Thought I'd start a discussion thread since this started showing at 5pm around Australia today. I'm going to the 8.30pm session at Indooroopilly. Fully prepared to have my eyeballs f***ed with some awesome 3D. :D

For those who've been hiding under a rock the last few months here is the trailer.

going tonight, no 3d. will report back to this thread after.

going tonight, no 3d.

now thats just f***ing retarded. this movie is meant to be seen in 3d. what cinema you seeing it at?


i have my gold class ticket for sunday

palace, barracks, my life is in 3d, do i really need to watch movies in the 3d's too ?

this one. yes.

i'll just cross my eyes and do the magic eye trick

Hanging out for tightass Tuesday. Just can't bring myself to fork out the kind of scratch they expect for a standard-price movie ticket these days.

I'll be going to see it at South Bank, probably on Friday. I really want to see it in 3D, but the screen that'll be showing the 3D sessions is absolutely tiny compared to the normal screening. I guess I'll just see it once in 3D an once on the big screen.

wow would have thought the big screen at southbank would be in 3D. guess they dont have the projector for it.

Awesome movie puts anything released this year to absolute shame.

I just saw it.

It would make a great screensaver.

Visuals are awesome. Story is pretty good. Was never really engaged with the whole thing though. Lots of recycled bits from James Cameron movies.

It was pretty formulaic; if you've seen the trailers then I can't post any spoilers because you've already seen them in the trailer and pretty much anything else you can easily extrapolate.

Worth seeing on the big screen just for the visuals, but if you've got a decent home theatre rig I reckon you could wait for the DVD.

Can you do home theatre 3d? I CBF doing spoiler tags, this thread should be obvious.

I thought it was awesome. There can be no doubt that it will pick up at least one oscar (sfx) and probably a couple more.

I'm not sure if it was a great movie or a great bit of entertainment. I was surprised that I gave a s*** about the blue aliens, and found myself thinking about whether I thought humans would really behave like that ... probably a yes :(

The writing was OK (no f***ing Lucas dialogue ftw) but there were no one liners that I reckon we'll be quoting. No 'game over man', 'in the pipe, five by five' or 'nuke the site from orbits' that I could see.

In any case its the first time since I went see a LOTR film that I didn't feel like BCC had raped my wallet. 100% FOTY for me.

last edited by Hogfather at 23:02:19 16/Dec/09

I would definitely say it's a great bit of entertainment, but I also enjoyed it as a movie. I didn't see it 3d, but definitely want to now.

I didn't see it 3d, but definitely want to now.

It's a useful artistic tool, adds real depth to the movie.

You're so funny you should do a stand up ... in the corner.

^ that was way worse than my joke :P

I dunno. I actually lol'd at eXemplar's joke. Yours just made me rollseyes

Wow my pun made you roll your eyes? What an unexpected development.

I remember you now. You were one of the 9/11 conspiracy nut jobs from my 9/11 thread. How's crazy treatin' ya?

Are you referring to me? Because I'm pretty sure I never posted in any 9/11 thread - nor am I dumb enough to be a conspiracy nut. But good work hun, keep guessing.

Heh, I'm with sparrow on this one. Also don't remember that 9/11 conspiracy thread, but it sounds good - heading there now...

You're right I just checked it wasn't you, fiddle.

Pinky - there are a few of them.

Pinky - there are a few of them.

Hehe, yes. Yes, there are! But at least they make the world colourful :-P

In any case its the first time since I went see a LOTR film that I didn't feel like BCC had raped my wallet.

Yeh, that's definitely true. It's sorta sad though that we have to walk out of films these days and go "well, at least I didn't get f***ED this time", and that's a really uncommon occurrence :(

meh i just go to cineplex cinemas and never feel that way.

This movie is a masterpiece. Stunning visuals, excellent cast, gripping storyline. I was hooked from go.

Just saw this in 3D and have to say I thought it was epic.

This movie is a masterpiece. Stunning visuals, excellent cast, gripping storyline. I was hooked from go.

That pretty much sums up what I thought too. James Cameron has done a terrific job!

Worth seeing on the big screen just for the visuals, but if you've got a decent home theatre rig I reckon you could wait for the DVD.

I'd have to disagree, definitely one to see in 3d IMO.

Can you do home theatre 3d?

you would need a 3d capable projector or tv + the glasses.

I like bad guys you can love to hate, and these bad guys were BAD.

last edited by infi at 10:48:05 17/Dec/09

meh i just go to cineplex cinemas and never feel that way.

Despite there being 3 cinemas within a 10 minute drive, I would need to spend a few hundred dollars on a plane ticket to avoid BCC.

The visuals were so incredible. Absolute candy for the eyeballs.

Yeh, that's definitely true. It's sorta sad though that we have to walk out of films these days and go "well, at least I didn't get f***ED this time", and that's a really uncommon occurrence :(

It takes a $500 million dollar film to do that.

I like bag guys you can love to hate, and these bad guys were BAD.

It's amazing that a film can make you deplore humans as a race.

Go see this film.

I think I might go see it again..

Just came back from seeing it 3D, amazing movie. 3D made it so fkn awsome, so much s*** to look at... MOAR!

so much alien boob too.

How did you guys go with the 3d? I haven't seen a modern film in 3d yet and took a while to get used to it (half the reason I wanna give it another run). It felt like a bit more effort to watch, normally watching a movie is very passive but this felt a lot more active as you switched focus around?

Absolutely incredible.

Stephen Lang as the Colonel.. just an awesome character, dude was f***ing hardcore.

On my drive home I'm just thinking, wow - so dreary compared to the amazing luminescent forests of Pandora. Such an amazing world was created there with so much detail. Loved the little scenes like when Jake was tapping on the big mushrooms.

Where did everyone go see it at? What's the other cineplex theatres at south bank like? (the epic screen doesn't have 3d)

I don't know what format they are projecting in at South Bank. Must be Dolby 3D. Most people tend to say to see it in RealD. The only theatres in Qld that do RealD tend to be the Event Cinemas (BCC, Greater Union, Hoyts, Village)

http://reald.com/Content/Theatre-Locator.aspx

The projector in Cinema 5 at South Bank would be s*** if they tried to show it in 3D. Upscaled onto an IMAX size screen with only normal film would give everyone headaches in 3D.


That aside, the pacing on the movie was excellent. The time just flew by.

dolby3d and reald are pretty much identical.

Upscaled onto an IMAX size screen with only normal film would give everyone headaches in 3D.

if they were able to show it in 3D, im sure they would use the imax 3d version of the film.

Thing is though, will it make back the $500 million american yuan?

Hmm my prediction is it will break even.
The main demographic for this movie is pretty narrow and I can't see millions of chicks going back for a repeat viewing like they did with Titanic.

no way will it just "break even"
people are going to eat this up, i havent even seen the moofie and i can tell you it will go gang busters everywhere

OK here are all the things I didn't like about this movie; I digested overnight and am now ready to release them unto ye.

THAR BE SPOILERS AHEAD! AVERT EYES.




- bad guys were weak. I'm surprised you guys are talking about them so positively. The Marine dude was just OTT and pointlessly evil other than his bizarre compulsion to commit genocide. Giovanni Ribisi was trying so hard to be Burke (from Aliens, you newbs) and he just couldn't pull it off - if only because his character didn't get enough face time.

- Minor gripe - the main plot of the movie - needing to mine unobtanium - was driven by their need to get to that deposit under the hometree. They actually said at the start that it was "closest one within a thousand miles". I found it annoying that they crossed interstellar space, they have jillions of space shuttles and flying things, and they can't wander off a little bit further to find a new mining camp that doesn't have aliens sitting on top of it. No link was established between the presence of hometrees and unobtanium which would have been the obvious plot device to explain this away.

- Plot was thoroughly obvious and - for me - almost completely unengaging. At no time was I sitting on the edge of my seat completely absorbed in the movie wondering what was going to happen, like I was in almost every other JC movie - just because it was all so thoroughly formulaic.

- (SPOILER ALERT AGAIN) - why, at the end, when the Navi were attacking the humans from the sky and the ground, did they do a suicide rush straight at the humans with their superior firepower? It was just an utterly stupid plot device to make it look like they were on the back foot and there was absolutely nothing remotely reasonable about it at all. EVEN THE f***ING EWOKS FIGURED THAT s*** OUT.

- Why did the mechs carry their guns? Surely if you were building a big walking tank thing, you would staple the guns to the them so they couldn't, just for example, get dropped when in hand-to-hand combat with a 12 foot tall human/alien hybrid. While I'm bitching about technology, do they seriously not have bullet - or even arrow - proof glass 150 years in the future?

- EDIT - Hoggy reminded me of this one - WHY WAS THIS MADE AS A KIDS MOVIE? When we were sitting in the cinema and it started to fill up with people that were clearly under 15, I started worrying. I had just assumed Cameron wouldn't make a movie that was less than MA15+, but it's M and it so shows in the plot and characters and dialogue.

One thing I was wondering about. To control an avatar does the person lay down in the chamber thingy at the base? If so, how does Sam's avatar go against the military guys without them just pulling the plug on him so to speak?

One thing I was wondering about. To control an avatar does the person lay down in the chamber thingy at the base? If so, how does Sam's avatar go against the military guys without them just pulling the plug on him so to speak?

This is adequately dealt with in the movie

One thing I was wondering about. To control an avatar does the person lay down in the chamber thingy at the base? If so, how does Sam's avatar go against the military guys without them just pulling the plug on him so to speak?

Have you seen the movie? If not, it is explained, so just see the movie and don't spoil it for yourself.

As much as I hate to agree with Trog, all of his points are pretty accurate (and large) plotholes. That said, I still really enjoyed the movie, and want to see again.

you just gotta make a few assumptions about some of the plot drivers.

- Minor gripe - the main plot of the movie - needing to mine unobtanium

this movie is about a disabled man who falls in love with an alien and learns to understand an alien race. all the rest is background noise. i too would have liked that info but it doesn't really matter. you just accept that the stuff they are mining is worth a lot.

i saw the movie mostly as a whole bunch of cliches mixed together into a new movie: titanic, top gun, alien, braveheart, return of the jedi, the whole african culture rip-off

but the original part of the movie was what captivated me: the avatars, the navi and their networked connectection to their planet, and old mate's ability to connect with them.

Spoiler:
I s*** a brick when the mechs arrived at the work module storing the unconscious avatar operators.

