Avatar Film Series - News/Discussion/Speculation

[Jedi_Master_Bra'tac]

My fear is that whilst the animation and 3D will be amazing the film itself will be crap. Also I've never been a fan of long films and it's gonna be over 150 minutes...

[ShadowMaat]

Saw the online version of the trailer and I can't say I'm very impressed. THIS is what everyone's supposed to get hyped about? THIS is phenomenal enough that they have tickets for a special screening of a TRAILER? No thanks.

The aliens are aggressively exotic. I'm all for aliens looking alien, but there was just something about these guys that made it seem like the designers were trying too hard to communicate the fact that they were ALIEN and DIFFERENT. And really, "exotic" does seem to be the right word for it.

I was also less than impressed by the "primitive" aspect of the Na'vi (had to look up the species name) and the fact that, naturally, "primitive" translates to "wearing as little clothing as possible." *sigh*

Avatar doesn't seem like something created by someone with James Cameron's star power, it seems like the horny fantasy of a repressed 14 year old. Although I suppose if you were feeling generous you could say it was more in the style of the early 1900s fantasy-adventure writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs. I'm not sure I'm feeling too generous at the moment, though.

I saw nothing in the trailer to appeal to me. The Na'vi's planet is just as aggressively exotic as the Na'vi themselves and not all that original, either. If I want to see examples of landscapes like that I'll go play Myst or look up any of the hundreds of other "fantasy landscape" paintings out there on the internet. I'm not going to waste my money on Cameron's overblown CGI extravaganza.

[Madwelshboy]

'Avatar' trailer smashes Apple record

The teaser for James Cameron's Avatar has broken the record for the number of trailer views on its first day online.

The first footage from the science fiction blockbuster was streamed four million times on Apple's website last week, according to 20th Century Fox.

Avatar reportedly bests the trailer for J.J. Abrams's Star Trek, which bowed on the Apple site in March, by 1.7 million views.

Opening in IMAX 3-D and traditional theatres on December 18, Avatar centres on a paraplegic war veteran Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who journeys to the planet Pandora and regains the use of his legs through a Na'vi avatar.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a...le-record.html

[AlbinoMonkeyC]

From what I've seen of the trailer, it was worth the long shelf life.

[Alan Wake]

I don't know about this movie... it feels way to much like a "cartoon" to me.

I'm also not that thrilled about the title.

[ShadowMaat]

I don't know about this movie... it feels way to much like a "cartoon" to me.

I'm also not that thrilled about the title.

Feels more like a video game to me, and not one I'd play. The title, however, makes perfect sense to me... and reinforces the whole "game" feel to it since the lead human is basically being uploaded into a character so he can play the game of espionage or whatever it is he's meant to be doing.

Of course, not being a game fan myself maybe that's part of the reason I don't feel hooked on this movie.

[Madwelshboy]

Hate the Avatar trailer? Star says that was the plan

The teaser trailer for James Cameron's Avatar underwhelmed the Web at the same time that the preview of about 16 minutes of footage wowed audiences who were lucky enough to screen it in IMAX 3-D on "Avatar Day" last Friday, and star Sam Worthington argues that was the plan all along.

"It's got a hell of a lot of hype," Worthington told a group of reporters in London last Friday. "I read all what was said yesterday about the ... trailer. I can see their point. But, as I said, it wasn't meant to be built for an Apple Mac. It's built for IMAX. It's built for 3-D. That's what [Cameron]'s designed it for. He's designed it to bring people back to the cinema."


Worthington added: "It's interesting that he's released that trailer, that Jim's gone and done that, and then the next day goes and shows it on IMAX. One extreme to the other. We get the criticism, and then we get the rave reviews of what it really looks like in its own formula. That's obviously going to get people to think and go, 'Well, damn right. I'm going to go see this at the cinema.' Jim has always said to me he wants to bring people back to the movies. And he's a smart enough man to ... to be tactical."

continues:
http://scifiwire.com/2009/08/hate-th...-trailer-s.php

[AvatarIII]

that's not what i didn't like about it though, i didn't like the fact it looked like it was aliens meets narnia. that the alien world was not alien enough. looked like blue people riding dragons in the forests of narnia if you ask me.

