James Cameron's $200 million sci-fi epic. Here is the first shot.
Btw, has anyone else noticed how all of Cameron's movies begin with the letters "a" or "t"?
Avatar
Aliens
The Abyss
The Terminator
T2
True Lies
Titanic
I'd think this was intended as some sort of subtextual message, but you don't really see a lot of T&A in his movies. Only The Abyss, The Terminator and Titanic had any nudity in them, and were minimal, and/or relevant to the plot. (We can even include Jaime Lee Curtis' striptease in True Lies if you like.)
We can even include Jaime Lee Curtis' striptease in True Lies if you like
We like.
Btw, has anyone else noticed how all of Cameron's movies begin with the letters "a" or "t"? - Luigi Novi
Except his first film,Except his first film, Xenogenesis, his second one, Piranha Part Two: the Spawing and Battle Angel, a movie he has in pre-production, yeah, you're right.
"I like to watch." - Chance the Gardener
I guess I should've used the qualifer, "best-known", huh?
And his IMAX film about underwater, "Aliens of the Deep."
New poster featuring Zoe Saldana.
WOW! I know that this project has been a dream of Cameron's for some time. Back in the 90s when I built my movie fansite I remember reading about it being his dream project to followup "Titanic." Technically it was as it will be the first fiction film he's directed since. The rest were documentaries and such. Who knew it would take him 11 years to follow up the biggest movie of all time.
Roger Ebert on the 15-minute preview footage he saw.
A bootleg version of the new trailer that is set to be released next week was leaked online. It's already been removed from YouTube, AICN and JoBlo, but it's still up (as of this writing) at I Watch Stuff. Because of its quality, I'm not going to watch it, but if anyone wants to see it who can't wait for the good version, it's here.
Amazing. The quality of the video sucked but it did:
************Major Freaking Spoiler****************
Answer part of Ebert's issues with the footage that he saw.
There is also footage of Marine helicopter gunships going into battle on Pandora. A trailer for the film informs us there are 70 million times 70 million stars in the universe, and suggests one of these may shed its light on a place with life. Since Pandora is the home of life, it seems a little odd to go to all the trouble of finding it and then going to war with its life forms. What is the human objective?
The trailer says that the objective is some exceedingly rare and valuable material that the natives are sitting ontop of. The humans want to get it, no matter the cost. The natives can relocate or die but one way or the other humanity wants that material. It's very obviously based on what European powers did to the native peoples when they colonized the Americas.
The official full trailer! I liked it! I especially liked the music, both in the opening sequence (reused from earlier works; I remember it from the trailer to Elizabeth: The Golden Age) and following it. I liked how they had title cards saying "From the director of...", with four of Cameron's past films, interspersed with the action. The allegory seems a bit more obvious than I've come to expect from someone like Cameron, and the big eyes of the Navi make them look a bit too cartoon-like (I would've gone with smaller eyes to address this), but hey, it's all in the execution, so I'm hoping (and assuming, where Cameron's concerned) that it'll be great!
60 Minutes had an interview last night with Cameron, in which they talked about his career, the effects work in his films and on Avatar, etc. You can watch it here.
It was an interesting piece, but I found two dubious bits: First, Morley Safer's dubious assertion that Titanic was the most profitable movie ever made. Maybe in total sales it was, but when its budget-to-profit ratio is considered, many other films have been more profitable, including the year it came out. Titanic made back its budget in the US threefold, whereas Good Will Hunting made back its budget by a factor of 14, even if Titanic's total was six times higher than GWH's. The comment is even more dubious when you adjust for inflation, something the media almost never does when reporting box office figures.
The other odd thing was when he described how the image that inspired the story of The Terminator came to him in a dream. (It's always a dream, isn't it?) Sorry, James, but you must've forgotten that the story was actually inspired by two episodes that Harlan Ellison wrote for The Outer Limits: "Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand". Cameron flat-out admitted this in an interview, and as a result, Ellison sued, and the case was quickly settled for an undisclosed amount, with an amended "acknowledgement to the works of Harlan Ellison" in the movie's credits. Pity you couldn't have mentioned that, James. (Source)
The comment is even more dubious when you adjust for inflation, something the media almost never does when reporting box office figures.
If you adjust for inflation, Gone With The Wind still ranks as the most popular movie of all time. Titanic moves down to #6. More here.
Also, one thing that's never mentioned any more about Titanic is once the costs started to escalate (the original budget was $75 million), Twentieth Century-Fox went running scared, and sold the U.S. distribution rights to Paramount. Betcha they regret that move now. I assume that Fox is footing the entire cost of Avatar - $400 million, according to that 60 Minutes report.
Sorry, James, but you must've forgotten that the story was actually inspired by two episodes that Harlan Ellison wrote for The Outer Limits: "Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand". Cameron flat-out admitted this in an interview, and as a result, Ellison sued, and the case was quickly settled for an undisclosed amount, with an amended "acknowledgement to the works of Harlan Ellison" in the movie's credits.
That's not the way I remember hearing it. Ellison did sue Cameron and Orion films when T1 came out claiming plagiarism of of those works. According to Cameron he told Orion that he wasn't familiar with those works and that time travel that alters the future and cyborgs are far too common in sci-fi for Ellison to claim any of the ideas in The Terminator as his own. Orion's lawyer told Cameron that they could fight Ellison's suit but if they lost Orion would turn around and sue Cameron for passing them "plagiarized material." So Cameron (a first time director) recommended that they just cut a deal with Ellison rather than gamble his future in movies on the outcome of a very subjective lawsuit.
