Avatar: Great Success

I just came home from watching it and I've gotta say. it was pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

one should most definately go see it.

Nice! Glad you enjoyed it. I am unfortunately one of those consumed by the hype... I can't wait to see it Saturday.

I want to see it too, But my final exams are going on..... :(

My friends seen it today also. One said it was okay, and the other two said it was amazing. One of the other two is quite bad with judging films (he once said Day of the Dead Remake was awesome)aaronmullan

I love Larry David. :lol:sammyjenkis898

Me too, now I wanna go watch Curb. As for Avatar I really want to see it tomorrow, hopefully its great.

I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I'm sort of leaning towards waiting to rent it on DVD.

Basically what I've been hearing is that visually, it ABSOLUTELY lives up to the hype and even exceeds the hype.

But as far as stories go, it's really nothing special. It's not BAD, there's just nothing particularly special about it. Cliched and predictable plot, questionable acting and dialoigue, and it takes way too much effort to sit through the first two hours in order to get to the unrelentingly badass last 40 minutes.

Not sure if these criticisms are valid. But coming from James Cameron, it's sort of what I've expected all along.

James Cameron is unequaled as a modern action director. He also has a very real sense of character and pacing and suspense. But he has ALWAYS sort of gravitated towards sort of cliched storytelling, and he has ALWAYS not been very strong at dialogue.

Take Aliens, the absolute LAST James Cameron movie that I've really enjoyed. I love the hell out of that movie, but it actually IS ridden with painful cliches and poor dialogue. Funny thing is that that is actually his most xenophobic and jingoistic movie since then, and from about 1986 onwards he sort of turned into a preachy self-absorbed bastard. And a lot of that stuff was actually present in Aliens.

Now, keep in mind that I am NOT including Titanic or True Lies in this assessment. I haven't seen Titanic in it's entirety, and thus can't judge it. And while I saw (and hate) True Lies, I think that True Lies was actually Cameron's attempt to do something different. It didn't really take itself seriously, and it seemed to have always been meant as an experiment in comedy. So I don't find it fair to judge it on the same grounds as his more serious works.

But most reviewers seem to be saying that Avatar IS "standard James Cameron". That's fine if you like that stuff, but "standard James Cameron" movies have increasingly started to annoy me over the years. The Terminator and Aliens were great, but Aliens was released 23 freaking years ago. Every single sci-fi epic that he's released ever since then has pissed me off. They keep getting more preachy, more ridiculous, and more reliant on his admittedly superb ability to make things blow up in a spectacular way.

Question: Does James Cameron typically write his own movies? I know that he wrote The Terminator, Aliens, T2, and The Abyss. But I'm not sure if this applies to his other movies. If so, maybe he could try to STOP writing his own movies? Because he is an EXTREMELY talented action movie director. But as far as WRITING goes, I find him to be lacking. This is evident even back in Aliens, which is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Maybe he should let someone ELSE do the writing, and simply stick to directing.

I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapToriko42

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapToriko42

So you've seen it then?.. :roll:

Oh I agree it was visually magnificent but thats about it. biggest_loser

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapXturnalS

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

Yeah you're right. Rotten Tomatoes is so accurate :roll:

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapXturnalS

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

Why is it that whenever anyone here criticizes Avatar there are like 3 fanboys who attack the person and say he's wrong? It's his opinion, get over it.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Oh I agree it was visually magnificent but thats about it. D3nnyCrane

[QUOTE="XturnalS"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapToriko42

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

Critics who've seen the film opinions' > Your "I haven't seen it" opinion.

And its positive by an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY, despite the flaws. Yeah I'll take their word over yours.

[QUOTE="XturnalS"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapbiggest_loser

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

Yeah you're right. Rotten Tomatoes is so accurate :roll:

Which is why I've provided two sources dur dur dur.

And @ JML I'm no fanboy. But the guy hasn't even seen it. I'm take the people who've watched it and rated it over some random guy on OT who hasn't seen any of it.

And its positive by an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY, despite the flaws. Yeah I'll take their word over yours.

XturnalS

It's not like their positive reviews are overwhelming..

And @ JML I'm no fanboy. But the guy hasn't even seen it. I'm take the people who've watched it and rated it over some random guy on OT who hasn't seen any of it.

XturnalS

Yes, because he was telling you not to see it..

:roll:

Yeah, IT's going to be awesome. I've thought for a while since I've seen the trailers it would be well off.. where some people thought it would be a complete failure, but it definately isn't.

