James Cameron's Sequel to "AVATAR" - Part 1

[Tim_Riggins]

The hate for Avatar has always been overblown, and illustrates internet trolling at its finest. The script is not awful by any means, but people sure like to say that about the movie, just repeating what the guy before said.

The script is fine, it does what it sets out to do, Cameron's original script was more complex , he clearly admitted that he didn't dumb it down per se but it had to be palatable enough for a global audience, to have a universal reach, and that's what it did. It did the business it did not just because of the visual spectacle but because it has a lot of universal themes, that everybody can relate to, and is just a pure fantasy put up on screen, that made a lot of people feel like they were truly on another planet.

Cameron did exactly what he wanted to do, like it or don't, the movie didn"t make the incredible business it did because it sucks balls (and yeah, success doesn't necessarily equate quality, but aside from Titanic, Cameron is the king in that realm for obvious reasons). Script aside, the movie has top notch directing from one of the greatest directors ever, top notch action, spectacle, ground breaking CG that holds up incredibly well, a dream-like vision put up on screen, it has good performances as well and a good score. By the way, if you really want the full experience, watch the extended director's cut which adds more then 20 minutes, plenty of additional character dvpment, new opening on Earth, the whole thing is clearly even better than the theatrical cut.

You can keep on bit*** all you want, you all know you'll be there day one anyway. For those questioning Cameron's choice to make 3 sequels, really? He's obviously in love with the universe, he's a dreamer, let him dream, he doesn't answer to anyone and he can do whatever the hell he wants, he deserves it.

Move along.

 

[Kane52630]

Cameron just loves to innovate, doesnt he? concepts, sfx, cameras, and now screenwriting. I bet if you give him a grilled cheese sandwhich, he wouldnt eat it, he'd be looking at some ground-breakingly radical and different way to do it better.

Mmmm Cameron style grilled cheese sandwhich.

 

[Lord]

I don't think even Titanic was bad, another example of a good film being put down by the Internet mostly due to popularity.

The script is fine, it does what it sets out to do, Cameron's original script was more complex

What were the major differences in that script?

By the way, if you really want the full experience, watch the extended director's cut which adds more then 20 minutes, plenty of additional character dvpment, new opening on Earth, the whole thing is clearly even better than the theatrical cut.

I guess Cameron isn't going to release the extended edition in 3D right? It's a shame, i was waiting to see that, but for some reason, the theatrical release in 3D was apparently the final edition of the movie.

 

[DA_Champion]

Lord,

For details on the original Avatar screenplay, Google project 880.

 

[Victarion]

Jake's Earth would've been interesting to see on screen.

 

[sueb1863]

Avatar was visually stunning but the story was hugely derivative. People saw it for the visuals, including the cult fans who literally wanted to go and live on Pandora and actually suffered mental anguish because it wasn't real.

It's a shame Cameron didn't have an awesome original story to go with the incredible scenery. Instead we got the same old 'We're corrupt and bad, they're pure and good' story we've seen countless times before, wrapped in a shiny new package.

 

[DA_Champion]

Jake Sully was not original, but Grace Augustine was. Her character is based on a modern concept of embedded anthropologists, I think it's called human terrain systems.

 

[Lord]

To be fair, Star Wars was just as derivative, if not more so, also featuring an universal plot with let's save the princess. The sequels are James Cameron's oportunity to let the saga flourish.

He also needs to expand upon his expanded universe, there are 4 announced novels, it's time to get a proper Video Game and comic book series, now that Dark Horse has lost Star Wars, the Avatar franchise could fill part of that void.

 

[dark_b]

how come James Cameron needs to make 100% original movies yet internet fans like every year movies with the same story and same characters and f.... same designs?

just asking.

 

[Lord]

And you also have the same people who complain about milking the cow when it comes to Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers (both of these only have 4 films) and the Harry Potter spin-offs, yet, get excited by the possibility of a Star Wars film every year and Marvel Studios expanding to making 3 films a year.

 

[Wheels]

The characters aren't memorable in Avatar for me. I don't dislike the film but it's just not something I will watch over and over. I could watch T2 right now all the way through no sweat.

