Everything GREAT About Avatar! (Part 1) 

I don't care what the hate train seems to be over the past decade with Avatar. This is one of the few movies that really transports me somewhere and actually relaxes me to a degree I never get in life. Props to James Horner for creating one of the most soothing scores in movie history. The theme of "I see you" always gets me, such a simple melody but it gets me every time. Bring it on, Way of Water, I'm ready.

I unapologetically love this movie. It’s not subtle, it’s not nuanced - but what it is is big and bold and powerful, unflinching in its convictions and unafraid of the emotions it’s portraying. We need more movies like this.

"Pandora. You grew up hearing about it." It's amazing to me how much worldbuilding is packed into those seven words.

I love the theory that you mentioned about Grace’s avatar might be an older ‘model’ due to her looking more human than the Na’vi or even Jake and Norms avatars. I never thought about it that way but with the amount of time she’s spent on Pandora it totally makes scene. Also it’s horrible to think that since the avatar program is a thing, they probably had to dissect a lot of Na’vi bodies to be able to fully understand how they work and to be able to replicate it.

One of my favorite details about this movie is how Jake (and, by extension, the audience) doesn't experience Pandora's incredible bioluminescence until after Neytiri saves him from the nantang/viperwolves. Up to that point, he's been led to believe that literally everything in the wilds of Pandora is hostile and dangerous (though not for no good reason), so when Neytiri shows him mercy and spares his life, it's his first indication that there's another side to Pandora. Then, Neytiri snuffs the torch Jake was using to see, inadvertently forcing him to start seeing the world as she does, and that's when the flora begins to glow...

8:12 I also didn’t get why she tasted his blood, but now I think she did it because she could taste the difference between a naturally born Na’vi and a synthetic human hybrid one. Hence her next question isn’t about *who* he is, but *why* he came.

Unpopular Opinion: I have always thought that this movie is the perfect example of how you can take the most cliche story arcs, and still turn them into masterpieces of art, with the right director and the right filmmakers. Of course, everyone knows the plotline of the protagonist having a change of heart and switching sides. Of course, everyone is familiar with the protagonist changing because of love. Of course, everyone has seen the money-and-power-seeking military leader villain before. However, you can either describe those plotlines and story arcs as "cliche" or as a foundational classic. It all depends on how good the rest of the movie is, and how well it works with those classic story arcs. And I will always stand by the opinion that this movie captured that perfectly.

I never understand why most peoples thoughts on this film became so jaded since it was released. The “cliche” story never bothered me due to the beautiful and rich word that was showcased. This movie became the highest grossing film in history for a reason.

I know this movie gets a lot of flak but I have always loved this movie because I was so enamored with the world they built and the culture of the Na’vi. So glad to see you highlighting it before the sequel comes out. Edited because I couldn’t spell Na’vi right the first time lol

One of the things that I really love that nobody talks about is noticing how every vertebrate on Pandora has six limbs while the Na'vi only have four, and the movie wordlessly explains the seeming discrepancy by showing the prolemurs whose two forelimbs are evolutionarily fusing into one.

14:28 I believe that scene was in the Directors Cut. I swear it was in the theatrical too. The idea being, if 2 people have a literal psychic connection during what transpired, then the experience is intensified for both. Plus it's sorta that final line that can't be uncrossed, besides making babies under Eywa.

it’s funny how I’ve waited practically my entire life for the sequel to drop.

I saw this film in 3D with my family back when it was new, and hand-on-heart it was one of the most visually spectacular cinema experiences of my life, if not THE most 😊

14:45 In the deleted scenes, they actually show that Parker had second thoughts about attacking Hometree, and going to all out war. He has some misgivings about his work. Quaritch on the other hand, was full on evil, to the point he pulled off a coup and snatched power out of Parker's hands to go to war.

Fun fact: that little trumpet trill is an easter egg James Horner leaves in almost all of his scores! Sometimes it's more obvious, but his fans call it the danger motif. Keep an ear out for it and you'll start hearing it EVERYWHERE...

