Avatar

Year: 2009
Directed By: James Cameron
Written By: James Cameron

RYAN’S REVIEW

When this movie came out I saw it in the theater three times.  I thought it was one of the most awesome movies I had ever seen.  It was really something special, and the box office results reflect the fact that it was no ordinary movie.  I hailed James Cameron as a genius and still do because the fact is he might have saved the theater business from going under.  He created an experience that can’t be recreated at home.  His 3D, and I’m not talking about the crap being passed off as 3D now, but James Cameron 3D, Avatar 3D, will save the movie industry.  That is of course when people figure out what Cameron did different and learn to recreate it.  Until then let’s look forward to Avatar 2 because I have every hope that it will surpass it’s predecessor and blow us away all over again. For further opinions about James Cameron see our posts on The Abyss and Aliens. It’s difficult to describe watching Avatar in 3D because I didn’t write about the experience when it happened, but I remembered thinking I wish I could see every movie I loved just like that.  I felt like I was inside the movie, and it was amazing.

That being said, having just watched it I can see now that this movie doesn’t belong in our collection and I regret buying it when it came out.  We don’t own a 3D TV, and even if we did I don’t know how well the film actually transitions to the small screen in that format. The 3D effects made this movie truly amazing and an outstanding viewing experience, but without them it’s a different story.  It’s just a movie without those effects, and not a good one at that.  The story is practically a knock-off, the performances are weak, even by the A-list actors, and until the end the movie is more or less boring without the 3D.  Giovanni Ribisi is so cliché in this film he should be embarrassed, Stephen Lang is trying too hard to pass himself off as a badass, and Sigourney Weaver is just going through the motions.  The surprising actress is Michelle Rodriguez, who I usually hate but didn’t mind here.  Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana are both good,  but the effects that make their characters tend to overshadow their acting.

If you have watched this movie on a 3D TV then please let me know how it was, but if you don’t own one I’d advise you not to waste your time with this one.  If you saw it in the theater I trust you were pleased but that experience can’t be recreated at home with a normal TV.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I am really happy that I can say that I saw this film in 3D. It was an amazing experience and by far the coolest movie I have ever seen in the theater in 3D. It was the experience that was amazing. The movie itself was not. The story has been told before, and while I appreciate the effort put forth to make a statement about human kind, they story wasn’t original and I am not sure why Ryan bought this movie.

NEXT MOVIE: Back to the Future (1985)

Movies Not to Watch

THOR IN 3D

First of all, let me explain and don’t misunderstand me.  I just watched Thor and I thought it was awesome, another great addition to the Marvel canon. I will review the movie itself when we get to the “T” section of our collection, we will own it when it is available to buy. I’m listing the 3D version of it here under “movies not to watch” because I want to encourage you to see the 2D version.

Since the release and phenomenal success of Avatar there has been a trend slowly building that I think we will see more of.  Avatar was amazing, it was special because of those three dimensional effects.  However it’s economic success was aided by the fact that tickets to see Avatar in 3D were four dollars higher than most ordinary tickets, because of the glasses that are required.  However, the thing about Avatar is that we don’t know how much money was spent on that movie, the budget was never released but it was known that it was a substantially higher than average number even for a big budget film.  You simply can’t create those same kind of effects on a typical big budget of $200 million or less, the technology doesn’t seem to be there yet.  All other 3D movies that have come out since Avatar have failed in comparison and there is a reason.

Some movies should be left alone, but the guys sitting on top see an opportunity to make more money and something is lost in the process.  Thor was a great movie but watching it in 3D was awful and a waste of time.  The 3D shots had backgrounds blurred out, like the budget could only afford the 3D effects on the main characters.  It was distracting and disrupted the movie, the strength of the film is obvious in the fact that despite this I still thought this was a really good movie.  I hope you go see it yourself, but if you do I implore you to watch it in 2D and save your extra four bucks for those damned glasses.