[QUOTE="XturnalS"]

And @ JML I'm no fanboy. But the guy hasn't even seen it. I'm take the people who've watched it and rated it over some random guy on OT who hasn't seen any of it.

sammyjenkis898

Yes, because he was telling you not to see it..

:roll:

Hey I haven't heard x song by x band but I say it sucks! How valid of a ****ing opinion is that? Really? I'm aware he didn't say any of that. But its no different than any some stupid system wars ****.

He can have his opinion all he wants, but it doesn't make it a valid one.

[QUOTE="XturnalS"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"] Since when do I give what a critic thinks, I'm myself, not bound by critics...The reviews also state the major appeal is the visuals while the dialogue, story, and characters are a bit flat. Sounds very mediocre. Toriko42

Critics who've seen the film opinions' > Your "I haven't seen it" opinion.

And its positive by an OVERWHELMING MAJORITY, despite the flaws. Yeah I'll take their word over yours.

It's my opinion, I could care less if someone on the other side of the internet agrees with it

Good, now that, thats settled I'd like to ask Loser who ya know has seen the movie and can form a valid opinion on it, what his thoughts on the film are?

Good, now that, thats settled I'd like to ask Loser who ya know has seen the movie and can form a valid opinion on it, what his thoughts on the film are?

XturnalS

Well like I said to other guy: great visuals, average for just about everything else.

Its a predictable action movie, with cartoon characters, just on the grandest artistic level.

The link to my review is in my sig.

I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I'm sort of leaning towards waiting to rent it on DVD.

Basically what I've been hearing is that visually, it ABSOLUTELY lives up to the hype and even exceeds the hype.

But as far as stories go, it's really nothing special. It's not BAD, there's just nothing particularly special about it. Cliched and predictable plot, questionable acting and dialoigue, and it takes way too much effort to sit through the first two hours in order to get to the unrelentingly badass last 40 minutes.

Not sure if these criticisms are valid. But coming from James Cameron, it's sort of what I've expected all along.

James Cameron is unequaled as a modern action director. He also has a very real sense of character and pacing and suspense. But he has ALWAYS sort of gravitated towards sort of cliched storytelling, and he has ALWAYS not been very strong at dialogue.

Take Aliens, the absolute LAST James Cameron movie that I've really enjoyed. I love the hell out of that movie, but it actually IS ridden with painful cliches and poor dialogue. Funny thing is that that is actually his most xenophobic and jingoistic movie since then, and from about 1986 onwards he sort of turned into a preachy self-absorbed bastard. And a lot of that stuff was actually present in Aliens.

Now, keep in mind that I am NOT including Titanic or True Lies in this assessment. I haven't seen Titanic in it's entirety, and thus can't judge it. And while I saw (and hate) True Lies, I think that True Lies was actually Cameron's attempt to do something different. It didn't really take itself seriously, and it seemed to have always been meant as an experiment in comedy. So I don't find it fair to judge it on the same grounds as his more serious works.

But most reviewers seem to be saying that Avatar IS "standard James Cameron". That's fine if you like that stuff, but "standard James Cameron" movies have increasingly started to annoy me over the years. The Terminator and Aliens were great, but Aliens was released 23 freaking years ago. Every single sci-fi epic that he's released ever since then has pissed me off. They keep getting more preachy, more ridiculous, and more reliant on his admittedly superb ability to make things blow up in a spectacular way.

Question: Does James Cameron typically write his own movies? I know that he wrote The Terminator, Aliens, T2, and The Abyss. But I'm not sure if this applies to his other movies. If so, maybe he could try to STOP writing his own movies? Because he is an EXTREMELY talented action movie director. But as far as WRITING goes, I find him to be lacking. This is evident even back in Aliens, which is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Maybe he should let someone ELSE do the writing, and simply stick to directing.

MrGeezer

James Cameron has written some of the most memorable and loved phrases ever. "I'll be back", everyone knows that line. "Game over man, game over" from Aliens. How can you like Aliens, but not like the dialog? You might as well not even like the film, considering a huge portion of it is really the marines talking and what not.

Infact, Aliens basically wrote the book for how space marines act, so many sci-fi works were inspired by the portrayal, maybe the biggest one on this site being Halo for example. Now I'm not sure about Avatar, maybe it's sappy, I'll find out soon enough, but he's far from a bad writer, atleast judging from his earlier works.

Hey guys I haven't seen it yet, but I already know I hate Avatar, it's all looks and no substance. I'm with the cool crowd now right?

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I'm sort of leaning towards waiting to rent it on DVD.

Basically what I've been hearing is that visually, it ABSOLUTELY lives up to the hype and even exceeds the hype.

