James Cameron's Avatar

[Gee!]

I didnt like JP either.. Well I cant say that because I still havent seen it or any of the sequels.. But I have seen bits and parts of it and it did nothing for me..

 

[Covert Rain]

To be fair, JP came out in the summer of 1993, right before I was to start my freshman year of film school. So that is probably a pretty good reason why that movie made a larger impression on me than Avatar did. It was also groundbreaking. Yes, it was basically people getting chased by dinosaurs (although like Jaws, it didn't happen until much later in the movie). But effects like that had never been done before. I'd say the effects in JP were more realistic than those in Avatar--mainly because there was not a lot of real-world live action mixed with special effects, it was either all live action with a few bits of efx or all efx making it look like a cartoon. Those effects were well done, no question, but the way the T-Rex integrated with the live action JP vehicles was spectacular. (And still is, IMO)

Chap I completely agree with you. I took some film study classes back when I didn't know what I wanted to do but have been a huge movie buff my entire life. I have also been a huge dinosaur buff since I was a kid. JP was ground breaking on two fronts.

First the FX. Nobody had seen life like dinosaurs so real on film before. The movie brought to life dinosaurs like nobody had ever seen before. My first taste of the footage was some test footage I got to see courtesy of my brother (who works in the industry) who had a good friend working on the film. It was early but I was amazed then. Next came the trailers which still didn't do it justice. It finally hit me at the scene at the beginning of the movie where they are experience the park for the first time and see the dinosaurs eating from the trees and you hear that classic JP music. I was in total awe for the first time since I had seen Star Wars as a kid. I was mesmerized.

Next was the sound. Many people don't remember this but JP ushered in the new age of Digital sound in movie theaters. JP was the first film to use DTS Digital Surround sound. It was like nothing I had ever heard up to that point. I remember that I didn't go see JP on opening day and went to some other movie (I can't even remember what it was) and as I was watching that movie I could hear the T-Rex foot stomps and the now famous T-Rex scream next store. It just made me regret not going on opening day that much more. When I finally did see it the sound effects were the most crystal clear I had ever heard. The surround FX were amazing and the bass was unreal. Now mix in the sound effects they made for each dinosaur. Again I was in total awe.

My obsession with Home Theater Surround sound started with this movie. Before it was just a nice to have but with receivers coming out with Dolby Digital and DTS, it became an obsession because I wanted this sound in my home. When the first DD/DTS receivers came out later, the first movie I ever tested on it was JP.

I have said this before. I felt James Cameron might have perfected modern day 3D with Avatar but it felt more evolutionary then revolutionary. JP was ground breaking.

 

[Chaplin]

I don't think I've ever agreed with you more about anything, Daren.

 

[mojorizen7]

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Evil white man cometh to take away our land....must drop acid and fight!

 

[ajcardfan]

Well, I've finally seen it. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't put it in my top ten all time. Not even close. The dialogue was too weak.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Well, I've finally seen it. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't put it in my top ten all time. Not even close. The dialogue was too weak.

The dialogue was weak. Still, it probably makes my top 10. Of course, I'm a bit like Dick Vitale in that my top 10 consists of several hundred entries.

Steve

 

[Mulli]

And yet I found dna trapped in fossilized amber a more believable thing than unobtainium, one of the worst created substances in movie history.

Absolutely. I just wish the stupid kid actors in JP had not been so over the top.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Back in theaters. Maybe we'll finally go see it.

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