James Camerons Avatar

[Solitaire]

I still have a 3D kit from quite a long while ago sitting in a box upstairs. I think it was made to work with 3Dfx cards. Was certainly a headache inducing thing with tiny LCD shutters that you had to slide back and forth to match with distance between your eyes. I really don't have any fond memories of using it. I just remember playing the PC version of Final Fantasy 7 and Quake using it was not that great of an experience. Low refresh rate was certainly a big part of the problem then that would not be now with the proper equipment.

I really think that 3D is going to be this years big gimmick for the home market and hopefully more than a few manufacturers take the chance on it and prices drop a lot by the end of the year. Avatar and the other existing 3D movies could be used as a big marketing tool that will extend past the gamer market to a wider group of people who normally would not notice or were turned off by older 3D experiences. The success of Avatar in 3D should be a good indicator of the potential market out there that I'm sure has been noticed. And it will be interesting to see if the upcoming 3D version of Alice in Wonderland will share a similar pattern of the 3D version far outperforming the 2D version. I bet the entire marketing campaign is going to be geared around getting people to pay that extra couple of dollars to get the 3D experience.

That is assuming that Avatar has vacated the 3D capable theaters by March. The darn thing is still going strong. Brought in $4.1 million just on Tuesday this week. $54 over the weekend. Higher than last week though that was because of MLK day.

I have a 3D ready tv but I'll be waiting for better designed glasses to hopefully come out this year. I wear prescription glasses and trying to fit polarized or heavier LCD glasses over these is a pain. I modified a pair of polarized glasses to fit better for next time I go to the theater. I've considered getting a special pair of clip-ons that are compatible for about $25 if I'm going to make going to 3D in theaters more of a habit in the future.

[Spirit]

It is possible to play HZ in 3d too.
I been playing games in stereo3d since 2001 or so, all you need is an nvidia card, shutterglasses and a monitor that can handle 120hz or higher.

I notice nvidia has updated their 3d products:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3D_Vision_Main.html.

It's more expensive now then it was in 2001.
Shutterglasses were like 50-70 and in those days we all had CRT monitors that could easily handle 120 hz.
Today it costs loads :/

Hey Cobal great to see you!

Yeah I was wondering the same thing. I think they smell a cash cow on the way so have upped the price now that demand has presumably gone up or they predict it will.

My shutter glasses were £120-ish back in 2004. At the time I had an nvidia card, a crt capable of 120hz, and indeed they did work with Horizons and it was awesome. One of the few games I could say worked correctly.

Now here I sit with an ati card, iz3d drivers (on trial thankfully), an lcd that *should* be able to do it... but the glasses just will not sync. It's apparently an issue being worked on, and it also does it on my crt that I still have. My lcd is max 75hz, so even if it did work I'd probably fit and fall over with 37hz per eye. I'll be keeping my crt a little longer.

I'm tempted to go nvidia again, if drivers are still easy to get.

Rakku

[LOVWYRM]

talking about "Titanic"
I do not really miss it here
http://kino.aol.de/kino-special/die-...15063309990001

sry its German- but you can see the ranking

[Veya]

After three weeks of being sold out, I finally managed to get into a 3-D showing today. I'm usually not a big fan of 3-D (though I did see 'Shrek: 4-D' which was interesting), but I have to admit, I probably would have regretted seeing this without the glasses.

Epic is all I can say to describe the movie. I loved the glowy, shiny things, especially at night, and the creatures were all so very expressive. The whole experience was amazing, so unreal that it was almost real, if that makes sense. Also very emotional, I probably shed a few tears at least three times. Definitely pouring more money into the DVD when it releases. :]~

If you've yet to see this, make sure it's in 3-D!

[Solitaire]

Heh. Avatar just missed knocking Titanic off the top spot for worldwide gross. Just 6 million behind. Guess that it'll have the title tomorrow. So now shooting to be the first $2 billion gross. It surpassed The Dark Knight to take #2 for US domestic and needs another $48 million to beat Titanic. Pretty amazing feat, even accounting for the higher ticket prices for 3D.

