Avatar (2009) User Reviews (3,865)

A great science fiction adventure from a master filmmaker!

[suhanime · 8/10 · 9 March 2022]

Twelve years later, Titanic creator James Cameron yet again delivers a great science fiction extravaganza with the usual tropes and clichés of a "good guy" who must overcome a battle with his own morals to do what's right, but somehow making it all work beautifully. The characters, the musical score for every scene, the beauty and uniqueness of the flora and fauna of Pandora, living forests, thundering waterfalls, nimble beasts, flying dragon-birds, and the way cultures of the Na'vis is portrayed will truly keep you captivated and leave you beyond impressed.

In its initial release, Avatar garnered mass positive reviews and went on to break multiple box office records in various markets. Worldwide, it became the highest-grossing movie of all time and bagged multiple awards in its genre including The Oscars. The story follows a paraplegic Marine who replaces his deceased twin brother to the distant moon Pandora on a unique mission but soon finds himself struggling between following orders and protecting a world he feels is his home. His aim; to persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na'vis to clear way for humans to mine their home and obtain a valuable mineral unobtainium; however, things take a turn when he falls in love with the Na'vi princess, Neytiri, and is eventually drawn into a battle with his own race for the survival of her world. As the planet's environment is poisonous, human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora which is one if not the main focus of the film. With science fiction, the film also displays a series of unexplained phenomena that could not otherwise be explained by logic but relates to a more spiritual and imaginary level keeping in sync with the entire mystical setting of the storyline. The action sequences look phenomenal and you can definitely feel the scale of the two races fighting each other through Cameron's direction.

While the majority agree that "Avatar" uses its sci-fi plot as a metaphor to give voice to our fears of the future and setting a great example of showing how we will fail in our efforts to eventually create a world full of destruction, some argue that it supports racist theme of a white hero yet again saving the primitive natives. The film also has connotations pointing to mass genocide, to the conflicts in countries like Iran and Vietnam, and to ecological situations like deforestation. However, I believe to view it from the perspective of a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble inhabitants and follows a message that all living is connected, and those who intend to exploit nature rather than respect it will only destroy themselves. This becomes evident when all the animals hostile to Pandora come together to charge at the humans to defend their land and their existence. The Ikran (flying birds) attack the aircrafts while the forest animals fight the soldiers on the ground. Neytiri can be heard yelling "Jake, Eywa heard you!" insinuating that mother nature recognized the importance of defending itself.

After its release, Avatar became an extremely controversial movie, with some people claiming it to be groundbreaking while others calling it an overlong and derivative bore. The warranted hate, in my opinion, comes from the fact that it's got a few blatant similarities to other movies that stress on the overproduced heroic factor, however, it is evident that Cameron has poured his heart and soul into this masterpiece, breaking through the motion-capture tech frontier with state of the art CGI. So even if the movie doesn't exactly consist of the biggest twists and turns, it surely sets out to stun us with the enchanting VFX that made the whole mystical world convincing and life-like, working in favor of a classic, albeit overused, storyline.

In conclusion, Avatar is about a race of humanoids that could not be more alien from us, and yet, by about half way through the film, it manages to completely convince us of their realism, their plight and their humanity. It also demonstrated in harsh terms our audacity to be merciless and barbaric to those who appear different from us. This movie did what it set out to do perfectly and maybe even better, and towards the end, it will get you wondering about all the possibilities of life existing in the depths of the universe out there. Without much exaggeration, it is a cinematic experience of the generation, ahead of its time, that will leave you spellbound in the best way possible. So if you haven't seen Avatar, then you should see it as soon as possible- a great science fiction adventure from a master filmmaker!

After a decade, Cameron sets the avatar of our new generation

[Misagh · 8/10 · 13 December 2009]

I had the rather intense privilege to view James Cameron's much anticipated $400 million budget return to the directing scene, Avatar, at the Empire Leicester Square in London.

Where to begin! The visuals in this pieces was groundbreaking. He did it with the Terminator series and then Titanic, so one would expect Cameron to deliver... and HE DID! The visual are by far some of the sharpest CGI I have seen. You could almost say that there is a disquiet that follows Cameron's soul, as there is no other possibility of this strong and intensified quality. Its production design and visual effects are both noteworthy and it will get its praise upon official release.

What it was lacking that really should have shaped the movie is its character/story. I was expecting a complex and believable plot, but was left with a movie with mostly strong visuals. What most sci-fi lovers desire is mind-bending philosophies, fantasy and exploration and limitations of our or outer species. If it was not for this factor, I would give this a 9.5 vote.

Avatar will be a success, not only because of Cameron's legacy, but by very intelligent and viral marketing. Avatar have had a powerful marketing technique that assembles other successful blockbusters, such as The Blair Witch project (you all remember it), The Dark Knight (Joker invades the world) and also, the current production The Artifice (the-artifice.com) that is intelligently targeting the market.

Kudos to Cameron, Avatar is one of the (if not The) movie of the year. I could get in trouble for sharing this with you guys so early, so please click Yes on "Was the above comment useful to you?" as a thank you. ;)

Cameron Returns

[Samiam3 · 9/10 · 12 December 2009]

Nobody directs like James Cameron. Ten years in the works, and every minute was worth it. It is the Star Wars of the 21st century. Though the plot is derivative and bears some pretty close resemblance to Dances with Wolves and a little bit of The Last Samurai, it does not ruin a mind-blowing experience. Avatar has a great future ahead of it and, possibly another Oscar for the mighty James Cameron.

Jake Sully, is an ex-marine, bound to a wheel chair. He seeks to make a fresh start on the moon Pandora where his brother worked. The moon has a military run mining colony. The business has brought humans into contact with the local natives, tall blue dudes, called Na'vi. The Na'vi inhabit a part of the moon under which lies a large deposit of valuable minerals, and the humans are trying to get them to relocate. Colonel Quarich who runs the operation, ask Sully to go under cover as a Na'vi, to learn the secrets, to give the humans an advantage. If successful, Sully will get his legs back. The magic of future science and 3-D effects give Sully a handsome genetically engineered Avatar body, and he embarks on his mission. Once on the inside however, his loyalties to the humans start to turn when his heart gets lost to the Na'vi princess Neytiri. Is he willing to fight on the blue side now?

The landscape of Pandora is the most creative and inventive of the decade. There are creatures that you might find in your wildest dreams or your worst nightmares. There is flora and fauna that shine with the bioluminescence of a thousand deep sea critters, and also trees which dwarf the Empire State Building.

