# Avatar on DVD: What Did You Think? \[Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294 "2010-04-25T10:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/61 "2010-04-27T05:47:36Z")
I saw Avatar twice in a Classic IMAX theater. I’m not sure if the people that saw it in a Cineplex IMAX were really watching the same movie as I was. The Classic IMAX screen is very tall and the effect is immersive. I use a 42Inch HDTV as my computer monitor, so I played the DVD sitting about 18 inches from the screen and the room lights off. This actually worked pretty well, except the DVD was a little soft. I think the Blu-Ray will be better when I get a Blu-Ray drive for my computer. Frankly, I didn’t miss the 3D that much and I was paying attention in the places where I noticed it in the theater. I thought the part where the seeds were floating around the room was pretty cool, but I didn’t miss it that much. I agree with Roger Ebert’s comments. > [@](#): > > Cameron promised he’d unveil the next generation of 3-D in “Avatar.” I’m a notorious skeptic about this process, a needless distraction from the perfect realism of movies in 2-D. Cameron’s iteration is the best I’ve seen – and more importantly, one of the most carefully-employed. The film never uses 3-D simply because it has it, and doesn’t promiscuously violate the fourth wall. He also seems quite aware of 3-D’s weakness for dimming the picture, and even with a film set largely in interiors and a rain forest, there’s sufficient light. I saw the film in 3-D on a good screen at the AMC River East and was impressed. I might be awesome in True IMAX. Good luck in getting a ticket before February. [Roger Ebert Review of Avatar](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091211/REVIEWS/912119998/1023) I also like Brad Templeton’s take on Avatar. [http://ideas.4brad.com/avatar-isnt-dances-wolves-its-another-plot](http://ideas.4brad.com/avatar-isnt-dances-wolves-its-another-plot) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/62 "2010-04-27T12:35:15Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > Unobtainium is a _general term_, incredibly well known to anyone writing speculative fiction or performing thought experiments in materials science. To hear it in actual usage in a script is as jarring to me as hearing a political candidate uttering “insert pithy comment here” while delivering a speech. It is something that some hack writer left in there because s/he didn’t do a final polish and fill in the blanks, or s/he forgot to replace the place holders. I get that such a remark can be intended ironically but it has to fit the overall speech and candidate. I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. But I could also see some stereotypical idiot politician or CEO listening to a debriefing by Science Nerd, hear the word “unobtainium” and really latch on to it, forcing it into regular use. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/63 "2010-04-27T13:03:27Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Ha! This whole paragraph requires Avatar to be original (which no one thinks it is) and the first sci-fi movie marketed as a sci-fi movie (which it’s not). I’m honestly curious how you could even believe such an obviously wrong statement. I started writing what I thought would be a brief response going over possible rival candidates for the title of first big action adventure movie marketed as science fiction that actually was science fiction. It got out of hand and now it’s late. Suffice to say that the only serious contender I came up with was Minority Report, which I rejected for stupid computer interfaces and precognition. Anyway, I know people keep saying that Avatar was a big rip off of X movie. I know you do because you keep saying it, like above… right after that charming “Ha!” bit… yeah, that was cool. And after that you made out that I’m an idiot. Go you. Right, back on topic, I’ve seen at least some of the movies that get brought up, none of them were science fiction. They were all epics, though, so yeah, big surprise if an epic about an anglo outsider going native rings a bell. If you can point to a piece of science fiction that was ripped off by Avatar, I’m willing to listen. If you’re going to bring up a passing resemblance to some random cartoon or Western, not so much. OMG IT HAD SCENERY PORN WHAT A RIP OFF OF THE SEARCHERS. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/64 "2010-04-27T13:11:03Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > I started writing what I thought would be a brief response going over possible rival candidates for the title of first big action adventure movie marketed as science fiction that actually was science fiction. It got out of hand and now it’s late. Suffice to say that the only serious contender I came up with was Minority Report, which I rejected for stupid computer interfaces and precognition. So you’re just going to admit you’re playing “No True Scotsman” and be done with it huh? ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/65 "2010-04-27T15:13:42Z")
