Avatar: The Fandom That Failed
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
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Today we're looking at the Avatar franchise and how its lack of real-world fandom contrasts its record-breaking success at the box office.
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Music
By Your Side - David Luong
Happy-Go-Lively - Laurie Johnson
Cool Vibes - Kevin Macleod
Corduroy and Cheese - Piotr Pacyna
Covert Affair - Kevin Macleod
Film Noire - Kevin Macleod
Curious Notion - Terry Devine-King
Today's Diary - Chiro
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Timestamps
0:00 Intro
4:33 Sponsor
5:53 The Avatar Problem
7:19 James Cameron
10:25 Avatar's Release & Reception
12:15 Movies in the Mid 00's
12:47 Avatar-Mania?
13:49 The Fringe Fanbase
17:10 Avatar 2
18:21 Promoting Avatar 2
20:54 Avatar 2 Succeeds
22:21 The Fandom Still Flops (Kinda)
22:45 Avatar's Influence - Komedie
Being an Avatar fan saves you so much money. All the merch is on steep discount and you only have to go to the theater every decade.
That's a billionare mindset if ever I've heard one!
Move over, dave ramsey!!!!
😂😂
There's merch?
There's also, like, 3 volumes worth of tie-in Comics, and like 2 lore-relevant games
In 10 years
They commission artists for a decent price, so they're chill in my book.
Avatar 5 is the first film we know off that willl be released in the 2030's.
The discussion around Avatar lacking cultural impact was in itself cultural impact.
It made as much impact as a wet fart
@@feathercat9118Which is why the sequel made 2 billion dollars, because nobody cares about the first one . . .
"Nobody is talking about avatar!" -the guy who's tracing any cultural relevance of the first avatar for 13 years and still wondering until now how it became no. 1 in box office
@@tarantinoburrows1406it’s true tho. Avatar made a ton of money but no one talks about it. There also aren’t memes or videos on it. It doesn’t trend randomly on social media. I’ve personally never seen someone with a avatar profile picture either. It functional doesn’t exist past it’s launch in theaters.
@@baathy1374 all of your points are purely anecdotal though. I've seen tons of memes of it and people who like Avatar and I've enjoyed it since I was a kid along with many other people I know. Just because you haven't seen something in your own subjective bubble of life doesn't mean it isn't a real thing that exists. Just the very fact that both movies are in the top grossing films of all time disproves your claim that nobody likes them or cares about them. If nobody cared about the first movie past it's release the second one would've never made as much money as it did (ESPECIALLY in a time when ticket sales are at an all time low and most people don't have the attention span for a three hour movie). Just because the people who like Avatar aren't chronically online and constantly arguing about it the way Star Wars fans do doesn't mean people don't like it. It's just more popular with normal people who don't care to whine about movies on the internet.
As a child I was a huge Avatar fan. You could catch me running around in our countryhouse's backyard with handmade bow and arrows and a blue sash as a tail... I was cringe but I was free
Cringe but free sounds pretty fun tbh. Lol
Same.
"Doktor, turn off my cringe inhibitors."
Aww that sounds really fun actually
As a kid I loved this movie soo much, j constantly rewatched it and I pretended the white dandelions were the seeds of the secret tree.
Avatar fans: The only nerds who regularly touch grass and somehow get slagged for it
this hit me hard
I've treated these movies more as technology demonstrators than movies.
The Unreal engine demos of cinema
Same, and I will always happily go to see the new tech, even if avatar 2 was a huge letdown for me, I am very excited for what comes next
its an update to those old test CGI videos they use to use to benchmark GPUs
Well said, I've always considered Avatar to be as deep as the CGI renders on the box of graphics cards.
Cool +3hr screensaver
I met a guy who told me Avatar is his favourite film of all time and I felt like I had found bigfoot.
It's not my favorite but it's definitely high on the list for me
I judge those people
@@octogonSmugglerWhy? For enjoying something?
@@steffimaier7297yes
I'VE MISREAD IT AS YOU FOUND A BIGOT 😭
Remember guys, Pacific Rim with just ONE movie have a big fanbase...
Where they all at I sure as hell don’t see em
@@THEbackbender420 If you spend time at mecha or tokusatsu online spaces then Pacific Rim is mentioned every single time when a discussion about films are brought up
its sad pacific rim doesn't have a sequal but its probably for the best so they dont drop the ball on it cause while i don't doubt that they could've but it would be hard to re catch the lighting the first movie had
@@dudesayshi2191 it did get this really weak non-canon spinoff called "Uprising", but honestly, the anime did it better.
@@spazzey0 pffft what's this pacific rim uprising it doesn't exist but I do agree the "anime" (bc it was made in America) did a good job but that story felt more right for a series rather than a movie
Honestly, part of it is that the merch is just inherently lame and goofy. Who wants to paint their skin and dress up as a weird furry in a loincloth? Like compare it to Star Wars, there aren't really any "cool" characters to latch onto, like Darth Vader, and there aren't easy, fun, and not-inherently-awkward cosplay options like stormtroopers. You have generic futuristic US military peeps and uncomfortable blue Native larping to choose from.
The only character I can see people enjoying is the colonel, and not even because he is well-written.
As an Avatar fan I agree with you on that. Personally find most SW outfits more comfortable to wear and can also be more affordable.
thats honestly a good observation, theres little to no cosplay potential or memorable characters...
I have some of the merch, but not because I am an Avatar fan, I only have the creatures because I think they are cool and I am a huge fan of the artist who designed them.
Agreed. When you look at physic of your average cosplayer, it’s hard to imagine any of them pulling off an authentic looking Navi.
Oh no there’s a dude who wears Avatar merch completely unironically. Jimmy from my high school went full LOTR nerd but for avatar in 2009. Dude was one of the “heart throb” popular kids until he proudly showed pretty much everyone his collection of 5 avatar blue rays. One for watching, one for “display”, one for safe keeping/ prosperity, one for his future wife, and one to sell later because he was sure it would be super valuable. Watching the light of dozens of teen girls crushes fade during his monologue is a core memory for me
I wear my Avatar merch proudly where I can. 🙂
Avatar merch is more effective birth control than condoms.
