OH MY GOD! The last time I felt this way about any movie was the first time Star Wars played with its new special effects, and before that the first time I saw Wizard of Oz as a kid.
This was a magical experience, and I really don't like going to a movie theater and dealing with all the distractions, but being in the theater became invisible. The 2 hrs 30 mins felt like 30 mins, and I'll probably go see it again within a few days with some family and friends. This was as powerful for me as seeing a quality live, Broadway show, or live Opera in New York City.
DO NOT SEE THIS IN 2D !!! After my 3D IMAX was over I went into a 2nd showing at the theater complex which also had a large digital 3D screen, and I was again immediately immersed in that showing almost to the same degree. I watched the last 45 minutes of it which felt like 5-10 mins went by. It was just as enjoyable of an experience.
The breakthrough miracle that this movie accomplishes is powerfully taking the audience into the alien world like you are actually in "Jake's skin" in the Avatar body. With the superb way the 3D was done in various views, you know you are experiencing something that you have not been exposed to before...and that contributes enormously to teleporting you into this alien but exquisitely beautiful, profoundly colored, and complex lush natural environments.
These are the most beautiful & colorful nature scenes I have seen in a movie, even though it is CGI on the alien planet of James Cameron's mind. It is more beautiful than Crouching Tiger, Hero, LOTR Trilogy, 300, Bladerunner (final cut on BluRay), etc. One of the things Cameron did was make the world very alive with animals, plants, insects, characters. I almost felt like I was hallucinating how various Pandora scenes smelled and tasted, like my imagination was so engaged that it was inventing other sensory input.
In the beginning of the movie, I and many people around me were saying "WOW" a lot because the quality of the 3D makes you much more a part of the movie, but you know you have not seen anything like this before. Then after that initial "being dazzled" by the miraculous 3D somehow becomes normal, you get pulled into the movie in a way that I have not experienced before. Unlike other 3D movies, your attention is not drawn to the technology as much as you are left with more powerful and immersive involvement with the movie. Personally, I don't think Cameron should have allowed this to be shown at 2D theaters, because it won't have the magical impact that he intended.
The plot and character interactions were actually much better than I was expecting after reading all the trashing by people like those in this thread. One aspect that suprised me the most was how the beauty and scenery became such an intoxicating element, you almost didn't notice whether people were being too predictable in their dialogue or whatever else blasterman was saying above.
True the story did not evoke as profound of emotions as have other movies I have seen, nor was it as deeply thought provoking afterwards. But this was a magical experience none-the-less. It took you directly into a world, and once there, I didn't want to leave it...and for a 2 1/2 hour movie to feel like it was only 30 minutes tells you a lot. Even now, back home writing this....I wish I could go back into the Avatar world--it was that intoxicating.
The actual 3D glasses were very comfortable and slipped over my prescription glasses easily. I never noticed I had them on the entire time from a physical sensation. A couple times I lifted them up just to see what the movie would look like in 2-D, and I was horrified at how my experience of being immersed in the Avatar world was gone.
Without question, I will see this movie at least 4-5 more times, and ONLY in a 3D theater. It is not critical that it be seen in IMAX, but true, quality 3D theaters are not all that common for some reason. In southeast CT, out of about 15 movie theater complexes, only one has true digital 3D. There is only one 3D IMAX theater in the state. The impact of this movie and immersion into the magical world is a fulfillment of what 3D has been trying to accomplish. For that alone, Cameron deserves enormous credit.
I would buy a specially designed 3D television and necessary blu-ray if needed just to watch this movie again at home.
Some people will love this movie (in 3D) more than others, but do not let anyone's opinion about it--especially made by viewing preview trailers--keep you from seeing it for yourself. Even writing all these gushing accolades, I'm not even scratching the surface on how powerful and enjoyable of a movie experience I had from this.
