At least James Cameron wasn't trying to fool anyone with Avatar, he said outright the movie was going to be more about the technology than the story. He said that several times during production.

But I suppose if you say "This movie is going to be shit" and it's shit, it isn't suddenly good because the director admitted it was shit while making it. Though I think Avatar is a very competent movie, just very derivative.

I think he even flat out stated that it was going to be a ripoff of Dances With Wolves some years before principal photography even began.

He did, while promoting the movie he was still describing Avatar as Dances With Wolves in Space

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/uncat...s-gimcrackery/

I couldn't get into avatar even though it was a pretty film at times. I thought the ending scene with the machine was pretty cool but everything else did not capture much my imagination or interest. I didn't really care for the blue creatures at all, and they didn't mix in well with the humans as they looked animated and out of synch.

I gave avatar a solid B-

I care more about how a movie is about, not what it is about.

People who can't get past the borrowed plot are missing the point.

This was my pick in the recent "Movie You Loved but Have Only Seen Once" thread.

It was... okay. Not great. Not terrible.

The thing I enjoyed the most about was that it turned the old alien invasion trope on its head, where the "alien invaders" were Earthlings.

Yes, my wife & I both enjoyed it. Bought the Extended Collector's Edition, we've watched it twice so far, we'll watch it again someday.

Some plot holes that kept me from connecting:


- Why is the military targetting this specific area for mining? They said it's the highest unobtainium source in 100 kliks? Does that mean 100 kilometers or is that some sort of larger measurement? Because if they travelled for years in cryostasis to get to Pandora, why not just move to that next source instead of sacrificing your soldiers? What's the point of the whole conflict?

- Floating islands are pretty but they don't make much sense.

- Why do that Navi accept a human in an avatar? And how did the Avatar program come about and how does it work? The movie just tells us that it exists from the start and we're supposed to accept it.

Speaking of Unobtainium...

Skip to about 5:11

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/j6znnJ1QISM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

"Shit story... but MAN that 3D is bitchin!"

If I want an amusement park ride, I'll drive 3 hours to Disney World. I'm not saying people who love the movie are wrong, just that for ME, the movie disappointed because it was an abject disappointment of storytelling. It brought nothing new to the table other than technology and gosh-darn gee-whiz special effects. And that isn't enough to keep my interest for more than 12 minutes or so.

The real disappointment for me was that Cameron always was a great storyteller! The Terminator flicks, Aliens, Abyss, yes even Titanic (with its cardboard cut-out protagonists) all told great stories while pushing the special effects envelope. Avatar was content with a mediocre but barely adequate storyline. Ehh.

Really? I though Titanic was when Cameron stopped giving a shit about a good story and instead put all his effort into the production design of the ship's interior.

I once read some guy online posit that Cameron's screenplay is actually structured in such a fashion that the film is really about architecture and space and is written in such a fashion that it allows him to visit pretty much every place onboard. I don't know if it makes an sense or not, but it seems more interesting than most of the stuff that's actually in the film.

Just a little bump since we seem to actually have a sequel coming this year. I watched this with my kids, as it was their first time seeing it. They had no idea about any of it nor have heard about it before. I think the last time I saw it was on 3D Blu ray probably 2014 or so. Takeaway from my kids was that “it’s cool looking” but tuned out at several parts. As for myself, I found it to be a lot slower than I remember. Plus side is that it still looks damn good after all these years. Makes me wonder what the upcoming 4K remaster will look like.

Last time I watched it in full was when the blu-ray came out. I've watched a little on D+.

I can’t really fairly say since I only saw it one time in the theater back in 2009. At the time though I remember not thinking it was anything special and didn’t think it lived up to the hype. I’ve had no desire to want to revisit it.

I’m mostly surprised at how much I forgot about the movie itself. I didn’t remember most of it at all.

Yeah, last time was back in 2010 when the second Blu-ray was released (extended edition?). Haven't really had interest in revisiting. My recollection was it was the visuals were fantastic, story was... okay. Not much else stood out. I might check it out again sometime this year.

I haven’t watched it since the theater. It kinda wowed me then, but I have had zero desire to revisit it.

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I saw POKEMON THE MOVIE: SECRETS OF THE JUNGLE (2021) last year and was surprised it took Japanese animators so long to rip off AVATAR's plot, which was so anime-friendly to begin with. For me, needless to say, Pokemon trumps Cameron every time.

Last time I watched it was in 2020. It's fine.

I probably haven't seen it since 2009. At the time it was fine. I never cared enough to revisit it. That seems to be a common theme.