Avatar by James Cameron

The 3D was okay for me, I work at the cinema and we have gotten new 3D glasses when Avatar went live, I must say they felt fine on the face and I did not feel really troubled by it, but there were a few moments where I had to blink a lot, like my eyes had to adjust.

I can not compare it yet with the 2D, because I will go there this friday too see if there is really that much of a difference as they say so.
 
Has the 3D technology become more friendly on the eyes in the meantime, and how did you all find 3D in general ?

I think its come a long way. We were given plastic glasses in a wrapper with our tickets. They fit over our glasses just fine. :)

I tend to get migraines and motion sickness at certain movies that use shaky camera work. With this new 3D, it was just moments of mild vertigo. (Which isn't bad sitting down, when I went to the bathroom, I took the glasses off and stared down at my feet.) When I started to feel bad, I shut one eye, then the other. It seemed to 'reset' my vision. (No clue why)

There are moments in the movie when the perspective moves around fast. When that happened, I let my focus soften and didn't try to keep up with the movement, and that worked. It felt like the 3D had so much information, my eyes couldn't keep up with the detail.

After the movie, Hubby and I both felt like we'd been driving for several hours, and there was basic eye strain. When we got home, we drank a couple glasses of water and spent time before bed in dim light, and that helped a lot.

I've not watched a 3D movie since childhood, when it was little cardboard glasses with different color bits of plastic for lenses. This was completely different.

I'd like to see Avatar again, not in 3D. Once was enough for that. ;) I spent half a day preparing to see this movie, fwiw. Resting my eyes, making sure I was hydrated, etc. Pipe breathing beforehand can help too.

That said, if its a risk you don't want to take, opt out of the 3D. The only reason I watched it in 3D? Some of my old friends who also are sensitive emailed me to say they didn't get sick.
 
I haven't seen the movie yet but I am troubled by the raving reviews in a sense.
I have seen the trailers and read the reviews online, I don't doubt the quality of the images or the visual impact it can have but I am still puzzled at the whole thing going on "behind the scenes".

I may revise my opinion after seeing the movie but I wanted to express my thoughs before/ and after when I see the whole movie.

For a movie that supposedely speaks about fighting the military complex, the pludering of resources and an alien tribe in deep contact with nature they sure are partnering with big brands such as McDonald, Coca-cola, LG and putting a lot of money into the augmented reality business (if that's not made to blurr the boundaries between what's real and what's not...).
That's kinda ironic imho.
To me it is the same thing as making you dream of paradise when the real world keeps pushing you into the same consumerist habits than before, of course this also makes me think on how this could be used to push the green-earth-co2-free agenda that has been going on for a while.

Uhm...when I think of it the whole neural thing of the Na'vi makes me think of how the real world darpa military complex is doing this as well...

I am not really thrilled either by the way it borrows and pull the emotional trigger on the past or current conflicts were the US plundered countries abroad, sounds like a cheap mea-culpa drowned in fx, thrills and 3D.
How timely it is when it's becoming more mainstream that the Irak war was illegaly started.
Is it a good thing ? who really knows ?

Almost everyone on the mainstream movie news seems to agree nonetheless the french reviews on some blog and websites are less complimentary, mainly because of the streamlined screenplay itself not because of the visuals.
Maybe the whole cowboy vs indians probably works less on european unconscious than an US crowd.

Despite that I understand how the idea of going back to nature with the Na'vi seems a great thing but does the movie really gives an opportunity to make this become real ? Is this willingly trying to push the enveloppe and really try to take sides with people caught in such real life situations ? (hey it's a FOX movie...) I don't know.

This review is quite interesting about the overt political tones of the movie and is pro-avatarish :

_http://www.avclub.com/articles/going-navi-why-avatars-politics-are-more-revolutio,36604/

Just my few thoughts ;)
 
Tigersoap said:
For a movie that supposedely speaks about fighting the military complex, the pludering of resources and an alien tribe in deep contact with nature they sure are partnering with big brands such as McDonald, Coca-cola, LG and putting a lot of money into the augmented reality business (if that's not made to blurr the boundaries between what's real and what's not...).
That's kinda ironic imho.

Tigersoap, i see what you are saying, but if you see the result of this work, both the context, the artistic value of it, the messages that those who can feel might be able to receive, you might change your mind about this, i don't know. Let us know your impressions when you do. Sometimes, for big projects like these one might use "their" weapons to make it happen.

I agree with all positive reviews and Puck, well said!

