I think the uncanny valley applies since they hominoid, and when they're the only thing on screen the seem human 'enough' most of the time (except the animalistic snarl things they'd do when they were mad).
I saw it last night in 3D and was pleasantly surprised. It was really good. The plot was dances with wolves/pocahontas/last samurai/whatever else, but it's a basic archetype so calling it 'simple' is really just misunderstanding literature. The performances carried emotional weight, and describing the movie as a 'rollercoaster' feels almost like too little since the term is so overused to describe lackluster thrillers. I'll be going to see it again, probably fairly soon. I think the last time I saw a movie twice in a theatre was the lord of the rings trilogy, and that was probably the first time I'd ever done that.
Oh also, the 3D was surprisingly tasteful and subtle as I'd been told. The alice in wonderland trailer in 3D beforehand felt hamfisted in comparison ('look at this pole jump out of the screen at you, wooaaaaah').
Me and a buddy were discussing this earlier lots of reviews are saying "avatar breaks the uncanny valley" but the uncanny valley doesn't exist for non-human characters. Right? I mean, it's an alien so there's no reference to base the uncanny valley on, the characters were amazing don't get me wrong but I'd like to see this in the proper context of the cinema where you are comparing apples to apples. Comparing a blue alien that looks somewhat human doesn't get into the uncanny valley simply because you've already suspended belief long enough to accept the fact it's a blue alien. When it's based on a human to human scale is where the uncanny valley comparison should only be used.
The uncanny valley isnt a conscious thing, someone saying the uncanny valley doesnt apply here doesnt mean anything. If something looks human then we will take it as such and know and expect certain things from it, it also applies to animals. You just know when somethings wrong.
Its not really in the uncanny valley but even with District 9 and the pure aliens in that, there are occasions where the animation is just not right. Its off balance, or the limbs arent movie exactly right, you know, even though you havent seen anything like it before.
I thought of Ferngully during the film. Especially the bulldozer scene. Also, the native's connection to nature reminded me of the "Pequeninos" from Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide.
Oh also, the 3D was surprisingly tasteful and subtle as I'd been told. The alice in wonderland trailer in 3D beforehand felt hamfisted in comparison ('look at this pole jump out of the screen at you, wooaaaaah').
I think thats one of the main reasons why the film has been so successful with all types of people, the 3d is not used as a gimmick at all which is not the case in every other film in 3d. I personally became so engaged in the film that I had a few "Oh shit, I forgot this was in 3d" moments.
I know how late I am but just saw it now... Loved it! Movie of the year for sure. This is the kind of immersion that is lacking in games nowadays, leaving the theatre to the town and felling the real world is out of place... I want games like this from now on!
that movie was just orgasm after orgasm. I really hope i can be part of such a CG intensive and revolutionary project like that. Its movies like this that inspire me to become a better 3D Artist.
Where is the 'like' button? Damn been using too much facebook, haha. But yes, this is true! I am really loving Bayonetta right now, and I thought Avatar was pretty good. Bayonetta is just that much better.
saw it a while ago - lovd the movie for what it was.......a furries + pocahontas 3d orgy
just a note -has anyone seen/heard about the VERY striking similar of the Avatar movie to some russian/European novel series written in the late 1960's ( i think)?
similarities include the same name of the planet (pandora) - alien names (Na'vi > Nave) and more?
Funny this thread is bumped, I just got back from seeing it. It was the first time I have watched a 3d movie in the theaters, and wow, it was better than I was expecting. I was very immersed because of it. I enjoyed the movie on its own and the 3d helped make me enjoy it even more.
I dont know if this has been brought up, well, first off I thought this movie was the best movie ive seen in a while, awesome, visually and emotionally. Buuuuuut, I saw something else; has anyone ever seen ferngully? A human finds his way into a forest, and the forest people find him, and they dont accept him at first, but he warms them up, and all along he knows whats gonna happen to the people they live in a tree, the forest is connected etc etc.
who cares if Avatar was a rip off? these days, EVERYTHING had been done. the only way to seek originality is to mix aspects of different films, games, and stories. Avatar is NOT unique! However, that shouldn't make the CG, story, character, (or anything else) any less amazing. Im sick of hearing "_______ did that first." Well, u know what? Avatar was the first to do what it did, AND SUCCEED to this degree.
I am personally fine with new movies revisiting old themes. Hence just saying 'oooh but movies x y and z did it first' doesn't really do anything to me.
However!! It's a bit of a shame if a movie revisits something and does NOT add anything to the theme story wise. For instance I see the connection with Dance with the Wolfes (never saw Ferngully). Fine. But what I find sad is, DWTW touched me and I felt emotionally connected to the characters. And the Wolf with the white paws was cute (right?). Same with Last Samurai.
