Avatar
Welcome to The Guys Review, where we review media, products and experiences.
**READ APPLE REVIEWS/Fan Mail**
Mention Twitter DM group - like pinned tweet
Read emails
Twitter Poll
Avatar
Written, Directed, and Produced by: James Cameron
Starring:
Sam Worthington
Zoe Saldana
Stephen Lang
Michelle Rodriguez
Sigourney Weaver
Released: Dec 18, 2009
Budget: $237M ($208M in 2021)
Box Office: $2.847B ($3.7B in 2021)
Ratings: IMDb 7.8/10 Rotten Tomatoes 74%
Metacritic 50% Google Users 91%
Adjusted for inflation, Avatar is the second highest-grossing movie of all time after Gone with the Wind with a total of more than $3 billion. It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion.
Nominated for nine Academy Awards and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects.
First time you saw the movie?
Plot:
We start flying through a jungle, with a voice over about flying in dream, and waking up. We see Sam Worthingtons Jake. He's waking up from 6 years in Cryo. We learn his twin brother was killed before shipping out, but that he's a dumb grunt. Jake arrives at Pandora. A fresh start on a new world, as he watches his brother get cremated. The ship approaches to land, we see how the jungle planet is being strip mined. We learn Jake is an ex-Marine, in a wheelchair, he says that spines can be fixed, but you'd need money. "You're not in Kansas anymore" we hear from Col. Quaritch; he talks about the Na'vi and their arrows dipped in neuro-toxin that will stop your hear in 1 minute. Jake enjoys the safety brief. Afterwards we meet Norm, and we're introduced to the Avatars, grown bodies mixed with human DNA and native... Unlike Tucker getting his uncles DNA mixed in him. Drivers coming out and we see Grace Augustine, the woman who wrote the book on Na'vi... She and Jake have a tense first meeting. She storms off to speak with the corporate guy, Selfridge. They argue about how to handle the indigenous tribes, and Selfridge explains they're there for unobtainium, the mineral that sells for $20m a kilo and pays for everything. Jake loads up in the driver seat, and Grace chides him about not having any training. They connect his brain to the avitar, and he comes too. Jake wants to run before he can walk, and takes off outside. He takes off running, obviously enjoying the feeling of having legs again. He speaks with Grace, and they soon go to bed, and Jake wakes back up, in his paralyzed body. We meet Trudy, the pilot, who takes him to the Col... he explains who they are alike, and how he likes his facial scars. But that having a marine in an avitar can provide intel on the Na'vi, promising to get Jakes legs back to him when he rotates home.
S:
-They get on Pandora really fast, and show heavy destruction
-Wonder if Selfridge is named after the magnate that created Selfridges in London?
-The obvious allegory to how people treat indigenous tribes is shown VERY early on.
-They kinda hit you over your head with the not so subtle good vs bad, dynamic.
-Think they get to choose how big their avatar dicks are?
The team is dropped in the jungle and they move, seeing the large environment and some native species. As Norm and Grace take a sample, Jake wanders off, and spooks a very large animal. Grace tells him to hold his ground, and as he threatens it away, he's snuck up on another large creature, that he does have to run from. Much like Chris's girlfriends that end up left at gas stations or Trey when he finds a missing digit. He eventually ends up jumping off a cliff into a river to escape. On his own, Jake whittles a pointy stick for defense, as a Na'ni watches him, she trains an arrow on him and as she's about to shoot, a fluttering critter lands on the arrow, and she stops, letting him go. The others search for him, but have to call it off as they don't run night ops. As Jake lights a torch, many animals are after him. He is surrounded, and tries to keep them away with the torch; so he taunts them, and they attack. He beats and stabs a few, when the Na'vi that had watched him jumps in to help, defeating the beasts, but showing mercy to an injured one. Jake then marvels at the glow of the forest/jungle. He tries to thank her, and she informs him its sad they had to die. As they argue running through the forest, the floating creatures come back and land all over Jake, and she takes him with her. Shortly he is attacked by more Na'vi, who take him to their home. They talk about whether or not to kill him, and they judge him, Neytiri's father and mother. They determine since he is a "warrior," to teach him their ways and see what happens. After an awkward dinner, he settles into a cocoon, and he awakes back in the base. The scientists marvel at his luck, the army and corporate guys want to exploit his new position. Back in the village, he gets on a large animal, and bonds with it, and promptly falls off. He gives more intel on the home tree structure, but he is observed, and they relocated to the floating mountains of Pandora. They get set up and Jake goes back. High in the tree, Neytiri calls a large flying creature to her, and explains how to choose one, and that it chooses you. She takes off and shows how to fly. A montage of him learning, voice over, what he's learning. Grace even putting Jake to bed. The attraction between Neytiri and Jake shows; esp when he makes a clean kill. They go to the floating mountains to ride a flying creature or banshee. He begins his trial.
