AVATAR

[Patriotic Kaz]

I liked titanic, but i enjoyed Avatar much more.

[Dr. Joe]

Avatar does not have an original story, and many of the characters have little depth. However, for me, it hit all the right emotional moments at the right times. The film was beautiful and had a fantastic atmosphere, but ultimately if it had not hit those emotional beats it would not have been satisfying to me. But it was.

I think you summed it up here.  In spite of the unoriginal story, the execution of it, combined with the incredible visuals, made AVATAR a great movie.

Eh...the visuals made it entertaining to watch in the moment.  I do not believe that that equates to "a good movie".

The more I've thought about Avatar, the unhappier I've been with it.  When it first ended, I thought "wow, that was great", but my opinion has since degraded a good bit.  The biggest problem, as a couple insightful friends pointed out, is the lessons that this movie is likely to teach the Hollywood decision makers, and the audiences of cinema.

1) A massive SFX budget can be used in place of any kind of originality or character development, and is easier to wave in front of prospective audiences with pre-release trailers.

2) Going forward, if the SFX of your 2010+ release aren't on par with those of Avatar, you're out-of-date.  If you can't afford that level of SFX, you can just fire some writers to make up the difference.

This is an issue that can also be seen in the video game industry.  In fact, it's considerably more pronounced over there.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Being entertaining is the name of the game, so I don't get how you can say it isn't a "good" movie after your first sentence it's contradictory.

[Miyabi]

This is an issue that can also be seen in the video game industry.  In fact, it's considerably more pronounced over there.

I completely agree with you here.  It's hard to find a game with a really good story.  I personally would rather have substandard graphics and a great story.

I personally liked the story from Avatar, even if it was unoriginal.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

This movie could hit $700 million. $40 million this past weekend, and early this week it will pass $500 million. Serious legs.

[Chaos]

Saw it for the third time, though in 2D this time. I missed the 3D, actually, but it still hit every chord right on the button. People were behind me saying "Awesome!" or laughing at the precise moments I knew things were going to happen. To me, I think this is the success of the film.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Exactly.

People talk about appealing to the lowest common denominator. I don't think Avatar did that. But I think it appealed to the broadest common denominator (to remove it from the realm of math terminology). It hits the beats that the vast majority of people are going to like, and it does it in a way that's a treat to the senses.

What the best movie of all time is is going to be different for everyone because people's tastes are different. But so many people can agree that this movie is pretty darn good.

[Eerongal]

kinda unrelated, but it would seem avatar has started racking up a kill count.

[Chaos]

kinda unrelated, but it would seem avatar has started racking up a kill count.

It's ironic because I thought you were referring to its killing at the box office. But yeah, I guess your point is true too!

[Patriotic Kaz]

So Avatar started out stronger than titanic, meaning it could gross more in the end.

[Eerongal]

kinda unrelated, but it would seem avatar has started racking up a kill count.

It's ironic because I thought you were referring to its killing at the box office. But yeah, I guess your point is true too!

Heh, that's exactly what I thought when my friend told me something along the same lines as what I posted, then he linked me to that.

[Chaos]

So Avatar started out stronger than titanic, meaning it could gross more in the end.

I'd imagine it will.

[Dr. Joe]

Being entertaining is the name of the game, so I don't get how you can say it isn't a "good" movie after your first sentence it's contradictory.

Rubbish.  Plenty of media can be entertaining in a kneejerk, reactive sort of way without actually being good.  One of the most entertaining experiences I've had at the movies in recent years was sitting in a packed theatre on the opening night of Snakes on a Plane, but that was still a TERRIBLE movie.

Avatar didn't do anything remotely noteworthy besides pushing visuals to levels greater (and more expensive) than ever.

Well, I guess the insane amount of money it's making is also noteworthy, but I believe you get my meaning.

I personally liked the story from Avatar, even if it was unoriginal.

It was indeed unoriginal, but that's not necessarily surprising.  Virtually everything is just re-packaging an existing story; the challenge is to do so in an interesting, innovative, engaging way.  This was Pocahontas in space, it didn't even really try to do anything interesting other than visuals, because the creators figured (correctly, unfortunately) that they didn't need to.

Saw it for the third time, though in 2D this time. I missed the 3D, actually, but it still hit every chord right on the button. People were behind me saying "Awesome!" or laughing at the precise moments I knew things were going to happen. To me, I think this is the success of the film.

I'd say that just means it was painfully predictable

[Chaos]

Saw it for the third time, though in 2D this time. I missed the 3D, actually, but it still hit every chord right on the button. People were behind me saying "Awesome!" or laughing at the precise moments I knew things were going to happen. To me, I think this is the success of the film.

I'd say that just means it was painfully predictable

Once you see a movie three times in two weeks, yeah, they tend to do that regardless of the quality of writing. Y'know, because I've seen it three times...

[mtlhddoc2]

anyone think taht maybe, just maybe, it is the highest grossing of all time, or will be because tickets are twice as much? (and more!)