A $300 million dollar budget—Check.
Director of Titanic, Terminator, and Aliens Fame—Check.
Blue-skinned aliens in 3D—Check.
Blue Man Group on steroids? Think again.
Four years in the making and based on visions James Cameron had years ago when he was a truck driver—Avatar transports you to another planet in such a realistic fashion that you literally have to pinch yourself to remember you’re not one of the Na’vi.
The film takes place in the year 2154 on an energy-starved Earth. The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a paralyzed former Marine transported light years away to the planet Pandora. Here, humans have built an encroachment called Hell’s Gate with the sole purpose of mining a rare mineral, aptly named “unobtainium.” The only issue is that large amounts of this ore are detected underground, directly beneath the home of a fierce indigenous tribe called the Na’vi—ten-foot-tall beings with feline features.
Director of Titanic, Terminator, and Aliens Fame—Check.
Blue-skinned aliens in 3D—Check.
Blue Man Group on steroids? Think again.
Four years in the making and based on visions James Cameron had years ago when he was a truck driver—Avatar transports you to another planet in such a realistic fashion that you literally have to pinch yourself to remember you’re not one of the Na’vi.
The film takes place in the year 2154 on an energy-starved Earth. The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a paralyzed former Marine transported light years away to the planet Pandora. Here, humans have built an encroachment called Hell’s Gate with the sole purpose of mining a rare mineral, aptly named “unobtainium.” The only issue is that large amounts of this ore are detected underground, directly beneath the home of a fierce indigenous tribe called the Na’vi—ten-foot-tall beings with feline features.
Jake’s mission is to “drive” his avatar, a genetically engineered hybrid between human and Na’vi DNA, and infiltrate the Na’vi people, who have become an obstacle to mining the unobtainium.
Jake’s first excursion to the magical forest of Pandora almost gets him killed. Luckily, the beautiful Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) comes to his rescue, and so begins Jake’s journey in understanding the Na’vi and their world. Will he ultimately betray them for the unobtainium? In his efforts to make Avatar relatable, Cameron draws parallels to familiar themes in human history—innate human greed and the health of our environment.
The Na’vi people, deeply spiritual and connected to their environment, remind me of the Native Americans, who had their lands taken and then often polluted.
Pandora, described by Cameron as “the Garden of Eden with teeth and claws,” is so painstakingly detailed and imaginative that it’s almost difficult at times to focus on the central story. Cameron himself dreamed up the terrifically captivating landscape, flora, and creatures that he brought to 3D life in Avatar.
Jake’s first excursion to the magical forest of Pandora almost gets him killed. Luckily, the beautiful Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) comes to his rescue, and so begins Jake’s journey in understanding the Na’vi and their world. Will he ultimately betray them for the unobtainium? In his efforts to make Avatar relatable, Cameron draws parallels to familiar themes in human history—innate human greed and the health of our environment.
The Na’vi people, deeply spiritual and connected to their environment, remind me of the Native Americans, who had their lands taken and then often polluted.
Pandora, described by Cameron as “the Garden of Eden with teeth and claws,” is so painstakingly detailed and imaginative that it’s almost difficult at times to focus on the central story. Cameron himself dreamed up the terrifically captivating landscape, flora, and creatures that he brought to 3D life in Avatar.
Production designer Rick Carter says in the press notes, “James Cameron didn’t just create and make a motion picture set on a distant world; it was as if he had actually traveled there, taken copious notes, then returned and put every detail he absorbed on paper, and then on film.”
The forest is home to creatures like the ferocious viperwolves, described by Cameron as “hairless with shiny skin that looks like overlapped armor. Most disturbing are its paws, which are like leathery hands.” The less fearsome direhorses, resemble terrestrial horses but look like “six-legged alien Clydesdales with moth-like antennae.”
I won’t ruin your experience by divulging the other wondrous inhabitants of Pandora that are waiting to make your acquaintance. How on earth (or in Pandora) was Avatar made to look so uniquely multi-dimensional and richly textured?
Turns out, Cameron isn’t just an extraordinarily talented and creative director; he’s also the film world’s equivalent of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. As a precursor to making Avatar, Cameron and his team actually pioneered groundbreaking film technologies, including an “image-based facial performance capture” system, which required the actors to wear helmets with a tiny camera attached to them. This enabled the recording of facial expressions and muscle movements to a degree never before possible.
The forest is home to creatures like the ferocious viperwolves, described by Cameron as “hairless with shiny skin that looks like overlapped armor. Most disturbing are its paws, which are like leathery hands.” The less fearsome direhorses, resemble terrestrial horses but look like “six-legged alien Clydesdales with moth-like antennae.”
I won’t ruin your experience by divulging the other wondrous inhabitants of Pandora that are waiting to make your acquaintance. How on earth (or in Pandora) was Avatar made to look so uniquely multi-dimensional and richly textured?
Turns out, Cameron isn’t just an extraordinarily talented and creative director; he’s also the film world’s equivalent of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. As a precursor to making Avatar, Cameron and his team actually pioneered groundbreaking film technologies, including an “image-based facial performance capture” system, which required the actors to wear helmets with a tiny camera attached to them. This enabled the recording of facial expressions and muscle movements to a degree never before possible.
Another innovation created for Avatar was the Virtual Camera, which enabled shooting scenes within the computer-generated world, just as if he were filming on a studio soundstage.
Over one petabyte (1,000 terabytes) of digital storage was required for all of the computer-generated components of the film. This equates to roughly 500 times the amount used to create and sink the ship and its passengers in Cameron’s 1997 hit, and the highest grossing film in history, Titanic.
What’s most remarkable about Avatar is its success in striking the right balance between drama-based storytelling and computer-generated action escapism. The unbelievably vivid, photorealistic, and multidimensional setting never derails the integrity of the underlying storyline.
We’ve all been hostage to frustratingly mind-numbing sci-fi thrillers that barely inspire consciousness, much less wonder and inspiration. Avatar is Dances with Wolves meets Star Wars, or, as I like to call it—my first extraterrestrial vacation.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Over one petabyte (1,000 terabytes) of digital storage was required for all of the computer-generated components of the film. This equates to roughly 500 times the amount used to create and sink the ship and its passengers in Cameron’s 1997 hit, and the highest grossing film in history, Titanic.
What’s most remarkable about Avatar is its success in striking the right balance between drama-based storytelling and computer-generated action escapism. The unbelievably vivid, photorealistic, and multidimensional setting never derails the integrity of the underlying storyline.
We’ve all been hostage to frustratingly mind-numbing sci-fi thrillers that barely inspire consciousness, much less wonder and inspiration. Avatar is Dances with Wolves meets Star Wars, or, as I like to call it—my first extraterrestrial vacation.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
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