Since Avatar 2 is rumbling ever closer, I wanted to take a cast my critical eye back on the 2009 original that everyone went nuts over, and try to figure out what exactly they saw in it.
How bout I give ya a shot glass made up by the tempered tears of those who would cry "But drinker you dashing fine good sir you, foreign English accent speaking neo naz- umm... critique driven maniac!" What are we on about?
James Cameron's Avatar 2009. Though it is a movie with lots of clichés and sadly unsatisfactory replies, I still feel it's a great movie, with several good sides and a classic story that we will always retell in various forms. Either way, Avatar was a passionate project, created in the love and art of Cameron to tell a good story. And I respect Avatar for this.
dude I never even seen Avatar, I heard the general plot synopsis and I saw every plot point coming. This is what I think happened in the movie, good guy joins corporate/military exploration, good guy explores new worlds with an uptight boss telling him what to do, good guy falls in love with new world, good guys team attacks new world, good guy and friends defend new world from old boss whos now the bad guy. I have never even seen a trailer for this movie mind you.
Personally liked it. It may be a guilty pleasure because yes, the story is generic. But the worldbuilding, visuals, sound design, etc was awesome. It did a better job teleporting the watcher into the world than making them care about what happens in the story
Check out the Special Edition or the Collector's Edition: all the plot and character development missing from the story is in the deleted scenes. Would've been fine as a three-hour movie, but _no,_ gotta have the shorter runtime and all the tech demo stuff.
A guilty pleasure, much like The michael bay transformes. They are stupid, brain dead, and chalk full of pointless action and explosions. But its fun To Look at.
Missed one reason why Avatar was so successful- it was the first time CG humanoid character renderings looked fully photo-real and convincingly human-ish. It was mind-blowing for 2009.
@@sladewright5779 Uhhhhhhhhhhh… have you actually seen the movie? No, I’d say it still looks photo-real. And even PS5 and Xbox 4th-Gen characters still have a plasticy fakeness to both their rendering and animation.
@@arbiterskiss6692 Of course if the sequel would be releastic, we would have the USA/USSR/China equivalent world sending a mass scale assault using drones and such to bomb the shit out of these tall smurfs because it’s a desperate act of saving your species
I remember going to the premier of this with my sister and some of her friends. 3D glasses, sketchy seats, because the room was full, but I was still mind-blown with the visuals. I can't remember a single detail of the story, nor even the characters for that matter. Just that it looked amazing. I think that's what made it so big. For a 2009 eye, it was the most spectacular thing ever. Kids these days will never understand.
And that's the only people that liked it was kids. I liked the effects and 3D glasses. But failed at paying attention to the plot. Or simply too young to understand that this movie troupe has been done to death. With B movie-level acting and characters.
nowadays movie look better and realer with way less of a budget. go figure. but, dated graphics don't make movies or games bad it just shows whether or not it was all novelty or not
I wouldn't brag about having such a smooth brain. But it's okay, we all can be saved by Eywa metaphorically. Even if you possess very lacking critical thinking skills
This movie needed about 3 minutes more of Giovanni Ribisi explaining that “Unobtainium” was critical for human expansion and the restoration of Earth. Honestly, raising the stakes from “loot the blue people’s planet for the lulz” to “it’s literally a question of their survival or ours” would have made the movie something other than “Dances with Wolves…IN SPAAAAACE!”
Yep. And the very specter of it is probably why they switched tracks to hunting sapient whales in a scene of torture-porn worthy of any slasher flick. No ambiguity when it's rich douchebags wanting to live forever, unlike a concerted effort to solve an energy crisis and possibly restore Gaia.
Nah.... in our capitalistic world, having a stuff that does electrical magic and would be worth the price would be attractive for every mayor company. Can imagine "TSMC" and "xiaomi" battleships fighting for the mining spot way better than "the world need the new stuff because.... survival...."
@@ElectricAlien577 In both movies, the motivations given for such deep evil are so threadbare that they both seem more like cheap propaganda with really good CGI instead of compelling stories with multilayered conflict. Stephen Lang May as well be twirling a Snidely Whiplash mustache.
@@Mrhalligan39 Profit is the motivation that was presented. That is the only motivation needed for an average corporation to carry out atrocities. The profit motive leads directly to horrific atrocities every day.
You see, the humans made the mistake of relying on an element called "unobtainium". I am powering my robot army with commonite and already control half the continent.
At the Avatar premiere in Tokyo, they gave packs of tissues to the guests because they expected us to cry. James Cameron used the word "journey" about 20 times during his intro speech before the film started.
Still, why would you copy off Fern Gully and Disney's Pocahontas?? Those two films suck balls!! And I really think The Drinker should rip those two films apart!!
What always boggled me about this movie is that human civilization is advanced enough to transfer consciousness to an avatar but not enough to fix a guy in a wheelchair.
They do though, when Jake was talking with the colonel, the colonel promised Jake new legs when he gets back to earth if he works for the colonel and give him information
@@Kataroku yeah well we decided to let the government throw a ton of money and red tape at the health care system which is only a part of the reason why it’s so shitty.
When I was 8 years old I watched this movie on the big screen, and the visuals, sound design, and epic action scenes left me utterly amazed. It was one of my earliest movie experiences, so those aspects of the film are the only things I vividly remember.
"The ultimate irony with Avatar is that for all the time and money spent to make this movie in 3D, the story and the characters were still stuck in one dimension." -Mr Pinkett
The plot is probably simple because it has sequels coming out. Probably in the second movie they will explore the crisis earth is facing and we will see that the military is just trying to make everyone survive
@Jack D MowrerDid you like your own comment? That's.. really depressing. I was willing to keep mocking you a bit, but if that's all you've got, maybe you should go away now.