But as far as stories go, it's really nothing special. It's not BAD, there's just nothing particularly special about it. Cliched and predictable plot, questionable acting and dialoigue, and it takes way too much effort to sit through the first two hours in order to get to the unrelentingly badass last 40 minutes.

Not sure if these criticisms are valid. But coming from James Cameron, it's sort of what I've expected all along.

James Cameron is unequaled as a modern action director. He also has a very real sense of character and pacing and suspense. But he has ALWAYS sort of gravitated towards sort of cliched storytelling, and he has ALWAYS not been very strong at dialogue.

Take Aliens, the absolute LAST James Cameron movie that I've really enjoyed. I love the hell out of that movie, but it actually IS ridden with painful cliches and poor dialogue. Funny thing is that that is actually his most xenophobic and jingoistic movie since then, and from about 1986 onwards he sort of turned into a preachy self-absorbed bastard. And a lot of that stuff was actually present in Aliens.

Now, keep in mind that I am NOT including Titanic or True Lies in this assessment. I haven't seen Titanic in it's entirety, and thus can't judge it. And while I saw (and hate) True Lies, I think that True Lies was actually Cameron's attempt to do something different. It didn't really take itself seriously, and it seemed to have always been meant as an experiment in comedy. So I don't find it fair to judge it on the same grounds as his more serious works.

But most reviewers seem to be saying that Avatar IS "standard James Cameron". That's fine if you like that stuff, but "standard James Cameron" movies have increasingly started to annoy me over the years. The Terminator and Aliens were great, but Aliens was released 23 freaking years ago. Every single sci-fi epic that he's released ever since then has pissed me off. They keep getting more preachy, more ridiculous, and more reliant on his admittedly superb ability to make things blow up in a spectacular way.

Question: Does James Cameron typically write his own movies? I know that he wrote The Terminator, Aliens, T2, and The Abyss. But I'm not sure if this applies to his other movies. If so, maybe he could try to STOP writing his own movies? Because he is an EXTREMELY talented action movie director. But as far as WRITING goes, I find him to be lacking. This is evident even back in Aliens, which is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Maybe he should let someone ELSE do the writing, and simply stick to directing.

TheGrayEye

James Cameron has written some of the most memorable and loved phrases ever. "I'll be back", everyone knows that line. "Game over man, game over" from Aliens. How can you like Aliens, but not like the dialog? You might as well not even like the film, considering a huge portion of it is really the marines talking and what not.

Infact, Aliens basically wrote the book for how space marines act, so many sci-fi works were inspired by the portrayal, maybe the biggest one on this site being Halo for example. Now I'm not sure about Avatar, maybe it's sappy, I'll find out soon enough, but he's far from a bad writer, atleast judging from his earlier works.

"I'll be back" and "Game over, man" were pop-cultural catch-phrases. That doesn't equate to good writing.

James Cameron is highly deriative. Just as T2 was largely a rehash of The Terminator, Aliens is largely a rehash of Alien. Those are his two sole sequel movies (Piranha 2 doesn't count, since he was just "officially" credited as director and didn't have much to do with the movie). They both rehashed the original, and some will argue that both those movies **** on the original and betrayed the themes in the first movie.

Now, take the rest. The Abyss? It was crap.

True Lies? It was crap.

Titanic? I can't speak for it, since I never saw it in its entirety.

And The Terminator? It's the ONLY non-sequel James Cameron movie that I've ever liked. And even then, the dialogue and acting generally weren't that great.

You know what I noticed on this site, just like the whole internet.

OPINIONS AREN'T ACCEPTED! As just like someone should respect your opinion(Toriko) no one should really care about it either, how about we live a worry free candy apple world where we just shut up and take what ever comes on the chin, both was don't express and don't challenge the opionion... BTW there is no jobs based around opinion, and men and women who dedicate their lives to movie, music, and TV criticism, oh wait....

[QUOTE="TheGrayEye"]

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I'm sort of leaning towards waiting to rent it on DVD.

Basically what I've been hearing is that visually, it ABSOLUTELY lives up to the hype and even exceeds the hype.

But as far as stories go, it's really nothing special. It's not BAD, there's just nothing particularly special about it. Cliched and predictable plot, questionable acting and dialoigue, and it takes way too much effort to sit through the first two hours in order to get to the unrelentingly badass last 40 minutes.

Not sure if these criticisms are valid. But coming from James Cameron, it's sort of what I've expected all along.

James Cameron is unequaled as a modern action director. He also has a very real sense of character and pacing and suspense. But he has ALWAYS sort of gravitated towards sort of cliched storytelling, and he has ALWAYS not been very strong at dialogue.