Wow…I’m not sure how it’s possible to miss so much in the movie. A couple of points that just stick out: 1. Who said the Mecha’s were **Military** in nature? In fact the movie pointed out very plainly that all the ‘soldier’ personnel on the base weren’t actually military, but rather mercenaries working for money. So what makes you think that the big walking armor suites were for the military? From what I could tell, they didn’t have any built in weapon systems. The guns they carried were separate…same with the flamethrowers and the knife. 2. As for just using your mecha to walk thru stuff, you did catch on that everything on the planet was Navi-sized, right? So the guy in the 15 foot tall mecha wasn’t that much taller than a native. So unless you also think that a guy that is 6’4 can just walk through a jungle on our world because he’s tall, that doesn’t make any sense. And while the mecha may increase your **human** strength, there’s nothing to indicate that it’s that much stronger than a Navi. 3. The “Diety” seemed pretty straightforward. An organic network that spans their entire world and is self-aware. As a matter of fact, I had a harder time with the fact that the ‘bad guys’ were so derisive about that possibility. So you can lay a human down and ‘download’ his brain…which is self-described as a link, not just a download, maintain that link all over the planet even in locations with strange magnetic fields that screw up your instruments, and you have a hard time believing in an organic equivalent? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/66 "2010-04-27T15:19:09Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > 1. As for just using your mecha to walk thru stuff, you did catch on that everything on the planet was Navi-sized, right? So the guy in the 15 foot tall mecha wasn’t that much taller than a native. So unless you also think that a guy that is 6’4 can just walk through a jungle on our world because he’s tall, that doesn’t make any sense. And while the mecha may increase your **human** strength, there’s nothing to indicate that it’s that much stronger than a Navi. They are machines; why would they need help to walk right through jungles? Tanks do it without any knives at all; they just roll right over trees as they please. Not having seen the movie, I’m basically thinking of the big confrontation at the end of Aliens, when Ripley gets in the bipedal loader to fight the alien queen. If I had that exact bipedal loader, I would just walk right through a jungle without a care in the world. What minor trimming I’d worry about would be much easier dealt with by grabbing the brush or whatever with the mechanical hand and moving it aside. Sawing or hacking at it with a big giant knife that I held in the mechanical hand would be the ultimate in retarded. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/67 "2010-04-27T15:25:03Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > 1. Who said the Mecha’s were **Military** in nature? In fact the movie pointed out very plainly that all the ‘soldier’ personnel on the base weren’t actually military, but rather mercenaries working for money. So what makes you think that the big walking armor suites were for the military? From what I could tell, they didn’t have any built in weapon systems. The guns they carried were separate…same with the flamethrowers and the knife. Because they were only piloted by military personnel and were housed in the military barracks? ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/68 "2010-04-27T15:25:12Z")
Except that again you’re forgetting the scale. Think of your average “large tree” here on earth. Now expand that to **four times** it’s size. That basically how much more scaled up everything is. So what you need to be imagining is something more like the [Ripsaw](http://www.howeandhowetechnologies.com/ripsaw.php) rather than a Bradley. Sure it’s neat and all, but it can’t knock down a 100ft. oak tree. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/69 "2010-04-27T15:26:21Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Because they were only piloted by military personnel and were housed in the military barracks? So wearing cami’s makes someone military? I’m not trying to be snarky, but they stated **in the movie** that those guys weren’t military. They were all ex-military. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/70 "2010-04-27T15:26:48Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > Except that again you’re forgetting the scale. Think of your average “large tree” here on earth. Now expand that to **four times** it’s size. That basically how much more scaled up everything is. So what you need to be imagining is something more like the [Ripsaw](http://www.howeandhowetechnologies.com/ripsaw.php) rather than a Bradley. Sure it’s neat and all, but it can’t knock down a 100ft. oak tree. But neither can that stupid knife. > [@Atrael](#): > > So wearing cami’s makes someone military? I’m not trying to be snarky, but they stated **in the movie** that those guys weren’t military. They were all ex-military. That’s a distinction without a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/71 "2010-04-27T15:30:11Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Not having seen the movie, I guess I don’t understand the desire to comment on something you’ve never seen, let alone carry on such a minor nitpick. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/72 "2010-04-27T15:37:31Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > So wearing cami’s makes someone military? I’m not trying to be snarky, but they stated **in the movie** that those guys weren’t military. They were all ex-military. They were mercenaries using a military command structure (the main baddie was only referred to as “Colonel” throughout the entire movie). It’s a distinction without a difference, to steal a phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/73 "2010-04-27T15:41:37Z")
