Well, nonsense like the Transformers made Billions. And yet I never met anybody who would see them as their favourite. Just because a film is too big to fail doesn't mean it can't be crap. #Avatar
The opinions about this movie rubber-banded back and forth so much over the years. I remember when there were talks of how James Cameron is losing his mind spending a billion on this “passion project” that can’t possibly make that money back. Then it came out and there were these crazy stories of how it was making people depressed after it was over because the world of Pandora was so beautiful real life couldn’t compare. Then after a few years people acted like it wasn’t very good. It’s so strange to me.
@@Fonny222 It's different groups of people who all share their own opinions about it. It probably didn't rubber band around, just each group got their turn to speak about it. It's one of the most beautifully done instances of modern CGI. It's also one of the most mid narratives of all time. (literally just Pocahontas) It's also a brilliantly rich example of world building and exotic creature design. It's also an incomprehensively, stupidly expensive and time-consuming project. Avatar is ALL of those things, simultaneously. Just different groups focus on which part of that stuck with them the most and everyone got to vocalize their support for that part at different times as the "loudest" opinion.
@@Fonny222 People hate on the joy of others. The thought of Cameron making a 5 movie multi billion dollar passion project, and it actually being good, is too much for some narrow minds to handle.
Yup. And I never get over people cheering at the deaths of millions of humans. They forget Jake was too busy playing with everyone's tail to remember he had a job to do. So when he failed to do it then millions of humans died. Such an uplifting film.
Just seen 'Way of Water' in 3D at the BFI IMAX. It was.... interesting. A different yet impressive experience. Not great cinema in the way I'd normally think of it, but still an experience worth having. I will no doubt be watching it at home on my more conventional yet nice 2D home "theatre" set up (75" OLED with nice surround sound) as a comparison. Particular things such as the space stuff and jungle scenes did look spectacular in 3D on that massive IMAX at the BFI in London.
5:40 "She doesn't seem that bothered by him breaking the rules." You'll notice she's a great deal happier in her avatar body throughout the film. I think that's meant to be deliberate. She feels how Jake feels by the end. The avatar is the true body and the human body becomes the crutch they have to return to.
@@angelramirez936That actually makes sense Lol. Like she’s really high strung, anxious, and mad because she needs to smoke but she’s really chill and friendly in her avatar body. Haha
You all are way overthinking things. She’s pretty much the same in and out of her avatar. She doesn’t care about politics or missions, she’s simply trying to study pandora and it’s inhabitants and hates the idea of people messing with that. Hence her problem with Jake at the start. She saw him as a wrench in her machine. But even in her normal body she takes care of her “science pukes”. Jake not going through the “steps” at the beginning means absolutely nothing to her. It’s not like he’s going to break the avatar.
As a disabled woman, the fact that you said “oh he uses a wheelchair, interesting” instead of saying something like, “oh he’s wheelchair bound, that’s really sad” is sooo so good. I don’t know how else to put that, but thank you. Just the subtle difference in language makes all the difference in respect and inclusion.
Not me,everytime they show the story I absolutely wanted that crap out and show the beautiful visuals.Ngl,if only there were visuals for 3 hours with no story,I think I would watch that multiple times.The story is too messy for my taste.
I always like to highlight Zoe Saldaña's acting, like GOD. She delivered SO WELL! The whole vfx take so much of the acting away, but watching the behind the scenes realy makes u see all these actors' talent.
@@HomeworkRadio haven't seen the second one yet! but I do not have low expectations. everyone's saying it's good. and man the visuals from what I've seen in the trailer OMG. really hope I can see it soon
Can we talk about, how Zoe managed to get into some of the highest box office draw movies, ever? Avengers (Infinity War, Endgame), Avatar, Pirates Of The Carribean, Star Trek reboot? Whoever her agent is knows his stuff!!!
well... the vfx team also developed cutting edge face sims to get very real expressions. All of zoe's mocap has to be processed by an artist in post too, mocap doesn't achieve what you need out the box.
What many people forget, or don't realize, is that Avatar was responsible for the renewal of the 3D movie from the temporary fad gimmick of the 50s and early 80s into the modern revolution of big budget action movies and many classic films getting post- converted and re-released in 3D.
@@nsasupporter7557 Yes, the movie was made specifically for 3D with revolutionary motion capture and new cameras to sync up movements of characters in an environment and be able to move camera point of view within in. No movie since has so expertly used 3D to put the viewer inside the world shown. It's my favorite moviegoing experience I've ever had.
@@lordpuki1375 Its also horrible story and the 3d resurgence this brought about was horrible because it made every action movie at the time have to shoot things leaping at the screen to make the 3d seem like it was needed. If your movie cant stand up to being good on a home tv and needs a gimmick its not a great movie.
tsu’tey, the one that seemed to not like jake because he was jealous of neytiri, has a little bit more to his backstory. He is betrothed to neytiri, yes, but he was betrothed to her older sister who died from being shot by humans, thats why grace’s school was shut down and the avatars were prohibited at the village. they were truly in love, so the resentiment tsu’tey feels towards jake is probably mostly because of what his race did rather than because of his advances towards neytiri, which he doesnt like but also accepts in a short period of time. he even chooses jake as his successor later in a deleted scene! they grow to respect each other before tsu’tey dies and gets reunited with silwanin in eywa
People just dont understand....to say this movie was groundbreaking when it came to visuals and the 3d experience was absolutely MASSIVE!!! This was the first 3D movie my whole family saw, I had seen it with friends before I took them so I literally spent the WHOLE movie just watching them react to the 3D moments. To this day it remains my mothers favorite movie period, and having just taken her to see Way of Water your reaction came out at just the right time! Glad you enjoyed it Natalie, keep the reactions coming!
I've always liked the movie. It's sad that a lot of people bashed it. All my family and friends liked it. Everyone I know in real life liked it. It's just that the internet hates on it all the time.
The only thing I didnt like about Avatar is that it popularised 3D technology. Absolutely EVERYTHING was coming out in 3D and it looked like absolute garbage 90% of the time. Thank god its mostly gone now.
Saw the original in 3D and it was the most beautiful 3D movie I've ever seen. They didn't use 3D as a gimmick. I can still feel the feeling of having all the ashes falling around me. Even so many years later.
@@bestboyholland3217 After seeing it in 3D IMAX, watching it flat, just looks boring to me. There are many subtle things that it does with 3D better than any other 3D movie. Things like transparent windows, smoke, particle effects and reflections. These things simply don't show up on a flat screen.
I just think that people don't want to ENJOY things anymore. And it's so comforting to see someone just have a great time living themselves in a film ✨❤️
That's what I notice too, I'm impressed how she's seen almost nothing, even the massive movies, yet always enjoys them so much😂 A love for film and tv that had gone undiscovered for however many years until she started her react videos
Its easy to be out of loop lol. Just ignore the news about any tv shows. Spoilers ??? Depends on the person but its easy to forget spoilers when u haven't started a show yet.
The extended version of this movie has a lot more detail into the history of the people that were there already. Like graces school and the history of the navi people. You should definitely try to watch it if you can!!
@@HeroicEvil13 Or just let you watch the whole thing, streaming has made special editions obsolete, so they could put those on streaming to encourage people to watch the films again.
@@4Kandlez Being predictable doesn't always mean bad. In fact I hate in when movies / TV shows try too hard to go for the big reveal and plot twists and mystery boxes. They sacrifice story-telling for the gimmick.
@@One.Zero.One101 Well to be fair there's not much to say about the story if you already saw the sameone in a different skin, there needs to be a balance. Anyways Avatar movies aren't really made for their story or plot and that's perfectly fine.
Honestly I think the graphics still hold up. Many of the practices used in making the movie are now used in video games and other movies, so they were pioneers well out of their time.
I find it funny when you have people still claiming it looks like a video game, meanwhile they can't name a single movie that even comes close to it & even the best looking video games today still don't look this good. And people are saying that about the sequel 🙄.
Nominated for 9 Oscars including Best Picture but won for: Best Production Design Best Visual Effects Best Cinematography. It's the highest grossing movie of all time, $2.9 billion dollars! AVATAR 2: THE WAY OF WATER has made $1.5 billion dollars today!