Now comes Avatar, years and millions of dollars later - yet the story and character development are both inferior. Bit of a waste of energy and CG!
i think its okay if avatar was 'inspired' by other movies that came before it.
i have only seen DWTW once, when i was too young to remember it well, but i will say that avatar felt a lot like Pocahontas with aliens.
do i care? no: the movie was a good movie, worth my 17$ to go see it in imax 3d. i got the entertainment i paid for, and that's something a lot of hollywood movies have stopped doing for me
the reason the humans side with the Navi is because they see them as people, their race doesn't make a difference. The corporation they were working for told them to go commit genocide, and some of humans had a problem with that. The reason Jake feel in love with the Navi is because he was able to literally merge with the planet and the Furry was freaking hott too. I'm sure if you are inside a navi/human hybrid, the Navi dna would make you want to bone that hottie too especially after all the time they spent together. The reason so many bitch about Avatar is because they hated the blue aliens and they simply couldn't relate to them.
good point.
should've worded my point more thoroughly.
I will say though, the Na'vi are very nicely fleshed out.
I heard that the language they have was actually developed by somebody earlier, and it was bought for this movie?
not sure about that though
Yeah the "X did it 1st" argument is bullshit imo. Hero with a thousand faces by Cambell pretty much sums it all up, monomyth and all that jazz.
Also, did anyone who went to see the movie sit there at any point and go "hmnnnn this is like watching pocahontas in 3D". Judge the film on its merits as a story telling device not as a re-imagining of any old classic. In my humble opinion it ranks up there with the best, it's well told, well acted and for almost 3hours of movie I never found myself bored. 10/10
so was looking through high rez stills from the movie and came across this
It looks horrible. My guess is this was rendered back in the films earlier stages cause Jake doesn't even look like Sam Worthington and that creature screams Specularity Overdose
Compare to this one
In this picture its like omg thats amazing anyways food for thought
I liked it. My favorite white-man's-burden movie since Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves.
Funny story. While watching it, when she takes him hunting with the bow/arrow there is this deer/llama creature. When it raises it's head and makes the weird noise/face, I knew instantly my husband would like it. I turned my head and sure enough he was grinning like a fool. I asked him after what his favorite animal in the movie was, and he said the llama thing. I tried making the face and noise the rest of the night which constantly cracked him up.
It looks horrible. My guess is this was rendered back in the films earlier stages cause Jake doesn't even look like Sam Worthington and that creature screams Specularity Overdose
you're overreacting quite a bit, the slimewolf was nothing but intentional on the high-gloss surface of its skin, and it's teeth gave me the impression of something spiderlike and poisonous.
I am personally fine with new movies revisiting old themes. Hence just saying 'oooh but movies x y and z did it first' doesn't really do anything to me.
However!! It's a bit of a shame if a movie revisits something and does NOT add anything to the theme story wise. For instance I see the connection with Dance with the Wolfes (never saw Ferngully). Fine. But what I find sad is, DWTW touched me and I felt emotionally connected to the characters. And the Wolf with the white paws was cute (right?). Same with Last Samurai.
Now comes Avatar, years and millions of dollars later - yet the story and character development are both inferior. Bit of a waste of energy and CG!
yup pretty much my thoughts as well.
My general feeling as well is that A LOT of people have bought into the hype and marketing machine again and just cant admit that the movie was ok or average. This is not citizine fucking kane people. Hell, Avatar is not even on the same level as terminator 2 or pulp fiction. Those are great movies.
The cg is great, sure. But ultimately it is not as moving or touching as other movies. Sorry people but Avatar was just good.
My general feeling as well is that A LOT of people have bought into the hype and marketing machine again and just cant admit that the movie was ok or average. This is not citizine fucking kane people. Hell, Avatar is not even on the same level as terminator 2 or pulp fiction. Those are great movies.
The cg is great, sure. But ultimately it is not as moving or touching as other movies. Sorry people but Avatar was just good.
Yep.
But man, people sure get up in arms whenever you say things like that. Especially on CGTalk...
I still say wait 5-10 years and people are going to be looking at this movie very differently, and not too favorably.
I didn't buy into the marketing and hype at all - I was looking forward to it, but skeptical. I also think it was an amazing movie. I see it's flaws, but I still love it.
Replies
I saw it last night in 3D and was pleasantly surprised. It was really good. The plot was dances with wolves/pocahontas/last samurai/whatever else, but it's a basic archetype so calling it 'simple' is really just misunderstanding literature. The performances carried emotional weight, and describing the movie as a 'rollercoaster' feels almost like too little since the term is so overused to describe lackluster thrillers. I'll be going to see it again, probably fairly soon. I think the last time I saw a movie twice in a theatre was the lord of the rings trilogy, and that was probably the first time I'd ever done that.
Oh also, the 3D was surprisingly tasteful and subtle as I'd been told. The alice in wonderland trailer in 3D beforehand felt hamfisted in comparison ('look at this pole jump out of the screen at you, wooaaaaah').
The uncanny valley isnt a conscious thing, someone saying the uncanny valley doesnt apply here doesnt mean anything. If something looks human then we will take it as such and know and expect certain things from it, it also applies to animals. You just know when somethings wrong.
