So I had the privilege of sitting in a new IMAX theater with extremely large 3D glasses on my face to watch 15 minutes of Avatar. After the now disappointing trailer debut by Apple, the launch, not the trailer, I must say that the teaser trailer is terrible. Terrible compared to the footage I just saw!
The 15 minutes sliced together portions of the first half of Avatar was mind blowing. I have not seen anything this beautiful on screen before. Of course Australia has its love factor in terms of beauty but this was literally out of this world. The world Cameron has built and the technology he showcases is phenomenal. It truly is something I have not seen before and for that I have become an instant fanboy.
The beasts, the humans, the inhabitants of Avatar all have an awesomeness about them. The technology within the film is awesome. The creatures are spectacular, the 3D is crazy. It all was well worth it. What more can I want, well I want it to be December and I want my tickets ASAP!
Now I must admit the trailer yesterday intrigued me but now I have some serious questions about it. How can Cameron and his team advertise this movie to show viewers they must see it in IMAX 3D? How can they prove to the viewing public that by 1080p alone, this movie is something that is so much more. It cannot be held to a computer monitor or even a widescreen TV, this movie is something you have to see in the theater to view it in all Cameron’s glory.
With that said, the only way to do it is by “word of mouth” alone. This is the advertising that must occur for this to make back all of the millions it supposedly cost to build. Word of mouth as this post, as the folks who just left the theater with me. Let’s help Cameron earn his money back. I already know I will see it more than once in the theater.
Check out the trailer here on AP.
Philip here with my thoughts. Quite honestly, I was a little let down that the meat of the footage consisted of just about everything we saw at Comic Con. While this should have been expected, and certainly isn’t too much of a knock, I’m ok with it as they wouldn’t want too much to get out.
However, I’ll focus on what the footage did well and that’s truly realize a 3D world. We’ve seen 3D used in live action IMAX formats (i.e. – Superman Returns, the recent Harry Potter films) and none have created a 3D environment like what Cameron has done with Avatar. You truly are immersed in the room as Stephen Lang yells at you, Jake Sully, and the cadets. Everything actually looks like it has dimension and isn’t popping out at you so to speak.
That doesn’t even include all the CG stuff that was present in today’s footage. First thing’s first, no one should ever expected “photo-real” CG that they were promising. What should be expected is that Cameron and company will push the technology to it’s absolute limit and that’s exactly what I’m seeing. It may still be CG, but it’s the best looking CG ever put to film. In fact, now that I’ve re-examined the footage on a much larger screen, this puppy demands to be seen in IMAX 3D. The way Cameron shoots the action and Pandora makes it as if he actually flew to another planet to film his movie. It’s all unbelievably stunning and gorgeous to look at.
In turn, it also makes Matthew right. How are you going to advertise a film that so demands to be seen in the best format possible? A computer monitor doesn’t do the footage justice. That also leaves Fox in a bad spot as they now have to figure out a way to market this movie to people who normally wouldn’t rush out to the nearest IMAX for it. The feedback on the footage hasn’t been particularly strong and that does not bode well for the coming months for Fox.
Yet I’ll still be there opening day in my Avatar shirt. Why? I’m drawn into the film. I’m thankful that we have yet another completely original piece by a true visionary who’s crafting a world from scratch and his head. It’s unlikely Avatar will be the “game changer” many hailed it as (truthfully, those films are the ones no one sees coming.) What it will do is create another great sci-fi/action film in the illustrious career of James Cameron. Let’s hope the wind starts to blow in their favor.
The footage was very good and maybe even great. The 3D is probably the best I’ve ever seen utilized, its not just things popping out at you constantly. It actually adds depth to the world. The Navi (blue creatures) look a little off at first, but it works since they actually show emotion facially. My only problem is that some of the dialogue was a little cheesy at times. There’s that cliche scene where he’s like, “Oh yeah, I’m bad, you wanna mess with me?”, and of course the,”lets dance!”. Besides that, the footage was pretty great and I’m still really excited. BTW, Sam Worthing looks really great in this.