In 1968 Stanley Kubrick released 2001: A Space Oddysey.
In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars.
In 1993 Steven Spielburg released Jurassic Park.
Each of these films was groundbreaking and unforgettable.
In 2009, add James Cameron’s Avatar to the list.
Avatar is the blockbuster movie of the decade. Yesterday, I was fortunate to see Avatar in 3-D IMAX at the Edward’s Irvine Spectrum IMAX. The ticket price was $16.50. Well worth it. Avatar has raised the bar for movie going experiences. Seeing it on IMAX 3-D is nothing like watching a movie; it is total imersive experience. There is so much to see and observe in every shot in this movie that it is necessary to see it multiple times. Many of the frames have so much depth and detail it is simply astounding.
In case I am not being clear: this is a movie you absolutely must see if only for the visual experience alone. But there is more than just the effects. There has never been a movie like it. I gave it 11 stars.
As far as the characters in the movie, all the Na’vi people are CGI (computer generated images). For me, these are the very first human-like CGI characters that I truly cared about. (I cared about the toys in Pixar’s Toy Story, but they were toys, not human.)
The movie also raises many thought-provoking questions of morality concerning the natural environment, what happens when technologically-advanced civilizations and indigenous populations meet, and even the U.S. war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. The are parallels to events in history including the Spanish Conquistadors conquering of the New World and the treatment of indigenous populations in the Americas, Africa, Australia and New Guinea.
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy/Action-Adventure
Star Rating: 11/10