I guess the only noticeable problem with Avatar, is a lack of original story. What you see on the screen will blow you away, but all the tough critics, may come down a bit on the fact that despite being the latest in film technology, Cameron uses a very old archetypal formula, perhaps just a bit too schematic. There are a few badly scripted segments of dialogue, but nothing that makes you wanna blow raspberries at the screen.

What is most important is the fact that Cameron's story gets the viewer involved and offers a handful of memorable and likable characters to root for, and some to root against. This is the post- modern era, and originality is rare, but if there is any technical progress to be made in the world of movies and entertainment, there is one name that dwarfs all JAMES CAMERON, and after ten years hiding from the Hollywood mainstream, he is back.

AVATAR REVISITED

[gogoschka-1 · 24 May 2020]

I'm not exactly sure when it became a thing among my tribe of film geeks to bash 'Avatar'. I know it wasn't when it came out, because most of the film fans in my circle of nerdy friends went to watch it multiple times and couldn't get enough of it. In hindsight, I suspect it was around the time when everybody and their grandmother seemed to have seen it; somehow, once the film had become the most successful movie ever (unadjusted for inflation) it stopped being cool to like James Cameron's eco-sci-fi extravaganza.

Nowadays the film is often brought up in snarky movie blogs as a typical example for a film with great effects but a dull story, unoriginal ideas and bland characters, as if this were somehow the general consensus among film aficionados. "FernGully in space" or "Dances With Wolves with blue cat-people" are some of the kinder descriptions the film has to endure - which in all honesty I don't get.

I mean, it's fine not to like the movie (all art is subjective and all that), but how so many self-professed film experts now pretend this critically acclaimed picture - which on Metacritic is rated even higher than 'The Dark Knight' - was nothing but a bland, unoriginal, run-of-the-mill Hollywood blockbuster that only succeeded thanks to the (then) novelty of 3D is frankly beyond me.

What I find even more astounding is how the very people who decry the lack of original, director-driven blockbusters in Hollywood are often the same who turn up their noses at 'Avatar': an original, director-driven blockbuster that came out when most other big budget movies were either sequels or adaptations of already existing intellectual properties. "The ideas in the film are not original", they claim. Come on guys, seriously?

So you've seen a world like Pandora before? A bioluminescent visual wonder that merges the colorful marine life of coral reefs with the lush vegetation of tropical rain forests? A world where nature forms an actual neural network that stores memories and builds a collective consciousness? You've seen many films about a bio-database that people can plug themselves into via ancient trees and communicate with their ancestors?

You've watched countless blockbusters that take place in an eco-system where you can form instant symbiosis with other creatures depending on your needs? And by the way: how many "eco-sci-fi" films have you seen? Such a worn-out concept and tired old sub-genre, right?

No my friends, in terms of Hollywood blockbusters, these ideas and concepts are about as original as they come, and some of them are even inspired by actual biological phenomenons (like the discovery that the roots of trees do indeed form a sort of neural network in a symbiosis with fungi where they are able to store and exchange information). But what is true is that the filmmaker cleverly chose a very straight-forward story to get his environmentalist plea and anti-colonial, anti-imperialist message across and make some rather complex sci-fi ideas more accessible for a broad audience.

To that end, the film uses certain well-known story tropes ("the spy who changes sides once he falls in love with an enemy"; "the soldier who realizes he's been fighting for the wrong cause"; "the invader who gets to know and appreciate the foreign culture he's invading" or the timeless trope of "the fish out of water"), but they are not what the film is about. And those tropes are not copied from 'Dances With Wolves' either - any more than that film stole them from 'Pocahontas': they are so universal you can find variations of any one of them in numerous legends and stories and thus also throughout film history, from 'Lawrence of Arabia' to 'Shogun' or 'The Last Samurai' and countless others.

And yes, our heroes Jake and Neytiri are not the most complex of characters (though neither are they as bland as the film's most vicious detractors claim), but that's because they aren't really the film's main focus. 'Avatar's actual protagonist, its true star if you will, is Pandora. It's the WORLD we get to experience through Jake's eyes that really matters here, and the film aims straight for your gut - not your sci-fi nerd brain (which I suspect is the actual reason why so many former Cameron fans - now - claim to be disappointed with the film).

More than anything, 'Avatar' wants you to lose your heart to this beautiful planet that functions as an obvious stand-in for our own threatened world, and the film is an unapologetic, uncynical declaration of love to the wonders of nature - as well as a call to action to preserve them. Which on an emotional level works marvelously: nothing in the film is as painful and shocking as the destruction of a single big tree, which symbolizes quite literally nature as the home and shelter we depend upon. It's a genius scene, and I dare you to find an action blockbuster where the distruction of a city or a whole planet carries even a shred of the emotional heft that the falling of "Home Tree" does in Cameron's film.

So again (I'm trying to hammer my point home here ;-), 'Avatar' is simple? Yes, but that's the point: the simplicity and familiarity of the story are deliberate; the themes are not just derivative re-treads, they're as universal as those in myths and fairy tales and thus speak to everyone. And that's exactly what Cameron's intention was: to use simple enough tropes and archetypes to convey a heart-felt message that would work across cultural borders and reach people all over the world. Which, given the film's success, it obviously did.

Personally, I think 'Avatar' is a prime example of visual and emotional storytelling done right, and viewing it for the first time offers an experience that is almost without equal in its immersiveness. And while this may only have been my own individual experience, 'Avatar' was also the first movie in a long time that completely vowed me in the sense that I felt like a little kid again in the theater - which had very little to do with the novelty of 3D. It was also the last time a film managed to do that.

And even in terms of pure entertainment the film is simply spectacular. It's a rousing adventure with gorgeous visuals and top-notch CGI, filled with fascinating creatures and jaw-dropping future-tech, and the final 40 minutes of the film provide an all out, non-stop sci-fi action thrill-ride on a scale the world had rarely - if ever - seen before.

Obviously that doesn't mean it's a perfect film, and as I already pointed out, it's fair not to like it for any number of reasons (above all: personal taste), but 'Avatar' is far from deserving the kind of snark and ridicule it gets these days. Get over it people: simple doesn't equal simplistic, and the fact that 'Avatar' is neither subtle nor cynical doesn't make it dumb (even if it does make it harder for some of us nerds to like it wihtout feeling slightly embarassed ;-).

In all honesty, I believe if this had been a slightly more obscure film - instead of the most successful movie of all time - many of the same people who hate on it now would hail it as an epic sci-fi adventure classic for the ages. And as far as I'm concerned, that's exactly what 'Avatar' is: a modern classic by a visionary filmmaker and true auteur. Rant over.

It's an experience! A magical one.

