jesus people, just watch a movie to be entertained...good god

1/3/2010 10:00:18 PM

ITS JUST JIBBA JABBA

BTW this movie is already over 1 billion world wide

1/3/2010 10:11:21 PM

I had the pleasure of seeing the movie "Avatar" today in glorious 3D. The beautiful cinematography is enough for me to recommend the movie to anyone. Reviewers have mistakenly depicted Avatar as a love story. It is clear that Avatar is a religious story.

James Cameron's follow up to the epic love story of "Titanic" is not another love story. The love between Jake Sully, and Neytiri is shallow. Neytiri never seems comfortable with Jake; who tends to suddenly collapse into unconsciousness as his remote brain is disconnected from his avatar's body. Jake's true love appears to be the spiritualism of the Na'vi, the native people of the planet Pandora.

Avatar is a Trinitarian religious story modeled after Christianity. The religion of the Nevi is a step up from "The Force" that the Jedi relied on in "Star Wars". The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have their elementary counterparts in this film. The Na'vi's answer to Christianity's Holy Father Yahweh is Eywa, or Mother Nature. The Holy Spirit is depicted as a network of roots between the pious trees. Modest imagination was used to name it "The Spirit". Through prayer to Eywa, The Spirit is able to garner the cooperation of the native animals to provide a miraculous victory for the Na'vi.

Jesus, The Son, is present in the character of Jake Sully. Jake is immaculately reborn in the opening sequence from cryopreservation. He is taught the religion of the Na'vi, and converts from godless capitalism. His prayers to the Mother Eywa are answered by the The Spirit as he leads his disciples in the final battle for the planet. He is even resurrected after willingly offering his life for the chance to become his avatar.

For me, Avatar's trinity rings hollow compared to Christianity. Whether or not it sinks to the level of sacrilegious, I will defer to theologians. Mother Nature is less than a week's work for Yahweh (see Genesis), and Jake Sully is a far cry from Jesus. Still, if the spirituality of Avatar is enticing, you may find Christianity enthralling. It's coming soon to a church near you.

1/3/2010 10:31:16 PM

poopface quoting others all day on TWW ITT

1/3/2010 10:41:23 PM

haha yeah i didn't write that, i posted it in response to:

Quote :

"jesus people, just watch a movie to be entertained...good god"

1/3/2010 10:43:03 PM

haha, indeed

1/3/2010 10:44:32 PM

dammit FOX had the fake trailer from the original post removed, has another been posted? Haven't read this thread in a while.

1/4/2010 1:19:35 AM

'Avatar' tops $1 billion at worldwide box office
James Cameron sci-fi pic the fourth highest grosser of all time

Quote :

"Twentieth Century Fox's 'Avatar' reached a worldwide cume of $1.02 billion through Sunday, leading the most lucrative Christmas season in history. 'Avatar' becomes the fourth highest grosser ever, behind James Cameron's 'Titanic' ($1.8 billion), 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' ($1.12 billion) and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' ($1.07 billion). 'Avatar' should soon eclipse the latter two pics. Over New Year's weekend, 'Avatar' grossed an estimated $68.3 million from 3,461 runs at the domestic B.O. -- the best number ever for a film in its third weekend -- for a cume of $352.1 million in its 17th day in release."

Quote :

"Of 'Avatar's' global total, $66.4 million has come from Imax theaters, a record for the large-format exhib."

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118013236.html

1/4/2010 1:28:32 AM

That doesn't make sense... removing a trailer from a site offering a large user base and free hosting? Oh well, maybe they get paid for it being hosted elsewhere? Apple has the teaser and trailer in many different HD offerings for your enjoyment.

1/4/2010 1:28:45 AM

Oh, never mind. How did FOX claim copyright on that?

1/4/2010 1:57:09 AM

^^the post i was referring to had a fake cartoon trailer.

you don't make sense.

[Edited on January 4, 2010 at 2:07 AM. Reason : .]

1/4/2010 2:06:51 AM

Quote :

" Alex avatar reminded me of the videogame that i have never played SPORE Jonathan well spore had better dialogue "

[Edited on January 4, 2010 at 4:15 AM. Reason : .]

