Avatar

[ZEUS]

I saw it opening day and then at Imax a week ago. Imax was a let down - I think the tech is too old to make a decent difference from the options that have come along afterward. The glasses are uncomfortable as well.

Imagine writing an epic story for 20 years - since you were 14 years old you have been adding chapter after chapter, theorizing, conceptualizing, sketching maps, modeling ships, creating creatures, imagining terrains and planets... actually you create a complete solar system even. You coin the term "3D Thrillogy" in 1999 as a descriptor because what you were writing was so big one movie wouldn't be a enough. Now imagine you were actually writing 3 versions of this story - movie, book, video game. You try to write in each one as you go to keep things consistent... one genre opens up new possibilities and scenes for the others. Upon completion, one version opens up the door for the other markets. You know the best thing would be to complete the movie version by 2005 (leaving you 2.5 years to finish) because the movie industry will be adding new digital projectors and silver screens better capable of delivering 3D content and this trilogy would be a way to fund, or rather, reimburse the switch.

Imagine going to the theater and seeing the new screen rolled up in a giant crate and knowing you missed the boat. Now imagine 3 years later seeing nearly the story you were writing successfully completed and on the big screen in front of you. I am proud someone as visionary as James Cameron is who I was inline with with 'my' concept... don't know how to phrase that exactly. He got the job done, I didn't. But how would you react if the story was a lesser version of what you were writing? That's where I am at! My version of Avatar first describes a solar system and creates two worlds then tells the story of the 'dying' world the a-hole humans come from. Since I wanted to tell the story of cause and effect I tell of the failing infrastructure and lifestyle of humanity aboard a cycling planet about to go thru a rebirth. My version doesn't even get to what you see in Avatar until the 2nd movie. The 3rd movie was to have the climactic war. I love the movie but it is heartbreaking to watch... at least Cameron revealed he was actually planning on a trilogy from the getgo... of course. I'm excited to see where he takes us next...

My avatars were actually half-dead cyborgs controlled in VR from an orbiting ship. My Navi were not blue monkeys but closer to humans because the story's protagonists and antagonists were from sister planets sharing certain DNA types at different points of "planet rebirth". I didn't combine Dances With Wolves with The Matrix and Dragonriders of Pern... although Dragonriders of Pern is apparently pretty close to my story as well, however I have never read any of the series. My Navi were to be enslaved by the "sky people" with the native beasts used as oxen and what not for mining operations. Luckily, I have plenty of orginal content left unexplored by someone else.

When I watch Avatar I admire Cameron's problem solving methods for the telling of the story; I just feel as if he told too small a story and used fantastical imagery as a replacement... yet in that department he did a fantastic job... or his team did, whatever.

Sorry, sore subject for me. This isn't the first time I have had to alter my story because of released movies - Independence Day forced my first rewrite. I am now trying to reimagine ways to offset my story from Avatar... right now I'm thinking of some religious influence and evolving my Navi to a time of architecture with the nature-loving regard intact - I always wanted to have a darker tone like LOTR mixed with the goal of Avatar plus the already written Star Trekesque scenes I have. I have started incorporating lunar and solar cycles to redevelop the civilizations and beliefs... my creatures are different enough still. Ever tried to create your own language tho?

I realize how dumb all this makes me sound but it is frustrating to know my potential yet be rewarded with seeing how many ways I can fail!

[nfpgasmask]

My review:

http://nfpgasmask.livejournal.com/80712.html

Bart

[dietz99vcross]

I also give it thumbs up. The main story line was simple but I don't think that it made the movie anything less than amazing. Having seen it in 3d on a larger than normal screen my entire family enjoyed it. My 15 year old feels it is the "greatest movie ever". Maybe my age is showing but I am interested in seeing it in "just" 2d. I felt some of the more pronounced 3d scenes lacked depth of field in order to accentuate the effect, but it might just be me. As for seeing it in Imax that would have involved an additional 45 miles of driving, and in reading about the Imax experience I have heard that many of the new Imax theaters lose some of the exhilaration because they are on smaller screens. The higher resolution of Imax is not fully recognized on a smaller screen. I look forward to the Blu-ray version.

[nfpgasmask]

When I watch Avatar I admire Cameron's problem solving methods for the telling of the story; I just feel as if he told too small a story and used fantastical imagery as a replacement... yet in that department he did a fantastic job... or his team did, whatever.

This is precisely one of the things I love about Cameron's films. Like I said in my review, he is very good at walking the razor's edge of 'suspension of disbelief'. Unlike suck-ball directors like Michael Bay who would rather assume the audience is filled with idiots, Cameron puts the 'science' in sci-fi. I don't think he does anything in his films without thinking about it realistically. That is what makes him a great film maker.

