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Films For those of you looking forward to Avatar...

Discussion in 'General' started by johnnyboy700, 4 Nov 2009.

  1. smc8788

    smc8788 Multimodder

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    There's only so much cockslapping one can reasonably take from a plot though. The plot in Avatar was tolerably mediocre, but compare that to say, I don't know, 2012, and even the spectacular visuals fail to save the overall experience from being, well, s**t.
     
  2. wafflesomd

    wafflesomd What's a Dremel?

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    Keeping in mind thats almost three hours of cockslapping.
     
  3. quietguy

    quietguy D'orc

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    For all of those whining about Avatar's unoriginal story, name one movie in the last 20 years that has had an original story.
     
  4. SNiiPE_DoGG

    SNiiPE_DoGG Engineering The Extreme

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    I'm going to see it for the third time tonight, Im psyched
     
  5. quietguy

    quietguy D'orc

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    I'm going to see it for the second time. :rock:
     
  6. boiled_elephant

    boiled_elephant Merom Celeron 4 lyfe

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    I hear this a lot, and it's mistaken thinking. The criticism isn't that Avatar lacks an original story, it's that it lacks anything original at all. When most films rehash an existing theme or plot, they add new characters, dynamics, twists or other innovations. Avatar quite literally added nothing new at all. If you go to see it armed with that knowledge, you can enjoy it. But for those of us expecting something of a similar calibre to Aliens, it was a bit disappointing.

    Just had to clear that up. I'm sick of hearing that "nothing's actually original therefore it's ok for Avatar to have a **** plot" logic :)

    edit - actually, it's not fair to say it adds nothing at all. The drama surrounding his disability, and the way in which he finds escapism and a new life in the secondary life of his avatar, was interesting and excellent, and came to fruition in the film's final scene with
    his escape from his disability fully realised by his transition into the avatar
    . I loved that subplot, I thought it was the most mature angle of the film.

    But yeah, apart from that it was a visually stunning collection of derivative borrowings. And even the escape from disability thing was arguably borrowed from films like Mar Adentro.
     
    Last edited: 4 Jan 2010
  7. quietguy

    quietguy D'orc

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    Now I know you haven't seen it.
     
  8. will.

    will. A motorbike of jealousy!

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    The whole "it's not original" thing is getting boring now isn't it?

    As far as I'm concerned, I sat through the whole film without once wondering what the time was or wondering how long was left. I enjoyed it the whole way through (both times) and it still pops up in conversation.

    I feel sorry for the people who can't enjoy a film like this for no other reason than some critic/magazine/blog/random forum guy claims it's unoriginal and you want to jump on the bandwagon. Just sit and actually watch the film for what it is and you may enjoy yourself...

    Seriously, what were you expecting from a film that needed to appeal to the masses to break even, it was never going to be some deeply woven tale with twists and turns and any brain power required.

    All that said... What the hell was Cameron thinking using Papyrus for the subtitle font? At least it wasn't comic sans... Shitty logo too. And Leona ****ing lewis over the end credits... Way to make me leave the cinema in a hurry. :p
     
  9. wafflesomd

    wafflesomd What's a Dremel?

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    Technically, you're the one jumping on the bandwagon.

    There's a difference between being unoriginal and a carbon copy of a very generic and popular script. Please forgive me for expecting to see something new.
     
    Last edited: 5 Jan 2010
  10. quietguy

    quietguy D'orc

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    There's no more room on this bandwagon, find a new one.
     
  11. wafflesomd

    wafflesomd What's a Dremel?

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  12. BentAnat

    BentAnat Software Dev

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    Well, having seen it (and admittedly having it slightly ruined by our SH*T cinemas), i was a bit disappointed (2D only).
    Aside from the whole story dilemma (that's been covered to death... google it...), i felt the CG was not always all that much better than a well made game (movement of the avatars/n'avi at times, for example).
    On the other hand, those Helo-dropship-things were SO cool. Coolest space ships since the dropships in Alien.
    All in all i felt that the world seemed too "conveniently familiar". I know they did this for the sake of viewer accessibility, but hell... if there's already talk of 2 more movies in the series, PLEASE be a bit more original than "Oh look... a rhino, a horse and a panther-type-thing... and a dinosaur"
     
  13. Plastic_Manc

    Plastic_Manc Minimodder

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    Saw it recently and just gets pipped by 2012 as my worse film seen in 2009. Unoriginal in many of its messages and guilty of blatent plagurism at points (Last of the Mohicans for the village scene anyone?). Has it really come to this?
     
  14. smc8788

    smc8788 Multimodder

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    Stop trolling. Can't you just accept that some people did like it? Is it really that hard, or do you have to flame everyone that has a different opinion to you in the hope we'll change our minds?
     