1/4/2010 4:15:29 AM

1/4/2010 6:22:42 AM

^ that was dumb.

1/4/2010 9:10:47 AM

Well, so was the movie's story.

If these giant floating mountains are doing so because of their unobtanium content, why the fuck are they blowing up hometree? Seems like they could cut the roots holding the mountain down and drag it over to the camp to mine.

1/4/2010 1:28:55 PM

haha good point.

1/4/2010 1:42:30 PM

anyone seen this in both 3d and regular? Is 3d worth the surcharge?

1/4/2010 2:15:15 PM

considering the only positive about this movie is the visual experience, I would say yes, go for 3D. It really is nice to look at.

1/4/2010 2:25:00 PM

Quote :

"Is 3d worth the surcharge?"

I would argue that you haven't seen this movie unless you've seen it in 3D IMAX.

1/4/2010 6:18:26 PM

Quote :

"That doesn't change the fact that this movie is just regurgitated 'military bad natives good' rawr rawr rawr bullshit that hollywood stuffs in a lot of its products. It's dances with wolves on another planet."

I've never seen dances with wolves, but as has been pointed out, it wasn't the military doing the mining, it was a corporation hiring people. And it couldn't have been "military bad rawr rawr" because it required the Navis to assemble their own military to kill, fight, and die for their cause.

You have just formed a mental block for some reason against seeing what the movie was actually trying to say, for what you assume "hollywood types" always do. This mentality of judging things based on your pre-existing perceptions actually seems to carry over into other areas for you too...

Quote :

"I wouldn't call it upset, just hugely disappointing. It can be quite distracting when you're trying to suspend your disbelief and get engrossed in a movie and they keep taking 'shock and awe' pot shots."

lol, are you serious?

"shock and awe" is the name of a strategy that apparently was pioneered during the recent Iraq war campaign. It is a point of history more than a pot shot.

Quote :

"On a more specific note, there was nothing done to really give me any compassion for the na'vi. They weren't particularly bright or competent. After all it took a random human grunt to tame their super red flying fella(omg fly above him guise!) and actually bring them together enough to put up some kind of a fight."

The humans role wasn't to rally them, they were doing that on their own. The human guy's insight was more in what strategies the other humans were going to use, and the weaknesses in their technology.

1/4/2010 6:32:29 PM

I'm hardly the type to bitch about hollywood liberalism, but the utter transparency behind using the phrases "pre-emptive strike" and "shock and awe" (would anyone besides a historian know that phrase in 2154?) made me roll me eyes.

1/4/2010 6:49:26 PM

come on seriously.... I'm not complaining about the liberal potshots against the bush administration. I think the movie is good despite them. Are you seriously denying the milieu of this film's creation??

1/4/2010 7:03:38 PM

^^certain popular phrases are used over and over, and can last hundreds if not thousands of years

1/4/2010 7:14:12 PM

Quote :

"If these giant floating mountains are doing so because of their unobtanium content, why the fuck are they blowing up hometree? Seems like they could cut the roots holding the mountain down and drag it over to the camp to mine."

I thought that as well at first.

The floating mountains do NOT have the mineral in them. The fields in the ground caused them to float from what I remember.

Maybe someone else has a clearer understanding of this.

I thought the ore floated because in the trailer the guy pulls the rock out of the magnetic field. The rock doesn't float. It was in a field that made it float.

1/4/2010 7:33:16 PM

^ if unobtanium is a room temperature super conductor, then the mountains themselves would have to have either rich concentrations of it, or some source of a magnetic field. It was never explained in the movies though that the mountains floated because of unobtanium in them (only something about a “flux vortex”).

Quote :

"come on seriously.... I'm not complaining about the liberal potshots against the bush administration. I think the movie is good despite them. Are you seriously denying the milieu of this film's creation?? "

I’m not arguing that you can interpret the message of the movie to be considered “liberal” i’m saying that the reasons that Lokken is saying he didn’t like the movie make no sense and are mostly imagined in his head, to comfort himself that his world-view is perfect.