The tendril on almost all creatures on pandora has is a way to show they are all connected, they are all one and can all communicate is some way. It’s used for mating, praying, connected, bonding, communicating, everything! And even the trees have their own version of them. The na’vi are especially evolved to be able to communicate with aywa, their god, which is actually real as far as we know. Some sort of force. It’s so cool, the amount of effort that went into this movie is amazing

this movie is and always will be a masterpiece for me...james cameron wanted to make this movie way sooner, but the technology he needed did not exist yet so he personally funded the development and i admire it so much because he had a vision of the movie and he did everything to make it real...i saw this movie when i was 11 and it completely sucked me into the world of pandora, it's immersive and the world building from the natives, through the fauna and flora to the smallest details- it looks and feels so real it's believable and the visuals still hold up to this day...i studied CGI, VFX and motion capture in highschool and when i watched Avatar again i kinda anticipated to get disappointed with the visuals like you do when you come back to a game you played as a kid and see the outdated graphics, but this was not the case...i was surprised how good the CGI looked even after 8years and i dare to say that it's still better than CGI from recent movies...so little scenes are filmed on real set, almost everything we see in the movie is computer generated and i can't even imagine how many years it took to render everything in that quality...i am so damn excited for the sequels, i've been waiting for 13years

I've always liked this movie because both the shots, the style and Jake's struggle of not only to fill the shoes for his brother but also the choice between his own kin and the Navi. I also think is beautifly depicted how he slowly falls in love with the culture and essentially chooses to adopt it as part of him.

If it helps, the ponytails aren't the sex organs themselves. Na'vi have reproductive organs similar to ours, the bonding of the ponytails allows them to feel each other's sensations and such. They consider it highly erotic.

I'm so glad you're finally covering this movie, Avatar is one of my absolute favorites. Rehashed story plots or not, the visuals and fleshed-out worldbuilding of Pandora and the Na'Vi are phenomenal. You can tell that the primary focus was actually _creating_ the world to be believable; a good story won't matter if the world it's in doesn't make sense.

I’ve been waiting for CinemaWins to do this movie for so long. One of my favorites! Thank you

Sometimes the simplest stories can be the most impactful. This is one of the few movies that gets me to cry, particularly during the scene where the giant tree falls. You can really feel their entire world coming apart at the seams and it's awful and it makes you hate your own species.

I watched this movie so many times when it came out on dvd, but I only recently found out about the longer cut, and damn does it bring the story even tighter. Jake's crappy life on a ruined earth, the aerial hunting scene, the extra info on the school... it makes you feel for him and the Na'vi even more

My favorite part of the movie is one that you didn't mention - the ISV Venture Star had a great deal of thought go into it's design, which is fairly detailed for something on screen for mere moments at the beginning and I think the end in one of the deleted scenes (Which is such a misuse it's practically a crime; at least it looks like we'll see more of her and/or her sister ships of similar models in the second film, albeit doing wartime atrocities based on the opening of one of the trailers). Hard sci-fi spaceships (kind of) done right are rare in major films or out of all films for that matter, but the Venture Star ticks a great number of the boxes. It might not be absolutely 100% realistic, but I honestly can't think of a better designed interstellar spaceship put to the screen. It's engines have enormous radiators to shed waste heat. It uses a tether hull to minimize mass and keep the crew compartment as far away from the engine's radiation as possible, which is why it's so long. It's got a light sail 10 miles across. It needs the high temperature superconductor that the RDA is mining for electromagnets in the engines and to store industrial quantities of antimatter in magnetic traps. It sends messages to earth by perturbing the engine output so that telescopes can pick up the light change as bits. It has a whipple shield so during it's travels it's protected from interstellar dust. I can go on. Practically everything about the Venture Star makes it *such* a cool ship, but most movie goers probably never noticed it's name, which is mentioned in the movie once, and written on the passenger holds and the propellant tanks of the ship itself in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it opening shots.

I hate that people give this movie such a hard time just because the story seems cliche. it still has an amazing story and it looks phenomenal.

Avatar has always relaxed me in an intense way no other movie can, it’s more than relaxed in fact, it sucks me in, gets me lost, it’s hard to explain but it’s such a great feeling that can make me watch without needing to stop

Just saw this movie for the first time in IMAX and absolutely loved it. Possibly one of my favorites, but I have so many that it's hard to tell.

