dunno if you guys gives a shit but if you guys are stoned like me atm you can watch all the new series on instaflixxer. Have been binge watching with my girlfriend lately :)
I feel like you might be neglecting the acctuall story to fit your narrative :I The story is litteraally about what we do here on earth. How we treat people we dont see eye to eye with, how cooperate greed or greed of any kind makes you blind to the wonders around us. Howthe search of material things are ruining the riches of nature.
I was 14 when I first watched Avatar. At home. No 3D, no fancy new television screens, just normal DVD. It resonated more deeply with me than any other blockbuster/super-popular movie ever has. Because to me, the movie isn't about the humans at all. That's the thing. And perhaps that's why so many people apparently struggle to connect with it -- because humans in general struggle to connect to the non-human (unless it's anthropomorphised) in today's Western society. There is no escapism in Avatar for me -- it is brutally real. It hits me in the stomach. It's a mirror of the world at large today. The antagonists are personifications of capitalism, consumerism and greed -- they're the billionaires. And Pandora, well, it's the Earth. Na'vi are indigenous people, who still remain connected, despite all of the outside pressure. The Tree of Souls has deep intrinsic value, yet it is destroyed for... money... You're right, it's a weakness that we don't know what they want to use unobtanium for, but perhaps that's the POINT -- the complete and utter meaninglessness of the destruction of something so valuable as the Tree of Souls. But humans don't see it as valuable, they don't understand. Because "value" is a subjective concept. ---- is my interpretation based on old memories and a deep-rooted love for the non-human living world (topped with a solid sprinkle of environmental and animal ethics at university) 🤷🏼♂️
that is the exact story I got from Avatar - it has a narrative on our world and its history. And they bring to life cinematically and beautifully in a place we've never been before. The story of avatar at face value is a shallow plot and pretty to watch. But many things are just that way - no wonder it was a top grossing film. It's not perfect, but many people miss the story it tells quietly. The story of us, reality, and what it is to see past ego.
No, I've never been disappointed by later viewings of Avatar, which is a movie I watch quite often and is one of my favorites. However, I do watch it every time on 3d on a huge 3 x 2 meters screen. It's just a very well made movie. If you want every single line of dialog to be perfect, you are just setting yourself up for a disappointment. Just enjoy the visual and audio craftsmanship that is developing before your senses.
The funniest thing about this video is how you constantly, unironically refer to the colonel as “Papa Dragon” every time as if that’s his character’s actual name. I’m here for it.
Yes, while I appreciate the youtuber's viewpoint and always has interesting insights, I cannot agree with his conclusion. The 3D and special effects only enhanced my enjoyment of this movie, it was not the only reason for my enjoyment. The story takes a basic good verses evil premise and brings it into the 21st century with sci-fi concepts, thereby creating an engaging original tale. Why is Star Wars that much different? Where is the critique that the empire are just comical bad guys? The bad guys in Avatar are very believable. Are you telling me you can't find soldiers and businessmen today that are willing to do whatever it takes for greed? Of course you can. There's also still a lot of prejudice and ignorance today. That's who the bad guys in Avatar were. They were greedy, prejudicial, ignorant people. That's real enough to me.
I love Avatar. There is a very strong message in the movie about human consumerism, and the greed that comes with it. The Navi are a beautiful humanoid civilization that represent the Native Americans, and Africans. A richness in culture and true connection to their world. They respect their world, and all living creatures. What I love about Jake's experience is how naive and ignorant he is when he first gets to Pandora, but as he learns about the Navi people, their world, and environment; he starts to understand their way of living and he starts to feel like his human life is the dream and the true him was his avatar. He falls in love with nature, the world, he is able to see a different perspective. To me it was an ultra enlightening experience showing how free, and how rich humans could be if we stopped it with our commercialism, and instead turned towards brother and sisterhood, living as one with our environment, the richness in our culture, and no more need or want for materialism.
This is the real take. Well said. There’s another analysis video I saw that focuses on these themes. This video seems to focus on pandora’s reality being a fantasy rather than a look into a better alternate perspective on how to approach life and relate to our planet.
Very true but I'd like to correct you that the Na'avi don't just represent Native Americans and African people, they represent indigenous peoples as a whole
“Avatar isn’t about how humans could interact with Pandora besides being a cancer” Homie did we literally watch the same movie? Avatar is entirely about how the only way to move past humanity’s doomed fate is to literally kill the frail colonizing body our culture inhabits.
The guy watch the movie with an American mind set 💀 They way he refer to the huge like dinosaur, like didn't you see how much important in the culture the animal have? They don't let him in bc is big is bc they belive that when someone rides one is a signal, can't believe such ans stvpid review
Yeah moving past it by literally physically appropriating the culture by showing the native people that we in their own skin are better at what they do than they do. 🙄
@@jordanwhite352 The movie didnt show that we are better at what they do in any way shape or form. The only aid jake provided the navi is his knowledge of the humans. At no point is the humans way of doing things shown to be superior. In fact the opposite is true. In the end, jake completely abandons his human life, and has a religious awakening, embracing the navi way of life, completely committing to their culture. His ability to ride turuk, for example, isnt because hes better than them. Its because Aywa (the canonically real god of pandora that connects all living things) allowed it. Aywa knew that jake was a valuable ally that could help the navi, as they had no way of combating the humans technology without more indepth knowledge of how it worked. The only reason they got massacred in the first place is because the humans technology is so foreign to them. The movie is basically beating you over the head with the idea that the navi are better than the humans. At every turn the human way of doing things is shown to be inferior. I seriously dont get where people get the idea that avatar shows the humans are just better at everything than the navi. You have to be reaching pretty hard, and just not paying attention to the movie to come to that conclusion.
i think videogames would be a more apt comparison than dreams. he is living out his power fantasy that he couldn't in his real body by basically roleplaying as a indigenous hero through his avatar. his behavior over the course of the film mimics that of some world of warcraft addict.
I always felt that the natives never mentioning or using the rare metal was supposed to accentuate how they and the humans valued different things about Pandora. The Na'vi value Pandora for it's ecosystem - how all the flora and fauna are connected - and the deity that facilitates this. Whereas the humans, value only a material resource that has enormous monetary value. It doesn't matter WHY it's valuable monetarily, that's not the point. The metal is essentially a macguffin to help emphasise the humans' ignorance to Pandora's greater value. While I agree that giving the metal tangible importance to the human race's survival would make the villains more empathetic, I believe this would result in this distinction between the two species being less clear.
it's openly stating that the plot doesn't matter, in every single scene. just an excuse for the visuals to exist "dude we have this nice render engine but no idea what to throw in it" - "oh , yeah? I'll call J. Cameron, surely he'll whip something up for us to place around the actors." and he did, but not very much so it wouldn't get in the way of the investors obtaining... you guess what (power).
@@h00db01i I dont think that the plot its unexisting, but, its wasnt really devolped enough to be more than a beauty cgi of 3hs. But i still like it and think that has his points
You should probably clarify that you're reviewing the extended edition. You keep including stuff that the vast majority of Avatar viewers have never seen.
The point about unobtainium is that it’s pointless. Extractive imperialism - there is no deeper meaning or purpose other than just expanding and extracting resources. The audience is supposed to see one side as purposeless/meaningless so the Navi seem even more meaningful
I loved it when I saw it in theaters and I loved it when I saw it on Blu Ray too. A lot of people point to how derivative it is but ignore the powerful themes and genuinely clever storytelling and filmmaking.
@Vedant Naik Yeah because many people said that it’s a copy of Dances with Wolves but in Space or Pocahontas. And that’s bullshit. The story may be crap but at least the visuals was amazing. And I’m an Avatar fan. That’s the honest truth.
I loved it when it came out, and I still love it today. Is it perfect? No. But who cares? It transports me to another world for a couple of hours, it deeply immerses me, and it takes me on an emotional journey. That's what I want an epic sci-fi movie to do, and none does it better than Avatar. Also, people on the internet complain about it not being original, but then line up to see the next superhero movie, and those are ALL THE SAME. There's maybe three basic superhero plots (the origin story, the established hero faces its biggest threat, the retired hero has to come back one more time). But it's popular, it's familiar, so it gets a pass.
I mean, a Theme in most of Cameron’s films is the people vs cooperate (america). In aliens a corporate guy was willing to get his own crew infected just to study the xenomorph closer. Unobtanium(which sounds like something you can’t obtain), seems to comment on the drive to destroy things in the process of building liquid acuity. They’re destroying the land for a limited resource. It’s an analogy. Digging for more info beyond the analogy is like digging for the facial expressions of characters who are left out of focus in a frame. The director wants you to focus on the main character in that moment as the main character is supplying threads to the overall story. What Unobtanium is used for doesn’t drive the story forward as the resource is shipped back home and has nothing to do with the “Narrative Battleground” of Pandora. It doesn’t need to be explained because we’re not digging for oil to save our lives. It’s all financial. I mean, the villains are character archetypes. We use archetypes so we don’t have to overexplain things about their character. The money hungry Selfridge signed on to travel light years away from earth to do what? Military men have done the same. Why should we expect them to care? And why should we expect any humanity out of them. These a real life villains of earth. No need to find sweet spots in their character. Of course they’re studying their enemy, they’re corporate and military men! Why would we think that they’re not doing that?
Kinda late but I love this comment. When Selfridge said “ This Little Grey Rock sells for 20 Mill a Kilo” those of us with common sense knows what that entails. No need to go into deep explanation.
Unobtainium is a room-temperature superconductor, it lifts the mountains because of the quantum locking effect of superconductors and the strong magnetic field Pandora has. Although it's not explained in the movie, it's a hell of a lot better than Vibranium in any of the Marvel movies, because Vibranium can do absolutely anything the writers want it to do. Avatar has probably the best si-fi setup of any si-fi movie ever, almost everything about it makes a tone of scientific sense, other than the existence of this unobtainium and why it can't be synthesized on Earth.
