Avatar

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I've heard quite a few people say that the plot of this is taken from a lot of books/movies. To that I say: Oh well. Especially this day and age, originality is harder to come by. Just like in music, it is okay to recycle through past ideas. If we only accepted movies that were 100% original, we wouldn't have half as many movies as we do today, certainly not a handful every Friday. But that is neither here nor there. This was my favorite movie of 2009, and I didn't even see it in 3-D. Avatar is full of analogies to the behavior of our race and government. There are allegories in there that could be interpretted a number of ways. It just leaves you thinking. Very rarely does a movie grab me like this does. Not only do I recommend this (and damn near beg you to watch it), but I recommend you purchase a copy. The visual effects are absolutely captivating. It deserves more than the *4 Oscars* it already won.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Roller coaster ride

We saw "Avatar" shortly after it came out last year and I must say I have never seen a movie that left my heart pounding almost two hours after the end of the film. We saw "Avatar" in 2D and I am sure glad we did. Even in 2D the special effects were outstanding as Jake would say. The flying sequences were spectacular and dizzying. So, dizzying,
in fact, I had to close my eyes a couple of times. To be honest, I couldn't tell where the "real world" ended and the special effects came into play. I intend to buy this DVD and enjoy it again and again. BTW- The sound track is also just as outstanding as the film.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This movie had it all for me! Seeing such an exciting film in 3D put me in the action of a plausible future for the entire duration of the movie. A "very well done!" to all who brought us "AVATAR."

Movies of this caliber come to infrequently in my estimation. From the beginning of this epic film to its credits, the viewer cannot help but be absorbed in the story, its plot, its fantacy and its plausability.

I'll need to purchase a 3D TV now and get a 3D copy of this great film. In my book, it should have been voted best picture at the recent awards, but politics exist in the film industry as well as in Washington DC.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I would give this a B-

My opinion is it's a good movie and they made it look like if you they actully existed. They made seem like there living in are time period and I liked how they had a device they could change them to diffrent people.

A tad overrated.

I thought this movie was a little bit overrated. For me I guess it doesn't really stand out from other decent movies aside from the 3Dness. Sure it has gorgeous visuals and special effects, but even those are crammed down your throat. The story is an exact replica of the likes of Ferngully and Pocahontas, just with blue, hippy-catlike aliens creatures instead of fairies or indians. Plus most of the characters are poorly delevoped. The main character seems like a meathead most of the time and just does whatever anyone around him tells him to do, except for when he gets to use his legs. The bad guy or guys are completely heartless for no apparent reason other than they think the aliens are savage without ever telling you why they believe this. It's a good movies, I just wouldn't put the title "classic" on it. There are no original ideas here at all. Even the humore isn't really all that funny when you think about it.

Avatar

Initially concieved in 1999 as Cameron's follow up to Titanic, Avatar was put on hold when Cameron realized the technology did not exist yet to support his vision. Over the course of the next decade, Cameron created much of the technology he needed to make this movie possible. In 2002, Cameron watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and through the character of Gollum realized that his vision was finally possible. Twelve years have passed since the release of James Cameron's Titanic, will his new film prove that Cameron is still "King of the World"?
Much has been made of Cameron's Avatar long before it's release. Hailed as a revolution in 3D and CGI technology, Avatar holds a lot of expectations, not the least of which is the fact that the budget and marketing for this film add up to approximately half a billion dollars, making it the most expensive movie ever made. Of course, Cameron has been here before. Titanic cost $200 million to make, the largest budget for a feature film at the time, and just when it looked like it was going to goose that laid the rotten egg it proceeded to make $1.8 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of all time. Cameron's also not new to the idea of revolutionizing the world of film with almost every movie he makes: with The Abyss he had the first all digital water effect, with Terminator 2 he had the first CGI character with realistic movement, and so on. Can lightning strike yet again?
This movie is a movie that has to be seen the way it was intended to truly get the fully immersive experience. I watched the trailers on TV and online, and none of that compared to seeing the film in theaters in 3D. With Avatar, Cameron has truly outdone himself. When District 9 came out, I raved about the CGI effects in that movie, but Avatar is a whole other monster. With Avatar you truly cannot tell where the CGI begins and reality ends and vice versa, and on top of that it is the most beautiful film I've ever seen, CGI or otherwise. On top of that, Cameron's new 3D cameras create an experience that is in no way uncomfortable. No headaches and no motion sickness for those of you who suffer from that sort of thing. Instead, you get a highly immersive experience that leaves you begging for more (which is saying something, considering the film's run time is 162 minutes) and wanting to return when you leave.
I think this movie is going to be the revolution of movies that Cameron believes it's going to be. I've seen reviewers compare it to The Wizard of Oz (the movie to truly lead the color revolution) and King Kong (the 1933 version, which revolutionized special effects), and I wholeheartedly agree. I still can't completely fathom what I just saw, and will probably see it at least one more time on the big screen if not more. Anyone who's into film, the tech of film, or just wants to keep up with where film is going in the future should see this film. On top of that, this movie touches on so many different genres (SciFi, fantasy, romance, war films, drama, etc.) that it will appeal to almost everyone. Once again, James Cameron is "King of the World"!

