[Eug]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I always thought that the Polar Express world was supposed to be story-bookish and not 100% "realistic." On that level, it worked for me.

Well, that's not how Robert Zemeckis had been pushing it. Furthermore, Beowulf looks very similar. Like I said I haven't seen A Christmas Carol, but the trailers again looked the same. Very hollow.

[besson3c]

Here is the Sigourney Weaver piece I was telling you about where she describes the new movie making technique devised for Avatar:

Video: Sigourney Weaver | The Daily Show | Comedy Central

[Eug]

James Cameron supercharges 3-D - Entertainment News, Web Exclusive, Media - Variety

I'm hearing that there are already calls to increase the frame rate to at least 30 fps for digital 3-D because certain camera moves, especially pans, look jumpy in 3-D. I saw that in the Imax 3-D "Beowulf." You've been an advocate for both 3-D and higher frame rates. Have you seen the problem and do you have any thoughts on it?

For three-fourths of a century of 2-D cinema, we have grown accustomed to the strobing effect produced by the 24 frame per second display rate. When we see the same thing in 3-D, it stands out more, not because it is intrinsically worse, but because all other things have gotten better. Suddenly the image looks so real it's like you're standing there in the room with the characters, but when the camera pans, there is this strange motion artifact. It's like you never saw it before, when in fact it's been hiding in plain sight the whole time. Some people call it judder, others strobing. I call it annoying. It's also easily fixed, because the stereo renaissance is enabled by digital cinema, and digital cinema supplies the answer to the strobing problem.

The DLP chip in our current generation of digital projectors can currently run up to 144 frames per second, and they are still being improved. The maximum data rate currently supports stereo at 24 frames per second or 2-D at 48 frames per second. So right now, today, we could be shooting 2-D movies at 48 frames and running them at that speed. This alone would make 2-D movies look astonishingly clear and sharp, at very little extra cost, with equipment that's already installed or being installed.

--

I do notice it in 2D as well in some other movies but only if I'm sitting really up close and it's a fast pan. However, I noticed it in Avatar in just regular scenes. Yes they were mainly in pans, but just simple pans which in other movies generally wouldn't bother me.

Unfortunately, according to Cameron, our current hardware cannot support 3D at anything beyond 24 fps.

[besson3c]

Interesting... I was thinking more in terms of the pre-rendered scene preview attached to a camera on a bicycle helmet sort of thing that Weaver was describing in terms of being groundbreaking, but this is interesting too...

[Cold Warrior]

Very nice, well-done film that kept my attention every minute -- not easily done in a long movie like this.

Was not impressed with 3D on the regular movie screen. The glasses dimmed the picture too. If I see it again locally, I'll just watch it in 2D. If I have a chance to find an IMAX, it'd be for 3D.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Just saw it in IMAX 3D. I sat right in the middle of the theatre and it was still too big and the fist half I was pretty close to puking. The film looked pretty close to 4:3 aspect ratio and it didn't even fully fill the IMAX screen which was strange as Dark Knight did.

The movie looked cool but I hated every last second of the story. It has all been done before and it felt like Dances with Wolves in Space. Heck there was even a Star Trek TNG epsidode just like it with Wil Weaton as the main character of all things.

The characters are all wooden, stereotypes bad dialog etc.

As far as the visuals go though the actual camera work and 3D worlds were spectacular but again all unoriginal design wise from the creatures to the human space fleet. I have never seen 3D look anywhere close to as good as it did in this movie and he needs credit for that without doubt.

Still since the story was so brutal to me I can't imagine having to watch it again in the near term.

Oh and I saw on some special that they actually motion captured not just the body's but all facial expressions too with a huge helmet with camera's and lasers all over the actors faces. This is why it looked better and less "Dead face" than any other 3D movie.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Just saw it in IMAX 3D. I sat right in the middle of the theatre and it was still too big and the fist half I was pretty close to puking.

Glad I didn't see it in IMAX 3D then. Digital 3D already gave me a bit of a headache. I didn't actually feel nauseated though.

The movie looked cool but I hated every last second of the story. It has all been done before and it felt like Dances with Wolves in Space.

True, but to give him credit, Cameron himself already said it's like Dances With Wolves in space IIRC.

The characters are all wooden, stereotypes bad dialog etc.

Yep. I thought the human characters were worse than the Na'vi ones though.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Yep. I thought the human characters were worse than the Na'vi ones though.