My guess about unobtanium: They know the chemical formula, but have yet to figure out how to combine those elements in a way that produces the desired material, and all attempts so far just produce useless slag. It would take just a couple lines of dialogue to explain that. Just have the protagonist ask "Why's this stuff so valuable?", give an explanation like that, and have him say "Oh, okay." Done. Also, "unobtainium" is a really, _really_ stupid name for your fictional material. It's been used as a placeholder for something hard to get for decades (titanium in the aerospace industry was a common example in the past), so actually calling something that just breaks my suspension of disbelief.
@@Roxor128 I think calling the metal unobtanium was done on purpose. As you stated it’s been used as a placeholder for other extremely hard to get metals. This metal is only found on Pandora (so far) so a corporation would obviously call this new metal that can solve all the problems on Earth that name, unobtanium. While I agree the name is funny, I believe it was very intentional in universe, and for viewing purposes.
@@Roxor128 Who cares what the name of the metal is? You need to stop being so shallow-minded. The name of the metal doesn’t matter. It could be Thor’s-left-nut for all I care. The name has 0 impact on the movie. And your solution is to have cringy exposition?? Gross. There’s a rule in filmmaking: show, don’t tell. Showing what Unobtainium does would be good- oh wait, the movie literally DOES explain what it does. You just have to actually pay attention while watching
@@Trollestiatumblur Good luck conveying that something is a superconductor without having someone outright say it. If you don't say so, it'll just look like a generic sci-fi floating object. "Show, don't tell" is a good rule of thumb, but sometimes you can't show and just need to give a bit of exposition.
@@Roxor128 And again, they explained Unobtainium in the movie. You just have to pay attention. And the book they made goes into further detail about the “floating gray rock.” You just need to pay attention. And how to show, not tell? Simple. Show Unobtainium in different machines and what-not. There is a plant that collects water and is used for healing in the movie. We didn’t need to be told this. We saw Neyteri take a drink from the plant. That’s all the explanation we need.
The obvious problem with Jake just going home in this alternate ending is that... uh, he's a traitor to his species. There's no reason why the ship full of vindictive ex-mercenaries whose friends he helped slay in open combat wouldn't just throw him out the airlock immediately once they broke orbit? OR at the very least wouldn't bring him up on charges once they reach Earth? I mean that would be hilarious. ''The War Crimes Trial of Jake Sully' would make a great Avatar 2 that would surely have been less expensive to produce, and would have been out a good 3 years ago at the latest. But I don't quite think that's what they were going for. Certainly would put a damper on the Animal Kingdom Na'vi zone.
Except that the idiot PMCs very clearly committed genocide. They are also collectively responsible for how awful relations got up to that point. Collapse of the mining outpost is on them far more than Jake. The starship crew is also going to worry about their own lives (and legal responsibilities) are probably going to make sure the psychos and idiots are already on ice long before Jake gets on board. Of course given the setup, there are two or three ship already on route, and no ship can return without the antimatter factory at the human base. So no one's going back to Earth, and once the other ships arrive... Realistically that would end with the higher tech species kicking the ass of the lower tech one.
It would also be counterintuitive because of the entirety of Jake's arc. Jake's whole life changes and the entire point of the movie is about how Jake is radicalized after finding out that humans are not worth fighting for as he previously thought. When Jake is in the Avatar, he's not in a videogame (although he kind of treats it like one at the beginning) but he's actually in real life, and the things he's doing affect the people around him. He doesn't realize this at first but he learns throughout the movie. He leads a double life and doesn't know where the fantasy begins or ends but the fact is that both are real and by the end of the movie there is no going back. This entire video doesn't understand Avatar because the writer doesn't want to. It's easier to jump into the echo chamber of "Avatar Bad" without actually looking at the actual story and arcs going on. It's weird because it is a simple story yet all of the people calling this a bad movie don't seem to see the very clear and in-your-face thematic elements that are going on.
Avatar is awesome. It's not just escapism. Just because it has broad, far reaching appeal doesn't mean it sucks. It's as successful as it is because James Cameron is the master of balancing art and commerce. His films are are universally connective, and have the rare ability to truly have something for everyone. Those are the kinds of films he makes. For well rounded family entertainment, he's flawless. If you want hard sci fi, go watch The Expanse.
I watched it in theaters once, and then must have watched it over 30 times on dvd, and not in a plasma tv, but a tube tv. I dont care what some idiots say, this is a great movie, and its certainly not worse than 90% of movies
I got the 3D extended version and played it in my Oculus Quest 2 using Bigscreen Beta. The awe of the 3D experience in a VR headset and the amazing added scenes gave me that sense of awe all over again. VR headsets provide perfect 3D for those movies. Incredible stuff.
13:26 You seem to forget there are two villains at work here, one is negligent and only cares about the bottom line (Sefrige), and the other has an active distrust of the Na'vi and thinks that they are intentionally withholding recorces. (Quaritch AKA Papa Dragon) 13:42 Papa Dragon has clearly been watching Jake's Vlogs, which is why he knows exactry which one to pull up to prove the Na'vi wont leave. Hell Quaritch is probably the one who suggested buldoseing the tree of voices when he realized his inside man had gone native. Sefrige went along with it because as far as he's concerned it's just another plot of land, why not make a parking lot there. Subtext is a required part of storytelling if you don't want exposition dumps every five minutes.
Hate to tell ya chief. But I still love and adore Avatar even after 10 years. It’s a huge inspiration for my own world building for my stories. Cause Pandora is gorgeous. I watch it to this day. I love the video tho. Keep it up!!
It's baffling to me how someone can watch Avatar and miss every single point it made so spectacularly. The reason we aren't told what unobtanium does is because it's completely and utterly irrelevant to the story. And the villains are as human and realistic as they get. Humans have drained every resource Earth had to offer, and now they are looking to do the same to Pandora. We see the incredible technological advancements the human race has made, yet the greed of those in power makes it that a combat vet can't afford a simple surgery, all so they can get even richer. Avatar is a story about the inherent evil nature of greed, and the effect it had and continues to have on our own planet. The only point that isn't bafflingly ignorant is that the ending would have been made better if Jake's avatar, or jake himself would have died. Yet, him being brought back by Eywa is the perfect ending. It constitutes a perfect end to his character arc, and to the story itself. He gets to live his life in his new home, the one he was ready to give up his life for, together with his mate and with his tribe. Guys, please watch The Angry Hippie's review and then come back to this one, and you will realize how much more Avatar is than a visually appealing theme-park ride in 3D.
It's breathtaking how much this guy completely missed the point. My jaw has dropped, I'm in total awe. Angry Hippie's video is excellent. Avatar is a spiritual experience that advocates for violent resistance to the capitalist death cult. It's far from mindless escapism.
Avatar is a great popcorn movie that creates authentic emotions, has amazing CGI-still- music, cinematography, action and sound design. Im sorry but it beats the ever living shit out of any existing Marvel film based on its filmmaking alone. James Cameron is a master
Hmmm... No. I watched AVATAR at home as soon as it was available. Still was blown away and replayed many scenes several times. Then when my kids were old enough they were totally fascinated by this movie (through their eyes I learned to appreciate the movie even more). We loved to watch it on weekends over and over. This was also the case in many families we know. AVATAR is a standard in family movie collections and in children's playrooms. So yeah, what you describe in the beginnig of the video mainly seems to be an opinion of childless twenty- and thirtysomethings. Classic millennials. And we all know, those people love to complain and whine a lot. ;-) Greetings from Germany! :-) PS: Nothing like this happened with BLACK PANTHER. Watched it once, never wanted to watch it again. And I know of not even one family where BP is a much loved and repeatedly watched movie. It had a much shorter life span than AVATAR and the effects already look very dated after just 3 years. I don't even remember the soundtrack of BP. Complete opposite with ith AVATAR: Just have to hear a few bits and I instantly identify Horner's fantastic score. But yeah, the second and third APES movie are much better than AVATAR in many ways. At least when it comes to my personal taste. Especially the story telling. But when it comes to family appeal even the APES don't come close to Cameron's movie epic.
Just because someone has a fairly successful YT channel, it does not necessarily mean that everything they blab about is gold. As I have watched on, I had the feeling that most of the stuff this guy was pointing out in his retrospective review was somehow really true and yet NONE of it ultimately mattered in the end for the film to work. Like, for example, I never gave a sXXt about the Unobtainium; it's there to stand for our real world's oil, diamonds or coal, and every adult and most children already know what nasty things the Humankind have historically been capable of committing in order to OBTAIN (pun intended) these resources. Therefore, I do not need some lengthy exposition to get this explained and the film thus needn't waste its time with that, and the YT guy's whole argument over this thus falls flat. Plus, quoting someone else from this comments section: " I always felt that the natives' never mentioning or using the rare metal was supposed to accentuate how they and the humans valued different things about Pandora. The Na'vi value Pandora for it's ecosystem - how all the flora and fauna are interconnected - and the ""deity"" that facilitates this. Whereas the humans appreciate only the material resource about Pandora, that has enormous monetary value. " Again, this person's comment has completely destroyed the YT guy's argument up here. The guy is just nitpicking and "dissecting" something that does not necessarily need to be.
Iron rule of CZcams: The number of views a CZcams video ultimately gets is inversely proportional to the amount of effort exerted to create said video.
