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I hated this stupid movie so much it isn't even funny. Cameron is a hack, and he copy/pasted the Dances with Wolves plot, which was stale and hamfisted the first time around.

The only good thing about that movie was how bad ass the main "evil" merc was, and I only wish we could have a prequel with him roflstomping the smurf-people of pandora.

Also, the only reason it grossed so much is the disgusting prices movie theaters charge these days, with the amount of pirating going on, and the fact that you can't just download this at home and get the 3-D experience. Also the fact that movie theaters were charging 1.5x admission for those glasses, which ended up giving me a headache (and reaffirming my severe disappointment with the state of 3-D technology).

If this p.o.s. beats out inglourious basterds, Blind Side, District 9, Precious , The Hurt Locker, or even Up then there was a fix.

sebster wrote:

Frazzled wrote:Noo...you're drawing a strawman conculsion from one statement.

Nah, from that long thread we had on the movie a while back. My answer was a little simple though, there's also a sizable bunch that likes their military sci-fi, and those guys do come off like chumps in this movie (not just evil, but also losers) so I can understand people not liking it on those grounds.

But there's a whole lot of other arguments that are pretty obvious non-starters as well as some claims that make no sense at all (James Cameron as a hack director?)

Yes, James Cameron is a successful hack. He didn't start out that way, he became one over time. As either writer director, or producer, he is responsible for:

The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Terminator 3
Piranha Part Two
Titanic
T-2 3D: Battle Across Time
Dark Angel
True Lies ("You're Fired")

So yea, a legacy of suck with a few gems in there.

And I have no problem with environmental movies. The trouble is most of them suck. The day after tomorrow--suck, Ferngully--suck, etc, The day the earth stood still remake--awful.

The good ones are usually quite good, and explore BOTH sides of the dilemma: Princess Mononoke, Soylent Green, eh, I'm sure there are others.

My problem with Avatar is that James Cameron blatantly copied movies like Pocahontas and Dances with wolves, almost scene for scene. I was yawning the whole time, and the visuals didn't really impress me. I don't care about someone's shiny new computer if they use it to show me awesome hi-def solitaire.

I need some substance to go along with graphics in my movies.

I mean seriously, HOW are the two highest grossing movies of all-time Avatar and Titanic, when there are movies like: Apollo 13, Meet Joe Black, The Bridge over the river Kwai, Ben-Hur, Patton, The Godfather, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Star WArs Trilogy, E.T., Silence of the Lambs, A few Good Men, Unforgiven, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, a Fistful of Dollars, and hundreds more, all better (IMO, and hopefully to the Academy) than Avatar?

Avatar is popular and a cash cow, but not any good.


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Also, it kills me that James Cameron made a billion dollars on a movie trashing capitalism.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:When you adjust for inflation the list changes a lot. Gone with the Wind is still #1 afte 50 years.

Good. You got a source on that? I will google in the meantime and see if I can find it myself =D


nvm i got it =D

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

A much better list when adjusted for inflation:

Star Wars, Gone with wind, Sound of Music, E.T., all ahead of titanic, and Jaws right up there with them.

Jaws my favorite movie of all time.

Little lord Fauntleroy wrote:Meh. Saw it. Liked it. Knew it was obviously going to rip off other films, and just enjoyed it for the big glowing special effects. Overall, got a 7/10 from Fauntleroy.

Then, I googled Avatar just to see what came up. Oh. Dear-http://community.livejournal.com/tothehometree/492.html


Also, as you can probably tell, I thought Camerons Aliens was amazing (My second favourite film of all time), so not complaining about him.

Oh, oh no. Dear GOD no.

It can't be. Burn out my eyes!!!


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For your viewing pleasure, apologies if reposted:

Avatar IS Pocahontas in space.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/avatar-pocahontas-in-spac_n_410538.html

sebster:

Your response is too long to quote. If you re-read, you will see that I also included works that he produced. So yea, I know that he didn't write or direct several of those examples.

Titanic takes a lame romance plot of poor boy meets rich girl and puts them on a boat. It sucked.

And Meet Joe Black is an example of a great romance. If you don't like Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Marcia Gay Harden and Claire Forlani at their absolute best, then your good movie compass is pretty weird, considering Titanic is on your good movie list.

Also, obviously I didn't mean that every scene was dubbed over with new voices and voila avatar (although the Na'Vi did "talk" to several of the animals, and one of them kind of looked badger like). And the stories are close to being exact copies. Dances came out in 1990, pocahontas in 1995. What other movies use a plot so amazingly similar to these?

Actually, lol at navi and pocahontas talking to animals. I rescind my previous statement. It IS scene for scene!