Avatar Part 1

Here is part one of my Avatar review, and thingy, this took 15 minutes cause I know you're gonna ask

Avatar: Pt.1
Digital FX and Technical

Starring:
Sam Worthington
Zoe Saldana

Introduction:
If you haven’t seen Avatar yet, you have most likely heard of it, and will probably have heard either one of the following, or both: “It’s the most awesome movie ever,” or “It’s just Pocohantas in space.” Both are in a way true and the thing when judging any review or movie, is to take both sides seriously, and with a grain of salt.
Avatar is most certainly a break-through in digital effects, namely the 3D experience.

3D Experience
Unlike most 3D films that I have seen, Avatar was suited for it. Instead of making a film and converting it afterward, this film appears to have been shot in 3D for 3D. The 3D experience is most definitely a part of the film, and many are trying to bash it saying that the 3D is simply a gimmick to get people to come see the film. In most 3D films, I would have the tendency to agree, but with Avatar, it is truly meant to be seen in 3D, but that may also be its downfall. Avatar is so engrossed in the 3D world, that when released on DVD and Blu-Ray, the film may not be that exciting. That will be the real test for story and acting (which will be covered in part 2).
The 3D experience of the movie completely envelopes you in this almost mystical world of Pandora, and it is nothing less then breathtaking. My argument against those saying the 3D is a gimmick, is this, when colour TV and movies came out, wouldn’t that be considered a gimmick? If not, why don’t we all just watch our favorite movies in black and white, and make all movies in black and white. We expect film to be in colour now, and give it a few more years, and we will most likely expect our films to be in 3D.

CGI
Having been someone who dabbles in CGI some, it is quite easy for me especially to distinguish CGI, and most of the time notice how it looks fake. I’m sure many others would agree, that pretty much all films that rely too heavily on CGI, only end up looking fake. Despite all of that, Avatar looks real, and despite the fact that I knew it was all CGI, I kept getting engrossed in this fake world that simply looks real. The integration of live action and CGI is the best I have seen to date and I can hardly find a spot in the movie that stands out to me as being out of place or looking fake. The character animation and motion capture technology is suberb. They put enough attention into the minor details, that each CG character really looks like a real being acting on the screen. It is the attention to small details that sets this film apart technologically from many others.

Sound
The sounds of the film were cool, but nothing extraordinarily outstanding. In my opinion, Star Trek had some more creative and interesting soundscapes then Avatar did. Though the sounds are natural and real for Avatar, there isn’t a consistency in blowing the viewer away with soundscapes. It would seem more emphasis was put on visuals over sound in this film.

Editing/Cinematography
A fairly custom editing job, there isn’t a huge amount of variation in the way the film was cut together. It is a traditional job, but it works for the film, and the shots flow nicely into one another without there being many noticeable flaws such as jump cuts. There are a few shots where it looked like they intended to play with the shot, where they’d do a quick zoom in on a gunship or something, but for the most part, it seemed like it was all filmed on a tripod in a fairly standard manner. However, some parts of the film are shot so incredibly that you feel like falling (namely when they’re flying on the Ikran). That scene is shot extremely well, and when integrated into the 3D world of Pandora, you could almost feel the wind blowing in your face (maybe the ventilation kicked in there). For as experienced a director as Cameron is, I am somewhat disappointed in the traditional style shooting used in the film.

Overall:
The film is a technological achievement for movies that won’t be rivaled for a long time. Avatar is breathtaking and an amazing journey, and the imagery is so stunning that Pandora could very well be real. Like most films though, it does have its low spots, areas that more attention could have been put to, but it doesn’t dip any lower then standard, which is all right considering so much focus was put on other areas to bring it up a notch.

Pt.1 Rating:
9/10

Part 2 Coming Soon

Yep, amazing movie!

I just wish that we wouldn't have to wait until we can all afford 3D tvs in order to watch it at home when it comes out on DVD.

I don't really want to see it again in 2D.

If I did that, it would be like trading a space journey for a ticket to fly on a 747 to New York.

Not worth it.

It was pretty good, but that's because of the awesome visuals. If it had mediocre visuals, it would have been freaking horrible. It was litterally pocahontas with space marines and blue cat elf giants fighting in a jungle.

