By James Cameron’s science fiction epic Avatar is setting box office records across the globe to include in South Korea:
It’s a “blue” winter in Korea, with “Avatar” garnering the largest number of moviegoers ever over a given timeframe among foreign films.
The 3D alien movie swept holiday ticket sales with unstoppable momentum, attracting a total of almost 6.4 million viewers in just 17 days, as of Monday, according to the Korean Film Council. It is the first imported film to achieve such a rate.
During the long weekend over New Year’s Day (Jan. 1 to 4), 1.2 million or 42.7 percent of moviegoers saw “Avatar” in 725 theaters across the country.
“I think that when you look at James Cameron as a filmmaker, and his history, he’s always proven himself,” said producer Jon Landau when he visited Seoul in October 2009. Cameron and Landau joined hands in the 1990s worldwide hit “Titanic.”
Michael Bay’s extraterrestrial robot franchise “Transformers 1” and “ Transformers 2” stand as the highest grossing foreign flicks in Korean box office history, having each sold some 7.4 million tickets. “Avatar” currently ranks third but considering that advance reservations are fully booked until mid-January, the movie is expected to break the record in the near future.
No foreign movie has ever surpassed the 10-million audience mark, which has been met by only a handful of local blockbusters, including “The Host” and, recently, “Haeundae.” [Korea Times]
I saw Avatar over the weekend myself and found the storyline for the movie to be quite simplistic with the over-used theme of evil capitalists, backed by kill them all soldiers that rape an alien world for resources and kill peace loving natives. Basically the movie just parallels the stereotyped version of peace-loving, at one with nature native peoples being exploited by the evil white Europeans in their quest for gold in the Americas. The truth of European conquest of the New World is of course much more complex than this, but this simplistic version of history is as complex as the plot of this movie gets. I’m serious when I say the absurd plot of Transformers 2 was more engaging than this one.
With that said I recommend seeing the movie not because of the plot, but because of the incredible simulated graphics and a fairly steady dose of well choreographed action. However, as impressive as the CGI is, I didn’t like the mixture of live action actors and simulated graphics; I think just simulating everything would have been better, but nevertheless the CGI is incredible. I watched it in 3D and it added to the experience a little, but I think just seeing the CGI from this movie on the big screen with or without 3D is worth the price of admission. So if you can turn off your brain and just enjoy the movie without putting too much thought into it, like if you were watching Transformers 2, Avatar is well worth checking out.
8:52 pm on January 4th, 2010 1
So, what are simulated graphics?
10:57 pm on January 4th, 2010 2
I saw the movie too.
CG are great but story line very poor (a mix of Pocahontas and the Last Samurai). I want my money back !!!
11:04 pm on January 4th, 2010 3
I don't know about the Transformer 2 comparison. Sure, they make the same kind of movies, but James Cameron's movies are much more watchable. Michael Bay uses far too many rapid cuts to give a rapid pace to his movies. It's like watching a 2 hours long music video.
11:32 pm on January 4th, 2010 4
I got up and walked out for the last third because I need Hollywood preaching ethics to me like I need a giant cock up the bum…
I remember a 4th grade teacher telling me about the Mayan Utopian society where they lived in harmony with nature and all creation blah blah blah…She told us about the wonderful game they played that was a cross between soccer and basketball —– and she wanted us to marvel at how such a widespread, great empire could achieve so much….
….imagine my disappointment years later, when I began to read and think for myself, to learn that — some of the losing teams in that wonderful game were — offered as human sacrifices to the gods….and that the Maya expanded their territory the same way other empires throughout the centuries have…
I was getting annoyed by the Hollywood, simplistic propaganda aspect of the movie, but I was there with two co-worker friends….but when we got to the point in the movie where the natives were preparing to ban together and the military guy said, "We'll meet this terror with terror" and that they would defend themselves with a preemptive strike, I'd had enough……I told the two I'd meet them outside and left…
If I hadn't watched how intellectuals run their academic departments and deal with people – I would be able to swallow crap like that. Add to it how Hollywood people run their own lives —– and I couldn't make it through the whole movie….
12:00 am on January 5th, 2010 5
Dances with Aliens.