One thing that I love about Avatar is that Jake's actor actually did everything like an actual independent paraplegic would do. I'm only saying this since I've been over half of my life paralyzed by my own idiocy and the point where he gets into his Avatar body and runs into the sand and wiggles his toes in it is spot on. That's something I'd do immediately. Otherwise the movie is just Pocahontas in space.
you just made me appreciate my legs more man, so thank you for that. And i'm really sorry to hear about your situation, I really hope one day there's a way to completely cure it
I'm sure you know of the famous Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic who has an incredible story. She was also paralyzed due to her own mistake, it's a unique name. Don't be so hard on yourself, we all do incredibly dumb things when we're young and stupid, and often when we're old and stupid. I wish you all the best, I hope a cure comes in your lifetime.
Guys, there's no need for pity :D As I said, it was my own stupidity. I'm glad you wish me the best, I truly am, but I don't need any pity (if that's the correct term to use here). I've dealt it with so long and made my amends 13 years ago, but I can't say that I wouldn't miss those soccer games etc. ;)
The reason why Avatar is so loved is because of how incredibly unique and amazing the world of Pandora was. Now yes the story was simple, but the visuals of the movie help tell the story in the most cinematic way possible. The unique landscapes of Pandora in such awe. A movie can have a great and unique story, but you need the visuals of the movie needs to tell that story and that is what James Cameron is able to do.
I'm guessing you're not one of the people who wanted to go to New Zealand where Avatar was filmed and produced to find the literal locations where it was shot. 😀 Someone actually needed to tell some people that nowhere in New Zealand looks like Pandora.
Idk why people complain the story being so simple. Since when a James Cameron movie is extremely complex with an Albert Einstein IQ story on the page?? People seemed to forgot about Titanic huh and how simple the story was, a sinking ship with a Romeo and Juliet tone to it, yeah weird how simple is now a bad thing when it's not
@@4deleDaz33mThe problem is the story was generic and not original in anyway. Even simple stories can still be original and compelling and Avatar just wasn’t that.
I appreciated the district 9 call out. I recently watched that movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like sci-fi alien movies I recommend you watch it.
I am an Avatar defender and that argument never made sense to me. The Dances with Ferngully or Pocahontas aliens while Saving Private Ryan from 9/11 thing states in the complaint that LOTS of movies have similar story lines. You just listed a ton. It is more about how the story is told and he says it in the first couple moments of this video. Cameron tells the story well. It isn't a great story but it is a spectacular experience.
@@garrettperman3200 The problem here is that all those things have been done before, just better. It's a really nothing movie, overlong, preachy, and unimaginative. One defence for Avatar I always hear is the 3D, but if that's the only real good thing about the movie it fails in my book. I don't understand why it was so popular, and never will.
@@JDelwynn "and never will" Then you aren't really a part of the conversation. You are stating clearly your opinion won't ever change. So you aren't worth talking to about this. By calling the movie 'preachy' you've made it religious or political or something in your head and now you have nothing but hate. Then you go on to ignore the entire point I just made by then calling it 'unimaginative.' Very safe to say you aren't judging the movie on its own merits. Ignorant hatred aside, it is actually an incredibly well presented movie. Yes, the 3D is the best ever and best since, but moreover it is engrossing, imaginative, and exciting. You are experiencing an alien world up close. And the attention to detail (naming of plants, songs they created, language, dance, how the technology works, etc) is one of the most immersive experiences of all time. It isn't the first movie to tell us to save the forests, but that isn't really the point. The point is watching them catch a giant alien hark and ride it in to battle. If you can't get past one element of the movie... Well, I am guessing you hate almost all movies. I haven't encountered a single movie that didn't have even one thing I didn't like.
@Degrelegence You may be right. But it still doesn’t deserve to be this popular since it isn’t the best in any way. If I want to watch a good movie that keeps me entertained for two and a half hours, I go watch a Tarantino movie
Longer than Covid vaccine, longer than Cyberpunk 2077, longer than James Webb telescope, someone already mentioned HL3, the list goes all the way to heat death of the universe
Avatar is a great movie. Yeah the story and characters are super simple but it's all very well put together for what it is. Plus the visuals are super detailed and incredible. Also at 8:00 Grace kinda explains what's going on beforehand, that the planet has a neurological network that connects everything to it. Jake and Neytiri also visit a forest of trees where natives "upload" their memories to the network. So it isn't like this ritual comes from nowhere, there's a significant amount of context as to how this is happening.
"tHe pLoT iS tOo siMpLe" yeah I fucking get it that the plot is simple, but I still love it. Just because a bunch of RU-vidrs said the plot is simple doesn't mean you have to shove it to everyone's faces. Just let people have their own fucking opinions.
James Cameron, 2009: "Hmm...how can a bunch of lizard-birds successfully ambush a fleet of hi-tech aircraft...I've got it! Maybe the gunships don't ever think to look up!" JJ Abrams, 2019: "Hmm...how can the Resistance fleet stand any chance against a fleet of Star Destroyers with Death Star lasers...I've got it! The Star Destroyers don't know which way is up!"
The difference here is that even Cameron’s failures are still visually stunning films that can still be enjoyed even if the story is stupid,, while I wouldn’t wipe my ass with the scripts of the Sequel Trilogy films.
Billion dollar plot contrivances can kiss until spitshined, the darkest part of my black ass! Sad for the brilliant people out there that will never get published by anything more than a literary mag, and these frauds make bank having final battles be decided by villains who are scripted to be daft when the climax music comes on.
