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TeeJay · 09 Dec 09 :: 21:27

Is anyone else as excited about this movie as I am? I saw a trailer prior to when I watched New Moon (I had seen a shorter one online before), and I gotta say I liked the Avatar trailer better than I liked the New Moon movie that I watched afterwards (even though the trailer was dubbed into German).

My theater is showing a pre-release preview of Avatar on 16th Decmeber and I just reserved a ticket. Yay! I can't wait!! Hope the movie doesn't disappoint.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 10 Dec 09 :: 00:36

Nope. I couldn't care less. As I said on Facebook when Shell asked if anyone else thought it looked silly, call me old-fashioned but I like my movies with human beings being human. I'm sick to death of CGI and I think the dialog in the trailers is just dreadfully cliche. Count me out of the discussion.

Warbee · 10 Dec 09 :: 05:27

I have adored Sam Worthington for a long time....WOOO for him! I am just waiting to see this movie too

domesticelefant · 10 Dec 09 :: 12:10

This is supposed to be the first 3D movie my theatre will show but I have zero interest in watching this. I rather watch New Moon again.

TeeJay · 10 Dec 09 :: 13:58

Unfortunately I won't be able to watch it in 3D. For me it's either 3D in German or 2D in English, and I'd rather go with 2D in English.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 10 Dec 09 :: 14:16

You know, I'd offer you to come down to my place and we could watch it together (As long as it's in English, I might consider to watch it) ... It's just that you probably won't have the time and I don't really have the space to house you and I guess it doesn't really make sense to come down here for a movie you've already seen, so .... well.

Editsound · 11 Dec 09 :: 07:41

Got to say, this one has zero interest for me. Somewhere I saw it described as looking like "Dances With Wolves: the video game". And that is what it looks like to me.

TeeJay · 11 Dec 09 :: 10:27

I have to admit the story sounds super-cliché, and it's definitely been done before. For me it's mostly the visual appeal. I'm a very visual person, and what I've seen of Avatar (seen two different trailers on the big screen now), I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a movie that'll have me plotz over the gorgeous images. I don't expect too much, story-wise. This one will definitely be eye candy for me, but not in the sense where I'm thinking of the actors (I don't even think I've seen Sam Worthington in anything before).

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 Dec 09 :: 00:20

The cast is pretty awesome. I'll give it that. But even that's not enough to draw me in.

TeeJay · 17 Dec 09 :: 11:26

All I can say is: WOW! Just like I thought, the story is pretty predictable (but not badly written), but the visuals are absolutely stunning. It's an almost three hour feast for the eyes. This movie is gonna be one of the first Blu-rays I'm gonna buy. (Now I just need a big HD flatscreen to go with it...) I wanna see it again in the theater, preferably in 3D, even though it's gonna have to be dubbed into German then.

-TeeJay

TeeJay · 19 Dec 09 :: 02:23

I know I'm pretty much talking to myself here, but I still gotta say it. The 3D version rocks even more than the 2D version! Amazing what they can do these days. The fast action scenes are too blurry, but the rest of the 3D version was awesome. I'm only bummed that I won't be able to watch the movie in 3D and in English, but you gotta take what you get. The German version wasn't too bad, and the 3D kinda made up for the dubbing. The only thing they messed up is not translating "unobtainium" (which is the metal resource they're after) into something that would make sense to Germans. They just called it the same, only pronounced the German way, which in German isn't a word and doesn't have a meaning. I was also shocked that they charged 12 EUR for the 3D version (which is roughly $17). I'd still say it was worth it, but for that kind of money I can almost buy the DVD.

