Avatar (2009)Movie Reviews

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  • Must Go! Based on 5,771 reviews
    Breakdown:
  • Must Go!
    Written January 12, 2010

    Intervention.

    Exciting adventure in CG. I loved the jungle style culture and how nature and knowledge played out in a ballet of the two intertwined and merged in a spiritual syncopation. Great graphics and a nice love story. Unfortunately sex was labeled mating (animals mate) and the so called great kingdom of the Na-Vi was belittled by this reckless notion. This was an engaged woman by our standards. As a man I related more to the stronger character of the women , then to the weaker man who in my world overslept and then faints when he is needed most. Some segments of the film had opportunity for heroics which sadly never came. The ending was obvious. Avatar made sex O.K. and marriage suitable only after becoming one of them (The Na-Vi).

    • 18907 out of 18955 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 18, 2009

    You can't miss this movie!

    by dwpaulk

    I went to see the midnight showing of Avatar last night and I was completely blown away. The one thing that I truly loved about the movie is that it does a great job of building the storyline. Too many movies sacrifice storyline for action and this move provided both in a way that kept you engrossed. Critics are paid to criticize. The story is far from lame, I'd agree that it's nothing that hasn't been told before but not in this scope or with such breathtaking beauty that James Cameron has done. I think there are people out there that just have no sense of good taste or their imagination is so limited that they can't let themselves get swept away by something so creative. As far as hidden propaganda as one guy asked about...respecting nature is one of the few messages I have no problem with my kids hearing. Don't rate 'uh-no' if you haven't seen it. That's just nuts. Go see it!!!!!

    • 46 out of 55 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 19, 2009

    Ignore the naysayers... GO!

    Just got home from Avatar. What an awesome film! Easily the best CG effects ever. A well written plot that really fleshes out (literally) all the characters. One of the shortest 2 1/2 hour movies I've ever been to. The film may seem to preachy about the raping of the planet but that's what the humans are doing in this film, so from that perspective the film is right on the mark.

    Look, I'm a conservative guy, but anybody who whines about this film being " too political" is quite simply too jaded and probably wouldn't like Disneyland either!

    Go see the film on the big screen as it was intended... you'll never get the same feeling at home on your big screen tv.

    Just GO!!

    ~Charlie

    • 24 out of 30 found this review helpful.
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  • No
    Written January 24, 2010

    Pocohontas meets Fern Gully meets Martian Blue Cat People ?

    I lost all respect for Cameron as a director....I am an artist so I loved the special effects but it was not enough for me to forget that our military is portrayed as dumb, killers , even the quote " Shock and Awe" is used , If you have a patriotic bone in your body, you will be appalled by the climax of this film ..... NOW WE ARE KILLING MARINES ???...... I say , GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS !!!.....
    If you love senseless cinema, than make it a point to invest $12 or $14 as soon as possible, to see
    a cliche in every way .....

    • 23 out of 32 found this review helpful.
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  • Oh No!
    Written January 5, 2010

    Dances with Aliens

    HOW much did they spend on special effects? Well, every penny shows...in the script budget--clearly there was no money left over. Never mind, no need to hire writers, the movie had already been written anyway…many times. White man hired to fight the Indians finds himself attracted to the noble savages and takes on their way of life. At first he is a bumbler but soon becomes a better Indian than any of the Indians. He wins the hand of the Indian princess and uses his superior white man ways to lead the savages in battle against the oppressors. Search and replace ?Indian? with ?Alien,? add a butt load of special effects…move over Titanic, Cameron needs more space on his Oscar shelf.

    • 26 out of 41 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 18, 2009

    Avatar

    by Javah

    It's 3:30 in the morning, I just returned from viewing this spectular movie. The 3-D experience is the best I have ever encountered. It is packed with adventure, a love story, and most important the need to preserve one's environment. It illusrates how man can destroy the one thing that substains them and that is the earth. The graphics and colors were so vivid. This truly amazing movie. One that everyone in the family should see, it is long but very enjoyable.

    • 15 out of 20 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 22, 2009

    Avatar: An Allegory to the European Invasion of the New World

    by JayViz

    Storyline - I agree with others in that the story wasn't original, as it draws themes from Pocahontas, Dances with Wolves, and Last of the Mohicans. However, what story is every original? Bottomline is that Cameron told the story of Native Americans in a futuristic tribe called the Na'Vi in 2154. I thought it was solid.

    Acting- Zoe Saldana, Sigourney, and Sam Worthington were all solid. Some of the character development and lines could have been more elaborated (which is why I'm interested in seeing a director's cut in the blue ray/dvd when it comes out). However, all in all well done.

    Visuals - The best damn movie I've ever seen, and I watched it in regular 35 mm film format! My goodness, you feel as if you're actually within Pandora. I gotta see this on the IMAX.

    Overall - A fantastic experience from one of the best directors in our modern era. The movie flowed so well that it didn't feel as if you were there for 160 minutes. That's a sign of a very solid movie.

    • 19 out of 29 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 31, 2009

    Get Over It!

