Avatar is a movie that has all the ingredients to be a good sci-fi adventure. It’s a movie set on the beautiful moon of Pandora, a green and lush place where the natives live in relative harmony with nature and animal life. This lush moon is also rich in resources and that’s why humanity has set their eyes on this place. That is why they invade Pandora and try to infiltrate the natives society while also destroying the planet to get to these recources.
There are two ways the movie holds a mirror to humanity. Firstly it does so by showing the audience that the humans cause destruction on this moon to harvest it’s resources. This of course is very similair to earth where humans destroy forrests, grasslands and animal habitats to harvest earth’s resources and the destruction this causes.
Secondly this movie holds a mirror to humanity in the way it depicts how the humans treat the natives of Pandora. Especially the leader of the human operation in this movie, Parker Selfridge, sees the natives of Pandora as little more than annoying creatures that stand in the way of this mission’s progress. In a way this is a reflection how in the past indiginous people where treated badly by colonists and governments of different nations. These natives were often seen as lesser humans and being in the way of expanding colonies, cities, farms and other lands.
This movie sets a great example as how a sci-fi movie should be done. With an interesting storyline, beautiful world building and engaging characters that leave a lasting impression. All of this is done while also reminding us of the way we colonised our own planet and the effects it had on nature and the local population.
Writing, Production and Direction
Avatar is written, directed, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron, a well regarded filmmaker also known for other classic movies such as Titanic (1997), Aliens (1986) and The Terminator (1984).
In 1995 Cameron first wrote an 80 page long script for Avatar. At this time the movie Titanic was being worked on and set to be released in 1997. Cameron stated in 1996 that after the movie Titanic would be released he would be working on Avatar as his next project. The planning for this next movie was already in an advanced state at the time. It was already known there would be six main characters and a budget for the movie was already set. The special effects would be done by Digital Domain. This plan however was scrapped because the technology was not developed enough for the plans of the movie.
In June 2005 Cameron announced working on two movies called Blue Angel and Project 880. In 2006 it became known that Project 880 was actually the movie Avatar.
Actors and Actresses
Sam Worthington had his biggest role as Jake Sulley in Avatar. This is when he truly became known to a broader audience. Before his leading role in Avatar Worthington was known from the movie Bootmen that came out in 2000. This role got him nominated at the yearly awards for the Australian movie institution. After this role he also was considered for the role of James Bond but ultimately Daniel Craig was cast for the role. After his breakthrough in Avatar he also starred in movies such as Terminator Salvation (2009) as Marcus Wright and also in Clash of the Titans (2010) as Perseus. He also played the role of Jake Sully again in Avatar 2 (2022).
Zoe Saldana, who played the role of Neytiri in the movie Avatar, first started her career in acting in two episodes of Law and Order (1997-2009) in 1999. She also had multiple acting roles in populair movies after this. She starred in The Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and in the movie Terminal (2004) directed by Steven Spielberg. She also starred in other major sci-fi movies like Star Trek (2009) and played a major role as Uhura as a re-cast. She also played the role of Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy (2014/2017/2023). In 2018 she received a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Sigourney Weaver debuted in the soap Somerset (1976) a year after that she debuted in a film called Annie Hall (1977). In 1978 she had her first lead role in the movie Madman. But she is best known for starring in the movie Alien (1979) as Ellen Ripley. In the movie Aliens (1986) she starred again in the same role. For her performance in this movie she was nominated with an Oscar. This was her first time working with James Cameron who later cast her in the movie Avatar as Grace Augustine. She later played Ellen Ripley again in the movie Aliens 3 (1992). She also received other Oscar Nominations for roles in Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Working Girl (1988). For her role in The Ice Storm (1997) she was nominated for her 4th Golden Globe and was awarded a BAFTA for best female side role.
Giovanni Ribisi starred in both movies and television shows. His first appearence was in a series called Still the Beaver (1983). In 1995 he first played a role in a movie that was not made for television. The movie was called The Outpost (1995). He has also been nominated for an Emmy Award for his guest role in the series My Name is Earl (2005-2009). In the movie Avatar he has been cast for the role of Parker Selfridge, one of the main villains of the movie.
Famous Fans
Ben Stiller was dressed as a character from the Avatar movie while handing out an Oscar for best Make-up and was quoted to saying to Conan O’ Brian that he was going to talk about Avatar on the Conan O’ Brian show and how excited he is for the movie.
Simon Pegg wrote that he felt like this movie would make people look at film differently.
Audrina Patridge posted pictures from the movie premiere saying ‘’ Movie was amazing’’
Trivia
-- The premiere for the Avatar movie was first planned in 2007, then 2008 and eventually released in 2009.
- Avatar has been nominated for 2 Golden Globes and 3 Emmy’s.
- Avatar grossed 2.7 Billion dollars. This is an all time record and that’s why the movie is still regarded as one of the biggest succeses in film history.
- While filming the movie Cameron invited Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson to the set to show off the newest techniques in film making.
- Cameron’s mother told him that she dreamed of a giant blue woman. This is where Cameron came up with the idea for the Na’vi.
- Dr Paul Frommer, a linguist who works at USC created the Na’vi language inventing a 1000 words while Cameron added about 30 more.
By Ricardo Dodde, on behalf of Carduelis & Media
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