@@BioshockDrill Once Avatar was taken off Disney+ to be put back in theaters for its few weeks, I think it took #1 again. But, that's only what I read, how true it is I don't know.
@@BioshockDrill Endgame is only higher domestically. Avatar over took it with the combined domestic and international box office when it was rereleased in China Avatar $2,922,917,914.00 Avengers: Endgame $2,797,501,328.00
They cut out a lot of scenes with Norm including that he and Trudy we're building a relationship throughout, and explain what happened with Grace’s school, and Jake and Sute getting to be friends after his ceremony becoming a “man”. It makes me sad that we didn't get to see these but they did so good anyway
those scenes are in the director's cut, or extended version, whatever you want to call it. those scenes really do round out the story, and add a lot of emotion. and it's Tsu'tey.
Yeah, the director’s cut includes some of them, but there are tons more I wish they’d finish because it introduces a bit more gray on either side and better explains some of the motivations.
@@LBrobie The whole Trudy/Norm was 100% cut. I really wish they would make a new 3-4 hours version with all of it added back in plus other stuff that explained a lot. Norm's attitude improving was largely because of him porking Trudy. There was even a filmed scene of Jake rolling into the other side of the pods to see Norm and Trudy going at it.
Yeah they cut a lot. 2009 was not a time when 3 hour-long Hollywood movies were commonplace. Fortunately, people are more tolerant of longer runtimes now
Its unbelievable this movie came out in 2009, it still holds up today visualy, no wonder it won so many awards and made so much money, im going to watch the 2nd one soon.
more like lazy and disrespectful (to the filmmakers). if you can't watch it on a laptop or tv screen, don't watch it. i don't get why ppl do it. you can't enjoy any movie that way
Yeah but - he has degrees in physics and engineering (Which is relevant as a science fiction film-maker and the guy who's always advancing the tech.) Also, he has a brother that's a Navy SEAL and another one that's an engineer. The SEAL is the reason he's a diving nut and why all the gunplay looks so good, and he gets together with the engineer brother and *designs and invents* new film equipment. They typically register dozens of patents with each movie they make. You don't become James Cameron with a HS diploma.
Seeing this in imax 3D was one of the most visually immersive movie experiences I've had... It's hard to explain cause lots of movies were doing 3D at this time and it was very gimmicky... in this movie the 3D didn't feel like a gimmick... it felt so integrated into the cinematography that the world just felt so real... I assume thats why folks felt so attached so quickly. One of the few movies that gave me that post-show-binge depression feeling.
You should have seen the Director's version where they showed how Grace opened a school for Navi and knew Naytiri's sister and it left a personal tragedy, showed how Jake hunted, a scene with Tsutei...And of course the Way of Water was one of the best 3D experiences that I experienced in my life after the Children of Spies 3 and the Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies.
I would definitely recommend the “directors extended cut” for everyone who wants more story and exposition it’s so good and worth it. Love this movie and love the sequel ❤
Even though the plot is cliche and all, this movie is still one of my all time favourites. The world they created is breathtaking and the effects are insane. 14 years later and they still hold up. And I personally think that Zoe Saldana gives one of the all time great mo-cap performances
I can't explain how epic this was in 3D in the theater! Even the display from Jakes video diary was impressive. But the initial visit to the night forest was awe inspiring. Dead technology now but I bought a 3D TV off the back of this film and Wreck It Ralph.
As much as I'd like to see you watch Avatar 2 for the first time, you should really really go see it in theaters in 3D. I never watch 3D movies but the 2 Avatar films are the closest thing we will get to a Holodeck experience in our lifetime. Since they were actually shot and rendered in 3D every element is at a different depth and it truly feels like you are there. The sequel has probably the best visual effects of any film ever made, seriously.
100% agree - there is also a lot of potential to still make content on it too! Such as a video of your thoughts after the 3D experience, and/or a second watch-through. The movie is 3+ hours, but trust me when I say Avatar 2 does everything better than the first and the rewatchability is insane! Coming from someone who's about to see it for the 5th time lol This really brought back my love for the theatre experience after Covid! If anyone close to me has even a slight interest in seeing the sequel, I will push/sponsor the expereience with no hesitation. So Natalie, and anyone else on the fence, please consider it.. 🤟
Totally agree, I never see 3D films but I just saw Avatar 2 this past weekend in 3D and it blew me away. I was dumbfounded by how beautiful that movie was
Dolby cinema or imax laser if possible. Regular imax just doesn't come close to the definition of dolby cinema. It's huge yeah, but you can probably find a dolby cinema theater that comes close to imax. Imax laser is the way to go.
I completely agree as well. You should definitely experience it the way it should be seen in IMAX 3D rather than shoot a reaction watching on a monitor.
"I'm with her Jake she real" makes me ugly cry everytime! Stunning movie way back in 09 and still delivers. The sequel is also stunning fantastic movie and alot of ugly cry moments. Love these and can't wait for more of the Avatar universe.
I'm not sure why but this movie still gets me emotional every time. Many moments always give me goosebumps, and the death of Hometree especially is so sad and painful.
One of my favorite movies of all time. It is one of the few in which you are cheering for the aliens and against the humans. The extended version really makes the story even better. Great job Natalie.
You root for the Aliens because they look, walk and talk like humans. Which is not realistic for an alien species. Deny it all you want but it would be a lot harder to empathise with them if they had 6 legs and 6 eyes even if the rest of the story remained the same.
@@PodreyJenkin138 rooting for the humans in this movie makes literally no sense, you want corporate greed and money to ruin not only another planet and destroy its ecosystems but for the natives to be displaced and/or murdered, literally for money? Come on dude. Have some morality. This isn't a "thanos was right" situation. There's no way theres a community who stans the humans in this movie for any reason other than you just want the bad guys to win.
When it first came out, I went to see it in the cinema with my father about 5 times (even though I feel like I may have been too young to see it 😅). When I turned 18 we grew distant, and then he passed away a year ago, and I don't think I've processed it yet. Apart from being so beautiful and compelling, this movie is the strongest connection to him that I still have, and it will always have a special place in my heart. Glad you enjoyed it!
I still don’t know how there are people who say this movie is bad. Seriously? One of the most beautiful self discovery and war movies ever made. And Zoe Saldana is absolutely perfect in her performance
Yeah it’s so much more than just the visuals that make this show great. Annoyingly that’s the only thing a lot of people point out. The soundtrack is one of the best in cinema history in my opinion it’s so good. The acting and story is so good too just like you pointed out
Visuals were incredible, even more so the first time I saw it, in 3D and in an IMAX theatre. The little floaty things looked like they were just floating around the theatre. It was amazing
I love that it is established earlier that Neytiri knows how those masks operate. Before we see her save Jake at 27:55, we saw her remove the mask from Dr. Grace Augustine after she passed away. Seeing how Neytiri was one of Grace's best pupils, it is not a stretch to assume that she knew exactly was happening and how to operate those masks.
The Avatar movies and Gravity are the only movies I've seen in 3D where I thought it actually enhanced the experience. Avatar and its sequel are solid enough sci-fi action movies on their own, and still really impressive on a technical/production level, but in 3D on a big screen they are almost like going on a theme park ride. TL;DR: I'd highly recommend seeing the sequel in theaters!
@@melanie62954 Agreed! Adding it in post never looks as good. But more importantly a good 3D movie needs to be carefully considered in terms of how it's going to look in 3D. Cameron and Cuarón were both very deliberate about how they chose to design shots, sequences, and effects in order to make sure that they would look and feel good in 3D. In a lot of other movies released in 3D it really feels like an afterthought.
Avatar and Avatar the Way of Water mean so much to me. Not just the stunning visuals, the alien world, the World building or the brillant characters and the attention to detail, but also because of it's indigenous representation. I'm indigenous and seeing the scared trees (which we also have... obviously not glowing), seeing the Na'vi wrapping their food in leaves like my mother does, seeing their jewellery, seeing the respect for the animals and nature as a whole, the fight to protect our land, the issues with illegal mining and deforestation. These all are so familiar and part of all indigenous tribes around the world. And seeing these all in a blockbuster film making Billions around the world is so good 👏And yeah, people will hate the movies because people have their own opinion, but they shouldn't dismiss the voices of those to whom this matters on a spiritual and emotional level.