This movie means a lot to me, being in a wheelchair myself, sometimes wishing I could have a different body that could run again. It is possibly my favorite movie because I relate to it so much

I saw the Avatar rerelease in theaters in IMAX 3D and I was completely blown away by how much I enjoyed it. It looks just as good, if not better, than any movie that's come out since. People obviously always talk about the visuals- but also the performances and characters transported me into the world of Pandora in a way I haven't felt with many other movies. I'm really glad to see you talk about it

Seeing as this is going to be a multi-parter (Part 2 obviously coming next week), here's a list of suggestions to consider once you're done with EGA AVATAR: -Atlantis: The Lost Empire -The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Extended Edition) -The Iron Giant -Jurassic World: Dominion (Extended Edition) -Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back -Night at the Museum -Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 Film) -Home Alone 2: Lost in New York -Arthur Christmas -The Mandaloria (Disney+ Series)

Ohmygod!!! I've been waiting for you to make one about Avatar because I wanted to hear your opinions about it and it did not disappoint me at all!! Avatar is one of my favorite childhood movies (and still is my favorite to this day) and might be the few of those who love the movie. The CGI and the graphics - Pandora and the creatures were so beautiful, I couldn't not love them. I'm excited to hear more of your thoughts about Avatar in the second part!!! ❤

The ponytail thing: I never saw it as sexual. They’re connecting their minds to better work as a pair. Plus wouldn’t it be impressive if you can just think to your partner what you want than to tell them and have them misinterpret it. Not to mention I get the feeling they don’t have to connect themselves to have intercourse, it’s just a step they can do to be more connected during it. The “go blind” comment was more the fact that it’s a direct connection to their brain and have a real chance of damaging it if they mess with it too much outside its intended purposes, which is communication with the animals you connect it with.

This movie was beautiful, so excited for the sequel!

I just came out of a screening, Cameron has done it again, terminating his decade-old husk with yet another record-setting sequel that no iceberg is gonna sink🤘🏽

I see the hair link with animals as a way of linking their nervous system. Like how the plants are all connected. It give the fauna a way of linking and I assume the reason it’s always the Navi controlling the animal and not the other way around is because the more developed brain is in charge.

More than a decade and it still feels like it was released yesterday. I love this movie so much ❤️

A few fun facts! Grace's cigarette: I love how Grace immediately asks for her cigarette when coming out of being in the avatar because her human body is addicted to nicotine and it's been a while. Also, her cigarette is CG!! Can you believe it?? The Queue: aka the braid connection is actually an extension of the brain. Every na'vi makes three connections in life. With their mother when they're born, with Eywa, and with their life partner. And just to be clear, na'vi reproduce the same way humans do. Unobtainium: This is an actual, real world name scientists use to describe imaginary other worldly rare resources that probably only exist on other planets. So yes! The name is realistic and more clever than you think!

It's still, to me, the most precise example of how 3D should work in cinema. Adding depth, not being a gimmick Not to mention the world of pandora is gorgeous Also the soundtrack (while brilliant) feels like a "Greatest Hits of James Horner" because you have themes from Enemy at the Gates, Titanic, even a little glory in there Also Stephen Lang is always a win

3:57 well, to be fair, it's easier to teach them the language that you know, than have them teach you their language. Especially considering that the Na'vi don't have linguist specialists like the RDA does. And originally, Grace wanted to strengthen relations between the Na'vi and the humans, but the RDA got greedy. It was a noble idea that failed.

you missed a win in the scene where jake gets bored by grace and norm’s science talk, as jake walks away, you can hear grace in the background say: “norm, you’ve contaminated the sample with your saliva.” i laugh every time. also SO EXCITED you finally got around to this one!! can’t wait for part 2.

Fun fact about unobtainium: it's an actual material science term. It means "the impractically hard to get material with the exact properties you need". The original plans for the SR-71 Blackbird listed the titanium in it's body as unobtainium to hide the fact that the US could produce that much titanium from the soviets, should they get their hands on them. In Avatar, unobtainium is a room temperature super-conductor, the holy grail of material science. So I could totally see scientists naming it that after finding finding out that the only major source for it is on another planet. Another fun fact: the floating piece of unobtainium at 4:10 isn't some scifi technology; it's a magnet with lights on it. Super-conductors get "quantum-locked" in magnetic fields. Look it up, it's really cool.

