Avatar Trailer

[Evil Avatar]

http://evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/avatar_poster.jpg

James Cameron's Avatar trailer on Apple.com (http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/hd/).


Did it change your life? Good to see Cameron was right -- there was CGI before Avatar and then there will be CGI after Avatar. Now go make another Terminator film.

[ElfShotTheFood]

Let me guess: the blue guys are being exterminated but they're actually very nice. The cripple who pretends to be one sees them for what they really are and discovers that the "real" monster is man, so he joins his new comrades and fights the humans in an epic battle.

There will be two possible endings: the blue woman dies and/or the crippled guy decides he'd rather live a free life as a blue dude instead of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

[saulob]

I tried early this night and the Apple trailers was with problems, but I got these direct links from another site:

http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar2009aug0820a-tsr_h480p.mov
http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar2009aug0820a-tsr_h720p.mov
http://images.apple.com/movies/fox/avatar/avatar2009aug0820a-tsr_1080p.mov

HD versions.

[Evil Avatar]

Let me guess: the blue guys are being exterminated but they're actually very nice. The cripple who pretends to be one sees them for what they really are and discovers that the "real" monster is man, so he joins his new comrades and fights the humans in an epic battle.

There will be two possible endings: the blue woman dies and/or the crippled guy decides he'd rather live a free life as a blue dude instead of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

And the story in Terminator was stolen from Harlan Ellison and the movie Titanc's story was 'The Boat Sank'.

It still looks awesome.

[Larnek]

No idea to the content of the movie, but its pretty fucking pretty, so I hope its a good movie so i can watch it. Looks different in a good way, something new to sci-fi, and not just good CGI.

[bakes73]

Wow...that was a visual geekgasm. Aliens, big guns, big ships, and big monsters.

Count me in.

[SuperMonkeyFighter2]

Looks pretty amazing (visually). Story be damned, bring it on!!

[RevGored]

Hey, CGI. Not exactly anything groundbreaking, either. Is the whole movie CGI, or just certain parts? I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be drooling over. Maybe it's just that the blue dudes are pretty ultra-generic 'tribal' looking. Not to say that the CGI isn't good - that's objectively true. But as far as the actual look of the movie, what am I supposed to see in this? Is it all CG? Isn't the main character supposed to be in every shot of the flick? What is the 'hook' to this?

[Exodus]

It looks absolutely amazing. It's so great to see things that don't exist anywhere on this planet/galaxy that we know of, only in our heads coming to life this good where it's getting so much closer to looking absolutely real.

[Exodus]

Hey, CGI. Not exactly anything groundbreaking, either. Is the whole movie CGI, or just certain parts? I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be drooling over. Maybe it's just that the blue dudes are pretty ultra-generic 'tribal' looking. Not to say that the CGI isn't good - that's objectively true. But as far as the actual look of the movie, what am I supposed to see in this? Is it all CG? Isn't the main character supposed to be in every shot of the flick? What is the 'hook' to this?

Dude...why do you have to be catered to/convinced all the time, 'marketed too' like you're some big busy person whose time is more important than anything else just to take an interest in something?

[Evil Avatar]

It looks absolutely amazing. It's so great to see things that don't exist anywhere on this planet/galaxy that we know of, only in our heads coming to life this good where it's getting so much closer to looking absolutely real.

Honestly, that would be the one thing that I think is most wrong with the movie -- they put all this money into CGI and name actors and then they still made the aliens look like humans with a tail.

What was the point of that? A real 'alien' in the truest sense of the word wouldn't look anything human and most likely wouldn't even be bipedal since there are other body shapes that would probably be more condusive the rise of intelligent life (I'm thinking insects with multiple arms/eyes).

It doensn't keep it from looking like a great movie, but I wouldn't mind seeing some real creativity when writers/directors are coming up with aliens.

If you want some real creativity, go read Fragment by Warren Fahy. That guy put some thought into his monsters.

[randir14]

Doesn't look that good to me. For a movie they were claiming would be some new benchmark in CGI it looks like cartoons interacting with real humans.

[Mozgus]

Don't care for it. Cameron better still be on track to do GUNNM/Battle Angel when this is done. That's what I'm hyped for.

[bskeillor]

This film has already picked up a bunch of smartass critics that seem to think it's cool to bash the movie. It has been absolutely top secret to the non geek crowd up til now and the marketing will explode starting tomorrow on until the 18th. People are saying it's a cartoon, an Xbox 360 game, worse CGI than the Prequels, and I was starting to worry that it wasn't going to be any good at all.

