Great - a film this good looking and it's a moral tale about how evil Americans are and how pure and decent primitive tribes are, with some nice jabs using the Democrat Party lines.

It's all a big myth. The American Indians weren't "noble" any more than any other group of people.

I'm kind of a big fan of Western culture. It's brought the world far more good than evil, and I sure as hell wouldn't want to live under any other, as my travels to the Third World (where people are "more in touch with the planet.") have shown me.

I'll take a pass.

No need to pay to have some movie maker tell me the military is full of psychopaths, all scientists are inherently good, Capitalism is evil, and humanity isn't worth two cents.

Another example of 'Nostalgie de la boue'

As I watched it I was thinking that I was seing pure genius at work. Incredibly imaginative.

I saw Avatar Friday night. BIG thumbs up from me for the 3D. I was amazed. Cameron can somehow always pull off what a future military may look like. Although this "military" is hired guns, but the vehicles and tech seems totally perfect for the year 2145. The plot was definitely not that deep, but was a great bunch of fun.

Highly recommended.

Edit: Oh ya and I overlooked the political overtones and just went to have fun. As a gamer/simmer I can appreciate the work the art team put in and that team should be rewarded.

Jason

I saw it in 3-D on Sat. It was better than I thought it would be. IT was, however, to me, Aliens meets Ferngully meets Matrix meets Dancing with Wolves. The plot was predictable..but the lady and I still enjoyed it anyway.

v6,
boNes

LOL just read a review of it...."Ewoks, I fu**ing hate Ewoks"

I am sure the year was 2154. Whe Jake was doing one of his video reports it had the date in the corner.

Just came back from seeing it.

Like many have said it was predictable but good fun. The SFX are amazing. I easily forgot the whole thing was CGI and the Na'vi weren't real. The 3D effect, though, wasn't as good as I thought it would be. That doesn't mean it was bad, far from it, but there were times it didn't felt 3d at all, just plain old 2d. Yet on other moments it really shone and created an amazing feeling of depth and for that I think it's worth paying the extra money.

Bottom line is, the goal of any film is to entertain and Avatar did that and it did it very well. I can't wait for the sequels.

Hmm, saw it tonight. Damn good entertainment...the previews do NOT give it justice! Really quite immersive, it appeared to me that everyone involved really put in a solid effort that paid off. At one point in the movie I was thinking "National Geographics: Exploring Pandora's Secrets"... and then they climbed the floating rocks for the warrior test.

Btw: "unobtainium"?!?! It sounded even lamer in the movie! But...is that material sort of anti-grav? Or was it only spinning on a magnetic field? I dont recall what exactly the mined material was actually good for, other than $20 mil per kilo in raw state. I guess that doesnt matter, just a plot device anyway.

I had no idea Ms. Weaver had such a big role in the movie, I'd assumed it was just a cameo...I dont know why but I've always liked that woman!

PS: where can I buy one of the utility helicopters that Ms. Furious flew?!? I want one of those!

Saw it last night in 3D Great and fun movie, will see it again.

This movie is a reflection of actual western history, our way of life (western world) has been built on the destruction of others, and still do; diamonds in africa, oil in the middle east, lack of respect of others, or war in general as weapons manufacturers (or any one else invested in war) thrive when there is conflict. We can go back a few hundred years: Spain killing of the aztec for the gold (see any similarities there to the movie?), Europeans coming to Africa kidnapping people and selling them as slaves and just general genocide of the african tribes cause they weren't christians or forcing them to christianity. The list goes on you know.

But what do I know Dart? I'm just a commie European, right?

The helo aircraft in Avatar remind me of the Orcas from Command and Conquer.

http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/10/9011/Orca1.1.png

they reminded me of the one's coming in Halo Reach, just without the blades enclosed

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/haloreach/video/6242903/halo-reach-premiere-trailer?hd=1

As a cynical 57 year old , I can say I was amazed and loved the movie.

What facinates me is that

1/ Most of the people who post that dont like the concept havent actually seen the movie

2/ For thousands of years advanced civilisations have abused indigenous cultures if they got in the way of resources. Its not just a western issue so relax

3/ We can say we are more civilised now but in reality it has just moved to corporations rather than nations - i know I work for one

4/ In real life tell me what the outcome would be of

corporation pumps in billions of dollars to off world mining operation
no "governance" control over that operation
resource worth huge amounts of money
private security firm made up of ex marines ( would you use marines or royal marnies or special forces of any nation for peace keeping)manages the site security
indigenous population wants to continue their way of life, dont want money , or "schools" or beads or any other payoff
corporation will start losing huge amounts of money if cant access the resource

sounds like a very plausable script to me based on past and current practice.

Yes the message is a blunt instrument but I'd rather reflect on a movie that excites me because I can see what else the technology can now be used for - think of all the great science fiction novels written eg the forever war, Ringworld, Hyperion etc that would be amazing. Yes the scriptwriters would probably stuff half of them up but still.
Even more exciting would be Peter Jackson now making the Dambusters or the St nazaire raid ( can only hope)

This movie moved me from glass half empty to glass half full.

Finally I thought Sam worthington was great ( im biased) and sounded at times in accent like a young Mel Gibson

With all the technology available why didn't they just defoliate the area with chemicals, follow on with napalm, and set up a huge firebase?

Assuming that the aliens have a biology similar to ours, why not just drop several canisters of blood agent or some other chemical weapon of short (non persistent) agent?

After all, no governance over their actions, and it would take a helluva lot less resources.

It's not just "advanced" cultures that wiped out others in search of resources. The Incas, Aztecs, Indonesian tribes, and even the much ballyhooed peaceful American Indians weren't above killing and/or subjugating any group that stood in their way. One doesn't have to go back much further than Columbus to find Europe hanging on a thread of annihilation from the Mongols (and escaping it as much by luck and internal politics than anything else). Heck, Islamic forces seiged Vienna at one point!

Western Civilization has no monopoly on such things, though one would never know it from the tales of Hollywood.

This is why:

http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Resources_Development_Administration



I guessing that chemical and biological agents fall into that category.

Dart, obviously you missed my point 2/ ive highlighted what i said previosly

2/ For thousands of years advanced civilisations have abused indigenous cultures if they got in the way of resources. Its not just a western issue so relax

its a human issue not a western issue.

Saw the movie tonight in 3d. Bottom-line: must see in 3D. Really.

The movie plot itself? Not so inventive, it's Dances With Wolves meets The Last Samurai with a bit of Dune thrown in. But the experience in 3D is really the next level - this coming from a jaded movie buff.

Go see it, go see it now, but in 3D.

why can't people just see a movie for entertainment instead of breaking it down into all bad plots against who ever. If it was so predictable, why go?

I'm not a huge fan of cinemas so I havent't seen it yet but from what you guys and girls are saying (and from that review) it just seems like another holywood in-your-face special effects movie with a pretty generic/predictable story attached to it...

Might be fun to watch sometime, but I won't hold my breath until it comes out on BR/DVD