This is a much better explanation of what the movie was about, that doesn’t require you to feign offense that some big-shot Hollywood type was taking pot shots at your precious George Bush:
(note: spoilers)
http://imgur.com/JmRmb

1/4/2010 8:09:18 PM

I think it was clearly referring to Iraq, Oil, and diplomatic solutions.

Clearly.

I am not saying it is wrong or right, but being so obvious about it almost takes you out of the movie because you are automatically reminded of it when the lines are spoken.

1/4/2010 8:43:58 PM

I took the "flux vortex" to be a localized and constrained magnetic field.

1/4/2010 9:16:29 PM

I wouldn't go so far as to say it was referring to oil, but there was clearly a cheap shot when he made the war mongering bad guy use some phrases that Bush coined.

I mean come on guys, we're in our twenties.

1/4/2010 11:07:11 PM

Hey guys, you do realize every story has already been told right?

Shakespeare pretty much put the nail in the coffin of any sort of original plot line.

And everyone who says it's some leftist Bush/Oil/Middle East reference is smoking some serious wacky weed. If anything the movie is looking at the perils of Corporatocracy, and the value of life.

Oil is not a scarce commodity, a better comparison would be the diamond trade, but even then not really. It was also never said what unobtanium is used FOR, other than it being insanely valuable.

This wasn't about imperialism or overthrow or oil or capitalism, so no clue where the fuck you tards are getting Bush from. Same for the middle east. Different culture != different life forms.

1/4/2010 11:23:16 PM

Where are we getting Bush from? Oh, let's see, perhaps from the awkward use of phrases that he coined!

Quote :

"there was clearly a cheap shot when he made the war mongering bad guy use some phrases that Bush coined."

srsly people.

1/4/2010 11:33:22 PM

Quote :

"I've never seen dances with wolves, but as has been pointed out, it wasn't the military doing the mining, it was a corporation hiring people. And it couldn't have been "military bad rawr rawr" because it required the Navis to assemble their own military to kill, fight, and die for their cause. You have just formed a mental block for some reason against seeing what the movie was actually trying to say, for what you assume "hollywood types" always do. This mentality of judging things based on your pre-existing perceptions actually seems to carry over into other areas for you too..."

You're going to argue that just because all of the military types in this movie weren't an actual army that there are no correlations? And you're accusing others of building a mental block? They were specifically called ex-military. Even the main character said 'oooo-ra' during the film. Are you that dense to the connection that was being made?

Quote :

"The humans role wasn't to rally them, they were doing that on their own. The human guy's insight was more in what strategies the other humans were going to use, and the weaknesses in their technology."

They were rallying on their own? Are you kidding? Perhaps we saw different films. The ONLY rallying that occurred was when our main character plucked their aviation god out of the sky and came down to them. Otherwise all they were doing was crying to their tree of souls.

And what weaknesses did he expose for the na'vi? The only strategy employed was sending a bunch of horse and ground troops to be completely leveled by machine gun fire and then having all their fliers hide really high and swoop in (to very little actual effect). The only way they won was the planet sending countless hordes of animals after them. The na'vi got their asses thoroughly handed to them; the planet defeated the humans. And it was the human the planet responded to; not the na'vi.

I don't really give a shit about politics or the Bush administration; I have no interest in defending them or chastising them; but its pretty clear many in Hollywood do. You have to be incredibly dense or in a state of denial not to see the correlations drawn in this movie. You have to be even further dense and in denial to think someone recognizing them has some kind of mental block.

I can accept that it doesn't affect many people's enjoyment of the film. Its pretty obvious by this thread. I simply found it very disappointing that Cameron chose to go down that road with his 'baby' instead of trying to make a more original or compelling story. There are some very cool things going on in this film aside from the visuals. The cookie-cutter re-hashed political message of the story just zapped much of the enjoyment from that stuff for me. That's all.

