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Avatar (2009) by James Cameron

Although this movie is gorgeous and very aesthetically pleasing, you’ve already seen it if you’ve seen Ferngully (1992), by Bill Kroyer. Refer to later in this post if you don’t believe me but only if you’ve seen the movie as there may be some spoilers.

Cameron’s team did a great job with the animation. This film is cresting the wave of where CG becomes so realistic, it’s difficult to tell the difference between real actors and animation. Pandora is so life-like and the creatures and inhabitants so well done that they seriously look very real. The most surreal moment for me was when the film came back from that other world to the real one on the military ship. I actually started to wonder if the real actors were CG too and that the film was trying to trick me in some way.

I recommend seeing it and yes, I’ll probably own it on DVD someday. The only thing that makes it remarkable is the technology used. Otherwise, the plot is just a copy-cat. And while I understand that there are many movies which re-hash other plot lines, this one is just too uncanny.

SPOILERS

Ferngully

Indigenous population, nature loving, views life as sacred- Infiltrated by someone from the outside made to look like one of them

All live in a huge tree

The outsider knows that the humans are coming and that they have a HUGE machine which can take out their dear tree

An old woman is their spiritual leader

A romance between one of the leader’s daughters and the infiltrator while there is another suitor wanting the leader’s daughter but can only sit back and watch as the other relationship develops

Lots of pretty flowers

Avatar

Uh… THE SAME THING!