Take Aliens, the absolute LAST James Cameron movie that I've really enjoyed. I love the hell out of that movie, but it actually IS ridden with painful cliches and poor dialogue. Funny thing is that that is actually his most xenophobic and jingoistic movie since then, and from about 1986 onwards he sort of turned into a preachy self-absorbed bastard. And a lot of that stuff was actually present in Aliens.

Now, keep in mind that I am NOT including Titanic or True Lies in this assessment. I haven't seen Titanic in it's entirety, and thus can't judge it. And while I saw (and hate) True Lies, I think that True Lies was actually Cameron's attempt to do something different. It didn't really take itself seriously, and it seemed to have always been meant as an experiment in comedy. So I don't find it fair to judge it on the same grounds as his more serious works.

But most reviewers seem to be saying that Avatar IS "standard James Cameron". That's fine if you like that stuff, but "standard James Cameron" movies have increasingly started to annoy me over the years. The Terminator and Aliens were great, but Aliens was released 23 freaking years ago. Every single sci-fi epic that he's released ever since then has pissed me off. They keep getting more preachy, more ridiculous, and more reliant on his admittedly superb ability to make things blow up in a spectacular way.

Question: Does James Cameron typically write his own movies? I know that he wrote The Terminator, Aliens, T2, and The Abyss. But I'm not sure if this applies to his other movies. If so, maybe he could try to STOP writing his own movies? Because he is an EXTREMELY talented action movie director. But as far as WRITING goes, I find him to be lacking. This is evident even back in Aliens, which is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Maybe he should let someone ELSE do the writing, and simply stick to directing.

MrGeezer

James Cameron has written some of the most memorable and loved phrases ever. "I'll be back", everyone knows that line. "Game over man, game over" from Aliens. How can you like Aliens, but not like the dialog? You might as well not even like the film, considering a huge portion of it is really the marines talking and what not.

Infact, Aliens basically wrote the book for how space marines act, so many sci-fi works were inspired by the portrayal, maybe the biggest one on this site being Halo for example. Now I'm not sure about Avatar, maybe it's sappy, I'll find out soon enough, but he's far from a bad writer, atleast judging from his earlier works.

"I'll be back" and "Game over, man" were pop-cultural catch-phrases. That doesn't equate to good writing.

James Cameron is highly deriative. Just as T2 was largely a rehash of The Terminator, Aliens is largely a rehash of Alien. Those are his two sole sequel movies (Piranha 2 doesn't count, since he was just "officially" credited as director and didn't have much to do with the movie). They both rehashed the original, and some will argue that both those movies **** on the original and betrayed the themes in the first movie.

Now, take the rest. The Abyss? It was crap.

True Lies? It was crap.

Titanic? I can't speak for it, since I never saw it in its entirety.

And The Terminator? It's the ONLY non-sequel James Cameron movie that I've ever liked. And even then, the dialogue and acting generally weren't that great.

I think I may have to disagree with that. I find Aliens to be completely different from Alien; two completely different genres damn near. Yeah they're both Scifi, but one is horror and the other balls-to-the-walls action.

And yeah, Cameron's writing is hokey and over the top, but he does campy dialogue better than anyone; he's the only one who can get away with some of the lines he makes

[QUOTE="XturnalS"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapToriko42

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

This whole post is one major contradiction.

If you dont care about reviews, why do you use the negatives to your argument about the film being mediocre?

Why dont you go watch the film instead of dismissing it so ignorantly?

[QUOTE="Toriko42"][QUOTE="XturnalS"]

Yeah, sounds like complete crap:roll:

Samurai_Xavier

This whole post is one major contradiction.

If you dont care about reviews, why do you use the negatives to your argument about the film being mediocre?

Why dont you go watch the film instead of dismissing it so ignorantly?

Ive already seen it, it came out yesterday in my country.

I think its incredible, its one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life.

I think movies like LOTR look like a piece of **** next to what Cameron pulled off. My jaw was literally dropping with what I was seeing. No trailer, clip or anything you might know about this movie does it justice. I wanted to clap and cry when it was over. It was incredible, just amazing and epic. The scope of the world and the entire universe of the movie was just so huge. Im gonna go see it again tomorrow. I've never seen anything quite like this.

BTW, in response to the clunky dialogue. Who gives a ****? No one, not in a movie like this. It didnt matter in Star Wars, Indiana Jones or anything of the sort. Being familiar with the plot in a movie like this is a good thing, it makes it just the more exciting.