You are uncapable of looking deeper into this film and finding the messages. This film is FULL of DEEP messages and symbolism. It does tell a story! It tells the story of how corporatocracy submits, murders and controls indigenous populations all over the world for the resources their lands have to offer, something that has happened over, and over, and over again since the rise of civilizations, and is still happening in the present, and the principal country doing this is the USA. That's why the villians are so cliché, they make you remember the typical american soldiers/government that don't care about or understand other cultures, and are willing to do really nasty things only to get what they want. Also, it actually is about escaping, but not about escaping his life in a selfish way, but is rather about how millions of people dream about escaping the rotten society without values that we live in, and dream about a world where greed doesn't exist, but true freedom does exist. When the movie talks about waking up, it's not about waking up from the dream and returning to the ugly truth, but is rather about the AWAKENING of the human consciousness, a process that one must undergo to be able to really embrace the values of solidarity, equality, desattachement and TRUE FREEDOM that the Omaticaya have in their every day life. It's also about regaining the connection to the earth and the nature. Everything about the awakening of the consciousness and the connection to the earth is a whole topic on itself and can be talked about for hours and hours and anyone can find a ton of things about it on the internet, so I am not getting deep into that. It is a movie that has messages and symbolism for everyone to catch at their very own level of consiousness, and this is done in a GENIOUS way by James Cameron, so don't feel disappointed on him, he is a genious and I am sure he is in a very high level of consciousness, and as I said before, people can only meet these messages and understand the symbolism in this movie at their own level of consciousness. edit: Althought the alternative ending with jake's avatar dying was really powerful, I have to say.
Well said. When I watched this for the first time, I was 10 years old living in Canada and living in many Indigenous communities and around nature. I loved nature and watched animal channel all the time as well as movies such as Avatar which really hit home with me about the way I saw the world changing for the worse because of human influence. - P.S. (I just found out James Cameron is Canadian and that Canadian nature was a big inspiration for him as a child and for this movie :) )
Thank you! People continue take the film at face value, without uncovering the layers of the story. Yes, the story may be simple at a surface level, but when you realise that the story, music, aswell the visuals depict a bigger metaphor of humanity, nature and life in general, we would begin to see that there's more to that what is being presented. Avatar stems from historic and current truths in our world. Its up to the person to connect to the core of the film rather than getting hooked on the façade. This movie can teach humans so many things, if we are just willing to listen and in the words of the "Lion King's" strange and wise monkey, Rafiki. "Look beyond what you see".
Its funny that you say Avatar feels more like a theme park attraction. I just rewatched it for the first time in 10 years and it felt like one of those movies you at a theme park before you go on the ride to enhance the experience.
You do hit on something interesting, it was the first film to really usher in the era of special effects, not just in selling movies, but being done. Yes CG was done before, and will be done again, but CG became a character in Avatar. In the Matrix it's "Keanu Reeves doing a CG stunt" or "Trinity having a camera spun around her." Cool moments, but in Avatar, the CG was another character in the movie on it's own.
The stupid thing about this is that while you were talking about titanic, a film I have not seen, I completely forgot that we were actually talking about avatar. It's that forgetable.... Avatar was nice, but it indeed didn't have impact.
@memyselfandY21 I agree with you and I’m an Avatar fan. To be honest, the story was forgettable and crap, but the visuals was fantastic. I hope that the sequels storyline will be a lot better and interesting, and hope we can see new things that we’ve never seen before.
I think people just bash it just to bash it. Why does it matter if it had impact? It was in my opinion one of the most beautiful movies ever made. Made me feel like I was actually on the planet. Had great action set pieces. It doesn’t have to do more than that. I don’t dress up not even on Halloween so I could care less if people have nothing to dress up as.
Not like it pioneered visual technologies almost every major blockbusters in the 2010's and onward would go on to use or popularized 3D film at a bar that hasn't been matched since it was released. Yeah, no impact at all.
This is one of the best commentaries ever!... from 17:35 is so relevant to all the musings and obsessions with the Metaverse today. Humans are so hard to change lol
1 minute into the video and I'm hooked. I watched Avatar 4 times in theaters. And got the DVD (yes, they used to be popular) special edition box set, and watched it several times, also on TV. I'll press play, wanna see where this analysis goes.
It's the way I don't want my dreams on Earth, of this life. I want a replacement, just like Jake. I want my dream come true and not stay as a dream. That's the point of the movie.
The main things I remember from seeing Avatar in the theater were the trailer for the IMAX 3D Hubble Telescope, and the IMAX projector breaking right at the climax.
He guys quick note on the versions of Avatar cause there are three: 1. Theatrical 2. Extended 3. Revised Revised can be found on the later Blu-ray releases of the film and is by far the best version. (For those curious, this video uses the extended cut.)
I feel like the conclusion that Avatar's conclusion is that "Dreams are a replacement for life" isn't what I got from it. What I understood is that dreams are a goal for life. They are what we should model our society after and what we should fight for. Only when we stand up for what we think the world should be will we be able to achieve the goals we have imagined for our society. Furthermore, we should keep dreaming and continue refining and evaluating what our direction as a people is and how our systems of behavior direct our quality of life. It is apparent that the movie is implying the indigenous people have a higher quality of life and a wisdom the humans don't possess (while failing to delve deeper into that topic in a realistic way) so I think it's implied that the average Joe (or Jake) can make a difference in the fight to attain that quality of life and wisdom.
Uh, no, that wasn't my experience. I saw it once in theatres and thought it was well structured with great visuals, like most Cameron films, with reliably moving James Horner music... but that it was also very by the numbers, with clunky exposition and hackneyed characters, and hugely derivative of other work including Cameron's own. It didn't take me 5 viewings to notice its shortcomings. Still, for what it was - pretty much an extended theme park ride - it was enjoyable.
Brilliant analysis and video essay. I enjoyed listening the whole way through and found your insights and conclusion very well thought out. Thanks for producing.
This movie was my childhood like when I was four and three are used to watch it nonstop nonstop and I still love it and I’ve been waiting for a new movie to come
Excellent work, dude. Well worth the wait. Really came together in the last five minutes, too - great payoffs! [Without spoiling it: That lyric. Perfect. Well friggin' played.]
I love your essay, and all of your work, but I think you missed a key point in talking about this film, and in particular it's legacy, how it impacted film in the future. Put simply, how many movies utilise 100% CGI environments and characters? It's the technology that Avatar pioneered (or at the very least popularised) like performance capture (been used in the "Apes" films, Marvel, Star Wars, too much in the Hobbit, etc) that have become a keystone in blockbuster film-making. That is this film's legacy. Kinda begs the question, with all that computing power, why they used Papyrus for the damned title...
As fascinating and well crafted as the arguments in this video were, I am deeply gratified that the top comments are all rebuttals. I found Avatar deeply moving in the theater (all 3 times that I saw it) and I continued to find it moving after I bought the director's cut on DVD, so much so that I even found and read the original, unedited screenplay online (the first screenplay I had ever read). The cynical adult in me fully recognizes that the characters are simplistic and the plot derivative, but I don't care. The film's blunt, anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist, anti-military, pro-environment, pro-indigenous people, pro-wildlife message resonated with me in a way no blockbuster had before or has since.
Wow, this was impressive. You are one of the few essay writers which actually have something to contribute to a movie. I would have liked your ending very much.
Do love the your change in the film. I think it could be even better by adding a cast away vibe by having Jake in the same bar in the beginning. Where he’s about to buy a drink when a woman (could be a random average looking woman or maybe a line of how Jake has a sister) offers to pay the drink, sits down and says some final line, With the scene fading out with them taking, cut to credits
@@flamesphere3144 No, he is right. Even with extended scenes the movie has this flaws, lack of motivation of the villains or at least the motivition is not really exposed. ¿Why is the rare metal so important? That would make the other characters in the movie with a objetive
By the way its a little interesting that you whent whit the verstion that most people have not seen. Most people did not see the extended reralease of the movie. Those extra shots are from the reralease were put in there so that people whould see something new, but it was cut out becouse it whould hamper whit the overarcing story.
Having seen both versions several times, I prefer the extended (+16mn, 2h58) edition. A bit more depth, a few more scenes. Doesn't change the movie overall, but it's nice to have a little more
I remember thinking that Cameron was making an Airbender movie. I was confused for a long time when they announced the Shyamalan movie. It only became clear to me when I finally saw the Cameron Avatar trailer that they were unrelated.
Man, I really appreciate the effort you put into this. but I think you missed the whole point Cameron was trying to make. The real-life “villains” and their motives are just as mindless, negligent, shallow and “temporary” .. even now in 2021. For example: ravaging Avatar-like environments in Venezuela, Indonesia etc. With a world of intelligence at their fingertips, they use astonishingly little of it, and the thing that makes them so terrifying is the almost mindless greed, entitlement and certainty of perspective that justifies public acceptance of their activities. The alternative perspective Cameron was trying to show is that there is value in being able to immerse in what is. Of course packaged in the lightest plot vehicles that could carry these messages without distraction. The point of the movie was more feel than plot. There were a lot of people that could not escape the movie. Wanting to stay forever in the dream, much like Jake did. it was the only "modern" movie I know of where one of the major emotions from audience members was "depression" that they could not stay in that world. And that was the effect Cameron was after... as he puts it: "like the feeling of experiencing undersea wonders".
I got the 3D extended version and played it in my Oculus Quest 2 using Bigscreen Beta. The awe of the 3D experience in a VR headset and the amazing added scenes gave me that sense of awe all over again. VR headsets provide perfect 3D for those movies. Incredible stuff.
I think this video in combination with the deleted scenes, another Avatar video essay looking at it's neohumanism and also the Avatar wiki are all great sources to expand the world of Avatar and help find some meaning in it. This video is very through and very helpful to get insight into what holes need filling in the narrative of Avatar in terms of what it confers and what it up front communicates.
