I really enjoyed it. It felt shockingly old school for the most part, but I think that kinda helped me buy into it more. It was an 80s action film with all new flabberghasting 3D/CGI frills.

A

Avatar left me slightly underwhelmed. It wasn't disappointing necessarily, but it isn't exactly a movie I'm going to go out of my way to tell all of my friends to watch.

Not to say that it isn't a visually fantastic movie to watch, but I felt at times like James Cameron had made his very own ripped from the headlines episode like Law and Order, except on another planet. He wasn't subtle about anything at all here. I got the same feeling out of this as I did for King Kong. Visually, it was awesome, but after that, not so much. It also ran quite long. The youngsters in the audience had the film down pat, when they asked their parents, "Isn't it over already?" That was with another 45 minutes to go...

Why was Unobtainium so important other than the amount of money it was worth? What made it so valuable and how did Pandora use Unobtainium? it felt as if this was just glided over. It was hard to care much for the story when there was very little story development or background given.

I got more useful background info about Unobtainium from this website than I did from the movie.

http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Unobtainium

Talking with friends after, it did feel like a video game. First they have to take on this level's boss, then this one, etc. They even had the Megaman like robots in here as well.

Zoe was the highlight of the movie. I thought Sam Worthington was decent but not particularly memorable.

Now, with what I didn't like about the movie out of the way, here's what I did like. Zoe Saldana was certainly the best character. The visuals were outstanding. I especially liked the bird species and luminescent plants as well as the Navi' people themselves. Those parts were incredible.

All in all, its a nice film to see at least once. But my friends and I were in agreement that we wouldn't see it a second time. T2 and Jurassic Park were event films. Avatar just didn't leave the type of lasting impression that those films did.

B -

Four, maybe five points out of ten.

9/10?

really fun movie. dragged a bit too much in the end. sam did a solid job but stephen lang stole the movie. visuals were simply astonishing. i wouldnt mind seeing a sequel.

B+

BJs Grade:

A

Top 3 of 2009 is joined by one of the best sci-fi films of the decade, behold Avatars greatness, nothing compares visually, and the story is indeed engaging. Avatar is a must see for every movie fan.

would you put it higher than tdk.

Avatar is an absolutely stunning movie. There are so many awe-inspiring and emotionally gut wrenching moments in the film, it's truly difficult to put into words how this movie makes you feel while watching it. I've seen it twice now, first in Imax and last night in RealD, and while the Imax experience is second to none, I enjoyed it more the second time because I could focus more on the story without the distraction of the OMFG!! visuals.

We are introduced to Jake in a gorgeous opening montage of sorts. The shot that tracks over the spaceship, with that beautiful Horner cue playing, ellicited the first of many wows from me. The Jake character is our throughline to the world of Pandora and it's inhabitants. Here is this guy, who is a solemn war vet who has lost the use of his legs, yet still has the resolve and desire to prove himself. Once in his Avatar body, Jake is suddenly able to do the things that he's been incapable of doing for years and then some and we see that renewed energy in Worthington's performance. The first time he wakes up in the pod is the first moment that got to me in the movie, as we see the reality and disappointmentset in with Jake having to return to his wheelchair.

So they take their first foray into the jungles of Pandora and we get our first taste of how insanely photoreal the avatars and the environments are. The light scattering through the trees, the bugs and pollen in the air, creates such a rich frame and it's where the 3d really starts to shine. After a glorious action sequence, we are introduced to Neytiri who is about to kill Jake until a seedling falls down onto her arrowhead. Confused and shocked, she gives up the kill in what was another moment that got me misty. She ends up saving Jake in a balletic display of ass kicking and we are then treated to the absolute wonder of Pandora at night.

Neytiri is the beating heart of this movie and Zoe Saldana is an absolute revelation in the role. Throughout the film I was marveling at the insane level of detail in the faces, but Zoe more than anyone else made that a window into the soul of her character. The facial expressions and body language revealed a wealth of character. I had already seen the sequence where she yells at Jake for his betrayal, but seeing it in context was so much more powerful and it floored me.