After seeing a tiny little snippet on the internet, I am happy now that I can lay all that criticism to rest, as it looks unbelievable. Yes, some scenes look CGI, but some of the most advanced to date. Not to mention the main "advancement" that this film is supposed to make, 3D, has yet to be experienced by anybody outside of the Comic Con crowd.

I will be one of the lucky ones to get a glimpse of the free 15 minute 3D preview in IMAX tomorrow night and I'm sure I won't be dissapointed. I'm sure I won't have anything sarcastic or witty to say about it either. I'll leave that all to the cool kids.

[Chief Smash]

Let me guess: the blue guys are being exterminated but they're actually very nice. The cripple who pretends to be one sees them for what they really are and discovers that the "real" monster is man, so he joins his new comrades and fights the humans in an epic battle.

There will be two possible endings: the blue woman dies and/or the crippled guy decides he'd rather live a free life as a blue dude instead of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

The movie looks like it can be pretty cool but from what I've read about the plot, this seems to be pretty spot on. I already saw movies with this plot but sans CGI with Dances With Wolves (which has not aged well imo) and Last Samurai (which was an awesome movie).

[murpes]

Have I mentioned that I love Quicktime Alternative?

[Evil Avatar]

Is the whole movie CGI? There was a scene in the lab that looked like it might have been live action, but everything before that and everything after that seemed to be CGI.

Edit: I guess not, but there is a weird scene at the beginning where the main character is rolling off the transport ship in an air mask that seems to be all CGI. Odd.

[greenapple]

I love geek snobbery. It's remarkably similar to wine or art snobs, but coming to you courtesy of the internet.

"Sniff. I've seen better. Now the aliens in Final Fantasy 2.5, that's some vintage CGI. Sniff."

The story may suck. James Cameron may be a douche. I don't know.

But at least admit that is some incredible CGI.

[Evil Avatar]

"Sniff. I've seen better. Now the aliens in Final Fantasy 2.5, that's some vintage CGI. Sniff."

It is all about Final Flight of the Osiris. While the Avatar CGI is excellent, it doesn't top Final Flight of the Osiris. :p

[DarkDaY]

Dude...why do you have to be catered to/convinced all the time, 'marketed too' like you're some big busy person whose time is more important than anything else just to take an interest in something?

lol. I would quote this for so many posts in here and else where if my current quote wasn't so epic.

Thanks for the laugh. Brilliant and true.

[SalaciousPuck]

When I read that the director was 'WAITING TILL THE TECHNOLOGY WAS READY, JUST TO MAKE THIS MOVIE'.......I cannot help but think that this is exactly what George Lucas said before unleashing the turd that was Phantom Menace.

[OmegaVader]

I think they're overdoing the CGI; it looks so unreal at times that the movie comes off more like Who Killed Roger Rabbit than, say, the recently released District 9.

[yerok]

Ah internets you never cease to delight; so many opinions, so little information. "based on a couple minutes, I assert that this movie will blow, Cameron is a hack, and I could do better picking random things out of my navel". Yeesh.

I thought the trailer oozed style. The audio build up, the crispness of the scenes and the contrast between human tech and tribal design looks beautiful. The story may end up being re-worked, stale and formulaic, who knows? Judging what I saw right there, I think it looks pretty damn rad.

Also, total contrast to how District 9 is. That is gritty, dirty, and harsh. They both appeal to me in different ways.

[Evil Avatar]

I think they're overdoing the CGI; it looks so unreal at times that the movie comes off more like Who Killed Roger Rabbit than, say, the recently released District 9.

I do agree with this, but I still think it looks fun. In an earlier thread I compared Cameron to Michael Bay and while that is a gross overstatement because Cameron's films have an enduring quality you don't get from a Bay film, I still think that Avatar is leaning toward that popcorn action and not as much in the direction of a deep storyline driven 'realistic' film.

I enjoyed Final Fantasy, Animatrix, Beowulf and Renaissance and I hope this film does gangbusters at the box office so more filmmakers explore the idea of big budget all-CGI films. I think there is a lot of potential there to show us worlds and characters that no one would touch with traditional 'sets & costumes' thinking.

[DarkDaY]

I do agree with this, but I still think it looks fun. In an earlier thread I compared Cameron to Michael Bay and while that is a gross overstatement because Cameron's films have an enduring quality you don't get from a Bay film, I still think that Avatar is leaning toward that popcorn action and not as much in the direction of a deep storyline driven 'realistic' film.