I'm just wondering if I'm going a little too crazy here, I've seen the move twice in three days, and I'm tempted to go see it again on Sunday. I just can't get enough of the beautiful images. <sigh>

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 19 Dec 09 :: 03:01

LOL! Hey, whatever blows your dress up. I'm sure at some point others will see the movie and you'll have someone to commiserate with.

domesticelefant · 19 Dec 09 :: 17:29

TeeJay wrote:

I'm just wondering if I'm going a little too crazy here,

You're wondering about going too crazy ON THIS BOARD? LOL There is absolutely no reason to apologize for that. We all have our little obsessions. For me, most recently it's New Moon and for you it's Avatar. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Warbee · 20 Dec 09 :: 06:37

TeeJay I plan on getting around to watching this movie eventually...not entirely sure when cos of Christmas planning with my family but I really wanna see it!

TeeJay · 20 Dec 09 :: 23:35

Kate, I can really recommend that you watch it in 3D, it takes the movie to a whole other level. As far as I'm concerned, I have truly lost my mind. I drove three quarters of an hour through heavy snowfall today with the roads covered in three or four inches of snow to see the movie for the third time. I've seen it every other day since last Wednesday. Geez. I don't remember any movie I've seen as often in such a short time. Ralf wants to see it again in 3D on Tuesday and asked me if I wanna come with him. Man, this needs to stop! I can't believe the kind of money I'm spending on this. And it isn't even actor-based!

Oh well, I guess everyone needs a healthy infatuation every once in a while. I'm just gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

Careful, next thing you know, I'll start replacing our Chris headers with images of blue-faced Pandora aliens.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 20 Dec 09 :: 23:49

You'd better not!

TeeJay · 21 Dec 09 :: 00:26

But they're so beautiful!! I can't stop looking at them. Help! What's wrong with me???? :crying:

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 21 Dec 09 :: 00:48

I have no idea.

TeeJay · 23 Dec 09 :: 02:03

Fourth time seeing it today (second time in 3D) and I'm still not tired of it. Amazing, I didn't think I could ever love a movie so much that I wouldn't say after the fourth viewing that it's quite enough for a while. My only regret is that there's no chance of me seeing it in 3D in English. Unless they shoot a sequel and by the time it comes to theaters, my OV theater will have acquired the 3D technology and will show a double feature... Yeah, right, dream on. Though I bet there's already talk about a sequel out there.

With Christmas coming up, I'm gonna have to break with my habit of seeing the movie every other day now. It's also starting to weigh on my expenses, the 3D showings are twice as much as I usually pay. But still worth every cent.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 23 Dec 09 :: 03:41

I doubt there'll ever be a sequel. Too expensive, took too long to make, would never reap even half the original's grosses. And opening weekend domestically was not even close to what they hoped for. Plus there's growing backlash, so...

TeeJay · 23 Dec 09 :: 14:33

I just had an epiphany. Why don't I drive out to the Netherlands to watch it in 3D in English? :doh: That might just be my mission for after Christmas. I already found a theater near the border that shows it in 3D, which is just over an hour's drive. Not too bad. Only thing is that the parts spoken in the Na'vi language will be subtitled in Dutch, but I've seen it so often by now that I don't think I really need the subtitles. It'd be interesting to just look at the faces instead of the subtitles.

It'd be a good thing to try out too, just in case I need to drive out to the Netherlands for a Chris movie in OV some time in the future.

As for an Avatar sequel: Never say never, right? We've all learned that what Hollywood is doing doesn't always make sense.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 23 Dec 09 :: 15:24

I decided to give the movie a chance, but only on DVD when it comes out because I'n not going to see the dubbed version in a theatre and the 3D version is extremely expensive for me (€ 9,50) and I don't even know if my eyes can take 3D. So, it's the DVD for me. But I'm gonna watch it.

TeeJay · 23 Dec 09 :: 16:27

Hey, no one's forcing you to watch it. It's fine if you wanna check it out on DVD, but I can tell you that it'll lose at least 50% of its magic if you watch it for the first time on a small TV or computer screen. If ever there was a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen, it is this one. The beautiful images are the movie's heart and soul, it's what makes it so special. And I just can't imagine that it'll be quite as breathtaking on a 15" laptop screen. I also get that this movie might not be for everyone. I'd like to speculate that if the trailer didn't capture your attention, this movie definitely isn't for you.