Navi: Cheering as the space ships leave. Humans: Radio the USCM, tell them to prepare all the CN-20 for regional saturation. Jake and the Navi: Why does it suddenly smell like bitter almonds?
@@besteger I agree. The Orks from 40k (mind you, the most belittled race in that setting) are pretty much masters in plucking asteroids and using them as mines or as hand-made ships. If those guys can make it despite being "stupid", then so could the humans from Avatar!
Certainly a guilty pleasure, the visuals, music and atmosphere is a very mesmerizing spectacle to witness you'd get through the characters pretty quickly. What I'm very much hoping The Way of Water is Cameron making the characters more complex, adding their motivations, what makes them, problems that ties in characters, a lot more. Just wish there was more in the first.
I don't see how the story can be salvaged, when the entire idea of aliens looking like that is just bonkers. They look like they evolved in Australia, and not on another planet. We have stranger creatures in our oceans on Earth. I wouldn't mind if he just made them giant octopuses on land, and pretended that the first movie didn't exist. Hell, I experience greater culture shock when traveling to Montenegro, than if I were to meet the Navi. Seeing actual aliens on another planet would be an improvement.
@@Flugs0 Apart from the funny part where I typed "Navy" to describe the Navi, what else did I get wrong? You can't go to another planet, and meet human/cat hybrids there. Life is way more imaginative than that. The fact they were lazy and just created them in order to have something resembling a sex scene tells me they really wanted to get the mainstream dummy to like it. I guess the story could be salvaged, if it turns out that long ago humans actually created the Navi, and did so by mixing human with cat DNA. Perhaps a lonely cat lady scientist did that without approval of others. Would be odd, but a decent explanation for aliens looking so similar to us.
@@Flugs0 He says that those blue aliens are too similar to humans, considering the fact that they evolved on another planet and have nothing in common with humans, and l think that's the biggest problem with this movie
@@anteveic327 of course they're too similar too humans, but these are the creatures that the audience is supposed to relate to and feel sympathy for, so obviously using giant tentacle monsters would be a very bad move. but saying that this is the biggest problem with the movie is nothing short of ridiculous.
Don’t forget the fact that it was the “first 3D” movie that kicked off the 3D fad in the 2000’s, and the Ultra-realistic CGI world was a major selling point for people to see the film.
This is the right answer. At the time, it looked like it was going to be the "first" of the "new way to do cinema". Missing this would be like missing "The Jazz Singer." Then reality came, and it happens to be that 3D isn't really that cool.
I remember thinking: "Eh, looks like game graphics." I didn't watch it in 3d movies though, but a tv screen once it was avalable. Might have been impressive in a theatre.
@@dtkedtyjrtyj - I remember watching in 3D in the theatre, wasn’t too impressed - looked like pop out characters in a box, did think the CGI was pretty good though.
I don't know anyone who went to watch this movie expecting an interresting story. It was a 3D visual spectacle, nothing more. When me and my friends left the cinema afterwards we were all like: "Yeah, ok. Looked nice." We weren't disappointed, but there was just nothing really to talk about. As expected.
I like the way my wife describes Neyteri's relationship arc with Sully: "I hate you, you're stupid and your people are hurting my world." "Actually you're pretty attractive so I think I love you now." "Your people destroyed my home and killed my father! I hate you!" "Oh you caught a really big bird. I love you again."
Actually to me it makes a lot of sense. At first she is deeply scarred by having lost her sister to the humans and so have developed a distrust as well as disdain for them which she projects unto Jake. Eywa starts planting the seeds of doubt into her, and she starts seeing his willingness to learn and his bravery which is indeed attractive. Then she loses her home and her father, feel betrayed by Jake for obviously playing a part, and in the moment would feel strong emotions which she cannot control. Lastly when she has been given some time to calm down, and not in an emotional outburst, Jake pulls off a very ballzy move and really puts in effort to show where his allegiance lie. He proves his value and bravery once again, and wins back the trust. He's resilient, strong-willed, brave, and he develops an open-mind as well as a more compassionate heart through the cource of the film.
oh you mean how the western propaganda of the ethnic girl can't resist the white man eg james bond and agent X despite bond killed her lover and red corner where a chinese girl half richard gere's age can't resist him frenching him despite asian culture is conservative and she's engaged but somehow its the chinese government accused of no justice (racist) or every fking american/western movie eg a-team movie, generals wife cheats on him and bangs white american protagonist who after winning a gun fight lets her go.....go where you have no husband now lol. Your point at the "arc" proves its MORE offensive then the plight of a native culture being destroyed
By far my favorite part of this movie was the human vehicles. I watched this as a kid (like 4-5 years old) and this was the first time I’ve seen anything like a mech on screen. I LOVED them. To this day, my favorite vehicle in all of science fiction is still the helicopters in this film. When ever I find myself drawling vehicles, mainly Aircraft, I always take some inspiration from avatar. The creatures are also beautiful to watch. Hell I really want to see what one of those hammerhead things look like in real life.
"Box office revenue doesn't mean a film is objectively good." This reminds me of what someone else said about books. He said "best-sellers" are called best-sellers for a reason; "best-seller" does NOT mean best writing. Just look at Sparkly Vampire Story.
Kinda like how Suicide Squad (2016) was a box office success While The Suicide Squad (2021) was as box office disappointment… Somehow (Disclaimer: I don’t hate the 2016 suicide squad, but I thought it’s a good example of not too great movies getting success while great movies disappoint)
They spent most of the budget on CGI and world building. Hell, they even hired a linguistic professor to create the Navi language, a si-fi writer to design all the animals. And they created the CGI that still shits on 90% of the movies in 2022. So I guess that's how they ended up the most cliché plot possible.