[eldreddsouza · 10/10 · 23 September 2022]

I was waiting for this day for the longest time. I was a kid back in 2009 when this movie released. So never got to watch it back then. But now when it rereleased I booked the first day show to a IMAX show and oh boy was I blown away! This is nothing short of a masterpiece! It's beyond belief how a film like this could've been made. Every scene, every shot is perfection. You are transferred to a different world and become so engrossed in the film. Never have I attended a movie where at the end of it people got up from their seats and started clapping! Last time this happened was after Infinity War. That movie too was a damn brilliant one. I'm from India and this is legit rare, where people go crazy, so crazy after any English film. This was one experience that I will never forget. I'm definitely going for it again next weekend cuz just once was not enough.

Every human on the planet needs to experience this magnificent work of art!

Best movie experience of the last 30 years...

[cyberjedi-608-518993 · 10/10 · 14 December 2009]

I was lucky to see Avatar at a pre-screening a few hours ago. It completely blew me and the whole room away and i dare to say it will do so to 80% of any audience anywhere. The remaining 20%, who always finds something to complain about, will whine about character development, dialog, story or the pop-corn.

Well, let me tell you: they went to this movie with the wrong expectations.

You have most likely met Cameron's previous work(s): Aliens, Terminator 1 & 2, The Abyss, Titanic (!), just to name a few.

So WHAT should you expect from Avatar??? MORE of the same!!! More of revolutionary film-making, more of grandiose new ideas, more of never-before-seen special effects, more of 150 minutes without relapsing, more of the James Cameron genius...

I am very happy that the trailers didn't give the full story away. Lots of emotions are waiting for the viewer, laughter and tears also. Cameron was very smart keeping the teasers as teasers, nothing more... as the full movie will take your breath away.

You will practically not notice that you are watching a non-existing world, it is sooo real. Attention to detail is superb. You computer geeks will know what I am talking about. This move was not rushed in the making. No wonder it could not have been done before - not having the proper computing power.

The wild life, the jungle, the animals, the Na'vi-s, or the dragon-like flying creatures are all so life-like, they almost pop-off the screen (and in 3D they actually do :) .

The sound effects were so well done, that when I saw at the credits that Skywalker Sound was behind it, i could only think of "yessss... now THAT makes sense."

Cameron is a visionaire - and again, he delivers, with full blast.

A certain character says in the movie that Pandora (the planet where the story takes place) became his real world. My advice to you: let Pandora become YOUR real world for two and a half hours, let it make you completely forget about your life and problems, let it entertain you, move you, let it carry you away.

Because THAT is what i expect as an exchange for my ticket.

And a few hours ago i got tens of tickets worth of that.

Fascinating concept .Must be seen cannot be described

[lionel-14 · 10/10 · 12 December 2009]

I saw this epic last night at the Empire Leicester Sq in London, which is a superb venue in which to view this film. Huge screen, excellent sound and an extraordinary Dolby, 3 dimensional image. The whole effect is mind blowing.

This is a 'Must see' movie, innovative, and extraordinary. I think it will be regarded by most cinema goers as another milestone in the history of the art. The level of realism achieved is remarkable, and although the film is relatively long in real time, it retains it's excitement and holds the audience's attention to the end.

Performances are good, but this is not the sort of film that dwells on big star value for the actors, although Sigorney Weaver does shine and delivers a very convincing performance, as do the rest of the cast. But as there is so much entertainment and action value on screen the human element does not dominate in the usual way.

As Writer/Director, James Cameron deserves high praise for this creation and in my opinion it will break box office records. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Visually stunning, but ultimately unimaginative

[fnet_florent · 6/10 · 21 December 2009]

First of all, let me get it out of the way: yes, Avatar is visually stunning. With better scenario and dialogs, it could have been a very good movie; alas, it was completely predictable, and fancy special effects alone do not make a good movie.

Let's start with the picture. As I said before, the special effects and computer animation are really good; the textures feel very real, and the degrees of liberty that CGI animation allows in terms of camera angles and movement is well used for dramatic effects. The luxurious vegetation of the forest and the CGI-animated wild animals are a treat to the eyes. In terms of artwork, there is a definite influence from Nausicaa (the forest-world, the spores) and Starcraft (the vessels, the goliaths). I saw the movie in an IMAX movie with 3D glasses, but I am not convinced that they used the full potential of it - quite honestly, the Haribo commercial before the movie made a better use of it. I find it more strenuous to watch a movie with the 3D-glasses - some details are blurry, and it feels likewise when the camera makes swift lateral movements.

Now, the scenario - the movie disappoints in that area. The plot is very Manichean, and it feels like a remake of Pocahontas, interspersed with elements from / tributes to Star Wars (Pandora and the Na'vi look like Endor and the Ewoks respectively), Nausicaa (the forest as an entity, the destructive impact of civilization on nature, the spores in the forest), Starcraft (Colonel Quarritch and Dr Augustine bear some resemblance with Arcturus Mensk and Sarah Kerrigan), Matrix (the concept of controlling another image of self), and maybe even Independence Day (the pilot fighter suicide) and the Lion King (the father's death, "go, and never come back!", ... am I going to far here?). But I can honestly say that I haven't been surprised at any point in the movie. You know from the beginning that he will be accepted by the Na'vi, that he will fall in love, that he will defect, that he will ultimately prevail after suffering some heavy casualties, and that he will find a way to permanently transfer his mind into the body of his avatar.

It would have been interesting if the movie had dealt in more depth with the issues related to transferring one's mind into another body for instance, maybe a la Twelve Monkeys Army, where the "hero" is clearly deeply affected by experiences that the mind is not used to deal with (time travel in that case, but it is not that different from what we have here). Likewise, the love interest of our hero seems very indifferent to the fact that he really is a human remotely controlling a human - Na'vi bastard. I was expecting someone (him, her, or even one of the other humans in the scientific group) to show at least some kind of surprise / doubt when these feelings emerge. I was expecting more complexity in the social interactions of the characters, and their personality.

I also take issues with some big stereotypes: corporations and the white men are greedy, indigenous people are pure, brave, and connected to the earth, but dumb - thankfully there is a human to teach them how to fight those who come from the sky. To some extent, the movie feels like a remake of the colonization of the Americas; just replace the Na'vis by native Americans, the aircrafts by ships, and modern weapons by muskets, and you have it. Except of course the colonization of the Americas did not have such a happy ending for the native tribes.

On the whole, the movie is beautiful, but it feels like the main goal was to showcase fancy special effects. The movie would have benefited from more detailed characters, and a less linear and predictable plot. My rating is 6/10.

A fantastic journey.