The second act begins to explore the friendship and eventual love between Jake and Neytiri and I thought it was well established. Scenes like the one where Jake makes his "clean kill" show him earning Neytiri's respect, while scenes like their flight together and surviving the Leonopteryx attack show a real tangible bond between them forming. The two actors have great chemistry. It's also great to see the passage of time in this section of the movie and how we see Grace and Norm softening on Jake. When, after 3 months, he returns to the base for that conversation with Quaritch, we can see that he's a changed man. That's kind of like a wake up call, reminding him that a military smackdown is right around the corner, something that he initially didn't give a damn about, but now dreads.

The destruction of hometree is glorious and devastating at the same time. There is this one shot that kind of zooms toward the skyline as we see the gunships coming from behind the tree that, with the accompanying music, is just so damn sinister. This is a masterful sequence from Cameron - sound and fury and destruction on an unprecedented level, all the while being gut-wrenching as we watch the horrified faces of the Navi. I kind of liked how that while Quaritch was totally unphased by his actions, Selfridge knew that he had gone too far. It was just nice to see that one of those bastards actually had a heart.

By the time the monumental third act setpiece arrived, I was emotionally invested in the Navi and the preservation of their wonderous ecosystem, which made what followed thrilling and intense. It took a second viewing to confirm it, but the end battle in Avatar may be Cameron's best action scene, which is high praise indeed. Such a fantastic build-up and that breathtaking shot of the banshee riders hanging on the side of the cliff as the armada appears beneath them - just fucking awesome. And then the reality sets in that the Navi are ill equipped to defeat the military hardware and one by one we see these characters that I cared about drop like flies, the most emotional of which being Tsu Tey and Neytiri. When her banshee was killed and she had her back to the tree ready to make one last stand I was on th edge of my seat. The bringing down of the shuttle and then the dragon gunship were just so dazzling and backed by thunderous sound effects. And then there's Quaritch. One dimensional no doubt, but one of the most memorable scenery chewing villains in recent memory. He will leave a legacy of badassery what with his non-chalant patting out of the flames on his shoulder, the shanking of the thanator and surviving a huge dagger through the collarbone. For all the talk of telegraphed plot points in this movie, I certainly didn't predict the amazing way this final fight played out and the incorporating of the link station and Jake's real body. There is a spectacular rack focus shot after that first arrow goes into Quaritch that shows Neytiri sidestep and then fire off the killing blow that was just rad. The scene that follows is the best in the movie and completely blew my mind and got me very emotional. Neytiri struggles to get Jake to come to and then realizes that his real body must be in trouble and scrambles to get the mask on him. It's hard to explain, but it's just such a beautiful moment seeing her holding on to this frail human, whom she had previously only seen and known as a strong warrior and then see them acknowledge each other in that way. I can't believe we're at the level where such a convincing performance can eminate from a 100% cgi character.....so surreal....Zoe is amazing. In thinking about how the movie would end in the months before I had seen it, I would have bet that either one of Jake or Neytiri would have died at the end. It just seemed like there would have to be some kind of sacrifice when facing such extreme odds. It turns out there was a sacrifice, just not something that I would have ever thought of. Giving up his human life forever and choosing to live the rest of his days on an alien planet, as an alien being, amongst an alien culture is a truly thought provoking turn of events.

So yeah, probably the greatest filmgoing experience of my life. I have never been dazzled by visuals like this ever and the design of the plants and animals and the unique culture was just phenomenal. For all of this to come from one man's mind is insane. Bravo James Cameron and bravo to the visual effects houses, particularly Weta, for going one giant leap beyond anything that's been done before. And kudos as well to James Horner for creating a marvelous score. There were many scenes in the movie where the music added necessary emotion to what was going on onscreen, whether it be triumphant like the climb up the hallelujah mountains, or dark and foreboding like the military arrival at hometree. I've come this far without mentioning the 3d, but no doubt it adds a whole other layer to the experience.

A+

Edit: double post

So when Jake and Neytiri mate and have offspring how many fingers will they have?

Liked the visuals a lot. Didn't care for the story. None of the bad guys had any depth whatsoever. Unlike most people, I never notice a person lapsing in and out of an accent, but on occasion I would hear an Australian sounding ending to some of the things Jake said.