I'm a bit surprised nobody has commented on the film yet. Well, the movie was entertaining, and must've went smoothly because I barely noticed the 2.5 hour run-time. There were things I liked, such as the mental connection the natives have with their planet and animals, and there were things I didn't like, such as the movie's predicability and Cameron beating his messages over our heads when they were already obvious. I guess I'm just a fan of subtlety.
The mining company et al should've known they wouldn't be able to get that mineral because it was called unobtainium I would've expected yanking the people out of those chambers to be more of a shock to the system but it was more like waking up from a deep sleep. Even with greater numbers did Sulley really think they'd be effective enough against the machine guns and missiles? It's been about a week since I saw the movie so I don't recall many of the things that stood out, but I know there were several physical feats that seemed implausible.
The making of the bootleg! LOL.
This is a cool faux documentary on the fiora and fauna of Pandora.
THIS little discussion about such an amazing movie? Yikes!
Even with greater numbers did Sulley really think they'd be effective enough against the machine guns and missiles?
Sully thought they would be, but only at full strength. Remember, the Colonel predicted that 20,000 or more warriors would arrive soon, and he knew they wouldn't be able to stand against those numbers, even with all their technology. So he had to force the issue, and all Sully could do was respond.
Well, traffic on Nit-C has dropped over the past decade.
For whatever it's worth, I've been thinking of writing a review, based on some of the thoughts that have been swirling around in my noggin since seeing it, and some stuff I jotted down right after.
I would love to see what you have to say Luigi!
Second that, your reviews were always very thoughtful, Luigi.
Plus Avatar is one of the few films I've gotten fairly excited about.
CNN.com has an article, "Is Avatar really the biggest movie ever? The essay is annoying in that at the end of it, the author states, "Face it. Does such academic argument (what film is bigger) really matter for anyone beyond industry bean counters and movie journalists? Or, as Rhett Butler once put it: 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a d4mn.'" Hey, bud, you're the one who posed the question and devoted so much time and effort in writing about it in the first place. If it doesn't matter, why go through all the trouble? What a cop out.
"I like to watch." - Chance the Gardener
JD: Remember, the Colonel predicted that 20,000 or more warriors would arrive soon, and he knew they wouldn't be able to stand against those numbers, even with all their technology.
I think that was just an estimate by the colonel but we clearly saw the numbers were meaningless until Ewa pitched in. The ground forces were in full retreat, with barely any causalities inflicted, and the aerial warriors did better but there were only a few left with several air ships remaining. I think Michelle's character only shot one down before she was. I agree that Sulley didn't have another choice but he definately would've failed had the planet not intervened. Would that qualify as a deus ex machina?
I don't think the numbers were meaningless, simply that 2,000 couldn't adequately defend against the human forces and the colonel thought ten times that number could. We know their arrows could take out the ground soldiers and even mechs.
The end was, though, a deus ex machina, or more precisely a deus ex mundus. :-)
Cameron sued for copyright infringement.
"Camerson"?
Fixed. Thanks.
I'm not sure what's funnier.
Hollywood being sued for copyright infringement, or the fact that it's someone in China doing the suing.
Yeah, I mean, know everything is made in China nowadays, but Avatar? Didn't know that.
Not just made in China, but bootlegged there, too.
Benn's comment is what I was talking about.
Yeah, I mean, know everything is made in China nowadays... - Luigi Novi
Did you mean, "Yeah, I mean, now everything is made in China..." or "Yeah, I mean, I know everything is made in China..."?
The latter.
Weregeek reveals the truth about Avatar
I don't know what the date on the comic is but there was a South Park ep that said the same thing months ago. Eric and Wendy were fighting over school president sometime last season.
Guess what's become available today?
http://www.rifftrax.com/rifftrax/avatar
Sigourney Weaver's character wonders where her cigarette is?
Wait, smoking is still legal in the future? Well, maybe it's a marijuana cigarette instead of tobacco?
Also smoking in an environment where oxygen is at a premium?
Unobtainium sells for $25,000,000 a kilo.
The writer flunks basic economics. Who in their right mind mind would waste that kind of money on it? I mean really, what could this stuff possibly do that would be worth that much?
Also if this stuff is that valuable why does the guy in charge have a chunk, that is probably worth several thousand dollars, on his desk where anyone can grab it?
Why have human clothes for their avatar bodies? Why not Navi style clothes?
That "USB connection" that all plants & animals on this world have does not seem natural, but instead seems like something that had to be genetically engineered.
Isn't it amazing that the largest deposit of unobtainium is under a populated area. Almost as if this were a fictional story that depended on such a contrivance for a hackneyed moral dilemma... oh, wait a minute...
Those stone arches didn't look that natural.
Seemed like way too much water was flowing off those floating rocks.
Obviously the creators never cut down a tree. Usually trees fall in the direction of where they are cut. So since all the ships were firing on one side of the tree, the tree should have fallen toward the ships, not off to the right.
So why wasn't that female helicopter pilot in the brig, or even just confined to quarters, after flying away when all ships were ordered to fire?
Avatar is now playing on HBO; it began its run November 6. And, the extended (by 15 minutes) version is being released on DVD/Blu-Ray on 11/16.
In a departure for HBO, they're running the movie in letterbox on its standard channels. HBO usually runs movies in full screen on their standard channels. The movie is run in 16:9 on the HBO HD channels.