AVATAR Trailer is here!

[MyCylon]

Based purely on what's there in the trailer (and I know next to nothing else about the film, really), I'm not impressed. I don't like the design of the Na'vi* or their flying rides at all. It's not that it's CGI, it's purely the design, really. It just doesn't do very much for me and it doesn't look very alien at all (it feels like a massive throwback to Trek in that way to me). Again, I know next to nothing about the story so I might be a missing a rather important point here.

I also thought that some of the scenes with the Na'vi, the last one in particular, looked terribly schmaltzy to me. I hope that the trailer is misleading in this regard.

Some of the scenes from the first half did look quite impressive, I thought. However, I'm getting a bit of an Aliens vibe in terms of mindless Marines banter, and that's not something I'm exactly looking forward to.

As others have pointed out, I wonder where the hell Weaver was. To me, her involvment is one of the more interesting aspects of the movie.

Finally, I have to say I didn't like the 'music' in the trailer at all. It really did nothing to get me interested in the film.

I know that's all pretty negative. But I'm afraid the trailer simply didn't inspire much interest in me. And since it's been so long IMHO since Cameron made a really good movie, the standards are relatively high.



*Did you know that navigation systems are generally referred to as a "Navi" in Germany? I doubt it has any relevance as far as this film is concerned but couldn't help mentioning it.

 

[Blue_Trek]

Sigorney Weaver's character:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1qPLMlz01y....+26+10.44.jpg (oddly enough her avatars nose looks a lot more human, perhaps this is an early shot, or there is an in-story reason for it, since her character is a scientist in the Avatar project and must have been one of the first avatar users)

I was looking at that and I think they are trying to match the actual character with the Avatar.

http://blogs.bet.com/entertainment/whattheflick/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/zoe.jpg

Look at Zoe, thicker lips and flatter nose, compared to Sigorney's pointer nose and thinner lips Avatar.

And Sam's Navi Avatar was shown to have the same smile as Sam when he wasn't acting, natural smile, somebody posted the comparison, at first I though it was just by chance, now I think it was by design.

 

[bigdaddy]

Am I the only one hoping that Michelle Rodriguez was added to the movie to have her head eaten off by a monster?

 

[Hyperspace05]

Oops, double-post.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Sigorney Weaver's character:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1qPLMlz01y....+26+10.44.jpg (oddly enough her avatars nose looks a lot more human, perhaps this is an early shot, or there is an in-story reason for it, since her character is a scientist in the Avatar project and must have been one of the first avatar users)

I was looking at that and I think they are trying to match the actual character with the Avatar.

http://blogs.bet.com/entertainment/whattheflick/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/zoe.jpg

Look at Zoe, thicker lips and flatter nose, compared to Sigorney's pointer nose and thinner lips Avatar.

And Sam's Navi Avatar was shown to have the same smile as Sam when he wasn't acting, natural smile, somebody posted the comparison, at first I though it was just by chance, now I think it was by design.

You could be right, but I don't think so. Sam's avatar has the same broad feline nose as Zoe's. From what I have read the only major distinctive feature between native Navi and hybrid avatars is the number of fingers. Avatars have 5 fingers, Navi have 4.

 

[Trubinator]

Is it possible that Sigourney Weaver's character eventually became an Avatar as well? It would be a cool twist to have her take that route in being a sympathetic character ... a twist Cameron and Co. would not reveal early.

 

[Blue_Trek]

Is it possible that Sigourney Weaver's character eventually became an Avatar as well? It would be a cool twist to have her take that route in being a sympathetic character ... a twist Cameron and Co. would not reveal early.

Actually I read that her character becomes an Avatar and that picture verified it.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Yes, she is one of many Avatar operator characters in the film.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Here's two new shots, in crappy magazine scan quality:

3 avatars jungle exploring: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UEbZkrBIm...s1600-h/Pandora+(Jake+Sigourney's+Avatars.jpg
Here you can see Sam's (left) & Sigourney's (center) avatars in the jungle. Here her nose looks more like a typical Navi nose. So I guess the other picture might have been a very early rendering test.

A new Zoe/Neytiri Navi picture: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UEbZkrBImcM/SpXsryyRETI/AAAAAAAAAvs/hOIMlpsvJ7I/s1600-h/Neytiri.jpg


Again, the source is http://marketsaw.blogspot.com/, the best source for Avatar news.

 

[davejames]

Cool pics. I don't care what anyone else says, I'm definitely getting more and more excited for this movie.

Like others though, I do hope Cameron keeps a bit of a hard edge to the story, and doesn't get too soft and mushy with it...

 

[melancholymecha]

^ its interesting how in that latest Neytiri pic she looks much more real just b/c she's squinting her eyes...