Avatar is 100% tropey, but tropes are fine when done well, like they are in the Avatar movies. Combine that with the gorgeous visuals and it becomes very easy to understand why both movies hit 2 billion. Its rare to get new epic crowd-pleasers, but my gosh these are fantastic.
Natalie, we love and appreciate the content you make for us. GO SEE THE SEQUEL IN THEATERS. It’s okay if you can’t make it a video. Just film your review and we’ll all watch. Seriously. IMAX 3D of the sequel is the best theater experience I’ve ever had
IMAX 3D is a bit janky, try Digital 3D! It's objectively more immersive just based on the way the 3D technology works. I've seen it in both types, and 2d, and 4dx.. 😂 4d is definitely the best overall imo, but that's harder to find and a bit more like a ride. That's what the movie really is intended to feel like tho! Realisitically all I can recommend is Digital 3D > IMAX 3D > 2D
@@HeroicEvil13 Nice tip. I'm going to see it this weekend and thought the IMAX 3D option was the best. But now I'll have to check if we have digital 3D in my city (well, not my city as I don't own it)
@@ctakitimu hahah I get ya, the big IMAX screen is nice and all but the 3D picture is going to vary based on the theater and the position of your seat. If you move/sway your head a lot the depth/dimensions aren't going to look as consistent. (Although subtle, it was enough to break the immersion for me a couple times) As opposed to Digital/Dolby 3D which utilizes more advanced visual and audio technology, so the depth/color/sound is going to be a bit more in your face the whole time. Plus you can always sit closer to the front to compensate for the loss in screen size! (Some say you're more likely to notice the changing frame-rate with this style though since the scenes will occasionally switch from 48 FPS to 24 FPS or vice versa, but I always kinda noticed it) Based on the videos/articles I've seen (and personal experience) the general consensus seems to be that Dolby has better 3D, but some people will like the overall IMAX experience more. It mainly boils down to your preferred viewing style and what type of screens/seats the theaters near you offer. Hopefully this helped and didn't create any extra confusion! 😂
Yes, Nat! If you're reading this, just please please GO SEE THE SEQUEL NOOOOOW! You can make your reaction later when it comes to Disney Plus and we'll love it as any of your content, but seriously GO TO THE MOVIES AND WATCH IT in 3D!
I'd recommend seeing the second one in theatres and doing a post viewing review because even if it makes me an ass I really do believe these movies are better on the largest screen you can find.
@@fightingfaerie I found watching it in 3D muddied a lot of the design. IMAX I can get behind but not 3D. Especially since the glasses make everything appear darker.
I was too young to watch this when it came out so I finally watched it a week before the sequel came out and I was shook. I thought it wouldn’t be that great but I LOVED it.
This movie makes me _feel_ I am in a completely different world, with people I want to learn about. New plants, new traditions, new sensations... I only felt like this 2 or 3 times in my life and that makes this movie one of my favourites ever. Oh, I forgot: THE MUSIC!? It is just... OH. It's perfect for this movie. I can listen it for several hours and it still give me chills
James Cameron knows that even if it starts with a few visual ideas, it very quickly becomes all about the story. He really understands that the story and the characters come first and that the movie technology is either up to the the job or it isn't. You don't make a movie based around the technology, you develop the technology to make the movie you want to tell.
@@Dead25m Nope. He wanted to make it in the 90's if I remember correctly but the cgi wasn't up to doing the fully immersive world with camera panning, zooms etc.
Unfortunately he is really great with creating characters but not so good in creating a plot that makes sense when you start thinking about it after the effect of the great visuals wears off
The thing with this movie being so highly praised was it was truly an innovation for it’s time, and to experience it on the big screen rlly left a greater impression. Same with the 2nd one now. When I was watching it in IMAX 3D it was so stunning it was better visually and in the experience wise than any movie I’ve ever seen in theatres.
It was fun watching this with you. There are actually tons of deleted scenes that do add more nuance to the human characters, but unfortunately didn’t make the final cut. I guess the studio was getting scared of the long runtime since up to that point no one had attempted a 3D film that long. Maybe someday a longer director’s cut will be released that includes them all. One is a wild psychedelic vision quest.
This is why I love avatar so much, because it is a type of sci-fi movie that has near future technology for example: like how the interstellar ship designs and the antimatter drives they use for interstellar travel from the Solar system to the Alpha Centauri System. And all the wildlife on Pandora make sense in real life since they have 6 limbs to make up for Pandora’s light gravity same thing with the Na’vi being 10ft tall
there's actually an extended cut that's almost 3 hours long, and has alot of cut stuff like life on earth and other action/death scenes and some good character development, (like showing more of Grace's backstory and why she's becoming increasingly motherly torwards Jake) :) It also better explains why the trees are so important (something about dead ancestors' memories being stored in physical living trees)
@@jintanesss1417 I've looked but I can't find any legal streaming site that has it. You might have to buy the Collector's Edition Blu-ray to watch it. (There is a 170 minutes Special Edition and a 178 minutes Extended Collector's Cut, both longer than the 162 minutes theatrical cut. All three of them are included in the Collector's Edition Blu-ray.)
One thing that I always wondered was that if this movie were about a conflict between essentially an oil company with some hired mercenaries vs the native population, I wonder what will happen once Earth's governments decide to directly intervene and secure the most important resource for interstellar trade.
@@NatalieGoldReacts highly recommend not doing a reaction for Avatar 2 so you can experience it in the theater…or take a camera into the theater…people might throw popcorn at you though
I remember seeing this film in theaters with my father, brother, and a family friend. I recently saw the new film in theaters with my uncle, aunt, and cousins. This is a film series and franchise that people go more for the visuals than anything, especially plot. In fact, the reason why it took a long time to make the first film and then the second was because James Cameron was waiting for or needed to invent the technology needed to make the film. In regards to plot, it's Ferngully meets Pocahontas meets Dances With Wolves.
I watched this one as a young teen on TV and when the sequel came out I watched it in the cinema with my friend. After the movie he turns to me, with literal tears in his eyes, and says "Holy shit that was good, I wish I had watched the first one before this" lmao. He liked the sequel so much he cried even though he didn't have time to catch up to the first one that day. I wish I had time to see it in the cinema more than once, it really was an amazing experience seeing it on the big screen.
I take "Dances with Wolves" in space any time. This movie is amazing, I loved to explore Pandora together with Jake. The soundtrack is amazing. The world and the connection between all living beings is so beautiful. I wish we as humans would learn our lessons, but we never will...
Dances with wolves??? You mean Ferngully oh wait Last Samurai.. it doesn't matter, it's a story been told more times than I can count, if it's done right it's still can be a fantastic movie.
Get a little tired of the DWW analogy. Plenty of films has similar themes before that film. The A Man Called Horse films, Farewell to the King, even Lawrence of Arabia. I wonder if DWW got called out for similarities to those films. Cameron himself said the film was inspired by the book and film At Play in the Fields of the Lord and there are far more similarities with that than DWW.
People always like to become story perfectionists, especially with this film. In addition, they happily watch dozens of blockbusters every year that are also based on classic, repeatedly used story building blocks or are often even much more stupid, hollow and nonsensical. Most of the time it's not even their own criticism but simply parroting some UA-cam reviews.
It's funny you said that because she IS a dancer. The female Navi was Zoe Saldana, from Guardians of the Galaxy. She used to be a dancer as well. In fact her first big movie was Center Stage, the movie about ballet dancers.
I remember after this movie first came out there were cases of people going through like Pandora withdrawl depression. Cause they wanted to be back in the world of Pandora.
Then they walked out of the theaters. And we’re back on Earth. With factories and strip malls and sports bars and all that. Pandora was so much cooler. (Except for the food.)
@@robbob5302Pandora pretty much exists on earth. These same people yearning to "be there", will want to go home after a single day in an Amazon jungle.