I never noticed the us flag motive in the recruit briefing room, and i've seen this movie like 20 times. it's the kind of small details I like to watch your channel for

TAKE YOUR TIME MAN. Your literally the only RU-vidr I LOOK forward to uploading with anticipation. Can't wait. Super excited.

I love the background music score as Jake says, “Up ahead was Pandora, you grew up hearing about but I never thought I’d be coming here” I get chills and goosebumps everytime! ❤️✅

I love this movie! But I'm saddened you didn't use the extended version. I love seeing this universe's earth.

I love this movie so much! A really great detail that I don't think you've noticed yet is that Jake has 5 fingers and toes while the Na'vi only have four. Also, Jake has eyebrows and the Na'vi don't, which explains how they know that he's an avatar and not a Na'vi (even though he is wearing human clothes). Also, when we are introduced to the ikrans, we get their Na'vi name first, and then the human name. Later, we get Toruk's human name first, and then the Na'vi name. Just a nice piece of information that shows that he's changing in the way he thinks about the Na'vi versus the humans.

Ah, finally, you're covering my favorite movie! I know a lot of people think it's overrated but I've always loved it. Loved it as a kid when I first watched it, and was surprised to find I still loved it on every subsequent rewatch. Fantastic. Thanks!

13:20 I saw that, thought back to "You'll know it chose you if it tries to kill you" and KNEW BIg Orange had chosen jake

I love this movie so much that I've lost track of how many times I watched it.

Me and my mum went to see it 3 times in cinema before it came out because it was just that good. She genuinely enjoyed this sci-fi/fantasy film and it's not hard to see why - it's one of my favorites as well. But she absolutely loved two concepts in this film - the ikran or "sky banshees", and the Na'vi greeting "I see you". Norm explains to Jake that it means "I see your soul" or something similar and my mum just loved that, to the point where she suggested we use it in our own family (it didn't catch on). She has a degree in linguistics so I think the concept of creating a fictional language for the sake of immersion, especially done so well as this film has done it, was intensely interesting to her.

I also like how Jake's hair growing and becoming unkempt shows how much more he begins to care for his avatar rather than his actual body. A nice nod to the fact that jake isn't comfortable as himself unless he is in his avatar.

@03:56 somehow the second clip of Turd Nuggets caught me so off guard I actually laughed out loud - great stuff

1:50 It's also very similar to the opening of the trumpet melody in Khan's theme from Wrath of Khan. Also written by Horner, no surprise. Love that man's soundtracks, he did amazing work.

6:41 dry mouth bringer of fear kind makes sense when u think about it. Sometimes when u are scared, u will have no spit. Meaning with a bringer of fear u will have a dry mouth (although I might be entirely wrong, I only heard of this because of jaws 😅)

I was 10 when i saw this movie, it blew my mind when i saw it in theaters and a second time when we got the chance to see it on 3D, cant wait for Avatar 2

I remember watching this movie when it came out (the sound design leant to the immersion so brilliantly) as a kid and absolutely loving it. I’d watch it over and over, even pretending to be a Na’vi in the movie right alongside the characters. Very fond memories. So I was obviously taken aback in more recent years when I learned of all the hate for it Loved the content as always! I look forward to part 2! :D

Can’t wait for Avatar way of water to come out especially after first movie is one of my favourite films and through the trailer for way of water alone I can tell it’s gonna be something special

6:24 MASSIVE PROPS to you for using the Na'Vi names for the animals here! Those names are only found in the field guide if I remember correctly.

This movie is just a masterpiece. I'm honestly worried about avatar 2 cause it really has to be even better and good sequels are rare nowdays

As soon as you mentioned James Horner, I recognized the trill from the soundtrack from The Wrath of Khan. It plays whenever Reliant is approaching Enterprise, and they amp up the intensity of the trill the closer the two ships get. Also, "Unobtanium" at 4:15 is a very old engineering joke. It's whatever hypothetical/imaginary/impossible to obtain material would solve the engineering problem at hand, if only you had it in front of you.