 

[slumcat]

1. Cameron has made 2 of the best sequels of all time.
2. Cameron has passion for the project
3. He has hired various professional writers to make sure his next films have a complete and cohesive story in order to not fail like so many other sequels.
4. Now that the first film is out of the way, he can focus on more complex elements, Star Wars: A New Hope was also very simple and derivative before Empire took it to a whole new level.
5. Cameron himself has promised a "Crescendo", with each film being better than the previous one.
6. They're actually taking time to get the plot and world right.

Many other reasons could be stated, but i would have to be here all day, long short story, never underestimate James Cameron.

The man is a success no doubting that, and he is ambitious and has vision. But its a groan inducing vision to me. His best films to me are Aliens and the Terminators - absolutely vital brilliant gritty action films.

He obviously heard some criticism about the script because he hired writers. That doesn't mean the movies will be great now. He has hired SOME writers - what are their credentials? Its not like he hired Ingmar Bergman.

Avatar to me played like a B movie, those cheap sci-fi knockoffs on Sy-Fy, only with the most sophisticated VFX money can buy.

I admire the vision, but the vision seems purely pictorial. The most I could do with Avatar is it use as a demo of my HD TV, have it on in the background and occasionally glance at it as a demonstration of video quality, but to not actually sit and watch it as a movie. Its pure hogwash.

I still remember some of the priceless clunkers that littered the script.

Picture Sigoureny Weaver having to say with a straight face... her grand explanation of the weird plant **** going on in the movie.... "Hmmm... there is something reeeeeeally interesting going on there biologically". I just burst into mad laughter at that line as did much of the theater.

Avatar as a movie today, as a work of cinema today has no purchase, its just bollocks basically. Nobody on earth is going to claim it is a work of great cinema or anything. It is admittedly a phenomenon, an industry by itself, an important release event, but these aspects are completely divorced from its actual cinematic quality.

The subsequent movies can be better, and I hope they will be. But on the evidence of the first movie, the series doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

EDIT: The above is just my opinion. As is the wont of this board, many might misconsture as some kind of factual declaration whereas it is just what every other post on a forum is - one person's opinion.

 

[The Shape]

Avatar was visually stunning but the story was hugely derivative. People saw it for the visuals, including the cult fans who literally wanted to go and live on Pandora and actually suffered mental anguish because it wasn't real.

It's a shame Cameron didn't have an awesome original story to go with the incredible scenery. Instead we got the same old 'We're corrupt and bad, they're pure and good' story we've seen countless times before, wrapped in a shiny new package.

I actually don't think the visuals are the sole reasons for Avatar's success, nor do I think that the action/effects in Titanic are the reason that film became a phenomenon.

Cameron doesn't specialize in telling unoriginal/derivative stories. Hell, the plot of almost any film these days can be considered unoriginal because similar stories have been told over the years. The reason why films like Avatar and Titanic reach and resonate with people so well is because they are simple, timeless stories told on the grandest of scales. Titanic is essentally Romeo + Juliet set to the backdrop of one of history's most fascinating and tragic fantasies, while Avatar is the classic fish-out-of-water tale that is comparable to Pochahontas or Dances with Wolves. Whether this applies to you or not, many people around the world clearly can relate to Cameron's characters.

Stories like these are told all the time in film. However, not every filmmaking is able to tell these stories as well as Cameron, nor are they able to present these stories in ways that feel fresh and exciting. Not every film plot has to be overly complicated, intricate, or convoluted. Plus, beyond that, Cameron's pacing and attention to detail are top notch. No one can deny that the man knows how to make a solid film that connects with audiences.

It's the fusion of story and spectacle that makes audiences flock in droves to his films, often returning for multiple repeat viewings.

 

[Rorschach2012]

The visuals will be mind blowing, but I'm not hoping to be blown away by the story. Hopefully though, the story gets a little darker (a la Empire Strikes Back)

 

[Tanin]

EDIT: The above is just my opinion. As is the wont of this board, many might misconsture as some kind of factual declaration whereas it is just what every other post on a forum is - one person's opinion.

