Avatar 2: The Way of Water

[DanteGabriel]

Sorry I'm a week behind the discussion and I only clicked on this thread because I thought it had to do with The Last Airbender (the cartoon, which Dante Jr is currently obsessed with).

I had actually just forgotten about the existence of this franchise.

But hey, I found something I agree with HoI about. The visuals for Avatar were... fine. They made for suitable spectacle. But the story was crap. I am so tired of these Broken White Guy Out-Natives the Natives movies. I'm glad to see so many "Dances with" jokes. The Last Samurai is another example.

[Raja]

That main theme is defo 10/10

I also liked prometheus tbf, but I totally get everyone's complaints about it.

[Werthead]

10 hours ago, Raja said:

That main theme is defo 10/10

I also liked prometheus tbf, but I totally get everyone's complaints about it.

Avatar and Prometheus do share the idea of having a visual, aesthetic splendour and great atmosphere (Prometheus more than Avatar, it has to be said; Scott is a much better director at seeing a mood). Both films are absolutely great if you watch them with the sound and subtitles off, and both films suffer when the dialogue enters the equation.

[Raja]

Yes, but that way I wouldn't hear whatever the fuck Idris Elba was trying to do in that movie

[DMC]

3 hours ago, Raja said:

Yes, but that way I wouldn't hear whatever the fuck Idris Elba was trying to do in that movie

Charlize Theron?

Anyway, I too like Prometheus while acknowledging it's deeply flawed.  Some of that may be the expectations game - by the time I saw it in theaters all the reviews/word of mouth I was exposed to insisted the film was a complete travesty.

[HouseBastard]

Prometheus wasn't a bad movie per se, it was just a bad addition to the Alien franchise. True the movie had some fundamental flaws such as poor script, horrendous casting and no sense of logic but it was visually solid and if you left your brain out of the equation it was entertaining enough with some interesting concepts. Very much like Avatar.

I can't see Avatar 2 living up to the expectations set by the first. The lack of 'gimmick' and the long wait for the sequel are going to make fans a little more critical of this film imo. I still can't help but get annoyed at the whole 'unobtainium' thing. lol

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

7 hours ago, HouseBastard said:

'unobtainium'

"Unobtainium" is cool.

I'm sure it's hit urban dictionary by now, but at the time it was still an inside joke among engineers and designers. It's basically a shorthand for, "This isn't going to work". If you have to build your widget out of an alloy so exotic that it doesn't even exist, yo need to go back to the drawing board. It's a bullshit science-fiction-y sounding name that's very obviously a bullshit science-fiction-y sounding name. 

Narratively it's a proxy for oil, or gold, or whatever commodity people are willing to make other people suffer for.  

Case in point. 

 

[RumHam]

9 hours ago, HouseBastard said:

Prometheus wasn't a bad movie per se, it was just a bad addition to the Alien franchise.

Better than average horror movie! Though that's more an indictment of how bad most horror movies are. It's funny that the best scene in the movie is a character watching a far better movie.

I still can't get over that "twist" in Alien: Covenant.

"What? Oh yes I killed the guy who looked exactly like me off screen. Don't question it."

[Corvinus85]

In the previous watched thread I mentioned re-watching Avatar, really because of this thread.

I still like this movie. It still looks amazing on 1080p. The story may be derivative, but it's competently executed. Sam Worthington is not a great leading actor, but he is decent with the MoCap stuff. Great villain. I love the attention to detail for the world and the human technology, though I'm not sure how those battle mechs can jump; maybe because the moon has low gravity.

The battle at the end was plausibly set up. Yes, the mad charge of the natives against the guns of the humans was silly, but really they were trying to use their numbers against a foe with superior firepower, but limited numbers.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Corvinus85

[ithanos]

Saw the new trailer this morning ahead of Thor: Love and Thunder. Much better than that first teaser. It's piqued my interest. I would probably just go watch this on a giant screen just for the technical aspects and immersion in the world as it is. If there's anything of a compelling story overlaid on that it would be a bonus. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Konichiwa, Bitches.

Granted, these are estimates. 

Avatar was re-released in China in March, 2021, during the pandemic, and it did $57 million. Not bad for a 12 year old movie that people have probably seen multiple times. 

[Rhom]

You know, I’ve actually never seen Avatar.  Loved the Flight of Passage ride at Disney so much that I fell for the tourist trap thing and had my kids model for 3D printed action figures that are supposed to be modeled on them and look nothing like them… but I digress.