I enjoyed Final Fantasy, Animatrix, Beowulf and Renaissance and I hope this film does gangbusters at the box office so more filmmakers explore the idea of big budget all-CGI films. I think there is a lot of potential there to show us worlds and characters that no one would touch with traditional 'sets & costumes' thinking.

Wait. Are you saying the whole movie is cgi? Everything?! that was in the trailer?

[akirblood]

I'm a little bit disappointed by it, I hope it gets better in 3D. The CG is not ground breaking as we were led to believe.
The story is Dancing with Wolves once again, so it should be ok, but I'm not convinced by the looks.
Not a chance this will be as bad as the Phantom Menace, there's no kid in sight (at least in the trailer).

Let's move on to Alita please.

[DarkDaY]

If its all cgi then I quit this site due to the comments, if however its just cgi where it looks like it is, then ya, it looks great but not the end all be all. If those medical room scenes are cgi then I am as of now blown away.

I don't think they are though. Live action mix?

[Azriel77]

Let me guess: the blue guys are being exterminated but they're actually very nice. The cripple who pretends to be one sees them for what they really are and discovers that the "real" monster is man, so he joins his new comrades and fights the humans in an epic battle.

There will be two possible endings: the blue woman dies and/or the crippled guy decides he'd rather live a free life as a blue dude instead of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

It has already been confirmed in an interview that its basically a version of dances with wolves. Sorry, this plot is so cliche that I literally groan thinking about it. I will not watch it because I really feel like I have already seen the movie.

[blackzc]

Let me guess: the blue guys are being exterminated but they're actually very nice. The cripple who pretends to be one sees them for what they really are and discovers that the "real" monster is man, so he joins his new comrades and fights the humans in an epic battle.

There will be two possible endings: the blue woman dies and/or the crippled guy decides he'd rather live a free life as a blue dude instead of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Aww how cute, an aspiring nihilist.:)

[Pnikosis]

Can't see it :(

[HarverdGrad]

lol. I would quote this for so many posts in here and else where if my current quote wasn't so epic.

Thanks for the laugh. Brilliant and true.

..okay I'll bite
Where is this current quote that's so epic?!? Enquiring minds want to know!

[Orz]

Wait. Are you saying the whole movie is cgi? Everything?! that was in the trailer?

No, it's not. It's fairly apparent what's CGI and what's not. Still, it looks like it has a lot of potential.

According to Cameron, the film will be composed of 60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action, as well as traditional miniatures.

[sandman88]

Just curious if everyone who said the CGI didn't look that great or was disappointed in it watched it in the 720/1080 HD feed. If not, do that then report back because that's some pretty frakking amazing CGI. Not sure what movies your watching, but there aren't many that put up this quality of CGI and actually looks believable.

And what movies are we comparing this CGI to, so that I have some sort of baseline for these fun arguments over a 2 min trailer.

[Zeal]

looks fucking lame as hell. real talk.

CG is not even pixar level.

[bickle]

CG is not even pixar level.

Yeah, that's just stupid. Or obstinate. One of the two. It's pretty clearly the best CGI that has been produced for a film.

[saulob]

(...)
I will be one of the lucky ones to get a glimpse of the free 15 minute 3D preview in IMAX tomorrow night and I'm sure I won't be dissapointed. I'm sure I won't have anything sarcastic or witty to say about it either. I'll leave that all to the cool kids.

Please tell us about after the 15 minute preview. Please!

[shadow763]

Let me guess: the blue guys are being exterminated but they're actually very nice. The cripple who pretends to be one sees them for what they really are and discovers that the "real" monster is man, so he joins his new comrades and fights the humans in an epic battle.

There will be two possible endings: the blue woman dies and/or the crippled guy decides he'd rather live a free life as a blue dude instead of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Ok this is my interpretation of what the movie is about, but I think the blue aliens are used as an avatar for humans. The crippled space marine controls the aliens via his mind and that contraption they have him in, and they use that to possibly explore other worlds instead of humans, hence the name of the movie being Avatar.

I also heard that James Cameron wanted the aliens to be as alien as possible but still acceptable by your average consumer as far as emotions and being able to be tied to the character. I guess the people at the studio were even hesitant about them having tails but he stuck to his guns. So they apparently could have been even more human then they are now. I guess the fact that they are blue was hard for the studio to deal with as well.

I will check it out, if not for anything else the fact that its made for IMAX.