I absolutely love how the Na’vi are designed. Humanoid, but could never be thought of as human. And yet, they have detailed faces, with subtle uniqueness that makes you see them as individuals, even in groups, which most movies fail to do even with humans. Despite most of them being background faces, you still care for them as individuals

I’ve got to say, as much as I enjoyed the visuals of Pandora and it’s wildlife, what always impressed me was the military hardware. Don’t get me wrong, the landscapes and creatures were beautifully created. But as someone who grew up around military equipment, that’s what drew me in. It’s all so familiar and yet so futuristic. You can really see modern military hardware in each and every piece of equipment they have, even the mechs.

Stephen Lang plays his role so well. At first he’s kinda likable, you’re typical hardened and badass soldier, but later on he’s a super intimidating villain. Also I can’t be the only one that notices that this is like a future Vietnam war right? I mean it has that feel

I recently rewatched this movie in theaters (again) and omg, i forgot how amazing it freaking looks, i still have yet to see a movie from this decade that gets even close to the visuals of Avatar.

I miss James Horner. Dude made a hell of a legacy 😩💙 not just Avatar and Amazing Spider-Man.

This movie always brings a tear to my eyes with how beautiful it all is from the planet to the creatures to the music

This video's given me a new appreciation for this movie. Saw it in Imax when it came out then promptly forgot about it entirely until recently when talks of the sequel finally started. Just want to let you know that this video is serving its purpose: highlighting just how good Avatar actually is, despite its surprisingly small cultural footprint. Hyped for Part 2!

7:53 Okay so I know this is mostly a joke for the video but I'd like to put out a quick PSA, despite the joke from Dr. Grace those are not their um... jimmy johns. They are esentaly a second spinal cord allowing them to feel the sensation of other creatures, the deleted scene is them doing a Vulcan Mind Meld while they um consummate the marriage so to speak. They are also used by Navi mothers to understand their infants' needs before learning to speak, which sounds really useful in parenting. The more you know I guess.

I still can't belive we finally getting Avatar 2. It has been 13 years

That James Horner trill is in a bunch of his scores. It's also in Willow, Troy, Star Trek II and Star Trek III, Braveheart, and even got snuck into his Grinch score for the start of the heart growing three sizes. It was basically his calling card, not dissimilar to a "DJ KHALED" shout at the start of one of his songs.

if you haven't already, i highly suggest watching Sideways' video on the music of this movie, i didn't know much about it before watching his video on it but the entire story is INSANE. basically, there was an entire group of professionals hired to create an entirely new and "alien" type of music, but it was all scrapped pretty much because it was TOO alien. almost like they didn't learn anything from their own movie.

Unobtainium is a real term from classic aeronautical engineering. Whenever a strong material was needed that didn't exist at the time, conceptual design drawings would often include things like "these areas require reinforcement with unobtainium or wishgrantium." We all know that when we REALLY find some wonderful space-age hyper-useful material, it'll be called dilithium.

Man, this movie probably has the highest ratio of times I saw it in theaters to times I thought about it since then, that I'll be able to ever achieve in my life.

One of the few things I appreciate/like in this movie is that they got Jake's legs right; the legs of people who've used a wheelchair for years on end will be noticeably thinner/leaner than the rest of their body. My brother is one such person and it bugs me when movies and/or tv shows portray them with "regular looking" legs. To this day I still have stills of Jake in my drawing reference library; it was a while before I found other accurate models.

I loved this movie so much. Seeing it in 3D in a pretty big theater was epic, the imagery mind-blowing. The simple story in my opinion still really shines because the whole imagery, sound and choreography is so weel executed (something that also applies to other movies, e.g. RRR). Really shows that story, while great for some movies, isn't everything.

When I saw it in the cinema for the first time and the 9/11 scene (tree fell and Na’vi are dying in ash) with Jake narration is playing. I still remember the completely silent cinema and thinking, holly cow, this is a really powerful ending. And then it went on for another hour or something. To this day I keep thinking that had the movie ended there, it might not have ended up as popular but holly hell would it have been impactful.

I will jump on the boat of being pretty certain the neural connection scene between them happened in the original cut. Also, man movies like this give me such emotional swings. Such a powerfully euphoric thing to witness, followed by the return to reality when the movie stops. There are too many things I envy from the infinite expanse outside the walls of what is possible, especially when we shrink those walls to encompass only what is possible in my lifetime. Yet still I seek new stories to widen my view. Hey watch arcane!