Oh totally, and the weird thing was most of them (and the ships) were recycled from Aliens.

IMAX is also just worth it for the sound system.

[Eug]

‘AVATAR’ OPENS TO $232M WORLDWIDE – Deadline.com

[Railroader]

Papyrus font for subtitles. Seriously?!?!

The Jake Skully Avatar character's dialog was horrible. I have a child in my home with a 67 IQ that sounds more intelligent than that. Also, the creatures he binds with speak English it appears. I have pretty much the same complaints as everyone else about the movie, those were just things I hadn't heard people complain about yet.

Saw it in 3D, had a headache start about 1/2 hour into it. I wish I would have seen it in 2D.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Papyrus font for subtitles. Seriously?!?!

Missed that. I'll have to look again when I see it on Blu-ray. I wonder if they'll have the same font.

The Jake Skully Avatar character's dialog was horrible.

All the dialogue was mediocre to bad.

Also, the creatures he binds with speak English it appears.

Yes, but the English speaking at least had a reasonable explanation. Some may consider it was a bit of an annoying plot device to have them speak English, but at least it wasn't the situation where they just happen to speak English or they just happen to have a universal translator.

Saw it in 3D, had a headache start about 1/2 hour into it. I wish I would have seen it in 2D.

When I get the BD, it will be watched in 2D.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

When I get the BD, it will be watched in 2D.

NO REALLYZ? I thought you loved 3D?!
Are you 100% sure for the record now that you don't like 3D? Please confirm.

Oh and since the disk will have that red and Blue 3D thing going on I think most people will skip watching it in 3D then.

I also noticed the horrible font from the first day, I thought it was placeholders at first.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

NO REALLYZ? I thought you loved 3D?!

I love 3D. I work and play in it every day.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by Eug 

I love 3D. I work and play in it every day.

Ya you just love your erotic cakes

ILM steps in to help finish 'Avatar' visual effects | Geek Gestalt - CNET News

[starman]

3D high-def movies coming to your living room on Blu-ray

[analogue SPRINKLES]

How to avoid getting a 3D headache while watching Avatar

[OAW]

I saw Avatar this weekend in 3D. My impressions are as follows:

- The visuals were SPECTACULAR. It was simply a visually-stunning piece of work. In my mind I knew that nearly everything on screen besides the human actors was CGI ... but it didn't look like CGI. Everything seemed so "real". Pandora, the ships, the labs, the Na'vi, the flora and animal life. I sat back, enjoyed the movie, and imagined Pandora as a place that could actually exist. When one thinks of "cheesy special effects" ... this was the polar opposite of that. The bar has most definitely been raised in this area!

- The plot was predictable and a rehash of the same "hero white guy to the rescue of the noble savages" story we've seen told countless times over the last century or so. But this is Hollywood and recycling the same basic dozen or so movie plots so what they do. Since I expected this I can't say that I was disappointed that there wasn't a truly original storyline.

For the type of film that it was, I rate it a 9 out of 10. It'll definitely be one to purchase on DVD or Blu-ray for the collection.

OAW

[pooka]

The "story" and "dialogue" were so bad that it violently pulled me out of the incredibly rich world they created. I would have rather watched BBC's Planet Pandora narrated by Richard Attenborough than that sanctimonious turd.

"Die, white man! Save us, white man!"

[Chuckit]

He was actually rather bluish for most of it.

[pooka]

But they knew he wasn't pink on the inside

[Eug]

Yeah, that's why I keep telling people not the have high expectations of the plot and dialogue.

BBC Moon Pandora sounds like a great idea though.

Oh and he's sort of silver grey for much of the human world, and blue for the rest.

[pooka]

And is it just me or did Col. Quaritch feel like Sarge (Quake3) brought to life.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by pooka 

And is it just me or did Col. Quaritch feel like Sarge (Quake3) brought to life.

YOU NAILED IT!!!

I was wondering where I saw him before. I've been telling everyone that the corporate mercenaries in Avatar all seemed like video game characters, esp. that leader, but I just couldn't put my finger on a specific character. Now it all makes sense.

[pooka]

HAAHHA! There he is. Holy hell I miss that game.

Thanks for the reminder about the rest of the merc crew. One of my favorite moments in the movie.

