Avatar - A new Era of Cinema begins
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Well, I finally saw it in 3D.
It was well worth!
And yes, it is a kind of "Western" movie with all those blue Indians!
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I found the movie to be a real teaser for physics, biology, botany, ecology buffs, and, last but not least 3d modelers and animators. Boy, would I like to have the ability to use the software these film makers have!!
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I may have missed it, but reading all the posts so far, it seems we are all going gaga over the 3d effects. No one is really concerned about the message the movie is really sending to the inhabitants of this planet. ....Sad to say the medium has once again triumphed over the message.
here is a link to one mans view of the message:
http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/film-review-avatar-a-humanist-call-from-mt-hollywood-by-gila.html
cheers, and happy new year!
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Not really, Tomot - I got the message but in fact there are so many movies with the same message (however great/useful or name it otherwise) that this one did not strike out with that particularly.
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I saw it in full 3D at my local IMAX, and I must admit, I thought that it was an excellent movie. In addition to the implementation of Autodesk Motionbuilder and Zbrush in this film, I also saw extensive use of Vue. Did anyone else notice this?
Almost all of the environments appeared to be created using vue, and there was one scene that just screamed vue, in which indented the surrounding vegetation when a spacecraft flew close to the ground.
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@tomot:
There is nothing wrong with exploring this theme more than one time in a century. However, the message in this movie was delivered with a sledgehammer, in my opinion. The military villain was a bit overstated. Exploitative of the audience's emotional involvement- in my opinion, and an exaggerated image of zealotry. -
IMO it was a 'Dances with wolves' remake, and bloody well done too.
Regarding the use of Vue, nothing is confirmed yet but IMO it was used in conjunction with Maya (they work together these days), Vue has been used extensively recently in movies like 2012, Terminator, Indiana Jones,Pirates of the Caribbean and being used at moment for future titles like 'Clash of the Titans' 'Tekken', 'Area 51' and 'Predators'
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I saw the movie in 3d this past weekend, and was blown away by the production value and 3d effects. My one disappointment was that the story line was predictable throughout - no surprises.
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@all the storyline haters
: But at least the storyline wasn't just plain STUPID, like Transformers II, right? -
HAHA. I didn't see Transformers II, so I will take your word for it. At least neither have love-struck teen vampires and werewolves.
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@chris fullmer said:
@all the storyline haters
Here's another, more scathing and to the point review, by Bill Frezza;
@unknownuser said:
“I didn't see him in the credits but Al Gore, earth's first carbonless billionaire, must have been a script consultant. The arch villains are stick figure caricatures of greedy, baby-killing corporate capitalists. Unrepentant conquerors of nature, these amoral Halliburton proxies think nothing of shipping an army of mercenaries across interstellar space to plunder and pillage for profits. Do you think Cameron might still be suffering from a touch of Bush derangement syndrome?
“The heroes are pre-technological tribal environmentalists. They don't just hug trees, they worship them. Living loin-cloth lives in harmony with nature, they are content to follow the mystical ways of their shaman, whose beautiful daughter of course falls in love with a crippled marine seeking redemption. Money and technology mean as little to the natives as written language, leaving aside what Ralph Nader might have to say about their dangerous pterodactyl piloting. Try as they might the ugly Americans can't find anything to offer these noble savages in exchange for the valuable mineral deposits they're sitting on, not even universal health care. Despite technical marvels half a century ahead of ours, mining technology has somehow degenerated back to the open pit horrors of the past. The wise and selfless scientists who have fallen in love with the natives are powerless to stop the inevitable conflict. Cut loose the dogs of war - cue tanks, bulldozers, and bombs!”
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2010/01/04/avatar_a_revealing_cultural_mirror_97574.html
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Any chance Bill Frezza is a 'Good 'ol boy'? Sounds like GWB advisor.
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The planet locals did not worship the trees. They worshiped a God, much like many of us right wing religious nuts do
They have sacred places to go and worship their God. These places and ideas were under attack by the un-relenting "other-side" who came equipped to attack if the locals did not give up and go away.To me it felt more like he was giving an account of my experience trying to be a church going Mormon in a fairly anti-church region
So I guess the story is all in the interperetation.
Chris
And as for the fact that they were open pit mining - would mining companies do it any other way if it weren't for activists fighting to protect the land?
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I didn't see Transformers II, but Transformers I was quite dumb. "Hey, we must protect this cube or else people will die. Let's take it to a city full of people and let's have a football match with it."
Yeah, I must agree that it's better to have a predictable story than a stupid one.
And about Avatar, the main message for me was: Native people need a cool American guy to guide them to victory.
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It appears Frezza may be a bit of a zealot. Likes to "hear" himself talk. Just because it is in print doesn't give it any legitimacy. (Including what I say)
The "unobtainium"(not an original term) is fundamental to the ecology of the planet. It is what made the Hallelujah Mountains levitate. Those were some stout roots and vines.
There is a parallel in the Gaia Principle, a concept that all is connected and interdependent in the world we live in.
I still liked the movie. -
I havne't seen AV yet and I don't really plan to. While I love Computer Movies like Wall-E, UP or the Incredibles--(great look, great stories, great characters)-- I have a problem with these Motion Capture type movies because they never quite work and come off just looking creepy. It seems the makers of these films are so enamored of their Technology and visual abilities that the story and the character and the acting are left behind.. .
And Besides it's like sitting in a room watching someone else play a video game. Our local critic gave it 2 1/2 stars saying he liked it okay but the Acting was Wooden, the Story was lame, and it seemed like a weird Cross between Dances with Wolves and Ferngully.
There's no doubt it will make a ton of Money, but I still don't think that'll make Cameron "King of the World" again (He does tend to over-hype himself.) Other similar Movies that also made a ton of money: Transformers 1 & 2, Twilight 1 & 2, The Polar Express, (Yecchh) The Star Wars Prequels -- don't get me started on those. . . .
Was that more than 2 cents?
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@unknownuser said:
There's no doubt it will make a ton of Money, but I still don't think that'll make Cameron "King of the World" again (He does tend to over-hype himself.) Other similar Movies that also made a ton of money: Transformers 1 & 2, Twilight 1 & 2, The Polar Express, (Yecchh) The Star Wars Prequels -- don't get me started on those. . . .
After 17 days in release, it became the fastest film to reach $1 billion in box office receipts, making the film the fourth highest-grossing of all time, and the fifth to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
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No argument here. Of Course it is destined to make a bazillion Dollars.
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@unknownuser said:
I have a problem with these Motion Capture type movies because they never quite work and come off just looking creepy.
then you should really give Avatar a chance to convince you otherwise. this movie transports motion capture to a completely new level, seriously
in the past the technology has mainly been used to capture the body movements. facial capture was very rudimentary and basic, leaving a lot of work for digital artists to interpret the footage of the actor's performance to create the final image.
with the technology used for Avatar this is a completely different matter, for the actor's facial expressions have been translated almost one to one to the digital character (not for nothing the WETA guys spent almost a year with each character, fine tuning the rigs to the actors faces...).
I actually put Avatar to the test and forced my mother to watch it. she has always refused to watch any cg movie (because she doesn't want these "horrible computer monsters" in her head). but she did like Avatar (and cried a lot - an indicator that she forgot about the blue guys not being real...)
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I have to say David, I was VERY unimpressed by the trailers. I thought the rendering style was hideous, absolutely awful. But the movie feels nothing like the previews looked like. The movie felt very real.
I do think there is a long ways to go, and CG is only going to get better. But this was a huge step in the right direction, and worth seeing on the big screen.
Chris
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