Mate, I couldn't agree more! I never understood the Avatar craze! It was basically Dances with Wolves in Space. I can't help but wonder if the real reason it's taken this long for a sequel is because deep down Cameron knows it was bad.
Nah, I think the real reason its taken so long to make the sequel is because Disney kidnapped and turned all the CGI animators into slaves and are holding them hostage in basements to make sure their mediocre Marvel TV shows and Star Wars movies can be produced.
"Avatar is all about surface level spectacle and shallow emotion, dazzling the viewer with grand visuals but failing to deliver anything deeper that's worth reflecting on". Avatar? You just described Hollywood to a T!
Yeah I think he has some personal grudge against avatar because almost every of his critics could be applied to most movies this days, Imo the movie is not great, it has a lot of wasted potential but calling it a garbage fire is a overstatement
*I'm a big fan of the drinker, and have watched and agreed with ALL of his videos. But he's drastically wrong with his main gripe against Avatar,* in presuming that it's story is a Cookie-Cutter Rip-Off Version of other "White Saviour", "Dances With Wolves", and "Pocahontas movies". *Hear me out!!:* Drinker's Criticism of Avatar being an over-used metaphor for the Native-American-Indian Genocide is not unique, and was the main Gripe by most Critics when the Movie was released. But I disagree. *Instead, Avatar, more accurately depicts the much-neglected historical Genocide and Oppression of West Europe, by Roman/Catholic Imperialism. SIMILARLY TO THE NAAVI, the Gauls were Pagans (which literally translates to Country-Dwelling people), who lived in small tribes, very much in accordance with nature, and were considered to be Blonde-Haired Horse-Riding Giants by the comparatively smaller Brown-Haired Romans.* *According to Roman Historian Tacitus and Ceaser himself, they would all bath naked together in the rivers, and were generally ALL virgins until the age of 20+, after which they were completely monogomous (except sometimes the nobles who were allowed Polygamy on account of their rank). And I quote:* "The young men are slow to mate, and reach manhood with unimpaired vigour. Nor are the virgins hurried into marriage. Being as old and as tall as the men, they are equal to their mates in age and strength, and the children inherit the robustness of their parents. Life is all in hunting and military exercise. From childhood they train for labor and hardship. They have great praise among them for those who remain longest without sexual experience. Some think this makes for height, muscle, and strength. Indeed to have had knowledge of a woman before age twenty they think very shameful, and there is no hiding it." The entire religion centred around Reincarnation, The Placenta, and Trees. *SIMILARLY TO THE NAAVI,,* they believed in reincarnation and during the initiation festival of Yuletide (aka Haloween-Christmas) the young members of each tribe had the chance to regain their past Hamingja/honour, memories, and possessions. The Naavi is clearly a more magical take on this, where the trees can store human consciousness and communicate with the forest, but the parallels are clearly there. Under Ceaser & the following Roman Emperors/Popes, unknown millions of innocents were massacred. It first began with Ceaser (who against the will of the Senate, and in apparent self-defence) slaughtered his way through Gaul. *Similarly to the Human-Antagonists of "Avatar", the main purpose of these genocides were to acquire Wealth & Resources, via Taxation and the looting of all of the (relatively untapped) Gold Mines in Gaul, which could be used to pay back Ceaser's many debtors. Gaius Julius Ceaser and Octavian indeed masters of propaganda, and hence today there are very little reliable non-bias sources about their reigns (or about the great Carthaginian Empire which existed not long before them), but it's unquestionable that despite how good they may've been for Rome - the Emperors were disastrous for the Pagan populations of Western Europe. *When looking at a Character like Jake-Sully, his character aligns far, far more with the Roman General "Arminius",* than that of the Male Leads in Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves, who lead no great rebellion or are taught to worship nature quite in the same way. For example, when Arminius went to oversee the occupation of Gaul and their taxation and looting of the gold mines, he slowly began hating the Roman's for their destructive greed and ignorance. Anyway, long story short - he ended up switching sides - uniting the Gaulic tribes and delivering the Roman Empire one of it's worst ever defeats @ the massacre known as "The Battle of Teutoburg Forest". *Lastly, the most potent clarification that the movie is referring to the Oppression and Genocide of Pagan Europe (and not the Native Indians), would be the destruction of the World Tree.* From Donars Oak in Gaul, to Temple at Uppsala in Sweden, to the Irminsul in Germany - the Roman/Christian Occupiers would always attempt to destroy ALL Pagan Temples, especially the most large & monumental ones. Apart from depriving the natives of their temples, these acts of destruction also served as a symbol of disrespect, contempt, domination, and conquest over the local natives - and after destroying their Temples, they would build a Church in its place. *All this goes to say, that there is arguably no other symbolic act more representative of the 1000 year-long war against Pagan Europe, than the destruction of the World Tree.* *With the above points and Cultural Context taken into consideration, James Cameron ultimately delivered a powerful, magical, and unique retelling of an ancient, and long-forgotten conflict. Personally, I went along to the Cinema with separate family/friends on 3 different occasions, to experience the REVOLUTIONARY 3D-Hype together, and it was an epic viewing experience that I would've given a 8/10. But as with all CGI-intense movies, it doesn't look nearly as good outside of a cinema, and will likely age badly. The generically wooden acting and super-long screentime also makes it a definite when it comes to rewatching. But the first-viewings were really immersive and entertaining.*
@@riftvallance2087 Cheers mate. I'm an avid history buff, and ALL the critics were saying the same as the Drinker when this movie came out. I can understand why they would dislike it though, if you presume that it's making a HUUUGE leap in mental gymnastics, to associate Naavi with Native American Indians. But the Naavi's story is very similar to that of the ancient Gauls tbh.
