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.
An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in search for her homeland with the aid of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max.
A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
A fast-talking mercenary with a morbid sense of humor is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers and a quest for revenge.
Director:
Tim Miller
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds,
Morena Baccarin,
T.J. Miller
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Scarlett Johansson
The powerful, but arrogant god Thor, is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
Director:
Kenneth Branagh
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Anthony Hopkins,
Natalie Portman
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 intel 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.Written by
The Massie Twins
The whooping and cackling sounds made by the wolf-like predators on Pandora are actually real spotted hyena calls. See more »
Goofs
The helicopter-like aircraft makes the sound of an ordinary helicopter - this is not correct: high-speed framed propellers produce an entirely different, quite unique buzz-like, smoother noise at a higher pitch.
However, we know that they are operating in an atmosphere which is entirely different to Earth's (humans have to wear masks) and lifting an aircraft in gravity which is different to Earth's (it is stated that the humans have to work out in the low gravity), so we can't really make any comment on what these propellers should sound like. Though the characteristic whop-whop sound used is due to interaction of "air" flow of the main rotor of a helicopter like that of a 2 bladed Huey and its tail rotor. Other helicopters use 4 or 5 bladed rotors and more than two blades on the tail rotor to eliminate that characteristic sound. See more »
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.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The initial end credits soar over the world of Pandora. See more »
Alternate Versions
Released to commemorate the 2010 Earth Day, the 171-minute Special edition includes the following additional scenes:
The first flight across Pandora is longer, with the helicopter flying past the Stuurmbeast herd. Grace informs Norm and Jake about it.
The squad reaches the abandoned school. It reveals that Grace teaches English to the Na'vi children until a serious incident came about (bullet holes around, etc..) which was insinuated about.
Jake and Neytiri running through the neon-lit woods is slightly longer.
When Jake joins the circle, a little Na'vi girl smiles at him curiously, but her father holds her back. Neytiri then arrives and hands Jake a fruit.
Jake tries to ask Neytiri her name, but she seems annoyed by that.
Jake, Grace and Norm proceed from the helicopter to the secluded laboratory. There's an explanation about the mountains.
At night, Jake and Neytiri run through the luminescent forest.
After Jake touches the Fan Lizard, it flies away in a radiant glow. Its fellow species follow suit and, to the delight of Jake and Neytiri, raise themselves into the air.
As Jake and the other Na'vi climb the mountain, Neytiri flies past them on her banshee, Seze.
The Na'vi goes for an aerial hunt for Stuurmbeast. Jake shoots one and exclaims in excitement. Neytiri follow suit as well.
The Na'vi destroy the Hell Trucks of the mining company.
The next morning, Wainfleet's squad sifts through the remains of the Hell Trucks. Turns out that Na'vi kill the soldiers as well. Quaritch and Selfridge watch the live broadcast.
Tsu'tey's fall from the sky is longer. A few plants decelerate and break his fall.
The scene with the Hammerhead Titanotheres has been extended.
The fight between Neytiri on a Thanathor and Quaritch is slightly longer.
Tsu'Tey's death: he knows he is dying and appoints Jake to be his successor. He insists Jake to kill him because by Na'vi customs, Jake has to pass him to the Eywa by killing him by his own hands. Neytiri starts to cry. Jake reluctantly complies with his wish, stabbing him by the knife as the camera passes by him.
The end credits has an addition of using Discovery Zone's Bless the Plague soundtrack. The copyright year has been replaced with 2010.
It has been 12 years since Cameron unleashed the phenomenon that was Titanic and real fans would have to look as far back as 1991's Terminator 2 for their last proper dose of his incredibly epic action (True Lies, while fun, really doesn't count). So the anticipation for Avatar has long since reached fever pitch and beyond.
Thankfully for the patient masses, Avatar has turned out to be the biggest and best event movie of the year, perhaps the decade. The story is pure Cameron simplicity – a paraplegic ex-marine is given a chance to walk again through the use of a unique alien body, called an Avatar. It is his job to gain the trust of the natives so that a greedy corporation can steal the precious metal from their lush moon. Jake's (Sam Worthington) crippled main character is the perfect point of contact for the audience – not only is he new to the visual delights of Pandora but his disability means that every moment in his Avatar body is one of glorious freedom from the confinement of his chair. When the Corporations intentions become more sinister, Jake must choose between his new found place with the natives and his own race and fight for what he believes in.