Yeah, I haven't seen it yet. Be funny if he's out in the forest doing his thing and the guys back at base just open the chamber thingy and arrest him.

I wanna go see this in Gold Class where there's less chance of it being ruined by morons.

Will come back later this arvo, but for now:

- Didn't mind the bad guys. I found their motivation (making lots of money while saving the Earth) utterly believable. Many people don't think other races of humans count as 'people' - imagine blue skinned aliens?!

As mentioned I pined for slightly more memorable dialogue.

- I think your plot problems are because you're a grown up now! At a certain point a person yearns for something outside the 36 dramatic situations and needs a writer to cleverly disguise them in order to make a plot seem 'original', when in fact there are no real original plots, just new combinations of the the 36.

Everything is formulaic, it just depends on how obvious it is.

- The Navi at the end had less than a day to prepare. I would have been pissed off if they magically came up with all sorts of cunning traps overnight in a stupid MacGuyver scene.

- The mechs carried their guns because it looked cool, first and foremost. This is a movie, after all. However its easy to imagine that it would be FAR more versatile to be able to pick up a weapon on the fly if the interface gave you perfect dexterity.

Why don't we attach primary weapons to human soldier's arms or body armour if this is the way to go? Would save a marine dropping his weapon in a fight, right?

last edited by Hogfather at 11:20:22 17/Dec/09

unobtanium is the stupidest name for a substance that is very difficult to obtain.

They didn't invent it, blame engineers.

If a miracle substance was discovered that allowed all sorts of technological voodoo that was otherwise unpossible, it would probably meet the description of Unobtainium which has been in use since the 50s.

last edited by Hogfather at 11:38:05 17/Dec/09

- I think your plot problems are because you're a grown up now! At a certain point a person yearns for something outside the 36 dramatic situations and needs a writer to cleverly disguise them in order to make a plot seem 'original', when in fact there are no real original plots, just new combinations of the the 36.

Oh yeh that was another gripe which I just added... it really felt like a kids movie overall.

- The Navi at the end had less than a day to prepare. I would have been pissed off if they magically came up with all sorts of cunning traps overnight in a stupid MacGuyver scene.

Yeh that would have been lame - but they could have just been sitting in the tops of the trees shooting arrows stealthily. Sort of like the rest of the Navi did by hiding on their dragons and waiting til they were in position. All I can conclude is horse Navi are stupid and the ones that fly are smart?!

They could have just made the Navi slinging through the trees (sort of like how we'd seem them do for the rest of the movie) with bow and arrows, taking sniper shots or something. It could have still EASILY satisfied the requirement of the ground side to take a pounding without being so utterly retarddddddded

- The mechs carried their guns because it looked cool, first and foremost. This is a movie, after all. However its easy to imagine that it would be FAR more versatile to be able to pick up a weapon on the fly if the interface gave you perfect dexterity.

It would make sense if they had a variety of weapons AND still had some in-built weapons.. it just seemed lame to make these really awesome mech things and then give them all these flaws just for the purpose of plot device.

We don't know anything about the mechs, just that in this movie they use hand held weapons. Aside from the fact that it looked cool, there could be any number of 'real' reasons why they don't mount fixed armament on Pandora.

It could have still EASILY satisfied the requirement of the ground side to take a pounding without being so utterly retarddddddded

Except that they were backs to the wall, literally right in front of the mother tree. A 'harassing' tactic wouldn't work, as the ground troops only really needed one mech to make it to the tree to burn the thing down.

How was flanking and chipping away at them was a real option? They hid in the trees and then ran at the enemy - the fliers hid in the rocks then flew at the enemy. Both of them got pretty badly f***ed up.

I don't see a big difference? If there's a complaint its that despite very likely knowing that the Navi had flying mounts, nobody in the fliers was f***ing looking up.

It was an all-or-nothing charge, I thought that was the point? Guerilla tactics over the next 3 months would have been smart but wouldn't have stopped the baddies from burning down the Goddess-tree ... preserving their own skin was less important than trying to stop the advance?

last edited by Hogfather at 12:10:52 17/Dec/09

Except that they were backs to the wall, literally right in front of the mother tree. A 'harassing' tactic wouldn't work, as the ground troops only really needed one mech to make it to the tree to burn the thing down.

They didn't have to harass them, they just had to do exactly what they did (pointless last stand) from the trees, instead of running along the ground like a******s. Did you seriously miss the whole rest of the movie where they spent the whole time in the trees?

They didn't have to harass them, they just had to do exactly what they did (pointless last stand) from the trees, instead of running along the ground like a******s. Did you seriously miss the whole rest of the movie where they spent the whole time in the trees?

Did you miss the bit where the mercs blew the f*** out of the massive tree from a distance while the Navi shot arrows at them? They tried that, and it was an epic fail.

Hiding in the trees and shooting arrows would have been even stupider than trying to use a speed advantage to close with the enemy in a surprise charge. The mercs have massively superior ranged firepower.

last edited by Hogfather at 12:15:33 17/Dec/09

nah, it wouldn't have

Yeh, it would have.

I'll dissect your increasingly desperate attempts to try to justify this not being a s*** movie because I just feel like you're clinging at straws trying to convince yourself it really didn't suck because of the obvious plotholes

Did you miss the bit where the mercs blew the f*** out of the massive tree from a distance while the Navi shot arrows at them? They tried that, and it was an epic fail.

You mean, when they did another frontal assault which failed completely? Which is what I'm complaining about here? Did they not learn that attacking a technologically superior enemy wasn't a great idea?

Hiding in the trees and shooting arrows would have been even stupider than trying to use a speed advantage to close with the enemy in a surprise charge. The mercs have massively superior ranged firepower.

Attacking an enemy with superior ranged weapons while you have short ranged weapons was one of the first things I learned didn't work when I started playing RTS games.

I could possible have accepted it if it was a diversion. In fact, that's what I thought it was.. why else would they be charging into wholesale slaughter? I assumed that they'd fall back and something awesome would happen like they'd unleash a couple big tree logs and they'd come smashing down into the side of the mechs or whatever.. but they run back and you see that other hybrid guy get shot a bit and he's REALLY SURPRISED that the charge didn't work?

It just threw me too far out of the movie as just something that was just not necessary and not justified.

That brings up a whole new point - why were the ground troops even there, anyway? They were going to bomb the living s*** out of their soultree using high explosives. The ground troops had no reason to be there at all. ARGH!@#!@#

Why am I "increasingly desperate" and you're not?

I don't need to 'justify' why I liked it anymore than you need to prove why its s***. You're writing as much (more?) text than I am trog? Seems like a bizarre point - almost an attack? I don't care enough to continue the discussion if you don't want to, I thought you brought all this up to actually discuss different opinions on the film ...

Anyway. you're ignoring the fact that the Navi weren't trying to be clever or survive to tomorrow. If tomorrow meant no Goddess-tree then they didn't want any of it. It was a bit of a no-win situation for them, so they went with the best they could come up with in 12-24 hours.

The ground troops were there because this was a 'shock and awe' campaign. This was carefully explained to the viewer - the whole point was to destroy the tree in a staggeringly overpowered assault so that the Navi never, ever thought about uprising ever again.

last edited by Hogfather at 12:36:46 17/Dec/09

Why am I "increasingly desperate" and you're not?

Cuz I'm right!

The ground troops were there because this was a 'shock and awe' campaign. This was carefully explained to the viewer - the whole point was to destroy the tree in a staggeringly overpowered assault so that the Navi never, ever thought about uprising ever again.

To me it's just not logically consistent with the rest of the movie. It doesn't make sense to need ground troops to overwhelm a bunch of savages, which they are repeatedly referred as, when they are about to nuke the tree from orbit. It would be akin to invading Japan in WW2 and then dropping the bomb on Hiroshima - just... unnecessary.

Anyway. you're ignoring the fact that the Navi weren't trying to be clever or survive to tomorrow. If tomorrow meant no Goddess-tree then they didn't want any of it. It was a bit of a no-win situation for them, so they went with the best they could come up with in 12-24 hours.

That's what I thought at first when they were blowing up the home tree. But they just shrugged and moved and got on with their lives.

Also weren't those little white flowery things soul tree seeds? Can't they just replant the soul tree if it gets wiped out? Especially if their god thing is a real entity and can control nature?!@# Man the more I think about it the more depressing I find the whole movie, so I think I'll just stop and go back to thinking about it like a really, really good screensaver

I'll dissect your increasingly desperate attempts to try to justify this not being a s*** movie because I just feel like you're clinging at straws trying to convince yourself it really didn't suck because of the obvious plotholes

I think you're missing the part about it being a movie. One that had explosions, sweet weapons, pretty scenery and as domino mentioned - heaps of alien boob. A+++

To me it's just not logically consistent with the rest of the movie

That doesn't make it so.

I think I'm done here!

SUMMARY for the tl;dr crowd:

I enjoyed the film and would recommend it. It has some 'popcorn' cinema flaws but they are VASTLY outweighed by its awesomeness.
trog didn't, because he has lost/sold his soul and can no longer appreciate the simple joys in the world.

last edited by Hogfather at 13:05:44 17/Dec/09

I cannot argue with that

dude it's f***ing sci fi. Enjoy the ride and stop thinking too much about our world.

I think most Sci Fi you have to give them leeway (sp). Cameron makes action movies with the best direction out there, and has taken the basic story (written 15 years ago) and executed it flawlessly.

Not that awards matter too much to me but it is already nominated in the Golden Globes.

Best Motion Picture -- Drama
Best Director -- Motion Picture
Best Original Score -- Motion Picture
Best Original Song -- Motion Picture

Yeah was just talking to Trog and said I enjoyed it because it was entertaining. Basically what Infi said too, the average plot is there but it's not the main driver or point of the movie, it's just to help move the movie along so viewers can enjoy all the other aspects of it (visual effects, the amazing world and it's creatures, the mechs etc). Movies are supposed to be entertaining, some movies do this by effects and visuals and creativity while others do it by making you think and have awesome dialog and plot. Everyone likes different things, personally I didn't give two s***s about the plot .. it was adequate for this kind of movie as I was entertained by other methods.

Cant read the rest of this thread in case spoilers blow my head off. But should i see this in 3D or the big f*** off screen in southbank (which doesnt do 3d)

Hard to say as I didn't see it on big f***off screen but I quite liked the 3D :)

some people are so critical. i would rate the plot to this as being as good as gladiator.

the whole concept that a person operating a hybrid being by remote control, then falling in love, it's irresistible.