S:
-I noticed Norms avatar has a hat with braile, i looked it up and it stands for "Year 1969" or the year of the moon landing.
-I don't remeber the half naked natives from National Geographic looking that good
-I wonder what the actual physics is behind the floating rocks?
-Also, Grace smoking... no way that's still a thing that far into the future. I can see vaping still going, but not actual smoking.
-If anyone has played the new Jedi falling order game, this whole sequence is also in that game.
AFter passing behind the waterfall, there are many banshees, and he is told to pick his ikran, asking how he'll know if it chooses him, Neytiri tells him it'll try and kill him... He picks one, they fight, and eventually, bond. They take off and finally, level out smoothly. They finally get harnessed and have some proper flights, even going by the Tree of Souls. Eventually the alpha ikran attacks, chasing them, bu they escape. Jake learns only 5 people have ever ridden the alpha. In a voice over he talk about out there being the real world. The Col tells Jake he's got the Na'vi by the balls with the tree of souls, and that he can go back adn get his legs. He wants to stay for the ceremony and negotiate the relocation. He is accepted as one of the Na'vi in the ceremony. Neytiri takes Jake to the tree of voices and he can hear them. She tells him he can pick a woman, and he chooses her. He wakes up thinking, "what the hell are you doing Jake"? The next morning, the trees start to fall around them, but Jake isn't in his body. He's finally jacked in and stops one of them, but they level everything. The Col sees it's Jake and wants a pilot, as the Na'vi pull together a warrior party. As Jake fights to stop the party, Col arrives where Jakes body is, as he's trying to talk them down, the Col pulls Jake and Grace out. He takes them back to the base and they argue about what they are about to destroy. Grace explains about the connective tissue amongst the trees, but Selfridge doesn't listen. Col shows Grace one of Jakes transmissions about the Na'vi, saying there is nothing they have the Na'vi want. The Col convinces Selfridge to assault the tree. Jake and Grace also convince Selfridge to let them go in and try to convince the Na'vim to leave. Jake tells them he was sent to learn and tell them what was coming, and it instead hardens their resolve, like Trey assaulting a child, hard like steel. The Col arrives and starts with gas rounds. As the others evacuate, they fire arrows, and the Col returns with incendiaries. The Na'vi flee, leaving Jake and Grace tied up. Neytiris mom frees them, as the helos fire missiles, Trudy decides to pull out, unlike myself. The volley stops, as the base of the tree begins to collapse. The Na'vi run, trying to escape, and the tree comes down. They observe the damage, and wail. The Col pulls out, mission accomplished... as Neytiri finds her father fallen, dying. She takes his bow, to protect their people, and she mourns. Selfridge pulls the plug on Jake and Grace and take them. n le
S:
-As Trey says, everyone wants to fuck an alien, Jake did.