I absolutely have to agree. Your comparison with Titanic was really interesting! Your thoughts on how the movie is about dreams, and how it doesn't fully relate to real life sums up my own criticisms better than I ever could. Well done!
Jake's lungs should have been exposed to Pandora's air more often so that his lungs could have adapted to Pandora's air. Jake would still have to use his Avatar. I wrote a Ben 10 fanfiction where Ben signed up for the Avatar program and the RDA and goes to Pandora and his lungs adapt to Pandora's air after breathing it in a few times over a week's time. "Uncataloged Avatar DNA detected. Avatar DNA acquired and available!". "Uncataloged Na'vi DNA detected. Na'vi DNA acquired and available!".
It’s not that deep but has a great vision and love for nature. A lot of people are just overly critical of this movie but the funny thing is almost all of them will still be watching the sequels when they come out they just might not tell anybody. I still consider this movie to be a fantastic experience of escapism and wonder.
Yeah, no, I thought Avatar was overrated the minute I saw it. It was the only time I ever remember having to actually wait in line to see a movie - and being unable to get my tickets for like two or three weeks because of demand, including when I went to the midnight shows of The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises - and the only reason I even went to see it was the hype (the trailer didn't interest me, I hadn't yet seen T-2 or Aliens so James Cameron as a filmmaker meant nothing to me). So me and my family went to go see it - in IMAX 3D, no less - had to get tickets two or three weeks in advance, waited in line even AFTER we had our tickets, and proceeded to see... a bog standard sci-fi movie with the plot of Pocahontas and good CGI, with 3D that was... cool? I guess? But didn't impress me anymore than a 3D movie at a theme park did. I immediately didn't understand why it was so popular, and felt kinda cheated. The fact that eventually that sentiment seemed to become the popular opinion was very vindicating.
Yes, when I watched the movie at cinemas I was saying "This is just alien Pocahontas" and there was no wonder in the CGI for me because in my city the theaters were not showing it in 3D and just normal screen, no imax. So it was like watching a very good render like you see in videogame trailers and that was it.
At least you were fair in your criticism, most people just shamelessly bash Avatar without thinking beyond the same two or three claims. Still, I think the film works best if you think of it as an allegory for colonialism, except one where the Natives win. It may not fix everything, but it at least enhances the experience.
The thing is, the movie doesn't even need to be thought to be an allegory for colonialism - it just straight up is. You're absolutely right that it's the same two or three claims, and they're limp, vapid ones at that. I can't get over how so many people are ignorant to classical story structure and how recurring it is in culture. I think just the fact that they can point to something like Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves, and FernGully makes it so malleable for people to just repeat these things ad nauseam while they ignore the fact that these all riff on the same classic story concepts... yet Avatar does it (and presented in a fashion far more originally than any of the others) and it's suddenly "bad storytelling"? Shit's too much.
The only Avatar that's still relevant is the Nickelodeon show! Avatar isn't the greatest film, but I do think it's very innovative in its use of 3d and creating fantasy worlds with your imagination. I'm guessing Unobtanium is like oil or coal or something.
Aside from the hyper-realistic, groundbreaking animation technology and innovative, immersive camera work used which ultimately caused millions of viewers to feel fully immersed into an animated movie in a new way in 2009, I think Avatar deserves its fame, simplified/copied storyline and all. The lack of explanations as to why Papa Dragon and Selfridge did certain things mirrors reality. Ironically, in a movie filled with fiction, that can be a good thing. No one truly knows what caused dictators to make certain decisions. What caused colonizers to steal land and wipe out civilizations for their own gain. We are responsible for figuring it out for ourselves. The movie models American history, which leaves out the psychological explanations for why slave owners and colonizers did what they did. Oftentimes, movies overexplain why characters make certain decisions, and it doesn't allow the audience to think for themselves. I think James Cameron made a smart decision not overexplaining everything, not only for the sake of an interesting movie, but also for viewers to do their own analyses and immediately feel connected to a world that, like their own, they have to navigate on their own in terms of psychologically analyzing others' behaviors.
You see quaritch actually was watching jakes vlogs the whole time. He just pulls it up in that scene to basically slap the protagonists in the face with it
Like really? The guy is just nitpicking and "dissecting" something that does not necessarily need to be. As I have watched on, I had the feeling that most of the stuff this guy was pointing out in his retrospective review was somehow really true and yet NONE of it ultimately mattered in the end for the film to work. Like, for example, I never gave a sXXt about the Unobtainium; it's there to stand for our real world's oil, diamonds or coal, and every adult and most children already know what nasty things the Humankind have historically been capable of committing in order to OBTAIN (pun intended) these resources. Therefore, I do not need some lengthy exposition to get this explained and the film thus needn't waste its time with that, and the YT guy's whole argument over this thus falls flat. Plus, quoting someone else from this comments section: " I always felt that the natives' never mentioning or using the rare metal was supposed to accentuate how they and the humans valued different things about Pandora. The Na'vi value Pandora for it's ecosystem - how all the flora and fauna are interconnected - and the ""deity"" that facilitates this. Whereas the humans appreciate only the material resource about Pandora, that has enormous monetary value. " Again, this person's comment has completely destroyed the YT guy's argument up here.
I know someone who absolutely loves this movie, even on the small screen, and watches it whenever she's feeling down. And weirdly enough, I think her love for the film actually validates your view that this movie is ultimate escapism. My mother is paralyzed from the waist down due to a fall from a hayloft she experienced in the prime of her life. Seeing Jake in this movie, a paraplegic who very carefully has to maneuver his legs and body just to do the most basic stuff like getting dressed, is very relatable to her. (She often comments how Jake's movements are also very realistic, which is rare for paraplegics in film.) I remember she had the biggest smile on her face when Jake's first instinct, upon waking up in his avatar, was to take off running. She told me that, if she had ever woken up with strong, working legs, that is the first thing she would do...a thing she longed to have the ability to do. She's also mentioned that in every dream she's ever had, she can walk. When she's starting to wake up, she'll even become self-aware that she's dreaming by noticing she's walking. This is something she also related to Jake's experience of being in the avatar, running around as an able-bodied person, only to wake up a paraplegic once more. This movie gives her momentary comfort by providing the escapism of living in the dream where your broken body is no longer broken. I don't know if that excuses Avatar's lack of depth; I found the film empty and quickly tired of watching it with her, so clearly I didn't share that love, desire, or perhaps the need for that escapism. And we both know, unlike Jake at the end of the film, she has to keep waking up. But I find it fascinating that the one person I know who truly loves this movie, even long after it left theaters, is someone who wants nothing more or less than that ultimate escapism that it provides.
Hookah bars. Shakira merch. Off-brand teas. The font was tribal, yet futuristic.
PAPYRUS!!!
Crossover episode?
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID! I KNOW WHAT YOU DIIIIDDDDD!
dunno if you guys gives a shit but if you guys are stoned like me atm you can watch all the new series on instaflixxer. Have been binge watching with my girlfriend lately :)
@Damien Kashton Yup, have been watching on Instaflixxer for months myself :D
I feel like you might be neglecting the acctuall story to fit your narrative :I The story is litteraally about what we do here on earth. How we treat people we dont see eye to eye with, how cooperate greed or greed of any kind makes you blind to the wonders around us. Howthe search of material things are ruining the riches of nature.
I was 14 when I first watched Avatar. At home. No 3D, no fancy new television screens, just normal DVD. It resonated more deeply with me than any other blockbuster/super-popular movie ever has. Because to me, the movie isn't about the humans at all. That's the thing. And perhaps that's why so many people apparently struggle to connect with it -- because humans in general struggle to connect to the non-human (unless it's anthropomorphised) in today's Western society. There is no escapism in Avatar for me -- it is brutally real. It hits me in the stomach. It's a mirror of the world at large today. The antagonists are personifications of capitalism, consumerism and greed -- they're the billionaires. And Pandora, well, it's the Earth. Na'vi are indigenous people, who still remain connected, despite all of the outside pressure. The Tree of Souls has deep intrinsic value, yet it is destroyed for... money... You're right, it's a weakness that we don't know what they want to use unobtanium for, but perhaps that's the POINT -- the complete and utter meaninglessness of the destruction of something so valuable as the Tree of Souls. But humans don't see it as valuable, they don't understand. Because "value" is a subjective concept. ---- is my interpretation based on old memories and a deep-rooted love for the non-human living world (topped with a solid sprinkle of environmental and animal ethics at university) 🤷🏼♂️
that is the exact story I got from Avatar - it has a narrative on our world and its history. And they bring to life cinematically and beautifully in a place we've never been before. The story of avatar at face value is a shallow plot and pretty to watch. But many things are just that way - no wonder it was a top grossing film. It's not perfect, but many people miss the story it tells quietly. The story of us, reality, and what it is to see past ego.
No, I've never been disappointed by later viewings of Avatar, which is a movie I watch quite often and is one of my favorites. However, I do watch it every time on 3d on a huge 3 x 2 meters screen. It's just a very well made movie. If you want every single line of dialog to be perfect, you are just setting yourself up for a disappointment. Just enjoy the visual and audio craftsmanship that is developing before your senses.
The funniest thing about this video is how you constantly, unironically refer to the colonel as “Papa Dragon” every time as if that’s his character’s actual name. I’m here for it.
I don't care what anyone says. I still rewatch this movie, and I love it.
I "really like" it, and have high hopes for the sequels.
🙌🏼 same here, when the sequels come out, the world will go crazy for it. 3.2 Billion worldwide Avatar 2 🤪.
