James Cameron directs this triple Academy Award and double BAFTA-winning sci-fi action adventure. Sam Worthington stars as Jake Sully, a paraplegic war veteran who is selected to participate in the Avatar programme, in which genetically-engineered human beings are sent to explore a small moon called Pandora. There, the indigenous Navi tribe of three-metre-high, human-like beings have long lived a peaceful existence in harmony with their plant-covered world, despite their fearsome warrior skills. When Jake meets Navi princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), he falls in love with her and becomes integrated into her clan - little knowing that his mission on Pandora has a far more sinister aim than he realised. Before long, Jake is caught up in an epic battle that could decide the fate of an entire world.
| Starring: |
Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel Moore, C. C. H. Pounder, Stephen Lang, Laz Alonso, James Pitt, Wes Studi, Dileep Rao |
| Director: |
James Cameron |
| Run time: |
161 minutes |
| Languages: |
English |
| Distributor: |
|
MyMovies
Through the fog of hype and expectations surrounding James Cameron's epic, 10-years-in-the-making sci-fi there's a film just waiting to break ...
Through the fog of hype and expectations surrounding James Cameron's epic, 10-years-in-the-making sci-fi there's a film just waiting to break out. But how to cut right to the heart the matter and appraise the so-called game-changing Avatar? Indeed it's easier said than done when you spend most of the 160 minutes running time picking your jaw up off the floor. The spectacle really is 'that' good. One imagines a similar reaction from the crowds flocking to see Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" with depth of field offering new levels of detail on the screen. In the opening gambit alone your brain is racing to catch up as you are bombarded with heretofore unchartered levels of detail courtesy of Cameron's 3D tech. Don't get me wrong. I'm not comparing "Avatar" to "Citizen Kane". For one thing the story is too spindrift, there's a flabby middle third and the script is cliche-ridden but, let's face it, we're here for the Light Show...and, in this regard, "Avatar" must surely go down as Cinema's crowning achievement. Cameron invites us to a galaxy far, far away where we're greeted with the wild and lush moon of Pandora. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington - further cementing his position as 2010's star to watch) has spent the best part of five years in hypersleep in order to take up his recently murdered twin's place in the Avatar programme. Seen as a common or garden grunt by the techies, including Sigourney Weaver's scientist, Sully is soon ruffling feathers in Hell's Gate - the human 'safe zone'. The Avatar programme in question sees humans mind-meld with eight-foot tall, blue-skinned aliens called the Na'vi - the indigenous life forms of Pandora. Things get decidedly complicated for Jake when he falls for warrior princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and thus tumbles further down the rabbit hole with his reality blurring between that of his human state and his Na'vi alter ego with the blue-hued bunch slowly accepting him as part of their society. But it's not all peaches and cream as Col. Quaritch (a scene-stealing Stephen Lang) and his band of trigger-happy mercenaries are out to forcibly relocate the tribe in order to get their hands on the imaginatively titled ore, Unobtanium (no, really). If all this sounds familiar that's because it is. "Dances With Wolves", "Last Samurai"...we've been here before but the scenery never looked like this!! Cameron has quite literally opened up Pandora's box and sent a cinematic revolution spewing forth. The motion-captured performances are, literally, light years ahead of anything else seen hence and the sheer depth, and attention to detail, is, quite simply, extraordinary. If you enjoy Cinema then you owe it to yourself to experience "Avatar". It's not perfect, but this new, action-packed, world will simply leave you astounded.
Read full review
Press Association
It's been 12 years since James Cameron became king of the world with the Oscar-winning Titanic. The tragic love story ...
It's been 12 years since James Cameron became king of the world with the Oscar-winning Titanic. The tragic love story between Kate Winslet's socialite and Leonardo DiCaprio's scallywag aboard the doomed ocean liner shattered box office records and countless hearts to the warbling of Celine Dion. The script may have been flimsy but as a thrilling spectacle, Titanic is hard to fault. Since then, Cameron has explored the limitations of IMAX technology in the underwater documentaries Ghosts Of The Abyss and Aliens Of The Deep, all in preparation for this special effects extravaganza, rumoured to be the most expensive film ever made. Every nickel and cent is up there on the big screen as the writer-director melds live action with state-of-the-art digital effects to evoke a 21st century world on the brink of extinction. Paraplegic war veteran Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) signs up for a tour of duty on the planet of Pandora, which is home to the peace-loving Na'vi. This magical world, which cannot support human life, conceals vast deposits of, an ore, which sells for 20 million dollars per kilo, and Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) intends to mine the grey rock for vast profit. Unfortunately, the richest seam lies directly beneath a gargantuan tree, which is home to the Omaticaya tribe led by Eytukan (Wes Studi) and his wife Mo'at (CCH Pounder). Selfridge intends to send in bulldozers in three months time, using warmonger Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and his troops to clear the area. So Jake agrees to work alongside pioneering scientist Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), who has developed a method of fusing the minds of human 'drivers' with Na'vi avatars, which can move through the forest and gain the trust of the indigenous people. As his Na'vi alter ego, Jake falls in love with Eytukan and Mo'at's daughter Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who has been promised to warrior Tsu'tey (Laz Alonso). Together they must somehow defeat Quaritch and his heavily armed gunships. Avatar is a dazzling spectacle that creates a fantastical kingdom where the Na'vi and Mother Nature live in harmony. Awesome technical might bludgeons a sophisticated narrative or subtle characterisation. Worthington's hero has a simple narrative arc from spy to defender of the Na'vi realm, standing before the tribes to deliver a climactic rallying cry. Villains of the piece are crudely sketched, from Lang's hilariously muscled brute to Ribisi's corporate weasel, who dismisses the Na'vi as "blue monkeys". Underlying messages about the relentless pillaging of Earth's natural resources are hammered home with Cameron's typical bluntness, and there are chilling echoes of September 11 in a centrepiece sequence that ends with clouds of white ash falling from the sky. The film screens in 3D and IMAX 3D in selected cinemas and the technology is employed to impressive effect, like wood chips that fly at the screen off Jake's heels when his avatar runs for the first time, or vegetation obscuring our view when the camera is close to the ground. Cameron promised us a visually stunning adventure like nothing we have seen before. He delivers. For gut-wrenching emotion, you'll need to look elsewhere.
Read full review
If the film you're looking for is available in the UK but not offered in your preferred format at the moment, we can let you know when it is.
Click on 'Alert me' under your preferred format - it's easy to register for the service. We will email you with details of the film's
availability just as soon as we have the information.
