native and helped them!

Think about that for a second, the beaten-into-the-fucking-ground dead horse trope of 'Mighty Whitey' rears its head here, the fucking natives were utterly helpless until mighty whitey goes native, AND OUT NATIVES THEM to save the fucking day.

...How am I the only person who seems to see a MAJOR problem here?

lawlz

 

[Nepeccel]

twas well good!

 

[DoctorNick]

I thought it was meh.
My main problem with the film was that the Na'vi were just too fucking nice. They love trees, the are in contact with nature, they are wonderfully spiritual and they never do ANYTHING bad. In order to make them interesting they need to have actual flaws to overcome. Being perfect, they cannot grow for the audiance.

Problem number two comes from the fact that I am sick of humans being total dick holes in movies and this did it a hundred times worse.

My third problem with the movie was that bullshit win that they pulled off at the end. Massive creature? Cool. A crap load more tribes come? Fine. Mother nature gathers all her big stompy creatures and proceeds to annihilate the heavily armed marines? Bullshit.

My final problem is the story. Yeah, I know that this observation has been made about 3 billion times, but the story was a ripoff of so many movies. If you want a list, google it.

However bad it may have been, it still gets a B+ simply because of the wonderfully created world, incredible CGI and groundbreaking 3D.

Overall, it was kind of like a porno. No interesting storyline or characters, but still very fun to sit through.

PS: For all you elitist assholes who are going to say "This thread already exists!!!" and "Use the search bar!", shut up, he's new.

While I largely agree with all of the above, I'd like to discuss the failings of the story in more detail.

Before I do that, let me say first of that it was a visually stunning movie and had an extremely detailed and fascinating world. Also, while the story is my major beef with the movie I'm forced to admit that the movie was probably intended to be primarily visual and the story mostly felt to me to be the excuse engine that kept the plot train on the rails. In that regard it did succeed.

Now then, lets get down to the juicy shit of it.

The first issue I had right out the gate was that the basic premise has been done before AND DONE BETTER. If your story boils down to 'Dances with Wolves' meets 'No Blood For Oil' then you are going to have to have some god damned amazing storytelling and characters to overcome that fact...

...which it did not.

Think about it, all of the characters are just boiled down stereotypes, you've got the native princess who HAS to fall for the protagonist, you've got the evil to the point of unbelievability corporate shill, the amoral mercenary who's just in it for the money and the lulz.

Fuck, take the Na'vi themselves, all they are is old STEREOTYPES of 'the noble savage' taken to the nth degree and then put IN SPAAAACCCEEE.

Now, these would be relatively minor issues if the characters actually underwent, you know, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT but again, who at the end of the movie was really any different or had grown in some way? The only one I can think of was the main character, Mr.Designated Protagonist Jake Sully, who went native and got to start banging the native princess.

Which segue-ways nicely into my my final point, the message of the movie seemed to me to be 'Displacement and Exploitation of Native Peoples is Bad' which at face-value I can more or less agree with, but they were all UTTERLY HELPLESS until Mr.Protagonist went native and helped them!

Think about that for a second, the beaten-into-the-fucking-ground dead horse trope of 'Mighty Whitey' rears its head here, the fucking natives were utterly helpless until mighty whitey goes native, AND OUT NATIVES THEM to save the fucking day.

...How am I the only person who seems to see a MAJOR problem here?

lawlz

...

You sir, are apparently a gentleman and a scholar.

Let me append my previous commentary with this final point(s):

Yes, it is a movie worth seeing.

Yes I know an impressive amount of work went into building the world in all of its details. As someone who likes to write deep RPG and story settings FOR GIGGLES I can appreciate this fact far more than you can know.

But at the end of the day visuals and world building are only part of the mix in a movie, and when the story is ultimately forgettable then eventually the rest of the movie will be forgotten as well. Even if one can argue 'nothing new under the sun!' it doesn't overcome the fact that the story, characters and dialogue are STILL infantile despite being compared to similar movies made in the past.

I know it seems like I'm on some sort of Kahn like vendetta here, but really I'm not nearly as worked up as I seem. Mostly I think I'm just knee-jerk responding to the feeling I've gotten from my friends of 'BEST MOVIE EVAR' which I do not and cannot agree with.

The topic of the thread is 'What did you guys think of Avatar?' and well, I'm sorry, but it has a shit story in my opinion and that drops it several quality-pegs in my book. Nothing is going to change that.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Things begin average, things get hard, things get better, things get bad, things get worse, bad things are resolved, happy ending.

 

[GodofDisaster]

Wasn't what I would call a perfect film, but I enjoyed it.

Also I thought the art work and special effects were beautiful.