Avatar
To be honest when I first heard about the movie Avatar and its amazing graphics I was not overly excited to see it and figured I would check it out on DVD or when it came to HBO or Showtime. And that would have definitely been a mistake.
A friend of mine mentioned that they saw it right after it came out and thought that it was excellent and a colleague mentioned that it was pretty cool and reminded him of a technologically advanced “Dances with Wolves.” While somewhat mixed reviews among others including an interesting “they look like smurfs” comment, I decided to go to the biggest screen available to take full advantage of the effects. That theater is the Metreon IMAX theater and I am a huge fan of paying the extra money to see movies there, especially those of the science fiction, action, or blockbuster category.
IMAX is a film format that can display images of far greater size and resolution than standard systems. A standard IMAX screen is 72 feet wide by 53 feet high. As of April 2009 there are only 320 IMAX theaters spread across 42 countries with half being located in the United States. 3-D IMAX was, however, something that I had never seen, and I have to say that I was very impressed. Arriving 45 minutes early, the line was already long, as all tickets needed to be prepurchased, as it was sold out. While every seat is excellent, I wanted to be in the middle to get the best experience. Armed with the obligatory popcorn and sodas we settled in for an excellent experience on a Sunday afternoon.
As for the story: In the future, a paraplegic war veteran is brought to the planet Pandora inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture to find a way to help the corporation gain access to a valuable mineral called Unobtanium. The term surprisingly is actually used by engineers since the 1950’s to refer to unusual or costly materials. With a private military force and a large corporation greedily trying to get its hands on the valuable mineral and an indigenous population living at peace with the planet, there are numerous potential political and social implications that can be discussed afterwards. Thankfully they did not dwell on this and you can go back to enjoying tremendous special effects, excellent action including a fight scene with one of our most technological fighting tools, Rock’em Sock’em robots, which are mechanical fighting machines controlled by the military fighters.
Smurf
rockemrobots
Some of the fun is the relation to real life as well as past movies and stories that have been told. Here are just a few that I have overheard.
Dances with Wolves: all that needs to be said is “Tatonka”
Fern Gully: check out this Avatar/Fern Gully mashup
Smurfs: well, the Na’vi are kind of bluish
Amazingly, this movie is able to combine all the elements, sci-fi, action, technology, a love story, some thought provoking social and political ideas and magical artwork into an incredibly entertaining film. If you are not yet convinced, have a look at the official Avatar site and watch the trailer, then try to imagine what it would be like in 3-D on a screen 72 feet high, then go to Fandango and pick up your tickets. Think ahead as this is a movie that is continuing to sell out in its first weeks of opening.