WOW ! Was I Suprised !

I have never been a fan of movies such as Star Wars, etc, but AVATAR completely took my by suprised in a very good way. I watched a documentary on how this movie was put together, the real they put into the realness..Zoe Saldanas character is overall my favorite, she gave life to a very passionate character..BRAVO ! The first time I watched it, there was a wee bit of sensor overload due to the the whole Pandora/Human world. But I watched it again the next night and I can now say that AVATAR now occupies my favorite movies ( not to say that any other preveious favorites are loved any less ). I'm not sure if I am correct about the ending but as the movie ended I ( of course wanted more ) wasn't pleased there wasn't more to it..BUT if this is to lead AVATAR fans to hope for more then I can understand because it did leave me with that feeling of more to come ( I hope so ). TO all who put this beautifully unique movie together..BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO...I took a walk outside the box and now look forward to ? We shall see.

Avatar Falls Short

First, I the 3D effects were at best, distracting, and at worst, confusing. That is, the 3d effects got in the way of the cinematagraphy, which was a particular problem for me in the climactic action scene. The plotting was fractured, and the acting was two dimensional; the bad guys were all bad and the heores were too virtuous. It was an exciting experience, nonetheless, even though it did not merit a major award.

Avatar: Cowboys & Indians, where the Indians finally Win!

How do you feel when you experience a place where things are sort of but not quite the same as you know? That's what Avatar is like--a place which you can identify with, but has such fantastic, wonderous plants, animals and "people" that you are at once drawn to it, fascinated and yet repelled. I say the latter because I myself could not ever live in such a place, but I can very much sympathize with the characters who inhabit it, both human and not human! I saw Avatar 9 times, in all modes of viewing, bought the soundtrack and then the movie. I plan to see the new version in August (something about adding something to the movie?). And I look forward to the sequel (to be an underwater world on Pandora). The visual, music and story combine for me to be an experience that I never want to go away! I highly recommend it to all ages, to simply enjoy and immerse yourselves in the flow of the movie. To hear that ten years had to pass before this movie could be made is believable--and James Cameron needs to be revered for his vision and perserverance in producing this wonderful fantasy. I can't believe it did not win as Best Movie at the Oscars--to have honored a war movie like the "Hurt Locker" was an affront to the sensibilities of the artistry produced by Avatar. See it--savour it, and enjoy it, as I have--you won't regret your time & money, I promise!

A special-effects triumph

Watching James Cameron's "Avatar" I couldn't help wishing we had evolved from an ancestor of lemurs instead of chimps, so we too, like the Na'Vi, could have tails. Those very tall, very slim, yellow-eyed blue-skinned Pandorians are hot. And like the rest of the movie, an amazing technical special-effects triumph. To be enjoyed for what it is, redeeming a typical Hollywood action-movie plot of the sort beloved of fourteen-year-olds: will the bad guys win? The good guys? Will the cavalry arrive in time? Heavily seasoned of course with high-tech machinery, mostly military, a level of equipment lust beloved of twenty-somethings, the sort who might have fonder memories of their first cars than first girlfriends. The plot, such as it is, is flavored with a cowboys versus Indians conflict straight out of the old Westerns, with an added environmental subtext. The Na'Vi fight to preserve their ancient culture against the coming of cattle, barbed wire and the railroad. . . er, I mean against miners destructively exploiting their sacred homeland in the service of corporate greed. It's classic. Too much mayhem and an overly loud soundtrack toward the end, but that too is part of the formula. And of course the good guys do win! More or less. This is one to just sit back and enjoy, it's huge fun, and satisfying even at home on the small screen.

