Thoughts from a latecomer (a.k.a., F you, Cameron)

[Deepcrush]

Deep, while I'm sure you'd like the whole world to have your attitudes and preferences, that doesn't make it so.

[Praeothmin]

Sometimes I want a stupid movie (when its for free... ). I get to have fun pointing out the holes and stupidity.

But if I pay for it, I want something that is either gonna make me think, or at the very least engage me.

So you surely didn't pay to see the Star Wars PT, right?
To me, they were Avatar's cheaper borthers...

Back to the subject though, I liked Avatar, because I don't really care about the plot, I felt like having 2 dimentional villains and I love the color blue...
I went in expecting cool VFX, and that's what I got, so I was satisfied...
And it was awesome in 3-D, so yeah, I liked my viewing experience.

But I agree this movie is definitely not of Terminator 2 quality, or even Titanic...
If there is a sequel, I hope JC tries to add a good story to the VFX...

[stitch626]

So you surely didn't pay to see the Star Wars PT, right?

That would be correct. Not a cent.

[Sionnach Glic]

I think my feelings towards Avatar can be summed up with the words "pretty, but lacking".

In terms of visuals, the movie looked absolutely brilliant. Pandora itself looked great, the flora and fauna were great to look at (if rather lacking in imagination), and the humans' military gear looked awesome (even the mecha were passable).

In terms of actual substance.....meh. The story was so bog-standard that I accurately predicted the entire plot based on nothing more than the earliest trailers. The heroes were bland, and the villains nothing more than characatures.

To be honest, I'm actually a lot more optimistic about the quality of Avatar 2: The Search For More Money. At least now they'll have to think up a fairly original story, and it being (supposedly) set underwater opens the door for some interesting events and creatures.

[Lighthawk]

it being (supposedly) set underwater

Wait, what? How the hell is that suppose work?

[Sionnach Glic]

No idea. It's just what I've heard. It may well be wrong.

[Captain Seafort]

So we're going from Pocahontas in space to The Little Mermaid in space?

[Tyyr]

The Little Mermaid is still my favorite Disney movie.

My understanding is that the next movie won't be set on Pandora but on another moon in the same system. Cameron intentionally went this route so he could do another movie in the same universe but without having to keep on with the same group. Which is a good thing since the next act of Avatar is the next wave of humans dropping a kilo of anti-matter on the Tree of Souls.

[Tsukiyumi]

Which is a good thing since the next act of Avatar is the next wave of humans dropping a kilo of anti-matter on the Tree of Souls.

Which would absolutely confirm them as the piece of sh*t pure evil scum villains the Navi think they are in the first movie. The only way the Navi can effectively resist is to develop their own technology, which would be a good route to take during the next two films. Set each of the films decades apart, and have the finale be the Navi nuking Earth from orbit after getting the idea from the humans. Would continue the theme, and be an excellent "backfire" ending.

[Sionnach Glic]

I don't see how the Na'vi ever could advance their tech, even to the level of simple fire-arms. Not only have they shown great resistance to even consider using advance tech, but it would take them centuries to build up the infrastructure to get to the level of modern day Earth. And that's assuming they even knew how, which they don't.

[Mikey]

It would also effectively cement the 1-D, hollow and lazily-written nature of every character in the whole Avatar universe. And here I thought you couldn't get lazier than calling the precious mineral "unobtainium."

[Tsukiyumi]

I don't see how the Na'vi ever could advance their tech, even to the level of simple fire-arms. Not only have they shown great resistance to even consider using advance tech, but it would take them centuries to build up the infrastructure to get to the level of modern day Earth. And that's assuming they even knew how, which they don't.

They don't, but they do have a number of scientists and soldiers from Earth to help speed that process up.

It would also effectively cement the 1-D, hollow and lazily-written nature of every character in the whole Avatar universe. And here I thought you couldn't get lazier than calling the precious mineral "unobtainium."

Realistically, the story should end with the Navi wiped out, the planet strip-mined, and then jump ahead a few hundred years, and the human race has also gone extinct from our obvious misuse of resources. Would be realistic, but would also be a lousy ending.

[Captain Seafort]

They don't, but they do have a number of scientists and soldiers from Earth to help speed that process up.

So what? Even if you put every engineer in the modern US in the stone age it would still take them centuries (at best) to build an F-22.

jump ahead a few hundred years, and the human race has also gone extinct from our obvious misuse of resources. Would be realistic, but would also be a lousy ending.

Bollocks. The human race is not going to go extinct, even limited to one planet as we are know. The worst that could happen is we loose modern civilisation (i.e. anything above stone-age) and suffer a population collapse, and with interstellar travel that is highly unlikely.

[Tsukiyumi]

So what? Even if you put every engineer in the modern US in the stone age it would still take them centuries (at best) to build an F-22.

At the end of the film, the Navi and remaining humans still control all of the tech left behind. From what I understand, that includes a lot of manufacturing equipment. Theoretically, they could expand that capacity, and at least put up a lot more of a fight.

Bollocks. The human race is not going to go extinct, even limited to one planet as we are know. The worst that could happen is we loose modern civilisation (i.e. anything above stone-age) and suffer a population collapse, and with interstellar travel that is highly unlikely.

With the Earth's entire biosphere devastated, how would stone-age humans, or even industrial-level humans survive on any meaningful level?

[Sionnach Glic]

At the end of the film, the Navi and remaining humans still control all of the tech left behind. From what I understand, that includes a lot of manufacturing equipment. Theoretically, they could expand that capacity, and at least put up a lot more of a fight.

AFAIK, there's a grand total of two scientists left at the end. One of whom is an expert on Na'vi culture, the other on running the Avatars themselves. While their might be more from the same group as Sigourney Weaver's character around, they'll virtually all be cultural experts, linguists, botanists, etc, with a few computer technicians as well. Not exactly a great selection when the subject is how to build a gun.

Similarly, the manufacturing equipment there is going to be useless to them for two simple reasons:

1) They have no way to actually run the plants.

2) Such manufacturing equipment will be designed to produce spare parts for mining equipment. Again, not a great help when your goal is to take on an invading army.