[shadow763]

looks fucking lame as hell. real talk.

CG is not even pixar level.

Your sig does say PLAY HALO OR PLAY NOTHING so apparently you are a pretty fervent Halo fan which isnt even 720p, so apparently visual acuity is not your strongest suit. So your statement above is questionable.

[TacoBob]

MAN THIS LOOKS HORRIBLE! I can't wait to rush over to the theaters on opening day, watch it, then post how much I hate it on my world's famous blog: Tacobobrantyranty.com. Then repeat the same with all the sequels, prequels, the cartoon series and the jaunty flash "anniversary" toon they'll put out in ten years.

[Taiso]

The trailer looked perfectly awesome to me.

The general moviegoing public is not yet jaded to the kind of imagery this trailer is showing off. They aren't gamers who have spent most of their hobby hours seeing such landscapes and character models on a daily basis. The general moviegoing public is likely to see something unlike anything they've ever seen before and that is all there is to it.

This is the guy that made Titanic, Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens and The Abyss. All very well regarded movies for one reason or another. He has proven that he can tell a compelling story and knows how to direct actors efficiently. His visual style has, for the most part, surpassed anything anyone has done in Hollywood and he continues to push the edge technologically with every movie he makes.

For this reason I think he, more than anybody else making movies in Hollywood, has earned the benefit of the doubt from us genre fans. Sure, the reports are that he's a notoriously difficult director to work with because he's so demanding, and he can be a pompous ass but really....who fucking cares what his bedside manner is? He is not making movies to earn the humanitarian of the year award. All of his dickery leads to good films that I don't feel bad about paying to see. Fucking twenty Transformers and Transformers 2 COMBINED aren't worth the Terminator footage left on the cutting room floor.

I am sure the movie will be a very good film. Will it be the biggest movie of all time? Not likely. But I recall them saying the same thing about Titanic. I see a lot of unwarranted shortselling going on around here.

[saulob]

Btw the film it's a mix of CGI and real Live action.

It's confirmed. It's a fact.

And I loved the CGI. Now I just need to watch Dances With Wolves. I never did.

My bad :)

[DeluxE]

Not saying I'm sold on the premise of this film, but for people complaining about the CGI/character design, one thing to note is that all of the animation of the "tribal" aliens is performance capture, meaning mo-cap.
•
This is unlike something like Star Wars or LOTR where animators used actor's performances as reference, but more like Renaissance or Beowulf or most of what is done in the videogame industry today.
•
In that respect, this is a new level of technology, as this performance capture is said to be very near to 100% acted, meaning that all the facial/emotional elements originated with the actors. That is a serious achievement, (just compare the acting in Beowulf to a regular movie and you can see the loss in detail), if this film manages to re-create the quality of real human actors with CGI, it really will be a technological breakthrough.
•
Of course, it's impossible to tell from that action-heavy, all edits and explosions trailer, but I guess we'll all be able to see for ourselves in December. I hope it's good.

[firecut]

District 9 > Avatar

[Tralfaz]

I'm hoping the latch on to the "avatar"concept to make this more original than just following a Dancing With Wolves formula. There was a quadrilogy by Jack L. Chalker called Four Lords Of The Diamond that I thought of when watching this trailer. In those books they took a brain dead host body from a planet that humans could not live in and implanted what was essentially a copy of an agents mind in the body. The beginnings of the books were very interesting since there was the "Oh crap" factor when the copy of the agent realized he was the one that got stuck in the host body.

It will be interesting if this guy doesn't become the avatar, but the avatar is a copy of him so the original is still around.

[fiercey]

can't watch the trailer, but question: is this based on the animated series "Avatar: The Last Firebender", or totally different ?

[Evil Avatar]

It will be interesting if this guy doesn't become the avatar, but the avatar is a copy of him so the original is still around.

It seemed like that was the case from a later scene where he is back out of the pod and into his wheelchair -- or it could be that his Avatar was the one that died and the girl was weeping over.

[Venkman]

Wait. Are you saying the whole movie is cgi? Everything?! that was in the trailer?

No. The lab scene in particular is animated aliens in a live action set with real actors.

The jungle scenes with the aliens running around in them, however, are fully CGI. Think about that for one minute. Compare it to the jungle in The Incredibles.

I don't care what anyone says, this movie is fucking nuts. The sheer amount of work involved to create what is just in the trailer is mind blowing.