My brother is that dude, wild how anyone can become obsessed with anything
I thunk I have some of the kinder eggs. They're, nice I guess. Kinda embarrassing really
Bro hyperfixated so hard he scared the hoes
Pandora in Disney World is also an anomaly. I’ve been multiple times and the lines are hours long, but no one’s in the gift shops and you don’t see anyone with Avatar souvenirs or shirts.
It’s to see that one impressive animatronic and that’s all they got
Ironically that animatronic is like the movies, super impressive visually and shows how far tech has come.. but afterwards you don’t really care about it anymore
People want to experience the alien world as a setting. The movies and a theme park will give them that, but nothing else will. Unless you have a ton of money to redo your whole house.
That flight of Pandora ride was pretty damn amazing
@@KingOfGaymesboth the rides in the land are great and it’s the best looking land in the park
Not surprising, every ride is hours wait except wheel of progress and the presidents one. It's just so many people all the time from all around the world.
I think the secret sauce is that the real star of the AVATAR movies is the world itself. Yes there's character, heroes/villains, technology... but it's all in service of an incredibly realized, vivid, and immersive world. You can't really box that up and sell it as a LEGO set or a t-shirt. The folks who love AVATAR talk about things like community, culture, and conservation. You can't put that on as costume and cosplay it.
Pretty much, the immersive visual feast was always its strongest point. It did a few other things well too, like the ship designs, the atmosphere being unbreathable (which is accurate), and the Pocahontas/Ferngully plot was good enough. But the rest of the film doesn't really hold up on its own, those are sideshows compared to the big tent of vivid visualization in imax.
Yes yes yes you get it! I will admit that the characters aren’t the strong point for me, but the world is where the meat’s at. The wonder kid me felt at seeing Pandora’s creatures come to life is something I will never forget. And I feel like we don’t explore a lot of alien civilizations in sci-fi other than high tech grays. It’s just fun to see cool worldbuilding.
So we agree that Avatar would be better in a documentary style?
Its one of the best things about Monster Hunter World. Just gathering resources and seeing the monsters actually interact with eachother and the environment always felt good, but its a game. Not a movie I feel rewatching does near nothing.
Precisely, it also adds to mention Wane Barlowe was involved, he is a master at worldbuilding.
An Avatar game would work better if it where a large open world survival game focused on PvP (but with a single player option, thers folks like me who just want to play survive) , think Ark Survival but you're on Pandora, the Navi get to tame animals and humans make their mechs.
Avatar is so weird, I don't know anyone that actually likes it and I feel like everyone's just been gaslit into thinking it's popular.
I think its alright, but man oh man is it crusty.
Fun to get high to.
I really like it. It's a cool display of alternative evolution.
My overweight auntie sue loves them
It's just James Cameron's personal fetish that everyone pretends to like so they don't hurt his feelings.
No a lot of ppl liked it. But it was just a visual spectacular and nothing with substance. So ppl saw it once said that was cool. And never thought of it again
I remember in my high school years a girl I hung out with was so obsessed with the blue people to the point that she was truly depressed she couldn’t be one. “They’re beautiful” she would remark.
I heard that avatar depression was a real problem. People wanted to live amongst them so baddd after watching the movie.
Now it all makes sense. It was James Cameron and this movie that killed the 2000s.
I must have my revenge ...
@@TheSuperNyanKittyI was 9 when the movie came out and I was genuinely very upset I couldn’t be a blue man 😂 I would still probably take the offer if it was possible.
I am also depressed that I am not one of the blue cat people lol. I mean the planet is beautiful and you don't have to wake up at 7 am for work everyday LOL.
My dad tried to drag me to go but even back in my teen years I knew it was just a vapid CGI demo.
Avatar was the peak 'water cooler movie'.
"Hey Bill you seen that new movie?"
"With the blue guys? Yup"
Barely something to talk about but everyone knows it
exists
And yet it makes a billion dollars every time is on cinemas.
@@angelsunemtoledocabllero5801 Nobody said Avatar was a commercial failure. Just that it's entirely forgettable. What is there to say about it, aside from talking about the visuals?
The most popcorn movie that ever popcorned.
@Mirthful_Midori That it was a fun time, maybe? Who cares? I don't understand the point of this discourse. "Avatar had no cultural impact". Ok. Now what? Like is this supposed to be a point against the quality of the movie? An insult? A way to kill time arguing a point nobody is really interested in refuting? I really just don't get it lmao
**channeling my inner Smiling Friends rotoscope guy** “IS THAT FUCKING BLUEFACE, DUDE?!”
we're talking about non-existent fanbases not simulated ones
No no no, this isn't blueface, I'm an actual Na'vi from Pandora.
@@mariopikaman1 “get the FUCK out man!” **slams face onto the floor**
I always wondered why the Na'vi were okay with avatars running around, like they didn't think it was racist as fuck?
I know that reference
I'd say its massive popularity yet seeming non-existence online stems from mainly older demographics liking the series. Those people dont tend to congregate online and obsess over this universe. Atleast this would be my guess considering my grandparents absolutely adore this movie and watched like ten times.
Guess what the most viewed series in the US is? Yellowstone. This doesn't really have a huge fandom online despite millions watching it, again, mainly older people.
This. My 90 year old gran is absolutely obsessed with the movies but she's not in the demographic to buy merch or cosplay. I gave her a book by the artists that designed the world building but that's it.
I was also thinking this. Not just specifically old people but also just people who don't really do online. I've met a bunch of 30 somethings who just don't go online much. It's a "normie" film.
Tf is Yellowstone? Never even heard of it lol. Makes me think that maybe we (Z) are just as disconnected from the boomers as the boomers are from us. They don't know anything about anime, and we don't anything about the stuff they watch.
@@corbanbausch9049 this actually isn't even an age thing. There are also young people out there who've never touched an anime in there life either. I have a friend who hasn't really watched a single television show; this includes anime, they only play video games as a activity.
@juliaboon9741 I know, that was just an example, I only started watching anime myself in 2020, and I’m 24. Video games, movies, and other stuff like D&D can be examples too.