6:45 By the Gods, old and new, I am SO happy that you pointed out the handprint on Neytiri!!!!!! That is one of my absolute favorites details out of the hundreds and hundreds of movies and shows I have seen.

Good work as per usual, lee. Always happy and joyful to see your work. Taking such an over-criticized work of art and turning it into a lesson about love and writing. Good stuff man :)

That little James Horner motif also appears in Troy, specifically in the piece called "Achilles Leads The Myrmidons" where they storm the beach. I guess James Horner really likes it in his war movies. This is what I love about CinemaWins videos, you learn things about movies, composers and directors you would never have noticed before.

You've got me extremely hyped for the sequel, and I just realized that the next time I'm in Pandora at Disney World, it'll be after seeing it! You wanna talk about immersion, go on Flight of Passage!!!

Maaaan, I am getting hyped for the sequel with this video. Love your content. It’s always refreshing to get the positive spin on things.

Ah my favorite movie of all time. 1 note, Pale isn't the direhorse word in na'vi it was just the name of that specific one. Also the tendrils on the animals are awesome, who doesn't want a banshee/Ikran they are awesome. In all this is the best movie of all time, the story is awesome, the world of pandora is spectacular and diverse, and the science is super cool.

i cannot express to you how much i appreciate the reference to the Papyrus sketch

I love this whole channel. These videos make my day. Thank you Lee ❤

I remember being absolutely blown away when I saw this in 3D in cinema in 2009. One of my fondest childhood memories.

I think a big part of him letting his hair grow, not combing or styling it, wearing ratty clothes, and letting his beard go wild was a good indicator of how he was slowly associating his time in the avatar as his 'real' self as he took less and less care of his human body. This continues with him spending more and more time in the avatar even foregoing eating causing Sigourney to have to tell him to do so. EDIT: you touched on this like 2 minutes later in the video...

I loved that you pointed out James Hornet’s self “plagiarism”, because he does it again later! During the tree’s destruction later, there’s a little melody or motif that’s almost straight from Braveheart.

I really love this movie. It's crazy how it feels pretty old (maybe dated now) in terms of storyline, but everything else elevates this storyline into something so very fun, emotional, beautiful and heart-warming. To me it's in the same category as Pacific Rim (there too the plot is not the most inventive, but it's not necessary and it doesn't drag the fun and beauty out of the movie, the rest is inventive enough).

It's possible you've heard that sound that you mention at 1:29 in The Mask of Zorro, the 1998 film, as well. The composer for that movie was also James Horner, and that trill was heard at the ending when Zorro kills Capt. Harrison Love!

So happy for this video, growing up my family didn't have satellite or cable or anything like that and the only movie I watched was avatar on DVD like a million times I've always loved it and was sad that people really underrated it and some straight up hated it, but now that the 2nd one is coming out I hope more people go back and watch the first one cause it's so good in my opinion.

OMG, I felt the same way about the tree floof all the way back when it was first released. OMG, that sound where they disconnect their doodas, that's gotta be the raptor call from jurassic park. No matter how big or small the role I've seen her in michelle rodriguez has never failed to be a perfect fit.

For the last time, the neural connection is just that. Everything on Pandora has other parts for actually fuckin'. Telepathy during the act just enhances it, it's as erotic as holding hands! Otherwise, delighted you decided to cover this one. I always appreciate your observations :D

I think Moats ‘blood tasting spike’ wasn’t always her thing, it was only when the humans invaded pandora, in theory she can taste the difference between true blood Navi and Human blooded Navi, i never realized it till now but it would make sense a bit? Maybe not fully but it’s interesting!

Avatar 2 is gonna be so hype After all the years of waiting!

Ser, i cannot tell you how thankful i am for your spending of time and effort to bring what you bring. Its a long story, but once my son shared your work with me, the long daily haul to defuse and reset became more manageable and encouraging. Thank you.

Oh nice!!! Looking forward to the sequel :)

i think one of the reasons i love avatar is because they are blue, which is also my favorite color back when this movie came out. like everything i own was blue.

I think one of the cool things this movie doesn’t show us unless you look is the fact that the human avatars have 5 fingers, while the Na’vi have 4

14:33 I had no idea this was deleted. I remember watching this scene when it came out that's wild.