I just came back from watching Avatar... To me it is one of the best movies i've ever watched! Simply beautiful, and i'd watch it again. Well worth the 150 minutes of dissociation imho.

I watched it in 3D, and i had not a single problem with my sight or dizziness and i had to put the 3D glasses over mine. I was totally absorbed in the world of the Na'vi people and was withdrawn when the humans were acting inhumane. I cried throughout... It left me with the feeling i had at the end of V for Vendetta.

Anyways, like i said, i just watched it and i am still in a Na'vi state of mind.

I'll never forget the last "I see you" (and probably the people around me my sobs :-[ ) and all that connectedness, a reminder of how things should have always been, could have been, and hopefully one day can be again. The recipe is in the connectedness. :love:
 
Tigersoap said:
I haven't seen the movie yet but I am troubled by the raving reviews in a sense.

Well, for what it's worth, I've had the same thoughts. The fervor of the reviews is a bit disconcerting. It's a movie.

I also experienced the latest visual 3D movie technology when seeing 'Up' and it really unsettled me. I've never dissociated that quickly - or in a way that seemed totally against my will. Quite frankly, I felt as though there was a LOT of information going into my mind that I was not consciously aware of and I didn't like it at all I don't intend to ever watch a 3D movie again with that technology; it seemed like opening my mind wide open to whatever was transmitted on any level.

I'll probably check out the movie when it hits DVD, so hopefully it will be enjoyable. :)
 
I liked Avatar very much. The unity concept really strikes deep.. I also liked..

*Semi-Spoiler Alert*

-How the leader female tribal gal (sorry don't recall a specific name) found him and how she dealt with him. "...Shut Up! You are like a baby, only making noise, not knowing what to do ...so stupid, ignorant like a child."-

It was really interesting.. very organic is all I can say. Love the interconnectedness concept. It really expanded some of my perceptions about connectedness and the potential of group wholeness. IMO it was very original, though it expanded on the works of others in literature or art, I think it was a new area for film.
 
There is something I realized while taking my shower this morning, maybe it is obvious to others but it sent shivers down my spine.

This movie is purposedly made to make the people enjoy the future of gaming and television in 3D

_http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-9948527-56.html

Filmmaker James Cameron sees the world in stereo. So does everyone else, though, and that's exactly his point.

"When you are viewing in stereo, which is what we do," Cameron said, "more neurons are firing. More blood is pumping through the brain."

Cameron has been a big proponent of making movies in 3D, but he said that the digital projectors going into movie theaters are capable of showing more than just movies. Cameron's talk came as part of Microsoft's Advance 08 advertising conference, which runs through Wednesday.

"That digital image can be live," Cameron said. "That digital image can be 3D."

He suggested such locations can show live sports and events, alongside impressive travelogues and other content.

"We're not quite there but we are on the cusp of that and people need to have a strategy for it," he said.

More than 1,000 theaters in the U.S. already have stereoscopic (3D-capable) projectors, while Cameron hopes that there will be 5,000 such facilities by the time his 3D movie Avatar debuts next year.

3D movies have often generated much more revenue than 2D versions of the same film, a potential boon to the entertainment industry. Retrofitting theaters with 3D technology is expensive and difficult, though, and some 3D advocates are unhappy with the pace of adoption.

"I feel as though things have dragged along, and it's been pretty disappointing," DreamWorks Animation SKG Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said in April, according to Reuters.

3D isn't just for theaters. The real revolution, Cameron said, comes as games and television also start appearing in three dimensions.

"Stereo production is the next big thing," he said. "We are born seeing in three dimensions. Most animals have two eyes and not one. There is a reason I think."

He noted that games, in particular, stand to benefit. First-person shooters become true first-person experiences, he said.

"You are in the game," he said. "This is the ultimate immersive media."


He noted that Ubisoft, which is making the game version of Avatar, already has a stereoscopic game up and running using a standard Xbox 360 and 3D glasses.

Cameron said that displays for laptops, phones, and Zunes can be made stereoscopic even without needing special glasses.

The Windows operating system, Cameron said, should be viewable in 3D.

"They should be talking to their various partners," Cameron said.

Earlier in the day at the conference, Microsoft announced a new "Microsoft Advertising" brand to try to unify its disparate tools for advertisers and publishers as well as an effort to start selling display advertising on mobile phones.