But the visuals were amazing. So it gets a 7/10 in my book.

Here's how I see the story, It's like pocohontas, which is most likely based on some story from the fifties, which is most likely based on some tale told verbally a hundred years ago, which is most likely based on some story the greeks came up with. If you look hard enough, you can find probably more then one story almost identical to another, some are just hidden easier. And I intend to go and see it a second time to see how strong the story is

Yes, but when a movie uses the story of an older movie or book or whatever, it at least tries to modify it a little. This on the other hand went full on pocahontas on us. I mean, take the summary of pocahontas, strike a few words off it and replace them with something futuristic and you have avatar.

This movie felt like it just wanted to awe the public, you know, all power to visuals and sound, very little to story.

I can't watch 3D movies... it messes with my eyes, even with the glasses, and gives me a serious headache...

it gave one guy a stroke i was reading. the 3d doesn't bother me, it just looks like...real life. does real life mess with your eyes?

No.. xD it goes for the same with kiyo... though he gets it worse off than I do.... migraines...

I don't know why 3D stuff messes with me... it's been that way for a long time now

it does bug some people, i guess right now there's no particular reason as to why, something with brain no doubt

most likely. Some brain's end up trying to process the 3Dness faster than the eyes can put the colors together..

Yeah, they say that people that have eye problems are a lot more likely to have problems with the 3d. Your eyes just probably can't focus properly.

My eyes are fine, but when the camera went out of focus in the foreground in a couple of scenes it confused the crap outta my brain.

Oh yeah, and one more thing.... Hair sex? What the heck?

Whoever thought that up was pretty weird.

or clever, it makes perfct sense, they connect with the tentacle things, creating a bond between the na'vi and the animal, so why not between two na'vi?

oh and what makes penis/vagina sex not weird?

Heeey... That makes the dragon taming... Animal rape? Whow... That must be the strangest scene in movie history... A gigantic blue cat human rapes a dragon with his hair. Must be really uncomfortable having your private stuff hanging in the wind like that though.

i had this discussion with someone at work. You're thinking of it in unclean terms, like, think of it as their culture. In our culture, we have deemd penis' and whatnot as inappropriate and private, but in a culture where they are at one with nature and themselves, then it would be a clean and special act. That's partly why they can only have one ikran I'm assuming. Also, it is only rape if used in a criminal and sinful way in our culture, where we use sex to essentially attack. You have to think of it as connecting and not as sex. For their race, it is natural

Yeaaaaah... So... How about you give me the number to all horse pastures and forest preservations near you, maybe give me the number to your local police force while you're at it..?

Just kidding. But yes, that's a way to see it. Their hair.. Thing... Has more purposes than procreation, so it can be seen as a completely different thing.

True.. but also this culture of ours is backwards xD especially in the U.S

and i could look at it from a biblical aspect of how sex is a clean and honourable act encouraged by God, and I could actually develop that further and explain how it mkes sense in Avatar, but that would be a lot of typing and mah fingers aren't up for it

@ your last post

Yeah, I see what you're saying.

We can even see different preferences in regards to human body parts.

For example, some people in certain parts of the world run around in loin cloths, and the women might even go topless.

But they don't care, cause they're used to it. It's apart of their culture.

@ your newest post

Well yeah, sex is just fine. God created it not only for reproduction, but enjoyment and bonding.

exactly, and on your first point, in some cultures, it's illegal to show your ankles or other areas we consider harmless

Yep.

I guess some people really think that ankles are hot.

(Regional fetishes perhaps? Just a theory)

I watched the 3-D Imax Version. It was Thilling...maybe the most actionized movie I've ever seen.

But....as usual...it lacked insanity.

It also lacked story or innovation in anything other than graphics.

Oh, and i believe this can be considered a necro.

yes, necro, I don't want to get into this argument again

i did not like it much it was over advertised so i could not watch it without expecting better other to that it was ok i preferd kick ass

RRPS, if you were to come to this site more often, you would not have to necro topics that are of interest to you.

hey, I just noticed this was trash canned. Any particular reason why? I put a fair bit of effort into that review