  15. will.

    will. A motorbike of jealousy!

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    Yes, but my argument is that even if the story is a copy, ignoring that, it's still an entertaining film if you actually let yourself enjoy it.

    Getting so hung up on the fact that it's got a story you've seen before is inevitably going to make you feel negatively towards it.

    I love Ham and mushroom pizza. Of course, I like a variation, but that's my go-to choice. Sometimes I go nuts and add pineapple, but I'm not going to complain if someone hands me my usual Ham and mushroom. I still enjoy it.

    Anyway, this is a pointless argument, some people were upset about this film 6 months ago. The anger has probably been festering since then!
     
  16. boiled_elephant

    boiled_elephant Merom Celeron 4 lyfe

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    I saw it in 3D, and such passive-aggressive trollish jabs should be beneath you.

    The phrase "has it really come to this" is reserved for things that really matter, like political assassinations and animal cruelty, not a piece of afternoon entertainment :)

    There's a lot of heated, melodramatic language flying around in this thread. Honestly, if you get that angry about the quality of a film you've lost all sense of perspective; take a few minutes and go for a walk. I've never understood people who get offended by a bad film, or riled up into defending a good one, or who judge other people based on their personal tastes.

    Apart from anything else, I feel sorry for people who feel the need to come to black-and-white verdicts in their own minds as to whether a film's Good or Bad. There were things in Avatar I liked, and things I didn't, so I'm not self-righteous enough to start swinging around assertions about it being OMG TOTALLY AMAZING or OMG SOOO BAD. Why the need for superlatives? Can't people admit that most films are a bit of both?
     
  17. quietguy

    quietguy D'orc

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    Ha! Nothing is beneath me! :lol:
    I understand what you are getting at. It would have been nice if the story had been done to the same quality as the rest of the movie.
     
  18. Journeyer

    Journeyer Minimodder

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    Caught it in 3D just before x-mas, and I for one loved it.
    True, the story could have been more original I suppose, and the script could have been better, but overall it was the greatest cinematic experience I've had since the first Lord of the Rings movie premiered. And that, in my opinion, is how Avatar should be seen; not as a revolutionary story with brand new reasoning, twist or quirks, but as a different, and new way of experiencing movies. Sure there have been 3D films before, but none have even come close to the level that Avatar offered.

    Now, if only we could be free of those silly goggles ... I stupidly forgot about the 3D glasses we would be required to wear, so I didn't wear my contacts to the theatre, but instead I wore my regular glasses. So yeah, I had to stack the 3D glasses on top of my regular ones, which obviously made me end up looking like a dork, though this was forgotten 2 minutes into the movie.

    Anyhow, as has been pointed out; riling against other people's personal taste is pointless (and somewhat arrogant) and in some ways similar to masturbating with a cue ball: you will cause friction, but on a whole it is pointless. I'm sure there were some people who liked the Alone in the Dark movie as well, in spite of the fact that it was utterly atrocious. People are different, and thus people will have different tastes as well. Just accept it and move on.

    Personally I liked Avatar a lot. The story flowed nicely, though yes it was a rehash of overused semi-bad-guy enters the scene, semi-bad-guy meets indiginous people he's sent out to befriend and conquer, semi-bad-guy-slowly-turned-good-guy falls for indiginous woman (insert gratuitous sex scene), and semi-bad-guy-turned-good-guy-fighting-for-the-indiginous-people changes sides and drama follows storylines, it all worked.

    My personal biggest beef with the movie was those floating mountains. Normally I try not to analyze the science of sci-fi movies too much, but sometimes I just can't restrain myself. I'm willing to accept the biological fibre-optic USB plugs all life on Pandora has integrated to their bodies, and the symbiotic relationship they all thus share, but how on Earth (or should that be Pandora?) can those mountains stay afloat? My conclusion is that it has some connection to Unoptainium and Pandora's magnetic field lines, but no matter. I loved it. :)
     
  19. will.

    will. A motorbike of jealousy!

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    Actually, I think I read somewhere it's to due with the room temp superconductivity of the unobtanium and that massive planet that they are orbiting...
     
  20. GreatOldOne

    GreatOldOne Wannabe Martian

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    My thoughts as well - the gravitational effects of that gas giant Pandora is a satellite of must have something to do with it*. The Navii on the coast must have to put up with some wicked tides.

    * I have to admit that I was a bit miffed when I saw them, but only due to a D&D campaign I'm currently dreaming up is set in a world with floating islands / mountains, and that's due to the proximity of a gas giant. And maybe a bit'o'magic... ;)

    Ah well - at least the players will know what I'm going on about now (PCs: "Floating Islands?" Me: "Yeah, think Avatar")
     

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