Avatar by Cameron

[johat]

Ok, I have tried to find out what it's all about but I can't really get my mind about it.
People who "merge" with aliens to co-exist on the alien planet?

Why is everyone so convinced it will look astounding? All I have seen is the teaser, and it shows absolutely nothing. It's not meant to rant, I just don't understand what it is about the movie that makes people go nuts about it?

Anyone who knows more who can help me understand what's going to be so bad-ass about Avatar?


Personally, when I'm thinking of Avatar, I'm thinking of the "anime" with the elementalistkids flying around on a big puppy.
Either that, or Hinduism/WH40K Eldar demi-god incarnated.

[r-type]

The "hype" is grounded more in the fact that they are using supposed "game-changing" 3-D camera technology that Cameron & co. have developed, or helped to develop. (Fusion 3D, IIRC). (The end result will still force you to wear glasses, so whatever, take that as you will.)

Not to mention this is his first feature film since Titanic. So naturally, this is gonna come with some of that baggage.

I'm curious about it, and certainly looking forward to it. But praise something I haven't seen yet? From a fan standpoint, sounds like bandwagon jumping to me (on the fans' part). So while I may take industry insiders' opinion with a grain of salt, I'm certainly not going to listen to anybody's blind gushing of this.

Here's a concise (albeit older) article on it:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/avatarnews.php?id=18318


Empire will have a new interview with Cameron in their latest (June 2009) magazine.

[Xsubs]

Ok, I have tried to find out what it's all about but I can't really get my mind about it.
People who "merge" with aliens to co-exist on the alien planet?

Why is everyone so convinced it will look astounding? All I have seen is the teaser, and it shows absolutely nothing. It's not meant to rant, I just don't understand what it is about the movie that makes people go nuts about it?

Anyone who knows more who can help me understand what's going to be so bad-ass about Avatar?


Personally, when I'm thinking of Avatar, I'm thinking of the "anime" with the elementalistkids flying around on a big puppy.
Either that, or Hinduism/WH40K Eldar demi-god incarnated.

To correct you. There is actually no trailer or teaser that has been released yet. All the ones you've seen are fan made.
The reason people are quite excited about it is that A: Its a James Cameron film (all of his movies have been critically acclaimed.). B: James Cameron has described this movie as a new experience of 3D that has never been done before, and people are getting quite anxious about what sort of experience they will get.

[Mobe1969]

Ok, I have tried to find out what it's all about but I can't really get my mind about it.
People who "merge" with aliens to co-exist on the alien planet?

Why is everyone so convinced it will look astounding? All I have seen is the teaser, and it shows absolutely nothing. It's not meant to rant, I just don't understand what it is about the movie that makes people go nuts about it?

Anyone who knows more who can help me understand what's going to be so bad-ass about Avatar?


Personally, when I'm thinking of Avatar, I'm thinking of the "anime" with the elementalistkids flying around on a big puppy.
Either that, or Hinduism/WH40K Eldar demi-god incarnated.

I don't understand why cameron gets any attention. He's a lazy b'stard who has done next to nothing in the last 10 years (other than some stupid documentary and the Dark Angel finale), and all these crap action films of his are chock full of C grade actors (max b grade) and people adore him, but shit on Michael Bay. And from a technical film making side his films look shit in comparison to Bay.

[Xsubs]

I don't understand why Cameron gets any attention. He's a lazy b'stard who has done next to nothing in the last 10 years (other than some stupid documentary and the Dark Angel finale), and all these crap action films of his are chock full of C grade actors (max b grade) and people adore him, but shit on Michael Bay. And from a technical film making side his films look shit in comparison to Bay.

you are kidding me, right?? All of James Cameron's movies have been a critical success. Aliens, The Terminator, Terminator 2, Titanic(highest grossing film of all time a well) were all great masterpieces. They all had good story and character development (which is obviously the most important thing in a movie, even for an action movie)

your obviously one of those people who only like movies because of all the colourful explosions and actions and care less about story and character.
The Transformers movie may be eye candy, but the story and character development was pretty low. Thats why people always give Bay a bashing.
Sorry Bay, i like your movies, but there are much better directors out there.