And Justin, I know the feeling. I have had so many ideas over the years that I see fleshed out by someone else on the big screen. The bottom line is, that there is always someone out there thinking the same thing as you, or pretty damn close anyways.

Look at 'Book of Eli'. I saw so much in that film that I have already thought about, visually anyways.

Bart

[ZEUS]

This is precisely one of the things I love about Cameron's films. Like I said in my review, he is very good at walking the razor's edge of 'suspension of disbelief'. Unlike suck-ball directors like Michael Bay who would rather assume the audience is filled with idiots, Cameron puts the 'science' in sci-fi. I don't think he does anything in his films without thinking about it realistically. That is what makes him a great film maker.

And Justin, I know the feeling. I have had so many ideas over the years that I see fleshed out by someone else on the big screen. The bottom line is, that there is always someone out there thinking the same thing as you, or pretty damn close anyways.

Look at 'Book of Eli'. I saw so much in that film that I have already thought about, visually anyways.

Bart

Right you are, I feel it's a deal breaker to insult your audience... After Trans2 I figured MB may as well walk up to you in the theatre and slap you across the face and tell you that you are stupid!
I have tried really hard to involve science in my stories - National Geographic is the greatest mag for inspiration. I only have the one epic but my smaller stories invoke believability at all times. I'm casually working on a 'based on a true story' story that seems more unbelievable than my scifi-fantasy!

[vt_maverick]

Look at 'Book of Eli'. I saw so much in that film that I have already thought about, visually anyways.

... and you have the cars to prove it.

[don moore]

seen it twice... love it..i went out and got one of the toy helicopters ..
very good detail..

[vt_maverick]

...This isn't the first time I have had to alter my story because of released movies - Independence Day forced my first rewrite...

So you also had the idea to use a MacBook to dial-up connect to the alien computer system and distribute a virus?

Sorry for the TJ, but I was a computer science major in college when that movie came out, and you could literally hear the audience groaning at that sequence. Perhaps the single most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in a movie (followed closely by the Transporter 2 sequence where he uses a crane hook to remove the bomb from the bottom of his car).

[nfpgasmask]

LOL, yeah ID4 and Transporter 2 are both HORRID movies.

Roland Emmerich is probably my 2nd most unfavorite director right after Michael Bay. I swear they are two peas in a pod.

Bart

[kirk hilton]

LOL, yeah ID4 and Transporter 2 are both HORRID movies.

Roland Emmerich is probably my 2nd most unfavorite director right after Michael Bay. I swear they are two peas in a pod.

Bart

I would probably agree with that although to my shame I'm still fond of Stargate. Hey wait a mo, come to think of it ... ain't there similarities between SG and Avatar?

[ZEUS]

So you also had the idea to use a MacBook to dial-up connect to the alien computer system and distribute a virus?

Sorry for the TJ, but I was a computer science major in college when that movie came out, and you could literally hear the audience groaning at that sequence. Perhaps the single most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in a movie (followed closely by the Transporter 2 sequence where he uses a crane hook to remove the bomb from the bottom of his car).

HAHA, oh hell no! Nothing like that. But I did invent Windows 7! I had to rewrite because I had an invading alien race going from solar system to solar system to mine planets (ala Enemy Mind, ID4) and then a humanoid population that fought back (ala every war movie). That's when I started creating the planet the a-holes came from to tell a broader story - cause and effect. I have always tried to maintain the concept as primitivity versus technology for the contrast and depth and message. I'm still very amateur tho and probably have created something stupid within a cool concept, but I try to be conscious of what I am creating.

[Stephen Biko]

Sorry for the TJ, but I was a computer science major in college when that movie came out, and you could literally hear the audience groaning at that sequence. Perhaps the single most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in a movie (followed closely by the Transporter 2 sequence where he uses a crane hook to remove the bomb from the bottom of his car).

Awww, come on! That stuff is modern camp. You aren't supposed to believe it, you are supposed to laugh your sass off because it is so ridiculously over the top. Complaining about that sort of thing is like complaining about wire-fu.

Plus, the razor girl character in Transporter 2 was just freaking awesome. I wish they hadn't killed her but instead given her a spin-off film. That actress, btw, can actually act too, she just did a nice little horror flick called "Nine Miles Down" out on dvd and blu-ray.

[tom4bren]

Imagine writing an epic story for 20 years - since you were 14 years old you have been adding chapter after chapter, theorizing, conceptualizing, sketching maps, modeling ships, creating creatures, imagining terrains and planets... actually you create a complete solar system even.

So how do you fit in a character for Zeus????

[ZEUS]

So how do you fit in a character for Zeus????

A simple lightning bolt into somebody's shorts gives them the gift of arrogance, duh!

[septicmech]

Sucked..... seen this movie before, It was called FernGully...... also sucked.