The moment I saw the starship's glowing radiators when it was coming into orbit around Pandora, I liked this movie! Someone went to a lot of trouble to find out how a realistic starship would need to be constructed. The guy who designed most of the aliens is Wayne Douglas Barlow, who's been creating aliens for over thirty years. Check out his work in the books Expedition and Inferno, as well as his work on the Kaiju from the film Pacific Rim.
Decades ago I bought a book by Barlowe that has his versions of aliens from famous Sci Fi books. To this day, his versions are the versions I see when I read those books. I'm always disappointed when a film or TV adaptation doesn't measure up to Barlowe's versions (looking at you Overlords from the Childhood's End mini-series. You too, Guild Navigator from David Lynch's Dune).
There’s an excellent technical analysis of the Avatar transport ship that really helped me appreciate the close attention to scientific detail. Well worth a watch. ua-cam.com/video/-ov-fqmf9Iw/v-deo.html
As a huge film lover Avatar is my all time favorite movie! I’m someone who loooves psychological thrillers and stuff like that but still, no movie will ever be as dear and comforting to me as this one. I genuinely have never seen a world as beautifully crafted as Pandora, every single place on that planet looks absolutely gorgeous. I’ve watched the movie about 15 times at least and I honestly did not think that they would actually make a sequel but I’m so happy they finally did :)
And can we take a moment to hand it to Quaritch? He has to be one of the coolest Hollywood villains, ever. I would have almost been happy, if he had won!
Honestly, I HIGHLY recommend seeing the sequel in theatres. The visuals have gotten even better. I know content is content, but this is a rare experience that I think any film fan should experience the way it was meant to be seen, in theatres. You could always do a rewatch with the channel if enough people ask for it.
The thing about this movie that made it a must see in theaters was not just the visuals but also the 3D. It basically revolutionized the technology. No one had seen it work so well before, or since really. If you get a chance to see the new one in theaters, I recommend doing so for that reason also.
PLEASE watch it in theater! Its the top moment of escapeism, and the 3D makes you experience it in a much different way! Its SO much better in theater!!! I swear!
You should def check out the ride in Disney World. I couldn't get over how realistic it was. I honestly felt like I was in an avatar myself and just couldn't get enough of it. Breathtaking from start to finish.
Man, if I had a nickel for every time a story called 'Avatar' involved travelling to different tribes based on the elements, whilst the main heroes attempt to overcome imperialist conquerors, I'd have two nickels
Hehe. I heard that. I think they’re called the Ash tribe or something who live in a more volcanic area of Pandora. To be fair though James Cameron wrote Avatar back in 1994 and must’ve secured the rights to the name before 2005, forcing the ATLA name change. It’s still funny how two properties with such similar names became popular.
the problem with building guns into your suit is then if you want to use it for something else (logistics, building things, etc) then suddenly your exoskeleton is useless or atleast inefficient. Better to have hands/magnets/whatever and have the guns removable.
It wasn't just seeing it in the theater, it was seeing it with groundbreaking, bleeding-edge 3D, so good that it looks like you're looking at it through a window rather than projected on a screen.
Avatar is such a seamless wonderful trip. You already know what is likely going to happen because this story has already been told (Pocahontas, Dance With Wolves) but it's not important because the movie take us on such a wonderful ride. Besides the visuals, this movie is so well-executed because its take you on a journey in theses out-worldly forests and yet this place and the Navi fells almost familiar to us. Great reaction Nat, and nice editing too !
Fun fact: Apparently one of the main reasons why the sequel took so long was that the director was waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision for the movie And boy did he make use of every little bit of tech he could get his hands on.
Pretty much. They're filming all of them back to back (which is part of the the delays). The general in Avatar 2 filmed all her scenes 4 years ago apparently. Technology wise, the tricky bit was doing full performance capture underwater. Traditionally infrared is used to track the motion, but water is really good at blocking that so they had to develop new versions using ultraviolet light instead. It's also why the reported budget of Avatar 2 is so high, but that doesn't reflect the fact that a lot of those costs will be able to be spread across the rest of the sequels assuming they don't get cancelled. Given Avatar 2 has nearly hit $2bn worldwide though, I suspect Avatar 3 is fairly safe at this point :)
I remember watching this as a 5 year old kid when it came out and saying something like "I wish I was an Avatar (I didn't know what they were called at the time). Why did I have to be a Human?" and I also remember being depressed that the World didn't look like the Navii Planet. I watched this and the second part last Week and at the Age of 19, it was like I was 5 Years old again, that feeling is one I can never forget. Also in a way, what happened to the Navii's home wasn't exactly Jake's fault, the plan between him and the Corporal (Not sure of his rank and don't know his name) was for him to negotiate the terms of Naviis relocating in order to mine the valuable mineral under the Great Tree, but before that happened, the Corporal launched an Assault, which Jake honestly didn't see coming. When Jake mentioned that he's close to becoming one of the Navii and mentioned negotiations, you could've clearly see that the Corporal wasn't too happy about it, so I personally don't think it was Jake's fault. Also you're gonna love Avatar 2: Way of the Water, not sure if you'll watch it on the big screen or just react to it, if it's the latter, then I'll be there..
@@motorcycleboy9000 Even Nolan, Scorcese, and Spielberg have at least one stinker each lol no one bats a 1000% I agree with OP though, betting against Cameron is a fools errand.
The first time I saw I was 17 when Avatar came out in theaters and it became an incredible experience I have. It inspired me to take a film major since. After watching it again before the release of Avatar: Way of Water, I asked my history professor at the Sacramento State University about the themes of the first film, he stated that it show references of imperialism and colonization. If you looked how the RDA decided to take the riches/resources of Pandora with superior technology for profits and they think this will make things better, the Navi like Omatikaya clan are furious about these actions as the Tree of Souls are very sacred as they’re connected to their ancestors. For example: The French of the early 1800s want bring modernization to Hanoi because they view the villagers and their way of life as more uncivilized. They build major cities, streets and sewer lines, and the French later build a modern VitebEurope delivered the statue of Paul Bret as a symbol of enlightenment to the French brought to Hanoi. But this lead to several consequences to the Vietnamese as their ancestral ways are removed which led to a build up tension between the Vietnamese and the French occupiers. Both films show references of the real world and James Cameron have crafted it very well (even the script for the first Avatar was made in 1995 but haven’t started in production until a decade later). To me, storytelling is what got me into movies!
I honestly appreciate you sharing your first time reaction to the Avatar movies but I also hope you find a way to react to the sequel in 3D as well because the graphics and the whole visual journey is truly mind-blowing. I would love it if you get to have that experience too. You deserve it. #love ❤️
One of the saddest parts of avatar is that at the end when jake is watching the humans leave he is wearing Tsu'tai's nech piece bc in the director cut he survived the fall and jake finds him but he dies in jakes arms finally seeing jake as his brother
In the full version which explains more, they say Tsu'Tey (the one who didn't like Jake) and Neytiri were engaged, so yeah he felt threatened lol but comics explain before that he was engaged to her sister until she was killed by humans (as the full movie version says which is why the school was closed) and actually loved her so he would marry Neytiri more out of duty and hated humans more than otherd out of grief
I still feel that avatar shows us what we could have been like with the earth( connect, more intune with energy & natural roles) but how the government/ higher ups has other plans for a robot cyberpunk world. Also our past and future of possibly how our world once was and links to colonization.
3:16 good question Natalie Because that claw scar on Colonel Quaritch’s head is from Pandora’s largest land predator the Thanator, the big six legged leopard like alien predator that u saw later in the vid. In lore Colonel Quaritch had an encounter with one and lived to tell the tale, pretty bad ass for an awesome villain like him
Jake and Neytiri are an extremely underrated couple their bond is strong and eternal and it honestly makes me feel like i will never find that kind of connection as them and even my parents love for one another is one of the strongest i’ve ever seen! the high expectations is becoming a problem but then again nothing is wrong with being alone,hopefully!
Great job on your reaction! I thought it was really interesting and funny as well and you really had some great moments in your reaction as well! I want to thank you for reacting to one of my favorite movies! The sequel is even better than the first one and I do hope you react to it on your channel!