Same here 💯
Yes, while I appreciate the youtuber's viewpoint and always has interesting insights, I cannot agree with his conclusion. The 3D and special effects only enhanced my enjoyment of this movie, it was not the only reason for my enjoyment. The story takes a basic good verses evil premise and brings it into the 21st century with sci-fi concepts, thereby creating an engaging original tale. Why is Star Wars that much different? Where is the critique that the empire are just comical bad guys? The bad guys in Avatar are very believable. Are you telling me you can't find soldiers and businessmen today that are willing to do whatever it takes for greed? Of course you can. There's also still a lot of prejudice and ignorance today. That's who the bad guys in Avatar were. They were greedy, prejudicial, ignorant people. That's real enough to me.
S A M E
I love Avatar. There is a very strong message in the movie about human consumerism, and the greed that comes with it. The Navi are a beautiful humanoid civilization that represent the Native Americans, and Africans. A richness in culture and true connection to their world. They respect their world, and all living creatures. What I love about Jake's experience is how naive and ignorant he is when he first gets to Pandora, but as he learns about the Navi people, their world, and environment; he starts to understand their way of living and he starts to feel like his human life is the dream and the true him was his avatar. He falls in love with nature, the world, he is able to see a different perspective. To me it was an ultra enlightening experience showing how free, and how rich humans could be if we stopped it with our commercialism, and instead turned towards brother and sisterhood, living as one with our environment, the richness in our culture, and no more need or want for materialism.
Fully agree🙌🙌🙌🙌
Hell yeah!!
This is the real take. Well said. There’s another analysis video I saw that focuses on these themes. This video seems to focus on pandora’s reality being a fantasy rather than a look into a better alternate perspective on how to approach life and relate to our planet.
Couldn’t agree more. Sure there are some small plot holes but the real message and scope of the movie is exactly what u it’s said
Very true but I'd like to correct you that the Na'avi don't just represent Native Americans and African people, they represent indigenous peoples as a whole
“Avatar isn’t about how humans could interact with Pandora besides being a cancer”
Homie did we literally watch the same movie?
Avatar is entirely about how the only way to move past humanity’s doomed fate is to literally kill the frail colonizing body our culture inhabits.
The guy watch the movie with an American mind set 💀
They way he refer to the huge like dinosaur, like didn't you see how much important in the culture the animal have? They don't let him in bc is big is bc they belive that when someone rides one is a signal, can't believe such ans stvpid review
Yeah moving past it by literally physically appropriating the culture by showing the native people that we in their own skin are better at what they do than they do. 🙄
@@jordanwhite352 The movie didnt show that we are better at what they do in any way shape or form. The only aid jake provided the navi is his knowledge of the humans. At no point is the humans way of doing things shown to be superior. In fact the opposite is true. In the end, jake completely abandons his human life, and has a religious awakening, embracing the navi way of life, completely committing to their culture. His ability to ride turuk, for example, isnt because hes better than them. Its because Aywa (the canonically real god of pandora that connects all living things) allowed it. Aywa knew that jake was a valuable ally that could help the navi, as they had no way of combating the humans technology without more indepth knowledge of how it worked. The only reason they got massacred in the first place is because the humans technology is so foreign to them.
The movie is basically beating you over the head with the idea that the navi are better than the humans. At every turn the human way of doing things is shown to be inferior.
I seriously dont get where people get the idea that avatar shows the humans are just better at everything than the navi. You have to be reaching pretty hard, and just not paying attention to the movie to come to that conclusion.
i think videogames would be a more apt comparison than dreams. he is living out his power fantasy that he couldn't in his real body by basically roleplaying as a indigenous hero through his avatar. his behavior over the course of the film mimics that of some world of warcraft addict.
I always felt that the natives never mentioning or using the rare metal was supposed to accentuate how they and the humans valued different things about Pandora. The Na'vi value Pandora for it's ecosystem - how all the flora and fauna are connected - and the deity that facilitates this. Whereas the humans, value only a material resource that has enormous monetary value. It doesn't matter WHY it's valuable monetarily, that's not the point. The metal is essentially a macguffin to help emphasise the humans' ignorance to Pandora's greater value. While I agree that giving the metal tangible importance to the human race's survival would make the villains more empathetic, I believe this would result in this distinction between the two species being less clear.
Thats why i like the movie. Becouse of the societie of the Na'vi and his biology, there is a entire simbiotic planet over there.
it's openly stating that the plot doesn't matter, in every single scene. just an excuse for the visuals to exist "dude we have this nice render engine but no idea what to throw in it" - "oh , yeah? I'll call J. Cameron, surely he'll whip something up for us to place around the actors." and he did, but not very much so it wouldn't get in the way of the investors obtaining... you guess what (power).
@@h00db01i I dont think that the plot its unexisting, but, its wasnt really devolped enough to be more than a beauty cgi of 3hs. But i still like it and think that has his points
@@h00db01i
What the heck are you blabbing about?
This is one of the greatest comments in here ! ! !
From someone with brains.
You should probably clarify that you're reviewing the extended edition. You keep including stuff that the vast majority of Avatar viewers have never seen.
Yeah, there wasn't anything about how was the life on Earth on the version I've watched in the movies.
I kept thinking this as well. It is also a vastly superior version.
There's an extended edition??
@@dapeach06 yeah like what?
Really? I just knew it right now
Well time to check it out then
The point about unobtainium is that it’s pointless. Extractive imperialism - there is no deeper meaning or purpose other than just expanding and extracting resources. The audience is supposed to see one side as purposeless/meaningless so the Navi seem even more meaningful
I loved it when I saw it in theaters and I loved it when I saw it on Blu Ray too. A lot of people point to how derivative it is but ignore the powerful themes and genuinely clever storytelling and filmmaking.
@Vedant Naik Yeah because many people said that it’s a copy of Dances with Wolves but in Space or Pocahontas. And that’s bullshit. The story may be crap but at least the visuals was amazing. And I’m an Avatar fan. That’s the honest truth.
@@josephdizon3493 I never seen that movies so for me Avatar is the origibal history xd
Clever?
I loved it when it came out, and I still love it today. Is it perfect? No. But who cares? It transports me to another world for a couple of hours, it deeply immerses me, and it takes me on an emotional journey. That's what I want an epic sci-fi movie to do, and none does it better than Avatar.
Also, people on the internet complain about it not being original, but then line up to see the next superhero movie, and those are ALL THE SAME. There's maybe three basic superhero plots (the origin story, the established hero faces its biggest threat, the retired hero has to come back one more time). But it's popular, it's familiar, so it gets a pass.
Archetypical themes are timeless
I mean, a Theme in most of Cameron’s films is the people vs cooperate (america). In aliens a corporate guy was willing to get his own crew infected just to study the xenomorph closer.
Unobtanium(which sounds like something you can’t obtain), seems to comment on the drive to destroy things in the process of building liquid acuity. They’re destroying the land for a limited resource. It’s an analogy.
Digging for more info beyond the analogy is like digging for the facial expressions of characters who are left out of focus in a frame. The director wants you to focus on the main character in that moment as the main character is supplying threads to the overall story.
What Unobtanium is used for doesn’t drive the story forward as the resource is shipped back home and has nothing to do with the “Narrative Battleground” of Pandora.
It doesn’t need to be explained because we’re not digging for oil to save our lives. It’s all financial.
I mean, the villains are character archetypes. We use archetypes so we don’t have to overexplain things about their character. The money hungry Selfridge signed on to travel light years away from earth to do what? Military men have done the same. Why should we expect them to care? And why should we expect any humanity out of them. These a real life villains of earth. No need to find sweet spots in their character. Of course they’re studying their enemy, they’re corporate and military men! Why would we think that they’re not doing that?
Kinda late but I love this comment. When Selfridge said “ This Little Grey Rock sells for 20 Mill a Kilo” those of us with common sense knows what that entails. No need to go into deep explanation.
Unobtainium is a room-temperature superconductor, it lifts the mountains because of the quantum locking effect of superconductors and the strong magnetic field Pandora has.
Although it's not explained in the movie, it's a hell of a lot better than Vibranium in any of the Marvel movies, because Vibranium can do absolutely anything the writers want it to do.
Avatar has probably the best si-fi setup of any si-fi movie ever, almost everything about it makes a tone of scientific sense, other than the existence of this unobtainium and why it can't be synthesized on Earth.
My guess about unobtanium: They know the chemical formula, but have yet to figure out how to combine those elements in a way that produces the desired material, and all attempts so far just produce useless slag.
It would take just a couple lines of dialogue to explain that. Just have the protagonist ask "Why's this stuff so valuable?", give an explanation like that, and have him say "Oh, okay." Done.
Also, "unobtainium" is a really, _really_ stupid name for your fictional material. It's been used as a placeholder for something hard to get for decades (titanium in the aerospace industry was a common example in the past), so actually calling something that just breaks my suspension of disbelief.
@@Roxor128 I think calling the metal unobtanium was done on purpose. As you stated it’s been used as a placeholder for other extremely hard to get metals. This metal is only found on Pandora (so far) so a corporation would obviously call this new metal that can solve all the problems on Earth that name, unobtanium. While I agree the name is funny, I believe it was very intentional in universe, and for viewing purposes.
@@Roxor128 Who cares what the name of the metal is? You need to stop being so shallow-minded. The name of the metal doesn’t matter. It could be Thor’s-left-nut for all I care. The name has 0 impact on the movie.
And your solution is to have cringy exposition?? Gross. There’s a rule in filmmaking: show, don’t tell. Showing what Unobtainium does would be good- oh wait, the movie literally DOES explain what it does. You just have to actually pay attention while watching
@@Trollestiatumblur Good luck conveying that something is a superconductor without having someone outright say it. If you don't say so, it'll just look like a generic sci-fi floating object. "Show, don't tell" is a good rule of thumb, but sometimes you can't show and just need to give a bit of exposition.
