If he just makes something up then the only reason to stick to Pandora is to cash in on the Avatar name, not because it's a compelling world with a treasure trove of narrative potential. If Avatar 2 doesn't somehow build upon themes or plotpoints established in Avatar 1, then it would be a purely aesthetic choice.
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James Cameron: "Im in the Avatar business. Period. Thats it."
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makingmusic476
Member
I still haven't seen Avatar.
It's actually the main complaint, because the plot of Avatar is not only absolutely zero-dimensional, but had also been done to death several times before.
Zombie James
Banned
This really makes me sad. I thought Avatar - while good - was a huge step backwards compared to his past work. Didn't help that he went all George Lucas with the CG, either.
shinobi602
Member
Avatar was fucking amazing, so I'm down with this.
JimiNutz
Banned
This sucks because Cameron isn't the best writer...
He's a man with great vision, intelligence and direction, but a great writer he is not.
I hope he at least gets some help with his scripts and hopefully he's intelligent enough to not surround himself with 'yes men' like George Lucas. Men wbo play to his ego and tell him that his scripts are brilliant, rather than having the courage to tell him what sucks and what needs changing/refinement.
Avatar was a fun movie experience.
It was something new to look at and visiting Pandora for the first time was captivating. In my opinion the story had no real depth or weight. The script felt hollow, simple and childlike.
If this aspect is not improved for the sequels I think they run the risk of being boring.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
How did Cameron go 'all George Lucas' with the CG?
B_Rik_Schitthaus
Banned
A guy who puts graphics card benchmarks out to cinemas.
Jex
Member
You fail to understand the infinite potential for storytelling available exclusively in the Avatar universe.
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Yup, it's just that easy. Everyone is doing it and making billions!
The guy who brought back 3D movies for you all to 'enjoy' and pay more. :/
Focused on tech at the expense of the story is my guess.
B_Rik_Schitthaus
Banned
Yeah, there are so many more shaders with their stories left untold.
Actually no, he is pretty much a marketing genius. He knows his demographics.
As it happens, I personally couldn't care less if there was another Avatar film made or not.
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
Ah, so all it takes is knowing your demographic, taking a well known story and making it shitty and simplistic....billions in profit! He should write a book or something.
But Avatar is an action movie too. It just has the different tone but I don't think that T2 had more complex message or characters. Just another flavour, that is all.
Yup. You sure dont need to be a good storyteller or character writer. That much is clear.
I've been waiting almost 8 years for his Battle Angel movie, pretty gutted he's not going to make it as I can't think of any other director who could put enough money on the line to push for the R rating it would need, the only other director I could see making it work is Scott, but he's not getting any younger and already signed up for that Blade Runner prequel (not that I'm complaining).
Wheadon would probably be a good match now I think about it, the show is all about female empowerment and has lots of opportunities for arse shots.
Wheadon would probably be a good match now I think about it, the show is all about female empowerment and has lots of opportunities for arse shots.
And $350M.
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
It's just that simple!
I don't know if T2 has a more complex message, but I know it has much better characters. Sarah Connor alone is more memorable and has a more interesting arc than any of the characters in Avatar. And that's to say nothing about the T-800 or T-1000, who are some of the most iconic heroes and antagonists of cinema.
We get it.
So are the Na'vi going to fashion a space ship out of twigs and rocks to venture out into space? If they want to keep Jake and co. as main characters, I would assume that the Na'vi's technology wouldn't be able to take them off of Pandora. So that would mean that humans from earth stop back to take them on a field trip to another world? Not sure how that would play out.
I like hearing the idea of another world being explored, just not sure how they plan on bring Jake and co. to it, other than a "humans return, only this time they're nice! We promise!" thing. Unless they scrap Jake and co. altogether and explore the new world 100% fresh with a new story and angle, that would be interesting.
StudioTan
Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
No, clearly most of you don't, but continue with the hate fest.
Discotheque
Banned
He is that enamored with this Pandora shit? It's an interesting world but certainly not THAT interesting. Lame.
Will watch and probably enjoy the sequels but I'm no longer excited by this director at all. And that's a huge shame considering what he gave us in the 80s/90s.
