Have you seen Avatar?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

I never cringed at Avatar's dialogue. That seems to be reserved for modern Lucas and Spielberg productions?

[Charlie Brigden 5]

I never cringed at Avatar's dialogue. That seems to be reserved for modern Lucas and Spielberg productions?

No, there's quite a lot of movies that have terrible dialogue, or even worse, even if it doesn't seem possible. But Cameron's movies always have at least one cringeworthy line for me (the same as Star Wars), except THE TERMINATOR. Then again, I always cringe at Han's 'Fair and square' line from ESB.

[gkgyver 1,638]

I didn't see Avatar.

It may have super high end computer effects, but it still looks like a damn cartoon to me.

[Uni 306]

I'll side with the consensus on this one. Avatar wasn't a dreadful screenplay by any means, but it was probably Cameron's least effective. He's better than a lot of what we heard coming out of the characters' mouths, and some of the more inspired moments were counterbalanced with the unforgivable sin of exposition elsewhere.

the last movie I saw where I cringed at the dialogue was Revenge of the Sith.

I think I'd have to say the same thing, as far as physically cringing at what characters in a film were saying. ("I cannot bear to watch. . . ." That makes two of us, Ewan. )

- Uni

[Charlie Brigden 5]

I think my last one, pre-AVATAR, was probably "MY NAME IS JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK", or possibly some of the more odious comic relief moments of that movie.

[gkgyver 1,638]

I could have lived without the bedroom scene with the green chick.

[Quintus 5,391]

Don't lie, you know you had a lob on during it.

[Datameister 1,394]

I could have gone without the Deep Roy comic moments. (Not that I have anything against Deep Roy specifically.)

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

I never cringed at Avatar's dialogue. That seems to be reserved for modern Lucas and Spielberg productions?

The worst lines in Avatar (and the average lines weren't nearly as bad as those) made me cringe just as much as the worst lines in AOTC. Or perhaps more; Anakin's goofy lines somehow fit his character, even if their goofiness might not have been intentional.

[Matt C 423]

Saw it, but never really liked it. It has fantastic visuals, good acting (particularly from Zoe Saldana), and you could tell Cameron put his all into the entirely fictional universe on screen. It's just that the story's been told too many times over, I couldn't give a damn about it.

One of the most overrated films of 2009 next to "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

[crocodile 6,294]

Why apologise for not liking a movie? You were never obliged to even see it, let alone enjoy it.

You're right.

the script was dreadful, in what way? Another unjustified criticism.

By dreadful I mean boring, humourless, tired and overlong. Which is very subjective, of course. But I can't say I was interested by what's happening on screen. Instead, I decided follow visuals and the score, bot of which I liked. I can't explain to you how and why is it boring for me. It just is.

Karol

[Trent B 317]

Those of you who find the script boring and dull, honestly there's no hope for you. The movie itself was really good...it can be hard to keep people entertained for a movie if it's got a bad script, especially if the movie is nearly three hours long. Obviously people liked enough to go back for multiple viewings.

Just sorta sad that there are certain people who don't know a good film if it smacked em' in the face.

[Wojo 2,442]

Obviously people liked enough to go back for multiple viewings.

Just sorta sad that there are certain people who don't know a good film if it smacked em' in the face.

Some people also repeatedly cut themselves on the wrist because the willing flow of blood brings relief and pleasure. That doesn't make it something everyone has to enjoy.

It was a good movie. It was not a great movie. The script and story were not earth-shatteringly brilliant or original, being a self-admitted amalgamation of plots and stories that came before. If the movie contained special effects on par with anything we have already seen before, or did not showcase such a fantastically beautiful and surreal world, or did not provide such wonderful 3D escapism for almost three hours, or had used normal sized people painted blue for the natives, then not as many would have needed to go back for seconds or thirds.

It was a whole lot of what we have already seen presented in a stunningly beautiful graphical format that we had not seen before.

But then again, Star Wars was just a melting pot of earlier B and C grade sci-fi and fantasy which became a motion picture event. Those who dismissed it as a one time thing were probably surprised to see it become a successful franchise. Same with The Magnificent Seven, which was a retooling of a similar Japanese plot to become something both unoriginal and unique, which also became a successful franchise. So we shall see what happens with Avatar's sequels.