[nelson]

you are kidding me, right?? All of James Cameron's movies have been a critical success. Aliens, The Terminator, Terminator 2, Titanic(highest grossing film of all time a well) were all great masterpieces. They all had good story and character development (which is obviously the most important thing in a movie, even for an action movie)

your obviously one of those people who only like movies because of all the colourful explosions and actions and care less about story and character.
The Transformers movie may be eye candy, but the story and character development was pretty low. Thats why people always give Bay a bashing.
Sorry Bay, i like your movies, but there are much better directors out there.

Critical success mean only a few people liked it. People that bash Bay are people that aren't even interested in the genre and/or don't understand it.

Cameron's movie in terms of box office and critical acclaim are hit or miss. I personally go to see his movies because of his master craftsman skills & not because of his stories.

Expecting Michael Bay's movies to have the same story and/or character development as a Kubrick film is like expecting Woody Allen to have gore in his movies (although Bay and Kubrick are highly visual directors). I don't know why people expect that?

[nelson]

Sorry Bay, i like your movies, but there are much better directors out there.

Better directors in what? Directing, writing, visuals, cgi, entertaining audiences, ...?

[johat]

The "hype" is grounded more in the fact that they are using supposed "game-changing" 3-D camera technology that Cameron & co. have developed, or helped to develop. (Fusion 3D, IIRC). (The end result will still force you to wear glasses, so whatever, take that as you will.)

Not to mention this is his first feature film since Titanic. So naturally, this is gonna come with some of that baggage.

I'm curious about it, and certainly looking forward to it. But praise something I haven't seen yet? From a fan standpoint, sounds like bandwagon jumping to me (on the fans' part). So while I may take industry insiders' opinion with a grain of salt, I'm certainly not going to listen to anybody's blind gushing of this.

Aha, yes, its easy to give cred to a movie where you "know" the director always makes an epic story. But I agree with you, I can't say I'm that interested until I actually get to see something that speaks to me.

To correct you. There is actually no trailer or teaser that has been released yet. All the ones you've seen are fan made.
The reason people are quite excited about it is that A: Its a James Cameron film (all of his movies have been critically acclaimed.). B: James Cameron has described this movie as a new experience of 3D that has never been done before, and people are getting quite anxious about what sort of experience they will get.

Ahhh... So I got owned. ... and didn't understand shit.
But as I said, regardless of who's the director/screenwriter/whatnot I aint giving anyone any real credit until I see some results.

Mr. Bay gave me some real results with both Jetfire and Devastator which makes his movie [movies] more cred and more excitement than any other "secret" bullcrap revolutionary movie I've ever heard off.
Yeah, sure Alien was a great movie, but I don't wizz my pants just thinking about his next creation of which no one knows jibbedy spliff about more than it will be "epic" and "3D" and "random cool noun".

Bay all the way.

But thanks you guys for trying to explain to my narrowminded mind (heh) what it's all about.

[johat]

(continue...)
But thanks you guys for trying to explain to my narrowminded mind (heh) what it's all about. But I just can't get my mind to accept things that are supposed to be "critically acclaimed".
That is just a sentence that doesn't mean jack shit to me. Whatever the general opinion is about anything, it doesn't mean shit to me, as long as it doesn't speak to me.

If you know where I'm going.

Just because it is supposed to be intelligent, revolutionary, enlightening and mind-blowing, doesn't mean it is.
A lot of people confuse wisdom with flashy mumbo-jumbo nowadays. Imho.

[Mobe1969]

No I am not kidding about cameron. Take all the "critically acclaimed" bullshit out of the equation and watch the films with their low grade actors for what they are. Story and character development? Cameron's action films are crap. You can tell which one was the corman alumnus. The Abyss, I'll agree that is a very good film, but it isn't one of his action ones.