Freeze frame some of the shots of the female alien and prepare to be amazed. When these characters start emoting and acting on screen I think many skeptics will be converted, if not at least entertained.

[brandonjclark]

District 9 > Avatar


Oh good, thanks for clearing that up for me. I mean, I would've spent money going to this film thinking it was better than that overrated District 9 if it wasn't for someone like you who OBVIOUSLY HAS ALREADY SEEN AVATAR.

Really, thanks for your input.

/sarcasm

I had no idea it would look that beautiful, and I hope it trounces the box office.

[Venkman]

can't watch the trailer, but question: is this based on the animated series "Avatar: The Last Firebender", or totally different ?

That's a different movie, currently being filmed by M. Night Shymalan (curse you M. Knight Shamwow!)

That is found here:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thelastairbender/

And they dropped the word "Avatar" from the Airbender title to avoid confusion with the blitzkrieg that is Cameron's first real movie in a long time.

[Venkman]

It seemed like that was the case from a later scene where he is back out of the pod and into his wheelchair -- or it could be that his Avatar was the one that died and the girl was weeping over.


The human avatar has 5 fingers, the "real" aliens have only four. The dying alien in that shot has four fingers- so it's someone else.

It helps to view it in 1080p. ;)

[shadow763]

It seemed like that was the case from a later scene where he is back out of the pod and into his wheelchair -- or it could be that his Avatar was the one that died and the girl was weeping over.

This.

It could be that his avatar dies, which of course keeps the human alive which would probably be the idea. The aliens themselves are alive as well and probably have their own thoughts to a certain extent and obviously feelings so care about each other which would explain the loss. Maybe they rebel to get away which could explain them attacking the human ships.

[saulob]

The human avatar has 5 fingers, the "real" aliens have only four. The dying alien in that shot has four fingers- so it's someone else.

It helps to view it in 1080p. ;)

Interesting.

So, that's the cue/tip to identify who is a "real" alien and who is a human inside one Avatar.

Nice... :)

[Evil Avatar]

The part I enjoyed the most was the scene where the Ewoks trounced the fully armored and heavily armed Empire Troops.

[Venkman]

Interesting.

So, that's the cue/tip to identify who is a "real" alien and who is a human inside one Avatar.

Nice... :)

Yeah cool, isn't it? There are all sorts of little tidbits to be had in the trailer.

From what I understand, when the avatar wakes up and pushes against the glass, it's because he was a wheelchair bound guy who has just been given the ability to walk again- except now he's ten feet tall and has a tail. So he catches himself from falling on the glass window.

It's not an aggressive move, he's just giddy and overly excited at the prospect of walking again.

[bskeillor]

Also if you look, the guy in the wheelchair has long hair, which means that scene is probably before he gets to take control of the alien.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Replace the generic fantasy children show creature design and it might be worth watching...

[brandonjclark]

Replace the generic fantasy children show creature design and it might be worth watching...


What type of alien would you like?

[RevGored]

Dude...why do you have to be catered to/convinced all the time, 'marketed too' like you're some big busy person whose time is more important than anything else just to take an interest in something?

I'd say it's more me asking the question 'what's the hook in this CGI movie?', not, 'hey can someone go all internet-intellectual and not answer my question'. And as far as being 'convinced' about a movie, isn't that basically just the movie appealing to a persons' likes and dislikes? In the case of Avatar, I dig sci-fi/action flicks, but there are good ones and bad ones. Aliens was awesome, and I like Jim Cameron. This doesn't look like it's going to be the calibre of Aliens - this looks like an experiment. I'm interested in what the hook is that is supposed to get me into the theatre if I'm not just a dude who's like 'hey pretty CGI'. I asked what the hook was. You didn't answer me. That's about how it went down.

And yes, when you're a student doing 16 hour days 6 days a week, you're going to want to know if that ~2 hours is going to be worth your time, predicated on more than a 2 minute trailer that isn't that appealing, but you still have some interest in. So I'm not big or important, but I'm busy as a motherfucker, and want my time to matter.

[bskeillor]

First of all, this is a teaser trailer. The hook is to show people something that looks pretty cool and wait for further information. It is to show all the fanboys that James Cameron is back. It's to show all the nay sayers that the CGI is pretty cool (even though they will not admit it). And it's to show all the other movie goers that are settling in to watch their movie of choice over the next few months that there is something coming this December that you may or may not be interested in.

The biggest problem with the teaser is that a whole slew of people were primed to go off on the "cheesy" CGI the minute Cameron said it would be revolutionary. The minute somebody comes out and says something is better than you can possibly imagine, they are ready to respond with "I can imagine quite a bit."

