Avatar: The Way of Water | 16 DEC 2022 | Don't worry guys, critics like it

[IronJimbo]

3 hours ago, JB33 said:

Because AVATAR made all that money on the back the new 3D craze. The movie itself just is not as memorable for a lot of people. Good movie, breathtaking visually, but you just can't say that it was a cultural phenomenon. It was a technological and box office phenomenon for sure.

we're making up terms as we go, the word cultural is pretty worthless it seems.

 

[KP1025]

Avatar spawned an entire theme park land and a Cirque du Soleil show, as well as numerous exhibits around the world. It has definitely had a cultural impact.

[EmpireCity]

7 hours ago, JamesCameronScholar said:

Something I was thinking about today was just how much A made, I mean people are calling BP a "phenomenon" because of the business it's doing, but it's not even half of what A did. 

 

If movies can make this amount of money and be considered really ground breaking, what the hell was Avatar, and I guess this also begs the question... why has it not been studied more, or replicated since? 

There isn't much to study, it was a visually and technologically driven film that had mass appeal timed exactly at the right time with the 3D theater upgrade.  It also caught China emerging into the market and fed right into their visual wheelhouse of an emerging market.  

 

It hasn't been replicated since because besides that movie and maybe a couple others the public has almost completely rejected 3D films as anything other than a novelty.  

[IronJimbo]

4 minutes ago, EmpireCity said:

There isn't much to study, it was a visually and technologically driven film that had mass appeal timed exactly at the right time with the 3D theater upgrade.  It also caught China emerging into the market and fed right into their visual wheelhouse of an emerging market.  

 

It hasn't been replicated since because besides that movie and maybe a couple others the public has almost completely rejected 3D films as anything other than a novelty.  

Avatar 2 will put this meme to rest, Avatar wasn't just 3D.

[YM!]

Did someone say meme?

[JB33]

3 hours ago, dashrendar44 said:

When "cultural phenomenons" are manufactured and focus grouped to death ahead by marketing firms paid by studios and media industry, what metrics do you use to measure a cultural phenomenon against one another? The amount of memes, FB/Youtube likes, retweets, cosplay, toy sales or Jimmy Fallon's lame skits? When has that become the milestone of BO performance judgement? 

 

We're on "Box Office Forums", not "Cultural Phenomenons Forums".

 

(It's hilarious how hellbent some posters around here are to eradicate Avatar as the benchmark of Box Office worldwide so they try to find any ludicrous ways to belittle or deny its legitimacy like if they could hack Box Office Mojo and rewrite the top grossing movies WW all time adjusted, they'd put the last SW movies first like they wish it were, they'll do it in a heartbeat out of irrational spite and seething resentment. The amount of "Fuck Avatar!" meltdown is surely a "cultural phenomenon" around these parts).

 

 

 

 

I'm aware this is a box office forum. The question was about why the film hadn't been studied or replicated more and I replied that the reason for it making as much as it did was because of its technical aspects and the 3D aspect, which was a huge and popular novelty at the time. Otherwise, the movie itself - characters, story, world and what have you - just hasn't really seeped into popular culture. People just....dont really care about Avatar. In general, of course.

[JB33]

41 minutes ago, EmpireCity said:

There isn't much to study, it was a visually and technologically driven film that had mass appeal timed exactly at the right time with the 3D theater upgrade.  It also caught China emerging into the market and fed right into their visual wheelhouse of an emerging market.  

 

It hasn't been replicated since because besides that movie and maybe a couple others the public has almost completely rejected 3D films as anything other than a novelty.  

Yes, this.

[JB33]

With Avatar, the 3D, insanely gorgeous visuals and the Cameron name drove its box office. It was a perfect storm. I'm not discrediting the box office run at all. It's one of the greatest runs of all time! I'm just explaining why Avatar, despite its massive achievements, just hasn't been very present in the public consciousness.

 

Now, TITANIC is a different story. In my mind, the greatest box office run of all time and one of the greatest films of all time period. That is a movie that should be studied and measured against. I'm saying this so I'm not mistaken as anti-Cameron or anti-Avatar or whatever.

[Premium George]

Just now, JB33 said:

With Avatar, the 3D, insanely gorgeous visuals and the Cameron name drove its box office. It was a perfect storm. I'm not discrediting the box office run at all. It's one of the greatest runs of all time! I'm just explaining why Avatar, despite its massive achievements, just hasn't been very present in the public consciousness.

