# James Cameron to shoot Avatar 2 footage in the Mariana Trench **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676 "2011-01-31T18:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676/41 "2011-02-01T08:10:13Z")
I think the film told its story very well. In terms of structure (which is the essence of storytelling), it was one of tightest and most well-designed scripts I’ve ever seen. OTOH, I actually liked the story itself - it had a strong mid-1960s SF feel to it, like early Silverberg or Zelazny. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676/42 "2011-02-01T15:18:37Z")
I don’t get it…he could achieve the same results by filming at any SF mudflats, a few hours after low tide. What’s to be seen? Of course, if he wants to blow a few million, he can afford it. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676/43 "2011-02-01T15:53:59Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The guy’s got four honorary doctorates, a bunch of Academy awards and nominations, he’s the most powerful man in Hollywood, and he operates his own fleet of the best deep sea submarines in the world. He designs Mars missions for NASA and sits on the board of the Mars Surface Laboratory at JPL. He’s like a character in a James Bond movie. You’ve gotta love that. Cameron the man is one of my favorite people in the whole entire world. He is just plain awesome because of all that stuff. But Avatar still stunk to high heavens (though it was very very pretty, even on my 27" TV). ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676/44 "2011-02-01T15:56:35Z")
> [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > Well since the first Avatar movie loosely followed the plot of Dances with Wolves… a Kevin Costner movie… doesn’t it make sense that this one would also loosely follow the plot of another Kevin Costner movie? > > Wait for it. > > … > > Waterworld! 😛 I thought he stole the plot from Ferngully: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loziPLSjJRY;](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loziPLSjJRY;)) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676/45 "2011-02-01T16:08:27Z")
Avatar 2: The Miners Strike Back - _The Na’vi are rounded up and put on reservations as the earthlings begin to mine away at the planet._ Avatar 3: The Return of Eywa - _The Na’vi get their ultimate revenge when granted a gaming license and they build hundreds of casino’s and claim back their riches from the wealthy earthlings._ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676/46 "2011-02-01T16:21:39Z")
Avatar as a _story_ was dreck. I liked it better the first time, when it was called Dances with Wolves. It was a boilerplate SF theme: Evil corporation rapes planet, peace-loving natives turn out able to defend themselves, good humans realize they’re on the side of evil and help the natives. That’s not just an SF trope, it’s a literary trope. And it was done without much in the way of character development or anything else interesting. But I think that misses the point of the movie. There’s something to be said for a movie that takes a conventional story and uses it as a scaffold for building up a spectacle - a fully realized alien world in 3D that would give moviegoers something really new to see. And on that level, it succeeded in spades. I thought the movie was jaw-dropping to watch. I’d give it a big thumbs up - but only if you can see if on the big screen in 3D. Watching Avatar on a small 2D set totally misses the point and the entertainment value of the movie - all you’re left with is a B-grade science fiction movie with a shallow plot. But it’s pretty rare these days that a movie can make you experience something you’ve never really seen before, and Avatar did that for me. For that, it’s worth its best-picture nomination. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-cameron-to-shoot-avatar-2-footage-in-the-mariana-trench/569676.md?page=2)