> [@Atrael](#): > > From what I could tell, they didn’t have any built in weapon systems. The guns they carried were separate…same with the flamethrowers and the knife. They were giant robot sized guns, flamethrowers and knives sized perfectly for the mech suits. That’s a heck of an after-market for a non-military intended mech suit. Again, there was nothing in the film (that I recall) to indicate that the mechs were predominately used for non-military (or “combat” if the word military is a hang-up) purposes, that they needed hunting knives to move through the jungle or anything else. It’s fanwankery to cover up something ridiculous – a guy in a big robot suit had a big robot Rambo-style knife so he could have a knife fight with some alien native chick. Maybe someone with the DVD could answer – did any of the other mech suits have knives & sheaths or was this special to the Colonel? ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/74 "2010-04-27T16:05:32Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Because they were only piloted by military personnel and were housed in the military barracks? The uses of the AMP suit are explained here: [http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Amplified\_Mobility\_Platform](http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Amplified_Mobility_Platform) It was designed for a variety of both military and civilian uses and is not limited to combat applications. There is also a description of the AMP knife, which is three feet long and is made of a ceramic that can cut through metal. It is used for clearing brush. [http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/AMP\_Suit\_Knife](http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/AMP_Suit_Knife) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/75 "2010-04-27T16:27:08Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > The uses of the AMP suit are explained here: > > [http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Amplified\_Mobility\_Platform](http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Amplified_Mobility_Platform) > > It was designed for a variety of both military and civilian uses and is not limited to combat applications. > > There is also a description of the AMP knife, which is three feet long and is made of a ceramic that can cut through metal. It is used for clearing brush. > > [http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/AMP\_Suit\_Knife](http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/AMP_Suit_Knife) If it didn’t happen in the movie, it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/76 "2010-04-27T16:41:48Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > If it didn’t happen in the movie, it didn’t happen. That doesn’t mitigate it as being a valid reason for its existence. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/77 "2010-04-27T16:58:41Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > If it didn’t happen in the movie, it didn’t happen. No one’s claiming anything happened, they’re just offering perfectly legitimate and rational reasons for its existence. The fact that those reasons are backed up by the movie’s creator certainly helps. For someone bitching about a One True Scotsman defense earlier, you sure are dismissing evidence awfully quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/78 "2010-04-27T22:24:49Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > No one’s claiming anything happened, they’re just offering perfectly legitimate and rational reasons for its existence. The fact that those reasons are backed up by the movie’s creator certainly helps. For someone bitching about a One True Scotsman defense earlier, you sure are dismissing evidence awfully quickly. All of his other complaints about the movie got slapped down in a hurry. Or maybe he’s especially proud of his knife complaint, seems to be the only one he’s defending. Yo, Justin. As I said in my post, I have considered my opinions. I could be wrong about Avatar being the first big budget action/adventure flick marketed as science fiction that actually is science fiction. I’ve posted why. Maybe you could tell me why it’s not. It’d help if you define what science fiction is, first. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/79 "2010-04-27T22:51:44Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > All of his other complaints about the movie got slapped down in a hurry. Or maybe he’s especially proud of his knife complaint, seems to be the only one he’s defending. Just as many people are agreeing with my complaints as there are detractors. I’m not sure what this little barb proves. > [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Yo, Justin. As I said in my post, I have considered my opinions. I could be wrong about Avatar being the first big budget action/adventure flick marketed as science fiction that actually is science fiction. I’ve posted why. Maybe you could tell me why it’s not. It’d help if you define what science fiction is, first. You can’t just declare a movie “not science fiction” and say that’s the end. I mean jeez, Men in Black was marketed just as much on the aliens angle as it was on the Will Smith angle. Transfomers had giant transforming science fiction robots that were front and center in all the marketing. The new Star Trek was built on the premise of space exploration and alien civilizations. How is it not sci-fi? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294/80 "2010-04-27T23:15:34Z")
What annoys me is that Cameron went to great lengths to make realistic the new world, including giving animals latin names and all that stuff, but he apparently spent little time on the human side of the development. Not once are we told what the unobtanium is for, not once are we told why they can’t mine it horizontally under the tree. All we know is that unobtanium is worth $20 million a kilo, which given the resources and lives they are willing to expend means it is extremely valuable even in the future. Anyway it is clear that it is meant to be valuable because Ribisi makes a point of saying how expensive it is. All we know is a) it is expensive; and b) there is a lot of it under the tree. That’s it. O h wait, we are also told, if I recall very important to the human race. Why? who knows, but could it be that the Na’vi are being assholes about it? Sure. Who knows. We have no idea what is really going on except you know the Na’vi are in touch with their tree and we are sadistic assholes…apparently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-on-dvd-what-did-you-think-spoilers/537294.md?page=5)