Modern Vespa

Go see it. Especially in 3 d. Awesome movie. wish it were R rated.

Saw it last night in 3D at the IMAX. Great effects, my kids loved it.

Tim

imax is the way to go if you see this movie.. mind blowing effects

I want to go see it. Hopefully I can convince my brother into going to see it with me tonight.

3D was totally worthwhile.

Why?

no kids to talk through the entire movie.

less kids and naked aliens

I saw it a few days ago in 2D and yes I thought it lived up to the hype which is rare these days.

Not only did you feel the weight of all the the bad guys equipment you also wondered at the depth of the creativity to create whole new world and the ecosystem that lived within it.

Great animals, forests and weaponary. It's also quite sexy in places.

I'm going to see it again in 3D as soon as possible.

Bill X

Saw it last night in 3D...best movie this year IMO! A friend that does not like SciFi even loved it (4 of us went together)! I will be adding Avatar to my movie collection.

+1
Me too!!
I loved the look and feel of the planet's flora and fona. Wish someone could do this to the Dragon Riders of Pern books. It would take about 20 two hour movies to do the series right.

One could say the plot is cliched, or one could say the story is tried and true. Like the reviews say, it really is the very familiar "soldier goes native, and then fights his own people to protect his new people." There really isn't anything unexpected or surprising as far as storylines go. Think Dune with more jungle, or Dances with Wolves with more um, jungle.
However.
Somehow, James Cameron made everything seem fresh again. And maybe part of the fun for me was not saying "oh, I knew this was gonna happen " but maybe instead getting lost in the retelling of the story.
Oh yeah, and the visuals are the best I've ever seen. I couldn't tell what was real and what was CGI, and that's how Cameron planned it. Plus, 2/3s of the way through, I realized that b/c of how well done the 3D was, I may start expecting that from all movies now. Simply amazing. I walked out with the feeling that I definitely got my money's worth.

I am half way through watching it at home and it is a great movie. Can't wait to watch in the theater.

Wayne B

I think movies like this will have a great affect on future movies, as it raises the bar. Look at what the first Matrix did and the Lord of the Ring series...simply brilliant!

Pirate?

Can't say as you may turn me as you did here, in stead of just replying and asking me not to PM you.
I can't PM now thanks

Wayne B

It really reminded me of an adult version of Fern Gully. Especially with the scene with the big earth movers etc

It was absolutely visually stunning and exciting to watch...but other than that the movie was horrible.

The acting was bad, the story was entirely too predictable, the mercinary one-liners were silly, and the story was all done before. It was cliche after horrible cliche.

Personally, it was not worth the $16 I had to drop to see it in Imax.

District 9 blows Avatar out of the water..., the story was much more original, and not 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I saw it in 3 D. I don't watch movies as a general rule. This was the second in six years - that includes DVD's, TV etc. Because it was visually stunning it held my attention but really only served to confirm my dislike of that form of 'entertainment'. Nothing has really changed in the industry.


Dave

We don't have the ability to catch as many movies as we used to, but over Thanksgiving we has the opportunity to catch a flick while the grandparents watched our baby.

We didn't have much in the way of choices, it was between 2012 and Fantastic Mr. Fox...the Mrs. had no desire to see 2012, so we saw the Fox movie.

Now, I'll tell you, that was some great storytelling...we both loved it. We constantly talk about how we want to see it again. I don't get that at all with Avatar.

You were the one who announced that you were watching a new release at home.

I thought it was horrible. Preachy, overindulgent, predictable, gimmicky, redundant and long. I almost walked out twice. Then realized how much I paid for it and came back in.

By far the most incredible film I've seen. I am glad it wasn't R since it meant I was able to bring my 11-year-old.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 3D version. The only additional aspect that would have made it superb, would have been an ability to smell Pandora.

The ending left a desire for more. And alas, Cameron is planning at least two more Avatar sequels.

too long , too repetitive.

go see Up in the Air, if you like your movies to have "acting", "plot", etc.

Avatar can be fairly criticized for it's too-predictable story, and though I generally liked the dialogue, the "take it to a whole new level" line was so cliche that it threw me out of the movie for a moment.

It remains a great movie in spite of that.  That the CG characters have finally crossed the uncanny valley alone makes it a remarkable achievement. As I recall, the Na'vi run around more or less naked as it is. 

I thought of the same thing! Great job with he special effects, though. It really pulled me in. Also, it was the first 3D movie that, for me, displayed 3D that was sharp and clear and not just a gimmick; it really fit this movie.

I thought of the same thing! Great job with he special effects, though. It really pulled me in. Also, it was the first 3D movie that, for me, displayed 3D that was sharp and clear and not just a gimmick; it really fit this movie.

What about the whole ''unubtanium'' plot line???

I thought they were mining for vintage scooter parts.