Calling avatar fans the horse girls of sci-fi is so funny and so accurate. I almost lost it
Shut up
That's funny.
Here’s the weird thing about Avatar that really speaks to how unpopular it is: Look at how much Rule34 there is for Avatar(Blue) and then look at how much there is for Avatar(Bending).
Exactly! It does have a fandom…Of horny women on Tumblr with size kinks. 😐
raid shadow legends moment.
never seen any of that.
Yah, you would think that a franchise about humanoid aliens are bound to get a lot of those but the results are meh
Disturbing considering that one of those franchises features a mostly underage cast...
@@McDonaldsCalifornia bitch where? Sully is like 35 in the first film.
There isn’t a Avatar fanbase because it’s actually the James Cameron fanbase, where like a few filmmakers have a huge passionate driven fanbase that’ll go out and see their work no matter what, especially the likes of Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve (currently developing), Tim Burton (used too), and Steven Spielberg (in his prime) have.
I love Avatar but yeah you're mostly right
Also the majority of the "fanbase" is just normies. When Way of Water came out my electrician and lumberjack cousins asked me how it was. So did my uncle who mostly watches golf I think
You named my favorite directors, Spielberg being my most, I think Nolan is the succesor of Cameron, same way Villeneuve is the succesor of Nolan, they dominante sci-fi blockbusters in IMAX, but also made historical films that earned awards, which people love or hate (Titanic and Oppenheimer, Villeneuve needs to do the Cleopatra film).
As for Burton fanbase, is very true, many friends and I grew with his films and love him, mostly girls (who also love Harry Potter), but they tend to ignore the Batman duology due to a lack of interest in superheroes, or not knowing Burton directed them, Batman fans are the ones who cares (even 40 or 50 yo men people who most likely only love Beetlejuice and Batman).
What about Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, David Fincher? Even Michael Bay, pretty sure they have a fanbase, even GOAT's like Marty Scorsese or Stanley Kubrick (dead, I know) have them (well deserved).
But Terminator and Alien do have fanbases
@@NoahToledo-xo5pjyes but you have to consider three things:
1. most of the movies in these franchises weren’t directed by james cameron
2. unlike with terminator, the alien franchise wasn’t even created by james cameron
3. both franchises also have tons of additional pieces of media (comics, games, TV shows, etc.)
I think one of the things that hurt Avatar/Pandora from becoming a sci-fi fandom perennial was a lack of easily-accessible presence between movies. Compare it to how the OG Star Wars movies put out books, comics, & cartoons to keep themselves in the public eye between the years. Meanwhile, all Avatar has is... a world at a single expensive theme park. I don't think there were even comics, which is a niche of a niche now.
There’s tons of avatar comics
What hurt Avatar from becoming a popular franchise was the movie being so poorly written that trying to speculate about the setting is an exercise in futility.
I think you might have cause and effect reversed here. There were Star Wars books, comics and cartoons because there was a fanbase ready to receive those things. Avatar never had an audience with any interest so nobody would make books, comics and cartoons, because it would be throwing money away. Audience drives supplementary material not the other way around.
I think you may be on to something, also the fact that it didn’t feel like there was a real world with deeper lore that they didn’t have time for in the movies that would be fun to dive into. Ironically showing more of the humans side would have deepened it and made them feel less like cartoon villains (or interesting ones at least).
Besides the deeper and more realistic themes and honestly better filmmaking, I think the new Dunes were helped by the fact that people who did enjoy them and wanted to know what happens next can go out and buy the books. Part 2 had so many people going out to buy them or haunting book online fandom. That there is an established fandom for that that can keep things alive between films helps too
@@scarlettsibis5351for the blue people avatar or the bald kid avatar?
In the video it was mentioned that no one actually likes Avatar or has any collectibles? I AM that one person that actually has Avatar collectibles 😭
I know about at least three of you including the host - the third one had a YT channel as well.
But actually there's no actual proof you 3 are even real now that I think about it.. 😅
Dude me too.
me too!
@@Aryn-cx9wnYour pro-pic confirms it.
Same!!! Avatar fans rise up!! 💙🩵🌏
when someone says Avatar,i only remember about the Last airbender,sometimes i forgot this film exist
same
Same
Ah the superior avatar
The saying, "There is no avatar movie in Ba Sing Sa" remains true
I just call this avatar “the blue people”.
The horse girl comment was perfection. 🤌🏻
I found it rather bigoted and disgusting, but to each their evil own.
@@penguinjay What does this even mean lol
@@TheSuper200 idk it’s actually so out of pocket i think it’s hilarious
@@TheSuper200 because a lot of horse girls are actually autistic, and horses are their special interest. the whole "horse girl" joke is making fun of them for being weird and "obsessed" with horses. it's ableist. but even when it comes to allistic (non-autistic) horse girls, it's still pretty fucked up to make fun of people for liking something and engaging in their hobby.
NGL, avatar is mostly blue, naked with only loincloth and random unintelligible language and scream
so thats really small amount of materials to work with for avatar fans
fans couldnt imitate fckn CGI environment
also the bad guy isnt that well written, they are just your generic military vilain
We seen the same thing with movies like "Gravity"(2013) that lose all appeal outside an Imax theater. Without the immersive experience, those type of movies struggle to hold up on their own.
Is this why avatar has a huge blueray and streaming market?
@@Noob-yx1cu "Huge" is relative to production costs. Unclear numbers as all sequels are filmed together. But with estimates close a half a billion per movie, it takes a billion to cover production and marketing. While the second movie did over two billion, it was not as profitable as the first. Unless the third one offers something completely different, I doubt the returns will be higher.
Same with Dredd (2012), it's actually uncanny to watch in 2D because it has a lot of these long, boring slo-mo scenes that are there purely for the spectacle of 3D imax theatres. It's a shame as well because unlike avatar the story was solid and could have launched a more modern Judge Dredd franchise, but it flopped because they fell for the 3D meme.