@@Roxor128 And again, they explained Unobtainium in the movie. You just have to pay attention. And the book they made goes into further detail about the “floating gray rock.” You just need to pay attention.
And how to show, not tell? Simple. Show Unobtainium in different machines and what-not. There is a plant that collects water and is used for healing in the movie. We didn’t need to be told this. We saw Neyteri take a drink from the plant. That’s all the explanation we need.
The obvious problem with Jake just going home in this alternate ending is that... uh, he's a traitor to his species. There's no reason why the ship full of vindictive ex-mercenaries whose friends he helped slay in open combat wouldn't just throw him out the airlock immediately once they broke orbit? OR at the very least wouldn't bring him up on charges once they reach Earth?
I mean that would be hilarious. ''The War Crimes Trial of Jake Sully' would make a great Avatar 2 that would surely have been less expensive to produce, and would have been out a good 3 years ago at the latest. But I don't quite think that's what they were going for. Certainly would put a damper on the Animal Kingdom Na'vi zone.
Except that the idiot PMCs very clearly committed genocide. They are also collectively responsible for how awful relations got up to that point. Collapse of the mining outpost is on them far more than Jake. The starship crew is also going to worry about their own lives (and legal responsibilities) are probably going to make sure the psychos and idiots are already on ice long before Jake gets on board.
Of course given the setup, there are two or three ship already on route, and no ship can return without the antimatter factory at the human base. So no one's going back to Earth, and once the other ships arrive... Realistically that would end with the higher tech species kicking the ass of the lower tech one.
It would also be counterintuitive because of the entirety of Jake's arc. Jake's whole life changes and the entire point of the movie is about how Jake is radicalized after finding out that humans are not worth fighting for as he previously thought. When Jake is in the Avatar, he's not in a videogame (although he kind of treats it like one at the beginning) but he's actually in real life, and the things he's doing affect the people around him. He doesn't realize this at first but he learns throughout the movie. He leads a double life and doesn't know where the fantasy begins or ends but the fact is that both are real and by the end of the movie there is no going back.
This entire video doesn't understand Avatar because the writer doesn't want to. It's easier to jump into the echo chamber of "Avatar Bad" without actually looking at the actual story and arcs going on. It's weird because it is a simple story yet all of the people calling this a bad movie don't seem to see the very clear and in-your-face thematic elements that are going on.
Avatar is awesome. It's not just escapism. Just because it has broad, far reaching appeal doesn't mean it sucks. It's as successful as it is because James Cameron is the master of balancing art and commerce. His films are are universally connective, and have the rare ability to truly have something for everyone. Those are the kinds of films he makes. For well rounded family entertainment, he's flawless. If you want hard sci fi, go watch The Expanse.
The problem with this analysis is that he's trying to use hard sci-fi to justify things that in hard sci-fi would not make any sense.
I watched it in theaters once, and then must have watched it over 30 times on dvd, and not in a plasma tv, but a tube tv. I dont care what some idiots say, this is a great movie, and its certainly not worse than 90% of movies
the idiots on reddit thinks that they are the representation of the masses that if they think this movie sucks, it sucks for the 7B+ people on earth.
It was more than a movie, it was an experience in 3D. It was honestly incredible, nothing like it
I got the 3D extended version and played it in my Oculus Quest 2 using Bigscreen Beta. The awe of the 3D experience in a VR headset and the amazing added scenes gave me that sense of awe all over again. VR headsets provide perfect 3D for those movies. Incredible stuff.
13:26 You seem to forget there are two villains at work here, one is negligent and only cares about the bottom line (Sefrige), and the other has an active distrust of the Na'vi and thinks that they are intentionally withholding recorces. (Quaritch AKA Papa Dragon) 13:42 Papa Dragon has clearly been watching Jake's Vlogs, which is why he knows exactry which one to pull up to prove the Na'vi wont leave. Hell Quaritch is probably the one who suggested buldoseing the tree of voices when he realized his inside man had gone native. Sefrige went along with it because as far as he's concerned it's just another plot of land, why not make a parking lot there. Subtext is a required part of storytelling if you don't want exposition dumps every five minutes.
Hate to tell ya chief. But I still love and adore Avatar even after 10 years. It’s a huge inspiration for my own world building for my stories. Cause Pandora is gorgeous. I watch it to this day. I love the video tho. Keep it up!!
TDG-Arts YESSSS
It's baffling to me how someone can watch Avatar and miss every single point it made so spectacularly. The reason we aren't told what unobtanium does is because it's completely and utterly irrelevant to the story. And the villains are as human and realistic as they get. Humans have drained every resource Earth had to offer, and now they are looking to do the same to Pandora. We see the incredible technological advancements the human race has made, yet the greed of those in power makes it that a combat vet can't afford a simple surgery, all so they can get even richer. Avatar is a story about the inherent evil nature of greed, and the effect it had and continues to have on our own planet. The only point that isn't bafflingly ignorant is that the ending would have been made better if Jake's avatar, or jake himself would have died. Yet, him being brought back by Eywa is the perfect ending. It constitutes a perfect end to his character arc, and to the story itself. He gets to live his life in his new home, the one he was ready to give up his life for, together with his mate and with his tribe.
Guys, please watch The Angry Hippie's review and then come back to this one, and you will realize how much more Avatar is than a visually appealing theme-park ride in 3D.
It's breathtaking how much this guy completely missed the point. My jaw has dropped, I'm in total awe. Angry Hippie's video is excellent. Avatar is a spiritual experience that advocates for violent resistance to the capitalist death cult. It's far from mindless escapism.
Avatar is a great popcorn movie that creates authentic emotions, has amazing CGI-still- music, cinematography, action and sound design.
Im sorry but it beats the ever living shit out of any existing Marvel film based on its filmmaking alone. James Cameron is a master
I had the opposite experience of your the one described at the start, I found it dry and dull in the cinema and now deeply love it
😁 welcome to the club! 😁 I should say that I loved it in theatres and now.
I literally re-watched this last night. I still enjoyed it.
Hmmm... No. I watched AVATAR at home as soon as it was available. Still was blown away and replayed many scenes several times. Then when my kids were old enough they were totally fascinated by this movie (through their eyes I learned to appreciate the movie even more). We loved to watch it on weekends over and over. This was also the case in many families we know. AVATAR is a standard in family movie collections and in children's playrooms.
So yeah, what you describe in the beginnig of the video mainly seems to be an opinion of childless twenty- and thirtysomethings. Classic millennials. And we all know, those people love to complain and whine a lot. ;-)
Greetings from Germany! :-)
PS: Nothing like this happened with BLACK PANTHER. Watched it once, never wanted to watch it again. And I know of not even one family where BP is a much loved and repeatedly watched movie. It had a much shorter life span than AVATAR and the effects already look very dated after just 3 years. I don't even remember the soundtrack of BP. Complete opposite with ith AVATAR: Just have to hear a few bits and I instantly identify Horner's fantastic score.
But yeah, the second and third APES movie are much better than AVATAR in many ways. At least when it comes to my personal taste. Especially the story telling. But when it comes to family appeal even the APES don't come close to Cameron's movie epic.
No, I definitely know people who are still watching and discussing BP, much more than ever do of Avatar
Avatar is amazing and can't wait until the sequels!!
I was an Avatar on Haloween 2010. I had a mask and a blue t-shirt.
While I still adore this movie start to finish, this video is it, chief. Was so worth all the time you spent on it
Mmm Why I love "Avatar" soon?
I think this movie deserves more love.
Just because someone has a fairly successful YT channel, it does not necessarily mean that everything they blab about is gold.
As I have watched on, I had the feeling that most of the stuff this guy was pointing out in his retrospective review was somehow really true and yet NONE of it ultimately mattered in the end for the film to work. Like, for example, I never gave a sXXt about the Unobtainium; it's there to stand for our real world's oil, diamonds or coal, and every adult and most children already know what nasty things the Humankind have historically been capable of committing in order to OBTAIN (pun intended) these resources.
Therefore, I do not need some lengthy exposition to get this explained and the film thus needn't waste its time with that, and the YT guy's whole argument over this thus falls flat.
Plus, quoting someone else from this comments section:
" I always felt that the natives' never mentioning or using the rare metal was supposed to accentuate how they and the humans valued different things about Pandora. The Na'vi value Pandora for it's ecosystem - how all the flora and fauna are interconnected - and the ""deity"" that facilitates this. Whereas the humans appreciate only the material resource about Pandora, that has enormous monetary value. "
Again, this person's comment has completely destroyed the YT guy's argument up here. The guy is just nitpicking and "dissecting" something that does not necessarily need to be.
@Slan lol no hes just a delusional new ager.
@Slan I have. His message of "resist the man! Become one with nature again!" Got tiring real quick. Had some cool ideas though.
Anyone who thinks Avatar didn't make a lasting impact should visit Pandora at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Changed my mind about the franchise.
That place is amazing. Such great imagination into making it!
Spectacle is spectacle lol. Still not a cultural impact
One freekingly in depth essay you made there. More like that, please.
Iron rule of CZcams: The number of views a CZcams video ultimately gets is inversely proportional to the amount of effort exerted to create said video.
You are uncapable of looking deeper into this film and finding the messages. This film is FULL of DEEP messages and symbolism. It does tell a story! It tells the story of how corporatocracy submits, murders and controls indigenous populations all over the world for the resources their lands have to offer, something that has happened over, and over, and over again since the rise of civilizations, and is still happening in the present, and the principal country doing this is the USA.
That's why the villians are so cliché, they make you remember the typical american soldiers/government that don't care about or understand other cultures, and are willing to do really nasty things only to get what they want.