I liked terminator when I was a teen, mainly for the violence. But watching it again older it makes me fucking cringe. It is like a sensitive chick action flick. And T2 - has some moments, but no thanks. And talk about gratuitous Pepsi product placement. It was sad. Aliens - take the plot of Alien and add a few more aliens and there you go. He wasn't even original enough to come up with a plot that was ripped form some other film, he just took it from the first. And seeing the DC of Alien makes you realise how much more he took from the original (the cocooning and impregnating). True Lies - yeah, whatever. Wouldn't bother watching it again. That Jamie Leigh Curtis strip/dancing scene was just so freaking uncomfortable. Felt positively creepy.

[Xsubs]

No I am not kidding about cameron. Take all the "critically acclaimed" bullshit out of the equation and watch the films with their low grade actors for what they are. Story and character development? Cameron's action films are crap. You can tell which one was the corman alumnus. The Abyss, I'll agree that is a very good film, but it isn't one of his action ones.

I liked terminator when I was a teen, mainly for the violence. But watching it again older it makes me fucking cringe. It is like a sensitive chick action flick. And T2 - has some moments, but no thanks. And talk about gratuitous Pepsi product placement. It was sad. Aliens - take the plot of Alien and add a few more aliens and there you go. He wasn't even original enough to come up with a plot that was ripped form some other film, he just took it from the first. And seeing the DC of Alien makes you realise how much more he took from the original (the cocooning and impregnating). True Lies - yeah, whatever. Wouldn't bother watching it again. That Jamie Leigh Curtis strip/dancing scene was just so freaking uncomfortable. Felt positively creepy.

Yeah, True Lies was only the average movie. But for Aliens, Cameron carried on the mythology and it felt like it was a sequel to Alien.
In a majority of the audiences found it better than the first Alien(not to mention he brought a more wide range of audiences to the Alien Franchise). The only thing that screwed up the franchise for alien is the AVP and AVP: Requiem which were horrible movies, and both pretty much had a pointless story lines to just show a bit of gore in front of teenagers.
As for the Terminator movies, you might hate them, but in general they were masterpieces for what they were back then, and still are today.

I liked terminator when I was a teen, mainly for the violence. But watching it again older it makes me fucking cringe. It is like a sensitive chick action flick.

If you actually watched the movie properly, you'd understand that the story is quite deep and not focus on how cool the violence was.

[Xsubs]

No I am not kidding about cameron. Take all the "critically acclaimed" bullshit out of the equation and watch the films with their low grade actors for what they are. Story and character development? Cameron's action films are crap. You can tell which one was the corman alumnus. The Abyss, I'll agree that is a very good film, but it isn't one of his action ones.
.

CRAP????? Wow, that's a first. But i guess everyone has their own opinion.
Explain to me how they were low grade???

So you think the acting in Titanic was crap?? If you thought the acting was crap in that movie then i dont know what you see as good acting.

[Xsubs]

Mr. Bay gave me some real results with both Jetfire and Devastator which makes his movie [movies] more cred and more excitement than any other "secret" bullcrap revolutionary movie I've ever heard off.
Yeah, sure Alien was a great movie, but I don't wizz my pants just thinking about his next creation of which no one knows jibbedy spliff about more than it will be "epic" and "3D" and "random cool noun".

Yes, i praise the artistic vision of what Bay has for the designs of the transformers characters as well as the great action, but im just saying the execution of the story could have been done more serious and better. Also the understanding of the autobots and decepticons wasnt really there in the first movie and you didnt really have the "feel" of the Robots.

Im not trying to bash the movie because i loved the movie for its visual stand of point, but the character development and story kinda bugged me(felt a bit weak).

[Trailbreaker]

Yeah, True Lies was only the average movie. But for Aliens, Cameron carried on the mythology and it felt like it was a sequel to Alien.
In a majority of the audiences found it better than the first Alien(not to mention he brought a more wide range of audiences to the Alien Franchise).