After a while, people started acting as if no one actually liked this movie and they were in for a shock when the sequel made over a billion again.
Well, nonsense like the Transformers made Billions. And yet I never met anybody who would see them as their favourite.
Just because a film is too big to fail doesn't mean it can't be crap. #Avatar
The opinions about this movie rubber-banded back and forth so much over the years. I remember when there were talks of how James Cameron is losing his mind spending a billion on this “passion project” that can’t possibly make that money back. Then it came out and there were these crazy stories of how it was making people depressed after it was over because the world of Pandora was so beautiful real life couldn’t compare. Then after a few years people acted like it wasn’t very good. It’s so strange to me.
@@Fonny222 It's different groups of people who all share their own opinions about it. It probably didn't rubber band around, just each group got their turn to speak about it.
It's one of the most beautifully done instances of modern CGI.
It's also one of the most mid narratives of all time. (literally just Pocahontas)
It's also a brilliantly rich example of world building and exotic creature design.
It's also an incomprehensively, stupidly expensive and time-consuming project.
Avatar is ALL of those things, simultaneously. Just different groups focus on which part of that stuck with them the most and everyone got to vocalize their support for that part at different times as the "loudest" opinion.
@@Fonny222 People hate on the joy of others. The thought of Cameron making a 5 movie multi billion dollar passion project, and it actually being good, is too much for some narrow minds to handle.
both movies aren't bad, but they're not exactly good either. They're perfectly mid, and that's ok
Even 14 years later, I still find this movie visually breathtaking!
It is, but if you haven't seen Way of Water yet, it is a whole nother level.
Absolutely
Yup. And I never get over people cheering at the deaths of millions of humans. They forget Jake was too busy playing with everyone's tail to remember he had a job to do. So when he failed to do it then millions of humans died. Such an uplifting film.
Just seen 'Way of Water' in 3D at the BFI IMAX. It was.... interesting. A different yet impressive experience. Not great cinema in the way I'd normally think of it, but still an experience worth having. I will no doubt be watching it at home on my more conventional yet nice 2D home "theatre" set up (75" OLED with nice surround sound) as a comparison. Particular things such as the space stuff and jungle scenes did look spectacular in 3D on that massive IMAX at the BFI in London.
13 years actually 🤭
"Ewya has heard you!" That line never fails to give me literal goose bumps and tears!
Same, dude... same.
Same here ❤
5:40 "She doesn't seem that bothered by him breaking the rules." You'll notice she's a great deal happier in her avatar body throughout the film. I think that's meant to be deliberate. She feels how Jake feels by the end. The avatar is the true body and the human body becomes the crutch they have to return to.
I always thought it was because she wasn't a smoker in her avatar body
@@angelramirez936That actually makes sense Lol. Like she’s really high strung, anxious, and mad because she needs to smoke but she’s really chill and friendly in her avatar body. Haha
You all are way overthinking things. She’s pretty much the same in and out of her avatar. She doesn’t care about politics or missions, she’s simply trying to study pandora and it’s inhabitants and hates the idea of people messing with that. Hence her problem with Jake at the start. She saw him as a wrench in her machine. But even in her normal body she takes care of her “science pukes”. Jake not going through the “steps” at the beginning means absolutely nothing to her. It’s not like he’s going to break the avatar.
@@zimvader25 That also makes sense lol
I noticed this too! I always thought the same thing 😄
As a disabled woman, the fact that you said “oh he uses a wheelchair, interesting” instead of saying something like, “oh he’s wheelchair bound, that’s really sad” is sooo so good. I don’t know how else to put that, but thank you. Just the subtle difference in language makes all the difference in respect and inclusion.
Ok
I totally agree
You are not disabled, you are "differently abled" 😇
@@albertnewtonify bruh
As a fellow disabled woman, I totally agree. I really appreciated that. People don't get it but language matters.
Watching the sequel in theatres was 3 hours of pure beautiful visual spectacle, absolutely gorgeous and genuinely an enjoyable story.
i cried like 7 times 💀 it was really good, both are amazing films
I love their kids so much! 🥰
Not me,everytime they show the story I absolutely wanted that crap out and show the beautiful visuals.Ngl,if only there were visuals for 3 hours with no story,I think I would watch that multiple times.The story is too messy for my taste.
Same
@@neerajcherukuri4052 it's just a copy of dances with wolves and a bunch of other similar stories...
I always like to highlight Zoe Saldaña's acting, like GOD. She delivered SO WELL! The whole vfx take so much of the acting away, but watching the behind the scenes realy makes u see all these actors' talent.
Yup the acting in both movies just gets forgotten, its really sad. Everyone's so worked up about hating on the movies because its cool.
@@HomeworkRadio haven't seen the second one yet! but I do not have low expectations. everyone's saying it's good. and man the visuals from what I've seen in the trailer OMG. really hope I can see it soon
We've seen her as a blue woman and a green woman, I'm hoping she plays a purple woman at some point. I like that colour.
Can we talk about, how Zoe managed to get into some of the highest box office draw movies, ever? Avengers (Infinity War, Endgame), Avatar, Pirates Of The Carribean, Star Trek reboot? Whoever her agent is knows his stuff!!!
well... the vfx team also developed cutting edge face sims to get very real expressions. All of zoe's mocap has to be processed by an artist in post too, mocap doesn't achieve what you need out the box.
It's been 14 years and this movie is still a visual masterpiece
Agreed, however it’s not the same watching it on the small screen.
If you missed it in the theater, you missed out big time
What many people forget, or don't realize, is that Avatar was responsible for the renewal of the 3D movie from the temporary fad gimmick of the 50s and early 80s into the modern revolution of big budget action movies and many classic films getting post- converted and re-released in 3D.
@@nsasupporter7557 Yes, the movie was made specifically for 3D with revolutionary motion capture and new cameras to sync up movements of characters in an environment and be able to move camera point of view within in. No movie since has so expertly used 3D to put the viewer inside the world shown. It's my favorite moviegoing experience I've ever had.
its definitely weirder watching it as an adult lol, with everything being connected through tails that have nerve endings
@@lordpuki1375 Its also horrible story and the 3d resurgence this brought about was horrible because it made every action movie at the time have to shoot things leaping at the screen to make the 3d seem like it was needed. If your movie cant stand up to being good on a home tv and needs a gimmick its not a great movie.
tsu’tey, the one that seemed to not like jake because he was jealous of neytiri, has a little bit more to his backstory. He is betrothed to neytiri, yes, but he was betrothed to her older sister who died from being shot by humans, thats why grace’s school was shut down and the avatars were prohibited at the village. they were truly in love, so the resentiment tsu’tey feels towards jake is probably mostly because of what his race did rather than because of his advances towards neytiri, which he doesnt like but also accepts in a short period of time. he even chooses jake as his successor later in a deleted scene! they grow to respect each other before tsu’tey dies and gets reunited with silwanin in eywa
People just dont understand....to say this movie was groundbreaking when it came to visuals and the 3d experience was absolutely MASSIVE!!! This was the first 3D movie my whole family saw, I had seen it with friends before I took them so I literally spent the WHOLE movie just watching them react to the 3D moments. To this day it remains my mothers favorite movie period, and having just taken her to see Way of Water your reaction came out at just the right time! Glad you enjoyed it Natalie, keep the reactions coming!
I've always liked the movie. It's sad that a lot of people bashed it. All my family and friends liked it. Everyone I know in real life liked it. It's just that the internet hates on it all the time.
This was one of only a very few Movies I saw with my whole family in the cinema
Omg fr my whole family saw it and it such a nice memory
The only thing I didnt like about Avatar is that it popularised 3D technology. Absolutely EVERYTHING was coming out in 3D and it looked like absolute garbage 90% of the time. Thank god its mostly gone now.
@@oLaudix you mean avatar 2 3D? Because the new 3D looks awesome
Saw the original in 3D and it was the most beautiful 3D movie I've ever seen. They didn't use 3D as a gimmick. I can still feel the feeling of having all the ashes falling around me. Even so many years later.
It's simply not a movie for watching on a TV.
It is a 3D only movie.
@@dialecticalmonist3405 It works on TV, I watched the first one recently and still enjoyed it.