I think you make some good points about Avatar's weak story and lack of originality but I have to disagree about the villain, when watching it recently I was surprised about how much I liked Quaritch. He seems like a strong capable leader, who cares about the people under his command and tries to help out Jake as much as possible. He has a fairly straightforward motivation, wanting to help mine unobtanium (to save earth obvs) but also a disdain for the na'vi due to receiving a scar in battle and witnessing their brutality. I think if the movie first introduced the Na'vi in an intimidating/scary way we would've understood his perspective a lot better. I think in future films (Spoilers ahead for Avatar Way of Water) It would be cool to see a Na'vi tribe that teams up with the RDA, maybe Quarritch now in Avatar form gets other Na'vi tribes on his side by convincing them that Jake is a curse on their world and that he betrayed the humans, ran from the Omaticaya and that he isn't the 'chosen one' the Na'vi think he is. They adapt their native tactics with special training by Quaritch and the other Mercenaries. I think this would make the conflict much more morally grey forcing the characters into a tough situation. This while also alludes to the way in which the conquistadors and other colonial regimes conquered different nations, by turning them against each other.
Quaritch would be the one you'd follow through hell, klednathu, helms deep, holy Terray to fight heretics, demons, or what have you if he was your commander. The tragedy for him is that he's fighting natives to drive them from their homes all so they could mine the shit under it. Sure Earth needs Unobtanium but Earth seems too far of a concept if you're in Pandora just trying to do your job and not get killed.
But that would make him a hypocrite because he is representing the very thing he would try to convince the Navi to attack. And why would they want to fight his battle? I think casting out what I know about the way of water, the other Navi tribes don't want to be involved with their problems unless it affects them. Even if they team up with another human, or human avatar hybrid, eliminate jake etc. eventually the problems will end up on that tribes doorstep. It would still be a never ending cycle to remove the outsider with too much power you know?
Yeah, that's basically it. I don't remember anyone I knew loving it because the story was original or anything. The visual effects were really good. That was it.
Yeah, the effects were awesome. Plus it had guns, ships, aliens, explosions, and epic music. Of course people liked it. I like Adam Sandler movies too. It doesn't need to be groundbreaking or objectively "great" to be a fun movie.
For me, the part that I really remember being angry was the scientist twin brother of the protagonist being a plot device rather than a character. Even his fellow scientists colleagues just felt slightly annoyed at someone’s untimely demise.
It became the highest-grossing film of all time because it gave us the feeling of being transported to another world like nothing since "The Lord of the Rings."
It was possibly the most immersive visual spectacle ever put to film. Best use of 3D in a movie in my opinion. There was a thing called post Avatar depression, tons of articles written about it, news segments, etc... You the audience member wanted to live in that world. Now of course if you watched Avatar on a 14 inch MacBook, you might not feel the same, but if you saw it the way it's supposed to be seen, on the biggest and best theater you can go to, it was an incredible experience. Avatar 2 will easily do the same.
You're drastically wrong to refer to Avatar, as just Cookie-Cutter Rip-Off Version "The White Saviour", "Dances With Wolves", "The Last Samurai" or "Pocahontas" movies. *Hear me out!!:* Drinker's Criticism of Avatar being an over-used metaphor for the Native-American-Indian Genocide is not unique, and was the main Gripe by most Critics when the Movie was released. But I disagree. *Instead, Avatar, more accurately depicts the much-neglected historical Genocide and Oppression of West Europe, by Roman/Catholic Imperialism. SIMILARLY TO THE NAAVI, the Gauls were Pagans (which literally translates to Country-Dwelling people), who lived in small tribes, very much in accordance with nature, and were considered to be Blonde-Haired Horse-Riding Giants by the comparatively smaller Brown-Haired Romans.* *According to Roman Historian Tacitus and Ceaser himself, they would all bath naked together in the rivers, and were generally ALL virgins until the age of 20+, after which they were completely monogomous (except sometimes the nobles who were allowed Polygamy on account of their rank). And I quote:* "The young men are slow to mate, and reach manhood with unimpaired vigour. Nor are the virgins hurried into marriage. Being as old and as tall as the men, they are equal to their mates in age and strength, and the children inherit the robustness of their parents. Life is all in hunting and military exercise. From childhood they train for labor and hardship. They have great praise among them for those who remain longest without sexual experience. Some think this makes for height, muscle, and strength. Indeed to have had knowledge of a woman before age twenty they think very shameful, and there is no hiding it." The entire religion centred around Reincarnation, The Placenta, and Trees. *SIMILARLY TO THE NAAVI,,* they believed in reincarnation and during the initiation festival of Yuletide (aka Haloween-Christmas) the young members of each tribe had the chance to regain their past Hamingja/honour, memories, and possessions. The Naavi is clearly a more magical take on this, where the trees can store human consciousness and communicate with the forest, but the parallels are clearly there. Under Ceaser & the following Roman Emperors/Popes, unknown millions of innocents were massacred. It first began with Ceaser (who against the will of the Senate, and in apparent self-defence) slaughtered his way through Gaul. *Similarly to the Human-Antagonists of "Avatar", the main purpose of these genocides were to acquire Wealth & Resources, via Taxation and the looting of all of the (relatively untapped) Gold Mines in Gaul, which could be used to pay back Ceaser's many debtors. Gaius Julius Ceaser and Octavian indeed masters of propaganda, and hence today there are very little reliable non-bias sources about their reigns (or about the great Carthaginian Empire which existed not long before them), but it's unquestionable that despite how good they may've been for Rome - the Emperors were disastrous for the Pagan populations of Western Europe. *When looking at a Character like Jake-Sully, his character aligns far, far more with the Roman General "Arminius",* than that of the Male Leads in Pocahontas or Dances with Wolves, who lead no great rebellion or are taught to worship nature quite in the same way. For example, when Arminius went to oversee the occupation of Gaul and their taxation and looting of the gold mines, he slowly began hating the Roman's for their destructive greed and ignorance. Anyway, long story short - he ended up switching sides - uniting the Gaulic tribes and delivering the Roman Empire one of it's worst ever defeats @ the massacre known as "The Battle of Teutoburg Forest". *Lastly, the most potent clarification that the movie is referring to the Oppression and Genocide of Pagan Europe (and not the Native Indians), would be the destruction of the World Tree.