You give Aliens more credit than it really deserves. Don't get me wrong, it was a great film, but what made it so successful was the fact that it was a sequel to Ridley Scott's movie. If it weren't for that, it would just be your typical 80's Science fiction/action film.

Basically, if you replace the species of the aliens with a different kind, replace the characters and their actors as well certain names and a few plot lines, but keep the overall plot line, I guarantee you it would still be like Aliens, and James Cameron's style. The problem is, it wouldn't be as sucessful, because it's not a sequel to Alien.

[BeetleJuice]

Better directors in what? Directing, writing, visuals, cgi, entertaining audiences, ...?

Christopher Nolan???

How about real auteur's who write and direct their own work?

This argument is surreal - and slightly bitter from some of the die hard Bay fans in here.

Michael Bay makes popcorn entertainment for kids. Nothing more.
For that reason alone he will never be regarded in the same bracket as the other greats.
Bay tried a more serious theme with The Island. It failed. Pearl Harbor has some mega errors, Bay's kinetic editing style is not universally loved, his visual style, colors and so on are more appropriately suited for commercials, not motion pictures.

Suggesting their are no better directors than Bay is utter intellectual dishonesty.

[BeetleJuice]

You give Aliens more credit than it really deserves. Don't get me wrong, it was a great film, but what made it so successful was the fact that it was a sequel to Ridley Scott's movie. If it weren't for that, it would just be your typical 80's Science fiction/action film.

Basically, if you replace the species of the aliens with a different kind, replace the characters and their actors as well certain names and a few plot lines, but keep the overall plot line, I guarantee you it would still be like Aliens, and James Cameron's style. The problem is, it wouldn't be as sucessful, because it's not a sequel to Alien.

Name a better sci-fi horror movie than Aliens??? There isn't one. Why?
Because of James Cameron.

[nelson]

Christopher Nolan???

How about real auteur's who write and direct their own work?

Nolan has directed 2 good movie (TDK & TP). Nolan's BM movies are based on comic books while Bay's TF movies are based on a toy franchise, there's no comparison.

This argument is surreal - and slightly bitter from some of the die hard Bay fans in here.

How so? Can't be any different that the surreal expectations of film snobs expecting Bay to make a Kubrick movie.

Michael Bay makes popcorn entertainment for kids. Nothing more.
For that reason alone he will never be regarded in the same bracket as the other greats.

Are you sure? His films are in the Criterion Collection next to Kurosawa, Truffaut, Renoir, Hitchcock, and Fellini.

To deny the impact Bay has had on action movies is ignorant and uninformed.

Bay tried a more serious theme with The Island. It failed. Pearl Harbor has some mega errors, Bay's kinetic editing style is not universally loved, his visual style, colors and so on are more appropriately suited for commercials, not motion pictures.

Says who? Universally loved does not equal film critics, and film snobs who have no understanding of the action genre? They criticized Bay for his style and now every action move copies his or tries to... even your beloved Nolan. Nolan is a great director but suffers from average visuals.

Bay doesn't make movies for the unhappy and miserable few. It's his style that has influence and modified an entire genre.

His films are critic-proof due to the fact that he loves doing what he does, and that has translated into billions in box office receipts. The Island didn't performed like it was expected to not because of lack of critical acclaim but because of it's narrow concept.

Suggesting their are no better directors than Bay is utter intellectual dishonesty.

No one has suggested so. But in the action genre it's hard to find someone that makes visually arresting movie and generates box office.

[nelson]

Name a better sci-fi horror movie than Aliens??? There isn't one. Why?
Because of James Cameron.

Alien, the first one by Ridley Scott.

[D'vasbulique]

I grew up on Transformers. It (along with Voltron) where my favorite cartoons to watch. I'ts awsome to see it "come to life" via modern day technology...thanks cgi.

