Our friend Beach Bum did a rather comprehensive review of James Cameron's blockbuster motion picture Avatar over at my place so I won't bore anyone with another one. However I went yesterday and saw the i-Max 3D version. All I can say is: WOW!
I love movies. I love going to movies. I go to the theater to watch those that are "big" with lots of special effects, action, and excitement. I don't go to see those delicious little thoughtful movies, instead I wait until they are released on DVD.
I had read a lot of reviews of Avatar, and couldn't imagine that it was as good as everyone was saying it was. It wasn't. It was better. It was the most stunning visual experience I have ever had. The highly refined 3D coupled with i-Max made for a breathless ride, one I will take time and again. The story is beautiful, but also sad, repeating the age old theme of Earth working very hard to kill all living things in pursuit of a precious metal. In this case, instead of the Indians, it is the indigenous population of a magnificent world that is filled with wonders.
I could go on and on but I am afraid I might spoil it. Let each frame be a surprise. When it ended everyone in the packed theater leapt to their feet and began to applaud, including me. Even if you are not a fan of science fiction and fantasy you can only appreciate this wild and powerful journey into the imagination of James Cameron. Don't miss it. This is well worth a 5 Star Rating....
Cross posted at MadMikes and Hills Country
Hear, hear. The movie is amazing, and not only for its great visuals — the story (the environment it creates, what it communicate about the sanctity of life) is a moving and compelling one.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the review by Beach Bum, too — excellently stated. Our world is dying, this is the number one most pressing reality of our times, but you won't hear that on "reality TV" or on Fox news, ABC, CBS, NBC: these msm "peroxide bimbos and stuffed shirts with brilliant smiles and Soviet era Pravda-like integrity," can anyone still even take them seriously?
We can use more stories like this. And it is, maybe, a sign of the times that they do keep coming (Wall-E was another great movie about the human condition) — a much needed antidote to corporate indoctrination and msm daily propaganda.
Art and Fiction, and especially Science fiction has always been a precious narrative medium rich in existential metaphors.
Isaac Asimov had this to say about it:
“Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today — but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.”
“What’s importance about science fiction, even crucial, is the very thing that gave it birth — the perception of change through technology. It is not that science fiction predicts this particular change or that that makes it important, it is that it predicts change. It is change, continuing change inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the word as it will be - and naturally this means that there must be an accurate perception of the world as it will be. This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our Everyman, must take on a science fictional way of thinking, whether he likes it or not or even whether he knows it or not. Only so can the deadly problems of today be solved.”
“Reality is a crutch for people who can’t handle science fiction.”