Does every movie need irony? The Na'vi getting their sacred tree burned down with loss of life not tragic enough for you? The battle scenes alone make Endor look like midgets in teddy bear costumes throwing rocks. ;)

Problem is, we're not little kids like when many of us saw Star Wars. The possibility existed in our minds back then the bad guys *could* win. As jaded adults we know that's not going to happen, because Hollywood likes making money.

Star Wars actually bucked a trend towards bleak depressing films, which might be why it seemed so fresh at the time. It also helped that the 70's sucked, and people craved an escape into a world they hadn't seen or experienced before. Avatar has tapped into the same need for temporary escape from the outside world for a while, in spite of any flaws.

Mind you, I only saw the movie once so far, but I recall the main guy is Jake Sully, his blue lady friend is Nateri(?) and Sigourney Weaver's character was called Grace. I'm bad with names though. I thought Vader's first name was Garth for a while! ;)