[agentclam]

James Cameron 15 years ago:

"No no no! The technology simply doesn't EXIST yet! I want cat people with blue skin that are seven, eight feet tall and ride giant winged creatures through the rain forest!"

[bskeillor]

I rest my case. lmao

[RevGored]

I dunno, it looks like someone just decided to do a movie with a shitload of current-gen CGI. Jim Cameron is a good director, and that's that. He managed to do Aliens with a shitload of current-gen puppetry and set building, and that movie was great.

Like I said, and I wish people would stop getting the wrong idea - I'm not shitting on the idea, I just want to know what the hook is. This looks like standard 'heroes journey' stuff, but with a huge budget and lots of CGI. I expect it will be more than that, but the teaser was just disappointing. Seriously, people on the internet need to stop being in extremist camps. Is it so wrong for someone to ask a question now and again?

[DarkDaY]

..okay I'll bite
Where is this current quote that's so epic?!? Enquiring minds want to know!

Ya, F$@k, I noticed its not there anymore, got to find it.

[DarkDaY]

here it is.


Originally Posted by GaymerFreek09 View Post
wat u sayin Im dumb ? Well that aint very nice man. not nice at all.
How u like it if I call u dumb ?? wat if I foght u I can do lots pushups Im strong and I can get you.

[fiercey]

That's a different movie, currently being filmed by M. Night Shymalan (curse you M. Knight Shamwow!)
...
And they dropped the word "Avatar" from the Airbender title to avoid confusion with the blitzkrieg that is Cameron's first real movie in a long time.

Ah, that's too bad. I've really enjoyed the Firebender series and was hoping this was the same thing everyone was hyped about.

I think too much has already been given away on this new Avatar movie, I feel like I've already seen it... which makes me not want to go see it.

-f

[brandonjclark]

here it is.


Originally Posted by GaymerFreek09 View Post
wat u sayin Im dumb ? Well that aint very nice man. not nice at all.
How u like it if I call u dumb ?? wat if I foght u I can do lots pushups Im strong and I can get you.


Epic, to the letter!

[Evil Avatar]

Like I said, and I wish people would stop getting the wrong idea - I'm not shitting on the idea, I just want to know what the hook is. This looks like standard 'heroes journey' stuff, but with a huge budget and lots of CGI. I expect it will be more than that, but the teaser was just disappointing. Seriously, people on the internet need to stop being in extremist camps. Is it so wrong for someone to ask a question now and again?

Please don't let your insight, logic and thoughtfullness get in the way of my rampant fanboyism.

[bskeillor]

Just saw the IMAX 3D Avatar footage. You'll probably hear/read this a lot, but the trailer does not do it justice. The footage we saw was pretty much expanded scenes from the first half of the trailer. It started with the Corporal lecturing some new recruits about hell being a place to get some R and R after spending time on Pandora. It then goes to Jake getting into his pod and entering his avatar for the first time. This is where the footage is soooo much better than the trailer. The whole scene just looks better when he looks at his hands and gets out of bed to walk and falls against the glass. Seeing the whole scene play out was loads better than the snippets in the trailer. The other thing of note was that the Na'vi are huge. They look tall in the trailer, but in the whole scene and on the Imax screen they look extremely large and cool. The tail also is funny as Jake discovers it for the first time.

All in all every scene was just oozing with eye candy, humor, and just cool stuff in general. The scene where he's on the planet for the first time is just very cool and you can't tell the CG stuff from the non. The facial expressions and the look and movement of the Na'vi are just spot on. The 3D adds so much to the movie, not so much in spears or something jumping out at you, but rather stuff that passes in front of you as the camera pans around. It feels more like you are "in" the movie rather than waiting for a neat 3D trick to hit you.

There were no parts of this preview that hinted of Prequel CGI and the beasts and Na'vi and their interactions didn't look unnatural at all. I'm thinking of Anakin jumping on the beasts in AOTC and how wierd it looked. None of that at all while Jake was catching his ride. After the footage they showed the second half of the trailer with a few new shots, and some omitted and I gotta say this movie is going to rock. I'll be very surprised if I don't walk out of there with it being my favorite James Cameron movie. That's saying a lot after only 15 minutes, and I know it's hypocritical me criticizing people for them judging the movie after only a 2 minute trailer. Call me a hypocrit then, but I am dying to see this movie now and all the negative talk will not change my mind.