[yoel-47650 · 9/10 · 18 November 2022]

You know the feeling when you start watching a movie, realizing it's almost 3 hours, and saying to yourself - "Well this is probably gonna be mostly boring", well, the creators of this movie didn't let that happen, rest assures.

From the beginning up until the ending, every scene is perfected, with amazing acting, stunning directing, great visual effects, and astounding sound effects.

The story building is just great , characters are well-developed , and the concept is brilliant.

The only thing that's missing to me, is a fitting-soundtrack which could've give some scenes a great boost.

I avoided watching this movie for a long time, because it just seemed a little ridiculous to me (Come on there are blue people) but I'm so glad I finally decides to give it a chance, and boy did it serve.

Loved it. 9.5/10.

How could anyone who's seen more than 4 movies in their life find this creative?

[benjamin-heckendorn · 6/10 · 20 December 2009]

Let me preface this by saying I am a huge James Cameron fan. I think "Terminator" is a masterpiece of sci-fi and the single best edited film of all time, "Aliens" is easily the best sequel not from the original director and I personally like it a lot more than the original. "Abyss" created an interesting world and was racked with tension, "Terminator 2" is an action tour-de-force and has what I believe the best sound editing/design of all time, "True Lies" is goofy fun, more poignant than most give it credit for with a boffo ending, and finally "Titanic" was far better than anyone expected it to be and has one of the most believable romances in a movie.

So then there was the 12 year wait for "Avatar". No reviews, word of mouth, ticket price or natural disaster would keep me from the midnight IMAX 3D screening. I went with moderate expectations, which the film matched exactly. While this kept me from being disappointed it wasn't a good thing.

Movie fans were on edge because if "Avatar" flops, it'll mean the death of creativity in a remake-happy Hollywood. That's a valid concern but the problem is nothing in "Avatar" is creative whatsoever. It is literally "Dances with Wolves" in space, right down to having a "Wind in his Hair" character as a foil to the "new guy".

As the movie progressed it caused the worst of all bad reactions for me as a viewer - I started thinking about other things. Then I kept thinking "well the end battle is supposed to be awesome".

SPOILER WARNING! (if for some reason you can't guess how this movie ends) End battle comes and the movie switches from being "Dances with Wolves" to Disney's "Atlantis" (but that's unfair since both of those movies contained far, FAR better musical scores) Gunship windows that were impervious to arrows a few scenes ago (to show Na'vi desperation) suddenly become brittle and break easily (to show Na'vi heroism). The battle isn't nearly as long as you'd expect, and nowhere near as epic / engaging as the finale of Return of the King. Finally there's a Robo-suit vs Navi fight and it is admittedly pretty good. Unlike 95% of directors these days Cameron knows enough to pull the camera back and let us SEE the fight. However it's an odd choice to spend millions on 10 foot tall "creatures" and then rarely even have them in the same frame as humans.

And of course there's the obligatory scene where characters are dying in slow motion as Middle Eastern vocal music plays (see Gladiator or Munich) Wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't said to my friend on the way there "How much you wanna bet there's a part where characters die in slow motion over Middle Eastern music?"

As with most movies these days "Avatar" is far too long, glossing over important details (why is Earth dying, what does Unobtainium do, etc) and instead spending time on flight scenes, mystic ceremonies, spirit trees and nature bonding.

Ultimately I just did not care. Since the dawn of cinema Hollywood recycles old ideas every few decades and slaps on a bigger budget / new stars / better effects so you won't notice. I can see re-doing "Ben Hur" with color and sound, but why do we need "Dances with Wolves" with 20 times the budget and blue Native Americans? No amount of impressive visuals, robo-suits, gunship battles, perfect character CGI or Sigorney Weaver can change the fact that I've seen this movie 100 times before. I could even accept the weak story if there were any characters to give a rat's ass about. This film is also dreadfully humorless, a stark contrast to "Titanic" where humor was one of its many surprises.

Regarding 3D... I've seen many films in it now and honestly you don't even notice after the few minutes. It doesn't make the money any better or worse, just more expensive.

Citizen Kane, The Robe, Sound of Music, Jaws, Star Wars, Batman, Toy Story, The Matrix... these movies changed movies. We can say that looking back now. "Avatar" saying it would ahead of time is pure hubris, "unsinkable Titanic"-like poppycock.

But if expensive motion-capture being used to cover up a weak, generic story is the future of cinema then count me out, I'll stick with my PS3.

One of the best cinematic experiences ever...

[ClaytonDavis · 8/10 · 14 December 2009]

Forgive me, I'm going to jump from professional to fan boy for a while here. I haven't had the jitters after a film the way I've had for Avatar in quite sometime. James Cameron's Avatar is the most entertaining and enthralling cinematic experiences of my life. It is incredible, simply put. What Cameron has done here is the most passionate film project put out since Steven Spielberg released Schindler's List. His attention to detail and his zeal for pushing the envelope is so admirable to any filmmaker or actor who will ever do another film from this point on.

Avatar is the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine, who replaces his brother on a secret mission to infiltrate the Na' vi, the colony of beings that sit on the planet of Pandora, where there is a precious ore, that sells at a ridiculous amount. When Jake learns the ways of the Na' vi, his feelings and learnings will put him and the people he trusts in dangerous jeopardy.

The performances here, in the sense of reacting, becoming, and understanding what Cameron has written are astounding. Not to be confused with a sensational bravura performance from some of the centuries best such as Marion Brando, Tom Hanks, or Diane Keaton; these actors along with the director inhabit these visual transformations with special effects as if they are have lived these beings all their lives. This is all based on character movements and reactions. Sam Worthington, as Jake Sully, is an actor who's on his way to becoming a star. Though he has problems with his Aussie accent often enough in the film, he gets the job done. Zoe Saldana, who plays Neytiri, a Na' vi huntress, is thrilling and electrifying. Stephen Lang, as the rock hard Colonel Miles, takes on a villainous turn to a new level in science fiction. He offers actual emotion and emotes evil to the audience and gains our hatred easily. Sigourney Weaver as the beautiful Dr. Grace, is sufficient enough to have on screen again teamed with Cameron. She lives inside her role with effortless ease, but suffers from some of the typical James Cameron cheesy lines.

Narratively the film works perfectly on the cinematic level. The first forty minutes or so require patience and hope as it is the weakest part of the film and offers some dreariness, but when the second act takes off, it's sky high with no limits for James Cameron. Avatar delivers the best action sequences put on film of all time. That is the boldest statement I have ever made in all my years of criticism. I sat on this for two days before charging it out, but I mean it. It is the best visual experience of my life, period.

