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[Knight of the Wineskin]

Saw it Christmas Eve with my family. My major problem was the painfully stereotypical soldier personality of the main character, and that only he can end up saving the day. Just once I'd like to see the scientist or intellectual as hero in a major Hollywood film (and bugger yourself with a rock hammer if you're going to say The Core, it has no relation to science).

[Kymeera]

Saw it Christmas Eve with my family. My major problem was the painfully stereotypical soldier personality of the main character, and that only he can end up saving the day. Just once I'd like to see the scientist or intellectual as hero in a major Hollywood film (and bugger yourself with a rock hammer if you're going to say The Core, it has no relation to science).

My main problem was making the aliens look like blue cat elves with human facial expressions. I'm sure it's just to give the movie wide appeal by making the aliens easy to relate to, but I like my aliens to be, well, alien. I haven't seen District 9, but those aliens are more what I'm expecting. Instead we get aliens that smile, laugh, and cry like a human.

[Jon AS]

My main problem was making the aliens look like blue cat elves with human facial expressions. I'm sure it's just to give the movie wide appeal by making the aliens easy to relate to, but I like my aliens to be, well, alien. I haven't seen District 9, but those aliens are more what I'm expecting. Instead we get aliens that smile, laugh, and cry like a human.

Giving the aliens the actual actors' real facial expressions was like half the goal of the movie.;)

[Kymeera]

Giving the aliens the actual actors' real facial expressions was like half the goal of the movie.;)

Regardless, the science geek in me is still kind of butthurt over it. :)

[Slurktan]

I liked the movie even though I'd seen it twice before already. The 3D visuals were nice and Colonel Badass was fantastic. If neither Dances with Wolves or the Last Samurai had come out previously I'd probably think Avatar was a great movie if simple in some ways. Quite honestly I was far more excited for the Russel Crowe/Ridley Scott Robin Hood movie that there was a trailer for.

Saw it Christmas Eve with my family. My major problem was the painfully stereotypical soldier personality of the main character, and that only he can end up saving the day. Just once I'd like to see the scientist or intellectual as hero in a major Hollywood film (and bugger yourself with a rock hammer if you're going to say The Core, it has no relation to science).

I'd hate to see a Scientist/Intellectual as the conquering hero because of how absurdly unbelievable that is. I mean the best I can think of is Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day and that was just...... even more stupid than Randy Quaid saving the day.

[Tsavong Lah]

It seems like word of mouth is doing a lot of good for this movie, as it is projected to rake in 75 million this weekend, just slightly down from 77 million last weekend. Of course, the East Coast has better weather this weekend and it is a holiday weekend, but the Midwest has awful weather this weekend and Christmas isn't necessarily a holiday on which you go to movies.

I can't remember the last time a big movie only dropped 3% in its second week.

[Liffguard]

It seems like word of mouth is doing a lot of good for this movie, as it is projected to rake in 75 million this weekend, just slightly down from 77 million last weekend. Of course, the East Coast has better weather this weekend and it is a holiday weekend, but the Midwest has awful weather this weekend and Christmas isn't necessarily a holiday on which you go to movies.

I can't remember the last time a big movie only dropped 3% in its second week.

My completely uninformed wild guess is that many people are seeing it twice. I plan on going to see it again because once it's out of theaters then it's effectively gone for good. I'm sure it'll be out on DVD but unless you're seeing it in full 3D on the big screen, what's the point? This is a film that really only works in the cinema.

[Werthead]

This was my experience as well. Full theater, no misbehavior, applause at the end.

We got a smattering of applause at the end, which never happens in UK cinemas. We're far too polite and reserved ;) Plus we know the filmmakers can't hear us if we clap or not, so it's really not necessary.

Actually, I tell a lie, once before I've been in a movie which had applause at the end, and that was Return of the King, which was more understandable since the entire trilogy had been so well-received.