Anyway,I saw the first one (dozens of times) and certainly plan on seeing the second one. I think anyone who saw the first one was hoping and praying that there would be a second. And while I haven't seen the second one yet....I am already hoping and pryaing that there will be a third.

I just hope that the decepticons win in this one....I'm tired of the gods guys always winning...it's predictable.

[hautbasclair]

I grew up on Transformers. It (along with Voltron) where my favorite cartoons to watch. I'ts awsome to see it "come to life" via modern day technology...thanks cgi.

Anyway,I saw the first one (dozens of times) and certainly plan on seeing the second one. I think anyone who saw the first one was hoping and praying that there would be a second. And while I haven't seen the second one yet....I am already hoping and pryaing that there will be a third.

I just hope that the decepticons win in this one....I'm tired of the gods guys always winning...it's predictable.

What?

Having Bay, Cameron, Nolan and Scott is the same thread is priceless. Let's not ruin it.

[Trailbreaker]

Alien, the first one by Ridley Scott.

Word.

[Mobe1969]

CRAP????? Wow, that's a first. But i guess everyone has their own opinion.
Explain to me how they were low grade???

So you think the acting in Titanic was crap?? If you thought the acting was crap in that movie then i dont know what you see as good acting.

I said his action films. Of which I don't class Titanic, or The Abyss.

Name a better sci-fi horror movie than Aliens??? There isn't one. Why?
Because of James Cameron.

Alien
The Thing

Fuck Aliens. Like Trailbreaker said, if Alien didn't exist it'd be just another shit sci fi action flick like say moontrap. It'd be worse, as cameron would have actually had to try thinking of a plot himself rather than just lifting it from the original. Plot for Alien / Aliens:
- Going to investigate distress signal
- Get attacked by alien/aliens and picked off one by one
- Ship/planet about to go nuclear
- Last minute rescue of cat/child
- Last second escape from nuclear explosion
- Alien snuck on board
- Fight with last alien
- Blow Alien out of air lock
- Go to hypersleep
- Roll credits

Fuck cameron and his lazy assed rip off. And like the producers were saying in the Alien Resurrection docos, cameron also left them in a difficult situation of having to either do something drastic like kill them off in the sequel, or turn it into a Brady Bunch in space.

Word.

Double Word...

[Xsubs]

I said his action films. Of which I don't class Titanic, or The Abyss.



Alien
The Thing

Fuck Aliens. Like Trailbreaker said, if Alien didn't exist it'd be just another shit sci fi action flick like say moontrap. It'd be worse, as cameron would have actually had to try thinking of a plot himself rather than just lifting it from the original. Plot for Alien / Aliens:
- Going to investigate distress signal
- Get attacked by alien/aliens and picked off one by one
- Ship/planet about to go nuclear
- Last minute rescue of cat/child
- Last second escape from nuclear explosion
- Alien snuck on board
- Fight with last alien
- Blow Alien out of air lock
- Go to hypersleep
- Roll credits

Fuck cameron and his lazy assed rip off. And like the producers were saying in the Alien Resurrection docos, cameron also left them in a difficult situation of having to either do something drastic like kill them off in the sequel, or turn it into a Brady Bunch in space.



Double Word...

Alien Resurrection was a crap movie. They should've just stopped at Aliens.
Every Alien fan praised Camerons work in Aliens for its good plot, character and action and how he carried on the mythology.
Alien 3 and resurrection were just fillers, nothing more, nothing less.

If the acting was so bad in the movie then why did the main actress (Sigourney Weaver) get a Academy Award nomination for Best Actress??

Fuck Aliens. Like Trailbreaker said, if Alien didn't exist it'd be just another shit sci fi action flick like say moontrap. It'd be worse, as cameron would have actually had to try thinking of a plot himself rather than just lifting it from the original

Its called carrying on the Mythology

[Jammed9000]

Well, what conclusion can we come to people?

[Trailbreaker]

Well, what conclusion can we come to people?

I'm going with what R-Type said.