Avatar (2009) Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang Directed by: James Cameron Rated: Unrated U.S. Opening Date: December 18th, 2009 They say Avatar is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival. We say Titanic director James Cameron’s first movie in ten years promises to be quite something: a $190 million hybrid of action and animation about a paraplegic war veteran is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na'vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture. In the 52-year-old director’s own words: "We're going to blow you to the back wall of the theatre in a way you haven't seen for a long time. My goal is to rekindle those amazing mystical moments my generation felt when we first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey or the next generation's Star Wars. It took me 10 years to find something hard enough to be interesting." "I've wanted to make this movie from the time I wrote the treatment 11 years ago. I was just biding my time for when it was going to be technically possible. I'm so invested in the 3-D, and I love the challenge of creating an alien culture. We're creating a world from scratch, so it's really fun." Will Avatar be a classic like Cameron's other SF efforts — Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day? "Many are saying that the CGI world that Cameron and crew have created feels almost as if they “took a camera and placed it on another planet.” The 3D effects, for once, doesn’t draw attention to themselves, instead serving only to only enhance the experience." Is coming out in Dec. but have anybody seen a real trailer yet? It was surpose to be rumor to be shown during Transformers 2 but guess not.
The latest I heard ...out of Comic Con... was that they were going to premiere 15 minutes of footage (for free) at IMAX screens across the country in mid-August. Hope that still happens; I'm dying to get a look at it. Cameron is one of my favorite directors.
Except that in order to gain the the trust of the alien species so they can mine the planet, the ex-marine and his unit project their minds into avatars that resemble the Na'avi. One of the interesting aspects of this is that the ex-marine is confined to a wheelchair, but his avatar has full use of its limbs. So he gets to feel what it's like to walk again.
I am getting bad vibes from this one. Primarily, I don't like the premise of the story, which sounds to me like yet another tired rehash of Pocahontas, another Luddite human-hating story. I *hope* this is not the way it turns out, I *hope* it blows me away, but if the story turns people off, then no amount of amazing effects will be able to redeem it.
I think there is supposed to be a trailer made for this sometime late August. My brain is telling me August 24th.
The whole wounded invader going native story is a pretty popular story line and has been done several times. Just off the top of my head, Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia and has previously been mentioned On Deadly Ground.
I am looking forward to the trailer. Lots of good buzz on this one. People forget this is the man that did great things in the sci-fi/action realm before his break. Though Cameron doesn't have the track record of raping his franchises into oblivion, so there is hope.
And, Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ripley (yes, she's still alive...albeit cloned for the umpteenth time).
Cameron always seems to be adept at telling a good story that centers on it's characters. Aliens - Ripley The Abyss - Bud and Lindsey T2 - Arnie, Jon and Sarah True Lies - Harry and Helen Tasker Titanic - Jack and Rose So I wouldn't worry too much about that aspect.
Say what? In what way does it sound like Dune? nm: read it again and I guess it could sound like that. I had this very green and flora rich world in my mind though so that caught me off guard.
http://www.avatarmovie.com/ 16 minutes of footage will be released in select imax theaters. Tickets go on sale Monday.
