Avatar - biggest movie, least impact?

[BigJake]

Huh? Avatar had a HUGE following by a bunch of hard core fans. That is the reason it made so much money.There was story after story about online fans who wanted to live in Pandora. People were actually depressed that the place didn't really exist. I think folks are forgetting (or maybe just unaware) because the movie was released so long ago and so much has happened cinematically since then.

This, pretty much. And if they don't fumble the sequels I wouldn't be surprised to find that Avatar does in fact become a major franchise with long-term legs in its own right, which is something that typically takes more than one movie to happen. There is after all a niche for issues-driven adventure SF that nobody's filling right now. (No telling whether this will happen or not -- The Wachowski Bros. with The Matrix had basically the same opportunity and wasted it -- but Cameron seems to be pretty consistent as quality goes.)

 

[RoJoHen]

But that's the point. It had -- past tense -- a huge following. It was insanely popular for a very small amount of time.

Now, it's certainly possible that the sequels will be awesome and that it will become a popular franchise, but right now it's just not there.

 

[BigJake]

But that's the point. It had -- past tense -- a huge following. It was insanely popular for a very small amount of time.

I don't know that its following has gone anywhere. I'm expecting the sequels to have the same amount of general appeal the original had and to bring back whatever hard-core of fans is still out there running forums about Na'vi (which, I'm assuming they're out there in the fan-forum version of Rule 34).

What I'm getting to be more intrigued by is... why does the franchise status of Avatar obsess Trekkies so much?

 

[davejames]

As for Avatar perhaps it's biggest impact was in reviving 3D, not that 3D has massively taken off since they but it hasn't fully dissapeared yet either. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is a different debate, but as with any many things it's case of does it serve the stroy to use or enchance the story to use it or is it just being used because it's the in thing?

Yeah I'd say Avatar had a bigger role in jumpstarting the recent 3D craze-- and showing just how good and popular it could be when done right-- than probably anything else. And then of course you throw in the huge leap in motion capture technology and in creating realistic CG aliens and environments...

Even if the movie's impact has more to do with technological advances than with the storytelling, it's still a pretty huge impact in the end.

 

[BigJake]

^ I wonder if anyone can think of another SF film whose impact had a lot to do with technical advances...

 

[dahj]

Titanic did nothing groundbreaking or new for cinema yet made tons and tons of millions in box office sales

Yeah, but Titanic at least left a footprint.
I'm one of three people in the world who still hasn't seen it but I know the "flying" scene, the Celine Dion song, and "draw me like one of your french girls".
Avatar didn't leave anything comparable to that.

 

[BigJake]

"Draw me like one of your French girls"? Never heard that...

Avatar did leave a pretty complete alien culture and conlang. I came away from the first viewing knowing how to call Jake Sully a "moron" in Na'vi, in fact I still remember. Along with the music, a lot of the visuals like the Hallelujah Mountains, various of Jake's pithy little phrases...

 

[Corran Horn]

Jake Sully - I only remember because the female na'vi says it multiple times.

I think it had some cool world-building and the 3D was amazing to see.

 

[Mudd]

I'll be in line for the sequel as soon as tickets are on sale.

It's funny, I was just looking at the "Making of..." book about twenty minutes ago. If Star Trek ever got serious again about a plausible "look and feel" to their future they'd need to hire the kind of designers and put in the overall design effort that went into Avatar and then rethink everything they've ever done from the ground up. They won't do that because it's a studio-owned property with production design aimed at filling the cheap seats for a price rather than coming primarily from the imaginations of its creators.

I believe Cameron was briefly associated with a Forbidden Planet remake. If only...

 

[BigJake]

^ Agreed.

 

[Magellan]

Huh? Avatar had a HUGE following by a bunch of hard core fans. That is the reason it made so much money..

Naw, the reason movies make a ton of money is a large group of casual fans. Avatar made a ton of money because, for some reason, everyone decided they just had to see it. I'm talking mom and dad/grandma and grandpa. People who just don't see these sorts of things usually. Still, it's not like my mum went and joined a fan club afterwards.

As for the main character, no I couldn't remember his name. I did remember it was Sam Worthington. Does that count? The movie was alright. Pretty effects, story was been-there-done-that. I'm not really interested in revisiting the blue cat people.

 

[RoJoHen]

"Draw me like one of your French girls"? Never heard that...

Avatar did leave a pretty complete alien culture and conlang. I came away from the first viewing knowing how to call Jake Sully a "moron" in Na'vi, in fact I still remember. Along with the music, a lot of the visuals like the Hallelujah Mountains, various of Jake's pithy little phrases...

Maybe it had an impact for YOU, and that's fine, but it has more or less disappeared from the public awareness.

Meanwhile, I can barely go a few days without somebody on Facebook making a "Draw me like one of your French girls" meme with a picture of their cat.

 

[BigJake]

it has more or less disappeared from the public awareness

Meh. It's about where I'd expect it to be in terms of public awareness with seven years having elapsed since it screened. It's not common for any property without ongoing activity to keep on dominating the entertainment media over that span of time -- and we can certainly expect its public profile to ramp right back up as the sequels come in.

Meanwhile, I can barely go a few days without somebody on Facebook making a "Draw me like one of your French girls" meme with a picture of their cat.

Whatever you say.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

There was story after story about online fans who wanted to live in Pandora. People were actually depressed that the place didn't really exist.

I'd forgotten all about that. It sounded suspicious even at the time, I wonder if that was more urban legend/marketing than real.

 

[Mr Light]

Avatar was a massive cultural phenomenon when it came out. It's the highest grossing movie in history for a reason. It wasn't that original or clever, but it was visually amazing. The only reason it seems "forgotten" now is because it was a single movie that came out six years ago without (to date) any follow up. Things can't exist in a vacuum. Trust me, when Pandora opens in Animal Kingdom and Avatar 2 comes out it's going to be a massive phenomenon all over again.

 

[BigJake]

I'd forgotten all about that. It sounded suspicious even at the time, I wonder if that was more urban legend/marketing than real.

"Our film will make you suicidally depressed after you see it" doesn't sound much like "marketing." It was largely self-reported by fans at the time, though -- at least the various stories about it seemed to boil down to that -- so what its status was with the psychiatric establishment I've no idea.

 

[tomalak301]

I wonder if the era of comic book movies has lessened Avatar a bit too. It wasn't a rush of comic book movies back then as it is now. It made Avatar feel like it came out really long ago and it might be out of the collective consciousness.

Hopefully Avatar 2 is good but it seems like yesterday's news at this point.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

"Our film will make you suicidally depressed after you see it" doesn't sound much like "marketing." It was largely self-reported by fans at the time, though -- at least the various stories about it seemed to boil down to that -- so what its status was with the psychiatric establishment I've no idea.

You're probably right, I was thinking in terms of this movie is so incredibly awesome it will make you long for it to be real. Maybe not marketing for the movie itself but using the popularity of the movie to drive some clicks with articles about it affecting people's lives.

 

[DWF]

Avatar is still shown on cable often enough and I'm sure people watch it when it's on. I'm not sure what kind of impact it's supposed to have. The movie has no realy one liners and the message of the movie is alittle depressing at least from humanity's standpoint.

Still Cameron created an incredible and complex world with Avatar. i thinnk the sequels will have the same magic at the box office the one did.

 

[hux]

All I remember is unobtanium.

In the sequel, they'll be hunting for cantfindium.