I know 3D is expensive, I paid almost 12 EUR, so 9.50 EUR is actually pretty cheap. One's eyes do need to adjust to the 3D viewing, it took me a quite a while the first time, but not so long the second time. I have no idea if it would work for you. All I can say that the movie was even more amazing in 3D. There's at least one scene where I always flinch because I think something that comes flying towards me is gonna hit me. It's incredible what you can do these days with technology. I'd say Star Trek's holodeck might just be available a few hundred years into the future, if humanity will exist that long. (Avatar takes place in the year 2154, by the way. And even then it took them 6 years to fly through space to get to the planet Pandora.)

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 24 Dec 09 :: 00:06

You do know that Cameron supposedly worked on this movie for 14 years, right? Even if someone would give him another $700 million (an obscenity in my opinion considering you could make about 70 small films for that amount of scratch), I doubt he'll live long enough to make a sequel. But hey, stranger things have happened.

What exactly is so beautiful anyway that you have to see this movie every other day? A bunch of blue people flying around in an alien rainforest? What's got you so entranced? You really haven't said much except that it's beautiful. Or did I miss something?

TeeJay · 24 Dec 09 :: 01:01

TheCentralScrutinizer wrote:

You do know that Cameron supposedly worked on this movie for 14 years, right?

Yes, I do know that, but it's not like he worked on it for 14 years straight. Basically, the script has been lying in a drawer somewhere until 2005, when finally the technical side of motion capture and animation was ready to create the movie he had envisioned. I'm pretty sure that a sequel nowadays wouldn't even take half the time. I see your point, though. I don't think a sequel is very likely at this point.

What exactly is so beautiful anyway that you have to see this movie every other day? A bunch of blue people flying around in an alien rainforest? What's got you so entranced? You really haven't said much except that it's beautiful. Or did I miss something?

No, I haven't written up a review or anything. It's hard to explain, but I guess it's pretty much everything. I already said I'm a very visual person, and the movie really is a three hour feast for the eyes. The whole Pandora universe that Cameron created is breathtaking, from the jungle to the animals to the blue humanoids. And I don't mean only visually. He's created this whole universe, including a setting, a culture and biological traits. There are no many ideas in the movie that fascinate me, starting with the whole concept of the avatars to the "bond" that the Na'vi can create. It's just so much fun to dive into that universe and get immersed in it. This movie really embodies the term "escapist movie". Because that's what you do, you escape to Pandora for about three hours. Well, I do, anyway. Maybe this is one of the things where you need to say: You have to see it to believe it.

Of course it's not only that. I said before the story is pretty predictable, but that doesn't mean it's boring or bad. In fact, it's also what draws me to the movie. If the script was badly written, I wouldn't have gone and seen it this often. The characters are all believable (some lovable, some despicable), and I guess it helps that I find the protagonists of the story very likeable. The acting is wonderful too, on all counts -- the good and the bad guys.

Let me quote you: "A bunch of blue people flying around in an alien rainforest." You really can't narrow the movie down to that. Yes, of course that's what they do some of the time, but it doesn't do it justice. But maybe that's just me. It's totally fine that others don't understand my fascination with it. If you find the idea of a blue, alien people in a rainforest, defending their land against invading humans silly, I daresay this movie isn't for you. Like I said before, I think it's pretty safe to assume that if the trailer and the idea of the movie doesn't speak to you, you're not gonna end up liking it.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. There's plenty of movies out there that I don't give a monkey's bum about that other people get really excited about, so I definitely know what it's like to not understand someone's fascination with something. On the other hand, I'm quite surprised about myself here. It's not like me to grow so attached to a movie I hadn't even heard about until maybe two months ago. And it's definitely not like me to see a movie in the theater more than twice, especially not in such a short time. But, hey, this too will pass. Eventually.

-TeeJay

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