12:05 am on January 5th, 2010 6
Actually, I’d say it was more like ”Dances with Wolves” with elements of ”Star Wars”- especially ”Return of the Jedi.” Yes, there’s overt political messages, but luckily for us, most people are too stupid to understand the messages and just watch for the special effects.
12:35 am on January 5th, 2010 7
I have a question to American fellows here: what you thing about this movie being produced by the USA that is the world’s number one polluter? This movie says “love the nature” but in real life the action of your government does the opposite. Isn’t it a contradiction?
12:48 am on January 5th, 2010 8
http://socius.or.kr/2009/12/17/movie-review-avata…
Film Review- Avatar
A few things you need to know about the film before I review it. I saw it at CGV in 3D. The cost was 13,000 Won and I did not read any other reviews before I saw the film.
I knew that the film was full of hype and that the film had received some great reviews. I went in to the film with an open mind. After seeing the film, I felt like I had seen nothing new and I felt like I had just seen “Dances with Wolves set in Outer Space” The sad thing is that I loved “Dances with Wolves”, this “Avatar” just left me feeling very flat, I didn’t feel that I wasted my 3 hours watching this film but I also felt that there will not be a second viewing of this film for me.
So where did the film go wrong for me? In a nutshell, I felt like I was watching a PS3 video game that was being shown at the movie theater. None of the film seemed real to me. In 3D, the graphics so overwhelmed the actors that it was looking more like a ps3 game and less like a movie.
I really didn’t have any compassion for either side in this engagement. When the war started, I really wasn’t cheering for either side. I kept looking for a reset button to see if the film could get any better and sad to say, to me, the film never did.
I felt that the main actors brought nothing to the film and that the graphic enhanced aliens reminded me of Uber tree lovers or the noble Indians from “Dance with Wolves” If there was a main idea of this film, I never saw it. The film leaves the door wide open for anymore sequels that 20th Century Fox Studios might want to make. The is worth one viewing anymore that that and you will be wasting your time and money.
Grade C-
12:54 am on January 5th, 2010 9
It just tells you what kind of sour grapes inhabit this forum and Korea in general.
Instead of just enjoying a movie for what it was created for, fun.. the usual moral objectivity raises their usual ugly head with their usual moral subjectivity ad naseum. This is the expat crowd that inhabits Korea. At which time, one just put his hands in his hair and scream while running away.
12:57 am on January 5th, 2010 10
Blaming the government is rather short-sighted. The government isn't big business – though people in Hollywood think the opposite.
And having lived in South Korea, and having seen TV items about the standard of living (including environmentally speaking) in other nations, the claim that the US is the biggest problem to the environment is dubious.
And equating what Hollywood movies say to what the US government says is dubious: That the US gov. is hypocritical because Hollywood made a tree hugger movie even though the gov's environmental record (Kyoto – I guess you'd say) is bad….
The movie was typical of the intellectual and pseudo-intellectual elites in American (Western) society —- militarism and big business are evil – the intellectuals are good – and the Others outside our culture would be so much better off without the Us….
In its extreme form – it looks just like Bruce Cumings….
1:38 am on January 5th, 2010 11
What has the American Govt done to promulgate the idea that it does or does not love the environment
1:44 am on January 5th, 2010 12
Also,
In any way, shape or form, will you try to link your question with other movies like "Dumb and Dumber"?
1:49 am on January 5th, 2010 13
Thank you for your though USINKOREA.
I think it’s amazing how Americans can live with the paradox between what they do in their life and what they preach in their movies.
1:50 am on January 5th, 2010 14
Lighten up! It's just a movie!! And now it's been shown to be a very successful movie. As long as it is, no one invested in it could care less if some people think it's an insult to their intelligence or ideology.
The huge foreign take also suggests genius in marketing, whether intended or not. They seem to have been able to drive more people in the theatres that may have otherwise been satisfied to see a pirated copy. The hype was it would to be a revolutionary viewing experience that MUST be seen in the theatre.
To be honest, it was the first time I've gone to see a movie in the theatre in almost 10 years. I didn't see it in 3D (hey AAFES, it's time to upgrade your theatres), and the story wasn't all that I expected, but I don't feel ripped-off.