@@dialecticalmonist3405 I don't agree. I watched the 2nd movie in 4k and just in a normal cinema and i enjoyed both thoroughly
@@bestboyholland3217
After seeing it in 3D IMAX, watching it flat, just looks boring to me.
There are many subtle things that it does with 3D better than any other 3D movie. Things like transparent windows, smoke, particle effects and reflections. These things simply don't show up on a flat screen.
YESSSS. The ash falling down around you in 3D was breathtaking. Its the ONLY 3D movie I've ever thought deserved the 3D
I just think that people don't want to ENJOY things anymore. And it's so comforting to see someone just have a great time living themselves in a film ✨❤️
She made a successful you tube career by being out the loop on all the hit shows and movies . Plus she’s genuinely interesting lol . Love this channel
That's what I notice too, I'm impressed how she's seen almost nothing, even the massive movies, yet always enjoys them so much😂 A love for film and tv that had gone undiscovered for however many years until she started her react videos
Its easy to be out of loop lol. Just ignore the news about any tv shows. Spoilers ??? Depends on the person but its easy to forget spoilers when u haven't started a show yet.
The extended version of this movie has a lot more detail into the history of the people that were there already. Like graces school and the history of the navi people. You should definitely try to watch it if you can!!
I wish they made it easily available on Disney+, even if they charged a slight extra premium to access it!
There's also more backstory on Jake's service and his brother's murder.
maaaan i JUST rewatched the movie on disney, if I knew there was an extended version I'd hunt for that one instead :(
@@HeroicEvil13 Or just let you watch the whole thing, streaming has made special editions obsolete, so they could put those on streaming to encourage people to watch the films again.
@@theperson8539 right!
I like how she accurately predicted everything that happened in the movie 😂
maybe she did watch it?
Well it wasn't too difficult, it is full of clichés
kinda easy to predict
@@4Kandlez Being predictable doesn't always mean bad. In fact I hate in when movies / TV shows try too hard to go for the big reveal and plot twists and mystery boxes. They sacrifice story-telling for the gimmick.
@@One.Zero.One101 Well to be fair there's not much to say about the story if you already saw the sameone in a different skin, there needs to be a balance. Anyways Avatar movies aren't really made for their story or plot and that's perfectly fine.
Honestly I think the graphics still hold up. Many of the practices used in making the movie are now used in video games and other movies, so they were pioneers well out of their time.
A bit like George Lucas and Star Wars 🤔
Oh they don't just hold up, they've yet to be surpassed.
You have to squint to see the limits on certain textures and simulations, but still better looking than 95% cgi today.
Hold up ?? Hollywood is yet to make another with the same level of visual effects let alone surpass it.
I find it funny when you have people still claiming it looks like a video game, meanwhile they can't name a single movie that even comes close to it & even the best looking video games today still don't look this good.
And people are saying that about the sequel 🙄.
Nominated for 9 Oscars including Best Picture but won for:
Best Production Design
Best Visual Effects
Best Cinematography.
It's the highest grossing movie of all time, $2.9 billion dollars!
AVATAR 2: THE WAY OF WATER has made $1.5 billion dollars today!
A2 is now the highest grossing film of the year internationally.
Avengers endgame is actually the highest grossing of all time, before that infinity war, and before that is avatar
@@BioshockDrill Once Avatar was taken off Disney+ to be put back in theaters for its few weeks, I think it took #1 again. But, that's only what I read, how true it is I don't know.
@@BioshockDrill Endgame is only higher domestically. Avatar over took it with the combined domestic and international box office when it was rereleased in China
Avatar $2,922,917,914.00
Avengers: Endgame $2,797,501,328.00
@@BioshockDrill nope, it goes Avatar, Endgame, then Titanic. Check here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films
They cut out a lot of scenes with Norm including that he and Trudy we're building a relationship throughout, and explain what happened with Grace’s school, and Jake and Sute getting to be friends after his ceremony becoming a “man”. It makes me sad that we didn't get to see these but they did so good anyway
those scenes are in the director's cut, or extended version, whatever you want to call it. those scenes really do round out the story, and add a lot of emotion. and it's Tsu'tey.
Tsu’tey
Yeah, the director’s cut includes some of them, but there are tons more I wish they’d finish because it introduces a bit more gray on either side and better explains some of the motivations.
@@LBrobie The whole Trudy/Norm was 100% cut. I really wish they would make a new 3-4 hours version with all of it added back in plus other stuff that explained a lot. Norm's attitude improving was largely because of him porking Trudy. There was even a filmed scene of Jake rolling into the other side of the pods to see Norm and Trudy going at it.
Yeah they cut a lot. 2009 was not a time when 3 hour-long Hollywood movies were commonplace. Fortunately, people are more tolerant of longer runtimes now
Its unbelievable this movie came out in 2009, it still holds up today visualy, no wonder it won so many awards and made so much money, im going to watch the 2nd one soon.
The moment I realized Natalie was truly fearless was when she admitted to watching Saving Private Ryan on a phone.
Lol
more like lazy and disrespectful (to the filmmakers). if you can't watch it on a laptop or tv screen, don't watch it. i don't get why ppl do it. you can't enjoy any movie that way
@@user-vc5rp7nf8f boo hoo
@@user-vc5rp7nf8f maybe YOU can’t enjoy it. Sounds like a personal problem
Is amazing how much James Cameron had accomplished without even going to film school
he never went to Film school? I didn’t know that!
Edit: happy now
no one need a school to be good in one thing
@@diamondprism9260 durrrrrr
Yeah but - he has degrees in physics and engineering (Which is relevant as a science fiction film-maker and the guy who's always advancing the tech.)
Also, he has a brother that's a Navy SEAL and another one that's an engineer. The SEAL is the reason he's a diving nut and why all the gunplay looks so good, and he gets together with the engineer brother and *designs and invents* new film equipment. They typically register dozens of patents with each movie they make.
You don't become James Cameron with a HS diploma.
@@diamondprism9260 he just said that..
Seeing this in imax 3D was one of the most visually immersive movie experiences I've had... It's hard to explain cause lots of movies were doing 3D at this time and it was very gimmicky... in this movie the 3D didn't feel like a gimmick... it felt so integrated into the cinematography that the world just felt so real... I assume thats why folks felt so attached so quickly. One of the few movies that gave me that post-show-binge depression feeling.
You should have seen the Director's version where they showed how Grace opened a school for Navi and knew Naytiri's sister and it left a personal tragedy, showed how Jake hunted, a scene with Tsutei...And of course the Way of Water was one of the best 3D experiences that I experienced in my life after the Children of Spies 3 and the Hobbit Battle of the Five Armies.
There is nothing better than watching someone experience one of my favorite movies for the first time. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I would definitely recommend the “directors extended cut” for everyone who wants more story and exposition it’s so good and worth it. Love this movie and love the sequel ❤
Even though the plot is cliche and all, this movie is still one of my all time favourites. The world they created is breathtaking and the effects are insane. 14 years later and they still hold up. And I personally think that Zoe Saldana gives one of the all time great mo-cap performances
But its performance capture, not motion capture performance, according to the director.
I can't explain how epic this was in 3D in the theater! Even the display from Jakes video diary was impressive. But the initial visit to the night forest was awe inspiring. Dead technology now but I bought a 3D TV off the back of this film and Wreck It Ralph.
As much as I'd like to see you watch Avatar 2 for the first time, you should really really go see it in theaters in 3D. I never watch 3D movies but the 2 Avatar films are the closest thing we will get to a Holodeck experience in our lifetime. Since they were actually shot and rendered in 3D every element is at a different depth and it truly feels like you are there. The sequel has probably the best visual effects of any film ever made, seriously.