* From Donars Oak in Gaul, to Temple at Uppsala in Sweden, to the Irminsul in Germany - the Roman/Christian Occupiers would always attempt to destroy ALL Pagan Temples, especially the most large & monumental ones. Apart from depriving the natives of their temples, these acts of destruction also served as a symbol of disrespect, contempt, domination, and conquest over the local natives - and after destroying their Temples, they would build a Church in its place. *All this goes to say, that there is arguably no other symbolic act more representative of the 1000 year-long war against Pagan Europe, than the destruction of the World Tree.* *With the above points and Cultural Context taken into consideration, James Cameron ultimately delivered a powerful, magical, and unique retelling of an ancient, and long-forgotten conflict. Personally, I went along to the Cinema with separate family/friends on 3 different occasions, to experience the REVOLUTIONARY 3D-Hype together, and it was an epic viewing experience that I would've given a 8/10. But as with all CGI-intense movies, it doesn't look nearly as good outside of a cinema, and will likely age badly. The generically wooden acting and super-long screentime also makes it a definite when it comes to rewatching. But the first-viewings were really immersive and entertaining.*
OK - necro posting on a video about an even older movie but...here goes. I saw this in 3D when it came out. I left the theatre angry, like wtf is this piece of absolute refuse I just wasted precious oxygen and money on. Everyone else seemed to be elated, like they had some kind of religious experience but I thought it was trash - on so many levels I don't even know where to start (but you do). Time has not dimmed my active reprehension towards this movie. Thank you Drinker, glad it's not just me.
Drinker: "James Cameron might learn this the hard way" - 2020 James Cameron: "Avatar 2 needs to make 2 billion to break even" - 2022 Drinker called it pretty well IMHO.
Avatar was already one of the greatest movies of all time. Expertly written, very solid cast of characters, overall a compelling and politically revolutionary story that wastes no time. Visual effects 10 years ahead of its time. Avatar 2, 3, 4 and beyond will cement Avatar as the greatest film series ever created.
@@chaplincrabtree Avatar 2 proved I was right. Avatar is not just the best sci-fi series, better than soy wars or soy trek by an order of magnitude. It is already the best film series of all time. In the future, any truly great film will be described as "Cameronian".
The furries have become way to vocal and open in the past decade. They need to be shamed back into the kennel and going back to having pop culture portraying them all as depraved coomers.
Calling it "Dances With Fern Gully Pocahontas Aliens While Saving Private Ryan From 9/11" killed me 🤣 I still haven't seen this movie. Not planning on it either.
Maybe an original idea would have been to have a boy and girl from warring families fall in love against the demands of their families and then end up dying.
Missed "The word for world is forest". It's a novel where the aliens are little green monkeys instead of giant blue cats. Mostly the same story but better. No hamfisted sappy trope of the evil colonizer. The natives use firearms because bows and arrows are stupid and nobody who uses them would win a war. Basically novels are better than flashy pretty toys suitable for children and man/woman children.
I can't begin to imagine how Cameron can get four sequels out of this concept. There should be one 10-minute sequel where the humans leave Pandora and nuke the site from orbit...it's the only way to be sure.
The concept has SO MUCH DEPTH to it but they screwed it all up with the first movie. Imagine if from the start they established multiple corporations trying to vie for control and rival tribes of Na'vi with their own interests fighting each other. They literally only needed to open a history book to get an idea of how much depth there could be to this sort of story but... instead we ended up with this shit. Imagine how tense it would have been if a character (like Jake) was sent there and duringinteraction and research on the Na'vi did develop romantic inclinations towards a Na'vi and the challenges that would come from such an inter-species (inter-ecological 'relationship') would entail. Just from communication to vastly differing biology and perhaps the Na'vi romantic interest doesn;t reconcile, because, maybe their physiology doesn't even include this sort of human pair bonding. The possibilities WERE endless.
I know this video is 2 years old, but I fucking LOVE that you referenced “Ferngully”….one of my all time faves when I was a kid. Lovin your channel. I thought your accent was totally fake for a minute, but after happening upon one of your live streams recently, I’ve since changed my mind. Thanks for the great content! Hope 2022 is treating you well!🍻
The idea of utilizing the "avatars" would have been interesting and believable if this was a " first contact" movie instead of a " let's take all the resource" movie.
That's the point. The first contact people, the scientist faction, failed to deliver on making the navi let the corps mine. Hence why they have no more local political juice to do anything. When Jake arrived his confidence and new freedom of movement made him prone and able to not die one he strayed outside the tight leash that is the little protection the corporate paramilitary still provide. That's the reason why he singlehandedly made that much progress with the navi, because his survival instinct made him relatable to the navi. The jellyfish seed plot device not really subtle, but it sets the stage for the later animal vs corporate security showdown. The drinker is not wrong on many points. But other than plot some convenience and using plot pattern found in other work, there is not much to say. The world building is really good, even the floating islands makes sense since the room temperature superconductor means that the ground is diamagnetic and make the island that are probably big magnets float. And that would be why the electronic is jammed. Forcing the corporate security to rely on low tech armament since they are a corporate security and not have the R&D for custom built missiles guidance just for big birds. And that is also why they use un armored mechs made for earth. Because they are just of the self armament. And they did achieved to cram all that world building into a (admittedly long) movie. That's something ! The video game share the same plot, almost to the letter. But allow for choosing the side. And there you see that most of the foundation of the world-building is mentioned in the movies.