1/4/2010 11:47:14 PM

...[T]he more blatant lesson of Avatar is not that American imperialism is bad, but that in fact it’s necessary. Sure there are some bad Americans—the ones with tanks ready to mercilessly kill the Na’vi population, but Jake is set up as the real embodiment of the American spirit. He learns Na’vi fighting tactics better than the Na’vi themselves, he takes the King’s daughter for his own, he becomes the only Na’vi warrior in centuries to tame this wild dragon bird thing. Even in someone else’s society the American is the chosen one. He’s going to come in, lead your army, fuck your princesses, and just generally save the day for you. Got it? This is how we do it.
http://thisrecording.com/today/2009/12/23/in-which-we-teach-james-cameron-a-thing-or-two.html

1/5/2010 12:11:18 AM

Quote :

"And everyone who says it's some leftist Bush/Oil/Middle East reference is smoking some serious wacky weed. If anything the movie is looking at the perils of Corporatocracy, and the value of life. "

^^ Most mercenaries are ex-military IRL. It wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t ex-military. This isn’t a dig at the military or bush, this is a reflection on reality. I don’t know anyone who impugns the military for the shenanigans of BLackwater, and the handful of people i know in the armed forces hate the mercenaries in Blackwater.

Quote :

"And what weaknesses did he expose for the na'vi? The only strategy employed was sending a bunch of horse and ground troops to be completely leveled by machine gun fire and then having all their fliers hide really high and swoop in (to very little actual effect). "

You just answered your own question. The Pandorans wouldn’t have used overwhelming numbers, or stabbed them through the glass, or anything like that if it weren’t for Sully. They’d never fought that kind of enemy, and his help was very valuable. It’s mind boggling that you can’t see this.

Quote :

"You have to be incredibly dense or in a state of denial not to see the correlations drawn in this movie. You have to be even further dense and in denial to think someone recognizing them has some kind of mental block. "

The correlations only exist, because it’s recent history. It’s not some concerted effort to pick on Bush, it’s just that he was president during the time of the movie, and embarked on the last significant modern military operation. When clinton was president, there were definitely references to the Bosnian conflicts in media, but it wasn’t to pick on Clinton, it was because of the time. To hate the movie because you felt he was specifically trying to mock Bush or conservatives is bizarre, and reflects on issues you have personally i think. If you find yourself enjoying the film less as a result of this, then you really need to re-evaluate your real life view of politics/politicians… perhaps just take a deep breath, and relax, and try to realize that you’re not personally under attack.

[Edited on January 5, 2010 at 12:17 AM. Reason : ]

1/5/2010 12:17:03 AM

Also, this tired story has historically ended the same way. The indigenous people don't win. I wonder if they have the balls to end the trilogy without a happy ending.

[Edited on January 5, 2010 at 12:28 AM. Reason : asdf]

1/5/2010 12:22:51 AM

^ no story has had a planet that was actually a giant brain.

Although there was a Stargate episode when the indigenous people had shape shifting aliens looking over them.



[Edited on January 5, 2010 at 12:27 AM. Reason : ]

1/5/2010 12:26:23 AM

I was referring to the indigenous people versus advanced civilization story.

i.e.
American Indians vs Settlers
Aborigines vs British
Na'vi vs 2154 Space Marines

1/5/2010 12:33:22 AM

^ What about Romans vs. Germans

Teutoburg Forest 2160

(look it up)

1/5/2010 1:04:12 AM

Where are we getting Bush from? Oh, let's see, perhaps from the awkward use of phrases that he coined!

Quote :

"there was clearly a cheap shot when he made the war mongering bad guy use some phrases that Bush coined."

srsly people.

1/5/2010 8:13:29 AM

1/5/2010 8:41:14 AM

Quote :

"You just answered your own question. The Pandorans wouldn’t have used overwhelming numbers, or stabbed them through the glass, or anything like that if it weren’t for Sully. They’d never fought that kind of enemy, and his help was very valuable. It’s mind boggling that you can’t see this."

I feel like you're trolling now. Stabbed through the glass? Really? They have killed plenty of humans before Sully got there. Hell it took him 6 years to get there. They knew how to kill them.

And if by overwhelming numbers you mean Sully rallied all of their tribes together; then yes. I notice you ignored all of that. How exactly again were they rallying themselves? They weren't.