(unless of course you don't have a human bone in your body.)

dude it's f***ing sci fi. Enjoy the ride and stop thinking too much about our world.

I think most Sci Fi you have to give them leeway (sp).

Pretty much all I read these days is scifi. I've prolly read around 100 scifi books in the last couple years (total ball park guess; I might try and count them tonight for giggles).

GOOD sci-fi is one that has a well constructed, internally consistent universe. It's sooooooooo much more apparenty in movies - where the average script would end up being about 1/100th the size of the average sci-fi book - when they screw things up. As soon as I hit a glitch in a movie or something that is just obviously a plot device or other inconsistency, I get jerked out of the movie's reality faster than a crash test dummy smashes through the wind screen of a test Volvo. That's why I couldn't engage with Avatar; I just couldn't ever feel immersed cuz I spent the whole time going "hey wait a minute, don't these people have the ability to control things with their brains? Why are they piloting mechs with their hands" and s*** like that.

Cameron makes action movies with the best direction out there, and has taken the basic story (written 15 years ago) and executed it flawlessly.

I can take or leave JC as a director; his writing and stories have always been the thing I've enjoyed the most. Avatar was a decent story, but it had no stand out features or moments for me

The Mrs was saying that Avatar is just Ferngully in Space. Confirm y/n?

Have heard that comment on a few websites by reviewers, it seems all the rage to make comparisons to Fern Gully and Pocahontas.

The underlying premise - 'civilised' man rapes the s*** out of mystical earthy culture - definetly isn't a new one. I didn't see gunships or mecha or PEW PEW PEW in either of those films though!

That's why I couldn't engage with Avatar; I just couldn't ever feel immersed cuz I spent the whole time going "hey wait a minute, don't these people have the ability to control things with their brains? Why are they piloting mechs with their hands" and s*** like that.

You need to relax at the movies trog!

Also, I can't help it ... the mecha are not biological. There is no evidence in the film that they have a working human-computer link. They have a very specific radio between two biologicals with a requirement of common genetics? How does that automatically translate into cyborgs?

You're picking holes in imaginary technology, dude. Chill :)

last edited by Hogfather at 14:26:54 17/Dec/09

Pocahontas could have done with some gunships, mecha and PEW PEW.
If George Lucas was directing would have had them!

Have heard that comment on a few websites by reviewers, it seems all the rage to make comparisons to Fern Gully and Pocahontas.

Don't forget Dances with Wolves or The Last Samurai.

Does Michelle Rodriguez have a big part in this? She's a little honey bunny.

Does Michelle Rodriguez have a big part in this? She's a little honey bunny.

not big enough and I agree wholeheartedly. She's Avatar's Vasquez; I wanted to see her doing more awesome stuff.

Does Michelle Rodriguez have a big part in this? She's a little honey bunny.

huh? shes more of a man then you rev.

The most important question in this thread:

Special Effects aside Trog, which was the better Sci-Fi movie,

Aliens or Avatar?

I haven't been to an australian cinema in over 5 years, should I see this in Gold Class or VMax?

Aliens was far better than Avatar.

for me, aliens by miles, but they are totally different movies ... aliens is a hardcore scifi movie for adults; avatar is a boy-meets-girl movie for all ages

Oh and Parker was nothing like Burke and never even tried to be Burke as well you are dreaming that one up trog.

Oh and Parker was nothing like Burke and never even tried to be Burke as well you are dreaming that one up trog.

rly? weaselly little company dude happy to sacrifice lives for the sake of the company?

Burke was someone who at first made himself out to be the white knight, and then turned out to be the betrayer. Parker was nothing like that.

Burke was someone who at first made himself out to be the white knight, and then turned out to be the betrayer. Parker was nothing like that.

I thought it was basically the same; Parker was like the benevolent patron of the sciences, putting up with Sigourney's attitude getting in the way of him making money. Then as soon as opportunity presented to make more money he jumped at it at the expense of everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he was exactly like Burke; he was way out of the action most of the time.... but there were definitely some parallels between the Weyland-Yutani and "The Corporation".

Parker was like the benevolent patron of the sciences, putting up with Sigourney's attitude getting in the way of him making money. Then as soon as opportunity presented to make more money he jumped at it at the expense of everyone else.

Parker was benevolent? When?

He was teetering on the brink of unleashing the mercs for almost the whole movie wasn't he?

don't argue with Hogfather, his wife is a chef and knows these things

I knew nothing about the movie when I saw it in 3d today except that it was about blue people

i thought it was a good romp. I've not seen any recent 3D movie and i was impressed by the clarity. I noticed one or two scenes were they'd bodged it up and got stuff out of focus or not in 3D, but they were very few. The only other problem was fast moving stuff at the front of the image was sometime unfocused. All up it's a great way to watch movies, and certainly wasn't stupidly over the top with s*** flying at you all the time.

Predictable story, but great ride.

I think the mechs didn't have built in guns as they were general purpose utility for the mine company, the security force just uses them for 'defence' as required, but you'd just as likely go digging s*** up with them with an appropriate tool in your hand.

I was surprised by the number of young kiddies in the cinema (but i don't go often so maybe this is the norm), it was a pretty graphically violent film and certainly not appropriate for the <12 yo's that were there.

bashed @ qgl Eds

:) I had to do it, it was too hard to resist :)

She really is a f***en chef though, and deep fried steak really is rank!

/rage

Saw it tonight in 3D, it wasn't as gay as I thought it'd be.

Some awesome special effects that's for sure

Just saw it in 3D. Kinda wish I'd seen it in standard.

Maybe it's just my f***ed eyes but imo the 3D (which wasn't anything special compared to other 3D) was not worth the uncomfortable glasses. For me it made it harder to get into it and forget I'm sitting in a cinema. Totally ruined the immersion, ironically.

That aside, cool movie.

Thought the whole "and the aliens went back to their own poisoned planet," thing was a bit lame.
I wonder for how many more decades we're going to be fed films where the main cause of s*** going down is not being in sync with our world?
I thought James Cameron would be a bit more subtle than that.

I think maybe Battle Angel will appeal more to the critics of this one.

zomgwtfbbq they are making a live action battle angel alita?

I wish JC would make AquaMan.

Anyone seen this? Stop Avatar Movie Blog -

December 18, 2009 - INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST against Avatar

.
They're whinging just because a FICTIONAL MOVIE about a planet that DOESN'T EXIST with BLUE ALIENS doesn't include gays etc. I mean, it's not like any other movie has ever dared to not include gays...

What a bunch of stupid c***s. So every movie has to have gays in it?

derrr domino.
cameron's battle angel has been in development for almost as long as avatar. coming out 2011 I believe.

also did anyone else notice his Australian accent creeping in every now and then? would only be one or two words in a sentence but I swear I could hear it.

that page is hilarious, see the results of their polls down the right-hand side?
haha

The polls were funny but this made me LOL

Anonymous said...
I want bestiality in the movie too. Haters have too long denied the beautiful love between women and dogs and horses.
Evolution is also clearly moving to trans-species love.

hey, if it's gonna have gays it better have trannies too.

Trog needs to take a f***ing chill pill. I just saw this tonight, and it blew me away. The story wasn't original, but it was really really well done. You cared about the characters, they had personality, and you saw each of them develop through the course of the movie. Talking about s*** like "why did the mechs have hands" totally misses the point.

I'll probably cop some flak for this, but I definitely think it was better than Aliens. Hands down.

It s*** all over Aliens.

^ wrong again

Saw it last night. Seeing it in 3D is worth the extra $$.

Yeah saw this last night at Chermy, in 3D, was worth every cent.
This is one movie you must see at the cinemas in 3D.

Now to the shiz:

Pro's

* Special effects were pretty f***in awesome. Normally I cant stand too much cgi but this movie really has lifted the bar and not so much with cgi created worlds/charcters but more so how they used new motion capture techniques that allowed better interaction between the actors and the cgi.
At the end of the movie after the last battle scene you feel like your eyeballs have been f***ed by a rainbow ... but in a good way.

* The Actors were all good... some better than others.

* The story is unoriginal and somewhat pretty conventional for this type of Blockbuster movie but overall I think it was ... good and better than I expected.
Previous comments regarding Pochahontas/Dances with Wolves etc are pretty spot on.
Aliens does have a superior storyline because it was a more gritty horror/sci-fi orientated film.
One thing I was quite surprised about was the broad appeal of this movie. I think people of all ages could follow the story without to much trouble. I'm guessing Cameron dumbed Avatar down a bit because the point of this movie was more about bringing cgi immersion to a broad audience and to widen the demographic to help recoup the insane cost of making it.

* Alot of films I've seen in say the last 10 yrs you often walk out of going "That was too long" or "f***, they ended it too quick". But I didn't find that at all with Avatar.. it's running time was pretty spot on.


Cons:

* Sam Worthington did do a pretty good job here but my only complaint is that I think he does a pretty crap American accent. Quite a few times he trips up and a aussie word or two pops out or he just sounds like he is gargling balls and you cant make out what he is saying.

* The music is fairly bland.

* The dialogue is also pretty conventional one or two lame bits when Jake Sully first meets the Na'vi tribe. There weren't too many memorable quotes but I guess this aint Citizen Kane.


In summary this was a good movie definately worth seeing. I'll go out on a limb here and say Avatar and D9 are the best Sci-Fi films in the last 10 yrs.

last edited by sLaps_Forehead at 10:49:28 19/Dec/09

There weren't too many memorable quotes but I guess this aint Citizen Kane

That's my main gripe when I'm not gushing about the otherwise awesomeness of the film. Surely it was possible to fit some sharper / more memorable dialogue into a ~250M budget?

The line about Hell and R&R actually made me wince.

So I'm a little late but far out this movie blew my mind. I don't know about you but after about 20 minutes I got used to the 3D and didn't really take notice. It just felt like a normal viewing experience. Nevertheless, do not let that take away from the movie. It was aMAZing! I will buy this as soon as it hits the blu-ray shelf.

Those guys fail soooo hard. I bet they weren't expecting these results (the top poll's winner is "I won't protest" option):

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5975/screenshot20091219at115.png

last edited by 3dee at 01:01:32 20/Dec/09

saw it last night in 3d, horrible seats but still worth every cent

might go see this in vmax tueaday.. is gold class any cheaper on cheap tuesday?

Yeah I wanna see this but its all totally packed to buggery.

