This film is still doing huge numbers. It will easily hit $1 billion worldwide gross by the end of next weekend.
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James Cameron's 'Avatar'
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http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avatar.htm
At 3 weeks this film is going to make 1 billion worldwide...
At 3 weeks this film is going to make 1 billion worldwide...
Great post, Gelfin.
I saw it in 3D and it was fantastic. (No headaches either, BTW.)
The story may not have been super intricate and creative but it was plenty entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was visually stunning, second to nothing I've ever seen. Even the snobbiest movie people should at least see it in the cinema because it really is incredible to behold.
I saw it in 3D and it was fantastic. (No headaches either, BTW.)
The story may not have been super intricate and creative but it was plenty entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was visually stunning, second to nothing I've ever seen. Even the snobbiest movie people should at least see it in the cinema because it really is incredible to behold.
I agree 100%. Saw it this last weekend in 3d at IMAX. WOW. Breath taking. The story isn't original however the visuals are something else!
I have shied away from 3D movies after seeing several that seemed to take away from the movie going experience. In 3D, I want something that approximates my natural vision. I don't want gimmicks. I want the 3D to stay in the frame of the screen and does not shoot out over my head.
If you've seen many 3D films, how would you compare them?For myself, I can overlook the non-original story. It was good enough to keep me going to enjoy the amazing visuals.
CGI is getting so good, at times it's very hard to tell what is real from what is generated. I consider one of the absolute best CGI films to be Spielberg's War of the Worlds. The only reason you know the tripods were not real was because they were not going to build full size working models.
I'd say this movie made the best use of 3D by far so far. Things don't ever really pop out at you, however all scenes have a deep depth of field.I have shied away from 3D movies after seeing several that seemed to take away from the movie going experience. In 3D, I want something that approximates my natural vision. I don't want gimmicks. I want the 3D to stay in the frame of the screen and does not shoot out over my head.
These are the two main approaches to 3D. I noticed the contrast most vividly between Up and Monsters vs. Aliens. The latter had the more gimmicky "stuff flying out of the screen at you" approach that 3D movies have been playing with for years. The former used 3D to provide depth, which was especially effective on the high-angle shots.
Mainstream 3D will necessarily be more about the "depth" approach, and this is what Avatar does. There was only one scene where I felt like I was being subjected to the gratuitous 3D shot: the one with Ribisi putting a golf ball directly at the camera. It was mercifully brief, but too reminiscent of old 3D movies with people aiming pool cues out of the screen and the like.
Avatar did have a great big 3D problem, though, and I couldn't disagree more about the depth of field. When you're looking at a flat TV screen, your eyes are focused at a fixed distance, no matter what the focal point of the camera. It's easy to become accustomed to. In a 3D movie, your focal point changes according to the focal point of the camera, which is more natural, except your eyes are trapped focusing where the camera tells them to. In a natural scene you can shift focus and look at things in the background. It took me a few minutes to realize what was bothering me in Avatar and force my eyes to stop fighting with the camera. I had to remind myself on occasion throughout the movie.
In short it still isn't real 3D (the brand name on your glasses notwithstanding), and this is going to give some people headaches. It didn't occur to me until watching Avatar what a painful trade-off the DP is asked to make in a movie like this. Using a very deep focus would make the 3D easier on the eyes, but would ruin the sense of depth in 2D. It seemed a lot to me like Avatar was shot/rendered at very nearly the same depth the DP would have selected for a pure 2D movie, and they just expected the 3D audience to get used to it, particularly for the live action shots. They might have decided that very deep focus still wouldn't accurately simulate a natural focal experience anyway (objects in the background would be in sharp double-vision instead of really out of focus) so they might as well bite the bullet.
I did find myself wondering whether the CG scenes were rendered twice at slightly different depths for 2D versus 3D audiences. For a movie you're going to make a billion dollars on, it seems a not entirely unreasonable thing to do.
3d...
I agree with the above posters. It didn't feel gimmicky. Stuff wasn't just jumping out the screen at you for the "oh wow look at that 3Dness" of it. The 3D was there, but it was more subtle and served to provide some depth.
I just found the overall package - story, CGI, 3D - of Avatar 3D to be quite brilliant.
I'd recommend anyone to go and see this, and I'd make sure they did so in 3D.