Quote :

"To hate the movie because you felt he was specifically trying to mock Bush or conservatives is bizarre"

When did I say anything about conservatives? I don't think it was specifically trying to mock Bush; but there were definitely pot shots taken. You have to be completely mental to not notice them. They weren't the focus of the entire film like you seem to think I think; but they are there and are old and annoying. I would find it annoying regardless of the political stance of the person being mocked or represented. But of course you don't know that, you just assume I'm a conservative who loves Bush.

Quote :

"try to realize that you’re not personally under attack."

I never claimed to be personally under attack. Are you sure you're even arguing with me, or something you cook up in your head so your responses make more sense to you? I found all of the political undertones disappointing and distracting. pot shots at the previous administration were only a part of my issue. I am finding the more I think about it that its not even the specific message that I find annoying; its the fact that it is so over-used and redundant and he still went with it.

1/5/2010 9:15:11 AM

Can someone tell me how do i get to the Entertainment section of TWW? I heard there was an Avatar thread there that I would like to participate in but for some reason I can only see Soap Box threads.

1/5/2010 4:48:18 PM

Are you guys serious with this shit? The plot of avatar is told in every history book of every grade until college graduation and you're debating it?

1/5/2010 7:52:44 PM

Quote :

"When did I say anything about conservatives? I don't think it was specifically trying to mock Bush; but there were definitely pot shots taken. You have to be completely mental to not notice them. They weren't the focus of the entire film like you seem to think I think; but they are there and are old and annoying. I would find it annoying regardless of the political stance of the person being mocked or represented. But of course you don't know that, you just assume I'm a conservative who loves Bush. "

So you’re saying you like your movies devoid of any and all connections with the real world? In your opinion, art should never reflect reality?

1/5/2010 7:58:29 PM

The storyline wasn't exactly like Iraq, but the dialog made it about Iraq. Thats why I don't like it. It takes a perfectly good situation and forces the parallels into your face. NO SHIT its similar, I don't want the most recognizable quotes from the Iraq war in a movie which requires suspension of disbelief!

1/5/2010 8:10:03 PM

Quote :

"I don't want the most recognizable quotes from the Iraq war in a movie which requires suspension of disbelief!"

Even though I don't think there were any references to the Iraq war proper in Avatar, I think this quote neatly sums up why the Bush quotes were annoying. They were jarring and out of place, awkardly inserted into the script.

They broke the fourth wall, which, for this movie, was inartistic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall)

[Edited on January 5, 2010 at 10:28 PM. Reason : s]

1/5/2010 10:28:35 PM

Quote :

"anyone seen this in both 3d and regular?"

Yes. Saw it with my parents in Charlotte in IMAX 3D and saw it a second time with my wife's parents in Asheboro regular. Pay the extra $Texas and set aside a night to see in downtown Raleigh in IMAX 3D.

1/5/2010 10:35:27 PM

Jesus fuck. The main point of this movie is not the story its the new technology and visuals. So much went into the fucking visual aspect of this movie that it would have been too much to write an entirely 100% and unique story. So they modified an existing good story to go along with the visual masterpiece.

Stop bitching over little shit and enjoy the movie for what it was. A visual fucking masterpiece that was bad ass in every way and unlike anything we have seen before.

1/5/2010 10:53:46 PM

saw it today and WOW, i am excited for the future of movies
but i wish i saw it at imax 3d,
as much fun as this was im not sure i wanna sit through it again at imax but we'll see

1/6/2010 12:03:49 AM

Quote :

"So much went into the fucking visual aspect of this movie that it would have been too much to write an entirely 100% and unique story. So they modified an existing good story to go along with the visual masterpiece. "

that's such a lame excuse for such a shitty story.

Supposedly Cameron has been planning this movie for 12 years, but only in the last 3-4 has the tech been good enough to really get the major work done on it. So in the first 8 years of twiddling his thumbs the only story he could come up with was a cheesy rip-off of Europeans v. Native Americans, then throw in a bunch of weak, heavy-handed "war is bad" dialoge?

Like I said before, Cameron proved he can create a technological masterpiece and wrap an amazing story around it: Terminator 2
He could have created another masterpiece to show off the amazing new tech, but nope.... he chose the easy way out.

1/6/2010 12:13:52 AM

Set em up

Story was unoriginal yet still good.

1/6/2010 12:49:34 AM