I saw it at the Cinerama Dome here, a screen that I think is better than any of the local IMAX ones.

Beautiful. Best 3D I've seen. Gives the film a sense of depth rather than a sense of layered 2D images.

Also horribly cliché, lazily plotted, ridiculously predictable. I found it frustrating that so much effort went into the movie's visuals yet most of the other fundamentals of a good, entertaining popcorn flick are totally neglected.

A perfect example of a movie that I found more enjoyable than likable.

I wrote a rather lengthy review here:
http://ericonmedia.com/?p=400

Is it available in both 3D and Imax?

I liked it, it remineded me of a game I would play on my 1st PC That had a Nvidia Video card. what I did not like was small pop corn is $6 and small drink $5.50 whats up with that.

We don't get to the theater too often because we live...in the sticks...so we have to choose wisely. We're so on the fence with Avatar because of reviews like this. Yes, it's visually beautiful, but the story sucks. Do we want to waste our time and $$ on that?

District 9 however? Saw it in the theater on opening day. Bought it on Blu Ray and have watched it twice already. AND I put it on my ipod. It's just that good. It's a story that sticks with you and makes you think. Oh, I'm sorry....I totally hi-jacked this thread!

That's kind of the big question here. It really depends on whether mind-blowing visuals are enough to sustain your interest in a movie. They really are good, and it's not just "effects" as in ships, explosions and so on but also a fully realized and mostly convincing environment.

Too bad they didn't have a fresh story to wrap it all around. Avatar is more predictable than Titanic, and everyone knows hot that ends.

I was watching The Incredibles on cable the other night and wondered if Cameron's too big to take screenwriting classes from Brad Bird.

From my review: These problems are indicative of auteurs who make big budget movies that make titanic amounts of money. Who's going to say, "Uh... James... This doesn't make any sense" or "Um, what f we changed the character so it's not exactly the same as one you've done before" or "Good God, man, the princess? You created all that convoluted 'Terminator' mythology out of nothing and now this is the best you can come up with?"

If Cameron keeps acting like this...http://www.tmz.com/2009/12/25/james-cameron-in-major-a-hole-dispute/

The guy asking for the autograph was kinda being a jerk, but Cameron kinda deserved.

Then of course he thinks he's to big to listen to anyone else!

Cameron is a putz!

I too really enjoyed District 9...the main character kind of reminded me of Murray from Flight of the Choncords.

Some movies really suprised me...Fantastic Mr. Fox was great. We went and saw Zombieland at the cheap theatres...and it was a blast to watch...I actually enjoyed it more than Avatar...

lessee $16 for a matinee ticket to Avatar
$3.50 for a Saturday night ticket to Zombieland...it was a no-brainer...no pun intended

I liked Avatar a lot!
(Although $16 is ridiculous and not what we paid)

It was pure escapist fun
That's all I want from the movies, these days
Otherwise, I'd rather go to a play or watch a DVD at home

And if you are after a subtle & realistic plot, nothing can beat a good book

Dang!... Those kids must have been out of control

If they were close by (I hope--that movie was loud!),
you oughta invest in some of that overpriced popcorn
and practice your throw

I love big, fun action blockbuster movies. It just seems to me that with few exceptions, Hollywood has forgotten how to make them. This is largely because the people the studios entrust budgets that big to have forsaken basic qualities of moviemaking in favor of stellar effects. They're far less concerned with good movies and much more concerned with creating a spectacle.

With these types of movies, I'm willing to overlook all sorts of plot holes, stereotypes, and other problems. I really liked "Star Trek" and that flick has all kinds of issues. (Our planet got blowed up and we got sent into the distant past! But instead of trying to save our planet, we're just going to camp out here and wait for Spock so we can kill him. Also, why the hell is our ship full of water? Interstellar travel? Check. Water pump? Fail.)

What bugs me about "Avatar" is that I know Cameron is capable of doing better so it all comes down to nothing but neglect and the wrong priorities. I loved "Teminator" and "Aliens" partially because they were fresh approaches to old genres and had real, developed characters. They were fun and thrilling to watch. There isn't a single plot element or character in "Avatar" that isn't totally predictable. So all I was left with was watching the scenery while waiting for the inevitable.

Strip all those effects away and all that's left is a generic action pic with a cast that deserves better.

Nice visuals. Cliche hackneyed plot. We didn't even learn WTF was so important about the damn ore that we were willing to kill a sentient race for it.
Why were humans so blase about an alien race? Have we met others before the Navii? We invested thousands to train the marine in question, and we could obviously clone bodies, but we were too frikken cheap to regrow a few neurons so he could get his legs back?
Plot holes big enough to drive a truck through.
What if the aliens in question weren't so pretty? Would we be sympathetic enough to want to save them like the hero did?
It could have been so much better than the visuals. I am sad to say it wasn't.
Strictly escapist. Looked and tastes like cotton candy.