    Go ahead and get it all out of your system. Yes, the movie is long, yes James Cameron alludes to a political agenda, yes Pandora is an over the top planet with glowing trees, floating mountains and blue people..blah blah. Dig up all the negative aspects of the movie from friends and reviews then THROW THEM OUT.. WHO CARES? THIS MOVIE IS ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING AND YOU WOULD BE A FOOL TO MISS OUT. I sincerely believe it is on par with how it felt in the 60's when color film was introduced. Amazing.

    Nuff said.

    • 13 out of 20 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written November 27, 2011

    Avatar Movie Review

    91 out of 100 The Color Blue.

    • 8 out of 11 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 22, 2009

    Avatar - A Great Movie!

    I was very much impressed with the visual affects and reality of this "new world" that was created. The story lines were absolutely wonderful and the realistic, heart wrenching issues that relocated the Na'vi, forcefully, hits all too close to home for me. As a Native American, I heard stories from relatives about relocation and have seen it in other movies, but the intensity brought to the cinema for this movie, gives credit to what a race will do to save it's heritage and how people can only be human and get caught up in the struggle. I felt like I was in this new world with all of the new creatures flying around and the "bonding" that must happen. To be "One" with the world and to maintain harmony is so absolute. There are so many messages in this movie and thoughtfully told, I think kids will love this movies and teens will enjoy not only the special affects, but understanding the underlying storyline.

    • 16 out of 27 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 19, 2009

    What's up with the Oh No's?

    I am completely upset with the number of Oh No comments that have dragged down the ratings of this movie.

    Regardless of your feelings about tree hugger movies. This is a "Must Go" and see movie. Yes, I often get upset myself at movies that portray man as entirely thoughtless "who cares about the environment"; "rape and pillage it and get our share". I give the movie "Fern Gully" as an example. But this is an entirely engaging film that will keep you spellbound from start to finish.

    Forget about Hollywood trying to preach to you about the evils of mankind. Let yourself be immersed in the world of Pandora and believe that it truly is REAL for 2.5 hrs. You won't regret it.

    • 12 out of 19 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 29, 2009

    Avatar takes it to a new level

    This movie rates up there with my all time action films. The new style of computer graphics is the best I have seen yet! The story is not the greatest plot I have seen, but the images and the action scenes more than make up the difference. The 3D was just right, not over done with objects flying out at you. I will see this again and i recommend seeing it soon before it moves to the smaller screens. The acting in this movie was very well done. My 9 year old loved this movie as much as my wife and I (and 3 other adults did). We all talked about it for an hour over lunch.

    • 10 out of 15 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 28, 2009

    Great sci-fi movie

    It's an amazing example of what technology can do today. Just the visuals alone are stunning and beautiful. It is really hard to tell (or believe) that most of this was done via computer. Overall this is a great, entertaining movie to see and I would definitely recommend it. Lots of great action and fun. Definitely a must for sci-fi fans. Filtering for kids, there are some swear words, and a bit of gore (knives and arrows) at the end but for the most part it's ok. I think young children probably won't get it and might get scared. No sexually explicit content either. For today's standards I would say this is a clean movie overall.

    I'm by no means an artistically focused movie goer (I even liked Transformers 2 for the most part) but I think they did a good job with telling a story, building character, and having a good plot. Sometimes those get lost. It's nothing revolutionary, but I do like how they didn't just focus on visuals and special effects. A must-see in the theater!

    • 10 out of 15 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written January 18, 2010

    Dances with Banshees

    by shekyla

    As I sat watching this and being amazed by it's beauty and creativity I found myself thinking of our history, of boldly going into lands that we found valuable for it's resources and just taking them over from their inhabitants. This movie is ripped from our own history and put into a future setting. The sad reality is that we haven't learned from our mistakes. We continue to make them. I was surprised to see that a person of science, in this future world, was a chain smoker! What? But it was the obvious correlation of the Na'vi (native?) to our indigenous native americans that reminded me of Dances with Wolves, where the soldier befriends the Indians to learn how to negotiate with them, but ends up realizing their way of life was so much more real and sacred, that he joins their tribe and becomes one of "The People", what the Indians call themselves ( and what the Na'vi call themselves).The real fantasy of this story is that the "Indians" win! This time at least,but sequels will come!

    • 9 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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  • Must Go!
    Written December 31, 2009

    Best movie ever made =]

    by Rev174

    This movie is hands down one of my favs of all time. Not just because of the rich elaborate world that Cameron has created but the message this movie sends. This movie shows exactly why our world is becoming more and more ruined everyday due to greed and lust for power and how people are blinded by their want for more money, makes you think maybe we need to wake up here and see reality. On another note the movie itself if is wonderful, story wise very traditional but visually and message wise it ranks my #1.

    • 9 out of 14 found this review helpful.
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Avatar (2009) Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

Must Go! 5,771 fan reviews

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Must Go! See all critic reviews

Tweets About Avatar (2009)

67% positive
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mike_hauxuge Haven't watched avatar yet either.

3 minutes ago.

D_Okoh20 I have never saw the movie avatar and people think I'm stupid because of that I'm stupid cause of a bunch of reasons

6 minutes ago.

brianajordann I've probably watched Avatar a good ten times in the last week, best movie

7 minutes ago.

thatsRUSSup i've lost count of how many times i've watched avatar. #notinkansasanymore

15 minutes ago.

Mfused @_esotsm Got a haircut and manicure. Then, watched Avatar, now I'm here.

17 minutes ago.

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