[The Pita]

My main problem was making the aliens look like blue cat elves with human facial expressions. I'm sure it's just to give the movie wide appeal by making the aliens easy to relate to, but I like my aliens to be, well, alien. I haven't seen District 9, but those aliens are more what I'm expecting. Instead we get aliens that smile, laugh, and cry like a human.

The aliens in District 9 actually move parts of their faces to simulate eyebrows and stuff, so they can be more relatable.

It's impossible to get tickets to this movie. Fuck it, I don't care about 3D that much.

[Ran]

Julia Frey actually took questions for Robert Stromberg (the production designer for Avatar, and VFX supervisor for Game of Thrones) via Twitter one day while they were having lunch in Belfast. Another VFX acquaintance of theirs asked why humanoid aliens, and Stromberg basically said what Kymmera said: they wanted to make the aliens and the romance story easily relatable. Floating squids with tentacley bits would be much less appealing to a general audience.

[Calibandar]

I saw it about an hour ago. Goddamn, that was awesome - definitely one of the most detailed and intricate uses of CGI that I've seen since the "Final Fantasy" movie back in 2001

Funny you should mention Final Fantasy because I was using that in my comparison to my gf last night when we came from seeing this movie in 3d, somewhat awestruck.

Final Fantasy was a film that did nothing for me because in short, there is no empathy with the characters whatsoever. It felt exactly like a film video game. Avatar shows the immensity of what has been pulled off in CGI movies. This is truly something else and I have to say, the hype has actually been deserved this time around when it comes to how spectacular this film looks. I definily empathized with the two main characters of Jake & Neytiri, and I thought their plight and that of the Navi was moving.

There's been criticism on the net about the story, which is every bit as predictable as they claim the story to be. Let me say this: this is not a science fiction/Fantasy version of Memento. In SF & Fantasy fiction, we have seen more developed plots, better stories. The story is not original, yes we have seen it before.

However, I like to think that the reason this type of story keeps being used is because there is genuinely something to it, the human infiltrating in an "alien" society, becoming one of them, persuaded of their ways as opposed to that of western white society and choosing their side. It's not a bad story idea, and if it lacks originality, I can honestly say that James Cameron played it out in such a tense way that I never knew for sure that either Jake or Neytiri would survive. It was tense right up until the end.

Let me also say that the last time I remember wacthing a big blockbuster in which the whole threatre was quiet and well behaved from start to finish and applauded at the end was back when the Lord of the Rings films were on. Visually, these films share some of that magnificent splendour that makes you go to cinemas. Storywise, Avatar's plot is not original, but it's hardly awful, and much depends on the way the director played it out, and I think Cameron did a sterling job.

I thought the depth and detail of the flora and fauna created for the world of Pandora was something else. Enjoyed the portrayal of the two main leads. The only quibble I would have is that some of the scenes with all the Navi bonding with the Nature Goddess was a bit too New Age for my sensibilities. On the other hand, you have to support the message of the film in that this probably is what humans would do if they encountered such a planet in the future ( in this case 2154). There is reference made to Earth not containing any green at all at the time of the film and one can hardly claim that this is an unlikely scenario.

[Analu]

Saw it in 3D earlier tonight. It was awesome. Got a standing ovation at the end. People were happy. My wife and sisters were crying.

Story was pretty simplistic and it had some holes, but some of the scenes just blew me away. First time in as long as I can remember that I was thinking "Holy shit, that just looks freaking amazing!"

Best time I've had in a theater in a long time.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

Saw it with the GF and some friends a week or so ago, and I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

There were some holes (for example, tracking and targetting equipment is fucked to hell by the nexus thing, but communications work fine, with no explanation as to why?) but by and large they were ignorable... most of the issues I discovered were just fridge logic.

The detail and the imagery was stunning. The story was simple, tried-and-true, even cliched, but very well done. My problem there was that from the beginning I was fully aware that the marine person would go over to the natives, mostly because the pre-release materials stated as much. I would have appreciated a bit more tension in his decision-making process; after all, surely the promise of a return to home with a fat check and fully-healed legs would have a LOT of appeal; I feel that this was not taken to the extent that it could have been.