[Cobal]

I'm tempted to go nvidia again, if drivers are still easy to get.

Rakku

Easy to get, the 3d bit is simply a part of the reference driver.
will still work with your old shutter glasses.

[Frith-Rae]

I watched an Oprah from last week with James Cameron on and they were discussing Avatar - got some little factoids that I wasn't aware of - so thought I'd share (cuz I thought it was very intersting...) in case some of you weren't aware either.

Cameron had 3000 people working on the movie and 10,000 computers!! (jeez...)
Cameron specifically hired a botanist and a linguist. The Botanist created the ecosystem and GAVE A NAME TO EVERY SINGLE PLANT IN THE MOVIE - yes that's right, all those plants you see each one has a genus and species name in latin! *ROFL*.

The linguist he had create the entire Na'vi language - not just what's in the movie.

So..dang..boy did have some money didn't he?

Tolkein would be proud .

oh - and he said "we always said that if it made money we'd make a sequel..and I think this counts so...we'll be making a sequal".

THERE YA GO!

[Solitaire]

If you get it, Fox Movie Channel will be running a Making of Avatar special tomorrow (Jan 27) and repeating several times. Saw it advertised on Discovery the other day.

I didn't know about the botanist creating the ecosystem but I did hear about the linguist creating the entire language structure and about 1000 words (and counting). There already is a dedicated group trying to learn how to speak Na'vi at http://www.learnnavi.org/.

Since it eclipsed Titanic on Monday for the world wide #1 spot I kind of think it is safe to say that it made enough to justify it's sequel. Two sequels, in fact. Cameron said that the story arc was designed for 3 movies and that some scenes were included in the movie to set them up. Heh, I think that his "next" project Battle Angel is going to get pushed back. If he attempts to make that next there will be many howls of anger.

[Spirit]

You'll love this... although I can't help but think this is a bit cheesy:

China renames 'Avatar' mountain in honour of film

I see the reasoning, but renaming a mountain?

As for the naming of all the lifeforms in Avatar... yeah I can see why he did this. It shows, and it'll hopefully still show in any sequels in whatever form they may be (books, mini-series, games, etc). Even the Avatar game out now has a Pandorapedia with a surprising level of detail, complete with those latin names. You can scan pretty much anything and you'll get a pandorapedia entry spring up.

Design your world with that much detail, as Tolkein did, then whatever you make using that reference will be consistant and not lacking or contradictive ... hopefully.

I just can't see how the same guy directed Titanic... geeze I hate that movie. Perhaps it's the same way I love LotR, but hate King Kong...

Great to see Avatar at number 1 ... but if you factor in Inflation, the biggest movie ever was actually Gone With the Wind. ... see here!

Rakku

[Solitaire]

That is quite humorous about China renaming that mountain.

I just can't see how the same guy directed Titanic... geeze I hate that movie. Perhaps it's the same way I love LotR, but hate King Kong...Rakku

Cameron is a pretty talented director who has pushed the limits with almost all of his movies breaking new ground in film technology. The Terminator was quite impressive for his second directing job. Aliens really got him noticed and won several awards. The Abyss, while not doing very well did have a few breakthroughs. Especially the "water tentacle" though it seems so very dated now. T2 was outstanding for it's effects at the time. True Lies was a "simple" movie in comparison to the rest but a lot of fun. Love it or hate it, Titanic was technically very impressive. I personally rank him up there as one of the best directors in this era. As a writer, well maybe not so much...

As for Peter Jackson and his progression from LotR to King Kong... If you took that far of a dive from one movie to the next, I sure hope you don't see his latest offering, The Lovely Bones.... You might go mental.

[Vortura]

As for Peter Jackson and his progression from LotR to King Kong... If you took that far of a dive from one movie to the next, I sure hope you don't see his latest offering, The Lovely Bones.... You might go mental.

Go backwards with Peter Jackson. Meet the Feebles and Braindead are superb.
Make sure you get the uncut version of Braindead (released as Dead Alive in USA according to Wikipedia) otherwise you'll miss the heartwarming and deeply moving scene with a lawnmower.

