pouët.net

.... I just saw Avatar

category: offtopic [glöplog]
Elend: district 9 has the benefit of taking place on planet earth. I was referring to the serious buttload of background work was done for Avatar to the planet Pandora and it's flora & fauna at least superficially internally consistent.

Sure it may look cheesy and "Disney" at some points, but as the redlettermedia review you posted points out, there's a definite, calculated, reason for it (hint.. the end result being 2.8 billion USD).. And yeah, i do agree with pretty much every point in that review, and every other movie review that guy's ever done :-)

However, yes District 9 is by far the better movie of the two, if such comparisons are needed. (I do feel the Shrimps in that film were quite cliche videogame aliens as well, as were lots of the avatar critters)

FYI If you want some of the best budget-to-visuals/design ratio in sci-fi, check out monsters
added on the 2011-08-28 23:15:39 by uncle-x uncle-x
BTW ... even TBL "borrowed" the flying mountains years before Cameron but 'em on a big Hollywood silver screen.
Weren't they originally from some japanese animé ?

Oh, and for the "reason that it raked in $2.8 bln in theaters" is simply the fact, that they cranked up the entrance fee to an almost unbearable level.
Without the 3D experience factor it's just 2+ hrs of blue CGI creatures running around in fluorescent forests.
added on the 2011-08-28 23:34:11 by d0DgE d0DgE
uncle-x: prawns, not shrimps. huge difference :)
added on the 2011-08-28 23:40:05 by Mel Mel
I like prawn crackers!
added on the 2011-08-28 23:41:12 by Optimus Optimus
Quote:
I especially didn't like the design of Avatar. Pandora looked way too colorful and CGI-ish to me, not to speak of its animals and all the other CGI crap. It actually looked more like a weird videogame, than a movie - especially not a "realistic" movie.


I agree word for word. If this was a typical Disney cartoon, it would've worked, but it was way too colourful and kitschy for a serious film.

Compare it to a film like The Neverending Story where they have created an incredible and convincing fantasy world, with many deep and realistic looking creatures, and Avatar looks so tacky. The former movie keeps things subtle and atmospheric, whereas Avatar just seems to be screaming with desperation with all its colour and detail.
added on the 2011-08-28 23:59:57 by Wade Wade
Oh and if you've not seen Neverending Story in recent years I high recommend checking it out again. Obviously it has its flaws, but is still one of the most visually impressive movies I've ever seen and a true underrated classic.
added on the 2011-08-29 00:07:46 by Wade Wade
@Wade: Oh absolutely. I checked it out, when it came out on blu-ray and was quite amazed to see how well it has aged and what a great movie it actually is. I was prepared for a lot of cheezy childhood memories, but it's actually really great. :D
added on the 2011-08-29 00:41:09 by elend elend
Since someone brought up District 9, I have to say that I really hated that movie. I wanted to punch the lead character in the face a quarter of the way through the movie already...the rest was just torture.
added on the 2011-08-29 00:55:51 by shuffle2 shuffle2
Quote:
BTW ... even TBL "borrowed" the flying mountains years before Cameron but 'em on a big Hollywood silver screen.
Weren't they originally from some japanese animé ?


More like Gulliver's Travels published in 1726.
I walked out of District 9. Hated it.
added on the 2011-08-29 10:02:03 by ferris ferris
Well, both Avatar and District 9 have this really annoying "Humans are evil" bullshit, but apart from that, I quite liked D9. I especially appreciated that they didn't feel the need to over-CGI everything Michael Bay-style. The slums look like real slums.
added on the 2011-08-29 10:16:15 by Tarmil Tarmil
Apropos "Humans are evil", that new planet of the apes movie was great. A bit too clicheé, but the effects and open ending was nice and it was not as cheesy as i originally thought.
added on the 2011-08-29 11:25:12 by v3nom v3nom
Watch films, not movies.
added on the 2011-08-29 11:41:33 by Preacher Preacher
Transformers 3 was fucking awesome!
added on the 2011-08-29 11:46:28 by okkie okkie
Avatar was ok, but i don't care for blue cat people and the story was dumb. 3D was p good though.
added on the 2011-08-29 11:47:11 by okkie okkie
And I hate myself for knowing what stupid anime those screenshots Exin posted come from. Fuck anime, fuck it forever.
added on the 2011-08-29 11:47:33 by okkie okkie
District 9 owns.
"Humans are evil" -> the base and conclusion of the whole kubrick filmography.
added on the 2011-08-29 11:50:50 by krabob krabob
i watched avatar only for the jungle scenery/vegetation. the blue cats, storyline and overall other sci-fi 3d rubbish was either too cliché or unappealing that i couldn't find it interesting. i favor more of these details!
@Okkie: Haha, I am with you on that "fuck anime" thing. xD I tried to watch Anime, I tried to like it. I really did. Watched about 20 "critically acclaimed" movie, and not a single one was to my liking. ;O

Other than that: The new Planet Of The Apes is indeed veeery nice. I was quite surprised.

And Super 8 was boring. :(
added on the 2011-08-29 12:01:59 by elend elend
Quote:
both Avatar and District 9 have this really annoying "Humans are evil" bullshit


Yup, it's either that or the older branch: "machines become human and humans become mechanised"
(Metropolis, Terminator, Surrogates, Transformers ... )
added on the 2011-08-29 12:35:57 by d0DgE d0DgE
Quote:
About the box office: Of course it made quite some cash, because of the higher ticket price for its 3D effects?!
No. :) A way to simplistic explaination that doesn't hold water. There is clearly something about the movie/store that strikes a chord with people, having them going to see it time and time again. The "3D premium" alone doesn't even come close to explaining why "Avatar" has made almost one billion dollars more than "Titanic" (also a Cameron-movie btw).
added on the 2011-08-29 12:55:45 by gloom gloom
Super 8 was crap. I expected more after the teaser-trailer, but muh.
District 9 was awesome. I would like to watch that movie again sometime.
I dont watch Avatar because I don't want to be dissapointed.
Those blue-animal-human thingies looks too gay on the trailer i watched... :P
added on the 2011-08-29 13:28:39 by rudi rudi
I am still amazed how good looking the first Alien still is today. Talk about good use of special effects.

On a side note I completely agree about what has been said on Avatar's colors feeling like Disney, and I guess everyone is agreeing on the shallowness of the plot.
added on the 2011-08-29 14:13:49 by Zavie Zavie
i liked avatar. i mean, story is crap, but the visuals excited me! D9 was also very cool.. i guess i am just easy to entertain.
added on the 2011-08-29 14:15:52 by xerxes xerxes
@Gloom: Well yeah, its success surely wasn't solely based on the higher ticket prices. But that 3D ticket price addition is still quite a big amount, which no one should forget. But then: Of course it was also very popular amongst the people and that's what I absolutely don't get. There are many popular movies, which I don't like. But with 7 out of 10 movies I can at least understand why they were so popular. Not with Avatar, though. ;( I do understand why Titanic was very popular. Or Harry Potter. Hell, even Twilight.

@Zavie: Oh yeah. Quite a gorgeous looking film, especially on Blu-ray. Some goes for Aliens, which could be re-played as it is in cinemas today and no one would notice the lack of CGI. (Whereas the older Planet Of The Apes movies look quite dated in comparison to the new one :p)
added on the 2011-08-29 14:44:18 by elend elend

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