Avatar the Movie

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director James Cameron's long-awaited "Avatar" wowed critics at its London premiere on Thursday, with some early reviewers calling it "jaw-dropping," "mind-blowing" and a game-changer in Hollywood for its digital effects.

The 3D epic adventure by the director of 1997 blockbuster "Titanic" is one of the most expensive films ever at a cost of about $400 million to make and market. It begins its worldwide launch next week, hitting U.S. theaters on December 18.

If initial reviews and Twitter buzz are any indication, it may be money well spent for film studio 20th Century Fox.

"James Cameron has proven his point: He is king of the world," raved showbiz newspaper The Hollywood Reporter.

"As commander-in-chief of an army of visual-effects technicians, creature designers, motion-capture mavens, stunt performers, dancers, actors and music and sound magicians, he brings science-fiction movies into the 21st century with the jaw-dropping wonder that is 'Avatar,'" it said.

Britain's biggest-selling tabloid, The Sun, called it "the most dazzling film of the decade. ... The final battle scene is 20 minutes long and absolutely mind-blowing."

"Avatar" shows the forest-dwelling Na'vi fighting for survival against a colonial mining operation bent on stripping their planet. A crippled ex-Marine is chosen to make contact with the mysterious people as a remotely controlled avatar.

Empire magazine gave the movie five stars out of five, calling it a "hugely rewarding experience" whose new technology "will give directors ... one heck of a sandbox to play in."

Twitter lit up with comments from journalists leaving the tightly guarded premiere. "James Cameron is a freakin' genius! I can't say much but wow, I loved it," wrote Alex Billington of the movie website FirstShowing.net.

The London Guardian's Mark Brown wrote on Thursday that "Avatar" was "really much, much better than expected, (it) looked amazing and the story was gripping -- if cheesy in many places."

"The terrible film that some had been anticipating had not materialized. It was good," Brown wrote.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Peter Cooney)

I wonder how we ever managed to muddle through films before ILM.

Too bad there is not a movie tie in with SL, it could bring in a lot of new traffic.

There's a video game for the movie though

i think we are going to see that movie on Christmas Day.

Indeed. 'Immersive 3D' fans would love SL.

I was blue before the movie. Just sayin'.

Reports once someone has actually seen it please. Press-releases like the Reuters report and anything in 'The Sun' are just part of the advertising so no guide at all. I saw a trailer for 'Avatar' on TV this morning and it looked, if not awful, no better than 'Shrek'. Hype, hype, hype; is that where they spent the US$400m, like with 'Titanic'?

I have already tried a demo avatar,shape and skin from Xstreet.It was cool .that was about 5 weeks ago .I do hope that SL might get some spin off trade from the movie we sure need some new blood.

You are a different 'better', rather mystical shade of blue. They are bright blue like a crayon. And their eyes are too widely spaced.

- Titanic cost to make = $200 million

- Earnings world wide = 1.8 BILLION.

Obviously not hype.

Correct.. and its STILL making money! I may be wrong, but I heard it has beaten every movie ever made in total sales, including the oldies.

Make a great product up front, and it will sale for years and years to come.. That something SL cant fathom thinking of when it comes to the backend.

Titanic would have been better with a 20 minute epic special effects extravaganza final battle with blue aliens and terminators.

Of course it's beaten the oldies. A movie ticket for Titanic was about five bucks. A ticket for Gone With The Wind was like ten cents. Of the top 50 grossing films, only two were made before 1990 (ET and Star Wars). None were made before 1977. That's because of inflation, not because they only started making great movies thirty years ago.

Ten or fifteen years from now when people are paying twenty dollars for a first run movie ticket, Titanic probably be outdone by a remake of "Bio-Dome".

Great. More lag. No SL does not need new traffic for traffic's sake. SL needs quality people who respect the magic of SL and really want to be here. We don't need any more disruptors.

Soapbox over.

I'll be seeing this film the second it comes out.

Sci-Fi films like this are what raise the bar with motion picture technology, and I'm not just talking about CGI. 3D film is still considered gimmicky because the technology was first introduced through kids films with cardboard red/green glasses. Avatar relies heavily upon a new form of this technology with much lighter camera equipment and revamped "polarized" glasses. That's just one area that this film breaks new ground in. Expression capture, and other forms of motion capture actually bring the performances of the actors back into full CG scenes. This is something that has been lacking in many full CG films that attempt to cross the "uncanny-valley" with realism, such as Final Fantasy. James Cameron *is* the Karim Rashid of the motion picture industry in this regard.

I also have a blue avatar (this refers to my own creation) skin in my profile picture that I made well before I knew of Avatar (about two years ago). It looks nothing like the Avatar avatars, except for the blue patterned skin. I've never sold it, and never intend to. I hate that kind copy-cat hype. It's also stepping on 20th Century Fox's IP rights to go there.

Wow. Snark much? The oldbies said the same thing with the influx of 2006, others said the same with the new welcome centers (e.g. "Gossip Girl", others said the same with the CSI: Las Vegas show, etc. New blood helps to keep SL vital and vivid.

All populations have "disruptors" just as they also have "quality" people. I'd like to see new folks popping in - so many places I go are empty.

Plot summary for Titanic: Boy meets Girl, boat sinks put that way you would not think it would be popular. It's all in the details.

Inflation adjusted Box office:

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm


It gets even more complicated when you consider DVD rentals and sales, which are not counted in box office gross, and population growth over time.

The Wizard of Oz has a comparatively small box office gross, but has become one of the most popular films ever by being shown on TV a lot.

I just watched the trailer, looks expectedly Cameronesque. I like the VTOL ships.

I don't see where this will have any effect on SL one way or the other, I see no connection.

It looks like it will be an entertaining popcorn movie. I might go see it in a theatre, but not if I have to wear those stupid glasses.

I will be seeing "Sherlock Holmes" on Christmas Day.

Me too! Can't wait.

No this has nothing to do with protectionism. Why on earth would you want the lab to go after more people when their server capacity can't handle the ones it has? I'd think you'd be more concerned with increasing the quality of life NOW rather than opening the flood gates..or is your performance satisfactory?

i will wait for dvd release

It's going to be a great film. I asked about this before on forums but many people were unspired by the thought a few weeks ago. I think sl is going to end up looking more and more like this. I wish we had more of an adventurous group mind and made a role play world that was this way created. Then we could truly be living in a secondworld.

You mean "blue"-ray don't you?

no im not that advanced... I dont have a blue ray player... lmao.. hell i still use my vhs LOL
hint hint santa

I hear they're making a Sequel