@@captainweekend5276 "Dredd" failed due to poor marketing and for being unfairly compared to "The Raid", that was released earlier that same year with a very similar plot. Even without the 3D, the context behind the slow motion keeps us invested and separate both movies. Different types of action and different visual styles make "Dredd" and "The Raid" memorable in their own ways.
I can't with Gravity is bored and pretentious
Jenny Nicholson bought more Avatar merch than everyone else combined
The number one take on this I will never forget is Jacksfilm's classic "man on the street" interview segment of:
"Can you name one single character from the highest-grossing film of all time, James Cameron's 'Avatar'?"
Lemme tell you, there were NOT a lot of winners.
I would have won that no problem.
Cuauhtémoc, Jaguar warrior of Tenochtitlan
I know Jake Sulley mostly because they say his name over a thousand times between the 2 movies
I only would have won that because my parents really liked the movie and the protag's name is drilled into my mind - although part of that is because "Jake Sull(e)y the blue person" makes me think of Sully from Monsters, Inc. and that's honestly a very effective mnemonic
They say this as if you wouldn't get the same result if you made someone watch a movie with primarily Korean/Nigerian/Mongolian names and then asked them to remember their names.
The editing on this is next-level holy shit
Insane he did all of it on his own.
“His name is James, James Cameron! The greatest pioneer. No budget too steep, no sea too deep. who’s that? It’s him! James Cameron”
GOAT South Park reference 😂
I just watched Point Break yesterday, such a good film
James Cameron doesnt do what James Cameron does for James Cameron…
@@malaisto925 … James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron is, James Cameron😤
@@koobs4549Point Break is one of my favorite movies, have you seen the remake? I like it, it's set on my country (Venezuela) with our most famous star: Edgar Ramírez.
Has no cultural impact whatsoever, and is only the second most famous franchise named “avatar”
5.2 Billion dollars say otherwise.
Money is money threat why I said cultural impact, ask captain marvel about the difference
Oh you are so silly for thinking atla is more famous
@@Noob-yx1cu it is though XD
More people know this Avatar but more people like atla
Avatar was the movie equivalent of a fire work show, you like fire works, we all like fire works, it's fun to see, we will pay to see a good one, we will get freinds and go see one, we look forward to the next one, but at no point in the day after the fire works will you go "hey Todd, those fireworks were so cool." You will see it, smile, clap, and walk away
very well said.
It was like watching CGI cutscenes from a video game, so it honestly didn’t feel like anything new.
I’m honestly mad that the original soundtrack was so different from what we got, a shame really.
you dont even know how it sounded
There was an Avatar-themed Cirque Du Soleil show. I know this because I saw it before I watched the movie it was based on.
Well now I've gotta look this up...
Oh.
oooo i saw Avatar on Ice, cool to know there was a Cirque too
those shows are dope, but also gay as fuck, but also so dope. So I bet that one was mad cool. I'd torrent them Cirque dvds if I were still trippin, but I'm not for now, but damn, I def know how fun those can be. Pretty trippy. That one woulda been extra
Watching Avatar just feels like I'm watching someone else play an on rails video game. I'd rather just play a video game.
Um… I don’t know how to tell you but there was a game released recently, I heard it was decent if that interests you!
Ubisoft @@PuffyBuffy
What does this even mean
@@Noob-yx1cuan on rail video game means a very linear game that basically leads you on a path, think of like those arcade games where all you do is aim your gun while the game moves itself.
Avatar is just 3 hours of cutscenes
I can't wait for the 4th movie where the Navi have to deal with the Helldivers of Superearth.
TRULY What we NEED not want
I can’t tell if that’s gonna be a wipe for the Na’vi or the Helldivers. Helldivers just keep pushing through while Na’vi are stealthy as hell.
@@fulcrum6760 You’re forgetting the strategems that they can call down.
@@Lobsterwithinternet Yeah but those things compared to the RDA are just limited as hell and break easily compared to the RDA.
Superearth or the Astra Militarum. Who gets to Pandora first? Place your bets!
i actually used to be a hardcore Avatar fan, i wrote fanfics, learnt the language and was super invested. i still really admired the universe JC created. and there’s actually quite a big Avatar fandom, you just need to dig into it a bit hehe. yeah i’m the Avatar apologist!
So Avatars fandom Unicorns are real?
I have watched Avatar 2 three times and I still can’t remember much about it. I know space whales are tortured/ killed for some gold stuff that stops aging, and that there is a freaking kid legit named Spider, lmao.
And there's water.
If this gold stuff stop aging I can justify why their being tortured.
I mean that tells more about you than the movie
Yeah the sequel was entertaining enough to watch once but was overall disappointing
They said the Humans don’t care about mining this time but they focus the whole movie on Whaling instead which is just another resource conflict
The fact that a game about running cookies has a bigger fanbase than avatar is insane.
Running cookies? What?
@@BrandEver117Cookie Run/Cookie Run Kingdom (the latter is more popular in my experience).
Running chickens xdd
@@HazardousFox the smae fanbase moved on? Pretty much imo.
Yeah but that's a fandom for Gen Alpha
here in Italy, we have a small animated movie called "Aida degli alberi"... Aida, the protagonist, is a blue, feline-like girl who lives on a forest-like planet... and this movie was released in 2001.
Die hard Avatar fan here, I thought this was a very good and fair video which brought up a lot of valid points, I can corroborate the no new content for a decade angle because it's exactly what happened with me. I watched the first movie when I was 10 and loved it, I played the game obsessively and read the annual, but over time my interest in the franchise tapered off since there wasn't anything new coming out. I think the last time I watched the movie was in 2015 before it exited my mind completely save for the occasional piece of news i'd read about the upcoming sequels.
Fast forward to 2022 and I see the title announcement and hear about the trailer being exclusive to some marvel capeshit I don't remember the name of I started to get excited about the franchise again, I was talking to someone at work about movies and I brought up that the new trailer was out for Avatar 2 and he said he'd seen it the night before when he watched said marvel movie and we started talking about Avatar, I was asking him questions about what the trailer had etc, then we started talking about the first movie and even though it had been 7 or 8 years since i'd last seen it I was really surprised at how much of the film I actually remembered. When I got home later that day the trailer was leaked and I was watching it over and over until it came out officially on CZcams.