Avatar combines parts of Pocahontas and Braveheart with a liberal dose of Space Marines into an epic whole that takes nearly three full hours to unfold. We could criticise that length, the weak story and the hammy dialogue. We could attack its thinly-veiled ecological message or the frankly bizarre spirituality in its second half but honestly nothing can spoil the experience while you are enveloped in it. And a large part of that is down to the brilliant use of 3D – which is both subtle and incredibly effective. Til now, we have been making movies with 3D elements, Avatar is the first truly 3D film and might well prove to be one of the most significant things to happen to blockbuster film-making since Star Wars.
Cameron is also pushing the envelope with truly photo-real CG – something which has been promised for years but has finally been delivered with Avatar. The interactions of the characters with the environment is incredible and the detail on the faces of the motion-captured leads (Worthington and Star Trek's Zoe Saldana) bring them to life. You will believe totally in their performances, representing another quantum leap in tools which have rarely been used for anything other than spectacle.
Make no mistake, Avatar is an important film from a technical standpoint but it is also great entertainment. The world of Pandora is a stunning spectacle from scene to scene and as Jake learns more about the Na'vi the film approaches the kind of light hearted adventure story which has been absent from movie theatres for years. Then the final act explodes into tragedy and desperate action, with the final half hour a blistering life or death struggle that has to be seen to be disbelieved.
Over the coming days you will be hearing a lot about Avatar, and some of the critical reaction is bound to focus on its weaknesses in a bid to appear appropriately reserved and objective. But this is not a film to be dissected or examined, rather one to be experienced with a warm crowd, a great sound system, in 3D as you bask in the knowledge that the movie-making master is back!
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It has been 12 years since Cameron unleashed the phenomenon that was Titanic and real fans would have to look as far back as 1991's Terminator 2 for their last proper dose of his incredibly epic action (True Lies, while fun, really doesn't count). So the anticipation for Avatar has long since reached fever pitch and beyond.
Thankfully for the patient masses, Avatar has turned out to be the biggest and best event movie of the year, perhaps the decade. The story is pure Cameron simplicity – a paraplegic ex-marine is given a chance to walk again through the use of a unique alien body, called an Avatar. It is his job to gain the trust of the natives so that a greedy corporation can steal the precious metal from their lush moon. Jake's (Sam Worthington) crippled main character is the perfect point of contact for the audience – not only is he new to the visual delights of Pandora but his disability means that every moment in his Avatar body is one of glorious freedom from the confinement of his chair. When the Corporations intentions become more sinister, Jake must choose between his new found place with the natives and his own race and fight for what he believes in.
Avatar combines parts of Pocahontas and Braveheart with a liberal dose of Space Marines into an epic whole that takes nearly three full hours to unfold. We could criticise that length, the weak story and the hammy dialogue. We could attack its thinly-veiled ecological message or the frankly bizarre spirituality in its second half but honestly nothing can spoil the experience while you are enveloped in it. And a large part of that is down to the brilliant use of 3D – which is both subtle and incredibly effective. Til now, we have been making movies with 3D elements, Avatar is the first truly 3D film and might well prove to be one of the most significant things to happen to blockbuster film-making since Star Wars.
Cameron is also pushing the envelope with truly photo-real CG – something which has been promised for years but has finally been delivered with Avatar. The interactions of the characters with the environment is incredible and the detail on the faces of the motion-captured leads (Worthington and Star Trek's Zoe Saldana) bring them to life. You will believe totally in their performances, representing another quantum leap in tools which have rarely been used for anything other than spectacle.
Make no mistake, Avatar is an important film from a technical standpoint but it is also great entertainment. The world of Pandora is a stunning spectacle from scene to scene and as Jake learns more about the Na'vi the film approaches the kind of light hearted adventure story which has been absent from movie theatres for years. Then the final act explodes into tragedy and desperate action, with the final half hour a blistering life or death struggle that has to be seen to be disbelieved.
Over the coming days you will be hearing a lot about Avatar, and some of the critical reaction is bound to focus on its weaknesses in a bid to appear appropriately reserved and objective. But this is not a film to be dissected or examined, rather one to be experienced with a warm crowd, a great sound system, in 3D as you bask in the knowledge that the movie-making master is back!