@@Vaasref Yep. The scientists are to provide the corpos plausible deniability of "We're working with the natives, seeking peaceful solutions", an excuse and good PR.
Take a drink for every “What does THIS remind me of?” or “Where have I seen THIS before?”, and before you know it you’re as slurring and suave as The Critical Drinker himself.
Reminds me of the drinking game that the Drinker mentioned in his review of "The Rise of Skywalker", where a clip from a 1940's-era movie is used, where this guy is being dared to drink an entire beer at once in front of his friends at a bar.
Thank God for this! My best friend and I walked out on Avatar back in 2009 and, in the meantime, I mercifully managed to forget why we hated it so much. Even though this brings it all back, it was still immensely gratifying to listen to you tear it apart 🙏🍻
I dream of an Avatar 2 where humans show up again with more serious firepower and start clapping alien cheeks left and right because they are out of options back on Earth and it turned into a legit struggle for survival.
Literally bomb them from orbit, done...If Humanity was on verge of extinction then you know we'd destroy the natives in a heartbeat. Jake only had to take down two big ships and a bunch of smaller one. Imagine what our militaries have back on earth.
Yeah, you know its going to end up with some cheesy White bad guy who wants to take all the resources but a Black protagonist is going to save the day and have the whole thing turn into some kind of White Guilt circle jerk.
Exactly. It's insulting that Cameron tries to manipulate us with such a crass concept. If the "humans/capitalism bad" theme had been left out of it, it could have worked as a visually-stunning blockbuster with a simple, feelgood plot. But instead it beats you over the head with a "message" that only works if you're ignorant of the actual reality behind it.
I am glad you mentioned this. I don't dig the myth that American Indians were environmentally conscious. They exploited the land and had to move from place to place when the soil was robbed of all nutrients. Horses were hunted to extinction. If they had discovered more technology they would have been the same as the invaders. Don't even get me started on the peaceful thing.
@@canibezeroun1988 you are wrong on several account. Horses are not native to the Americans. The farming of the Iroquois kept the soil health by crop rotation, fertilizeration . The nation of America's had very good Land management skills.
@@theunknownone5990 And Avatar shamelessly glosses over the fact that the Na'vi are a tribe with a very prevalent and proud warrior class. Not such a peaceful bunch of blue hippies after all. Also, they're cat people, and cats are sadistic little fucks.
@@mikesteelheart America made up like one seventh or eighth of its money. This was across America and Canada, Asia, Europe, and Australia and all areas played major roles in its success.
@@mikesteelheart Just because a movie has a high budget and incredibly made CGI fight scenes, DOES NOT ALWAYS AUTOMATICALLY MEAN ITS THE GREATEST THING TO EVER GRACE THE SILVER SCREEN.
The first one, tolerable, the second one, come on?, slept after the first hour, I'm not a painter to spend 3 hours considering the strokes, the layers and the colors in a painting.
Two things: A) Everyone knows deep down that Humankind is coming back for round two. B) You have gotten really good mileage out of Tyrion vomiting. I support this endeavor.
So what you are gonna say now that Avatar 2 has made over 2 billion and is soon going to overtake Titanic and become 3rd highest grossing movie ever? 😂
Avatar was beautiful--the best 3D IMAX experience I've ever had at the cinema. Story? Acting? I don't remember any of that. But Cameron did a great job creating that setting.
That 3D bioluminescent world absolutely blew me away. I recognized that the story was very predicable and the characters were flat, but I didn't care. That movie had such an effect on me that I almost got into a car accident on the way home. After 2.5 hours of being immersed in the 3D chaos that was rushing towards me, the sight of a pair of brake lights closing fast didn't seem that concerning. I've never had my sense of reality altered that much before, or since.
🎯 There was a guy in a big robot suit fighting a giant blue alien riding a dragon in 3D IMAX. ✅I guess🤷♂️ An almost fun, sometimes pretty, horribly stupid movie. I’ve never watched it flat. Why bother?
It always pissed me off that Jake never actually once asked the Navi or negotiated with them about the unobtainiam. That was literally his task and he never explained it to them. Soo poorly written.
You live on a dying world with a chance to survive busting up some primative aliens. You're doing it......dont care how morally strong we think we are. Had the movie explored more of humanities desperation we would have had a better picture. And whats with the natives always being so utopian?. We know they'd of had cultural issues worth looking at.
@@jessicageerligs339 The fact that they had such a strong warrior class in their society was kind of glossed over. You know what warriors are mostly used for? Wars.
@@chasm671 In some of the additional material it did seem that the tribes would fight each other some times. It said they had weapons other than bows as well as shields. You don't really need shields for hunting, not when you could use bows.
I actually enjoyed the movie. Not every story needs to revolutionary, sometimes it can just be good fun, and in a new and exciting setting. Sure, it’s no Shawshank Redemption or Lord of the Rings, but I can enjoy it for what it is… as a kid, I loved it!
This movie was absolutely phenomenal, I watched it in 2009 and thought it was great and I just recently rewatched it due to Avatar: Way of the Water. I was 12 in 2009, and my thoughts have not changed. In fact I appreciate the movie even more so.