The real ideology of this movie is capitalism. It cost a lot of money to make, but will bring back a great return on their investment. That's the bottom line.
2:05 am on January 5th, 2010 15
Yeah, just like those left-tards who over the years whined about and boycotted "300", "The Green Berets", "Gods and Generals", etc.
Seriously, seeing a movie is an economic decision. What is wrong with someone deciding not to plop down a bunch of cash to spend two (or more) hours being offended? This goes for anyone of any viewpoint. Life is too short and money too scarce.
2:13 am on January 5th, 2010 16
I have to say this is one of THE WORST movies I have ever seen. Sure the graphics were pretty good, but I expected at least some sort of original story to go along with this, but the terrible story stuck out like a sword in a haystack. I am absolutely distraught over the box office records this movie is setting, and it pains me to know that I contributed to that. This movie got me thinking of Jurassic Park, which was one of the first movies I ever saw and was revolutionary for its CGI dinosaurs. The scene where Drs. Grant and Sattler encounter the brachiosaurus was magical, wondrous, and, at the time, the latest movie technology had to offer. The effect that a scene in the past such as this created is no different than the effect that the technology Avatar has created in audiences. However, all that wonder and magic is for naught when the story is so contrived and uninteresting.
I honestly don't care if a director tries to preach me ethics and morals in a movie. As long as he provides an original and interesting way of preaching the message, I'll listen. The plot of this movie is so bad that I don't think we can say that Cameron definitively "preached" his message.
Zero out of five stars.
2:16 am on January 5th, 2010 17
You seem to think all americans are alike. Not true.
Hollywood types are not a good representation of most americans.
Example: I put salt blocks out for the deer last week, and nuts for the squirrels last night.
I have no plans to see the movie.
2:53 am on January 5th, 2010 18
Someone watched “2012”? It’s another peace of bad joke from Hollywood.
Who are the heroes of the movie? The American guy and the American government that leads the effort of the world’s richest countries to save the human being from the extinction.
Now look at what they do in the real world (take COP15 for instance): The European countries (the other richest countries) urged the USA to take action to fight the pollution problem in the world but in the end the USA (and China) refused to do so. It’s simply the opposite of what we see in the movie.
I think it’s amazing how American people accept the irony so passively without questioning it.
3:01 am on January 5th, 2010 19
Stop trolling.
3:20 am on January 5th, 2010 20
Also, they are saying this is the movie he's been wanting to make since he was a teenager…just like Star Wars. Believe it if you will, but this is clearly being spun into his next franchise.
6:42 am on January 5th, 2010 21
I liked this movie better when it was named The Emerald Forest.
7:21 am on January 5th, 2010 22
This is an interesting article on Avatar
http://www.moneyteachers.org/Deadmanmusings8.htm
10:46 am on January 5th, 2010 23
Enjoyed the movie but the eco-spin was overt. It was "Pocahontas In Space" and I can prove it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/avatar-p…
/…and as usual Space Marines are a$$h0les. No surprise there.
10:50 am on January 5th, 2010 24
heh heh…
11:03 am on January 5th, 2010 25
…and The Teletubbies were created to turn your kids gay.
11:04 am on January 5th, 2010 26
I think the writer of that article was using the Avatar movie as an opportunity to rehash some of the arguments made against Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code story. The Da Vinci Code was a very overt challenge to Christian dogma through aspects of Gnosticism.
The Matrix was another movie said to promote Gnosticism, but it did it so subtly that most viewers weren't even aware of it. People just appreciated it as a visual spectacle and a virtual reality story that most 21st century viewers could get into. It was only when the religious themes of the movie were discussed on the Internet that more people took an interest to learn more about Gnosticism, then go back to see the Matrix movies time and again to find new connections. Bonus.
Actually, when I saw Avatar, I felt Cameron was was giving a not very subtle telling of the Gaia hypothesis. Some have elevated that hypothesis to a philosophy or religion called Gaiaism. Gaiaism and Gnosticism are very different.