Will watch and probably enjoy the sequels but I'm no longer excited by this director at all. And that's a huge shame considering what he gave us in the 80s/90s.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Again, people misinterpreting the article because of the stupid thread title. Avatar is all that's on his plate right now and he's no longer looking to develop projects for other directors.
We may still get Battle Angel yet.
We may still get Battle Angel yet.
Discotheque
Banned
Yeah totally misread that. But him saying "4" has me worried even if it is hyperbole haha. shoot your damn back to back sequels and get on Battle Angel asap.
Don't know, don't care. Just pointing out that being "stuck on Pandora" is not necessarily a big limitation given how diverse storytelling can be on our own planet.
Fudgepuppy
Banned
He kinda sounds like a dick in that excerpt.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Cameron has also already said that there's a narrative reason that the Na'vi are the only bipedal organisms on Pandora - where everything else is hexapedal. Maybe exploring the other moons of Pandora will reveal that the Na'vi were seeded.
NinjaBoiX
Member
Of all the complaints to be levelled at Avatar, I would never expect to see "the world is boring". Six-legged horses for courses I guess.
If you were aware of Roger Dean's artwork you'd basically seen everything already, it wasn't an original world.
I was totally bored of it as well.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Avatar was super boring.
Futuristic mechs fucking up a bunch of 9ft bipedal aliens that can plug themselves into a somewhat sentient planet full of gargantuan bioluminescent fauna and flora (of which they can also conscious interact with), shadowed by floating mountains and pterodactal-like things that they fly?
Fucking YAWN.
Give me more explosions in downtown New York City any day.
Futuristic mechs fucking up a bunch of 9ft bipedal aliens that can plug themselves into a somewhat sentient planet full of gargantuan bioluminescent fauna and flora (of which they can also conscious interact with), shadowed by floating mountains and pterodactal-like things that they fly?
Fucking YAWN.
Give me more explosions in downtown New York City any day.
Jack Scofield
Member
The world of Pandora is fucking lame. Nothing is original. Every animal in there has an Earth analogue, and as a result, nothing seems truly alien.
Such wasted potential.
The plot was boring, the characters were boring, the world was boring. Once the novelty of the 3D wore off after 15 minutes it was a slow and painful slog to the end.
And despite all the tech it actually managed to seem quite dated as well, just 70's prog-rock album covers come to life.
If it floated your boat then fine, but it's one of the most formulaic uninteresting films I've seen. It doesn't matter that they created a whole new world to set it in, there was nothing of value in it.
And despite all the tech it actually managed to seem quite dated as well, just 70's prog-rock album covers come to life.
If it floated your boat then fine, but it's one of the most formulaic uninteresting films I've seen. It doesn't matter that they created a whole new world to set it in, there was nothing of value in it.
That's being reductive and you know it. You can take all of those things (which have frankly been done before), put them in a blender, and have the world still be dull if there's no reason to be invested in it, its characters, or the plot.
Good.
I'd never say that "Titanic" or "Avatar" are bad movies, but personally, I hated "Titanic" and was pretty indifferent towards "Avatar". So I don't know if a "Battle Angel" made by Cameron would still please me as much as "Aliens" or "Terminator 2" did.
Now just let someone else make "Battle Angel", make it brutal as fuck, and all would be well.
I'd never say that "Titanic" or "Avatar" are bad movies, but personally, I hated "Titanic" and was pretty indifferent towards "Avatar". So I don't know if a "Battle Angel" made by Cameron would still please me as much as "Aliens" or "Terminator 2" did.
Now just let someone else make "Battle Angel", make it brutal as fuck, and all would be well.
Okay but when they reach the level of Golden ninja cat people sword fights, that'll be something. Faded Sun actually spent enough time to where I could understand why John Smith joined the natives. Also it had crazy awesome fat things who didn't understand the concept of lying but did it anyway.
I would watch this.
Cant do a worse job than the last guy.
NinjaBoiX
Member
*googles Roger Dean*
Hmm, can't really see it, sorry. Yeah, he seems to have a penchant for luminous colours, but that's were the similarities end for me. You make it sound like they simply lifted his work wholesale.
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