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Get suuuuuummmm"

[mdc]

Originally Posted by pooka 

And is it just me or did Col. Quaritch feel like Sarge (Quake3) brought to life.

Perfect!

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by pooka 

I would have rather watched BBC's Planet Pandora narrated by Richard Attenborough than that sanctimonious turd.

Ya same here. Seriously.

[besson3c]

Here's a cool video about the making of this movie:

YouTube - James Cameron's Avatar Movie Performance Capture Featurette


I don't think you could have easily separated the environment from the story, I disagree with pooka and Sprinkles...

[Big Mac]

Avatar = Decently impressive visuals, esp. in IMAX 3D + mostly one-dimensional characters + large smurfs with penis tails + predicatible, Disney's Pocahontas plot and motif + anti-American/white/colonial theme + WoW Night Elf Giant Tree and Zangarmarsh visual theme + an hour of excess material (mostly the ridiculous love story) + cliche ending.

Generous rating: 6.5/10

[finboy]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Avatar = Decently impressive visuals, esp. in IMAX 3D + mostly one-dimensional characters + large smurfs with penis tails + predicatible, Disney's Pocahontas plot and motif + anti-American/white/colonial theme + WoW Night Elf Giant Tree and Zangarmarsh visual theme + an hour of excess material (mostly the ridiculous love story) + cliche ending.

Generous rating: 6.5/10

Nice. I thought it was excellent, but the 3D thing was a lot to get used to, and not worth the headache. What we paid for in brightness wasn't worth it, and the screen looked like a shadowbox most of the time, very confining. The dialog was very hard to hear at points, maybe to reduce the dissonance with the 3D. I'll have to see it in 2D to see if the dialog track lowering was intentional, though.

I had no trouble with the film, thought it was great. I went to the theatre HOPING FOR the standard tropes and happy endings. The "message" was a little loud, though. We get it, companies are evil, natives are smarter than everyone, true love conquers all, etc.

It's a companion piece to Aliens IMO. Wonderful addition to the Cameron catalog.

For all of you who liked the scene with Ripley at the end of Alien (wifebeater and tiny pants), there's a heckuva callback in this one.

[Eug]

I had no problem with either the brightness or the volume for Avatar.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by finboy 

Nice. I thought it was excellent, but the 3D thing was a lot to get used to, and not worth the headache. What we paid for in brightness wasn't worth it, and the screen looked like a shadowbox most of the time, very confining. The dialog was very hard to hear at points, maybe to reduce the dissonance with the 3D. I'll have to see it in 2D to see if the dialog track lowering was intentional, though.

I had no trouble with the film, thought it was great. I went to the theatre HOPING FOR the standard tropes and happy endings. The "message" was a little loud, though. We get it, companies are evil, natives are smarter than everyone, true love conquers all, etc.

It's a companion piece to Aliens IMO. Wonderful addition to the Cameron catalog.

For all of you who liked the scene with Ripley at the end of Alien (wifebeater and tiny pants), there's a heckuva callback in this one.

I think you just saw it in a crap theater. It was plenty bright and loud (no less so than the average movie) where I went to see it.

[Anand]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Avatar = Decently impressive visuals, esp. in IMAX 3D + mostly one-dimensional characters + large smurfs with penis tails + predicatible, Disney's Pocahontas plot and motif + anti-American/white/colonial theme + WoW Night Elf Giant Tree and Zangarmarsh visual theme + an hour of excess material (mostly the ridiculous love story) + cliche ending.

Generous rating: 6.5/10

Just saw it and agree completely. When I was in College, I saw Debbie Does Dallas in 3D, which had better action and better dialogue.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I think you just saw it in a crap theater.

Are there any crap IMAX theaters ?

I thought the whole point of IMAX was that there are very high standards for everything.

At any rate, I saw it today at an IMAX.

Gotta agree with the comments that say it was visually stunning. I haven't seen anything like it before.
However, the storyline was just ok. Yes, entertaining, but by no means surprising or shocking.

In that respect, i liked D9 more, as it was more unpredictable and raw.

-t

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Are there any crap IMAX theaters ?

I thought the whole point of IMAX was that there are very high standards for everything.

At any rate, I saw it today at an IMAX.

Gotta agree with the comments that say it was visually stunning. I haven't seen anything like it before.
However, the storyline was just ok. Yes, entertaining, but by no means surprising or shocking.

In that respect, i liked D9 more, as it was more unpredictable and raw.

