Have You Watched "Avatar" Yet? It's AMAZING!

[cronxeh]

My boy brought up an interesting plot cheat.

They went into the Fluxomatic Vortexification Zone specifically because it scrambled the navigation and targeting signals. But apparently nothng else, like the Avatar link, or the communications links.

Another weak plot hack: the bad-guy-technology-neutralizer-bubble. (At least in STII:TWoK, the Mutara Nebula neutralized good AND bad guys equally).

I would assume the Avatar link is in RF range, and the flux is magnetic. That being said its possible the flux generates frequencies in the radar jamming range (1ghz-50ghz), while the Avatar link can be low frequency or high frequency and still unaffected by the flux.

A skeptic without a working knowledge of a subject matter is a fool :)

 

[leroyjenkens]

Yeah the effects were great, but they mean nothing if they're not backed up by a good plot, not a recycled one.

It's a different version of a good plot.

I don't understand why the plot being done before takes away from how good the movie is.
The enjoyability of the movie is dependent on if you've seen the plot done before? That would mean people who haven't seen the plot done before would think it was great. So in other words, some people will like the movie and some people won't, just like every other movie.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I don't understand why the plot being done before takes away from how good the movie is.

Do you read the same book over and over but maybe replace some names? People like fresh content, fresh ideas and twists. If you know what is going to happen, it's not as thrilling.

 

[DaveC426913]

I would assume the Avatar link is in RF range, and the flux is magnetic. That being said its possible the flux generates frequencies in the radar jamming range (1ghz-50ghz), while the Avatar link can be low frequency or high frequency and still unaffected by the flux.

A skeptic without a working knowledge of a subject matter is a fool :)

We try not to call other PF members fools. And I have a good knowledge of the subject matter, not sure why you think I wouldn't.

The obvious answer is that they are in different ranges. It's just too convenient. As you point out, it's not as simple as RF vs. magnetic; it's at least Rf versus radar, or whatever other EM freq the missile tracking systems use.

 

[cronxeh]

We try not to call other PF members fools. And I have a good knowledge of the subject matter, not sure why you think I wouldn't.

The obvious answer is that they are in different ranges. It's just too convenient. As you point out, it's not as simple as RF vs. magnetic; it's at least Rf versus radar, or whatever other EM freq the missile tracking systems use.

Obviously since you have a working knowledge, as well as the PF community, the comment wasn't aimed at you

I just think this movie is very plausible in every way and people saying negative comments are ruining the fantasy world!

Also, if you notice in the movie the 'suit' team had a working portable radar, or infrared, so the upper Ghz range is not affected by flux, and by symmetry I would assume the lower (1-900 Mhz) wasn't affected either - illogical, but nonetheless plausible

 

[leroyjenkens]

Do you read the same book over and over but maybe replace some names? People like fresh content, fresh ideas and twists. If you know what is going to happen, it's not as thrilling.

You don't know what's going to happen until you read it. Just because a book so far has resembled something else you've read, doesn't mean the rest of the book will. And two movies having the same premise doesn't mean they're carbon copies. The premise of Independence Day is the same as War of the Worlds. Do you automatically know all the details of both just from seeing one?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

You don't know what's going to happen until you read it. Just because a book so far has resembled something else you've read, doesn't mean the rest of the book will. And two movies having the same premise doesn't mean they're carbon copies.

Look, I liked the movie, but 15min in and I had the movie mapped in my head and it all came true.

 

[Q_Goest]

My daughter wants to see this one, so we'll probably go see it soon.

I've heard there's a lot of symbolism woven into the story. That's always a plus for me. Even better are layers - tell me a story about one thing but have hidden meaning throughout. Any symbolism? layering?

 

[cronxeh]

Speaking of symbolism.. The Na'vi only have 4 fingers, no ring finger. Perhaps they don't need rings to show their fidelity, and they mate for life compared to humans.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Look, I liked the movie, but 15min in and I had the movie mapped in my head and it all came true.

You can guess what's going to happen in any movie. I guessed what the twist ending for The Village would be, and I just happened to be correct. I hadn't seen any movies similar to The Village before, I just thought based on the director's proclivity towards twist endings, I thought that would be a likely scenario.

I had Avatar mapped in my head before I even saw the movie, just based on what I saw in the trailer. I thought of what would be the likely scenario and it just happened to be correct. It could have went a totally opposite way, but it didn't.