Other than those visuals, the film pops with all the other technical aspects thrown into one. Art Direction is killer as the two worlds blend in perfectly for an acceptable time. The Film Editing is the crowning achievement of the film as it also offers the perfect blend of the two worlds, enticing the viewer and shifting us around. Mauro Fiore is the threat for a Cinematography Oscar this year. It was if the viewer sat down in a chair, put on glasses, and was literally placed on Pandora, spaceships, and floating mountains. The viewer can feel so engulfed by the imagery, you feel like you can smell the leaves from the trees. Avatar is utterly hypnotizing. James Horner's score is some of the best work done in his career. It offers a variable of devastation that moves the viewer to near tears. It goes back to his work on Titanic, where the musical instruments lifted the material immensely. The entire sound team is also locked and loaded for Oscar recognition as the feeling of animals, machines, and arrows buzzing by your head leave you imprisoned in Cameron's exquisite film.

James Cameron has come back home ladies and gentlemen Cameron is back, bigger, badder, and mature in his crowning work of his career. Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Titanic do not even compare anymore. This is the film that can blend the fans of those two films together and lock Cameron into your heart. He's a definite spoiler for a directing bid for the Academy Awards. You have admire the raw, natural talent the man has. How could you ever conceive such an experience and put that much effort and work into it and have it pay off? The box office success will surely keep him in the minds of voters for various critics' awards. His screenplay, leaps and bounds better than 1997's Best Picture Winner, is primed, developed and ripe for the taking. Though, you do acquire the tacky and atypical dialogue you expect from a science fiction director of this caliber, you can appreciate the effort and the honesty of it all. James Cameron is everything Michael Bay wishes he was, to put it bluntly.

Avatar will bring also great actors putting their best foot forward such as Giovanni Ribisi, who is as underrated as they come. Michelle Rodriguez who exudes sexy like any woman starring in a sci-fi epic. Joel Moore, showing his range outside of his comedic work in Dodgeball: An Underdog Story. And the classy veteran actors, CCH Pounder and Wes Studi, who just simply don't work enough.

Avatar is one of the best films of the year. The most exciting, thrilling, and superb work you'll feast your eyes on in any theater this century. Cinema, forever, will remember the benchmark that James Cameron placed not only for himself, but for any man, daring to change the game, the way Cameron did. Avatar is a movie experience to be remembered, and please experience in a movie theater first.

***½/****

Visually mind-blowing, but lacking in the story

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 6 August 2010]

I did see Avatar for the first time a while ago, and didn't know what to make of it. To me it felt like a visual feast if little else. Re-watching it again, I found more strengths, but there are several weaknesses that prevent it from being a masterpiece.

Starting with Avatar's strengths, it is absolutely mind-blowing visually. The cinematography, landscapes, scenery, colours, make-up and effects are outstanding and are by far and away Avatar's strongest asset. I also liked the score, it is certainly not the best score I have ever heard, but it had some very nice moments, while Cameron's direction is competent, the message admirable, and the finale well and truly explosive. I also loved the flying sequences, they were breathtaking.

The acting in general is a mixed bag. Sam Worthington is a charismatic enough lead, while Zoe Saldana is strong and spirited. Stephen Lang is an enjoyable and over-the-top villain of the piece too, however Sigourney Weaver is somewhat so-so, doesn't help really her character isn't that interesting while Michelle Rodriguez and Joel Moore aren't given very much to do.

What didn't work so well is that Avatar's story, with themes of love in a time of chaos and man alone in a hostile environment, is rather simplistic and predictable. I also felt it took a while to get going, and that the relationship between Jake and Neytiri was on the dull side. And is it me, or does this film drag at times, particularly towards the end? Now don't get me wrong, I liked the concept, it wasn't exactly original, as I often heard it described as "Dances with Wolves in Space with rip-offs of Pocahontas and FernGully"- but I am not going to join those who say that- I have to admit regardless of its originality or lack of it the concept intrigued me. Then there is the dialogue, which is nothing special and never quite rings true. There are some amusing moments but a vast majority of the dialogue in the middle of the film never quite convinced or came across as cheesy. The characters also came across as rather clichéd, especially Giovanni Ribisi's, and the character development was lacking.

So all in all, Avatar does have a lot of strengths, but a lot of weaknesses too. I will say I preferred it over The Hurt Locker, which to be honest left me cold, but I think I would be stretching it a bit if I said it was 5-star masterpiece. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Technically outstanding. Originality: oh well....

[elchocobollo · 11 December 2009]

Well, I just saw Avatar this morning, one of the press premieres which are running on these days. My opinion: you've seen this story a hundred times, but never like this. Finally 3D is what it's supposed to be, an instrument at the service of the movie. You'll enjoy the visual experience, no doubt.

As for the story, some of the "inspirations" are so huge and so obvious that mentioning two or three of them would REALLY ruin the movie for you, and I'm not willing to do that. Lots of mysticism and ecology, if you like that stuff. If you're 15 or so, you'll have a great time thinking that it's the first time somebody makes something like this. If you're an experienced movie watcher, better leave your skepticism at the door, bring lots of pop corn and enjoy with the usual action-flick-with-moral-and-loads-of-clichés.

I liked it, however: "the movie that re-invents movies"??? No way.

Incredible scope and spectacle

[NonSequiturL · 9/10 · 16 December 2009]

A film with the scope of James Cameron's Avatar was always going to be a risk both artistically and financially, especially in today's economic climate. Whether it will pay off monetarily is a question only time can answer, but this viewer can at the very least attest to it being an artistic triumph.

Avatar brings us as close as cinema ever has to actually visiting an alien world. The beautiful environs, the exotic creatures and incredibly lifelike natives of Pandora arrest the senses, visually, aurally and emotionally. The world in Avatar is the true star of the show. The amount of detail and work that has gone into bringing this new world alive is seriously impressive, and it will be a while before we see anything that overtakes it in scope and quality. WETA Workshop and ILM have truly outdone themselves.

Relative newcomer, Aussie Sam Worthington provides a solid human heart amongst all the science-fiction/fantasy beauty and Zoe Saldana gives an impressive performance as the 8 foot tall Na'vi, Neytiri. Even though the characters they both play are blue, giant, catlike aliens, they managed to evoke a chemistry and likability that pierces through the special effects.

That's not to say that everything is perfect. The story is basic and dare I say, clichéd and predictable. We have seen it plenty of times in all forms of media. The bad guys are cartoonishly evil, and sadly paper thin. The love story, while charming, is also clichéd despite being between man and alien. But in the face of these shortcomings, Avatar is a success because its storytelling lies in the brilliant visuals.