Also, it actually is about escaping, but not about escaping his life in a selfish way, but is rather about how millions of people dream about escaping the rotten society without values that we live in, and dream about a world where greed doesn't exist, but true freedom does exist.
When the movie talks about waking up, it's not about waking up from the dream and returning to the ugly truth, but is rather about the AWAKENING of the human consciousness, a process that one must undergo to be able to really embrace the values of solidarity, equality, desattachement and TRUE FREEDOM that the Omaticaya have in their every day life. It's also about regaining the connection to the earth and the nature.
Everything about the awakening of the consciousness and the connection to the earth is a whole topic on itself and can be talked about for hours and hours and anyone can find a ton of things about it on the internet, so I am not getting deep into that.
It is a movie that has messages and symbolism for everyone to catch at their very own level of consiousness, and this is done in a GENIOUS way by James Cameron, so don't feel disappointed on him, he is a genious and I am sure he is in a very high level of consciousness, and as I said before, people can only meet these messages and understand the symbolism in this movie at their own level of consciousness.
edit: Althought the alternative ending with jake's avatar dying was really powerful, I have to say.
Well said. When I watched this for the first time, I was 10 years old living in Canada and living in many Indigenous communities and around nature. I loved nature and watched animal channel all the time as well as movies such as Avatar which really hit home with me about the way I saw the world changing for the worse because of human influence.
- P.S. (I just found out James Cameron is Canadian and that Canadian nature was a big inspiration for him as a child and for this movie :) )
Thank you! People continue take the film at face value, without uncovering the layers of the story. Yes, the story may be simple at a surface level, but when you realise that the story, music, aswell the visuals depict a bigger metaphor of humanity, nature and life in general, we would begin to see that there's more to that what is being presented. Avatar stems from historic and current truths in our world.
Its up to the person to connect to the core of the film rather than getting hooked on the façade. This movie can teach humans so many things, if we are just willing to listen and in the words of the "Lion King's" strange and wise monkey, Rafiki.
"Look beyond what you see".
I would disagree only with primarily the USA being colonial. Other than that? Well said.
bro
Avatar ain't about the dreams. It's about
"sooner or later though you always have to wake up"
Its funny that you say Avatar feels more like a theme park attraction. I just rewatched it for the first time in 10 years and it felt like one of those movies you at a theme park before you go on the ride to enhance the experience.
You do hit on something interesting, it was the first film to really usher in the era of special effects, not just in selling movies, but being done. Yes CG was done before, and will be done again, but CG became a character in Avatar. In the Matrix it's "Keanu Reeves doing a CG stunt" or "Trinity having a camera spun around her." Cool moments, but in Avatar, the CG was another character in the movie on it's own.
I liked the movie when I watched I in theatres, then I still enjoyed it at home. It's fosho not perfect, but I enjoy it.
The stupid thing about this is that while you were talking about titanic, a film I have not seen, I completely forgot that we were actually talking about avatar. It's that forgetable.... Avatar was nice, but it indeed didn't have impact.
@memyselfandY21 I agree with you and I’m an Avatar fan. To be honest, the story was forgettable and crap, but the visuals was fantastic. I hope that the sequels storyline will be a lot better and interesting, and hope we can see new things that we’ve never seen before.
I think people just bash it just to bash it. Why does it matter if it had impact? It was in my opinion one of the most beautiful movies ever made. Made me feel like I was actually on the planet. Had great action set pieces. It doesn’t have to do more than that. I don’t dress up not even on Halloween so I could care less if people have nothing to dress up as.
Not like it pioneered visual technologies almost every major blockbusters in the 2010's and onward would go on to use or popularized 3D film at a bar that hasn't been matched since it was released. Yeah, no impact at all.
My graphic design teacher hated this movie all because it used papyrus.
This is one of the best commentaries ever!... from 17:35 is so relevant to all the musings and obsessions with the Metaverse today. Humans are so hard to change lol
Jake says unobtainium is some sort of superconductor. Always made sense to me.
1 minute into the video and I'm hooked. I watched Avatar 4 times in theaters. And got the DVD (yes, they used to be popular) special edition box set, and watched it several times, also on TV.
I'll press play, wanna see where this analysis goes.
it's nice to see more youtubers covering this movie in an appreciative way. the sequel is going to be groundbreaking.
Wait. That sequel is still happening?
@@pierrebegley2746 yes my friend
It's the way I don't want my dreams on Earth, of this life. I want a replacement, just like Jake. I want my dream come true and not stay as a dream. That's the point of the movie.
The main things I remember from seeing Avatar in the theater were the trailer for the IMAX 3D Hubble Telescope, and the IMAX projector breaking right at the climax.
The inspiration behind the Avatars and the Na'vi came from a comic book called Time Spirits.
He guys quick note on the versions of Avatar cause there are three:
1. Theatrical
2. Extended
3. Revised
Revised can be found on the later Blu-ray releases of the film and is by far the best version. (For those curious, this video uses the extended cut.)
These video essays of yours just keep getting better
I feel like the conclusion that Avatar's conclusion is that "Dreams are a replacement for life" isn't what I got from it. What I understood is that dreams are a goal for life. They are what we should model our society after and what we should fight for. Only when we stand up for what we think the world should be will we be able to achieve the goals we have imagined for our society. Furthermore, we should keep dreaming and continue refining and evaluating what our direction as a people is and how our systems of behavior direct our quality of life. It is apparent that the movie is implying the indigenous people have a higher quality of life and a wisdom the humans don't possess (while failing to delve deeper into that topic in a realistic way) so I think it's implied that the average Joe (or Jake) can make a difference in the fight to attain that quality of life and wisdom.
that was beautiful man, I couldnt have said it better
@Zac nicely said
Uh, no, that wasn't my experience. I saw it once in theatres and thought it was well structured with great visuals, like most Cameron films, with reliably moving James Horner music... but that it was also very by the numbers, with clunky exposition and hackneyed characters, and hugely derivative of other work including Cameron's own. It didn't take me 5 viewings to notice its shortcomings. Still, for what it was - pretty much an extended theme park ride - it was enjoyable.
so... basically Avatar is a anime isekai except live action.
cool.
Top notch video man! This was a delightful watch
The Legacy of Avatar
Me: It has one?
🤫 you will be the first in line to go to theatre when Avatar 2 release in 2021. Stop being bandwagon hating Avatar.
Man your video are just so good.
Thanks for this man.
I really appreciate the use of higher quality clips throughout the video.
Yo this channel is really dope man. Love your insights and how you put it together. Way to go!
Brilliant analysis and video essay. I enjoyed listening the whole way through and found your insights and conclusion very well thought out. Thanks for producing.
This movie was my childhood like when I was four and three are used to watch it nonstop nonstop and I still love it and I’ve been waiting for a new movie to come
Excellent work, dude. Well worth the wait. Really came together in the last five minutes, too - great payoffs! [Without spoiling it: That lyric. Perfect. Well friggin' played.]
“It’s about blue monkeys in space.”
Yep. That just about sums the whole thing up.
no, everyone who come up with that conclusion is just stupid.
I love your essay, and all of your work, but I think you missed a key point in talking about this film, and in particular it's legacy, how it impacted film in the future.
Put simply, how many movies utilise 100% CGI environments and characters? It's the technology that Avatar pioneered (or at the very least popularised) like performance capture (been used in the "Apes" films, Marvel, Star Wars, too much in the Hobbit, etc) that have become a keystone in blockbuster film-making.
That is this film's legacy.
Kinda begs the question, with all that computing power, why they used Papyrus for the damned title...
Performance capture was pioneered and popularized way before this, though. Especially by Lord of the Rings, nearly ten years before.
That is such a great video - it deserves much more attention!!
As fascinating and well crafted as the arguments in this video were, I am deeply gratified that the top comments are all rebuttals. I found Avatar deeply moving in the theater (all 3 times that I saw it) and I continued to find it moving after I bought the director's cut on DVD, so much so that I even found and read the original, unedited screenplay online (the first screenplay I had ever read). The cynical adult in me fully recognizes that the characters are simplistic and the plot derivative, but I don't care. The film's blunt, anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist, anti-military, pro-environment, pro-indigenous people, pro-wildlife message resonated with me in a way no blockbuster had before or has since.
Hands down one of the best analyses I’ve ever seen
Wow, this was impressive. You are one of the few essay writers which actually have something to contribute to a movie. I would have liked your ending very much.
Thank you for returning
Do love the your change in the film. I think it could be even better by adding a cast away vibe by having Jake in the same bar in the beginning. Where he’s about to buy a drink when a woman (could be a random average looking woman or maybe a line of how Jake has a sister) offers to pay the drink, sits down and says some final line, With the scene fading out with them taking, cut to credits
What are these shots from on Earth? I have never seen them, are they from another movie?
They're from the extended edition.
He uses the extended version and says the film has a simple story, but still misses alot of the information in the film
@@flamesphere3144 No, he is right. Even with extended scenes the movie has this flaws, lack of motivation of the villains or at least the motivition is not really exposed. ¿Why is the rare metal so important? That would make the other characters in the movie with a objetive
By the way its a little interesting that you whent whit the verstion that most people have not seen. Most people did not see the extended reralease of the movie. Those extra shots are from the reralease were put in there so that people whould see something new, but it was cut out becouse it whould hamper whit the overarcing story.
Having seen both versions several times, I prefer the extended (+16mn, 2h58) edition. A bit more depth, a few more scenes. Doesn't change the movie overall, but it's nice to have a little more
Honestly i was expecting a video on Avatar: The Last Air Bender...but after watching im happy i saw it, glad to see u back man keep up the good work
I remember thinking that Cameron was making an Airbender movie. I was confused for a long time when they announced the Shyamalan movie. It only became clear to me when I finally saw the Cameron Avatar trailer that they were unrelated.
