Avatar: Special Edition. (12A.)
Directed by James Cameron. 2010
Starring Sam Worthington. Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Dileep Rao. 171 mins
The opening scene of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush features an unbroken trail of humanity, snaking up through a treacherous, icy pass in the Klondike as they strike out into the wilderness in search of their fortune. The point being, you’re never alone after a gold strike.
Hard to believe now but eight month ago, as we were sitting down in the Empire Leicester Square for the first press screening of Avatar, there was an expectation that we might be about to see an act of folly, a landmark flop, a thing to be shunned and mocked.
$2.75 billion later, it is back in cinema in an extended Special Edition (with eight additional minutes) because of a feeling that the original theatrical run of Avatar was cut short by the arrival of Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland the following March and that some money had been left out there because it took over all the 3D screens. The 3D gold rush Avatar sparked was so great it trampled on some of earnings.
To think, this time last year 3D films were a novelty. Since Avatar both Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3 have made it onto the list of top ten highest grossing films of all time, the one that Avatar now tops.
Money aside, putting it back in cinemas makes perfect sense. I mean who wants to see Avatar on a small screen? I’d always intended to see it again but never quite got round to it. But having pestered Fox to get in to see this new edition almost as soon as it had started I began to wish I hadn’t bothered.
The précis of the original review (because I don’t expect you to know it off by heart) was that sheer wonder of the spectacle overrode any objection about the simplicity or corniness of the plot. And that still holds but it has to be said that already some of the wonder has worn off. In particular the scenes in the forest look too cartoony.
That said the 3D is much superior to anything that followed it with the exception of How To Train Your Dragon.
The new scenes are actually more integral than you’d expect. I assumed they’d be David Attenborough scenes about Pandora wildlife but they include a major character’s death scene, an extended love scene and some action shots. It’s not worth seeing just for them but they make a good excuse for anyone looking to see it again on the big screen.
Watching it again I was struck by the quality of the acting. Anyone can impress in Shakespeare but making something of Cameron’s resolutely uninspired dialogue is a real challenge and Weaver and Lang in particular give the film credibility.
Sam Worthington is in the odd position of becoming a movie star without acquiring any actual fans. Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans haven’t helped his credibility but watching this again you can see that he has a steely macho quality and can definitely act. Even so, the story that he made it down to the last two and it was between him Daniel Craig for James Bond must surely be an urban legend, mustn’t it?
Directed by James Cameron. 2010
Starring Sam Worthington. Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Dileep Rao. 171 mins
The opening scene of Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush features an unbroken trail of humanity, snaking up through a treacherous, icy pass in the Klondike as they strike out into the wilderness in search of their fortune. The point being, you’re never alone after a gold strike.
Hard to believe now but eight month ago, as we were sitting down in the Empire Leicester Square for the first press screening of Avatar, there was an expectation that we might be about to see an act of folly, a landmark flop, a thing to be shunned and mocked.
$2.75 billion later, it is back in cinema in an extended Special Edition (with eight additional minutes) because of a feeling that the original theatrical run of Avatar was cut short by the arrival of Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland the following March and that some money had been left out there because it took over all the 3D screens. The 3D gold rush Avatar sparked was so great it trampled on some of earnings.
To think, this time last year 3D films were a novelty. Since Avatar both Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3 have made it onto the list of top ten highest grossing films of all time, the one that Avatar now tops.
Money aside, putting it back in cinemas makes perfect sense. I mean who wants to see Avatar on a small screen? I’d always intended to see it again but never quite got round to it. But having pestered Fox to get in to see this new edition almost as soon as it had started I began to wish I hadn’t bothered.
The précis of the original review (because I don’t expect you to know it off by heart) was that sheer wonder of the spectacle overrode any objection about the simplicity or corniness of the plot. And that still holds but it has to be said that already some of the wonder has worn off. In particular the scenes in the forest look too cartoony.
That said the 3D is much superior to anything that followed it with the exception of How To Train Your Dragon.
The new scenes are actually more integral than you’d expect. I assumed they’d be David Attenborough scenes about Pandora wildlife but they include a major character’s death scene, an extended love scene and some action shots. It’s not worth seeing just for them but they make a good excuse for anyone looking to see it again on the big screen.
Watching it again I was struck by the quality of the acting. Anyone can impress in Shakespeare but making something of Cameron’s resolutely uninspired dialogue is a real challenge and Weaver and Lang in particular give the film credibility.
Sam Worthington is in the odd position of becoming a movie star without acquiring any actual fans. Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans haven’t helped his credibility but watching this again you can see that he has a steely macho quality and can definitely act. Even so, the story that he made it down to the last two and it was between him Daniel Craig for James Bond must surely be an urban legend, mustn’t it?
