# I just saw Avatar for the first time... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226 "2011-10-29T21:05:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/41 "2011-10-30T18:14:31Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Most stuff anyone says is never as exciting, profound and insightfull as they think it will be. Yeah, I’ve heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/42 "2011-10-30T18:48:15Z")
It comes off kinda dull in 2D. Like _Pocahontas_ or _Dances With Wolves_ meets _Babylon 5_. It was visually stunning to watch in 3D IMAX because of the 3D effects. _Drive Angry_ was the only other 3D movie I ever thought benefited from 3D. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/43 "2011-10-30T19:19:07Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > any movie you watch because of the special effects isnt any good either. > > Avatar is the only movie I have ever in my life told people to go see because of the effects…at an Imax…in 3d. > but yeah the movie kinda sucked. This is what people used to say about T2 when it got out, as a praise. Cameron has never been able to write properly, and especially to characterize properly (just look at the abyss in terms of characters between Alien and Aliens). He’s just doing exactly what he has always done, only on a bigger scale. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/44 "2011-10-30T19:58:31Z")
I liked Avatar but the characters were pretty weak. Jake is alright. I like Sam Worthington so I’ll give him a passing grade. Neytiri is an annoying harpy. Tsu’tey is a dick. Eytukan is a stereotypical Indian chief. Wes Studi deserves better. Selfridge is a second-rate version of Paul Reiser’s character in Aliens. However, I thought the weakest part of the movie was the reliance on an old cliche, the Hollywood concussion. Tiny little Michelle Rodriguez breaks her co-conspirators out of jail. She puts the guard down on his knees, gives him a gentle tap on the back of the head and knocks him right out. She couldn’t take five seconds to do something sensible like stuff him into the jail cell she just let the others out of! Nope, just bop him on the head and like all movie victims of this particular shenanigan, he’ll sleep for a week and can’t possibly raise an alarm. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/45 "2011-10-30T20:06:25Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > This is what people used to say about T2 when it got out, as a praise. > Cameron has never been able to write properly, and especially to characterize properly (just look at the abyss in terms of characters between Alien and Aliens). He’s just doing exactly what he has always done, only on a bigger scale. Well, I can enjoy repeated viewings of T2 and Aliens whereas Avatar got old before the credits started rolling. So even if he’s “never been able to write properly, and especially to characterize properly”, he must have done a considerably shittier job with Avatar than usual. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/46 "2011-10-30T21:37:33Z")
It was a new treatment on an old story with great twists. Who would have imagined that Sam would get with the chiefs daughter? Who could have guessed that she would be forced to train him? And imagine that the mining company was willing to exploit the natives and kill them over money. The movie was about effects. It was terrific in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/47 "2011-10-30T23:10:13Z")
I didn’t think it was bad. I’m even ok if it basically rehashed the whole Pocahontas / Dances With Wolves / The Last Samuri / discontent soldier lives among the natives, learns to love them and fights his own people to protect them storyline. I just felt he didn’t do a great job in making me actually care about any of them. > [@DWMarch](#): > > Eytukan is a stereotypical Indian chief. Wes Studi deserves better. Think about that statement for a moment.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/48 "2011-10-30T23:27:31Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > This is what people used to say about T2 when it got out, as a praise. > Cameron has never been able to write properly, and especially to characterize properly (just look at the abyss in terms of characters between Alien and Aliens). He’s just doing exactly what he has always done, only on a bigger scale. Really? I loved T2 and still do, and I didn’t know or care who wrote it. Likewise, I couldn’t care less whether Cameron wrote the script of Avatar or not. But I do know there are LOTS of outstanding science fiction stories out there that could be made just as expensively and spectacularly than the shitty script he chose. Or maybe not, maybe the effects were so expensive that he only had fifty bucks or a couple of hours to spend on the script. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/49 "2011-10-31T00:59:17Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Really? I loved T2 and still do, and I didn’t know or care who wrote it. Likewise, I couldn’t care less whether Cameron wrote the script of Avatar or not. But I do know there are LOTS of outstanding science fiction stories out there that could be made just as expensively and spectacularly than the shitty script he chose. Or maybe not, maybe the effects were so expensive that he only had fifty bucks or a couple of hours to spend on the script. I dont dismiss entirely Cameron, cause even though he seems to be a major asshole,(if I base myself on his usual characters), he’s a very good technical director. It’s just that he has absolutely nothing to say, and most of his scripts tend to be justifications for “groundbreaking” SFX. There’s nothing new with “Avatar” is all I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/50 "2011-10-31T01:39:13Z")
**Oh!** Well, _frick my dick!_ So I was supposed to have paid attention to the special effects and screw the story, Mr. Cameron? I shall keep that in mind the next time I go to my Redbox! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/51 "2011-10-31T04:17:11Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Think about that statement for a moment.😃 I know, he always seems to get cast as an Indian! But he was great in the short-lived show “Kings” as General Abner. That show never made reference to his ethnicity. He was just the General, not the Indian General. Avatar does him a disservice by changing his appearance altogether but still turning him into a Hollywood Indian Chief. He can play a strong leader without the stereotype attached. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/52 "2011-10-31T14:29:25Z")
Well, I like “Avatar.” A lot. I liked it on the big screen in 3-D, I liked it on the big screen in 2-D, and I like it on my TV (though it does make me wish my TV were bigger). Sure, a better story line couldn’t have hurt, but I can watch other movies for that. “Avatar” is one of the two or three most visually stunning movies I’ve ever seen, and that’s enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/53 "2011-10-31T14:31:43Z")
Another person who positively hated Avatar and walked out to the bathroom in the middle of the romantic scene. [Mighty Whitey](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MightyWhitey) always wins. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/54 "2011-11-01T22:21:43Z")
I liked it pretty well. I acknowledged the simple and not-new plot, but I liked the way it was presented, and especially liked the 3D. I’m a very visual person and also pretty willing to like even cheesy or clichéd movies, so it was pretty easy for me to let myself get immersed in Avatar. Plus, I’m a huge fan of the message, ham-fisted or not. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/55 "2011-11-01T22:52:53Z")
I saw it in 3D Imax (I think it might have been the first “modern” 3D movie I saw), and I remember coming out of the theater thinking that I would have been perfectly happy if the whole movie had consisted of people walking around in the jungle, looking at the flora and fauna. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/56 "2011-11-01T23:00:04Z")
It was “Dances With Wolves”-updated for 10 ft. blue smurfs. Cameron put in all the usual ant-American crap (natives good, Americans evil, Marines are murderers, etc., etc.). Written for a 5th grade audience. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/57 "2011-11-01T23:15:02Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > I didn’t much care for it, either, but if you didn’t see it in 3D, you didn’t see it the way it’s meant to be seen. In 3D, the effects were fantastic, immersive, and on a whole other level beyond anything else I’ve seen. The movie itself wasn’t very good, but I still came out of the theater very impressed with what I had seen. Hmm. No wonder I wasn’t all that impressed with it. I saw it on a tiny seatback video screen on a transatlantic airplane flight. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/58 "2011-11-01T23:23:17Z")
The Rifftrax was astonishingly hilarious, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/59 "2011-11-02T00:33:43Z")
> [@me](#): > > blah blah _Dances With Smurfs_ blah unobtainium is stupid blah > [@ralph124c](#): > > It was “Dances With Wolves”-updated for 10 ft. blue smurfs. The people who complain about it being too derivative sure aren’t very original with their critiques. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226/60 "2011-11-02T00:48:34Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > The people who complain about it being too derivative sure aren’t very original with their critiques. Has anybody mentioned Fern Gully yet? If not, let me be the first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-avatar-for-the-first-time/601226.md?page=4)