[QUOTE="Samurai_Xavier"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"] Since when do I give what a critic thinks, I'm myself, not bound by critics...The reviews also state the major appeal is the visuals while the dialogue, story, and characters are a bit flat. Sounds very mediocre. Toriko42

This whole post is one major contradiction.

If you dont care about reviews, why do you use the negatives to your argument about the film being mediocre?

Why dont you go watch the film instead of dismissing it so ignorantly?

Or the rest of us are keeping an open mind on the matter and won't render an opinion on the film until we've actually seen it. Huh now there's a funny thought. For all I know I could hate it or love it but I certainly don't think its the best thing since sliced bread or crap as you put it. I won't make that judgment till I see the film.

[QUOTE="Toriko42"][QUOTE="Samurai_Xavier"]

This whole post is one major contradiction.

If you dont care about reviews, why do you use the negatives to your argument about the film being mediocre?

Why dont you go watch the film instead of dismissing it so ignorantly?

XturnalS

Or the rest of us are keeping an open mind on the matter and won't render an opinion on the film until we've actually seen it. Huh now there's a funny thought. For all I know I could hate it or love it but I certainly don't think its the best thing since sliced bread or crap as you put it. I won't make that judgment till I see the film.

Ive already seen it, it came out yesterday in my country.

I think its incredible, its one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life.

I think movies like LOTR look like a piece of **** next to what Cameron pulled off. My jaw was literally dropping with what I was seeing. No trailer, clip or anything you might know about this movie does it justice. I wanted to clap and cry when it was over. It was incredible, just amazing and epic. The scope of the world and the entire universe of the movie was just so huge. Im gonna go see it again tomorrow. I've never seen anything quite like this.

BTW, in response to the clunky dialogue. Who gives a ****? No one, not in a movie like this. It didnt matter in Star Wars, Indiana Jones or anything of the sort. Being familiar with the plot in a movie like this is a good thing, it makes it just the more exciting.

Samurai_Xavier

[QUOTE="XturnalS"]

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]

Or the rest of us are keeping an open mind on the matter and won't render an opinion on the film until we've actually seen it. Huh now there's a funny thought. For all I know I could hate it or love it but I certainly don't think its the best thing since sliced bread or crap as you put it. I won't make that judgment till I see the film.

Toriko42

Really now? because

I'd rather watch every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Wire then pay to go see Avatar You can make a piece of crap look nice with some nice effects and such but in the end, it'll always smell like crapToriko42

It doesn't hurt me at all, but I call out people's opinions when I don't find them valid. Loser's I find valid he wrote a pretty detailed review and tomorrow I can judge for myself. Its no different with any topic or subject matter if I find a flaw in the reasoning I'm going to call it out.

[QUOTE="Samurai_Xavier"]

Ive already seen it, it came out yesterday in my country.

I think its incredible, its one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life.

I think movies like LOTR look like a piece of **** next to what Cameron pulled off. My jaw was literally dropping with what I was seeing. No trailer, clip or anything you might know about this movie does it justice. I wanted to clap and cry when it was over. It was incredible, just amazing and epic. The scope of the world and the entire universe of the movie was just so huge. Im gonna go see it again tomorrow. I've never seen anything quite like this.

BTW, in response to the clunky dialogue. Who gives a ****? No one, not in a movie like this. It didnt matter in Star Wars, Indiana Jones or anything of the sort. Being familiar with the plot in a movie like this is a good thing, it makes it just the more exciting.

MrGeezer

So far what I have heard about this film positive wise is that it looks great. That has me slightly worried, I like good visuals but they can't carry a film. Especially one that is more than 2 hours long. Avatar better have something other than great visuals.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"][QUOTE="Samurai_Xavier"]

Ive already seen it, it came out yesterday in my country.

I think its incredible, its one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life.

I think movies like LOTR look like a piece of **** next to what Cameron pulled off. My jaw was literally dropping with what I was seeing. No trailer, clip or anything you might know about this movie does it justice. I wanted to clap and cry when it was over. It was incredible, just amazing and epic. The scope of the world and the entire universe of the movie was just so huge. Im gonna go see it again tomorrow. I've never seen anything quite like this.

BTW, in response to the clunky dialogue. Who gives a ****? No one, not in a movie like this. It didnt matter in Star Wars, Indiana Jones or anything of the sort. Being familiar with the plot in a movie like this is a good thing, it makes it just the more exciting.

Film-Guy

So far what I have heard about this film positive wise is that it looks great. That has me slightly worried, I like good visuals but they can't carry a film. Especially one that is more than 2 hours long. Avatar better have something other than great visuals.