[the Jack]

Honestly, that would be the one thing that I think is most wrong with the movie -- they put all this money into CGI and name actors and then they still made the aliens look like humans with a tail.

What was the point of that? A real 'alien' in the truest sense of the word wouldn't look anything human and most likely wouldn't even be bipedal since there are other body shapes that would probably be more condusive the rise of intelligent life (I'm thinking insects with multiple arms/eyes).

It doensn't keep it from looking like a great movie, but I wouldn't mind seeing some real creativity when writers/directors are coming up with aliens.

If you want some real creativity, go read Fragment by Warren Fahy. That guy put some thought into his monsters.

It's very hard to get human audiences to relate and emotionally respond to spider-creatures from Mars, no matter how excellent the writing or how strong the performances.

Even D9's creatures were anthropomorphised.

As for the support creatures, though, it does look like a fair amount of thought and creativity went into the flora and fauna. These are only snippets of what I'm certain will be a much broader world.

[Zeal]

I dunno, it looks like someone just decided to do a movie with a shitload of current-gen CGI. Jim Cameron is a good director, and that's that. He managed to do Aliens with a shitload of current-gen puppetry and set building, and that movie was great.

Like I said, and I wish people would stop getting the wrong idea - I'm not shitting on the idea, I just want to know what the hook is. This looks like standard 'heroes journey' stuff, but with a huge budget and lots of CGI. I expect it will be more than that, but the teaser was just disappointing. Seriously, people on the internet need to stop being in extremist camps. Is it so wrong for someone to ask a question now and again?

i'd agree with this. i'm easily the biggest james cameron supporter on this board and even i'll readily admit this looks like shit. cameron is known for pushing the envelope by INVENTING never before seen effects and technology, not packing as much plastic looking xbox 360 CG into a film until your head explodes.

and that's exactly what's wrong, all the so-called never before seen CG in this film looks exactly like some shit i'd see in transformers or harry potter. the eyes on the navi are gigantic, cartoon like and unrealistic, the animation is 'rubbery' and unnatural, and the CG retains the typical, glossy-plastic look that is so apparent even in such VIDEOGAMES as Halo and Warcraft.

james cameron promised CG that was indistinguishable from real life. that's his exact word; indistinguishable. this is clearly nowhere near indistinguishable from reality and this is certainly NOT typical cameron.

my opinion stands. it looks like typical, run-of-the-mill CG dogshit.

[lost]

I really do prefer make-up effects to CGI. Hellboy looks more believable.

However! There is more to this movie than CGI and the story looks like it'll be good fun and the action over the top. My ticket is effectively purchased.

[bskeillor]

i'd agree with this. i'm easily the biggest james cameron supporter on this board and even i'll readily admit this looks like shit.

I really doubt you're the biggest supporter of his on this board. If you were you would be telling people to not make judgement after seeing snippets of an internet trailer. The real judgement comes from seeing it in action on the screen and not bits and pieces. That 15 minute preview would change most of these people's mind in a heartbeat.

And would people stop with the stupid comments that this looks like an XBOX game? I mean that is just an assinine comment to say that any portion of this trailer looks as bad or fake as even the best 360 or PS3 game out there.

[Exodus]

It's pretty simple. If you compare this cg to pixar, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about when it comes to modeling/character modeling/animating. There's a very good reason why pixar doesn't even try to make realistic humanoids they always stylize into cartoonish characters that have the luxury of over exaggerating emotions and human behaviour/body language. It's the same reason that polar express sucked it's just plain and simple we are hard to emulate to the point where we believe it. This is the closest we have so far and yes, they did choose to create human looking aliens but in comparison to pixar's approach this is far more immersible.

Besides that people who say this looks like sub par graphics have absolutely no idea just why this is so great, you might as well try and explain why a really great guitarist musician is awesome to a guitar hero kid who thinks they know guitars just because they've heard a few songs and can play free bird on expert 100%.

[Anenome]

This movies is not about mere CG, it's about 3D. This is supposed to be the first 'perfect' 3D movie with the new 3D tech that Cameron invented during the process of this film.

If you know about the film industry, you know that ticket sales have been declining with the advent of HDTV and giant displays which served to reduce the comparative value of movies. Meanwhile, budgets and ticket prices have gone up.

Therefore, the movie industry believes that cinema, all cinema, must make the leap to 3D in order to provide an experience that a home HDTV cannot match (yet), and in order to justify the added ticket prices, etc.