Loved the part where Jake fell off the big ship and grabbed onto the missiles, sorta like from True Lies.

C+

not a chance, TDK is light years ahead.

Indeed, caricatures attract attention. The Colonel, though, is by no means a character: he is an action figure.

Anyone knows where is Bradley? what happened to him?

He fell from his high horse and broke his neck.

Pandora is impressive (although I miss when movies had, you know, sets), but Cameron has transformed into a corn merchant and the rest of the movie is astonishingly stale and tired. The storytelling is so rote that it wore me down. There's not a single surprise in this thing. And while he can stage an action sequence, this is far from his most rousing work on that front. The picture doesn't build the way his better ones do.

We all joked around, but nobody told me it was literally a remake of Dances With Wolves.

This movie was awesome.

Not like "oh my god, this film has changed my life"-awesome, but just a great ride. It's very by-the-numbers in terms of story but it's an epic ride like the rest of Cameron's entire filmography. It didn't disappoint.

I think she knew he was a human, but not that he wakes up and walks around as himself when he goes to sleep.

My question is what happened to Norm after he woke up? He wasn't in the trailer at the end obviously. I was expecting him to put the mask on Jake or be the one that kills Lang or something but he's just forgotten. It's like his scene got cut.

Or did he wake up somewhere else than that trailer?

I remember that Norm gets shot in his Avatar form then he gets out of his pod leaving his Avatar.

Then, at then end I thought I saw him in the scene showing the humans boarding the ship back home.

This is correct.

Yeah, he gets out of his pod and then there's a shot of him with a breathing mask on and gun in hand running back into the fight.

10/10 -> A

I actually had a feeling of disappointment before watching the movie before. I haven't seen much of the movie. I planned to go on Avatar Day but that thing slipped my mind completely. But I was sure that 3D won't be revolutionary. It would be impossible to improve that much on 3D movies so far. I wasn't sure about the blue people and about motion capture and CGI. Everything else was in the air. I had no idea what the story was. I knew about the mineral with the stupid name of unobtainum but I had no idea why people wanted it and as it turns out it's only a MacGuffin as it never actively goes into play.

So of all these things I was uncertain, 3D proved to be great. Bit more detailed and the best depth yet, but as I suspected nothing revolutionary. But most movies used the 3D as gimmick but with Avatar it's a completely different thing. In recreating the world of Pandora 3D it is used wonderfully. It's never about things popping out of the screen, it's about helping to emerge the viewer into this wonderful world. And all I can say is that Pandora is as real as you can get on the film media. I doubt that anyone will be able to fully present a complete world better than this. Cameron made the perfect blueprint here.

The blue people, motion capture and CGI are great, but the technology still needs work.

The thing that's weakest in Avatar is the story and the script. Cameron should've asked for help as this could've been pitch perfect and unfortunately it's not. The idea is great and I can respect this as his dream project and not wanting anyone to mess with it, but he needs to realize he's not a great writer.

On the other hand he's a great director. More than a decade later his last movie, he still has outstanding sense for emotions, action, pacing... As with Titanic the time flies as you're genuinely completely into the whole thing. In the end when Jake was gasping for air my chest hurt. I'm not kidding. I thought I was getting a heart attack.

This is a prime example of movie magic. It might not be the best in any segment. But as a whole it's what movie making should be. Cameron - you're still the king of the world.

You people need your head's examined. This is utter shite. its like a person looking on the graphic's to Assassins Creed and saying its the best game ever. This movie is that game and it has no gameplay. I can admire the tech aspects but beyond that get this shit away from me. I'll might regret this but whatever this film needs to judged right. Its nothing more then the film version of Doom of 3 oR Crysis.

Except the film version of Doom outright sucked and if you think that Avatar compares to it, then I have nothing else to say. Your opinion says everything. Crysis would suck too. Assasin's Creed is coming next summer under the name Prince of Persia. We'll see how that one goes.

It's utterly appropriate and, perhaps, inevitable that this thread has devolved into a conversation about video games.