The story wasn't original, but it was really really well done. You cared about the characters, they had personality, and you saw each of them develop through the course of the movie.

Which characters and how do you think they developed? The only development I can think of was so utterly trivial it barely rates a mention?

I'll probably cop some flak for this, but I definitely think it was better than Aliens. Hands down.

I reckon everyone should wait maybe 5 years before making that judgment. See if all the shiny prettiness of Avatar is still so impressive to you, or if it has become commonplace - because people are still talking about how awesome Aliens is a billion years later, and its not because of the SFX. It has soo much to offer... whereas pretty much everyone I've spoken to about Avatar - even people that love it - they're just into it for the visuals.

might see it in gold class reasonably cheap during the week

sitting in the cinema. can't wait

Ripley interview about Avatar on Daily show, might be of interest.. pretty interesting bits about how they did some of the motion capture stuff:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sigourney Weaver
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

I reckon everyone should wait maybe 5 years before making that judgment. See if all the shiny prettiness of Avatar is still so impressive to you, or if it has become commonplace - because people are still talking about how awesome Aliens is a billion years later, and its not because of the SFX. It has soo much to offer... whereas pretty much everyone I've spoken to about Avatar - even people that love it - they're just into it for the visuals.

This. I totally agreed. Same with Blade Runner. The techniques used on these movies were cutting edge too for their time but, it didn't take precedence over the actual story. That's been my point all along with Avatar, it's for fan boi of sfx and not really for someone who's looking for something more substantial.

heh just re-read on wikipedia about Blade Runner:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner

Film critics were polarized as some felt the story had taken a back seat to special effects and that it was not the action/adventure the studio had advertised. Others acclaimed its complexity and predicted it would stand the test of time

LOL maybe we won't have to wait 5 years to be proven wrong after all haha.

Not to take any credit away from JC on this one, I'm sure they all worked hard to get this movie out but I have serious doubt it'll go down in history as a classic sci-fi like Alien(s) (I prefer Alien over Aliens) or Blade Runner.

I'll go to watch it and see if that changes anything though.

last edited by Opec at 20:24:12 20/Dec/09

bloody amazing. i came out of the cinema feeling like i had just watched a documentary and not a movie. i hope to god this movie makes money so that there can be a sequel. i would love to see more of the navi and their world.

It wasn't the special effects that made me love the movie so much. If that were the sort of thing I gave a s*** about, I would have gone to see 2012. I really, really enjoyed watching the movie, and gave a s*** about what happened to the characters. Everyone outside QGL I've talked to about it agrees, so I know it's not just me.

same here midda

I liked it. Wow some of you guys need to relax and just watch it. Enjoy life etc.

2009 - probably preferred District 9 and Inglourious Basterds.

i dunno, scifi nerds get pretty worked up about the genre.

Will be taking the kids and Missus to see it. Not sure about it based on some of the comments. I'll wait and see.

I wish someone would do a film based on Isaac Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy". I'd love to see that.

Freakin awesome movie, I was so enthralled in the movie, really gave a s*** about what happened. Will see it again for sure.

Yeah just saw in 3D. I must admit I was kinda pissed when they started blowing s*** up. Pretty impressed with just about the entire movie. There's often parts of these big movies which are either tedious to get through or just are mediocre but I found myself constantly enjoying and being immersed throughout the whole thing.

And as for the CGI, I pretty much couldn't fault any of it whatsoever. Possibly the most seamless CGI/live action film I've seen to date.

last edited by 3dee at 01:30:36 21/Dec/09

i thought it was awesome.

In all honesty I thought the plot was sweet for the movie.

Think of the theme, aliens, sci-fi, sigourney weaver. What kind of plot are you expecting?

:D

Saw it in 3d last night. Finally a hollywood blockbuster I walked out of feeling satisfied about!!

Saw it. Loved it and thoroughly enjoyed.

Trog -

I see your point but the bottom line is from my point of view. I went to see Avatar for the visual effects and to be immersed in that world. Watching in 3d achieved this. The story did have a few obvious flaws but who cares the attention to detail on alot of other aspects of the film makes up for it. You may be right about all films being this visually impressive in 5 years but for now Avatar is the only one we have.

also did anyone else notice his Australian accent creeping in every now and then? would only be one or two words in a sentence but I swear I could hear it.

I noticed and though exactly the same thing.. "Is anyone else hearing this!!". I doubt Americans would pick up on it. They all prolly think he is American anyway.

pretty ordinary story, pretty corny and even dumb in parts
visuals were stunning

I went to see Avatar for the visual effects and to be immersed in that world. Watching in 3d achieved this

I guess I play enough video games and read enough books and comics that being immersed in a world, for me, is just not a big deal.

On a related note:

Have you guys seen the ad they're playing for Avatar on TV? It goes for about 2-3 minutes and it's just Sigourney introducing the world of Avatar, running through the ecology and the flora and fauna and stuff. It's not a trailer at all but really gets across that immersion-into-a-new-world thing that the movie is clearly going for (and seems to appeal to so many people for). I havent' seen it online, just caught it on FTA the other night.

Saw it, liked it.. the only gripe i had with it is tiny. Unobtainium? I mean come on what a terrible name to give the stone.

Other then that, fkn s*** hot, gfx were awesome fk 2012.

Unobtainium? I mean come on what a terrible name to give the stone.

you do realise its a joke?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtainium

Saw this the other night and I'd rate it as one of the best things I've seen in years.

Sure the plot had a few holes and was not overly special.
The visuals though... blew me away... unbelievable how far they've come with CGI. It's pretty much at the point now where its blurring the lines between what is actually real.

3D was kinda weird at first but it did make things more immersive. I found some scenes to be really negligible but others were a pretty big trip out.
eg. the opening cryo scene


Really depends what you go into the cinema expecting.
If you were wanting a super epic original plotline with no holes at all then you'd end up disappointed. I was quite satisfied with a reasonable story plus the oodles of brain exploding eye candy.

Like others have said it is one short list of movies I've come out of feeling like the cost was easily justified by the experience.

Definitely worth seeing in the cinema.

last edited by rubba-chikin at 11:58:52 21/Dec/09

Was a decent movie and I would recommend seeing it in the cinema.
Doesn't really deserve all the praise its getting for it's story and as a movie over all though.

A lot of that stuff on Pandora can actually be seen if you ever go diving coral reefs. Like the 'Mushrooms' that receded when he got close/touched them. The Coral Reef (on a clear day) is as bright and colourful and alive as the Pandoran forest is made to be... so I kind of lost some of the awe that someone thats never seen the reef up close might feel.

Still, I think it was worth the money seeing it on the big screen in 3D. Even if it cost 3x the amount I normally pay for a big Screen movie.

Still, I think it was worth the money seeing it on the big screen in 3D. Even if it cost 3x the amount I normally pay for a big Screen movie.

Jeez where did you see it? I paid $13 at Southbank - $5 more than the normal ticket price (and still cheaper than a standard ticket at Greater Union et al)

Garden City, 20$ all up when you add in 1$ booking fee and more for the Galsses.
Southbank is where I go for most of the movies I see.

i paid $40 gold class. it was def worth it.

sitting in the cinema. can't wait

f***ing lol

f***ing lol

I don't get it.

Just saw it, it was very pretty, and it was a good movie, but its certainly not the second coming of christ like people have been making out. It was waaaaaaay too long, I was starting to get a bit bored and over it by the end, by the time they blew up the home tree it felt like it should have been ending then there was still another 30 - 40 minutes more. The CG characters were better than I was expecting, quite lifelike with their expressions and stuff, but it still felt like there was way too many pointless scenes which existed purely to show off pretty CG stuff, and I was kinda over it by the end.

I also saw it in 3D and it gave me a ripping headache, so I guess that isn't helping my mood right now. The 3D seemed mostly like a novelty to me, some stuff looked awesome (like the HUDs the guys were using to fly the shuttles and control stuff), but some of it just seemed gimmicky and lowered the quality of the movie imo. Also, watching it in 3D f***s with the visual fidelity and the colours of the movie too much for my liking, I think I'd prefer watching a sharper, crisper non-3D version of the movie.

Note, I can't be bothered reading past the first 50 or so posts in this thread so I don't care if I'm repeating things that have already been said!

didn't seem long to me at all

watching it in 3D f***s with the visual fidelity and the colours of the movie too much for my liking, I think I'd prefer watching a sharper, crisper non-3D version of the movie.

that's what I thought. I'm not sure if it's just because my eyes are f***ed or not because a lot of people seem to have loved the 3D. I thought the glasses made a lot of things look shiny or shimmering between polarisation.

my brother saw it in 3d and said it kicked ass. there were parts where the cameras move through the forest and you feel like the folliage is going to touch your face.

im gonna go see it again in 3d at viccy point.

i've always loved 3d movies & the idea of them and wanted there to be an amazing 3d movie.

I loved the movie & storyline and the characters.

I think I would have enjoyed it just as much in 2d as I did in 3d.

Yeah, the bits in the forest, mostly the bits when he first goes into the forest and when hes left there the first night, did stand out as pretty awesome in 3D. There was plenty of scenes where the 3D made me think "Woah, that looks awesome" but there was just as many that had messy colours or were blurry/wavy/shimmering or where the 3D was just used to some pointless novelty effect that detracted from the scene.

Was a good movie though, I did enjoy it, I think maybe I just went in there expecting too much after hearing so many people call it the best thing ever made.

It was a shame that for whatever reason the southbank cinemas couldnt show 3D on their super big screen. While its cheap as at $13 the screens of their other cinemas are pretty crap compared to birch etc.

didn't seem long to me at all

same. i was surprised how fast the 3 hrs flew by.

also if you get a headache from the 3d, its because youre doing it wrong




last edited by ravn0s at 09:01:20 22/Dec/09

It was waaaaaaay too long,

That's the first complaint I've heard about the length. Everyone I've talked to has commented on how fast the time seemed to go by.

As for the 3D screwing with the sharpness/colour, I imagine that would only happen if your eyes weren't focusing correctly. I didn't notice anything like that, and the colours were incredibly vivid.

Yeah, my eyes are a bit broken, maybe I just can't do the 3D.

did you see it in imax 3d khel? i read its not as good as reald 3d

That's the first complaint I've heard about the length. Everyone I've talked to has commented on how fast the time seemed to go by.

wow realy? most of the people that I spoke to send it felt long but those that enjoyed it said it wasn't a big deal, and those that didn't just felt the whole thing was dragging on. I guess it depends if you're prepared to sit there soaking up the visuals in some of those scenes.. probably makes a big difference if you see it in 3d I guess cuz then you've got the novelty factor of that to keep you distracted.

