Avatar - A new Era of Cinema begins
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Hi folks.
I just saw it yesterday in a 3D digital equipped theater. The only word that come to my mind is WOW !!!
Of course the plot is not new but the attention given to details is awesome.
I will never get the same complete trill when watching 2D movies, even on a big screen.
I was with my wife and she did not like the experience. She walked out of the cinema feeling dizzy.
I think that, since we were quite close to the screen, we where completely immersed in the 3D pictures. With all this action and all these movements, added to the lack of a fixed and known static reference, like the wall of a theater, it is possible that some person's equilibrium system may get affected. To day, I heard that one of my wife's sister got the same effect.
Hey, this is just an idea, as usual.
Some will remember how 2001 a Space Odyssey redefined Science Fiction movies, how Star Wars improved on it, how Alien added the dark side to it. Now, AVATAR add the complete "out of this world experience". It will be quite a challenge for other film makers to use 3D in all movies but I might see this as a coming standard, at least for films with out of this world stories, or even music shows, and, after all, why not every movie.
But, for me, again, WOW. A big
for Mr Cameron and his team.Happy new year 2010 to all. Hey, this will be the year used by Arthur C. Clarke for its second story "2010 Odyssey 2". Are they due for a remake of the previous version that was not that bad but ... in 3D .. well ... one can hope. And I can also dream that some days, a film maker will create a set of movies based on another incredible A. C. Clarke work, the RAMA tetralogy (four books in total).
Just ideas.
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@gaieus said:
Well, I like fantasy films, I like Sci-fi, western and action.
This is all in one (after all, those aliens are just masqueraded Indians...)
don't forget the little bit of love story - to please the female customers!
(although I have to say, I found the 4m high, blue-skinned, long-tailed Na-ví to be quite attractive...
)@mike lucey said:
Like Tom, I'm not into this type of film much but would enjoy the 3D experience. Anyway, I checked my local cinema and they are only showing it in 2D!!! I wonder is it that they have not got the special 3D glasses of is there a special projection system involved?
actually, you need a digital projection system to show these movies in 3D. and they are rather expensive still - something around 100 000 $ as far as I know. so not every cinema will be able to invest that sort of money.
but for several reasons all movies (2D and 3D alike) will be projected digitally eventually:
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one copy of a 35mm film is several hundret bugs (depending on the quality even something like 1000$ as far as I know). so if the producers want a movie to start at many cinemas at the same time, thats a lot of money just for copying the movie.
with digital projection the cinema just has to download the movie (or get it via post on a hard disc).
and the projectionist doesn't have to drag huge film reels around, that easily measure 1m in diameter (and isn't in danger of dropping it - to have a kilometer of film in a mess on the floor ) -
the digital copy doesn't lose quality during usage. it will always maintain the same high quality, whereas the analog copy will gain scratches over time.
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35mm film has been around for quite some time now and probably is as good as it can get by now. the resolution of this sort of film is equivalent to 3000 lines on a digital image. but during the process of making the movie (cutting, copying, etc.) the quality is reduced to about 2000 vertical lines. therefore most movies, that have a lot of digital effects, get scanned with a 2K scanner (which is 1080 lines), digital effects are added in the same resolution and it is finally printed again in the same resolution.
digital cinema projectors however can already cope with a 4K resolution (4.096 × 2.048). therefore a digital image can already seem sharper and crisper, than an analog one.
(I hope I have got the numbers right here. but I've seen digital projections of 2D movies on a big screen. and it is very crisp and colourful)
and bear in mind, that the age of digital projection only just began. so we can await huge improvements on that front. -
the job of a projectionist will become a lot easier. he just has to assemble commercials, trailers and the main movie to a nice programm on a computer and assign it to a projector.
he can't make any mistakes when initially preparing the movie (the analog copy arrives at the cinema in several little reels, that the projectionist has to glue together to one big film).
and the projectors having no moving parts appart from the cooling system means a lot less maintennance and little danger of the lens getting out of focus.
(of course there are downsides as well to this technology. when I watched 'New Moon' for instance there were several interuptions, when image and audio froze for seconds, like with a scratched dvd)
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A quite good view of an alien world. I like the plants self-lightning. A lot of theses fantastic creations already exist on Earth in deep sea, but other are not really possible ( remember the small flying reptiles with their rotating wing ). Nevertheless, even if it's "the good savage myth" and Mother Nature, I got a real pleasure to watch this movie.
MALAISE
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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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