Getting excited for Avatar again made me feel like a kid again, and it looks like this excitement about the franchise isn't going anywhere for a very long time. However I would like to give a reason why the Frontiers of Pandora videogame just came and went with no effect on the fandom - it's a 7/10 Ubisoft open world game, I have never found it hard to engage with anything related to Avatar because i'm very well versed with the lore and story so far but I don't know how they managed it but FoP just isn't very engaging or interesting for me.
In a way, I kind of like that despite the franchise being as huge as it is the fanbase is relatively small and close nit, it feels like a small town where everybody knows each other and the fanbase itself is one of the nicest and most welcoming fanbases i've ever seen, there's a fan meetup planned in Paris in a couple months which is shaping up to be a great time for those lucky enough to attend.
I like how you refer to marvel as "capeshit" when that so called "cape shit" is alot more relivent and popular then avatar ever was...more people can remember those movies and there characters then they can avatar and there characters
@@michaelbirkinshaw8523 Relevance doesn't equate to quality.
@@ToiletGrenade except there plenty of marvel movies that are good quality made movies that capture the hearts and imaginations of the audiences thst watched them and had more cultural impact and relivence .. basically you don't need to shit on one film series in order to prop up one you like... you could of said i saw the trailer for the second movie at a marvel movie but no you had to take lazy pot shots for no reason labeling them all marvel capeshit and undermining the amount of success they have made becoming one of the biggest movie series to exist...the reason marvel has remained relivent is because they have released constiently good movies with good likeable character that carried the story's of the movies they are in that have made cultural impacts around the world and captured the hearted and imagination of the movie going audiences..in fact the level of success the marvel movies have had is almost unheard off and almost impossible to repliacted which has been proven hy other movie studios jumping ont he shared universe bandwagon and failing ...when it comes to most film series often they either get worse and worse or they make less and less box office gross or some times both...for example alien the first 2 masterpieces but everything else after it kept getting worse and worse and made less and less..or terminator...after the second one the movies got worse and worse and made less and less but for marvel movies this wasn't the case...phases 1-3 of the mcu was a gigantic cultural event juggernaut of a film entertainment series where almost every movie with a few exceptions was a success and constanlty broke box office records and was heavily well reviewed and recieved by film critics and genral audiences... have they tripped and fell over in recent years yes...have they made bad movies of course every movie series has stumbled and made failures and the MCU is no different in that regard but labeling everything marvel has done as just bad cape shit just undermines the legitmately good quality movies they have made...iron man 1, captain america: the winter soilder the avengers movies, the guridans trilogy, civil war etc was all good quality movies and pretending they aren't to hop on the hate bandwagon is completelty disingenuous and objectively wrong.
@@michaelbirkinshaw8523 If you like it hey, more power to you, I don't.
@@ToiletGrenade you can like them or not that's fine but the point is that you saying relivence of there's doenst equal to quality is completely wrong because theres loads of good quality marvel movies that prove your point wrong the level of success these movies have achieved is unmatched and unparalleled and is basically the new starwars for a new generation of the 2010,s ...atleast there characters are more likeable, memorable and more interesting then avatars and have actually good characters and development...the avatar movies put all there focus on there cgi special effects that everything else about those movies from characters and story is so underwritten and developed to the point they arnt very memorable outside of the special effects while the better marvel movies puts most of its focus in to it's characters and making them interesting and likeable which is why people continue to remember these characters more so which is why they remain to have a larger cultural relivence....thanos will go down in history as one of the best and most well known movies villains in movie history up there with Darth Vader while the generic genral army dudes anrt even remembered now by the public never mind in the future.
That awkward moment when The Room has more pop culture staying power than the highest grossing film of all time.
What's crazier The Room also 2 movies yet the og. Has been label more one (worst movie & funny..etc) while Avatar couldn't get out of VFX achievements despite being sci-fi.
Yes, probably Cameron felt very awkward when he saw those 2 billion at the box office. But then he saw people weren't making Rule 34 or Fanfiction of his characters so he got sad.
@@angelsunemtoledocabllero5801 No one is saying the movie wasn't successful.
Nobody buys "The Room" merch or wears The Room shirts either, so I doubt it has more cultural impact.
Also the Room never even got a Lego set, so Pandora is winning the culture wars in my book.
@@a.velderrain8849 They don't have screenings of Avatar after release that people show up to in costume and follow a ritual for. Also, the lego set is probably because The Room isn't very all ages friendly what with the multiple awkward sex scenes. I would buy the absolute fuck out of a The Room lego set. You're making me excited for something that doesn't exist now. You could build the tiny roof set, the apartment (with the ability to knock over all of the furniture in a rage). I WANT THIS LEGO SET NOW.
I love how you're slowly becoming the Canadian Brutalmoose with these edits. But I'll always remember when I took my grandma to go see this when it first came out and she said to me: "The effects were good, but everything else was so BORING." I still miss you grandma :(
Now that's a name I have not heard in a long time... A long time.
I’m a fan of Avatar. I like how hippie dippy it is. Plus the music is good and it’s truly a world I can get lost in. It’s blue aliens on dragons with machine guns.
50th like
@@A-Clear_Viewok and nobody cares because it’s not special or impressive in the slightest sense
@dabbingraccoons6416 I'm betting you were a middle child😂😂
If you love Avatar you'll LOVE 40k. What about _green_ aliens riding jumbo-jet sized dinosaur tanks with IMPRACTICALLY LARGE AND OVERDESIGNED machine guns?
@@LordCrate-du8zm yes literally the whole premise of 40k is ridiculously impractical over engineered soldiers and guns.
It's wild to me. McFarlane made some KILLER action figures for this last movie. The sculpts were some of the companies best. They did really cool scales, some great playsets. All of them, clearance. No one bought them. I found some at a weird discount store recently, that literally, nothing in the store had a legit name brand, except a bunch of avatar figures. I've been to all sorts of conventions, no cosplay. Nothing. I will admit, that game tempted me. I love the Far Cry engine, and it's basically a scifi Far Cry game. Haha
I mean with very few exceptions I feel like most actuon figures just always end up on clearance. As toys they are very meh, so unless someone wants to collect them they just end up in the landfill.