[Dragonboy]

It took me quite a while, but I have actually seen Avatar today…
While it was absolutely spectacular. Full of action and beautifully created plants, animals and it is a world I would love to see for real…
While the whole plot just screamed Pocahontas from the first second…
While I will certainly buy the movie once it gets out on DVD…
While this is the first 3D movie which didn’t give me a headache…

Somehow it still was a disappointment… I however cannot lay a finger on why.

And we all know what is going to happen in the second movie… Total retaliation from earth re-conquering the planet… and the third… Probably in the scene of they lived happily ever after Earth gets defeated again and some treaty is made…

[Solitaire]

Somehow it still was a disappointment… I however cannot lay a finger on why.

Tons and tons of hype raising expectations too high coupled with a story that, while enjoyable, had a healthy dose of predictability and was a little bit shallow.

There was a lot of material filmed that was cut that would fill in the story some more. I recognized 3 or 4 scenes in the making of documentary that I read about in the script but did not make the final cut. Just depends upon how much can be added into the extended version without overloading it and bogging it down. I just REALLY hope that the love affair between Norm and Trudy gets buried somewhere dark and deep and never sees the light of day.

[Frith-Rae]

Well I went in expecting hokey plot - cuz as you said - Cameron does great on the special effects and boomies (ALiens II rocks...T2 awesome..etc.), but his plots - meh...

So, was what I expected.

Like I said to begin with - how many other different plots do YOU know of where its "humans coming into contact with native populations"

[lightning claw]

Just seen it last night and it was worth the migrain seeing it in 3d

getting on to the topic at hand wow people must be board caus i did not see that at all in the film a static charictor only a few speaking parts was of the decent we are talking about and he was deemed a Hero by the nive fighting along side of Jack sully

Folks i hate to be rude like this but these bely ackers give me no choice

GET A LIFE !

the movie was more about this Phrase than any thing else

All is one and one is all

don't destroy a excellent deep movie with this type of political trash !

[Spirit]

don't destroy a excellent deep movie with this type of political trash !

LOL... yeah just let it out Epion.

I see where you're coming from, although I don't think this thread has gone anywhere near the level of 'discussion' I've seen on some alternative sites.

It is an awesome movie, and I'm glad you like it!

Going back to Solitaires mention of the Lovely Bones... strange thing is I *really* like the trailer for that movie, and it'll be on my Watch list. I think I'll like it for the same reason I like What Dreams May Come ... surreal, sometimes dark, heart grabbing story that isn't a chick flick (pardon the expression ) .

Rakku

[Frith-Rae]

I think I'll like it for the same reason I like What Dreams May Come ... surreal, sometimes dark, heart grabbing story that isn't a chick flick (pardon the expression ) .

Dont know why not cuz it was certainly a "chick book".

I read the book serveral years ago as part of a bookclub I was in - I believe this was an Oprah Selection as well.

The book was "meh" in my tastes, interesting for some of it - though there certainly wasn't a huge level of suspense/action/drama the way that the preview seems to hint at. But perhaps the preview is playing up a side of the movie that isn't really there (as it wasn't in the book) - but then that just sucks cuz I hate when previews basically lie about what movie you're going to - lol.

What I remember the book being mostly about was her experience of death, the afterlife, etc. The facts bout her cause of death and what her family was going through (or any "investigation" her father was doing) was more of a side/background story. Whereas in the preview it seems to play that up as the main point.

But its Jackson - so who knows what he did with it .

[Solitaire]

As of Tuesday, Avatar pretty much owns all the major records. Quite interesting to see how this came about. And it will be very interesting to see what is going to happen in a month or so. Titanic took about 3/4 of a year to reach it's records. Avatar did it in about 47 days. However, the industry people rightly point out that actual seats filled for Avatar is much less than Titanic was plus the 3D/IMAX ticket premium adding to the total gross. Still, it is an impressive achievement because it's attendance has exceeded most of the other movies at the top.