The movie just came out at a time when I wasn’t going to the theater a lot and I have not made time to watch it since.  Am thinking about going this weekend to see it in theater.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

20 minutes ago, Rhom said:

The movie just came out at a time when I wasn’t going to the theater a lot and I have not made time to watch it since.  Am thinking about going this weekend to see it in theater.

Are they still showing it in 3D? 

[Rhom]

28 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Are they still showing it in 3D? 

I think some places are.

[Luzifer's right hand]

3 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I think some places are.

Here they are showing it in IMAX 3D and 4DX. 

Most SFX heavy things are still shown in 3D here although there are usually 2D showings too.

[Myrddin]

2 hours ago, Rhom said:

You know, I’ve actually never seen Avatar.  Loved the Flight of Passage ride at Disney so much that I fell for the tourist trap thing and had my kids model for 3D printed action figures that are supposed to be modeled on them and look nothing like them… but I digress.

The movie just came out at a time when I wasn’t going to the theater a lot and I have not made time to watch it since.  Am thinking about going this weekend to see it in theater.

As a visual experience, it's worth a trip to the theater. I'd even spring for 3D*. You know the story (from many other movies), so don't expect too much there. But it's a feast for the eyes.

And I absolutely love Flight of Passage. It's one of those rides where I feel like a kid again. So immersive, from the wind to the "breathing" dragon thing, etc. 

ETA:  *I say that as someone who is pretty happy the 3D trend fizzled out. Avatar is one of the few movies where I would recommend 3D. Gravity being another.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Myrddin

[Argonath Diver]

I'm probably the biggest fanboy here of 3D technology. I just watched (well, fast forwarded to some action scenes since I've seen it enough) Battle Angel Alita on my Oculus Rift in 3D and it was incredible. Avatar on a huge screen with 3D goggles is an experience worth the ticket, even if the movie is really, really silly. I certainly wouldn't ever watch it again if it was, well, flat. I suppose the graphics will still be sumptuous in a standard screening, but eff that noise.

I'm not sure if I have time this week, alas, but I'd really like to go, just because I've watched so much now on my own projection screen and the Oculus, and haven't actually been in a 3D showing in a theater in more than a decade.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

2 hours ago, Argonath Diver said:

...Oculus Rift...

I'm considering getting one of these. how is it for watching movies?

-

I might go see Avatar. I think it's playing near me.

I wonder if they're showing the theatrical cut or directors cut. The latter is superior IMO. 

[Argonath Diver]

32 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

I'm considering getting one of these. how is it for watching movies?

-

I might go see Avatar. I think it's playing near me.

I wonder if they're showing the theatrical cut or directors cut. The latter is superior IMO. 

I bought an Oculus app called SkyBox that lets me stream my content from my PC to the Oculus, same as I use Plex to stream it over to my Fire Cube / projector setup. The app drops you into a virtual movie theater, you can choose front middle or back rows. If you're "up front", the screen appearing in front of you is so colossal that your head has to move to focus on the left half or right half of it. It's a bit much. The standard seat is fine. You can also swap the setting to you floating in space and can re-pin the image wherever you like - allowing you to lay in bed and look up at it, instead of a fixed vertical virtual screen. 

The Oculus itself is a bit heavy on my head, and it makes my brow sweat a lot - not the best experience. That said, the actual image absolutely appears to be a ~50 foot screen, and my 1080p content looks absolutely gorgeous on it. I adore my projector and 116" screen, but the Oculus is incredibly immersive once you trick your brain/eyes into the experience. My 3D files look bonkers on it, but a standard film experience is just fine. I watched Dunkirk the other day on it and was absolutely floored. Your mileage may vary - my best friend doesn't like the experience at all, and prefers watching content on a 30" PC monitor. I've tried keeping my readers on, but glasses+VR alas is pretty unsatisfactory.

I figured I'd love the neat VR games and hoped to find a way to watch movies on it. Instead, I literally never bother anymore with the games and simply use it for a singularly immersive cinema experience - especially paired with excellent headphones.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Argonath Diver

[Luzifer's right hand]

So I rewatched Avatar in cinema. I have never seen it anywhere else and it still has some of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. Watched it in 4DX which really adds something to SFX heavy movies.

Looking forward to part 2 now.