Still. Overall, 9/10. I'll probably be seeing it again.

[Seventh Pup]

Saw it last night. The 3D versions of it where sold out so ended up seeing the regular version. It was amazing. I loved it, at the end of the movie my eyes where bright red, not because I had been crying, but because I had been forgetting to blink. This is not a perfect movie, but for myself the sheer awesomeness of what was good about the movie made me not care about what was mediocre about it (plot).

What I loved about where the visuals and the characters. In a lot of ways it reminded me of being a little girl, and reading The Rainbow Goblins, the visuals just make such a rich world you don't need text to describe it. The world totally enveloped me, hook line and sinker. Now matter where you looked on the screen there was something interesting, something imaginative. It felt like a wonderland, but a very visceral wonderland. The kind of place you always hope you'd have an adventure when you where a kid playing in the back yard, it was just so awesome.

The other thing I liked about the movie was the characters. A small aside, I loved Michelle Rodriquez character. Even though she plays the same character in every movie, and has a small role in this one. She always plays the "tough girl" but she plays that role well. I believe her when she pulls the trigger and throws a punch and I love that she was here in this movie doing just that. In the same vane I love that the alien princess was a warrior princess but not to an extent that it became annoying (for me). I also like some of the small things that Sam did. Like the first time he's in the forest and plays with the light mushrooms, that is totally what I would do and I felt much more connected to him for that.

Another thing I liked was the breaks from Avatar Sam, back to Human Sam. I kind of thought when he got lost, that he was just get trapped in the Avatar body. But no, he has to keep coming back to his human self. Keep remembering that despite all the cool stuff he can do with the Avatar he is not the Avatar; he's a cripple who has a chance at putting his real, human life back together. I felt like that helped keep the tension of the movie going. In all I loved this movie and I think I will be seeing it again in 3D, though when I do I will have to remind myself to blink.

[Jon Sprunk]

I went in with low expectations, but came out suitably impressed. The story might have been blah, but the animation was beyond outstanding. About halfway through the movie I forgot I was watching CGI.

[Kouran]

I saw the movie on Christmas day. I wouldnt go see this movie in 2D, I would wait and go see it in 3D. I think the last time I left a movie theater thinking, "WOW that was amazing" was after seeing Star Wars way back in the day.

Sure the plot is pretty simple, you can even say it is a cliche. Then again you could have set the story in post Cortez Mexico, or post Pizzaro South America. History is full of stories of guys who have "gone native".

[Sir Thursday]

There were some people being loud and distracting at the cinema when I went to see it (possibly the first time I've ever actually had to tell someone else to be quiet at the cinema).

[BigFatCoward]

It seems like word of mouth is doing a lot of good for this movie, as it is projected to rake in 75 million this weekend, just slightly down from 77 million last weekend. Of course, the East Coast has better weather this weekend and it is a holiday weekend, but the Midwest has awful weather this weekend and Christmas isn't necessarily a holiday on which you go to movies.

I can't remember the last time a big movie only dropped 3% in its second week.

its through $600 milion in 10 days, does anybody doubt there will be sequels?

anybody else concerned about having a big crush on the 10 foot tall blue alien?

[Ser Warpechowski]

My main problem was making the aliens look like blue cat elves with human facial expressions. I'm sure it's just to give the movie wide appeal by making the aliens easy to relate to, but I like my aliens to be, well, alien. I haven't seen District 9, but those aliens are more what I'm expecting. Instead we get aliens that smile, laugh, and cry like a human.

And behave exactly like human indians, even through

they fly on reptiles, bond with the earth, can ressucitate and share knowledge with their anscestors through trees.

[Liffguard]

anybody else concerned about having a big crush on the 10 foot tall blue alien?

Not even slightly.