A post by Maynard
So James Cameron, who gave us Titanic and other mega-hits, is about to release Avatar.
When it came out in 1997, Titanic, with a production budget of $200 million, was the most expensive film ever made. Avatar is apparently the new high-cost film. Wikipedia lists a production (as opposed to promotion and distribution) budget of $230 million. Other reports (see this discussion) suggest it cost more like $300 million to make. The number $500 million is also tossed around, although I think that includes promotion and distribution costs.
Anyway, I watched the trailer for the film, and it went something like this: A paralyzed military guy gets patched up by the army and put in control of the body of an alien (an “avatar”, get it?) so he can go to the aliens’ home planet and kill the natives and steal their mineral wealth. But then he meets a scantily-clad girl alien who makes him wonder whether maybe it’s wrong to rape and pillage and murder for the benefit of the military industrial complex and big corporations. What will he do now? Oh, anguish!
The film ends with President Obama withdrawing American forces and apologizing to the space aliens for the shoot-down at Roswell.
Okay, I made that last part up. But the trailer seemed so hackneyed and formulaic and politically sanitized that I was left with zero desire to see the film. The special effects are great, but are the characters more than stereotypes? It doesn’t look like it.
Here’s the trailer. What do you think? I won’t be offended if you disagree; all the facts aren’t in, and there’s no accounting for taste. I’ll be curious how the reviews go when the film comes out on December 18.
By the way, that 2012 movie was going to include a scene in which the Grand Mosque in Mecca is destroyed, but the director backed off out of fear of he’d be killed. Radical Islamists are very sensitive about the idea, even in a fictional context, of stuff getting blown up by anyone other than themselves.
Our intelligence is attacked everyday from political correctness! Politics sucks and when has it ever been always correct? Again, the left controls the language…
Maynard, no argument here. I had already seen the trailer and arrived at the same conclusion. Special effects are worthless to me if the premise is liberal B.S.
“From Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” to Haldeman’s “The Forever War” (and many, many in between) there has been a recurring theme illustrating the danger of fascism and blind loyalty to the state supported military industrial complex, usually involving the hero’s conscience awakening in time to thwart the evildoers. The special effects look great, but it will be very hard to avoid this becoming a trite retelling of a tired plot…with a green, left-leaning PC bias…which will make it hard to enjoy the movie for anything besides its high tech effects.
Cowboys and Indians In Space
I’d rather watch a DVD of Dude, Where’s My Car?
Sigh…I have a blog site where I made up my Fantasy Dream Team for WHITE HOUSE take over in 2012. I made you the Press Secretary on the DREAM TEAM.
Please oh please ,Tammy be Sarah’s Press Secrtary or at least advise her on how to handle bitches like Couric ,Walters, Ofal, et al!
Give her some of your know -how – no one rolls over on you attitude.
I am not watching Walter’s or OFAL’s interview with Sarah. She does not know how to BITCH SLAP Women…….she can win in a debate with men….like she is a piece of KRYPTONITE and they wither…but with women she trusts them even as they are sinking their skanky claws into her back.
She has to learn that is OK to be self-righteous when confronting the she -devils.
Teach her to slap first and ask questions later.
Ask her to be a TAM no one rolls over on them either.
Sincerely,
Mary Lou
The “War For Oil” moved to outer space. No thanks. I’ll just watch one of my old John Wayne westerns instead.
As for 2012, well, as a Christian, I’m used to my faith being insulted by Hollyweird. But, I’m starting to get tired of ONLY Christianity being insulted while islam, buddhism, etc. are either ignored, or even promoted.
I liked the ending of Titanic but the Character Rose falls in love with was a total Jackass. Wasn’t his name Jack? Anyway my worry is the so called hero’s of the film will have the same type of character as the hero in Titanic and even if its a good story it will be ruined by the characters.
Hollywood doesn’t hide their message anymore. Astroboy features a politician wanting to start a war to raise his approval rating and a banner that reads “Its not time for change”.
the last sci fi-thing I watched was Superman.
Trite and hackneyed it is. The evil limitary industrial complex (probably headed by Cheney – at least in the screen writer’s mind) strikes again.
As soon as I saw Michelle Rodriguez (the drunk fired from Lost), they lost me.
Maynard, good call. This one blows.
I’m sure the plot is trite and familiar. But we’ll see it because the kids are enthralled by the special effects and we like to see movies together.
I gotta confess, the kids are not the only ones enthralled by the effects – that stuff looks awesome.