Avatar (2009)

A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

Director:

James Cameron

Writer:

James Cameron

Stars:

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

Won 3 Oscars. Another 86 wins & 130 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Worthington	...	Jake Sully
Zoe Saldana	...	Neytiri (as Zoë Saldana)
Sigourney Weaver	...	Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephen Lang	...	Colonel Miles Quaritch
Michelle Rodriguez	...	Trudy Chacón
Giovanni Ribisi	...	Parker Selfridge
Joel David Moore	...	Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder	...	Mo'at (as Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder)
Wes Studi	...	Eytukan
Laz Alonso	...	Tsu'tey
Dileep Rao	...	Dr. Max Patel
Matt Gerald	...	Corporal Lyle Wainfleet
Sean Anthony Moran	...	Private Fike
Jason Whyte	...	Cryo Vault Med Tech
Scott Lawrence	...	Venture Star Crew Chief

Storyline

When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers knowledge, of the Indigenous Race and their Culture, for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

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Plot Keywords:

spiritualism | paraplegic | marine | future | forest protection | 

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Taglines:

Enter the World

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

Grace's avatar was the most difficult to realize. Sigourney Weaver's face wasn't a natural mesh with the features of a Na'vi. Her narrow, patrician nose did not translate well to the distinctive leonine Na'vi nose. Moreover Grace's avatar was to have been created 18 years in the past, so her avatar had to appear as an 18-years-younger version of Grace/Sigourney, so artists at Stan Winston Studio brought pictures of Sigourney Weaver from ALIEN into ZBrush and used them to sculpt her avatar.

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Goofs

When Jake first tries to convince the Na'vi not to fight, and Tsu'tey shoves him, Tsu'tey's eyes are colorless and gray. In the scenes before and after this, however, his eyes are clearly yellow.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jake Sully: [Narrating] When I was lying in the V.A. hospital with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying. I was free. But sooner or later, you always have to wake up.

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Crazy Credits

The initial end credits soar over the world of Pandora.

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Alternate Versions

"Avatar: Special Edition" was released theatrically less than a year after the original release, it contains approximately eight minutes of extra footage, including new creatures and action scenes.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.183 (2011)

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Soundtracks

I See You (Theme from Avatar)
Performed by Leona Lewis
Music by James Horner and Simon Franglen
Lyrics by Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell, and James Horner
Produced by Simon Franglen and James Horner
Leona Lewis performs courtesy of Syco Music

User Reviews

Visually Spellbinding!

I am sure my comment will be lost in a sea of blue but anyways here goes...

Just attended the Advanced Screening at my local "Event Cinema" BCC in 3D

Now this movies graphics are gorgeous, everything is so real, the 3D just adds to the effect beautifully without distracting you.

From a technical standpoint this movie is amazing, just the detail on the Navi's faces are amazing, they feel more real then their real life counterparts!

Without giving anything away about the story, the plot itself is very solid, very character driven and perfectly executed by Jim, safe to say this is his best original story since "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2" and is definitely one of his best movies, so good it ties with T2 which is my most favorite movie of all time...

So for those of you who have not seen this yet... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

5/5

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

18 December 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Avatar: An IMAX 3D Experience

Filming Locations:

Chicago Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$237,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$77,025,481, 20 December 2009

Gross USA:

$760,507,625

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,790,439,092

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Dune Entertainment, Lightstorm Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min 171 min (special edition) 178 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1