[ShadowMaat]

First of all, the idea that a trailer is supposed to look bad is ludicrous. Even the most arrogant producer in the world isn't going to intentionally release something that will make his movie look bad. Especially not if the only excuse they can come up with is, "On this lens it looks right."

Second, I'm inclined to think that anyone who is crazy/obsessive enough to actually get a ticket to see a trailer is going to be naturally inclined to love whatever they see no matter what. And holy cats, that is one of the most insane things I have heard of in a while. Separate tickets to see a frakkin' TRAILER?!

Third, seeing this thing on IMAX will not magically make the aliens look good, it isn't going to make the landscapes look less generic and I sincerely doubt it'll make it lose the video game feel of it all.

And speaking of IMAX... Is this thing ONLY going to be shown there? Seeing as its "specially formatted" and all, does this mean that people who don't live near an IMAX theatre or who can't afford to go are SOL? Or will it show in regular theatres even though the people in the movie ADMIT it's going to look sucky/less good? Does that count as a "**** you" to all the regular theatre goers?

I can understand filming stuff to make the IMAX experience a little more awesome, but aren't you kinda hamstringing yourself to make a movie that is, apparently, ONLY good on IMAX? Of course on the plus side (for Cameron & crew anyway) the extra high price of IMAX tickets means that even if fewer people see the movie they might be able to recoup their losses... as long as those sheeple see it in IMAX. Which is more or less what they're being told to do.

EDIT: Also as someone in the comments at Scifiwire pointed out, what does this "only looks good in IMAX" line of bull say about the DVD?

[Madwelshboy]

Studio 'may sue over Avatar similarities'

Fathom Studios is considering filing a lawsuit against the makers of Avatar for similarities to its film Delgo.

The trailer for the highly-anticipated 3D science fiction movie was released on the internet earlier this week.

According to PR Newswire, a number of media outlets have reported on the parallels between director James Cameron's upcoming film and the independently-produced 2008 feature - which employed all CGI animation - after viewing the clip.

The Atlanta-based production company is said to have been barraged with e-mails regarding the alleged similarity of the two projects and is considering legal action.

"From what we have seen, we are amazed by the visual similarities between the two films and we are reviewing what legal options may be available to us," a spokesperson for the studio said.

Avatar will be released in cinemas on December 18.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a...ilarities.html

[Giantevilhead]

The movie looks way too colorful. It's like a Crayola factory puked all over it.

[Alan Wake]

Someone said this movie looked like Narnia, I agree with that. I don't see how this movie is going to be a "game changer" in terms of story telling and visual style like the director said before.

This movie looks interesting, but that's it IMO

[AlbinoMonkeyC]

I'm looking at the STORY LINE not the CGI!

[Madwelshboy]

'Avatar' tickets 'already on sale'

Several online movie venues and one theatre chain have already begun selling tickets for Avatar, it has emerged.

The trailer for the 3-D science fiction film directed by James Cameron was recently released, while it smashed records for the number of views it received.

Though the movie does not open for almost four months, tickets have been made available for purchase predominately for IMAX theatres, according to Reuters.

"Tickets being put on sale for a film four months in advance is unheard of," MovieTickets.com executive vice president Joel Cohen said.

"The fact that tickets have already been sold really speaks to the tremendous buzz the film has already created and the power of James Cameron at the box office."

Fandango.com has followed suit by offering audiences a chance to pre-order tickets for opening day midnight performances only.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a...y-on-sale.html

[ShadowMaat]

As I recall Watchmen got hyped all to hell, too, and that turned out to be nothing very special, IMO.

I'm sure Avatar will make oodles of money, but none of it will be mine.