Troy Stiffler

Absolutely. If you don't see it now, it's going to be awhile till we see proper 3D in home theater.

Patman

Since it was looking like either bad weather for the next few days or sold out shows on Imax-3D, I took in my 2nd viewing this morning, and this time, instead of the usual slouchy seated position I typically take when watching movies, I was sitting on the back row and I was sitting up in rapt attention, and this film just has this way of reducing me to an 8 year old boy watching something wondrous and exciting on the big screen.

The scenes when Jake finally tames his flying banshee and soars through the skies are simply exhilarating and exciting. The joy on his face, as well as Neytiri's face riding and racing about brought the same big smile on my face, I held my tears back, but I felt them well up in spots just from such cinematic joy on display. With foreknowledge of the plotline, it freed me to simply take in the visual feast unencumbered and allowed me to soak up as much of the on-screen details I had missed on my initial viewing. I know I'll take in one more Imax-3D viewing, perhaps in a few weeks, after this surge of cinematic adrenaline has subsided.

Draven

Lucas is sad that Cameron makes better cartoons than he does.

Blu Man

Your funny

Draven

What about my funny?

FantasticVSDoom

You know, this pretty much sums up my feelings as well.... Went and watched it again tonight (and it was a pretty packed house in Queens) with a friend and was still awed by it. Not moved to tears, but for some reason this film just takes me back to watching movies when I was a kid. Still want to see it on a real IMAX screen so I may have to go a 3rd time (something I havent done in a long long time) to trek up to Lincoln Ctr. and check it out.

Dan

`tis broken.

cliffzig

During the Na'vi love scene, I was thinking that Jake and Neytiri should plug their ponytails together. Then it occurred to me that people would associate this with bestiality when plugging into the animals. So, the Na'vi just fuck the old fashioned way I guess. Oh, and they "see" each other too. Nice.

Burnt Thru

must have missed that bit!

Ash Ketchum

Problem is, none of the kids on this board have seen any westerns. So stuff that's overly familiar to us old-timers would seem new to them. To the rest of you--if your fathers had been doing their paternal duty and making you watch westerns as you were growing up, we wouldn't be having this problem. Instead of going to see AVATAR again, get yourself RED RIVER, THE SEARCHERS, GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL or THE WILD BUNCH and see a real movie, dammit, and not some techie-conjured CGI fest.

Supermallet

I've seen three of the four movies you've mentioned, along with a slew of other westerns, and still loved Avatar. But thanks for making baseless accusations as to other people's knowledge and taste.

toddly6666

Have the stories in James Cameron films ever been original? No they haven't. Have they borrowed storylines from previous films? Yes they have. Does this matter? No it doesn't. Cameron films are awesome. If you want an original story, go watch a Charlie Kaufman movie instead.

FantasticVSDoom

couldnt have said better myself

spainlinx0

I loved it. It was a visual feast, and while some may not like the overlong establishing shots, I could have gone a whole movie with just that. I would even watch a 3D Planet Pandora documentary style movie.

It really felt like I was experiencing a brand new world, and while the story did have its cheesy parts, and there were no surprises, I really didn't care. I just loved going through the same experience as the main character getting to explore and get to know a whole new world.

lamphorn

Of course, back when you were watching those, the old-timers would have told you they were borrowed from older stories/novels/plays, which were in turn derived from other shit. Pretty much most of what we think about anything can be traced back to Shakespeare and HE got most of his plots from earlier plays and poems.

There's almost nothing that's actually original. What changes is style and technology. These kinds of budget-busting spectaculars were also popular long before film when they would produce explosions and even water battles on stage for silly plays about pirates and princesses.

Someday some fuddy duddy will be whapping a kid on the head with a newspaper and telling him to watch something of substance, like Avatar and Pulp Fiction.

asianxcore

Your assumptions are hilarious. The fact that someone has to be a certain age to have seen any Westerns? The Blu-Ray copy of The Wild Bunch my Dad has waiting for him under the tree for X-Mas must be a figment of imagination then. Film is film, storytelling is storytelling regardless of medium.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/16...light=westerns

That thread shouldn't exist if none of us "young kids" watched Westerns. Also are you psychic? Start a thread in the "Other Talk" on how you are able to read everyone's age on this board without asking.