I agree with the above posters. It didn't feel gimmicky. Stuff wasn't just jumping out the screen at you for the "oh wow look at that 3Dness" of it. The 3D was there, but it was more subtle and served to provide some depth.
I just found the overall package - story, CGI, 3D - of Avatar 3D to be quite brilliant.
I'd recommend anyone to go and see this, and I'd make sure they did so in 3D.
I'm tempted to revisit this at an IMax theater in 3D. I wonder if a lot of people will see it a second time?
I saw it at the IMAX at Wimbledon (bigger screen than normal cinemas, not as neck straining as the normal IMAX - although that is seat dependent) and I completely agree iBlue... not an original story, but damn well presented and engaging. An amazing spectacle.
I was expecting a headache and didn't get one because of it's non-sensational use of 3D - it was involving and enhanced the visuals, not being the one-trick pony driving force some feel it has to be. But I did dodge out of the way of an incoming gas canister and immediately felt like a complete ass, not helping by then laughing nervously
great looking movie.. visually stunning and entertaining. definately a must see. I wish i was part of a billion dollar grossing movie. anybody know if the actors get a share of the profits?
Oh yes please! I'd buy everyone who spoke kindly in this thread an iSlate if that ever where to happen.
Make no mistake though, VFX-staff (animators being a layman's term) are usually seen as mere grunts by Hollywood. There is no such thing as royalties in our industry.
I can't tell you how hard it is for us to even get a few credit slots on some films (all the way at the end, after the janitor and the tea lady).
Then again I'm sure I speak for most of my colleagues that working in this industry is more like a hobby than a job.
Make no mistake though, VFX-staff (animators being a layman's term) are usually seen as mere grunts by Hollywood. There is no such thing as royalties in our industry.
I can't tell you how hard it is for us to even get a few credit slots on some films (all the way at the end, after the janitor and the tea lady).
Then again I'm sure I speak for most of my colleagues that working in this industry is more like a hobby than a job.
I have to say this is the first 3D movie I've been impressed with. I went for the IMAX/3D version and it was allot of fun, more fun then I recall having at the movies in a long, long time.
As many have said it wasn't about stuff popping out into your lap but the depth and looking into a deep box or stage vs a flat screen was excellent. The seeds from the tree would float out a few times and distract me thinking something was floating by my head lol, but the rest of it was just cool.
I look forward to this type of 3D experience becoming the standard for Hollywood movies! Good Stuff.
As many have said it wasn't about stuff popping out into your lap but the depth and looking into a deep box or stage vs a flat screen was excellent. The seeds from the tree would float out a few times and distract me thinking something was floating by my head lol, but the rest of it was just cool.
I look forward to this type of 3D experience becoming the standard for Hollywood movies! Good Stuff.
I'd like to go back and see it again. The first time I wasn't completely pulled into the movie, and that bummed me out a little. I think the problem is that I was spending too much time marveling at the 3D - paying too much attention to the little things - that I didn't just sit back and relax.
seen it three times, both on regular 3D, last time on Imax. huge difference go go watch it go now..lol
Agree 100 percent. If I had paid for it the one time I saw it with the family, I would have gone and demanded my money back. Stunning visuals are not cause enough to overlook the horrid plot and ultimate message.
argh, I could shoot myself for even considering replying to your usual claptrap but I'm obviously feeling like self harming this morning
Pro-environmental - Sure, in the sense that destroying countless natural wonders on a planet that isn't even yours is definitely a bad thing.
Anti-business - Sure, if you're a greedy git who will cross space to systematically destroy another planet, plunder its resources and kill its people. Oh, those terrible Hollywood types. How could they.
Anti-religion - I don't follow. Religion was never mentioned by the humans. It was in a round about way by the Na'vi, and to them it meant everything. Hardly critical of religion.
Anyway, it's your loss. Couldn't really care less what you see or don't see, your "reasons" are just particularly laughable.
Sure there's a thread needs spicing up with sensationalist bull in PRSI, they're calling for you.
Actually when the soldiers are being briefed about Pandora and the Na'vi the Colonel mentions the Na'vi's "deity" and they all laugh as if thats a ridiculous notion. So the bad guys are anti-religion I guess. However the Na'vi have a rational basis for their worship unlike us evil humans.
Watched this movie 3 times. It is really amazing!!!
The part I consider epic is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14EbXu0sqW8
The part I consider epic is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14EbXu0sqW8