Gnosticism was a rival interpretation of the meaning of Christ's messages. It was focused on our ability or inability to perceive the true nature of reality on the universal plane. Gnosis comes from the Greek word for knowledge.
Gaiaism is a summation of features found in pagan and tribal beliefs all over the Old and New World. While Gnosticism is about the interconnectedness of the infinite, Giaism is about the holistic interconnectedness and interdependence of all things on earth. The entire earth is believed to be a single organism in itself. Gaia was the Greek goddess of earth.
So, I don't think James Cameron was trying to promote a universal religious belief. He was speculating on a world where all life could be interconnected, physically, through something like a neural network.
11:08 am on January 5th, 2010 27
"The real ideology of this movie is capitalism."
Bingo. He's trying to create a franchise for himself for a change (as far as I know, he doesn't own the Alien or Terminator franchises).
11:09 am on January 5th, 2010 28
Dances with Star Wars is more like it.
11:11 am on January 5th, 2010 29
Teletubbies and Barney are sick, lowest common denominator, anti-competition, attempt at social engineering claptrap. I wish Barney would have given a homicide bomber a big hug.
But seriously, are those shows still created or did they fade away. I have no idea. I'm also out of touch on my children programming. I vaguely remember seeing Captain Planet, which made me violently ill. Sponge-Bob on the other hand is great!
11:12 am on January 5th, 2010 30
follow the link and read…
11:14 am on January 5th, 2010 31
Also reminds me of Dunes, which was basically Lawrence of Arabia.
11:23 am on January 5th, 2010 32
I second what Retired GI said.
Don't blame me for Hollywood…
11:29 am on January 5th, 2010 33
"their usual moral subjectivity ad naseum"
Gee golly!! Imagine complaining about a movie for doing the same thing!!
Imagine thinking while watching something!!
11:36 am on January 5th, 2010 34
If I let Michael Moore be my environmental guide, maybe I'd buy what you're selling. You are putting all your emphasis on Global Warming and greenhouse gas emissions – just like much of the rest of the world who has long had the bias against business and the US (West).
You are also equating Hollywood with the US government and with all Americans.
12:43 pm on January 5th, 2010 35
Better be careful there, that sounds awfully alot like free thinking and we can't have any of that here.
Now sit down, enjoy our mental programming, and hand over your wallet so we can "save the planet".
12:51 pm on January 5th, 2010 36
It was a cool movie to watch. I like how they blended live action with animation is such a smooth and surreal way. I kinda deliberately ignored the overt political message because hey, I go to the movies to watch a movie not to enter into a discourse with capitalists with a socialist agenda (talk about having your priorities mixed up).
And yeah I find it kinda ironic that they presented the whole greenie anti-EWEM, we should just kill ourselves to leave the planet alone, through a venue designed to generate revenue. Really I wonder how much energy was consumed during the production of this movie, how many limousines and other inefficiencies were used.
3:03 pm on January 5th, 2010 37
You are right.
Hollywood is just an entertainment industry, the USA government is just the legal and political representation of the American citizens and the American citizens are just a bunch of people born within the USA boundaries or born from American parents. They are not the same in theory, but they work together for what they believe is the “American way of life”.
I heard about Michael Moore before but never watched his movies and honestly don’t like him because his movie “Fahrenheit 9/11” took the “Palm d’Or” from “Oldboy” in 2005, in Cannes, just because the festival decided to make a political decision at that time.
Anyway, I don’t like him either and my point is not the environmental issue, but as I said before I think it’s amazing how Americans can live with the paradox between what they do in their life and what they preach in their movies.
3:17 pm on January 5th, 2010 38
I felt the influence of the Gaia theory in the movie very strong too.
The giant tree, the planet as the source of the life in the planet, the connection between the planet and all living creatures in Pandora, the way the natives controlled the animals by a physical connection with them …. In simple word: it was a cheap intellectualism.
8:57 am on January 7th, 2010 39
Digital Ferngully remastered
.
9:13 am on January 7th, 2010 40
I like movies that provide you with an hour or two where you can forget the real world. So I enjoyed the movie. I just ignored the social commentary, I mean, it's a movie, just a story. Watch it and enjoy it as such.