-t

There are IMAX screens that aren't true IMAX screens. They are just larger than a regular screen and may have better sound.

That said, I attempted to see it yesterday on a real IMAX screen but the lines were insane.

[torsoboy]

Originally Posted by Rumor 

There are IMAX screens that aren't true IMAX screens. They are just larger than a regular screen and may have better sound.

That said, I attempted to see it yesterday on a real IMAX screen but the lines were insane.

I think IMAX bans them from using the name IMAX when that happens. I know that a theater close by used to be an IMAX theater, and now it is just a theater with a giant screen. Still cool, but not IMAX.

[ort888]

To me this represented a "summer" blockbuster done right. Yes, the plot was cliche-ridden and ham-fisted. Yes, every character was a complete archetype and there was not a surprise to be found. And yes the story moved ahead more like you were checking all of the expected plot points off of a checklist and lacked any sort of subtly and nuance... and yes, it felt like a movie that was thought up by a 14 year old...

But all of that said, at least the story made sense and it moved forward in a logical and well paced way. It was all just an excuse to give us cool set pieces and action. Compared to something like Transformers 2, this movie looks like Shakespeare. I would say that both movies provided the same amount of spectacle, but by the end of Transformers I wanted to gouge me eyes out with a spoon.

Avatar was at least cheesy fun.

I still don't like 3D though. It gave me a headache and added nothing. I find it more of a distraction then a benefit.

Also, the movie needed more Ewoks. When the credits were rolling, I was singing "YUB NUB... ECHOP YUB NUB"

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by torsoboy 

I think IMAX bans them from using the name IMAX when that happens. I know that a theater close by used to be an IMAX theater, and now it is just a theater with a giant screen. Still cool, but not IMAX.

The nearest AMC has one that is a faux IMAX. The closest real IMAX screen is also an AMC.

[imitchellg5]

Saw this a few days ago in 3D... didn't really enjoy it. Apart from Transformers 2, probably the worst film this year. The characters were unoriginal, plot unoriginal, score unoriginal, humor unoriginal. I don't see what the huge build up was for. 3D was so cheesy and gave me a headache (quite a bad one).

I'd rather have seen New Moon again.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

I'd rather have seen New Moon again.

Fighting words.

[imitchellg5]

At least New Moon had a 911 Turbo.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

The movie looked cool but I hated every last second of the story. It has all been done before and it felt like Dances with Wolves in Space. Heck there was even a Star Trek TNG epsidode just like it with Wil Weaton as the main character of all things.

So far, I've come up with:

Dances With Wolves
Ferngully
Pocahontas

Hardly novel plot wise. It looked good, but many movies look good. I just don't get what the big deal is.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I refuse to go see it. Part of this is because of one particular scene my brother was telling me about where they do this ridiculous dance around a tree and pray for spirits or something. The other part is that everyone I know who's seen it has said the same thing: "visually stunning, intellectually draining."

Turrible. Just turrible.

greg

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES 

Just saw it in IMAX 3D. I sat right in the middle of the theatre and it was still too big and the fist half I was pretty close to puking.

Originally Posted by Eug 

Glad I didn't see it in IMAX 3D then. Digital 3D already gave me a bit of a headache. I didn't actually feel nauseated though.

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Saw it in 3D, had a headache start about 1/2 hour into it. I wish I would have seen it in 2D.

I take some ibuprofen before going in. I think it's the crappy glasses. I brought my polarized sunglasses in and they work fine for the 3D effect, but are a bit too dark.

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

I refuse to go see it. Part of this is because of one particular scene my brother was telling me about where they do this ridiculous dance around a tree and pray for spirits or something.

Please explain. If the story is a play on Native Americans (which it seems to be), then that's pretty reasonable behavior.

[The Final Dakar]

Reasonable ≠ entertaining

[wallinbl]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Reasonable ≠ entertaining

Every single movie I've ever seen has numerous segments that bore me or that I find annoying. You can't make a 2 hour movie that doesn't have some dumb shit in it.

[The Final Dakar]

True, but you can cut out some of the obvious/unnecessary ones.

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Everyone I know who's seen it has said the same thing: "visually stunning, intellectually draining."

So as a self described "lazy student" you would find this bellow par for your standards?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

So as a self described "lazy student" you would find this bellow par for your standards?

Yes, much bellow par

[The Final Dakar]

lulz