I love Avatar and am really excited for sequels. It's been way too long imo.
There was plenty of room on that wreckage for Jack.
Wait no one ever rewatches avatar?? I watch it at least 10 times a year wdym 😀???
Oh, I recognize that "Metro EXODUS"-ish style. Nice fonts, good taste. That's a like from me.
Lovely thematic unpacking. I really enjoyed this video.
It's not the most original concept I'll admit, nevertheless it was the best Navy Pier IMAX experience I've ever had
Again, a brilliant analysis. Thank you for making this--I guess I had never thought about why I never thought about Pandora again...
The escapism could also be a metaphor for cinema going. You can go home but you'll never get that feeling at home.
Man, I really appreciate the effort you put into this. but I think you missed the whole point Cameron was trying to make. The real-life “villains” and their motives are just as mindless, negligent, shallow and “temporary” .. even now in 2021. For example: ravaging Avatar-like environments in Venezuela, Indonesia etc. With a world of intelligence at their fingertips, they use astonishingly little of it, and the thing that makes them so terrifying is the almost mindless greed, entitlement and certainty of perspective that justifies public acceptance of their activities. The alternative perspective Cameron was trying to show is that there is value in being able to immerse in what is. Of course packaged in the lightest plot vehicles that could carry these messages without distraction. The point of the movie was more feel than plot. There were a lot of people that could not escape the movie. Wanting to stay forever in the dream, much like Jake did. it was the only "modern" movie I know of where one of the major emotions from audience members was "depression" that they could not stay in that world. And that was the effect Cameron was after... as he puts it: "like the feeling of experiencing undersea wonders".
Absolutely nailed it
Nicely said
Very well done. Amazing that you have such few views for all the hard work you did. But, VERY. WELL. DONE. I applaud you as a fellow creator.
I got the 3D extended version and played it in my Oculus Quest 2 using Bigscreen Beta. The awe of the 3D experience in a VR headset and the amazing added scenes gave me that sense of awe all over again. VR headsets provide perfect 3D for those movies. Incredible stuff.
Its weird to see the face of this channel. I loved the mystery behind the voice that brings a level of calmness to my day
I think this video in combination with the deleted scenes, another Avatar video essay looking at it's neohumanism and also the Avatar wiki are all great sources to expand the world of Avatar and help find some meaning in it. This video is very through and very helpful to get insight into what holes need filling in the narrative of Avatar in terms of what it confers and what it up front communicates.
I've never seen Avatar in 3D, but I love it either way
Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Your intro nailed it for me.
Man I love this movie so much.
I absolutely have to agree. Your comparison with Titanic was really interesting! Your thoughts on how the movie is about dreams, and how it doesn't fully relate to real life sums up my own criticisms better than I ever could. Well done!
Jake's lungs should have been exposed to Pandora's air more often so that his lungs could have adapted to Pandora's air. Jake would still have to use his Avatar. I wrote a Ben 10 fanfiction where Ben signed up for the Avatar program and the RDA and goes to Pandora and his lungs adapt to Pandora's air after breathing it in a few times over a week's time. "Uncataloged Avatar DNA detected. Avatar DNA acquired and available!". "Uncataloged Na'vi DNA detected. Na'vi DNA acquired and available!".
It’s not that deep but has a great vision and love for nature. A lot of people are just overly critical of this movie but the funny thing is almost all of them will still be watching the sequels when they come out they just might not tell anybody. I still consider this movie to be a fantastic experience of escapism and wonder.
I watched it 5x, how can you not it's so pretty
The fact that they stick their nerve endings into their live stock and mates always unsettled me
Yeah, no, I thought Avatar was overrated the minute I saw it. It was the only time I ever remember having to actually wait in line to see a movie - and being unable to get my tickets for like two or three weeks because of demand, including when I went to the midnight shows of The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises - and the only reason I even went to see it was the hype (the trailer didn't interest me, I hadn't yet seen T-2 or Aliens so James Cameron as a filmmaker meant nothing to me).
So me and my family went to go see it - in IMAX 3D, no less - had to get tickets two or three weeks in advance, waited in line even AFTER we had our tickets, and proceeded to see... a bog standard sci-fi movie with the plot of Pocahontas and good CGI, with 3D that was... cool? I guess? But didn't impress me anymore than a 3D movie at a theme park did.
I immediately didn't understand why it was so popular, and felt kinda cheated. The fact that eventually that sentiment seemed to become the popular opinion was very vindicating.
Yes, when I watched the movie at cinemas I was saying "This is just alien Pocahontas" and there was no wonder in the CGI for me because in my city the theaters were not showing it in 3D and just normal screen, no imax. So it was like watching a very good render like you see in videogame trailers and that was it.
how else would you tell the story? i mean seriously everyone moans about the story, but no one can tell me how they'd change it
@@danbh84 every time someone suggests "fixes" for Avatar they just turn it into dogshit
@@chrisbarnett5303 nope
@@danbh84 suggest a better ending then...
At least you were fair in your criticism, most people just shamelessly bash Avatar without thinking beyond the same two or three claims.
Still, I think the film works best if you think of it as an allegory for colonialism, except one where the Natives win. It may not fix everything, but it at least enhances the experience.
The thing is, the movie doesn't even need to be thought to be an allegory for colonialism - it just straight up is. You're absolutely right that it's the same two or three claims, and they're limp, vapid ones at that. I can't get over how so many people are ignorant to classical story structure and how recurring it is in culture. I think just the fact that they can point to something like Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves, and FernGully makes it so malleable for people to just repeat these things ad nauseam while they ignore the fact that these all riff on the same classic story concepts... yet Avatar does it (and presented in a fashion far more originally than any of the others) and it's suddenly "bad storytelling"? Shit's too much.
The only Avatar that's still relevant is the Nickelodeon show!
Avatar isn't the greatest film, but I do think it's very innovative in its use of 3d and creating fantasy worlds with your imagination. I'm guessing Unobtanium is like oil or coal or something.
Aside from the hyper-realistic, groundbreaking animation technology and innovative, immersive camera work used which ultimately caused millions of viewers to feel fully immersed into an animated movie in a new way in 2009, I think Avatar deserves its fame, simplified/copied storyline and all.
The lack of explanations as to why Papa Dragon and Selfridge did certain things mirrors reality. Ironically, in a movie filled with fiction, that can be a good thing. No one truly knows what caused dictators to make certain decisions. What caused colonizers to steal land and wipe out civilizations for their own gain. We are responsible for figuring it out for ourselves.
The movie models American history, which leaves out the psychological explanations for why slave owners and colonizers did what they did. Oftentimes, movies overexplain why characters make certain decisions, and it doesn't allow the audience to think for themselves.
I think James Cameron made a smart decision not overexplaining everything, not only for the sake of an interesting movie, but also for viewers to do their own analyses and immediately feel connected to a world that, like their own, they have to navigate on their own in terms of psychologically analyzing others' behaviors.
You see quaritch actually was watching jakes vlogs the whole time. He just pulls it up in that scene to basically slap the protagonists in the face with it
ok now you have changed my perspective on Avatar. Great video btw
Like really?
The guy is just nitpicking and "dissecting" something that does not necessarily need to be.
As I have watched on, I had the feeling that most of the stuff this guy was pointing out in his retrospective review was somehow really true and yet NONE of it ultimately mattered in the end for the film to work. Like, for example, I never gave a sXXt about the Unobtainium; it's there to stand for our real world's oil, diamonds or coal, and every adult and most children already know what nasty things the Humankind have historically been capable of committing in order to OBTAIN (pun intended) these resources.
Therefore, I do not need some lengthy exposition to get this explained and the film thus needn't waste its time with that, and the YT guy's whole argument over this thus falls flat.
Plus, quoting someone else from this comments section:
" I always felt that the natives' never mentioning or using the rare metal was supposed to accentuate how they and the humans valued different things about Pandora. The Na'vi value Pandora for it's ecosystem - how all the flora and fauna are interconnected - and the ""deity"" that facilitates this. Whereas the humans appreciate only the material resource about Pandora, that has enormous monetary value. "
Again, this person's comment has completely destroyed the YT guy's argument up here.
I know someone who absolutely loves this movie, even on the small screen, and watches it whenever she's feeling down. And weirdly enough, I think her love for the film actually validates your view that this movie is ultimate escapism.
My mother is paralyzed from the waist down due to a fall from a hayloft she experienced in the prime of her life. Seeing Jake in this movie, a paraplegic who very carefully has to maneuver his legs and body just to do the most basic stuff like getting dressed, is very relatable to her. (She often comments how Jake's movements are also very realistic, which is rare for paraplegics in film.)
I remember she had the biggest smile on her face when Jake's first instinct, upon waking up in his avatar, was to take off running. She told me that, if she had ever woken up with strong, working legs, that is the first thing she would do...a thing she longed to have the ability to do.
She's also mentioned that in every dream she's ever had, she can walk. When she's starting to wake up, she'll even become self-aware that she's dreaming by noticing she's walking. This is something she also related to Jake's experience of being in the avatar, running around as an able-bodied person, only to wake up a paraplegic once more.
This movie gives her momentary comfort by providing the escapism of living in the dream where your broken body is no longer broken. I don't know if that excuses Avatar's lack of depth; I found the film empty and quickly tired of watching it with her, so clearly I didn't share that love, desire, or perhaps the need for that escapism. And we both know, unlike Jake at the end of the film, she has to keep waking up. But I find it fascinating that the one person I know who truly loves this movie, even long after it left theaters, is someone who wants nothing more or less than that ultimate escapism that it provides.