Comparing this to a Sy-Fi Asylum film that is one strong opinion... I'm sorry you hated the movie so much.

I thought the film was too much like Dances With Wolves for my own enjoyment for repeat viewings, but I enjoyed it at the theatre and am very much looking forward to the sequels.

 

[Loki882]

There are VERY FEW truly original ideas these days. What you've essentially got is the same ideas being told, but in different or updated ways. And that can work if it's executed correctly.

 

[DA_Champion]

And you also have the same people who complain about milking the cow when it comes to Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers (both of these only have 4 films) and the Harry Potter spin-offs, yet, get excited by the possibility of a Star Wars film every year and Marvel Studios expanding to making 3 films a year.

A lot of those same people argue that every Marvel film is distinct.

 

[Tanin]

A lot of those same people argue that every Marvel film is distinct.

I'll Give them

Iron Man
Captain America
Incredible Hulk
Thor
Avengers (for being the first to combine them all)

Everything else is a sequel and starting to get meh.

 

[Lord]

The Phase I Marvel films pretty much had the same tone and almost felt like the same, even though they tried to apply different genres to Cap and Thor, they still weren't exactly there yet, but i do think that with Phase II Marvel's starting to perfect their formula, all three have felt very different from each other,mixing different genres is the best way to make superhero films and their sequels feel fresh.

 

[Victarion]

The Phase I Marvel films pretty much had the same tone and almost felt like the same, even though they tried to apply different genres to Cap and Thor, they still weren't exactly there yet, but i do think that with Phase II Marvel's starting to perfect their formula, all three have felt very different from each other,mixing different genres is the best way to make superhero films and their sequels feel fresh.

I'm waiting for Phase II to wrap up so that I can shotgun all the films on Blu-ray. If what you say's true, then I think Marvel's next step is to make each film feel like its own thing. Something nice, neat, and tied up. Hide the connections to other films and the greater MCU. Then surprise your audience in the next big crossover film.

 

[Lord]

I'm waiting for Phase II to wrap up so that I can shotgun all the films on Blu-ray. If what you say's true, then I think Marvel's next step is to make each film feel like its own thing. Something nice, neat, and tied up. Hide the connections to other films and the greater MCU. Then surprise your audience in the next big crossover film.

Yeah, they're starting to feel like their oun things. But don't get too hyped up by what i say, some haven't liked this new strategy as much, or some of the changes films like Iron Man did to the comic lore, Thor: The Dark World was weak, but an argument can be made if it's better or not than the first one.

In some cases, it seems like Marvel's giving more control to their filmmakers, Shane Black and the guys who made Winter Soldier knew exactly what they wanted to do, and were allowed a lot of freedom to make the best movies they could.

This is going a bit off-topic though, i'm interested to see how James Cameron will be able to expand upon his Avatar franchise, he'll definitelly need to make Pandora even more interesting and complex than what we saw in the first film.

 

[Tanin]

I am glad GoTG doesn't have "AVENGERS" plastered all over the trailer to try and get people to watch. At least not in the promotional stuff I've seen.

 

[redhawk23]

Jake's Earth would've been interesting to see on screen.

There's a little bit of it in the extended edition, the original opening.

The constant glow of screen advertisements is a nice parallel to the night time life on Pandora.

Really all around the few extra minutes in the beginning of that film go a long way in making that movie better, particularly in setting up Jake as someone more or less looking for a fight.

 

[DA_Champion]

Josh Friedman, the writer for Avatar 2, was the showrunner for Sarah Connor Chronicles, a surprisingly good show. He also wrote War of The Worlds, FWIW.

Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, writers for Avatar 3, wrote Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a good movie that everyone expected to suck.

The franchise is in good hands.

 

[Tanin]

Josh Friedman, the writer for Avatar 2, was the showrunner for Sarah Connor Chronicles, a surprisingly good show. He also wrote War of The Worlds, FWIW.

Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, writers for Avatar 3, wrote Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a good movie that everyone expected to suck.

The franchise is in good hands.

Sounds great to me Well assuming James doesn't ego trip and just toss out everything they write.