Awesome

Avatar is a mind-blowing development of future human history. It follows humanity the way we are now into an unknown and unpredictable series of events and discoveries and persistently poses the question to the audience, What would you do? What do you think about a new race of creatures who are like us and not like us, and how would you treat them? Are they obstacles in the way of progress to be conquered and cast aside? Do they have any inalienable rights? Should we embrace them or kill them? Our answers tell us more about who we are than who they are and should be considered with caution. In many ways, Avatar reminds me of the way our ancestors treated Native Americans when the white man first arrived here, but it goes much deeper than that. With extraordinary grace and phenomenal graphic style, Avatar leads us through a maze of complicated politics, scientific breakthroughs and soul-searching questions, and that's just the earthbound side of the story. The Na'vi community embraces and respects all of life's creatures, expresses a oneness with nature that most modern humans will never know, and defends themselves with fierce skill that defies human understanding. What we as humans really do not understand at the heart of it is that it makes them sad to fight us, but they know they must or be destroyed. We want something they have, and we want it badly enough to destroy anyone who gets in the way, including all of them. How they respond to the threat of annihilation is the stuff of legends. Avatar is definitely a must-see, and to see ourselves and each other like the Na'vi see is truly remarkable.

Wonderful Movie

Graphics are awesome, story line an updated version of bad gov. types vs. nature. But it still an excellent movie. Worth the price for stunning visuals alone.

Great movie

Excellent movie with thought provoking message.

Bland as Stale Bread

This was a shallow and tasteless movie that had me squirming and readjusting in my seat nearly the entire time. I was restless for this wrung out story to finally land in the predictable ending we all knew was coming. The visuals were nice to look at but after an hour and a half (just half way through) even that lost the little novelty that it had. This movie was just a rip-off of almost every other story you've likely seen countless times before. It excercizes pantheism to the fullest extent and people don't seem to mind that. As far as being a thought provoking story or stimulating one's imagination (in the non-visual sense), you might as well examine a spoon. How this movie has earned the most money in history is beyond me and makes me weep for how low this country's expectations have stooped. If you want good visuals and a good story, you might as well watch a Dreamworks cartoon. And I hate Dreamworks cartoons.

Expected more

After hearing all the rave reviews about this movie, I expected it to be a bit more exciting. Don't get me wrong the movie was good, but not spectacular. I did enjoy watching it on blue ray, the graphics are amazing! If you want to truly see the capability of a blue ray, this is the movie to get. The movie is extremely long. It lasted almost 3 hours and I think they could have made it a bit shorter, which would have made the movie better. So when you watch this movie, grab a snack, you are going to be there for awhile.

Awesome Movie

The special effects and scenery were absolutely beautiful. The story message was very classic with a futuristic setting. Although set in a fantasy world the key message of honoring and protecting our planet is important today. The characters were well developed and you fall in love with them throughout the movie. The creativity in creating the animals was beautiful and astounding. It is a very moving story about peoples love, respect and deep connection with their land and each other. It's about surviving an invasion, defending their homeland, and rejoicing in the end. I highly recommend this movie for young and old alike.

Avatar

It is a good movie. Special effects are great. Overall good and worth adding to your dvd collection.

Avatar is one of the most beautiful movies - worth watching

I went to see Avatar at the theater with my 15 year old granddaughter not expecting to be overly thrilled with it. To my surprise it was one of the most beautiful movies, scenery wise, that I have ever seen. I enjoyed it so much I purchased a copy to have at home so we could watch it as many times as we wanted.

Good movie - worth the investment

Not necessarily a movie you'll whip out to watch once a month, but you'll be glad you have it on the shelf at home when guests come over. It's an exciting movie, without too intricate of a plot that you can keep up with even if you're distracted doing housework. It's highly creative and enjoyable, four thumbs up!

Avatar: an unforgettable experience!

Avatar is Ferngully meets blue man group on steroids! This film was more than I would have ever imagined. While it was short on script, the visuals more than made up for it. The colors and depth of the visuals made me want to give up my day job and move to Pandora. All of my earth friendly friends said the same thing: we want to move to Pandora.

Kudos for a film that brings to light the environmental issues facing our world in a palatable manner.