I think what most pleased me about the dialogue was the lack of the F word. I didn't hear it at all.

[crocodile 6,294]

What Wojo said (about the popularity, at least).

Karol

[Quintus 5,391]

Obviously people liked enough to go back for multiple viewings.

Just sorta sad that there are certain people who don't know a good film if it smacked em' in the face.

Some people also repeatedly cut themselves on the wrist because the willing flow of blood brings relief and pleasure. That doesn't make it something everyone has to enjoy.

That's the dumbest analogy I ever heard!

[JoeinAR 1,759]

what some are not able or willing to believe Avatar isn't just making money because of repeated viewings, its' attracting an initial audience that is huge. That is why it will pass Titanic Wednesday, that is why it will approach if not break the 700 million dollar mark. It's word of mouth is huge. Jaded fanboys aside.

[Wojo 2,442]

That's the dumbest analogy I ever heard!

Oh, you make your iPod Touch speak aloud to you?

I am well aware that Avatar will continue to make money. That is not surprising. Ticket prices cost more than they ever have, many theaters show it only in 3D as opposed to just 2D or both, and that 3D markup fee tacks a small percentage to each ticket. This movie, admittedly, is one that benefits from 3D, so it's a good way to introduce newcomers to the technology.

Word of mouth is succeeding because it's an event movie. It's big simply because it was expected to be big, it's staying big, and nothing bigger has come along to knock it from its perch. I don't see Titans or Alice doing that, other than to push it out of the 3D rooms for some viewings.

It's also a movie that must be seen to be appreciated. If you just describe the plot to someone, they've got it on their shelf or in their history books. It must be seen for the full effect.

This is science fiction without the jargon and techno-babble, making it appeal to fans other than Star Trek and The Matrix. It's a view of the future that, regardless of how bleak the "Earth" of Avatar's universe might be, is not as dystopic and terrible as other future views, like Blade Runner, The Matrix, or even Wall-E. It's escapism on a grand scale, to a beautiful paradise world, and escapist entertainment is sorely lacking in today's world.

[JoeinAR 1,759]

well said.

[Quintus 5,391]

*Begins slow clap*

[Wojo 2,442]

[Naïve Old Fart 6,637]

I have not seen "Avatar", nor do I plan to. I bear the film no ill-will, it is simply that my taste in film does run in "Avatar"'s direction.

[Ollie 859]

I still need to see Avatar.

[JoeinAR 1,759]

We know that Avatar surpassed Titanic on Tuesday, but we wonder about ticket sales. According to The Numbers, Titanic sold 128+million tickets. Avatar has sold about 61 million tickets to this point. Which is close to what Titanic did during the same number of days. Avatar has sold more tickets than any of the Spiderman, Shrek, Transformer films, its sold more than TDK or the LOTR films. So regardless its still the biggest movie of the 00's. An Oscar victory could propell it well past 700 million into the 800 million dollar range and that would still be behind GWTW, SOM, SW, ET, and Titanic, but pretty damned close just the same.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

I still need to see Avatar.

Same here.

[Richard Penna 2,082]

Just came back from seeing it. Was waiting to find a companion, but hey, why do you need company to watch a film? Never understood that...

Story was cookie cutter, nothing special there. Script was pretty good, and the bits that could've been embarrassingly cheesy such as Jake's rallying speech didn't linger too much.

Music was better than it seems on CD for me, and made me hungry for a complete score. Barring the annoying danger theme use (there's far more than on the CD) there was some superb emotional material. Effects were beyond belief, and I can see where Cameron's years went. It was really hard to believe that every environment outside of the lab scenes was CG.

In short, if effects or remarkable surroundings/camerawork do nothing for you, don't bother seeing it. It's a nice experience, but as any sort of study of characters I didn't see anything in it and I'm in two minds about the best picture/director nominations.

[Red 73]

I just saw it as well. Basically the main things I've heard about it were true: the effects are amazing, the story is so-so.