I saw this movie on Monday. I haven’t had time to review it until now. It’s a very long movie. 163 minutes. That’s almost three hours. It’s from the Director James Cameron known for his blockbuster hit, “Titanic.” It’s reported that he spent between 250 – 300 million to make Avatar. It takes place in 2154 on a moon called Pandora. Earth humans are there to mine a certain rock that’s very valuable back on earth. The humans are plundering the planet. The planet is home to the Na’vi. They’re 12 feet tall, golden eyed creatures who are very in touch with their planet. They’re in harmony with the forests and wildlife there. Their only weapons are bows and arrows. The Na’vi are very much like the native American Indians here in the United States. Anyway the humans were able to clone the Na’vi and use them as avatars. These clones are controlled by humans. The avatar goes to sleep when the humans get out of the special chamber they are in to control them. I think that’s enough plot setting for now. I don’t want to give it away. The story centers mostly around the character Jack Sully who controls a Na’vi avatar.

I think James Cameron is a fan of Hayao Miyazaki. Because this film could have been a Miyazaki one. The same themes of pacificism and harmony with the planet and not destroying or polluting the planet’s natural resources and wildlife are found in Avatar, as they are found in Miyazaki films. This film reminded me of Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa:Valley of the winds and Laputa:Castle in the Sky. Cameron even made floating mountains. I really believe Cameron watched some Miyazaki films.

From Wikipedia:
Avatar is a 2009 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang. The film was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The film begins in the year 2154 and focuses on an epic conflict on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of the three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. On Pandora, human colonists and the sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, the Na’vi, engage in a war over the planet and the latter’s continued existence. The film’s title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na’vi bodies used by the film’s human characters to interact with the natives.[4]

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film.[5] Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to Cameron, “technology needed to catch up” with his vision of the film.[6][7] In early 2006, Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora.[8] He has stated that if Avatar is successful, two sequels to the film are planned.[9]

The film was released in traditional 2-D and 3-D formats, along with an IMAX 3D release in selected theaters. Avatar is officially budgeted at $237 million;[2] other estimates put the cost at $280 – $310 million to produce and an estimated $150 million for marketing.[10][11][12] The film is being touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film’s production.[13] Opening to critical acclaim, it grossed an estimated $27 million on its opening day and an estimated $77,025,481 domestically its opening weekend.[14] Worldwide, the film grossed an estimated $232,180,000 its opening weekend,[15] the ninth largest opening-weekend gross of all time, and the largest for a non-franchise, non-sequel and original film.[3] It is also considered to be a front-runner for awards and nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards.

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I saw it in 3D. The special effects and the fighting sequences were amazing. Cameron used even special types of hovering aircraft and robotic weaponry that can be seen in Miyazaki films and other anime. I truly believe Cameron has watched anime. hehe.

It was a long film, an interesting one, and one that kept my attention riveted. I’ll go see the sequels when they come out. Great film. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. Best film I’ve seen all year in the theaters. I want to go see it again.

Here’s Robert Ebert’s review of it:
http://bit.ly/7ezcIN

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