100% agree - there is also a lot of potential to still make content on it too! Such as a video of your thoughts after the 3D experience, and/or a second watch-through. The movie is 3+ hours, but trust me when I say Avatar 2 does everything better than the first and the rewatchability is insane! Coming from someone who's about to see it for the 5th time lol
This really brought back my love for the theatre experience after Covid! If anyone close to me has even a slight interest in seeing the sequel, I will push/sponsor the expereience with no hesitation. So Natalie, and anyone else on the fence, please consider it.. 🤟
Vouch
Totally agree, I never see 3D films but I just saw Avatar 2 this past weekend in 3D and it blew me away. I was dumbfounded by how beautiful that movie was
Dolby cinema or imax laser if possible. Regular imax just doesn't come close to the definition of dolby cinema. It's huge yeah, but you can probably find a dolby cinema theater that comes close to imax. Imax laser is the way to go.
I completely agree as well. You should definitely experience it the way it should be seen in IMAX 3D rather than shoot a reaction watching on a monitor.
"I'm with her Jake she real" makes me ugly cry everytime! Stunning movie way back in 09 and still delivers. The sequel is also stunning fantastic movie and alot of ugly cry moments. Love these and can't wait for more of the Avatar universe.
I'm not sure why but this movie still gets me emotional every time. Many moments always give me goosebumps, and the death of Hometree especially is so sad and painful.
Fuck that, it gets me hard. Just for them to give me blueballs by holding back and not mowing them all down.
Suffer not the xeno to live.
@@cpob2013 :(
Same. It's archetypal. Zoe Saldana's acting is amazing and the music is superb then as well.
One of my favorite movies of all time. It is one of the few in which you are cheering for the aliens and against the humans. The extended version really makes the story even better. Great job Natalie.
Traitor
You root for the Aliens because they look, walk and talk like humans. Which is not realistic for an alien species. Deny it all you want but it would be a lot harder to empathise with them if they had 6 legs and 6 eyes even if the rest of the story remained the same.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who was at least kinda rooting for the humans.
@@PodreyJenkin138 I'm all for great villains but it really just sounds like you want to be a contrarian at all times 😅😅
@@PodreyJenkin138 rooting for the humans in this movie makes literally no sense, you want corporate greed and money to ruin not only another planet and destroy its ecosystems but for the natives to be displaced and/or murdered, literally for money? Come on dude. Have some morality. This isn't a "thanos was right" situation. There's no way theres a community who stans the humans in this movie for any reason other than you just want the bad guys to win.
When it first came out, I went to see it in the cinema with my father about 5 times (even though I feel like I may have been too young to see it 😅). When I turned 18 we grew distant, and then he passed away a year ago, and I don't think I've processed it yet. Apart from being so beautiful and compelling, this movie is the strongest connection to him that I still have, and it will always have a special place in my heart. Glad you enjoyed it!
As good as the visuals were, I love this movie for the story. To this day, I still come back to this movie every few years because of how good it is.
I still don’t know how there are people who say this movie is bad. Seriously? One of the most beautiful self discovery and war movies ever made. And Zoe Saldana is absolutely perfect in her performance
Yeah it’s so much more than just the visuals that make this show great. Annoyingly that’s the only thing a lot of people point out. The soundtrack is one of the best in cinema history in my opinion it’s so good. The acting and story is so good too just like you pointed out
This movie is so pretty! It's amazing how the visuals still hold up even today.
Visuals were incredible, even more so the first time I saw it, in 3D and in an IMAX theatre. The little floaty things looked like they were just floating around the theatre. It was amazing
I love that it is established earlier that Neytiri knows how those masks operate. Before we see her save Jake at 27:55, we saw her remove the mask from Dr. Grace Augustine after she passed away. Seeing how Neytiri was one of Grace's best pupils, it is not a stretch to assume that she knew exactly was happening and how to operate those masks.
The Avatar movies and Gravity are the only movies I've seen in 3D where I thought it actually enhanced the experience. Avatar and its sequel are solid enough sci-fi action movies on their own, and still really impressive on a technical/production level, but in 3D on a big screen they are almost like going on a theme park ride.
TL;DR: I'd highly recommend seeing the sequel in theaters!
Same here. If a film isn't shot in 3D, then adding it in post-production doesn't do much. Both of these films were incredible in 3D!
@@melanie62954 Agreed! Adding it in post never looks as good.
But more importantly a good 3D movie needs to be carefully considered in terms of how it's going to look in 3D. Cameron and Cuarón were both very deliberate about how they chose to design shots, sequences, and effects in order to make sure that they would look and feel good in 3D. In a lot of other movies released in 3D it really feels like an afterthought.
Gotta add "Prometheus" to that list...
Avatar and Avatar the Way of Water mean so much to me. Not just the stunning visuals, the alien world, the World building or the brillant characters and the attention to detail, but also because of it's indigenous representation. I'm indigenous and seeing the scared trees (which we also have... obviously not glowing), seeing the Na'vi wrapping their food in leaves like my mother does, seeing their jewellery, seeing the respect for the animals and nature as a whole, the fight to protect our land, the issues with illegal mining and deforestation. These all are so familiar and part of all indigenous tribes around the world. And seeing these all in a blockbuster film making Billions around the world is so good 👏And yeah, people will hate the movies because people have their own opinion, but they shouldn't dismiss the voices of those to whom this matters on a spiritual and emotional level.
Avatar is 100% tropey, but tropes are fine when done well, like they are in the Avatar movies. Combine that with the gorgeous visuals and it becomes very easy to understand why both movies hit 2 billion. Its rare to get new epic crowd-pleasers, but my gosh these are fantastic.
Natalie, we love and appreciate the content you make for us. GO SEE THE SEQUEL IN THEATERS. It’s okay if you can’t make it a video. Just film your review and we’ll all watch. Seriously. IMAX 3D of the sequel is the best theater experience I’ve ever had
IMAX 3D is a bit janky, try Digital 3D! It's objectively more immersive just based on the way the 3D technology works. I've seen it in both types, and 2d, and 4dx.. 😂 4d is definitely the best overall imo, but that's harder to find and a bit more like a ride. That's what the movie really is intended to feel like tho! Realisitically all I can recommend is Digital 3D > IMAX 3D > 2D
@@HeroicEvil13 Nice tip. I'm going to see it this weekend and thought the IMAX 3D option was the best. But now I'll have to check if we have digital 3D in my city (well, not my city as I don't own it)
@@ctakitimu hahah I get ya, the big IMAX screen is nice and all but the 3D picture is going to vary based on the theater and the position of your seat. If you move/sway your head a lot the depth/dimensions aren't going to look as consistent. (Although subtle, it was enough to break the immersion for me a couple times)
As opposed to Digital/Dolby 3D which utilizes more advanced visual and audio technology, so the depth/color/sound is going to be a bit more in your face the whole time. Plus you can always sit closer to the front to compensate for the loss in screen size! (Some say you're more likely to notice the changing frame-rate with this style though since the scenes will occasionally switch from 48 FPS to 24 FPS or vice versa, but I always kinda noticed it)
Based on the videos/articles I've seen (and personal experience) the general consensus seems to be that Dolby has better 3D, but some people will like the overall IMAX experience more. It mainly boils down to your preferred viewing style and what type of screens/seats the theaters near you offer. Hopefully this helped and didn't create any extra confusion! 😂
Yes, Nat! If you're reading this, just please please GO SEE THE SEQUEL NOOOOOW! You can make your reaction later when it comes to Disney Plus and we'll love it as any of your content, but seriously GO TO THE MOVIES AND WATCH IT in 3D!
or just watch it on a big TV! surely you have a MAIN TV? rather than your PC monitor
I'd recommend seeing the second one in theatres and doing a post viewing review because even if it makes me an ass I really do believe these movies are better on the largest screen you can find.
Yes. Absolutely go see it in 3D. Amazing
@@fightingfaerie yeah the imax 3d showing was mind blowing lol
@@fightingfaerie I found watching it in 3D muddied a lot of the design.
IMAX I can get behind but not 3D. Especially since the glasses make everything appear darker.
Absolutely
I saw it in Imax 3D yesterday, and it's definitely worth seeing it. Haven't been so immersed in a movie since Dune, it was amazing!
I was too young to watch this when it came out so I finally watched it a week before the sequel came out and I was shook. I thought it wouldn’t be that great but I LOVED it.
This movie makes me _feel_ I am in a completely different world, with people I want to learn about. New plants, new traditions, new sensations... I only felt like this 2 or 3 times in my life and that makes this movie one of my favourites ever.