This movie is a huge step into that direction, even the name of the movie itself : Avatar makes reference to life by proxy, the choice of a military person bounded in a wheel chair seems more than just a scenaristic ploy.
I may be wrong but this is where we're heading, living a 3d world within a 3d world, further away from ourselves, how many people now would not trade their daily life for a day in the na'vi world ?
The perfect artificial paradise indeed.
Millions are already doing it with online video games, so just sell new machines which allow total immersion and there you go...

fwiw.
 
anart said:
Tigersoap said:
I haven't seen the movie yet but I am troubled by the raving reviews in a sense.

Well, for what it's worth, I've had the same thoughts. The fervor of the reviews is a bit disconcerting. It's a movie.

I also experienced the latest visual 3D movie technology when seeing 'Up' and it really unsettled me. I've never dissociated that quickly - or in a way that seemed totally against my will. Quite frankly, I felt as though there was a LOT of information going into my mind that I was not consciously aware of and I didn't like it at all I don't intend to ever watch a 3D movie again with that technology; it seemed like opening my mind wide open to whatever was transmitted on any level.

I'll probably check out the movie when it hits DVD, so hopefully it will be enjoyable. :)

Hi Anart, you can watch the non-3d version of the movie in the theater now as well. Both versions are playing simultaneously.
 
anart said:
Tigersoap said:
I haven't seen the movie yet but I am troubled by the raving reviews in a sense.

Well, for what it's worth, I've had the same thoughts. The fervor of the reviews is a bit disconcerting. It's a movie.

I also experienced the latest visual 3D movie technology when seeing 'Up' and it really unsettled me. I've never dissociated that quickly - or in a way that seemed totally against my will. Quite frankly, I felt as though there was a LOT of information going into my mind that I was not consciously aware of and I didn't like it at all I don't intend to ever watch a 3D movie again with that technology; it seemed like opening my mind wide open to whatever was transmitted on any level.

I'll probably check out the movie when it hits DVD, so hopefully it will be enjoyable. :)


Avatar reminds me of a movie I watched a while ago called The Fountain. There were people raving about that one too, and I wondered: Did we see the same movie?

Fwiw, anart, there was nothing in Avatar that was new to me. As a writer, the main 'discovery' about Pandora was a plot device I'd used too often to be surprised at.
It was a good movie visually. The response I had after the movie was one of sadness, and tears, not the joy so many of my friends experienced.

Why is that? Knowledge....not just of how stories are written, but how they are made, and more than that: knowing people who've lived the reality and remain prisoners in it...(Gaza, Afghanistan, Iraq...Green Grass, Standing Rock, etc.)

Like I told Hubby: "If wishes were horses..." and he replied: "...we'd be up to our ears in shite." :D


I just wanted to share more of what kind of experience I had, now that I've found words for it.
 
From Yahoo:

Does 'Avatar' Contain Hidden Messages?

Since it opened last week, James Cameron's much-anticipated film "Avatar" has won praise from movie critics and been a juggernaut at the box office. But some who have seen the film say that it contains hidden messages that are anti-war, pro-environment, and perhaps even racist.

Here is the whole text:

_http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/hmg-avatar-hidden-messages.html
 
I like the movie! The way the Na'vi live and treat their world is very inspiring.

You'd wish Earth and its inhabitants were like in the movie..

Well, back to reality!
 
Seen it tonight. Not 3 D.

Of course there are only so many plots you can have in any story so on that score nothing new. I did though enjoy it very much as its always a plus when you see the corporate military complex shown in a truthful light i.e. EVIL , psychopathic and so on.

The effects , scenery , and imagination that has gone into the film is quite stunning.

Overall i quite liked it.
 
Saw it the other day in 3D. It was an interesting experience to watch it in 3D but it did give me a slight headache watching it this way. So it’s gonna be the first and last time I watch any movie in 3D!

The movie was entertaining and there were some aspects of it that, I guess, could be correlated with some esoteric concepts (although I’m not sure if Cameron was really conscious of it, it may have been more accidental then anything else) and it was, imo, a wee bit like the matrix movie such as when Jake got into the Avatar interface pod and connected his consciousness to another reality (in this case his connection to his Navi Avatar) but a lot of the movie was a bit too fantastical for me and it seemed to me that Cameron spent a lot of time on the fantastic visuals moreso then on the psychological depth of the characters. But I may see it again on DVD in case there was (most likely) some deeper stuff that was missed.
 
I saw it in 3D and 2D and I must admit that I saw more detail in 2D then in 3D , the colours were also more alive, it was way more pleasant to watch it in 2D then 3D.
 
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