Avatar is a beautiful piece of film and a true event. It does exactly what cinema was always intended to - it takes us away from our problems and worries for a few hours and gives us memorable images which will undoubtedly and deservedly enter into the cultural lexicon to stay for the foreseeable future.

9.5/10

The best blockbuster in years - the master is back!

[ftyl · 9/10 · 15 December 2009]

It has been 12 years since Cameron unleashed the phenomenon that was Titanic and real fans would have to look as far back as 1991's Terminator 2 for their last proper dose of his incredibly epic action (True Lies, while fun, really doesn't count). So the anticipation for Avatar has long since reached fever pitch and beyond.

Thankfully for the patient masses, Avatar has turned out to be the biggest and best event movie of the year, perhaps the decade. The story is pure Cameron simplicity – a paraplegic ex-marine is given a chance to walk again through the use of a unique alien body, called an Avatar. It is his job to gain the trust of the natives so that a greedy corporation can steal the precious metal from their lush moon. Jake's (Sam Worthington) crippled main character is the perfect point of contact for the audience – not only is he new to the visual delights of Pandora but his disability means that every moment in his Avatar body is one of glorious freedom from the confinement of his chair. When the Corporations intentions become more sinister, Jake must choose between his new found place with the natives and his own race and fight for what he believes in.

Avatar combines parts of Pocahontas and Braveheart with a liberal dose of Space Marines into an epic whole that takes nearly three full hours to unfold. We could criticise that length, the weak story and the hammy dialogue. We could attack its thinly-veiled ecological message or the frankly bizarre spirituality in its second half but honestly nothing can spoil the experience while you are enveloped in it. And a large part of that is down to the brilliant use of 3D – which is both subtle and incredibly effective. Til now, we have been making movies with 3D elements, Avatar is the first truly 3D film and might well prove to be one of the most significant things to happen to blockbuster film-making since Star Wars.

Cameron is also pushing the envelope with truly photo-real CG – something which has been promised for years but has finally been delivered with Avatar. The interactions of the characters with the environment is incredible and the detail on the faces of the motion-captured leads (Worthington and Star Trek's Zoe Saldana) bring them to life. You will believe totally in their performances, representing another quantum leap in tools which have rarely been used for anything other than spectacle.

Make no mistake, Avatar is an important film from a technical standpoint but it is also great entertainment. The world of Pandora is a stunning spectacle from scene to scene and as Jake learns more about the Na'vi the film approaches the kind of light hearted adventure story which has been absent from movie theatres for years. Then the final act explodes into tragedy and desperate action, with the final half hour a blistering life or death struggle that has to be seen to be disbelieved.

Over the coming days you will be hearing a lot about Avatar, and some of the critical reaction is bound to focus on its weaknesses in a bid to appear appropriately reserved and objective. But this is not a film to be dissected or examined, rather one to be experienced with a warm crowd, a great sound system, in 3D as you bask in the knowledge that the movie-making master is back!

A NEW WORLD.....

[shaikhirshad-41223 · 10/10 · 23 September 2022]

Hatts of to JAMES CAMERON for thinking and creating a vision like this. It takes a lotseof hardwork & research to build a whole new world. And there is a reason why this movie is still the no 1 movie in the world. I've never seen this kind of visuals in any other film. And this movie was made in 2009 that was an amazing achievement by the VFX creators & the director itself. You can easily get connected with the movie plot and the way the director has shown the Pandora world was just unbelievable. Cast of this film has done a fabulous job while performing so well and get into the character that not a single one will disappoint. Emotional scenes are so powerful that you feel the characters and their pain for what their suffering. Visual Effects makes this movie so powerful that every creature and big scenery scenes looks real. That's why it has re-released once again to feel the same experience. Don't miss this one on the big screen if you haven't seen it. It's a total new world experience. Can't wait for the PART 2....

Visually Spellbinding!

[miruleyall · 8/10 · 16 December 2009]

I am sure my comment will be lost in a sea of blue but anyways here goes...

Just attended the Advanced Screening at my local "Event Cinema" BCC in 3D

Now this movies graphics are gorgeous, everything is so real, the 3D just adds to the effect beautifully without distracting you.

From a technical standpoint this movie is amazing, just the detail on the Navi's faces are amazing, they feel more real then their real life counterparts!

Without giving anything away about the story, the plot itself is very solid, very character driven and perfectly executed by Jim, safe to say this is his best original story since "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2" and is definitely one of his best movies, so good it ties with T2 which is my most favorite movie of all time...

So for those of you who have not seen this yet... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

5/5

Looks great, I just wish I cared what happened in it

[NoArrow · 6/10 · 1 January 2010]

"Avatar" is not the next "Star Wars" or "Lord of the Rings." It might be the next "Matrix," though. Or, perhaps more accurate, the next "Matrix Revolutions." It's technically groundbreaking craftmanship put to work on a story that was played out after "Return of the King." There are a lot of bad guys, a lot of good guys, and sooner or later they're all gonna meet on the battlefield. The little details are not-so-shockingly unimportant, since nothing could stop, change or even, really, comment on the unstoppable trajectory of this film's story.

It's the future. An Evil Corporation is parked on distant planet Pandora, mining the planet of all its precious minerals. The native population, big blue humanoids called the "Na'vi," aren't too happy about this. The corporation has hired scientists to create avatars of Na'vi bodies to be controlled by human brains, in order to communicate to the Na'vi that...they better move, lest be bulldozed by the evil Col. Qautrich (Stephen Lang).

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is flown in to Pandora because his twin brother, who had an Avatar made specifically for him, is dead. The coincidence is an obvious plot device so that we can have a newcomer to Pandora to share in our amazement. Oh, and he's paralyzed, so running around in his new alien body is rather freeing for him.

I don't feel as if I need to continue with the plot description. You know what'll happen. You've seen "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last Samurai." Heck, even "Dead Man." The Na'vi represent nature, the (all-American) corporation represents destructive technology. Quatrich has a Southern accent and says things like, "we have to fight terror with terror." The Na'vi are clones of Native Americans - filtered through the imagination of a white liberal. It's all very obvious.

The question, of course, is whether or not it's entertaining. Well...sometimes. It certainly looks good. Some sequences - especially those with the winged beasts - are eye-popping. Lang makes a fun villain. Pandora is more derivative than original, it reminded me most of Skull Island in Peter Jackson's King Kong. All the monsters have a plastic-y look to them that make them feel too well-done. The 3D is distracting at times and I had a headache before the movie was over.