I had massive fears for the 3d. I have a 'broken' eye courtesy of M.S. that doesn't 100% focus properly, ever, and can't be fixed with glasses as its damage to the optic nerve.

I was wrestling with the 3d for 30 minutes and started to get strain / focus headaches which was a massive bummer as I was enjoying the film. I stopped 'playing' with the 3d (exploring the depth etc) and just watched the movie, following the focus prompts.

Things improved a billion percent and the rest was gravy.

that was the same as tom cruise's accent in valkyrie. but after 30 mins you forget about it :)

But Tom Cruise didn't even attempt a German accent in English. He just rolled American.

Anyway it is pretty amazing Sam Worthington pulled this one out of his arse. He wasn't doing s*** before James Cameron backed him. Now he is set.

Awesome movie , great in 3d

That was the first movie I had watched in 3d since I was a kid and I'm watching all of my future movies in 3d now. That was awesome as hell. Everything was crystal clear and sharp for me.

I forgot how annoyingly packed out cinemas can get during holiday periods though.

I was lucky enough to catch the 5pm 3D session at Hoyts Melbourne Central. I had a fistulagram earlier in the morning so was able to book early and got some awesome seats right in the middle of the cinema!

Much like everyone else, I thought the movie was spectacular. No doubt, this is a visually stunning movie with lush jungle that surpasses King Kong and great designs for both the humans and Na'vi. It's good to see that James didn't go extreme with sweeping shots that most CG heavy films go wild with (ie. Lord of the Rings Trilogy). I have to say some of the shots of Neytiri were so outstanding I thought she was an actor in heavy makeup and onsite in a jungle. I think the lighting really made it.

Aurally, the movie was't impressive in comparison, but far from terrible. The sound effects were adequate, though you could hear Jurassic Park's T-Rex in the roar of the giant jaguar-like creature. Musically, again it was adequate. Sadly, no theme or score stood out or were memorable after leaving the theatre.

Story-wise, it appropriately served the visuals but certainly wasn't anything significant, sadly. I was expecting some conspiracy to reveal itself half way through the movie that would involve the death of Jake's twin brother. Maybe reveal that Dr. Grace had killed him in jealousy rage over him being able to get closer to the Na'vi than her. Perhaps it would also help to explain how close the humans got with the Na'vi , as hinted in the photographs on the fridge, and maybe a significant event that separated them. I guess by the end I was hankering for more backstory on both races in the visually rich world of Pandora.

Whilst I have no issue with viewing 3D movies (I've been to a few IMAX 3D movies many years ago and saw Ice Age 3 in 3D recently) I do have a nitpick this time round, most likely with the cinema. During many scenes the shadows in the background didn't look full colour. The blending of the colours , such as in gradients, were not gradual, but staggered - like comparing 16-bit textures to 32-bit textures in games. For example, most of the shadows were grey but some brown creeped in to the staggered colour blending and, for some bizarre reason, came forward in focus. So while Jake was in focus and in the foreground, bits of his shadow in the background was also in the foreground :-/

Despite these niggles Avatar is still a great film worthy of me spending my hard-earned money to see it eventually in IMAX 3D and also owning it on blu-ray, where it will proudly sit next to Terminator 2 and District 9 :-)

I don't think it'll live on like Aliens or Terminator of Bladerunner though. I mean, it was a cool experience but theres no real scenes or dialogue that stand out as definitive Avatar moments. In 10 years time there wont be any lines from the movie that have cemented themselves into pop culture like "Game over man, Game over!" or "Asta la vista baby" have. It was an impressive spectacle, but as a movie, it didn't really do anything that stood out, didn't really have any defining scenes that are going to stick with me and the dialogue was verging on pretty damn bad at times.

Still, as far as big screen cinematic spectacle goes, its an amazing piece of work. I might even go see it again (on Imax instead of the cinema this time) and see if I can get more out of it than I did the first time, see if I can make my broken eyes appreciate the 3D better.

Right on Khel. Avatar didn't have great dialogue, but as you said, it is a spectacle first and foremost and that is enough to join my small blu-ray collection.

You know, I think AVATAR is fantasy, not sci-fi:

1. Aside from the actual "avatar" technology which is really just a hand-wave to enable the movie's premise, nothing about the rest of the technology is interesting or important. Again other than the avatar, most of the technology we see is not much better compared to what we have today.

2. Much of the movie is spent in the fantastical Pandora environment where they have no technology whatsoever.

3. The Pandoran abilities shown late in the movie are arguably "magic"

4. My girlfriend loved this movie, and she cant stand science fiction.

Nah its sci-fi dude, just accessible.

The sentient planet bit has been done before by writers like Anne McCAffery in 'serious business' sci-fi. The state of Navi technology doesn't alter the fact that its a movie about aliens!

haha live on like bladerunner, guess im just not nerdy enough to understand this!

It was a shame that for whatever reason the southbank cinemas couldnt show 3D on their super big screen. While its cheap as at $13 the screens of their other cinemas are pretty crap compared to birch etc.

Maybe the outlay for the screen and projector upgrades wasn't worth it for imax.

It was a shame that for whatever reason the southbank cinemas couldnt show 3D on their super big screen. While its cheap as at $13 the screens of their other cinemas are pretty crap compared to birch etc.

http://www.cineplex.com.au/movie/1380/

About Our 3D Two Projector Technology - We use two Christie 2K Projectors. The projectors are imported from the USA. Most Cinemas only use one 2K projector. The two 2K Projectors allowed us to have a bigger screen at Victoria Point before the technology was available with one projector. We liked the clarity of the picture, especially with the new system at Hawthorne on the big screen, so we have decided to stay with that technology. We feel that the two projector method gives us more light and a better picture than just using the one projector. Each projector is around $80-$90,000 so there would be cost savings for us to buy one projector but we also like displaying 3D on big screens with alot of light eg Hawthorne Cinema 1. When you go to the cinema the way to tell if the cinema is using two projectors is during the movie look up at the projection box and see if you can see two projector lights. Before mid 2010 we are expecting a Christie 4K projector to be released. We will then buy two of these projectors for cinema 5 at South Bank.

Wonder if Greater Union uses dual projectors for the VMAX 3D screenings?

Wait, so they're using dual dual projectors? 3D projectors essentially are dual projectors (left and right images).

You know, I think AVATAR is fantasy, not sci-fi:

1. Aside from the actual "avatar" technology which is really just a hand-wave to enable the movie's premise, nothing about the rest of the technology is interesting or important. Again other than the avatar, most of the technology we see is not much better compared to what we have today.

2. Much of the movie is spent in the fantastical Pandora environment where they have no technology whatsoever.

3. The Pandoran abilities shown late in the movie are arguably "magic"

4. My girlfriend loved this movie, and she cant stand science fiction.

the line between sci-fi and fantasy is pretty blurry - just walk into your average s***ty bookshop and you'll see ample evidence of this. Avatar would fit neatly into one of their retarded "sci-fi/fantasy" sections for sure. I think the movie is by volume mostly fantasy for sure, but in "spirit" I guess I'd probably still lump it in the sci-fi bucket if I had to pick between the two.

Hey trog,

I just want to flesh something out.

Why would you think that the mechs would have their guns stapled to their hands?
making them always have their guns undermines the obvious advantage of fully capable hands.

They seemed to have a fairly plausible out for all of the "not controlled by mind power". At the start of the movie they said that avatars are super expensive and have to be genetically tied to the user etc etc. The mechs by comparason are clearly able to be used, by design, by any mech pilot.

I agree with the over the top baddies. They were obscene really.

Why would you think that the mechs would have their guns stapled to their hands?
making them always have their guns undermines the obvious advantage of fully capable hands.

I didn't really mean that - I more meant I think they should have had built-in guns at least in addition to the carry-able ones. Those mechs went through a fair amount of pounding, including being rappelled down from jets; having a primary weapon that is easily droppable doesn't seem to be the greatest idea in the world (see: WW2 paratroopers losing legbags).

The explanation that they are actually general purpose bots a la the Aliens ones and not military is the most satisfying (ie, they've just been plied into use by the military) but they seem obviously military in form and function to me.

They seemed to have a fairly plausible out for all of the "not controlled by mind power". At the start of the movie they said that avatars are super expensive and have to be genetically tied to the user etc etc. The mechs by comparason are clearly able to be used, by design, by any mech pilot.

Yeh that is a fairly minor gripe; the obvious defense against that whinge is just saying "well it only works on living creatures".

I reckon that a weapon held by a mechanical hand would be pretty much the same as permanantly fixed (see: wheels on cars) while still allowing them to be changed to suit the job and usable outside of weapons-required applications. surely you'd just have a lock mechanism that fixes it in place. did any get dropped in the movie? I can't remember

it got knocked out of quaritch's hands in the end fight.

dont care about all the arguing above;

Avatar in 3d was by far my best movie experience EVER.

Loved every single bit of the movie, and being in 3d actually put me there, not just watching it.

infinity/10

Just watched it in 3D, will comment more another time, bed now...but one thing to start on


Unobtainium? f***ing really?

Just saw it at Indro and the 3D was a bit messed up. A few scenes looked awesome but many were very blurry, and many only certain bits of the image were 3D? Everyone I was with experienced the same thing.

Are some cinemas better than others at 3D? Is it true that they actually need 2 projectors to do 3D properly and most 3d cinemas are only using 1? Don't know anything about it but the experience tonight definitely wasn't mind boggling in terms of 3D - it was fairly irritating a lot of the time.

Can people stop critisising unobtainium it has been explained multiple times in the thread.

Sorry fpot, not sure I can do that. Brings back bad memories of 'The Core'.

Anyway, saw the movie in 2D because my brother bithced about not being able to watch the 3D version. Thought it was average. Too much of this bulls*** fast-moving blur that ruined Spiderman 2. Most of the time, I wasn't sure if I was watching the World of Warcraft movie, or something else.

Anyway, this whole movie highlighted one thing: How quickly FASA need to get in to doing movies. This movie is proof we quickly need to see a Mad Dog and Timberwolf on the big screen.

3D projectors essentially are dual projectors (left and right images).

Are they? Why wouldnt the left and right images be pre-superimposed within the source material?