After years of watching movies, we all have an idea of how movies will go. We know it's almost guaranteed that it has to be a happy ending and based on what we knew of the storyline, even before we saw the movie (you could get the story from the trailer), we know there's not that many options for how that plot could end happily and fittingly.

Spoiler

I even predicted that he would change bodies at the end and the very last scene before the credits would be him in the other body opening his eyes. I just happened to be correct, but it's a fitting ending, so I'm happy with it. Just because I predicted it, doesn't take anything away from it.

I've heard there's a lot of symbolism woven into the story. That's always a plus for me. Even better are layers - tell me a story about one thing but have hidden meaning throughout. Any symbolism? layering?

That depends on the viewer. Some people may see this and think it represents that, or see something else and say there's a hidden meaning. The director may have made it completely straightforward, so you'd have to find out from him if you're basing it on the director's intentions.

 

[DaveC426913]

You can guess what's going to happen in any movie. I guessed what the twist ending for The Village would be, and I just happened to be correct.

Really bad example.

I try very hard to live in-the-moment when watching movies; I hate guessing them (and I dislike people who do), and yet I could not help but see the obvious ending of this movie a mile away. The movie suffered greatly from being based on a twist ending.

That depends on the viewer. Some people may see this and think it represents that, or see something else and say there's a hidden meaning. The director may have made it completely straightforward, so you'd have to find out from him if you're basing it on the director's intentions.

That's pretty hard to swallow. Either they put symbolism in or they didn't. It would be awfully hard to accidentally see symbolism woven into a movie where there was none. It would be like the static on a TV screen coincidentally forming an image of a choo-choo.

 

[Char. Limit]

That's pretty hard to swallow. Either they put symbolism in or they didn't. It would be awfully hard to accidentally see symbolism woven into a movie where there was none. It would be like the static on a TV screen coincidentally forming an image of a choo-choo.

Doesn't probability theory say that at some point, if you let the static go for long enough, it will?

 

[DaveC426913]

Doesn't probability theory say that at some point, if you let the static go for long enough, it will?

OK, the movie was long, but not that long...

 

[ideasrule]

It's definitely possible (and indeed, very easy) to think a movie has a hidden meaning when it really doesn't. See this: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=365808

Notice how both authors managed to find evidence supporting their claims.

 

[Char. Limit]

Ideas...

I'm not sure I'm a reliable source.

The other guy probably is, though.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Dark Side of the Rainbow[1] (also known as Dark Side of Oz or The Wizard of Floyd) refers to the pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd music album The Dark Side of the Moon with the visual portion of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.[2] This produces moments where the film and the album appear to correspond with each other. The title of the music video-like experience comes from a combination of the album title and the film's song "Over the Rainbow". Band members and others involved in the making of the album state that any relationship between the two works of art is merely a coincidence.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Side_of_the_Rainbow

Try watching TWOO with DSOTM playing [properly timed]. The apparent correlations are quite amazing at times.

Seeing imaginary symbolism is no more unusual than seeing recognizable forms in cloud formations.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Also, I have to say that after one hour, I had seen nothing close to great writing in Avatar. I can see why the movie has broad appeal, but really, beyond the cgi, this is not a cinematic masterpiece.

 

[Oerg]

I think Avatar and Saving Private Ryan share some similarities, both have great directing and simple stories, but unfortunately, Avatar's story was a bit of a cliche and therefore too predictable. How hard is it to have an unpredictable plot? It definitely would have improved the movie by a ton. But the movie was still really good for me though.

 

[cronxeh]

I think Avatar and Saving Private Ryan share some similarities, both have great directing and simple stories, but unfortunately, Avatar's story was a bit of a cliche and therefore too predictable. How hard is it to have an unpredictable plot? It definitely would have improved the movie by a ton. But the movie was still really good for me though.

OK I'll bite. How would you have changed the plot if given an opportunity?

 

[Oerg]

OK I'll bite. How would you have changed the plot if given an opportunity?

Don't know, I'm not much of a story teller. It was the same with The Lord of The Rings for me, I really enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring, but once I read the book, the second and third parts of the trilogy didn't achieve the same effect that the Fellowship did for me.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Really bad example.

I try very hard to live in-the-moment when watching movies; I hate guessing them (and I dislike people who do), and yet I could not help but see the obvious ending of this movie a mile away. The movie suffered greatly from being based on a twist ending.