That's actually not entirely true. People LOVED the A.M.P. suit, you couldn't find that anywhere.
Btw the fandom does exist, they’re just hiding out in Reddit and Tumblr because they wanna be left alone and not get bullied for being “cringe” by the rest of the internet.
They need to stop being cringe over a tech demo, then.
@@CloakofAuron you are the exact reason why they’re hiding out. They’re just minding their own business, so should you.
they are like the navi hiding out within the forests of pandora, while outsiders farm their culture for content. Quite poetic
All I know is somehow through pacing he made a 3 hour movie feel like a 90 minute film, it ended and I was like there is no way that was that long. Kinda a pacing masterpiece ngl
avatar 1 pacing was better
but yeah, sitting 3 hours didnt felt boiring
I still personally love Avatar. Sure it's not really for _everyone,_ but it'll always be my cup of tea. I especially adore the vehicles, especially the ones from The Way of Water.
No I am not in a room being held at gunpoint, forced to read out a script.
Edit: srsly tho, I love the films
hm (:
The only thing I don't like is the very one sided message :(
Only thing I liked was the world and I dont include the blue people. So I never understood why it made so much money, because im not going to watch such a long movie to see glimpses of the world. Others can enjoy it I will just not understand why and thats fine. Hope a third movie doesnt take another decade for you.
@@theultraatomicgamerYes, we should also listen the side of the people trying to destroy the jungle they are probably very good people.
@@angelsunemtoledocabllero5801 The problem is that the reason why the humans while greedy needed resources to help earth since they're having alot of problems like overpopulation and energy, although what they did was wrong I sympathise their struggles for survival and their desperation.
I feel like the movie would be better if both the Humans and the Na'vi are both morally grey with Jake Sully and his team finding a way to tone the violence down between both sides than just him becoming a simp and a traitor to get some alien pussy.
I think it’s ok for it to have been wildly successful in theaters without much staying power. The point was the stereoscopic filming that was absolutely mind-blowing on an IMAX screen; something you sadly cannot experience again en masse. Compared to the cheesy 3D done in post processing for every other movie, nothing would come close without having licensed that technology from JC. It was basically a giant VR demo of a bioluminescent fantasy world, and it was a genuine experience both times.
Your thumbnail is horrifying, and it got me to click. Kudos to you. You nailed it.
Subscribed.
IM GAY
i had this as a video on my ipod nano, which is probably how it was intended to be viewed by james cameron
Watching videos on the go used to be such a delicate art of scarce possibilities.
na-no
"the person that own avatar merch doesn't exist"
10 years old me having a big avatar poster : ...
The second one was basically “what if we made the same movie but with a more aquatic theme.”
I’m an avatar fan. I have two ikran loungefly backpacks and 3 Christmas ornaments
A fandom like star wars or Sonic will sustain itself for years because there's so much to discuss (and pointlessly argue over). Avatar just dosent have characters or lore that lead to interesting theories or discussions, it's all pretty cut and dry.
Yet it smokes the other two when in comes to success In theaters. That’s what really matters. I dare sonic execs to release sonic 3 against avatar 3 in December 2025 lol we will see if that fandom talk is really relevant.
Not sure if you want to use the Sonic fandom as a positive example here. We at least don't have weirdos like Chris Chan or that guy that nuts into Sonic plushies and other loud crazies that in the long run taint the fandom.
The sonic fandom is strongly dependant on neurodivergent adult babies and bullying
So you haven't been to the Avatar subreddit and Discord (Kelutral having the largest amount of members), read the comics, or go down the James Cameron's Avatar Wiki + Pandorapedia rabbit hole, do you?
cut and dry is a dogwhistle for racist conservative rhetoric, STOP USING IT> CZcams JUST HASNT CAUGHT UP IN TIME TO BAN IT!
Oh man, I really love avatar so much. I wish I was an earthbender.
The most unhinged thing I've ever done is watch Avatar: The Way of Water in theaters three times a week for its entire 17-week run (51 total).
That four month period of my life is a complete blur. I regret nothing.
I'm sorry you've spent 163 hours of your life watching Avatar 2, please tell me that you had a service like AMC A-List and didn't spend the roughly 800-1000 dollars on tickets just to see Avatar, not counting the potential cost of concessions that could've been bought as well
You are a testament to human kind please dont change
@@Lake_Tide_ I think I woke up several people laughing at this unironically I’m gonna
Why
It's truly awe inspiring that in 2024 one man in his bedroom can make a technically sophisticated youtube video that graphically rivals a billion dollar movie from 2009
I met a guy who told me he was learning the N'avi language and my friend desperately wanted a cardboard cut out of Jake Sully xD I think I received a book about Pandora too? The fans definitely existed but they were so short lived compared to other fandoms. Seeing it in 3D it really felt like that was the way Cinema would head forever but even that was a short phase as well.
Nowadays, a lot of the fanbase just consists of people making creepy fanfictions/thirst traps for all the child characters. It’s disgusting. It’s somewhat embarrassing to be an Avatar fan on instagram because of this
@@gingeralebean5375 Oh.
It always felt like to me that the entire selling point of this movie was just the high end CGi effects. No one I know ever said anything about the movie other than how good the effects were or how good it looked on their new 4K tv's.
Had no idea what the movie was even about until years later when I saw a youtube summary of it.
I love it when people who are too online do not understand why something is massively popular beyond their worldview.
they do understand tho because it copies other movies way too closely it's why no one gives a fuck about the movies besides crazy stans ofc.
@@boredbitch666 marketing push vulnerable people care about this one. The marketing was insane. Nobody actually likes it. Just dudes who like getting bjs bc of boring movies, and autists that dont.
@@boredbitch666 i see it differently, they arent very vocal to defend the movie and didnt really care if it was unoriginal. I for one enjoyed the theatrical experience as a movie night. See Zack Snyder fans or Star Wars fans if you wanna see some crazy stans
This comment feels like you didn't watch the video. But idk.