Edit: Wikipedia says Real-D projection just has a single higher-resolution projector:

"RealD Cinema is a digital stereoscopic projection technology. It is the world's most widely used technology for watching 3D movies in theatres.[1] It does not require two projectors, unlike older film-based stereoscopic 3D projection technology. A high-resolution, digital cinema grade, video projector is used. "

Sorry fpot, not sure I can do that

So umm how many times are you planning to bring it up?

Just got back from 3D gold class.

The movie was f***ing awesome. Easily the best thing I've seen in a while and the visuals are nothing short of amazing. It took a little getting used to the 3D. Everything seemed outta focus on the sides but after a while it settled down and it looked fine.

Michelle Rodriguez was stunning as usual although she needed a bigger part. f*** she's got a good smile.

If Cameron doesn't win some Academy's for this then there's something wrong.

but Aliens was better. LOL

Something i though twas awesome but doesn't get a lot of attention was how well they integrate Sigourney Weaver into an avatar. It managed to look very recognisably like her (especially when she smiled) while staying distinctly Navi. Some top work done there.

Aliens is a classic, this movie isn't.

So umm how many times are you planning to bring it up?

Dunno. I've only bought it up the once but I've got at least six of seven more times in me if you'd like.

Go for it dude - don't hold back!

Man some people over analyze. I feel sorry for people who cant sit back and turn their analyzing mechanisms in their brain off for 3 hours.

This movie was almost enough for me to become a greenie tree hugger.

It was ok. Some sort of annoying scifi romantic feel good combo.

Kirk woulda just warped out there after he got some action.

Man some people over analyze. I feel sorry for people who cant sit back and turn their analyzing mechanisms in their brain off for 3 hours.

This.

It's like, if the movie in question is supposed to be fantastic, it has to be absolutely perfect. No one can make a movie perfectly. Just sit back and enjoy the film for once, walk and say "wow, that was good, few rough bits but was pretty damn eye opening".

I can't decide which is hotter..

http://tu.trekunited.com/frontpage/images/cloverfield_saldana.jpg

http://static.reelmovienews.com/images/gallery/zoe-saldana-as-neytiri.jpg

The blue for sure. She was a feisty one!

And she has a Matrix plug in her hair too.

that was no matrix plug, that was her penis. She stuck it in to animals and controlled them.

Except that is Zoe saldana, not the other black chick from the matrix.
She played the blue character and uhura from the new star trek.

The explanation that they are actually general purpose bots a la the Aliens ones and not military is the most satisfying (ie, they've just been plied into use by the military) but they seem obviously military in form and function to me.

Hmm yeh I get the feeling Cameron used the 'Weyland Yultani' style plot device where the Marines were really Merceneries or some sort of combination of both. Either way it's a grey area that lets Cameron have some freedom with regards to Weaponary, Mechs and character motivation.

Even a shoulder mini-gun though wouldn't be a stretch for Mechs of that sort of design. Doesn't have to be a full blown Gatteling gun, just some form of armoury that is a permanent attachment to the main body.

man some people over-analyze people's discussion about movie details
I feel sorry for people who seem to feel the need to criticise others for engaging their brains in conversation about these type of details

I feel sorry for people who feel sorry for people who seem to feel the need to criticise others for engaging their brains in conversation about these type of details

I think you're over-analyzing saint

I don't feel sorry for anyone

>8-(

Saw this again in Vmax. It was still bloody amazing.

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/3894/fjdgjhcmb.jpg

You know what Avatar does? It makes Earth look godamn boring, that's what.

Go Scuba Diving 3dee, Great barrier reef and you'll see ~90%+ of the stuff in the Pandorian Forrest

Man some people over analyze. I feel sorry for people who cant sit back and turn their analyzing mechanisms in their brain off for 3 hours.

This movie was almost enough for me to become a greenie tree hugger.

When I pay $15 or whatever for 2.5 hours of entertainment, I expect it to not suck... that's almost half a carton of beer!@#

My ticket was $21

Cineplex ftw.

When I pay $15 or whatever for 2.5 hours of entertainment, I expect it to not suck...

Early on in this thread you seemed to agree with me that you walked out with a sense of value from the movie. Having gnawed away on the bone for a few days do you think it sucks now?

(honest un-loaded question)

When I pay $15 or whatever for 2.5 hours of entertainment, I expect it to not suck...

Early on in this thread you seemed to agree with me that you walked out with a sense of value from the movie. Having gnawed away on the bone for a few days do you think it sucks now?

(honest un-loaded question)

My opinion of it has definitely lowered the more I have thought about it. I guess for me I couldn't put a value on the visuals as enough to feel like I'd justified it as "money well spent".

Overall though I think what i said was I was at the very least happy to walk out of it and thinking "well at least that didn't suck"... so my feeling as I walked out wasn't that it was a waste of money, which is what I (sadly) feel like walking out of most movies these days :( I think I can stand by that though; it definitely was not a terrible movie. I am looking forward to seeing it in 3d after reading everyone rave over how aweosme it was there (I've never seen a 3d movie in a cinema)

Well it would be good to see what your opinion is post 3D, Trog.

just sayin'

The only movie i've seen in 3D is Barewolf and that looked pretty sweet, so i'll be watching this in 3D with the misses purely for the visual effects (when the stupid 15 yr old crowds die down).

I am looking forward to seeing it in 3d after reading everyone rave over how aweosme it was there

I saw this in 3D at the Myer centre a couple of nights ago, years since I last tried 3D. Took a while for my eyes to adjust but all good half an hour later.

The intro scene with the liquid bubble and much of the first half of the movie you can tell was just made for 3D. I can imagine being s***-bored in a normal non-3D viewing as I'm mostly immune to heaps of CGI pushed into my face (can thank the SW:EP1 crapfest for that) but 3D really got my attention as it really gave you a sense of depth/size in the scenes. Looking forward to your "OMG 3D" post later :)

The only improvement in the experience I can think of is if they do environmental changes in cinemas on top of 3D. Like some Terminator mini-movie I saw in Universal Studios in LA a few years ago when they'd blow s***-cold air into the cinema as a Skynet helicopter went over in the night time scene on the screen. Freaking awesome stuff, felt like you were there. I think they have a cinema like that in Seaworld or something?

Parabol I dont know about that... blowing air into peoples faces and like the sea world one where you have water sprinkled on you when you go through a waterfall etc... i think its stupid..

One thing I definatly think CAN be done and i'm willing to bet someone is nearing on the technology is SMELL.

We should be able to make a device that can quantify smells into x parts per million of this and y parts per million of that.

Then a device, much like a laser printer that uses catridges of stuff and puts it together to produce a smell. This smell would have to disipate quickly though but it would have the possibility to be able to give the following very quickly... (some examples)


the smell of charcole/burnt wood when the world tree got it
the smell of flowers when they were in that glow in the dark area
the smell of water / mist / humidity when he hops out of the water
the smell of car exhaust when the drop ship flies over head


Wouldnt THAT be awsome?

i think its stupid..

I just mentioned the Seaworld thing because someone said there is something similar in Australia, I haven't been there. I'm not talking about silly stuff like blowing water or air in your face, but just lowering the temperature of the cinema suddenly for certain scenes. For the Terminator/Skynet thing I saw, it was just awesome and matched the atmosphere perfectly.

Obviously not so useful for -every- movie, but based on my experience with that one show it can certainly be used creatively.

I remember something like that, they pumped a mist/gas into the cinema too. pretty cool.

There is so much more they can do for immersion with tech available. But its all about cost.

Going back to see Avatar again in an hour. hurrah.

Wooh, got tickets for a goldclass screening in 3d for christmas, can't wait to see it again but in 3d this time.

I saw it Thursday night again this time on a Vmax screen. Was even better the second time around. It was long but I still enjoyed every frame of it. The creatures, the ecology, the rainforest, the bonds, such an amazing world he set the movie in. Parts of it:

Spoiler:
such as the Sturmbeest scene and Thanator attack


Felt like an insane extraterrestrial documentary. The animals' behaviours were extremely well done.

last edited by 3dee at 16:26:52 26/Dec/09

Going back to see Avatar again in an hour.

I don't get this behavior. Its not worth wasting more then 1 entrance fee on.

Honestly 3d was pretty gimmicky and detracted from the overall visuals (I now wish I had seen it in 2D). In a few places it added significantly (holo terminals, the jungle at night). Some of the 3d previews looked pretty rad, the Alice one despite being for kids looked to be pretty awesome 3d wise.

The story was crap.
Unobtanium ... *yawn* ... loads of it around but most of it is under a massive tree. Where a bunch of blue space monkeys live who have this whole aboriginal/indian earth mother relationship going on. Which they blow up. But instead of just mining the f*** out of it building turrets and blasting the blue monkeys when they randomly attacked with stoneage weapons, they decided to fly off into a physics defying place where their tech was useless. And after losing (because they were morons) the blue space moneys will now be safe from the "sky people" thanks to the stone age ass kicking... or they might just come nuke the thing from orbit and take their unobtanium.

What morale values/story did we get from this ?
- Its ok to try and breed blue space monkeys with cybernetic experiements ?
- Bows and arrows kick ass ?
- Future humans have only slightly advanced versions of our own weaponry but have these amazing space travel techs ...

It was certainly ok. It was on par with star wars episode 2 and 3, definately better then Starwars 1. Not as good as Starwars 4 5 or 6, Nor was it as good as the last Star Trek.

Could have been made better by say using a real mineral/element and some how tying it into todays global warming stuff or peak oil ... or something

The highlight from me was the mechs, but as has been previously mentioned the fact they had human style hands and weapons was pretty stupid, as if you wouldn't design them to have a better/stronger coupling system, as was how exposed the pilot was and given its designed for space... as if wouldn't have had a super thin layer of gold or some other reflective material.

wait trog, I'm a little unclear still.

you're saying you liked it?

the blue space moneys will now be safe from the "sky people" thanks to the stone age ass kicking... or they might just come nuke the thing from orbit and take their unobtanium.

Yeah, this is what I was thinking, if the s*** really is so valuable, whats stopping the humans from just coming back with bigger guns and nuking everything to get what they want.

The sky people strike back!

Return of the space monkies!

Saw it. While the effects were excellent I found the storyline very predictable and basically worked out in advance most things before they happened. I guess though that's not what people were after in seeing it.

I think the point of this movie is much more about the world and the culture itself than the rather obvious and predictable storyline. I got so much more out of Pandora itself than the plot line.

So 3dee you mean you are paying to go see a screensaver ...