But there are scenes and individual shots that pop with ethereal beauty. It's worth seeing for that reason, but I don't think it'll be as fun after multiple viewings. The great thing about "Star Wars" was the characters: Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, R2-D2, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and so on. They embodied the other-worldliness of the story, taking the weight off the effects.

In thirty-two years, I don't think anyone will remember "Jake Sully." 6/10

Avatar - Breathtakingly Beautiful

[MorganGrodecki · 10/10 · 18 December 2009]

When movies are created, they are done so with intent. Different genres of film target specific audiences, a formula which has sustained Hollywood and it's industries since the beginning of the blockbuster movies. When a movie is created in a manner that sets in motion any given goal, said films success is pendant on whether or not that goal is reached. If a comedy creates laughter, or if a romance produces tears, then they are successes in their own right. So when a massively ambitious, seemingly impossible to create film aiming to usher in a new era manages to grab hold of it's audience and take them on an unprecedented cinematic roller coaster ride that delivers the goods every turn of the way, it can be considered successful. Avatar is that success.

A work in progress that spanned a decade and a half, Avatar is more than just a film - it's an experience, an event. When James Cameron set out to make this movie back in the mid 90's, he realized that his ambitions were simply too far ahead of their time. His ideas could not be reached in a feasible manner, and due to this, he had to wait. Or create. Once informed that the image he held for this film was one that was out of grasp, he began working on the technology that would bring his masterpiece within reach. Fifteen years and nearly half a billion dollars later, James Cameron has brought that vision to the screen, and has done so in an extravagant and showstopping way.

Avatar tells the tale of a war between species, each fighting for the ultimate survival of their race. Desperate to find the fuel for their dying planet, human soldiers and scientists set out from earth and set course for Pandora. A planet connected by all living things, Pandora is home to an indigenous species known as the Na'vi, as well as the precious element Unobtanium needed to save earth. Using transference technology, paralyzed marine Jake Sully is volunteered for the "Avatar Program", which enables the thoughts and mind of a human to be placed within the shell of a tube-born Na'vi body. Using this as technique to their advantage, Jake is sent into the harsh Jungles of Pandora in order to bond with the natives, thus gaining knowledge and insight on their ways. Having originally planned to use this knowledge as a means of negotiating the natives relocation, so that the humans can access the deposit of Unobtainium - which just happens to sit below their most worshiped and valued pseudo-deity of their planet.

While the plot on paper may read as a standard shoot'em-up action sci-fi flick, it is a near inconceivable task to truly explain how incorrect this appearance truly is. This takes a stroke from every movie, and a dab from every genre, and manages to create a portrait of beauty, in which all pre-existing notion of what cinema can and cannot do is destroyed. Within the lengthy hundred and sixty some odd minutes of film, moviegoers will find that there is always something to keep them enthralled, a merciful gift when considering how tedious many of the longer film of recent memory can become.

No matter what can be said about the overtly cheesy script,a criticism that, while holding true, manages to fit charmingly into the over-the-top nature of the film, Avatar does as it set out to do, bringing moviegoers a cinematic experience rather than a film. Relying on the technology that he created, Cameron pours his heart into this movie, and it shows in every scene. Ranging from the absurdly detailed creatures to all-too-realistic planet, this flick manages to tell a fulfilling story while all the while throwing jaw-dropping scenery at the audience, giving them only enough time to recover before bombarding them with yet another breathtaking shot.

Be it the fantastical and charming love story told between the native and the outsider, or the too-real-to-be-true action scenes between gunships and foreign ferals, Avatar is what Star Wars was too the 70's, the Wizard Of Oz of the 40's - a masterpiece that will go down in movie history as a game changer of it's time.

4 Stars out of 4 Stars

Visually amazing, but otherwise average at best

[hutchinson_3 · 6/10 · 22 December 2009]

Yeah this movie took several steps forward in terms of cinematography and filming technology, but that is all that can really be said to be what makes this film worth seeing. Everything else that makes a film great is totally lack luster.

There is no deep character development. Why does Jake Sully really want to become a part of the Navi? What was life on Earth like? What really makes him want to break away from his roots there? Is it just the ability to walk? I mean are there no more Native Americans or Buddhists left on Earth (which is clearly who the Navi were based off of) to give him that spiritual satisfaction? How does he feel about filling his brother's shoes? Twin relationship? The conflict between scientists and the military is not developed. Every supporting character was a stock character. Michelle Rodriguez somehow manages to have a place in Hollywood after literally playing the same type of character in every film she is in (Fast and the Furious, SWAT, Blue Crush...yeah just put her in a futuristic helicopter and thats her in this one). Was Sigourney Weaver supposed to be a mother figure? How did the bad guy from the Last of the Mohicans feel about faking a Native American language? The plot was totally predictable, and the dialogue was crap. It was like James Cameron turned in his dialogue assignment a day late.

This movie deserves no award nominations at all outside of those in technical categories.

Its too god to be true

[nofoodu · 10/10 · 30 December 2009]

Avatar was probably the greatest movie i have ever seen in my life. The special effects were jaw-dropping, and i didn't even see the movie in 3-D. But i will go see it for the 3rd time this week, in Imax 3-D.

The emotions displayed on the characters faces were incredibly detailed, especially Neytiri. It all looked so real. If i didn't know better, i would of said that they just went to a distant planet and filmed aliens. It looked so real... This was probably the first movie that i actually was disappointed that it ended. i really wanted it to never end. The flying scenes were incredible, and the scenes when the humans interact with the Na'Vi were flawless.

This movie made me feel blue

[Bart_Mancuso · 1/10 · 22 December 2009]

I realize I am probably going to get flames galore for this comment, and you all have the right to your opinion about my opinion, but hey, I'm entitled to my opinion too. Avatar is grade A crap. That's right, it's crap. I say this for one simple reason: Without the special effects this movie would never, ever captivate and take a hold of audiences like it has in the past week. Ask yourself this one question: If it didn't have the effects, the Navi plugging their hair into the trees like it's a damn broadband jack, mech suits(just like the ones in Matrix Revolutions) and barely futuristic ospreys, would you care about this movie at all? It's a truism when they say this movie is nothing more than Dances with Wolves in space. Some people may argue back that Star Wars borrowed from Hidden fortress, but at least it had enough compelling plot points to make it look different, such as I don't know... the force? The Death Star? Outer space? A location that has NOTHING at all to do with Earth? This important set of points clearly differentiates Star Wars and Hidden Fortress. But The difference between Avatar and Dances with wolves is... CGI. This CGI may be pretty but it cannot ever substitute for story and plot development. Speaking of, the characters save but a few are either very bland or stereotypes. The worst part is the story and the movie gives us no reason to care about the characters. You know what? I'll go one step further and say that the only difference between Avatar and a Star Wars prequel is this: Avatar has an environmental story that we can relate to. That's it. True, the action scenes in Avatar are well done, but hell, the action scenes in the Star Wars prequels were also arguably well-done. Still, there's that nagging lack of story development. Avatar is a huge let-down and doesn't belong on the best-of list of anybody with common sense.