I disagree. I don’t think it was phoenomenal beyond the visual effects, because the story was very been there done that with very little of the complex nuances that these stories require. It just has humans bad, aliens good.
I think thats part of the issue..... Most people who watched it werent 12 in 2009.... Hell i was 30 We tend to see through things easier once weve hit puberty. Youre just bit by the nostalgia bug.
Id also ask myself some pretty searching questions if my opinions of things i thought were "phenomenal " hadnt at least mildly changed much since i was 12, never mind had gottten stronger.
I respectfully disagree. Avatar has had a huge impact on pop culture, just not in a direct way like Star Wars or Back to the Future. No, Avatar 's impact is actually fairly seditious. As it is the financial success comes as no surprise when looking through a macro-lens. Pretty much every major movie studio had a vested interest in not just the film being a success but a monumental success, in fact I'd wager that shenanigans ensued that pretty much garaunteed it would be the top grossing movie. You see thanks to Avatar and its, "revolutionary 3D technology," studios could now increase ticket prices anywhere from 3 to 6 dollars. All a studio had to do if it wanted an extra 200 to 400 million at the box office is just slap a cheap 3D conversion on their finished movie and bam! ticket prices are now 30% higher. All that was left was to gradually increase regular ticket prices as well and within three years of artificial inflation the average ticket price jumped from 8$ to 12$. Unfortunately for the studios their greed (combined with a lack of foresight) would eventually catch up with them as more and more people would abandon the theaters for streaming services. In conclusion you are absolutely correct about Avatar's direct influence on pop culture, I can't think of anyone who can quote that movie or would ever watch it all the way through on TV, however when the dust finally settles on the streaming wars I genuinely believe that we'll look back at Avatar as the precursor to it all. Sorry for the long reply, I greatly appreciate it if you read the whole thing. Have a good'n!
@@thefilthyrhombus3856 James Cameron is a bigger franchise than Star Wars and Lord of the Rings combined James Cameron is the only director that could direct an original movie instead of sequels and earn billions at box office!
@@redharrison894 Yeah, there's no way that's true. Star Wars as a brand sold for 4 billion for George Lucas it's original creator, and even after Disney's/Kathleen Kennedy's bungling of the property it would still sell for at least 2 1/2 billion. The Terminator franchise on the other hand can't be given away at this point. Also some of the main reasons Cameron can direct original movies is because of his success with sequels such as Aliens and Terminator 2. I suppose you could technically say Titanic is original, but you can't deny that it being a significant (or at the very least popularized) historical event as well as having pg-13 boobies didn't contribute to it's success. Another thing to consider is what would the overall take had been for Avatar had the studio not jacked up the ticket prices? I'm not knocking Cameron's overall talent, he's done amazing things and displayed incredible filmmaking and story telling abilities. Nor really am I even disagreeing on his ability to make a billion dollar original movie that isn't a sequel, however we'll unfortunately never know now because it's very likely the only movies Cameron directs from here on out are going to be Avatar sequels.
It was the hype, people flocked to see what the noise was about. Just because they spent didn't mean they liked it. 50 shades of grey is another example sold millions because the lemmings were told they should read it. You'll never find a more poorly written mainstream published book.
Whoa you just opened a new world for me with 7:09. Somehow I never watched FernGully and spent few minutes making a screenshot and searching for the reference. I know what to watch next after this video!
"Nah, just serve up a cartoon bad guy..." On that note, am I the only one amazed that the colonel looks like he's rendered exclusively in CGI, even though he's a real actor?
If they wanted to explain away how dumb it was to name an element “Unobtanium” all they would have had to do was include one line about how a scientist named it that because he theorized about its existence but his peers thought that there was no way it could exist and on discovering he decided to be cheeky and name it unobtanium.
@@shakplay3992 i seriously dont think it would matter much in the 22nd century after galactic travel exist ^^' the table would be expanded monthly due to all discovery operation
i also got this, he really gather other movies already effective plot resources and mixed it to ensure the movie will have an average happy plot, then focus all the work time on the visuals of the movie. the release of an technological masterpiece were clearly the main objetive of this movie in particular and at this field it really is an absolute success, this movie is 12 years old and it's cgi and effects is equal or superior to avengers last movies..
After the traitors to Humanity from the first one(that stays with the xenos) are captured, "interogated" and then forced to watch the bombardment before being executed for their crimes.
Avatar 3 : Humans invent a new source of energy and crafting (as it's our habit since...well since stone-age ^^). Then, the Pandora planet becomes no more than a distant remind, rehearsed only into the memory of the most frantic, one-track-minded scholars.
HerHeartBeats avatar 4: a failure that nobody cares about and that will probably fail In the end. This movie will just be milking the movies and making it worse
I can think of another film, set in the 22nd century with humanity living in space due to the planet being uninhabitable, that actually does have much more cred, and that is Wall-E.
'Led by Ellen Ripley' hahaha! One phrase is sheer poetry followed by the next phrase, which is humor at the highest level. What a wonderful channel this is. A Mr. John Daniels to go with it. Amazing.
There will be a secret civilisation under the water, that's well advanced which left the surface dwellers untouched, until the evil humans came and took there shit!
@@SteveGameSDG There's nothing wrong with the term at all. Men and women - now, bear with me here - are different. Different things appeal to us, generally speaking. Calling Titanic "a chick flick" is no different than calling something like Big Trouble in Little China or Rambo a "total guy movie". Each of those things is absolutely what it's filed under. Titanic is 3 hours of "repressed rich girl meets a combo Mr. Right/Prince Charming who just happens to also be a way to spit in her overbearing socialite mother's face because of his social class." If that ain't a chick flick, then I don't want to know how bad a _real_ chick flick can be.