 

Now, TITANIC is a different story. In my mind, the greatest box office run of all time and one of the greatest films of all time period. That is a movie that should be studied and measured against. I'm saying this so I'm not mistaken as anti-Cameron or anti-Avatar or whatever.

That's ok but I don't think that still explains it's gigantium box office. AIW is one of the most hyped movie of all time, will most probably do more than avatar in china. Still will do little more than half of avatar. Just 3d, Just visuals, that goes out of the window once you see that avatar did great in every part of the world. If that would have been so easy, somebody else must have come close to it. An then Titanic, that's even more difficult to explain, as it didn't have that strong gimmick. Actually JP has much more strong gimmick and that do only half of Titanic.

[IronJimbo]

2 minutes ago, JB33 said:

With Avatar, the 3D, insanely gorgeous visuals and the Cameron name drove its box office. It was a perfect storm. I'm not discrediting the box office run at all. It's one of the greatest runs of all time! I'm just explaining why Avatar, despite its massive achievements, just hasn't been very present in the public consciousness.

 

Now, TITANIC is a different story. In my mind, the greatest box office run of all time and one of the greatest films of all time period. That is a movie that should be studied and measured against. I'm saying this so I'm not mistaken as anti-Cameron or anti-Avatar or whatever.

Perfect Storm... now this is a massive complement to Avatar.

 

-Best 3D ever seen... embarrassingly so still to this day (Gravity was great)

-Best CGI ever seen

-Brilliantly told story with romance

-Epic action sequences

-Jim's amazing world of Pandora

 

How can one man create the perfect storm, not once, but twice though?

 

You feel another storm brewing.

 

[IronJimbo]

15 minutes ago, Premium George said:

That's ok but I don't think that still explains it's gigantium box office. AIW is one of the most hyped movie of all time, will most probably do more than avatar in china. Still will do little more than half of avatar. Just 3d, Just visuals, that goes out of the window once you see that avatar did great in every part of the world. If that would have been so easy, somebody else must have come close to it. An then Titanic, that's even more difficult to explain, as it didn't have that strong gimmick. Actually JP has much more strong gimmick and that do only half of Titanic.

Agree! Sorry to nitpick but 3D isn't a gimmick.

[Premium George]

2 minutes ago, IronJimbo said:

Agree! Sorry to nitpick but 3D isn't a gimmick.

I don't know if it is but it was surely used as one in the marketing. 

[IronJimbo]

1 minute ago, Premium George said:

I don't know if it is but it was surely used as one in the marketing. 

in the same way the first good colour film marketed it's innovation I'm sure.

[Premium George]

6 minutes ago, IronJimbo said:

in the same way the first good colour film marketed it's innovation I'm sure.

Of course. Innovation an gimmick doesn't have to be exclusive. We are seeing that in our everyday tech, more and more. Less bazels, screens with more pixels, facial recognition, all have been used as gimmick while also being innovative and highly influential. 

[TomCruiseTop]

16 hours ago, IronJimbo said:

Perfect Storm... now this is a massive complement to Avatar.

 

-Best 3D ever seen... embarrassingly so still to this day (Gravity was great)

-Best CGI ever seen

-Brilliantly told story with romance

-Epic action sequences

-Jim's amazing world of Pandora

 

How can one man create the perfect storm, not once, but twice though?

 

You feel another storm brewing.

 

Viene una tormenta.
 

[KP1025]

I see some speculating that this could be test footage from Avatar 2 at 0:36-0:38.

 

[IronJimbo]

3 minutes ago, KP1025 said:

I see some speculating that this could be test footage from Avatar 2 at 0:36-0:38.

 

great find KP, I'll make a gif out of that

[Avatree]

You fanatics are crazy. That's literally James Cameron standing in front of a generic still image of Pandora.

[IronJimbo]

3 minutes ago, Treetanic said:

You fanatics are crazy. That's literally James Cameron standing in front of a generic still image of Pandora.

Nope, that's a view never seen before, could be test footage as KP said.

 

Looks like a water reflection on the right... they're floating above an ocean it seems

 

WAIT A SECOND... THESE MOUNTAINS AIN'T FLOATING

 

guys this is literally new scenery from Avatar 2

Edited March 15, 2018 by IronJimbo

[Stewart]

2 minutes ago, Treetanic said:

You fanatics are crazy. That's literally James Cameron standing in front of a generic still image of Pandora.

Definitely not a still image, you can see animation if you slow the video down to 0.25x

 

Looks absolutely drop dead gorgeous though