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[Doc Jon]

Because it made stupid amounts of money overseas.

I'm sure. It was playing in 3 out of 4 theaters here over the weekend.

[Rockman]

Dude I went to see Clash with a friend visiting out of town, it totally sucked hardcore. If the action were good it would have been a little forgivable, but I felt most of it was unbelievably boring, I couldn't give a crap about most of it. The only scene that was entertaining on the action side was the final fight with the Kraken.

[ReturnoftheMack]

Boring movie that started the worst trend in movies (3-D) which weren't even that impressive IMO.

If there were hot women moving in slow motion this just would've been a Michael Bay movie.

[Log-Man]

Is Avatar worth seeing without the 3D (say a rental)?

[Doc Jon]

Is Avatar worth seeing without the 3D (say a rental)?

I think so. If you like Cameron's other films, you'll probably like it. It is a bit long, which makes it perfect for home watching.

Not perfect by any means, but I think Cameron is a master of the popcorn flick.

[Doc Jon]

Boring movie that started the worst trend in movies (3-D) which weren't even that impressive IMO.

If there were hot women moving in slow motion this just would've been a Michael Bay movie.

Oh please. Bay doesn't hold a candle to Cameron. Cameron is what Bay wants to be, but doesn't even come close.

Say what you will about Avatar, but the story and its progression made sense. The emotional anchors to the story make sense. Almost none of Bay's movies accomplish these simple things.

[ReturnoftheMack]

Oh please. Bay doesn't hold a candle to Cameron. Cameron is what Bay wants to be, but doesn't even come close.

Say what you will about Avatar, but the story and its progression made sense. The emotional anchors to the story make sense. Almost none of Bay's movies accomplish these simple things.

Cameron is obviously better than Bay. Avatar was just eye candy with a vapid plot. It was easily Cameron's worst movie. Just the fact that he named the precious metal "unobtainium" shows how terrible the script was.

[dairydead]

so can someone clear this up for me? Was unobtanium needed for the survival of earth? Because if that is the case, Jake is seriously one of the most despicable "heroes" in recent memory.

[KingPagla]

Cameron is obviously better than Bay. Avatar was just eye candy with a vapid plot. It was easily Cameron's worst movie. Just the fact that he named the precious metal "unobtainium" shows how terrible the script was.

I thought the same thing until someone pointed out to me that "Unobtainium," as stubid as it sounds, is an actual term used by engineers and scientists.

Engineering origin

Since the late 1950s,[1][2] aerospace engineers have used the term "unobtainium" when referring to unusual or costly materials, or when theoretically considering a material perfect for their needs in all respects, except that it does not exist. By the 1990s, the term was in wide use, even in formal engineering papers such as "Towards unobtainium [new composite materials for space applications]."[3] The word unobtainium may well have been coined in the aerospace industry to refer to materials capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures expected in reentry. Aerospace engineers are frequently tempted to design aircraft which require parts with strength or resilience beyond that of currently available materials.
Later, unobtainium became an engineering term for practical materials that really exist, but are difficult to get.[4] For example, during the development of the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, Lockheed engineers at the "Skunk Works" under Clarence "Kelly" Johnson used unobtainium as a dysphemism for titanium. Titanium allowed a higher strength-to-weight ratio at the high temperatures the Blackbird would reach, but the Soviet Union controlled its supply and was trying to deprive the US armed forces of this valuable resource.[nb 1] Eventually, through a European front company, a large quantity of titanium found its way to the United States.[nb 2]
In the 1970s, bicycle magazines, such as Bike World, sometimes referred to exotic lightweight bicycle parts as being made of unobtanium, although while expensive they were commercially obtainable.

[ReturnoftheMack]

I thought the same thing until someone pointed out to me that "Unobtainium," as stubid as it sounds, is an actual term used by engineers and scientists.

I knew that. When I read it I found it even dumber.

[KingPagla]

I knew that. When I read it I found it even dumber.

Yeah, it is dumb. But it's nerdy writing, not not bad writing.

[Doc Jon]

Cameron is obviously better than Bay. Avatar was just eye candy with a vapid plot. It was easily Cameron's worst movie. Just the fact that he named the precious metal "unobtainium" shows how terrible the script was.

I think that's one of the most nonsensical arguments I ever hear when it comes to this movie. On the one hand, it's considered a rip off of Dances With Wolves, which is generally considered to have a good plot. The plot progresses sensibly and again, all the proper motivations and emotional ties are there. So if you take the fact that it's derivative out of the equation (considering everything is) is the plot still vapid? The plot was solid and it's one that has been used, and will be used many times over.

Using the fact that unobtanium was used in the movie to somehow illustrate that the whole movie was somehow stupid is equally silly.

That's like saying the entire Marvel Universe is stupid because they have a metal called vibranium, which was also the basis for a sound-based villain.

The fact that comic book fans nitpick the silliest things in this movie, while equally applauding an Avengers cartoon (which I really like) that is recycled plots from the last 40 years, it absolutely hilarious.

[ReturnoftheMack]

I think that's one of the most nonsensical arguments I ever hear when it comes to this movie. On the one hand, it's considered a rip off of Dances With Wolves, which is generally considered to have a good plot. The plot progresses sensibly and again, all the proper motivations and emotional ties are there. So if you take the fact that it's derivative out of the equation (considering everything is) is the plot still vapid? The plot was solid and it's one that has been used, and will be used many times over.

Using the fact that unobtanium was used in the movie to somehow illustrate that the whole movie was somehow stupid is equally silly.

That's like saying the entire Marvel Universe is stupid because they have a metal called vibranium, which was also the basis for a sound-based villain.

The fact that comic book fans nitpick the silliest things in this movie, while equally applauding an Avengers cartoon (which I really like) that is recycled plots from the last 40 years, it absolutely hilarious.

Just because a plot makes sense with "proper motivations and emotional ties," doesn't make it good. Tyler Perry movies have that too.

Avatar was long and boring with terrible acting. That's really what it came down to for me. I probably would have been more forgiving with just a bad movie with a lot of mindless action, but this was just boring. I don't hate Avatar because it's just a half live action Fern Gully. I hate it because it was boring and tried to mask that with 3-D.

And you really took the unobtanium thing too far. I was just making a crack about the stupid name. That's not why I hate the movie, but it is just a little proof of why something is dumb. It's like saying, "You can tell that guy has bad taste in movies because he likes Phantom Menace." Obviously you need to look over that person's whole list of opinions to make a judgement, but usually you can tell a lot by one little thing.

[Log-Man]

I think so. If you like Cameron's other films, you'll probably like it. It is a bit long, which makes it perfect for home watching.

Not perfect by any means, but I think Cameron is a master of the popcorn flick.

I may rent it, then. The length was one major killer for me; I just can't watch anything through those glasses that long.

[Doc Jon]

I may rent it, then. The length was one major killer for me; I just can't watch anything through those glasses that long.

I hear ya. I saw the film again when it wasn't in 3D and the graphics still impressed me. I realize that it's CGI, but I don't think it looks like a video game cutscene at all. That's what Suckerpunch was like. I really do feel that Avatar was a fully realized world, but that's just my opinion.