Since when did age determine film tastes? Just because we aren't dropping threads all over the places about specific genres, doesn't mean they are either misrepresented or forgotten. I love Exploitation Flicks (which by your judgment call I shouldn't be watching because I am too young to know what they are) but I'm not making a thread about it every second.

I know there are people on this board that come from all different backgrounds that love all kinds of film. Which is why I love these forums so much. I know no matter what kind of genre of film I like, there is always a group around here to discuss them with.

Example:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...ght=disturbing

slop101

Yeah, Ash, your perception of "the kids on this board" is way off base, as a great majority of DVDTalk skews a lot older than most other boards out there, and also skews higher than average for comprehensive knowledge on film history.

palebluedot

My theater was full of teenage girls, so looks like it appeals to them as well. Even overhearing them talking about it afterward they seemed to enjoy the movie a lot. Looks like another big hit for Cameron.

fumanstan

I enjoyed it. 4 out of 5 stars for me. The 3D environment was pretty amazing, but I still don't care for the character design, which made me feel I was watching a cinematic from a video game rather then real life characters moving in a realistic world. Often times it felt more like I was watching green screen work like Sky Captain. I enjoyed it in IMAX 3D, and this was definitely better then the other 3D films i've seen (Coraline, Monsters vs Aliens), although it took me awhile to settle in and for my eyes to adjust. I'm curious to see how it plays in 2D and if Pandora would lose some of it's luster.

I was fine with the story of the movie. It was fairly predictable, but I'm hardly someone that screams about the lack of originality in Hollywood and the story did it's job well. I also didn't find the performances particularly bad like some folks seem to think. Everyone did their job well, with Zoe Saldana and Stephen Lang standing out in particular as very good performances that helped carry the film. The military stuff.... eh, it never bothers me. I don't think about films being pro or anti military, politics, or government. A friend of mine in the military posted about how he hated the anti military bias, but to me it's just part of the story and as long as it makes sense, which it did here, I don't have a complaint.

I think it could have trimmed 10-15 minutes, or replaced some of the action with some better character introduction to start the film, particularly for Jake.

Labor

If anything, it needed another 20-30 minutes. It wasn't long enough as it was. The movie didnt even feel as long as 2h40m

MBoyd

I'd be interested to see what was cut. Maybe we will get it.

I saw it for the second time yesterday but at the IMAX 3D in Austin. Yes it's better than the XD. I could see the difference, but I am not an XD hater. That looked stellar for Plano, TX. But I agree with whoever said IMAX looked "less digital." Gotta see the Alamo's 4K now and I'll be done.

Labor

I am guessing the prior cut to the one we got was around 3 hours, as James Horner said he scored a 3 hour films

There are things we know were cut:

- Pretty much every scene that took place on Earth
- A scene during the Jakes training were he goes hunting with the Na'vi (with an animal not scene in the current film) that ends with a sort of party with the Na'vi
- Introducing heads of the other Na'vi clans
- More scenes with Giovanni Ribisi
- More Grace with the Na'vi

Really, the only reason the movie isnt longer imo is due to the IMAX limit.

Here is something Cameron has recently said about an Extended cut:

grrr

The soldiers in the film were were mercenaries who served as the private army for "the company," not military.

Even if they had been military, it's not necessary that every film portray them as enlightened warrior-poets. The ground troops were following orders handed down by their superiors, for good or bad.

fumanstan

Oh. Whatever they were, I'm indifferent to their cause and purpose other then just seeing them as generic soldiers fighting.

Blu Man

If you don't like this forum then leave. AVATAR has everything I want to see in a movie, beauty, great music, good acting, great visuals, action, good directing, good editing, and a good story to go with it. Some people, me included don't like westerns, I just don't make a connection to them on any level, and their is nothing wrong with that. Their is also nothing wrong with you not liking AVATAR. But you have to stop thinking that you have better taste then everybody and just except that some people don't like the same movies as you. Stop insulting people on this forum for having different tastes then you do.