http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/avatar-passes-star-wars-with-4918m-us-ap
I wonder if George will take out another ad congratulating Cameron?
And yeah, I know, adjusted for inflation and all that, SW is still ahead. :)
Where were you in '77?
I know counting dollars is sexier, but it drives me crazy that they don't go by tickets sold instead. Anyway...
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
Adjusted for inflation, Avatar is #36. Star Wars is #2, ESB is #12, and ROTJ is #14.
I guess it's only fair though. It's not like Lucas and Spielberg were mentioning Gone with the Wind or Sound of Music back when they were taking out ads trumpeting their own records.
Avatar will never be in the same conversation as SW. The plot of Avatar is to weak. In 5-10 years, when CG improves, Avatar will fade away. Who is going to watch Avatar on a 2-D TV?
Avatar is so overated its killing me.
Ghost said:
Avatar will never be in the same conversation as SW. The plot of Avatar is to weak. In 5-10 years, when CG improves, Avatar will fade away. Who is going to watch Avatar on a 2-D TV?
Avatar is so overated its killing me.
Hear hear! I agree with all of that. Though 2d tvs may be replaced by 3d ones. Still Avatar will be forgotten in time. It's just the flavor of the moment.
Vaderisnothayden said:
Still Avatar will be forgotten in time. It's just the flavor of the moment.
Has Titanic been forgotten yet? I don't recall the numbers, but I think Avatar has a very good chance of overcoming Titanic for the largest worldwide box office haul (again, not adjusting for inflation). This isn't to say it's good or not good (still haven't seen it yet), but just to say that I don't see it being forgotten.
They said that about Star Wars too. ;)
Where were you in '77?
Has Titanic been forgotten yet?
No, because it has a very strong plot and it tells a story about one of the most famous disasters ever.
This isn't to say it's good or not good (still haven't seen it yet), but just to say that I don't see it being forgotten.
It wont be compared to the great movies, it will be remembered as a huge leap in technology, it will be very boring to watch when CG improves.
They said that about Star Wars too. ;)
But they put out 3 of the greatest movies ever. Avatar has one overated movie out. When I hear people talk about Avatar, the only thing they talk about is how pretty everything was, not anything to do with the plot. I couldn't even tell you 3 characters names from the film.
Where was the tragedy, the irony, the powerful ending in Avatar? I knew what the ending would be like an hour into the movie.
Just my 2 cents :)
I'm sorry Ghost but I don't think Star Wars is THAT good. I think the first two Star Wars are some of the most entertaining and culturally impactful films ever made but certainly not the best...Avatar's plot isn't ALL that much weaker than Star Wars
Nobody in 1977 save George knew there would be another one though. I heard many of the same complaints back then. Phrases like "carboard cutout characters" and "junk food for the mind" were tossed around a lot.
Now that the movie has made so much cash, I'm waiting for the inevitable "I worked on the biggest film of the year, and therefore deserve more money that I was paid at the time" tabloid crap that was pulled with Star Wars. ;)
Where were you in '77?
It was bound to happen eventually. I don't think it will EVER sell as many tickets as SW did, though.
Nowadays, you go to see a movie once or twice and then wait for it to come out on DVD or blu-ray.
In '77, kids went to the theater multiple times, trying to sink in as much as possible before it left theaters because there was no video release of it until several years later (and most didn't have VCRs back then anyhow). Your only hope to see it again was a summer re-release the following year.
The 3D-thing is incentive to see Avatar many times since the technology isn't available for home yet, but I doubt that in today's economy people will be seeing the film 10 or 20 times theatrically.
Mielr said:
Nowadays, you go to see a movie once or twice and then wait for it to come out on DVD or blu-ray.
In '77, kids went to the theater multiple times, trying to sink in as much as possible before it left theaters because there was no video release of it until several years later (and most didn't have VCRs back then anyhow). Your only hope to see it again was a summer re-release the following year.
Excellent point, and I speak from experience. Star Wars was at least a weekly event for me in 1977. As Mielr points out, you saw movies while they were in the theater, and when they were gone, you waited for a new movie several months later.
These days, it's a couple of times in the theater, then a few months later all you have to decide on is which to pick - the regular DVD, the Blu-ray, the Extended Edition, the Collectors Edition, or the Limited & Numbered Metal Case Edition.
It's an entirely different world now.
Ghost said:
Has Titanic been forgotten yet?
No, because it has a very strong plot and it tells a story about one of the most famous disasters ever.
This isn't to say it's good or not good (still haven't seen it yet), but just to say that I don't see it being forgotten.
It wont be compared to the great movies, it will be remembered as a huge leap in technology, it will be very boring to watch when CG improves.
They said that about Star Wars too. ;)
But they put out 3 of the greatest movies ever. Avatar has one overated movie out. When I hear people talk about Avatar, the only thing they talk about is how pretty everything was, not anything to do with the plot. I couldn't even tell you 3 characters names from the film.
Where was the tragedy, the irony, the powerful ending in Avatar? I knew what the ending would be like an hour into the movie.
