I think you'd be hard pressed to call yourself a movie fanatic or a geek if Avatar wasn't your most anticipated movie of the year (especially now that Watchmen and Inglourious Basterds are out of the way). The film is directed by one of the undisputed masters of the sci-fi/action genre - James Cameron - the man behind Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens and of course Titanic, and starring one of the most talked about new actors in Hollywood - Australia's own Sam Worthington (Terminator 4). Of course, starring is a fairly loose term, seeing as Worthington and much of the rest of the films cast (including Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Michelle Rodriguez) spend a majority of the film as motion captured 1o foot tall alien 'avatars'
Cameron hasn't made a theatrical film since Titanic in 1997, choosing instead to direct several IMAX documentaries that allowed him to continue his experimentation with various 3D and computer enhanced film making techniques that he began developing in The Abyss (1989) and T2 (1991). Avatar itself was written in the mid-90's, but according to Cameron, it was only after seeing Gollum brought to life via motion capture in The Two Towers (2002) that he was convinced that his film could be made. The movie has been in production for (I believe) four years, on a budget of $US237 million. The anticipation online has been truly extraordinary, And now, after all this time, the first trailer is finally here.
Now, it is only after having watched this trailer ten times today that I feel ready to offer my opinion. The first thing I need to respond to is Cameron's goal to create photo-realistic CGI. Based on this footage, it appears as though he has failed. As amazing as the footage looks, and as detailed as the creatures are, I don't think they look physically real. I think it's probably the closest we've even gotten, and the scenery and much of the machinery looks flawless. But the avatar's themselves? I don't think we're there yet
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think the footage looks fantastic, the action exciting, the designs fascinating and the CGI almost perfect. I don't fully understand how Cameron has utilised 3D technology here (and so everything I'm about to say could be an invention of my fanboy mind), but this movie appears to have more depth, more detail than anything I've seen before. The trailer has this incredible, mystical sheen, and even the 20th Century Fox logo at the beginning of the trailer looks crisp and beautiful. I've seen this said on other blogs, but I think I should repeat here - it's almost as though Pixar made an action move.
Ok, enough about the visuals. For of you who don't know, the basic premise of the film is as follows (taken straight from wikipedia):
The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully, is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will give him a healthy body. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush rainforest-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms – some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race that humans consider primitive, but are actually more evolutionarily advanced than humans. Standing three meters tall, with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.
Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human 'driver' through a technology that links the driver’s mind to their Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is matched by her ferocity in battle.
Over time, Jake integrates himself into Neytiri's clan, and begins to fall in love with her. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi – forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world.
Not original by any means. But not bad either. It's real archetypal sci-fi stuff, and if this movie is really going to be a game changer, then I'd almost prefer it if it had a really traditional, classic story.
Alright, that's enough from me. Watch the trailer again, and check out the wikipedia entry for more information on the development process and the technology used in Avatar (don't worry - no spoilers!)
Avatar will be in theatres from December 18th 2009
Cameron hasn't made a theatrical film since Titanic in 1997, choosing instead to direct several IMAX documentaries that allowed him to continue his experimentation with various 3D and computer enhanced film making techniques that he began developing in The Abyss (1989) and T2 (1991). Avatar itself was written in the mid-90's, but according to Cameron, it was only after seeing Gollum brought to life via motion capture in The Two Towers (2002) that he was convinced that his film could be made. The movie has been in production for (I believe) four years, on a budget of $US237 million. The anticipation online has been truly extraordinary, And now, after all this time, the first trailer is finally here.
Now, it is only after having watched this trailer ten times today that I feel ready to offer my opinion. The first thing I need to respond to is Cameron's goal to create photo-realistic CGI. Based on this footage, it appears as though he has failed. As amazing as the footage looks, and as detailed as the creatures are, I don't think they look physically real. I think it's probably the closest we've even gotten, and the scenery and much of the machinery looks flawless. But the avatar's themselves? I don't think we're there yet
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think the footage looks fantastic, the action exciting, the designs fascinating and the CGI almost perfect. I don't fully understand how Cameron has utilised 3D technology here (and so everything I'm about to say could be an invention of my fanboy mind), but this movie appears to have more depth, more detail than anything I've seen before. The trailer has this incredible, mystical sheen, and even the 20th Century Fox logo at the beginning of the trailer looks crisp and beautiful. I've seen this said on other blogs, but I think I should repeat here - it's almost as though Pixar made an action move.
Ok, enough about the visuals. For of you who don't know, the basic premise of the film is as follows (taken straight from wikipedia):The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully, is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will give him a healthy body. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush rainforest-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms – some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race that humans consider primitive, but are actually more evolutionarily advanced than humans. Standing three meters tall, with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.
Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human 'driver' through a technology that links the driver’s mind to their Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is matched by her ferocity in battle.
Over time, Jake integrates himself into Neytiri's clan, and begins to fall in love with her. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi – forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world.
Not original by any means. But not bad either. It's real archetypal sci-fi stuff, and if this movie is really going to be a game changer, then I'd almost prefer it if it had a really traditional, classic story.Alright, that's enough from me. Watch the trailer again, and check out the wikipedia entry for more information on the development process and the technology used in Avatar (don't worry - no spoilers!)
Avatar will be in theatres from December 18th 2009