The Na'vi walk away, nursing the injured. Norm, Jake and Grace are in the brig, when Trudy rescues them. As she starts the bird, the Col realizes and opens fire on them, and Grace is hit. They pick up the mobile unit to hide it at the tree of souls. The Na'vi have gathered and Jake is going to try to get to them. His avatar wakes up in the aftermath of the destruction; though he was worried about facing them. Jake takes flight on his ikran, and then jumps on the alpha ikran to bond with it. He arrives at the soul tree to everyones surprise. Neytiri apologizes and he addresses the lead warrior, Tsu'tey, and they agree to fly together and help Grace. They bring Grace and her avatar to the tree of souls, but it is up to the great mother to transfer her to her avatar. The Na'vi pray to save her, Grace wakes up and tells them she's with her, and she is real, and dies. Jake makes a speech to rally all the other clans together and take on the corporation, and they scatter and gather them all up. Back at the base, the Col briefs everyone about an attack. He plans on destroying the soul tree with a preemptive attack. Jake works on a plan with Norm and Trudy to stop the attack. The second attack begins. Airships move in, as do ground troops, for some reason. The horse riders, with Norm, ride straight in, as do Jake and the arial assault. The battle rages, as men and Na'vi fall to bullets, arrows, and missiles. Col ID's jake and goes after him, when Trudy shows up and distracts them. Neytiri, trying to escape, her ikran is killed. Tsu'tey boards a ship, and is shot, and falls, Trudy is killed, there is destruction everywhere. They are reeling. As they start their bomb run, Neytiri is surrounded. As she is about to take a shot, a stampede of large creatures storm through, and kill the troops, at the same time, many ikran attack with no riders. Jake boards the bomb ship, as they are dropping the bomb, he disables an engine, sending it crashing, and the bomb blows up on impact. As Jake attempts to bomb the Col ship, he's stopped, but manages to throw a missile into an engine, sending it crashing, but the Col suits up in a mech and escapes. He stalks through the forest and finds the mobile site with Jakes body, Neytiri attacks, but is stopped. Jake arrives and they fight, eventually making the Col open the mech pod. He breaks the glass to the mobile unit, causing Jake to start to wake up, which allows the Col to catch him. As he's about to stab jake, Neytiri shoots him with two arrows, and he falls. Human jake falls out of his pod and can't reach the oxygen mask, almost dying, Neytiri saves him. The troops and corporates were watched as they left, and the alpha ikran is let go, and Jake makes one last video diary. The Na'vi are shown praying again, trying to transfer jake to his avatar, a deep close up and his eyes open, cut to black and credits.
S:
-During the rescue, it's surprising there are no guards walking around, and only one person guarding them. re
-The tree of souls surrounding looks like Halo rings from the new game
-All the Na'vi got tinny titties
-Why are they sending ground troops for this, what should be an air assault?
-I like that Trudy is Rogue 1
Top Five Trivia of the movie:
5: Cameron started writing Avatar all the way back in 1994, but waited for the technology to catch up.
4: the initial image for the Na'vi came from his mother's dream, where she envisioned a twelve-foot-tall blue woman, which was "kind of a cool image"
3: Linguist Paul Frommer Created A Thousand Words In Na'vi from scratch
2: James Cameron seeing lord of the rings, and gollum specifically led him to know the technology had come far enough to make Avatar
1: there was so much CGI, obviously, but even Dr. Graces cigarette was animated. Cameron even admitted that they’re basically animated movies with cgi used throughout.
TOP 5
Stephen:
1 Breakfast club
2 T2
3 Sandlot
4 Back to the Future
5 Mail order brides
Chris:
1. sandlots
2. T2
3. trick r treat
4. rocky horror picture show
5. hubie halloween
Trey:
1) Boondocks Saints
2) Mail Order Brides
3) Tombstone
4) Drunk stoned brilliant dead
5) Sandlot
Tucker:
1. Beer review
2. T2
3. Tombstone
4. Gross Pointe Blank
5. My Cousin Vinny
Web: https://theguysreview.simplecast.com/
EM: theguysreviewpod@gmail.com
IG: @TheGuysReviewPod
TW: @The_GuysReview
FB: https://facebook.com/TheGuysReviewPod/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYKXJhq9LbQ2VfR4K33kT9Q
Please, Subscribe, rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts from!!
Thank you,
-The Guys’ll