What I do know is that I agree it's silly to make fun of someone for liking something you don't understand.
That’s kind of a silly thing to say. When you consider most of fandom IS online these days and this IS a video about fandom. If the movie franchise barely a few thousand fanfics on the most popular fanfic site, that tells me it’s not culturally relevant.
Ok I watched this again and I have to point out that the overall quality of the video is outstanding. You hit all the beats. Perfect transitions, funny delivery, really good variety of b-roll, tiiiiiiight editing. Great work bro
oh snap!
thanks for the surprise video!
i forgot I subscribed to you.
nice to see you back.
the fact that one of the only memorable things about avatar 2 was a blue giant evil dilf that has 5 minutes of screentime is so hilarious to me
Recently, I got into a binge of creating my own species and I just realized, Avatar's biggest failure is that none of the characters are instantly recognizable. They're literary is no variety with the Navi.
I feel that Avatar is good at selling the world, but not at selling the characters, and from my experiences with fandoms, characters are the main drawing card for a lot of people. Just look at many not-so-good shows with memorable characters - even if people are hating on the plot, they will still write thousands of rewrites and AUs for their faves
i watched avatar for my environmental science class and i fell in love with the movie haha seeing this video pop up in my notifications made me smile, great video!!!
wow, they made you kids dumbasshit
I'm gonna write about what I love about Avatar.
First off, the obvious. The visuals, the soundtrack, creature designs and immersion. Next is the pacing, execution and directing. It never feels as if one scene is too long or dragging, something important always happens that pushes the story forward. The story never gets stuck in one place. Then there are the action scenes. The monster chases remind me of glimpses of movies like Jaws and Jurassic park, movies that I was a fan of during my childhood. While the gunfights also give me somewhat of a similar vibe to the original Star Wars prequels(to which I'm also a fan). And then there's the characters. You may not relate to the main characters or maybe you do, but one thing about them is that they aren't hateable. They may be flawed but you start rooting for them as you follow them throughout their journey. And contrary to most people, a lot of elements from Avatar actually was unforgettable for me. Like the concept of a massive neural network that spans an entire planet connecting all lifeforms through neurons which creates a conscious Godlike entity and protector which also creates a biological afterlife for the living things in Pandora. That was a really fascinating concept and it was very beautifully portrayed.
First of all, I hate all the characters in the Avatar movies. Incredibly dumb in the main character is incredibly selfish. Of all, if you like the music of the Avatar films, I highly recommend you watching the sideways documentary about how that music was made because the music honestly is one of the weakest parts of the series and that video essay that sideways. Maine not only explains why, but is a perfect encapsulation of why the series sucks.
@@jordanwhite352 If the music was bad, then immediately it should sound bad, and the audience would quickly say it's bad. But if I needed an entire documentary to explain, analyze and dictate why the music was bad, that feels more like indoctrination and gaslighting. That feels more like trying to gaslight other people into believing they are wrong for liking something and gaslighting them that having their own opinions is invalid and the only valid perspective is from the guy who made the documentary.
Didnt like the characters. I only liked the other creatures and the world (Obv music, visuals were good as well). Its why I forgot about everything except the creatures and the world. Its like I watch someone play a videogame and they dont interact with the stuff I want to see. Others can enjoy it ofcourse, I just like to talk why I didnt and like to hear why others do like it.
I respect your opinion but what avatar is for me is soulless movie with good visual that I will forget about 5 minutes after watching (that not even a sarcasm I legitimately forgot everything about this movie the moment I walk out of the theater)
@@maldivesthegamer9774 Yeah, it's not really for everybody, your opinion is valid whether you liked it or not. As I said, for some, it's the most cinematic, unique, one of a kind movie experience, and for others it's just a 3 hour video game cutscene. Different opinions, both valid. Don't let others dictate what you should like or don't like.
That cut to you suddenly wearing sunglasses just so you could take them off was genius
I love the effort that goes into making every part of the video entertaining
Just so you know, I just found your channel today and I literally love it. Your sense of humor, candid coverage, interesting topics- I adore it. Please keep it up. Would love to see you cover some other Internet related nostalgic subject matter. ❤
Avatar is great example of what Aldous Huxley called 'The Feelies' in Brave New World. Basically a visual spectacle to provide some eye candy and give you a dopamine hit while not making you go through the difficult effort of actually having to think. Bread and circuses to provide copium to the great unthinking masses.
Underrated comment.
One movie, and a whole theme park land based on it. After visiting Pandora at Animal Kingdom I gained a whole new respect for that film.
Im genuinely amazed to heae youve been doing this all by yourself. This level of productions rivals that of avatar yet blows it out of the water by you actually having a fan base
Job well done brother! Your videos keep getting better and better! Please keep up the great work. Looking forward to more videos!
Damn Pedro Pascal jr you went in hard on avatar hahaha
Great video, keep it up!
21:29 "It's almost like negativity sells, and a cynical outspoken minority will create an echo chamber that amplifies a perceived sentiment that actually isn't widely shared. Who knew?"
Damn, I *felt* that
Got something that you'll feel even more: "Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle."
Perfectly sums up Avatar.
Just want to throw this out there.
I'm a furry, and since the first movie was released I've seen exactly 1 furry who likes the Navi. And it's definitely not to a high level.
Yep, even the furries aren't Avatar fans!
And you are back!! Amazing work Slow. Bravo 👏
I really appreciate the effort you put into these videos. They only seem to get better and they're always entertaining to watch : )
I didn't know the movie Avatar 2 came out till a Christmas party in 2023 and watched it with the volume turned way and the plot barely told to me. "Fighting for their planet because cloned and government"
I see so many people hate Avatar but I like it, the story I'm not a fan of but alien life forms have me keep watching in hopes to see more. Hell I wish instead of the story they had for Avatar they had a documentary about the planet or well moon.
This is exactly how I feel. I don’t really care about the characters but I’d love wildlife documentary based on Pandora
"I have never seen anybody wearing avatar merch"
and here I am wearing my avatar hoodie every other day like 😭😭😭😭😭
Genuinely great to see you back. I immediately subbed after watching the McDonald's video and binged watched all your other videos.
the opening skit is beautiful my guy, glad to see you going hard and getting them sponsors too! Keep on being you dude!