Lol you really didn't enjoy much of this did you. I liked the whole thing. Who cares if the story is predictable, I wasn't bothered by it and found the way he fleshed out everything around the plot to be great. The characters and acting was great and the action and environments were fantastic. I'm a sci-fi fan so it appealed a lot to me.

If anyone thinks Aliens has a more complex story they need to think again. In Aliens you know the whole plot within 10 minutes.

Aliens:

Corporation wants to get samples of hostile alien, they go to "rescue survivors" and everything turns to s*** and from then its merely a survival game coz the ship is infested with a corporate dude trying to sabotage everything for money.

Avatar:

Corporation wants to get valuable elements, a marine is told he's going to help with science, then after getting on the inside, but all along they were merely getting the reason they needed to blow the tree up and mine their precious element. Good guys win, bad guys die.

Both have aliens, both have a deceived protagonist, both have greedy corporate dudes, both have marines. One is old, one is new, one has miniatures, one has incredible CGI.

last edited by 3dee at 20:08:37 26/Dec/09

Difference being one lacks gapping big plot holes.

I didn't notice any gaping big plot holes in Avatar.

Holy f*** you guys. It's just a f***ing movie.

Did you complain when watching Aliens that the marines only used bullets even though it was in the future? f*** me. f***ing chill and just enjoy the f***ing thing you f***ing pricks.

LOL

last edited by Reverend Evil™ at 21:00:01 26/Dec/09

Yeah pretty much.

if the s*** really is so valuable, whats stopping the humans from just coming back with bigger guns and nuking everything to get what they want

If there's a sequel you'll find out. No use worrying about it now.

But instead of just mining the f*** out of it building turrets and blasting the blue monkeys when they randomly attacked with stoneage weapons, they decided to fly off into a physics defying place where their tech was useless

The reason they went there was because they realized the Navi had a link to the world thru the sacred site and if the corporation destroy it then they'll be weakened. Even the Colonel said something like the war would be over once they do it.

It was on par with star wars episode 2 and 3

This movie was light years ahead of those. The new Star Wars movies are rubbish compared to this.

Nah they went there cos they were worried about them massing and being over run ... by stoneage space monkeys ...

The scientists wanted them to stop because of it.

Nah they went there cos they were worried about them massing and being over run

Exactly. So you know why then. Because that was a sacred site and was linked thru-out the planet.

I think you're just arguing for the sake of it. Hoping we'll bite.

Then a device, much like a laser printer that uses catridges of stuff and puts it together to produce a smell. This smell would have to disipate quickly though but it would have the possibility to be able to give the following very quickly... (some examples) the smell of charcole/burnt wood when the world tree got it the smell of flowers when they were in that glow in the dark area the smell of water / mist / humidity when he hops out of the water the smell of car exhaust when the drop ship flies over head

Yeah this sounds totally feasible.

Something like the Feel Around cinema?

No, I just think it was a vastly over rated movie and putting into a relative (for me) scale against other sci fi movies. It's still an ok movie. It's not a "go see twice" movie. It is definately a date friendly/girl friendly sci-fi. Maybe if it had been less hyped, I would have enjoyed it more.

I am also trying to warn people they may enjoy it more in 2D. So far out of people not on this forum that I know who have seen the movie 4 wished they hadn't seen it in 3d, 2 thought the 3d was great.

Occasionally friends will still talk about the Star Trek.
I can't see people talking about this movie beyond the CGI or 3D in a few months time.

I can't see people talking about Star Trek unless Star Trek is brought up in a conversation either. Star trek was good but there's nothing memorable about it. With Avatar there is.

8-)

my friend saw it in both formats and said it was horrible in 2d. he said with the 2d he was just watching a movie, but with the 3d he was so engrossed and felt like he was actually there.

1 point I didn't mention.
People with poor eyesight enjoyed the 3d version more then the 2D.

Perhaps they are used to wearing glasses and getting random stray reflections from around the room ?
Perhaps they are just used to seeing a slightly blurry version of everything ?
Perhaps they are used to eye strain and mild headaches ? ...

I can't see people talking about Star Trek unless Star Trek is brought up in a conversation either.

Sort of, it was actually brought up by someone because I told them to go watch it even tho they hated sci fi. And they brought it up, telling me how much they enjoyed it etc etc, then one of the other people there became an annoying star trek nerd and started quoting lines and crap...

Yeah, one bad thing about the 3D version I found was there was alot of blurring when s*** moved across the screen really fast. I'd like to go see it again in 2D or wait for the Blu Ray version and see what it's like.

Obes - shutup and go watch Sherlock Holmes. You will come back feeling like a million bux.

I totally predicted this movie would turn out this way, and all I got were mum jokes.

It was on par with star wars episode 2 and 3

dude! are you high?

It's not a "go see twice" movie

a lot of people have seen this twice in only the short time it's been out. Obes you may not have liked it but that's really only your view. Everyone I know was amazed by it and is raving about it. I saw it twice and loved the experience both times.

Lol arguments about completely subjective topics are pointless.

Mate i'm going for a third. wouldn't surprise me if i see this movie 10 times at the cinemas.
Certainly loved the sound effects when they were blowing the tree up, not to mention the emotional effects too.

I thought it was great, didn't expect much, Watchmen has forever caused me great sorrow as to the expectations of movies.

it rates higher than alien and aliens on imdb.

Yeah it will go down after a while. Dark Knight was number 1 at release.

I reckon Avatar s***s all over Dark Knight. That was such a boring movie when the Joker wasn't on screen.

Anyway, one of my favorite parts in Avatar was when the military were moving in on the Tree and the Colonel was calm as s*** drinking his coffee. And also near the end when all the fighters were flying up into the floating mountains. f*** that was an awesome scene!

Such an awesome movie!

Had my 2nd viewing tonight at Noosa in RealD again. Loved it even more this time, there is a lot of character detail and nuances hidden in there that I missed in the first viewing. The picture and sound was incredible in the theatres here too, especially as home tree came crashing down. I'd love to see this in IMAX to be fully immersed in the screen so might get along to a Darling Harbour session sometime.

this movie is genius as was titanic (i realise it's cool to hate titanic).. James Cameron, I'm looking forward to more from this guy... I hope he doesn't make any sequels to this, it should just finish there... being what around 12 years between titanic and this?? I look forward to seeing another movie from him when I'm 38 lol :/

If it goes well, he wants to make two sequels. He'll have to do a hell of a job to live up to expectations a second time round. Granted this is James Cameron, maker of only great movies.

I'm reall REALLY suprised that people are saying Avatar is better then dark night or aliens (#2!). Everyone has their own POV but there is no way I would have guessed anyone would feel like that.

For me, the movie was spoilt by the massive plot holes. One plot hole that hasnt been mentions is the fact that the AVATAR bodies can magically have your conciousness dropped into them while they are hundreds of miles away. I wish they had kept the bodies at the lab each time they did the transfer, at least thats beleivable, if they are there physicially then they can has the machines to do what they need to do, rather then magicially activiting them millions of miles away.

I rang around and talked to three cinemas and they all said that victoria point cinema 7 was the largest and most high tech cinema in queensland, so i went there and saw it in 3d. I didnt have any eye issues, i instantly could see it in 3d without having to 'adjust' however I still regret not seeing it in 2d. The 3d took away from the movie I though, except in areas like the heads up display when he was doind the video blog... that looked amazing.

I really don't get peoples obsession with s***ty old sci-fi movies like Aliens. They might have been good 30 years ago when they came out but now they are s*** and dated. You want to talk about plot holes, how about an Alien race requiring other species to breed and when the Queen lays eggs instead of just hatching baby aliens they hatch face huggers which have evolved to hug face with a species they have never before come into contact with and then it's the face huggers which actually do the breeding by implanting a alien foetus in the gut of human beings. I mean, that's basically the entire basis of the movie and it's about as believable as Harry Potter.

Seriously all you f*****s will line up to suck Aliens cock despite the fact that the movies were horrible and yet you can't let a few tiny plot holes go in another movie? Why anyone would nuke a place they were planning on mining is beyond me, how you morons think it's a plot hole that they didn't, just goes to show what f***ing amazing cognitive powers you idiots have.

I like movies with great storylines. Special effects only get you so far. Yes Avatar was visually stunning but I wasn't glued to the story, just the effects. If a movie has a great storyline then it doesn't need effects to sell it - Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, Longest Day are good examples.

Avatar was very good, not great.

have a cry deadlyf

Aliens has no more of a storyline than Avatar does. Hell, District 9 (which is far from a "timeless" classic) has more "story" but I would rather see Avatar.

I never said Alien/s.

You want to talk about plot holes, how about an Alien race requiring other species to breed and when the Queen lays eggs instead of just hatching baby aliens they hatch face huggers which have evolved to hug face with a species they have never before come into contact with and then it's the face huggers

They do this so they can adopt the traits of whatever species it is they will be killing. Sure they'll just be normal bipeds when they use humans as hosts, but will become creatures of awesome if they infect a powerful species. Imagine a Lion that got face hugged it would be an ultra killer alien!

The only thing that has dated in Aliens is the special effects. And my God Obes just hang yourself already you pathetic c***.

. You want to talk about plot holes, how about an Alien race requiring other species to breed and when the Queen lays eggs instead of just hatching baby aliens they hatch face huggers which have evolved to hug face with a species they have never before come into contact with and then it's the face huggers which actually do the breeding by implanting a alien foetus in the gut of human beings.

that seems more realistic to me than a race of creatures that evolved the ability to connect their hair to other creatures hair and then control them through mind powers

Why anyone would nuke a place they were planning on mining is beyond me, how you morons think it's a plot hole that they didn't, just goes to show what f***ing amazing cognitive powers you idiots have.

maybe if you can explain why you think it's beyond you the rest of us can explain why we think it's a reasonable idea. I suspect you're getting caught up on the connotations of the word "nuke" though and would launch into some boring explanation about not being able to mine while its radioactive or something, to which there's a jillion simple responses

They might have been good 30 years ago when they came out but now they are s*** and dated

you're basically saying movies have a limited lifespan after which they start sucking... I think everyone in this thread, even the people that love Avatar, can agree the story wasn't that fascinating - what's its half-life going to be? because if it's just riding on its visuals, it's not going to last as long as movies like Aliens, etc.

so anyway, Aliens is still an awesome movie

Aliens has no more of a storyline than Avatar does. Hell, District 9 (which is far from a "timeless" classic) has more "story" but I would rather see Avatar.

well any movie isn't going to have "more" of a storyline, given that the average movie is what, 100 pages of script? it's not about the volume of the story, it's about the intricacies of the plot and how interesting it is.

