it reminded me of what falling in love is like… as bold of a statement that might be…
I’m going to go see it in about an hour.
I’ll let you know what I think.
A BIG NOTE to anyone that goes to this movie!
If you have the chance to see it in 3D, I would HIGHLY recommend it
Dances With Wolves in space.
I wasn’t particularly impressed.
Me and my friends are thinking about taking a trip to Toronto to see it on Imax 3D over the christmas holidays.
I think the females will like it most for the Love story aspect; The guys will probably enjoy the battles and CG effects most. If the emphasis is on the love story aspect, I’ll pass.
Actually, the love story aspect is very subtle. It is mostly about the main story.
Which is SIMILAR to dances with wolves… not the same story…
This movie is very good and actually has a good point to it. The only thing was the colors in the forest were very intense and i quickly had a headache. But overall an excellent movie.
Sexist. 
Realist, lol! 
I know I was stereotyping a bit there, but it was just in a very general sense. I know the very opposite can be true as well. :o
Wow. I can’t stop talking about this movie.
See it in 3d though. It boosts the cinematic experience that much more.
The concept of the whole movie was so nicely thought out. All I can really say is… Wow.
I don’t even generally like movies, or like to watch them 2 times… But I am buying this on DVD the day it comes out, and watching it again immidiately.
So many deep messages. Such great meaning compacted into 2.5 hours.
A must see. But see it in 3d for the 4 extra bucks. Do yourself a favor.
Despite all these positive reviews, the fact is that the movie is being used primarily as a means to sell plastic crap. McDonald’s commercials already try to associate their burgers with watching the movie, plastic action figures can already be found in stores, and you can re-live the movie in first person through the video game.
In my mind, these things cheapen the movie, despite any meaningful messages it conveys. It’s clear that this movie was designed to be released just before Christmas in order to cash in on the holiday spending frenzy. Take your kids to the movie, buy them plastic crap for christmas, and then throw it all out or stuff it in a closet in a few months when Avatar is old news.
While it may be that the movie writers or whatever had good, thoughtful messages to convey, it seems obvious that they’re sell-outs.
While I may eventually see it if I can see it for free sometime in the future, I feel that spending money on a ticket only supports this sort of theatrical overconsumption.
I see where you’re coming from, but I wouldn’t call them sell outs. They want to make money off of this movie, yeah. But it cost them 250 million to make. They just want to make sure they make a profit, rather than fall short. That isn’t selling out, and I’m sure if you were in the same position you would do the same. I don’t see how this movie was intended to sell plastic crap at all. It stresses the importance of nature, but It had other messages in it as well regarding war, human opression, and discrimination. And I think it was smart of them to release it prior to christmas. 250 million is a big chance to spend on a movie, and even after its released you still aren’t sure. I’m sure they’re just trying to make as much back as possible, and enjoy the profits. Thats why movies are generally made in the first place.
Unobtanium
+1 with Beeper and Phil on uni
I saw Avatar. I liked it for so many reasons on so many levels.
It replays and I find my mind drifting back to different parts over and over. The visual aspect alone is worth admission right there…it’s impressive.
I actually have an O7 Torker DX prototype that is made from “unobtanium”…which is like…uhhh…really hard to get : )
Seriously, Avatar is worth seeing
The McDonald’s commercials and elaborate store displays don’t give it away? Don’t the large-eyed, colorful blue creatures appeal to children both on screen and on action figures? It all started with STAR WARS…
If a movie can’t turn a profit on its own merits, then it probably isn’t that great of a movie. (Or, I suppose you could argue that the public has bad taste in general, and even good movies need to be hyped and over-commercialized in order to exist - this idea I might buy.)
I have little doubt that the movie itself is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Clearly, Avatar is not a high offender…movies like G.I. Joe or Tomb Raider are the worst, being created only to be flashy vehicles in order to sell stuff or cash in on existing public interest, with little or no substantial food for thought. While this practice is not inherently “evil” or anything like that, I hope to spend my dollar “votes” on movies that support the direction in which I think Hollywood should move. I’m just hesitant to support the marketing machine that operates in the movie industry in general, of which Avatar is a small part. I still plan to see the movie.
+1 I do find the McDonalds commercials annoying though.
Its certainly a good movie man. I like it and I don’t like most movies that come out now a days. Its is “flashy” and there are a few things I would have changed, but all in all it was a great movie.
BTW I don’t really see the big deal about a movie trying to make money. That is what most are made to do.
Well like I said, making money isn’t bad per se. In fact, just the opposite; movies need to make money in order to make it profitable and desirable for talented and passionate movie-makers to join the field. I’m not even against selling action figures or anything like that; I’ve bought my fair share of STAR WARS memorabilia. It’s about the current climate where too often, the movie itself is irrelevant, it’s all about how much plastic (or otherwise) crap the movie can get people to buy. When movie-making becomes solely about selling stuff, the quality of movies in general suffers. When movies cease to be an end in themselves and become only a means to an end (that of selling stuff), movies cease in needing to have quality. When profit is the only motivator, other things suffer.
I’m not really criticizing the movie itself (how can I? I haven’t seen it, aside from a few scenes in the trailer), but merely the marketing machine surrounding it and the movie industry in general.
I think you need to see the movie. You’ll understand entirely why i’m disagreeing with you… “environmental destruction”, or "plastic"aren’t even terms that come up in the movie. they’re just background themes in the plot. It isn’t like the movie was made to motivate us to buy plastic, and when you see it, you will understand that. I havn’t seen the mcdonald’s commercials, so I can’t entirely see where you’re coming from there. But I would imagine it would just be a way of promoting the movie. When WALL-E was made, they had toys for that movie. That movie actually stressed environmental importance. I don’t think that was a technique to make people buy plastic. When you see the movie you will definitely see where i’m coming from here. I can’t say much more without giving it away…
I haven’t made any comment about any environmental concerns one way or the other, and am not sure why you mentioned it. While the movie may have some environmental message, this has nothing to do with my criticism as I was not even aware of it.
My mentioned of plastic was more of a literal descriptive term, and perhaps also as a symbolic term; neither referring to any environmental stance.
This is exactly what I’m getting at. Your assumption is that toys, video games, and advertising are a way of promoting a movie. Given that the toys, ads, and video game was released at the same time as the movie, your assumption seems plausible.
My assertion is that the movie is simply a way of promoting the sales of toys and video games, and that in general this practice has led to the sales of toys and video games to be the primary objective in movie-making, degrading the quality of movies overall.
I remember when toys/games used to come out when a movie came out on video…they came out fairly long AFTER the movie had already hit it big or flopped. If a movie hit it big, they ran production of toys - makes sense. If it flopped, they didn’t. These days, toys/games are released at the same time as the movie itself. Since the cost of production is so low, it makes monetary sense to release toys/games at the same time as the movie regardless of its quality. Profit margins are high enough that a movie can flop (or break even, or only turn a slight profit) in ticket sales, but the movie-makers still turn a big profit on the sales of toys/games. Since the profit motive has shifted to selling toys/games instead of making awesome movies, the quality of movies will suffer, overall. Movies no longer need to be awesome by their own merits, only good enough to get people to buy stuff.
Magic 8-Ball
…Speaking of plastic
I know this isn’t scientifical and don’t in no way use enough fanciful words to spill over into enough bandwidth to be taken none too serious, but here is what I just done
I took out the Magic 8-Ball and asked it if everyone at UDC should see Avatar because it is a life affirming, and worthwhile endeavor.
Magic 8-Ball said: IT IS CERTAIN …That right there is better than a plain old YES…It’s like YES with a little extra!