They are probably right about this.

As for Avatar, I hope it does well, since it's the vanguard of this 3D tech, and the industry will be watching this movie to determine whether it is time to make the move to 3D yet.

Of course, it won't be long before TVs are 3D as well :P Then the movie industry is fucked :P

I agree that the aliens are too human, blah, typical. My other concern is the 'uncanny valley', the so-called weirdness that results from making digital humans. This was credited with sinking FF: The Spirits Within.

The trailer does look promising.

[Anenome]

i'd agree with this. i'm easily the biggest james cameron supporter on this board and even i'll readily admit this looks like shit. cameron is known for pushing the envelope by INVENTING never before seen effects and technology, not packing as much plastic looking xbox 360 CG into a film until your head explodes.

and that's exactly what's wrong, all the so-called never before seen CG in this film looks exactly like some shit i'd see in transformers or harry potter. the eyes on the navi are gigantic, cartoon like and unrealistic, the animation is 'rubbery' and unnatural, and the CG retains the typical, glossy-plastic look that is so apparent even in such VIDEOGAMES as Halo and Warcraft.

james cameron promised CG that was indistinguishable from real life. that's his exact word; indistinguishable. this is clearly nowhere near indistinguishable from reality and this is certainly NOT typical cameron.

my opinion stands. it looks like typical, run-of-the-mill CG dogshit.

- The 'plastic look' was solved ages ago by the implementation of micro skin textures and sub-surface light scattering and probably far more by now.

As for CG indistinguishable from reality, it's likely that Cameron is using a new face scanning system and mapping emotions directly to the digital actor. This will keep the characters out of the uncanny valley, hopefully. That's the gold standard of CG right there.

Another factor is that your brain is going to be seeing the characters in 3D. This could have an effect on the perceived realism of the characters.

I was actually impressed by the trailer. Were we watching the same thing?

[Exodus]

I know what i have to do now...I have to take one for the team to keep this party going...

NukxMl9mulA

[Exodus]

p.s. i fucking love kefka

[Zeal]

- The 'plastic look' was solved ages ago by the implementation of micro skin textures and sub-surface light scattering and probably far more by now.

no, it wasn't, because digital composition and modeling is nowhere near the level of reproducing the texture of human skin at photorealistic levels. if it was, our brains wouldn't instantly distinguish between CG and what is real, as we do now.

mark miller -- a 22-year veteran of industrial light & magic, pioneer of the the effects seen in jurassic park and president of james cameron's on digital domain effects house -- has been quoted on numerous occassions admitting we are decades away from even having the processing power, let alone software ingenuity, to fool the human brain.

do you know more about digital effects than him? didn't think so.


As for CG indistinguishable from reality, it's likely that Cameron is using a new face scanning system and mapping emotions directly to the digital actor. This will keep the characters out of the uncanny valley, hopefully. That's the gold standard of CG right there.

also pointless, because technology is not yet at the level to perfectly reproduce the infindecimal muscles and nerves that control human facial movement. this is why the animation still looks off, and why the skin still looks like plastic.


Another factor is that your brain is going to be seeing the characters in 3D. This could have an effect on the perceived realism of the characters.

yes, i've heard the marketing speak. "avatar will create memory creation in the brain by displaying the film in 3D. you will believe you are on Pandora."

yeah -- bullshit.


I was actually impressed by the trailer. Were we watching the same thing?

yes, and i was extremely underwhelmed.

[CSargeP]

Eh, I'm a big Sci-Fi and I've read a ton of books with the "no humans, you are the deamons" plot. Not really interested in watching a movie on it, unless I can get a bunch of people to come with me in IMAX.

Looks pretty though.

[Verruckt]

I'll likely see it but it has definitely been waaaayyyy overhyped. The trailer had its own day.... I like James Cameron, but I have found most of his movies to be just decent and not much better.

The CGI does look rather impressive, though, and I'm all for animated movies taking on more mature stories. Not that Pixar is overly kiddie or anything.

[Anenome]

For me, the first time CG looked 'good enough' was Starship Troopers.

Today, CG is used in ways that most wouldn't even recognize as CG. That's a testament to how good today's tech is.

But, the hardest thing to do is a totally CD human face and body, in closeup.

Saying we're decades away from true photorealism is false. People tend to underestimate long-term change in tech and other things. Photorealism has a lot to do with Moore's law, and Moore's law is exponential. Hell, we may be able to simulate a person digitally atom by atom in 'decades'.