Technically impressive and important but beyond that there is not a huge amount to talk about

[bob the moo · 1 March 2010]

Although I was not too bothered about seeing Avatar as a film, I felt it was a bit foolish to let this milestone of cinema go past me – particularly when the thing it is hyped for are the effects and being the first "big" film to utilise 3D technology to this degree. It just seemed that watching it on my TV in about 9 months on DVD with a basic stereo system would be missing the point. Unsurprisingly I was right because Avatar is technically a brilliant film that deserves to sweep the Oscars in terms of awards for visual effects and other such categories.

If we ignore the 3D for a minute, the actual effects look great and I imagine that it will still be impressive in 2D. The landscapes and world of Pandora are imaginative (ironic since how dumb the name of it is) and very vividly created to the point where you forget that they are effects when you step back from them. Likewise it is so easy to forget that the Na'vi are not actors in quite brilliant outfits and makeup because they look so real and move so naturally – it is a million miles from the films such as Spiderman or Indy 4 where you can see where the real person ends and the jumping/swinging special effect begin. There were points in the film where I found myself wondering how on earth they managed to get a particular shot and where the camera was, only for my brain to kick in a second later to remind me that what I'm seeing is entirely virtual. OK the fantastical visual aspects are clearly creations but I was startled by how accepting of it all was and, in 2D I thought that the effects were pretty seamless.

In 3D it doesn't quite hit the same mark for me. The "look it's in 3D" shots are not as obvious as some of the other films (where stuff comes out of the screen for no reason) but it is still a little distracting when the 3D forces your focus or has stuff where it doesn't aid the scene. Of course the world of Pandora looks great with things moving around in front of you and the final battle sequences are great – the money is all there to be seen. Thing is, the reason I was able to think about "how did they do that shot" while watching the film is because the technical aspects of the film is really all there is to engage with. The plot is basic and obvious – others have talked at length about the rights and wrongs of a story where the white man comes to the aid of the indigenous people, so I'll not add to that debate. The problem for me is simpler than that, it is simply that the plot is weak and the script is just as weak. My girlfriend laughed out loud when the name of the mineral on Pandora was named as "Unobtainium" and there were plenty of things like this. The dialogue between the characters is full of needless plot exposition and thus doesn't ring true. Of course all this is helped by the action and the effects but the narrative and writing weaknesses are all I can think of when I have to listen to people tell me how Avatar is the best film ever.

The cast manage to do solid jobs considering how easy it is for them to get lost in the effects (see the modern Star Wars films to see this happen). Worthington is stuck with some awful dialogue but he is a good presence even in his Avatar. Saldana's performance is good, again despite some of her expressions and dialogue. Weaver is "so-so", Moore is pointless, Ribisi is miscast in a character that is so clichéd that it needed a decent casting to make it be more than it was. I liked Lang a lot and his OTT badass character worked well. Rodriguez seems like she is there because someone important likes her and her character doesn't add a terrible lot. Voice work from Studi, Pounder and others is good.

Overall Avatar deserves to be seen for its technical importance and how impressive it is but the degree of praise for it needs to be put in context by considering how it plays as more than just a special effects milestone. In these terms it is not as good due to a poor plot and script that hurts the actors more than the effects do by handing them some awful dialogue. That it works is testament to how impressive the effects are but there is not a terrible lot to gush about beyond these.

Escapism at it's best

[canuck15 · 10/10 · 27 December 2009]

Just go! The people who made this movie, most of which are just average working people making a normal salary deserve it for what they have created. This movie accomplishes what most people go to movies for. To escape from reality for a little while.

Not only is this what I consider a milestone in the evolution of state of the art movie making, it's a good story with a simple message.

A bit annoyed at some of the criticisms. I don't see anything political in the metaphorical message this movie presents. If Republicans hate the idea that getting close to nature is good and war is bad then too bad so sad for them! There is only 1 directly political reference to Bush. That is when the military offensive is referred to as a "shock and awe" campaign. If people are going to get their panties in a bunch over that then again, sucks to be them!

Also don't understand the criticisms about the similarity to Dances with Wolves. Dances with Wolves was not a unique idea. Modern society has been screwing over aboriginals for centuries. What is so bad in pointing that out once in awhile in a way that most people can relate to? By seeing it through the eyes of someone from this modern world.

I loved every minute of this movie. There were a couple tiny teeny little things in the dialog I would have done differently but no matter how you slice it, this is a masterpiece!

" FI ( LM ) NOMENAL " 💎 💎❗❗❗

[Radio-1s_Mr-MovieMad-Ami_104-1FM · 10/10 · 22 September 2019]

A { - M I C R O - } REVIEW .

I just { R E }-watched this film on DVD ...{ YES, believe it or not, some of us STILL like to do that ⭐❗}.. at home with my family the other night. I'm pretty darn sure that I'd watched it ATLEAST twice ( if not an outright THREE times ) ...just AS SOON AS it was released a whole D E C A D E ⭐ ago....... WAY, WAY, WAY back in December 2009 .

I am ENTIRELY-aware that I'll be { TRULY :P } lucky if EVEN FIVE PEOPLE read this review, given the aforementioned, above fact. { THE REASON ⭐ } ..I'M writing this review is to get, ( say ), THREE of the "5 of you" who M A Y JUST ~ ( & this is ENTIRELY possible ) ~ N O T have seen it... Y E T . . to watch it . { YES , S T I L L❗} .... it is truly a " TIMELESS " . . . . M A S T E R P I E C E 🌠 .

If you come to the film with an OPEN HEART & AN OPEN MIND, then I can unequivocally promise.... this "truly LAVISH" visual & metaphysical extravaganza will well & truly set your SOUL ON FIRE 🔥 🔥 { in the Good Sense, of course }. If you thought that the CGI & SPFX of " T I T A N I C ❤ " were just.. { - W - A - Y - } Ahead of their time, for circa 1997 ; then Trust Me . . . . . THIS TOPS EVEN { - T - H - A - T ⭐ - } VERITABLE CINEMATIC "COLOSSUS", believe -it-or-DON'T .

A LAVISH, "CELESTIAL", NO-REGRETS 25 MARKS OUT OF 10 💥❗❗.