 

[blockaderunner]

Sorry. Didn't impress me.

Looks like any cutscene from a videogame. And every JC apologist on the net is pulling every excuse out of their arse to try to defend it. they say that JC is a good storyteller. I'm sorry. The last movie he made with a compelling story was T2, and the reason that Titanic did so well was because it was a date movie that appealed to that non genre fan demographic: women and teen girls. And while we are talking about story, from what I heard and read about this movie, it comes across as Dances With Wolves in space with an after school special level message about the environment. Like we haven't seen THAT in movies. Real original JC. Still suffering from the bends from going down to see the Titanic once too many times? But I digress.

The apologists would also say to wait to see then movie in 3D and that the filmakers are still working on it. Sorry, but that strikes on both counts. They had over 10 years to get their act together and it still looks no different from any other CG laden sci-fi epic (as opposed to Jurassic Park having only 4 years to perfect the dinos which still hold up to this day). And if they are banking on a gimmick like 3D to save this film, then they lost already. Most movies nowadays recoup their losses in DVD sales. So unless Avatar is going to do multiple releases over the course of a few years (which, now that I think of it, doesn's sound like such a bad idea), there's no way it's going to make its 300 million back. I'm sorry. But the "game changer" of 2009 is District 9.

 

[Johnny Rico]

The reaction to this trailer in this thread is EXACTLY why Sci-Fi related films/TV shows do not do as well as other genres. Why? Because nothing satisfies sci-fi fans. We're our own worst enemy.

To me, this trailer looked awesome. What is largely CG...sure...but how many fucking alien planets have we ever gone to? I mean what the FUCK do all of you expect?

If anything, since the introduction of CG into film back in the early '80s with TRON and now with just about every film, it's about time a film came along that was all about a total alien world such as this. I'm tired of all these sci-films over the years that always use recognizable places on Earth (or in-studio production stages), when they should have been using CG to create full-on alien worlds to the degree that we'll be getting with AVATAR.

To be fair, we got kind of a taste of full-on alien worlds with films like Chronicles of Riddick, and the Star Wars prequels.

So now we finally get a realistic looking full alien world and all you guys can say is that the CG looks suspect. Really? I like to see the computer rig power to render all that stuff.

 

[Rii]

Sorry. Didn't impress me.

Looks like any cutscene from a videogame. And every JC apologist on the net is pulling every excuse out of their arse to try to defend it. they say that JC is a good storyteller. I'm sorry. The last movie he made with a compelling story was T2, and the reason that Titanic did so well was because it was a date movie that appealed to that non genre fan demographic: women and teen girls. And while we are talking about story, from what I heard and read about this movie, it comes across as Dances With Wolves in space with an after school special level message about the environment. Like we haven't seen THAT in movies. Real original JC. Still suffering from the bends from going down to see the Titanic once too many times? But I digress.

The apologists would also say to wait to see then movie in 3D and that the filmakers are still working on it. Sorry, but that strikes on both counts. They had over 10 years to get their act together and it still looks no different from any other CG laden sci-fi epic (as opposed to Jurassic Park having only 4 years to perfect the dinos which still hold up to this day). And if they are banking on a gimmick like 3D to save this film, then they lost already. Most movies nowadays recoup their losses in DVD sales. So unless Avatar is going to do multiple releases over the course of a few years (which, now that I think of it, doesn's sound like such a bad idea), there's no way it's going to make its 300 million back. I'm sorry. But the "game changer" of 2009 is District 9.

I think it looks gorgeous and am looking forward to seeing it on the big screen.

How's that for "apologist"?

 

[Trubinator]

This "apologist" will give James Cameron the benefit of the doubt!

 

[JacksonArcher]

But the "game changer" of 2009 is District 9.

I often find myself disagreeing with you but even though I haven't seen Avatar, I will say that District 9 is definitely a prized little gem that succeeds on every level that, say, a film like Cloverfield didn't.

 

[SalvorHardin]

I read in a couple of other forums that as far as the trailer goes WETA said that only about 30% of the scenes in it were finished scenes.

Anyone have any source that can confirm this ?

 

[Hyperspace05]

Since the same effects house (WETA) did District 9 that is doing Avatar... I don't think there is much reason to worry. These are the people that did Gollum 8 years ago.

 

[T'Baio]

WETA did not do the majority of the effects work in District 9, this is a common misconception just because Peter Jackson produced it. The bulk of the effects work was done by Image Engine Design in Vancouver. They are the ones who deserve most of the credit.

 

[Hyperspace05]

WETA did not do the majority of the effects work in District 9, this is a common misconception just because Peter Jackson produced it. The bulk of the effects work was done by Image Engine Design in Vancouver. They are the ones who deserve most of the credit.

My apologies - I stand corrected!