Like I said, since you know the director is going to give it a twist ending, there's not many other twist endings it could have.
And no matter how much you thought the movie would end that way, you didn't KNOW it. It was still a guess. Plus, there were two twist endings. One involving the monster and the one that involves the era they're living in.
I was giving an example of a movie that I guessed the ending and happened to be correct. I don't know how that's a really bad example, since it fits just fine. But apparently it's the worst example ever contrived by mankind. Sorry.

That's pretty hard to swallow. Either they put symbolism in or they didn't. It would be awfully hard to accidentally see symbolism woven into a movie where there was none. It would be like the static on a TV screen coincidentally forming an image of a choo-choo.

So you're saying no one can see a scene and interpret it as a symbol unless it really was a symbol intended by the director?

Don't know, I'm not much of a story teller. It was the same with The Lord of The Rings for me, I really enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring, but once I read the book, the second and third parts of the trilogy didn't achieve the same effect that the Fellowship did for me.

Lord of the Rings is limited in unpredictability because it has to follow the story of the books.

But for people who haven't read the books, there is still the unpredictability. Too bad the trailers ruined that, though. At the end of the first movie, you think Gandalf is dead, but in the trailer for the second movie, they show him alive.

 

[DaveC426913]

Like I said, since you know the director is going to give it a twist ending, there's not many other twist endings it could have.
And no matter how much you thought the movie would end that way, you didn't KNOW it. It was still a guess. Plus, there were two twist endings. One involving the monster and the one that involves the era they're living in.
I was giving an example of a movie that I guessed the ending and happened to be correct. I don't know how that's a really bad example, since it fits just fine. But apparently it's the worst example ever contrived by mankind. Sorry.

Well I just meant a bad example because the twist was so clumsily done. There are better movies where the ending was predictable but not because it was so poorly handled.

So you're saying no one can see a scene and interpret it as a symbol unless it really was a symbol intended by the director?

Not anymore. I conceded your point after reading the other thread on Avatar.

Lord of the Rings is limited in unpredictability because it has to follow the story of the books.

More to the point (and more to the earlier poster), LotR is limited in predictability because it is an epic story i.e. the story (at least the ending) is already known. Titanic is another epic.

 

[Dembadon]

We went to the 3D showing last night. We both agreed that it was one of the best movie theater experiences we've had in quite some time.

As Greg said, the plot wasn't unique in any way; however, we were amazed by the creativity expressed in the wildlife and plantlife. My favorites were the little "lizards" who flew about by means of glowing propeller wings, and the "panther" in the chase scene at the beginning of the movie.

 

[cronxeh]

We went to the 3D showing last night. We both agreed that it was one of the best movie theater experiences we've had in quite some time.

As Greg said, the plot wasn't unique in any way; however, we were amazed by the creativity expressed in the wildlife and plantlife. My favorites were the little "lizards" who flew about by means of glowing propeller wings, and the "panther" in the chase scene at the beginning of the movie.

I'm sorry, but did you like the cougar in the movie? I am of course referring to Sigourney Weaver

 

[Dembadon]

We went to the 3D showing last night. We both agreed that it was one of the best movie theater experiences we've had in quite some time.

As Greg said, the plot wasn't unique in any way; however, we were amazed by the creativity expressed in the wildlife and plantlife. My favorites were the little "lizards" who flew about by means of glowing propeller wings, and the "panther" in the chase scene at the beginning of the movie.

I'm sorry, but did you like the cougar in the movie? I am of course referring to Sigourney Weaver

I think she was an excellent choice for her part. She's a great actress and did very well at making her character believable, as usual.

 

[Oerg]

More to the point (and more to the earlier poster), LotR is limited in predictability because it is an epic story i.e. the story (at least the ending) is already known. Titanic is another epic.

oh well, maybe predictability is more of an issue for me than others. For someone who has never read the book before the first part of the movie trilogy, the Fellowship's story certainly was unpredictable. I didn't like Titanic too much too.

 

[arildno]

I thought this movie was rather silly, unobtainium and all that.

The orange dragon was cool, though.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Well I just meant a bad example because the twist was so clumsily done. There are better movies where the ending was predictable but not because it was so poorly handled.

The point I was making with the village example was that you can guess what's going to happen in any movie, regardless if the plot hasn't been done before. Where it ranks on the hierarchy of predictable movies is beside the point.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I thought this movie was rather silly, unobtainium and all that.

Yeah, I cringed a bit on that one.

 

[Nebula815]

I was thinking I would see this, but now I'm really unsure. Plot is usually important to me. I actually thought the LOTR movies were lousy because I found the plot in them rather lousy.