I thought (and still think) Aliens has so much going on throughout the whole movie. It's constantly changing, there's new things happening all the time, you're always wondering who is going to buy it next, and just when you think the whole thing is over, holy f*** the queen stowed away!@# That's not even talking about how much more likeable and interesting the characters are... I don't know a single person that's seen Aliens and can't quote at least one Hudson line. I cannot remember a single memorable quote from Avatar.

Anyway, I digress. The other thing Aliens has for it is its a piece in a larger story (admittedly one that started going downhill very soon after Alien 3, and some would even say after Aliens) - the story of Ripley's personal struggle against the creature. While I can see why people would think why Avatar was an enjoyable romp, surely you can admit the overall story was utterly simplistic and predictable from all angles?

edit: just read back a bit and saw 3dee's summary of the Aliens and Avatar plots... you can summarise the plots thusly, but you miss out on so much more of the intricacies of the Aliens plot. So many things happen that take things in different directions! Especially in the special edition.


last edited by trog at 14:53:02 27/Dec/09

The special edition (you mean directors cut right?) is fail for Aliens.

The special edition (you mean directors cut right?) is fail for Aliens.

The one I am talking about is called Aliens Special Edition. It includes stuff not from the original like the robot sentries... can't remember what else off top of head but I'm sure it's easily findable. I really enjoyed all the stuff in the SE though.

dunno why the f*** you guys are comparing avatar and aliens. they are completely different kinds of scifi movies.

Gee I dunno maybe because they are from the same director?

edit: too many maybes

last edited by fpot at 15:38:25 27/Dec/09

I think the worst thing about the added scenes in Aliens is the beginning when the colonists are going about their daily lives. It really didn't feel like part of the movie. The sentry guns I didn't mind.

The sentry guns were the only decent bit but the extra scenes completely f***ed with the pacing of the movie.

As if you'd let a guy that had this creature sucking on his face just walk around without quarantining him. Oh and let's all go tackle this alien one by one... yeah we're safer on our own.. and who gives a s*** about a cat when there's a 9 foot alien after you? The whole movie annoyed me.

Oh yeah, that scene with Hudson rambling on about the weapons to Ripley seemed outta place. And was there a scene with Ripley at the beginning crying over the death of her daughter or am I making that up?

Anyway, Aliens is still a great film but it should give you the option to watch it without those scenes. Lucas should have done the same with the original trilogy as well because seeing all that new s*** he's put in really spoils the films.

As if you'd let a guy that had this creature sucking on his face just walk around without quarantining him. Oh and let's all go tackle this alien one by one... yeah we're safer on our own..

You're one of those guys that needs every inch of the movie explained to you hey?

last edited by fpot at 15:50:58 27/Dec/09

You're one of those guys that needs every inch of the movie explained to you don't you?

Like every f***** in this thread.

You're one of those guys that needs every inch of the movie explained to you don't you?

Like every f***** in this thread.

you are confusing "not understanding things" with "obsessing over trivial details"; they are fundamentally different things.

The sentry guns were the only decent bit but the extra scenes completely f***ed with the pacing of the movie.

I didn't really mind the other stuff.. prolly cuz I'd seen the original version before the SE version maybe?

Can you please edit that quote to the non-broken non-hungover edition please :P

I saw the SE version first (albeit I was about 11 or something) and then the theatrical. About the only extended editions I have seen that I think are better than the theatrical are LOTR:FOTR/TTT (not ROTK), Alien 3 and another one I have forgotten! Worst extended ever was the Terminator 2 I can't even watch that one.

last edited by fpot at 15:57:44 27/Dec/09

You're one of those guys that needs every inch of the movie explained to you hey?

Not really, but quite a few are talking about Avatars plot holes and comparing it to an amazing, impeccable alien storyline. I don't think it's fair. I thought Avatar was better than Alien.

that seems more realistic to me than a race of creatures that evolved the ability to connect their hair to other creatures hair and then control them through mind powers

The point is neither of them could stand up to nerd based scrutiny without resorting to making s*** up to explain it away. One you will forgive everything for and the other which doesn't have 30 years of nerd lore you need everything explained for you as if you've never encountered a sci-fi movie before? I didn't pay much attention to the story myself but I am able to accept that you are supposed to suspend your sense of disbelief when watching any movie, especially in a sci-fi.

what's its half-life going to be? because if it's just riding on its visuals, it's not going to last as long as movies like Aliens, etc.

Who gives a s*** how long it will last? I'm sure you've watched Aliens a million times and it still gives you wood but that's abnormal. Most people watch a movie once, enjoy it and then move on. The only movies I'm able to sit through twice are balls out action flicks like Die Hard or comedy gold like Super Troopers.

Really, if you don't like watching new movies why go to the cinema? And if you do like going to the movies why complain about them when they don't measure up to some s*** film you saw 15 years ago that you still view through a film of foggy nostalgia?

I bet you're the kind of person who still thinks that Doom is a good game.

Not really, but quite a few are talking about Avatars plot holes and comparing it to an amazing, impeccable alien storyline. I don't think it's fair. I thought Avatar was better than Alien.

They've only been comparing it to the Aliens storyline, not the Alien one. You do realise they are different movies right?

And the Alien storyline was utterly awesome. A cargo crew (they weren't mercs or soldiers of any kind remember) woken up by a mysterious beacon. They are forced to check it out due to a complete 'forfeiture of shares' if they fail to do so. They discover an utterly bizarre crashed spacecraft, with an equally bizarre skeleton aboard. The inside man on secret orders manipulates the crew into letting Kane back aboard, who awakes mysteriously and then the alien arrives and all f***ing hell breaks loose. Every part of the storyline of that movie is brilliantly crafted and practically faultless.

I bet you're the kind of person who still thinks that Doom is a good game.

oh, I thought we were about to engage in a serious discussion about movies, but it turns out you're just a troll :(

And the Alien storyline was utterly awesome. A cargo crew (they weren't mercs or soldiers of any kind remember) woken up by a mysterious beacon. They are forced to check it out due to a complete 'forfeiture of shares' if they fail to do so. They discover an utterly bizarre crashed spacecraft, with an equally bizarre skeleton aboard. The inside man on secret orders manipulates the crew into letting Kane back aboard, who awakes mysteriously and then the alien arrives and all f***ing hell breaks loose. Every part of the storyline of that movie is brilliantly crafted and practically faultless.

This has made me want to watch Alien again. I just remembered I never saw that Director's Cut edition... is that worth watching or should I stick with the original?

Obes - shutup and go watch Sherlock Holmes

Yeah it looks awesome.

I bet you're the kind of person who still thinks that Doom is a good game.

I do.
I think quake is a bit old hat (it really was only a multiplayer game), but Doom still is fun and has a decent single player storyline. It's so fast it's like any modern FPS on speed and then some. But I am unsure what this has to do with anything unless you are trying to make the point that that some people can look at a product on its merits and not how pretty it is ?


Perhaps avatar is a beastiality pride movie ? you stick your member in to random animals and you'll get in touch with the earth mother tree spirit...

ps. I do feel very very unclean though, for agreeing with trog.

I just remembered I never saw that Director's Cut edition...

Everything I described is from the theatrical release... directors cut of alien sucks.

The only movies I'm able to sit through twice are balls out action flicks like Die Hard

Heaps more action in Aliens than Die Hard newb.

For me, its all about emotional response. I dont care about story, plot, acting analysis. If the movie instills sadness / anxiety, in general feeling of edge of your seat, then its an excellent movie.
Avatar did this to me in many ways.

*Spoilers*

The Na'vi being driven from their homes. the entire scene when the tree was being shot down to Neytiri showing sorrow for her father's death. To the feeling of loss & defeat in the battle to when Eywa's call was heard.

If you didnt feel anything in those scenes, then you didnt find the characters or the world interesting enough to form a connection to them. Fair enough.

Just all around awesome experience for me.

You can use <spoiler> tags to hide it. Vash, thats also what I felt while watching this.

you are confusing "not understanding things" with "obsessing over trivial details"; they are fundamentally different things.

I've gone to the effort to categorise both groups under a singular heading. Helpful for those just tuning into this thread.

Sherlock Holmes was awesome! btw

District 9 (which is far from a "timeless" classic)

I dunno, I reckon District 9 is more of a classic (for me anyway), than Avatar. I saw District 9 twice in the cinema, and intend to buy it on DVD and make everyone I know (who hasn't already seen it) watch it. Probably the best movie I saw this year.

Dunno if I could be bothered buying Avatar when it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray, even for the pretty pictures.

I enjoyed D9 more then Avatar and as I said earlier in this thread I did actually enjoy Avatar. Not just for the visuals either.

Best movie this year was Basterds :)

Sherlock Holmes was awesome! btw

infi even agrees with me.

i should be a movie critic. i would rock.

I was gunna get the district 9 blu-ray for christmas but it doesn't come out until later this week. Ended up getting Inglourious Basterds bluray instead. Steve Farrelly MOTY those two.

infi also thought that a 'hero becomes the villian by causing the trouble he became a hero fixing' storyline wasn't cliched.

Well said vash. Had an emotional impact on me too, most of the movie did.

Trog needs to calm the hell down! It's a movie and a damn awesome one at that. I'm going to see it again. Gold class.

And maybe it was because I had a 50kg girl on top of me for most of sherlock holmes, but I can't say I found the movie very enthralling :P

Avatar had better romance than aliens.

Trog hates romance.

Saw Sherlock Holmes tonight, and it was awesome. Probably enjoyed it more than Avatar tbh.

I had a 50kg girl on top of me

Did you put water in the blow up instead of air? :)

Probably enjoyed it more than Avatar tbh.

me too Khel, the story was kickass

So people are rating Holmes? Sweet, might have to check it out!

I would agree with Khel that District 9 is more of a classic than Avatar. Avatar I think is better in the now while it's at the cinemas and in 3D, but over time I could see myself buying District 9 on DVD/Bluray and watching it many times throughout the years whereas with Avatar I wouldn't because alot of the awesomeness would be lost in 2D.

You're assuming you won't have a 3d TV / projector at home Sainty!

That I am! But I still think I'd only be able to watch it a limited number of times whereas District 9 I reckon I could watch it a fair bit more. I still think Avatar is awesome though.