The really interesting thing is what is going to happen in March. It is estimated that there are about 3000 digital 3D screens in the US. They are rushing now to add another 1000 because there are a bunch of 3D movies scheduled to come out at that time. How to Train Your Dragon and Alice in Wonderland are probably the biggest of them. There is also Clash of the Titans, which was just changed from a standard 2D release to having a 3D version. Toy Story 3 might be in April, though I'm not sure. There are not going to be enough screens capable of showing them all. Especially if Avatar is still kicking at that time. Which it certainly could be because it's attendance has been dropping only slightly from week to week. If they do decide to kick Avatar out of the 3D capable screens, it will probably vanish from the theaters fast because the 2D version has already started disappearing like it did at my local cinema. Unless they bring in a 2D print to replace 3D and squeeze out the last few dollars that they can.

If you like the 3D format, this is certainly going to be a big year. For the first time, major quality films are being released using the format. The last time the 3D experiment came about in the early 80's, the best of the bunch that I can remember was Jaws 3D. Not exactly stellar quality. But with Avatar, Alice, Toy Story 3 and several others including the final two Harry Potter films in 3D, I think that the format is finally around to stay. Especially if other films follow Avatar's pattern of 3D far out performing 2D.

I just hope that they crank up the frame rate to 60 fps for future films. Avatar was limited to 24 by the studio despite the objection of Cameron who wanted to go with 60. I guess he was quite unhappy about the decision. Sure would have made some of the action sequences much smoother. I recently watched it for the 3rd time in the theater and really paid attention to the technical aspects more than the story. Some of the scenes really did suffer for the lack of frame rate, I think. The quality can certainly go up. Lets just hope that they can find some practical way to get rid of those glasses. They really suck if you wear prescription glasses. But if I'm going to make a habit of going to see 3D films in the theater, it might be worth investing in a pair of quality clip-ons. They sell for about $30 for the better ones. And are supposed to give a better image than the standard glasses with less bleed through from the opposite eye's image. Don't know if they would be worth it or not.

[Frith-Rae]

Actually major mnotion pictures were coming out in 3d starting last year, they were just mostly animation...

And there doing 3d of Clash of the Titans?? ZOMG AWESOME!

[Solitaire]

Actually major mnotion pictures were coming out in 3d starting last year, they were just mostly animation...

And there doing 3d of Clash of the Titans?? ZOMG AWESOME!

Yeah, they were. Have been for a few of years with the animated shows going back to Chicken Little and a release of a new version of Nightmare Before Christmas. But there were not very many screens available to show them on. Theater owners were reluctant to spend $100 grand an auditorium for the screen, digital projector and other equipment they would need for what could have been just another passing 3D fad. I'm not sure what kind of push there was to get conversions done before Avatar was released but I assume that the studio offered some kind of incentive to do it. I was surprised to find that I had one 3D capable screen up here in Duluth. I don't remember seeing any advertisements for the last couple of animated films though I didn't look until I decided to see Avatar.

They were not going to release Clash of the Titans in 3D originally. It is being "converted" to 3D with Warner Bros. hoping that Sam Worthington can draw them in because he is the lead in Avatar. I would be cautious about getting too excited about it because I have no idea what a movie shot in 2D will look like converted to 3D. Sure, they can render all the backgrounds, creatures and effects over again but what do they do with the 2D footage? And they are not spending a lot of time doing the conversion. They pushed the release date back 2 weeks to do it. I hope it does not turn out to be a total WTF disaster of a presentation. 3D has to be carefully crafted to be effective. The main action needs to take place at the plane of the screen and beyond. Just having crap pop out in front of the screen to wow the audience gets old quick. I'm concerned that a rush job will really suck. Besides, with Alice in Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon being released in 3D before it, you might have a hard time finding it in 3D if those two do well. Alice especially looks like it could have a good run being the next major 3D release. It will have an easy time convincing people to pay the extra $$ riding on all the hype around Avatar's successful 3D run. Not to mention: Tim Burton + Johnny Depp = Crazy Fun Time (usually).