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[MischiefMonkey]

In the absence of a 'Film' sub forum.....

Just back from watching Pocahontas Dances with (big blue) Wolves....err...I mean James Cammeron's $300, 000, 000 'epic' Avatar. Apart from making everyone blue, did that film have an original idea? Oh wait....weren't they blue in Braveheart?

Visually stunning but the most cliched, predictable film ever. By the end I didn't care who won as long as the bloody film ended.

Eldest son saw it the other day and commented (on Facebook::)) that it should have had more alien sex (well, he is 21). It should have had more plot. And characterisation. And originality. A better script wouldn't have hurt.

But yeah, more alien sex might have helped.

Was it worth $300M?

Not sure it was worth the £20 and 3 hours of my life it cost me.

Actually, glad I saw it. Visually stunning is an understatement. You need to see it just to see what they can do with Digital 3D and a bit of CGI;)

[chaggle]

Haven't been to a cinema in years. I suppose it won't be the same on a big telly will it?

[DrS]

Think I might give it a miss. It sounds even less appealing than the new Christmas Carol!

Would like to see Downey Jr and Law's new Sherlock Holmes though.

[MischiefMonkey]

Haven't been to a cinema in years. I suppose it won't be the same on a big telly will it?

3D really brings Avatar to life - I think it would loose much of what redeems it in 2D

Sky are launching a 3D channel in 2010 but it will need a Sky HD box, subscription and a 3D Ready TV.

Probably cheaper to go to the cinema.;D

[asthmatic camel]

Um, blue aliens/clones/avatars on a planet called Pandora? Gold star to anyone who can spot the resemblance to a popular Sci-Fi novel dealing with a similar theme. Plagiarism, I'd say.

[Julia]

I found the film quite enjoyable in a leave-yer-brain-in-the-lobby way, even though after seeing "Titanic" I swore I'd never see another film written by James Cameron. Yes, it's basically a 1950's sci-fi flick tarted up with state-of-the-art technology, but the special effects are amazing and on the whole 3D isn't used in a gimmicky way. Yes, it isn't exactly overflowing with original concepts, although it's so long since Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe" was published I think it's entirely possible that any plagiarism was unintentional.

One thing that really annoyed me, however (even more than the Na'vi's New Age religion) was the fauna of Pandora. The creatures look realistic enough but they don't make much sense from an evolutionary standpoint. If the Na'vi share a common ancestor with the many six-legged animals of the planet, why do they only have four limbs? Would giving them an extra pair of arms or legs have made them too alien for audiences to identify with, or too awkward to animate? Is it likely that evolution on an earth-like planet would favour vertebrates with more than a leg at each corner? As for the "helicoptering" lizards, I can't think of any way such an adaptation would work in real life.

Still, this is Hollywood brand of science fiction - what do you expect? High concept science fiction isn't the stuff of which films are made.

[asthmatic camel]

No gold star for you, Julia. I had in mind The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransome. Refugees from a ruined planet Earth seek refuge on a planet named Pandora, which is populated by some very strange aliens, all of which seem to have some kind of psychic ability. Sound familiar?

[Julia]

Oh, give me half a gold star! In Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe" a paraplegic man uses an artificial body to explore a hostile planet (Jupiter - the novella was written in the late 50s) and eventually "goes native".

[asthmatic camel]

Oh, give me half a gold star! In Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe" a paraplegic man uses an artificial body to explore a hostile planet (Jupiter - the novella was written in the late 50s) and eventually "goes native".

Heh. OK, half a gold star. To be fair, two of my favourite SciFi authors, Iain M. Banks and Alastair Reynolds, use the concept widely in their novels; if only someone would give their work the big screen treatment...

[Croydon Bob]

if only someone would give their work the big screen treatment...

I can imagine the Hollywood version of Consider Phlebas. Our (American) hero fights the nasty commie Culture (English actors) and doesn't die in the end in case they want to make a sequel. No thanks...

[Tony Williams]

I dont often visit the cinema but I think I'll go to see this one just for the spectacle. There's an iMax cinema within reach and the combination of 3D and a huge screen is just irresistable for something like this.