This is the most hilarious video I've seen in a while. It had me wheezing throughout. That intro was especially funny. Great work, man!
15:44 (Avatar Fans?)
to be honest, I didn't really know or think there were Avatar fans. or that any of those meetups were even a thing at all.
this is all kind of interesting and surprising to know/learn.
Is it really that surprising....
@Noob-yx1cu maybe not. Just something I never really considered until this video talking about that group's camping trips to Seattle. Never considered looking into and looking this sort of thing up. Hence feeling a little surprised.
@@TwinRiver100 And that was long time ago. We have a much bigger community now, thanks to the second movie and game. We just had an omaticon, where we had interviews with actors and people from the movies, workshops etc...
@@Taronyu_SVK 🤔👍neat
The problem with the toys and video games is that nobody truly cares for the main characters of the movies. The main protagonist, Jake and Neytiri barely have a substantial fanbase independently. Even by pairing standards, they don't have staying power.
What makes the Avatar movies work is the world building, the action and the cinematography. I can watch both and it doesn't require me to think too hard but I can still enjoy it.
I was stoked to stock up on RDA troops and vehicles from the new movie. Lo and behold though, we only got Quarritch and an AMP suit. I wanted marine squads, the helicopters, atv's, submarines, the works. And all I could find was named characters, and an army of Quarritch's just doesn't really do it for me. At least other figures can fit in the amp suits. With some paint they fit right into Star Wars, Halo, Aliens and more.
@@benjaminburton8135 McFarlane also made the crab tank iirc
You’re literally my favorite channel. The work and dedication you put into each video is incredible. Thank you for the laughs.
I LOVED this video. The production value and that intro lmao. Great stuff, wish it was longer!
Something interesting to think about is that the theatrical release of both The Thing and The Princess Bride both ended in box office bombs, yet they are still culturally relevant to this day. The Thing is considered one of the greatest horror movies out there and you can find tons of videos just on CZcams discussing it. While The Princess Bride continues to be a movie that is massively quoted and used in tons of memes. It's still being discussed to this day as well.
I think JC made a mistake by not putting a bit more focus on the story. And I don't mean he should have gone with a more complicated story, because the issue with Avatar's story isn't that it's been done before (there's nothing wrong with going with a plot that's been done before), but that it's been done before and done better. I really liked Avatar when I first saw it in theaters, but once it left theaters, I only watched it two more times - once on DVD, and again because it happened to be on TV and was something to watch. It went from being this amazing experience to being just an okay movie, which is a shame as it's definitely something that should have left more of a cultural footprint than it did.
I have 3 cats. 1 is named Kiri. Another is named Ripley. Guess who theyre named after? lol
What is the thirds name
@@Noob-yx1cu optimus
@@Noob-yx1cu most likely Jonesy
@@Noob-yx1cu Pepsiman.
"You have a platform now" is the funniest line slow start has had to date
Funny enough, I am a HUGE Avatar fan.
Thing is, and I think it's the same with most of us, we are more into nature than social media... hence the lack of a fandom. I for one barely remember to look at my phone...
Wouldn't be surprised if it was due to age gap as well, a lot of Avatar fans are of the older generation.
It's one of those movies that focuses on the "show, don't tell" aspect of storytelling. The stories themselves are extremely simple, but very well done.
Though due to the way it doesn't spoonfeed viewers on the story, I know a lot of misunderstandings arise from the plot, haha
To be fair, there is quite a decent online fandom for Avatar (especially Avatar 2) on TikTok and Tumblr, regarding fanart and edits. Fanfiction for it on AO3 is pretty huge too.
Fr, there's even a website that gives lessons on how to read, speak, and write in the Na'vi language. Also an entire theme park land.
TikTok especially. There's many edits that thrist over Jake Sully, and there's plenty of memes that edit existing memes with Avatar characters (particularly the Sully kids).
I literally just quoted the Ao3 metrics elsewhere. There's like, 5000 fics for Avatar. Which, while not a small number, is dwarfed by the likes of AVATAR The Last Airbender. Eight times as many. Or the MCU, 100 times as many.
Even if we just lmit ourselves to fandoms with blue leads, Sonic The Hedgehog has quadruple the number of Avatar fics. 21,862
@@beardedbear9901 5000 fanfics, where about 90% of them are after The Way of Water. That's a decent number of people who want to be continuously attached to the franchise. Not to mention, there are 3 more films being developed with an extra 2 more in consideration. We could see as many as 7 films in the Avatar franchise. The first Avatar admittedly had few fanfics, but that was at the era of the internet where fandoms were forming for all kinds of franchises. Now with Avatar getting a fandom surge, it's a bit unfair to compare it to The Last Airbender, which has had content being developed across the 2010s unlike Avatar. Only now is Avatar getting comics and other side-media. That said, Avatar's doing relatively fine as a fandom, especially one that is booming since late 2022.
Dude, look up "Mr. Avatar Edmonton"
There's a contractor here whose truck is all decked out and he's covered in Avatar tattoos.
Cameron the Canadian Former Big Rig Trucker, who drew the first Avatar doodles while on the road in his twenties, would probably approve.
it really tells you something when Sponsorblock has almost 6 minutes of your video labeled as "Filler"
This was an incredible video. Very fun. Well done. Your effort was well worth it.
6:06 My father actually bought an Avatar branded CAR back in 2010. Though the branding was just a very easily removable sticker.
This is the first video I’m seeing from you, and what an enjoyable watch! Well done 🥰
Great video. Very entertaining, very witty and easy to watch the whole thing. Subscribed!
This is a great video. Have been following for a while and they’ve all been fantastic since then. Going to have to start referring to you as the Mr. Beast of 2000s pop culture commentary.
Hey man, I’m going to be completely honest. I forgot I was subscribed to this channel but I watched your video and thought your style, editing, and commentary was really great. I’ll be looking forward to seeing more of your videos and I hope you continue creating. Much love, cheers to the blue people fandom.