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2/10/2011

Movies and Moneybags

Avatar (Two-Disc Original Theatrical Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Many fantasy and fantasy-related books are being translated onto the movie screen at the moment. People are generally interested in the topics that particular genre brings with it, and movie makers seem to enjoy the visual challenges and opportunities it offers them.

Well, James Cameron made a vast amount of money with Avatar, the visually stunning movie with the new advances in stereoscopic imaging ("4-D"). Something was missing though. And right there is the crux of the matter. Did I talk about books being rewritten as screenplays? No, not in this case!

Avatar isn't book-based, Signor Cameron wrote, directed and produced the whole thing himself and I don't think that was such a good idea. Especially that he wrote it. While he may be a wizard with the camera, the technological aspect of cinematography and the post-production, he obviously doesn't have much practice with the use of a pen.

But since he is a big player in the movie industry, the big business suits let him roam freely and do whatever the hell he wants. That's what I call true success.

The movie brought in profits of about 212 Million Dollars in the frst two weekends alone. Many people went to see it. They were curious about the visual experience. Nobody cared about the story. Well, I did. The movie could have been fantastic - in the true sense of the word - with a great story underneath the stunning visuals, not only musty ideas about morality again. It's about high-end technology, for crying out loud, let the protagonists have a share of modernity!

I have to say that I am a little disgusted by Mr Cameron's callousness. He left out a blank spot instead of a story. I think it was a conscious decision. He didn't consider it necessary to include a story on top. And he was right about that. Success tells its own tale.

Avatar Two-Disc Edition

2 comments:

  1. I don't think Avatar is that badly written, for me, Titanic is Cameron's worst. I never enjoyed it more to watch a ship go down though :-)

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  2. I remember liking the whole romance thingy between Kate and Leo. I even went to see it twice when it came out. I guess it's more of a teenage-girl-flick. Oh god, I wish I could still enjoy stuff like that..

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