Its not really in the uncanny valley but even with District 9 and the pure aliens in that, there are occasions where the animation is just not right. Its off balance, or the limbs arent movie exactly right, you know, even though you havent seen anything like it before.
I know! Just replace pig features with cat and short/fat with tall/lanky and your almost rite on the money!
I think thats one of the main reasons why the film has been so successful with all types of people, the 3d is not used as a gimmick at all which is not the case in every other film in 3d. I personally became so engaged in the film that I had a few "Oh shit, I forgot this was in 3d" moments.
Pan's Labyrinth, Groundhogs day, and bill and teds excellent adventure.
Oddly enough, all films that I think are vastly more entertaining than Avatar.
Its pochahontas in space with brilliant acting, and awesome vfx.
Where is the 'like' button? Damn been using too much facebook, haha. But yes, this is true! I am really loving Bayonetta right now, and I thought Avatar was pretty good. Bayonetta is just that much better.
just a note -has anyone seen/heard about the VERY striking similar of the Avatar movie to some russian/European novel series written in the late 1960's ( i think)?
similarities include the same name of the planet (pandora) - alien names (Na'vi > Nave) and more?
http://blogs.tampabay.com/juice/2009/11/james-camerons-avatar-cost-500-million-to-make.html
my favourite line from it....
"All for a movie that frankly doesn't have half the buzz of New Moon or even 2012. That's the real sign of the apocalypse. "
ya... avatar is currently sitting at 1.4 BILLION dollars in box office sales.... titanic is still on top with 1.8.
Wow what? New Moon CG looks pathetic, the wolves look like shit.
EDIT: in comparison to Avatar that is.
Fern Gully: released in 1992
Makes sense.
same thing, fewer trees
However!! It's a bit of a shame if a movie revisits something and does NOT add anything to the theme story wise. For instance I see the connection with Dance with the Wolfes (never saw Ferngully). Fine. But what I find sad is, DWTW touched me and I felt emotionally connected to the characters. And the Wolf with the white paws was cute (right?). Same with Last Samurai.
Now comes Avatar, years and millions of dollars later - yet the story and character development are both inferior. Bit of a waste of energy and CG!
Would the humans betray their own kind to save some Aliens? Jake might, but the rest wouldnt, unless their stupid.
Really none of the characters actions made any sense except in the sense that its been done before or thats what the characters are supposed to do.
i have only seen DWTW once, when i was too young to remember it well, but i will say that avatar felt a lot like Pocahontas with aliens.
do i care? no: the movie was a good movie, worth my 17$ to go see it in imax 3d. i got the entertainment i paid for, and that's something a lot of hollywood movies have stopped doing for me
Especially if those other movies have also been inspired by other, age-old stories. Storytelling didn't start in the 20th century
should've worded my point more thoroughly.
I will say though, the Na'vi are very nicely fleshed out.
I heard that the language they have was actually developed by somebody earlier, and it was bought for this movie?
not sure about that though
Avatar : $1,620,491,000
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avatar.htm
Also, did anyone who went to see the movie sit there at any point and go "hmnnnn this is like watching pocahontas in 3D". Judge the film on its merits as a story telling device not as a re-imagining of any old classic. In my humble opinion it ranks up there with the best, it's well told, well acted and for almost 3hours of movie I never found myself bored. 10/10
yes, you checked a few days after i posted. in a couple days it went up 200 million... more than a month after release... very nice
Kinda easy to call it at this point
Right before its release, now that was a different thing. A lot of people expected it to fail spectacularly...
It looks horrible. My guess is this was rendered back in the films earlier stages cause Jake doesn't even look like Sam Worthington and that creature screams Specularity Overdose
Compare to this one
In this picture its like omg thats amazing anyways food for thought
-Phatty
Funny story. While watching it, when she takes him hunting with the bow/arrow there is this deer/llama creature. When it raises it's head and makes the weird noise/face, I knew instantly my husband would like it. I turned my head and sure enough he was grinning like a fool. I asked him after what his favorite animal in the movie was, and he said the llama thing. I tried making the face and noise the rest of the night which constantly cracked him up.
o, and i also liked those 6-armed lemurs.
you're overreacting quite a bit, the slimewolf was nothing but intentional on the high-gloss surface of its skin, and it's teeth gave me the impression of something spiderlike and poisonous.
yup pretty much my thoughts as well.
My general feeling as well is that A LOT of people have bought into the hype and marketing machine again and just cant admit that the movie was ok or average. This is not citizine fucking kane people. Hell, Avatar is not even on the same level as terminator 2 or pulp fiction. Those are great movies.
The cg is great, sure. But ultimately it is not as moving or touching as other movies. Sorry people but Avatar was just good.
Yep.
But man, people sure get up in arms whenever you say things like that. Especially on CGTalk...
I still say wait 5-10 years and people are going to be looking at this movie very differently, and not too favorably.
I know! Or even youtube. Say something remotely critical about it and the fan boys are all over you!