Just my 2 cents :)
Amen. Avatar is horrendously over-rated.
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! ;)
Where were you in '77?
lol Garth Vader
if you're gonna spew, spew into this *holds out little paper cup*
SilverWook said:
I thought Vader's first name was Garth for a while! ;)
Chunkage contained...
It really irks me whenever I hear Avatar called (by critics and others) "the greatest sci-fi epic since Star Wars." It is not! They are nothing alike at all in my view. To me Avatar is not even in the same league (or close to it even). Not that I thought Avatar was bad, just not great by any means and just an ok film (Cameron's previous six films were way way better IMO). Now I totally respect other people's opinions and all but the aforementioned idea is just plain absurd to me.
My two cents.
When I was a really young kid, I thought it was "Dark Vader". Then I turned 5 and realized the error of my ways.
Lan Hikari said:
It really irks me whenever I hear Avatar called (by critics and others) "the greatest sci-fi epic since Star Wars." It is not! They are nothing alike at all in my view. To me Avatar is not even in the same league (or close to it even). Not that I thought Avatar was bad, just not great by any means and just an ok film (Cameron's previous six films were way way better IMO). Now I totally respect other people's opinions and all but the aforementioned idea is just plain absurd to me.
My two cents.
That the original film is still the high water mark by which all other genre films are measured up to 33 years later, is pretty darn amazing!
Where were you in '77?
ferris209 said:
When I was a really young kid, I thought it was "Dark Vader". Then I turned 5 and realized the error of my ways.
Here in france they slightly renames some characters, for they were not easy to say in french, so it ended as:
- Dark Vador
- Z-6PO in the OT, then renamed C-3PO in the prequels (what a mess)
- Chicktabba (Chico) in the first film, then regular Chewbacca (Chewie) in all the other movie.
- Yan Solo
Oh, and Avatar is a good movie. Not an original story, at all, but it was somehow needed to make half the planet earth go to the cinema to see a SiFi movie in 3D. JC has taken a story that he knew could work on the masses because he needed some money back. I can understand that. Even people who don't like SiFi (and it's more or less 70% of the audience IMO) go to see this movie! The theaters are full even almost a month after the release. That don't make Avatar a GREAT movie, but Cameron made a movie he likes, people like it also. And now he can do sequels with more complexe stories because he knows people will go.
Really, I can only applause to this.
So are they calling Avatar the new star wars yet. I hear cameron has sequels planned, possibly conceived as a trilogy like star wars and lord of the rings spectacles. But JJ Abrams reportedly is doing that with the new star trek series as well a trilogy.
Modern trilogies often end with a bad third film. Whether it is spider-man, star wars prequels, x-men, pirates trilogy, matrix, the exception i can think of is return of the king.
I want to see how Nolan's third Batman turns out if it ever gets made. Bryan singer spoiled the perfect x-men trilogy from happening by doing that half baked superman returns. And now he is overseeing the reboot of x-men to be casted with entirely new actors, count me as disinterested as possible after that horrendously awful wolverine film and x-3.
To me i prefer films over video usually but that is my choice. Avatar is not a film its a HDcam Video movie 3D, or something or other.
Someone told me it does not make any difference anyway now that they use digital intermediates, digital color grading and digital editing and special effects and sets and locations. Film is seen as kind of a waste, i disagree but i can see the trend.
That is why the prequels to me and indy 4 sucked, as did the matrix trilogy and sky captain, way too much cgi fakery. I Love videogames but when i pay to see a movie or a film i want to see a film not a videogame, like those awful prequel sequels attack of the clones and revenge of the sith.
I have not seen Avatar but my bro did and said it was like being inside a videogame world, thanks think i'll save my money thanks for nothing jim. Whatever happened to cgi to augment like the abyss and t2 instead of being the whole thing?
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
Titanic was seriously overrated too. Not much emotional depth. Just this big exploitive spectacle made out of a profound tragedy. Boring fucking film. I was waiting for DiCaprio's dork to croak the whole time and they took ages getting around to it. No way did that film deserve any oscars. I think Cameron is a seriously overrated filmmaker.
Vaderisnothayden said:
I think Cameron is a seriously overrated filmmaker.
If we're talking about Titanic, I agree. Not terrible, but overrated. Can't speak to Avatar since I haven't seen it. But T2 and Aliens - I don't say he's overrated if you're looking at those two. Abyss wasn't half bad either.
I have seen Dicaprio maybe in one or two movies where he was not awful or annoying. I think The Aviator, and Blood Diamond.
He was allright in Titanic i think star wars fans will never forgive the fact that titanic overthrew star wars, down to fans being willing to boycott episode 2 if dicaprio was cast as anakin. But seriously would he have been worse than Hayden. He makes those films unwatchable.
Also i thought dicaprio was annoying but not awful in the very overrated Departed, whereas Jack Nicholson was over the top as usual, and Marky Mark was as bad as he has been in anything.
“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.
But seriously would he have been worse than Hayden.
No; just equally atrocious and artificial.
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