Oh, I forgot: THE MUSIC!? It is just... OH. It's perfect for this movie. I can listen it for several hours and it still give me chills
James Cameron knows that even if it starts with a few visual ideas, it very quickly becomes all about the story. He really understands that the story and the characters come first and that the movie technology is either up to the the job or it isn't. You don't make a movie based around the technology, you develop the technology to make the movie you want to tell.
THANK YOU!
Weird, that's exactly how I felt this movie was made, extremely good CGI as a basis and then an easy rehashed story on top of it.
@@Dead25m Nope. He wanted to make it in the 90's if I remember correctly but the cgi wasn't up to doing the fully immersive world with camera panning, zooms etc.
If only he thought the same about the music
Unfortunately he is really great with creating characters but not so good in creating a plot that makes sense when you start thinking about it after the effect of the great visuals wears off
Way of Water is even more visual and I enjoyed the story so much more. Can’t wait to see your reactions to that one.
The thing with this movie being so highly praised was it was truly an innovation for it’s time, and to experience it on the big screen rlly left a greater impression. Same with the 2nd one now. When I was watching it in IMAX 3D it was so stunning it was better visually and in the experience wise than any movie I’ve ever seen in theatres.
Seeing this film through an artists eyes was amazing. The visuals were amazing and outstanding for the time is was released
It was fun watching this with you. There are actually tons of deleted scenes that do add more nuance to the human characters, but unfortunately didn’t make the final cut. I guess the studio was getting scared of the long runtime since up to that point no one had attempted a 3D film that long. Maybe someday a longer director’s cut will be released that includes them all. One is a wild psychedelic vision quest.
This is why I love avatar so much, because it is a type of sci-fi movie that has near future technology for example: like how the interstellar ship designs and the antimatter drives they use for interstellar travel from the Solar system to the Alpha Centauri System.
And all the wildlife on Pandora make sense in real life since they have 6 limbs to make up for Pandora’s light gravity same thing with the Na’vi being 10ft tall
there's actually an extended cut that's almost 3 hours long, and has alot of cut stuff like life on earth and other action/death scenes and some good character development, (like showing more of Grace's backstory and why she's becoming increasingly motherly torwards Jake) :) It also better explains why the trees are so important (something about dead ancestors' memories being stored in physical living trees)
May I ask where I can find that one?
That thing about the ancestors is in the regular version. Or at least that concept is explained adequately in the regular version.
@@jintanesss1417
I've looked but I can't find any legal streaming site that has it. You might have to buy the Collector's Edition Blu-ray to watch it.
(There is a 170 minutes Special Edition and a 178 minutes Extended Collector's Cut, both longer than the 162 minutes theatrical cut. All three of them are included in the Collector's Edition Blu-ray.)
@@jintanesss1417 I think it's on VUDU, but if you find a version online that's 2hrs 58 mins with an intro on Earth, it should be the extended version.
@@jintanesss1417 I think it's on VUDU, but if you find a version online that's 2hrs 58 mins with an intro on Earth, it should be the extended version.
One thing that I always wondered was that if this movie were about a conflict between essentially an oil company with some hired mercenaries vs the native population, I wonder what will happen once Earth's governments decide to directly intervene and secure the most important resource for interstellar trade.
Natalie...THIS was a movie that was almost demanded to be seen in the theaters, and in 3D! It was absolutely amazing and brilliant!
YES. Concur.
I would totally go see it in theatres if given the chance again :)
@@NatalieGoldReacts highly recommend not doing a reaction for Avatar 2 so you can experience it in the theater…or take a camera into the theater…people might throw popcorn at you though
@@NatalieGoldReactsoh you'll definitely get another chance. Every new release will have a re-release of the previous in theaters.
@@NatalieGoldReacts they re-released it here in 2022 in IMAX, looked incredible.. nothing made in the 13 years since has came close.
I remember seeing this film in theaters with my father, brother, and a family friend. I recently saw the new film in theaters with my uncle, aunt, and cousins. This is a film series and franchise that people go more for the visuals than anything, especially plot. In fact, the reason why it took a long time to make the first film and then the second was because James Cameron was waiting for or needed to invent the technology needed to make the film. In regards to plot, it's Ferngully meets Pocahontas meets Dances With Wolves.
LOVE ferngully
I watched this one as a young teen on TV and when the sequel came out I watched it in the cinema with my friend. After the movie he turns to me, with literal tears in his eyes, and says "Holy shit that was good, I wish I had watched the first one before this" lmao. He liked the sequel so much he cried even though he didn't have time to catch up to the first one that day. I wish I had time to see it in the cinema more than once, it really was an amazing experience seeing it on the big screen.
I take "Dances with Wolves" in space any time. This movie is amazing, I loved to explore Pandora together with Jake. The soundtrack is amazing. The world and the connection between all living beings is so beautiful. I wish we as humans would learn our lessons, but we never will...
The philosophy of Avatar is really beautiful, and I love how Way of Water expounds on new aspects.
Dances with wolves??? You mean Ferngully oh wait Last Samurai.. it doesn't matter, it's a story been told more times than I can count, if it's done right it's still can be a fantastic movie.
@@jpops1258 Pocahontas?
Get a little tired of the DWW analogy. Plenty of films has similar themes before that film. The A Man Called Horse films, Farewell to the King, even Lawrence of Arabia. I wonder if DWW got called out for similarities to those films. Cameron himself said the film was inspired by the book and film At Play in the Fields of the Lord and there are far more similarities with that than DWW.
People always like to become story perfectionists, especially with this film.
In addition, they happily watch dozens of blockbusters every year that are also based on classic, repeatedly used story building blocks or are often even much more stupid, hollow and nonsensical.
Most of the time it's not even their own criticism but simply parroting some UA-cam reviews.
It's funny you said that because she IS a dancer. The female Navi was Zoe Saldana, from Guardians of the Galaxy. She used to be a dancer as well. In fact her first big movie was Center Stage, the movie about ballet dancers.
Center Stage is one of my faves!
Aaaand she is the highest grossing lead actress of all time.
One of my favourite movies ever, so excited for this video!
I am**
I remember after this movie first came out there were cases of people going through like Pandora withdrawl depression. Cause they wanted to be back in the world of Pandora.
Then they walked out of the theaters. And we’re back on Earth. With factories and strip malls and sports bars and all that.
Pandora was so much cooler. (Except for the food.)
@@robbob5302Pandora pretty much exists on earth. These same people yearning to "be there", will want to go home after a single day in an Amazon jungle.
People need to watch the full version!!! So many questions you have are answered!
The moment I saw the starship's glowing radiators when it was coming into orbit around Pandora, I liked this movie! Someone went to a lot of trouble to find out how a realistic starship would need to be constructed.
The guy who designed most of the aliens is Wayne Douglas Barlow, who's been creating aliens for over thirty years. Check out his work in the books Expedition and Inferno, as well as his work on the Kaiju from the film Pacific Rim.
They do a realistic (and terrifying) deceleration burn in 2.
Decades ago I bought a book by Barlowe that has his versions of aliens from famous Sci Fi books. To this day, his versions are the versions I see when I read those books. I'm always disappointed when a film or TV adaptation doesn't measure up to Barlowe's versions (looking at you Overlords from the Childhood's End mini-series. You too, Guild Navigator from David Lynch's Dune).
There’s an excellent technical analysis of the Avatar transport ship that really helped me appreciate the close attention to scientific detail. Well worth a watch.
ua-cam.com/video/-ov-fqmf9Iw/v-deo.html
Back when this came out I was obsessed haha. Saw it 6x in theatres lol
Watching you discovering this movie was so awesome Nat. It was such a great reaction 💛
thanks! I'm glad I got to watch it with y'all :)
@@NatalieGoldReacts Fun fact: the actress that played Nayteri also played Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy :)
I took my whole family to see this movie 5 times in the theatre. That's how much we loved it.
As a huge film lover Avatar is my all time favorite movie! I’m someone who loooves psychological thrillers and stuff like that but still, no movie will ever be as dear and comforting to me as this one. I genuinely have never seen a world as beautifully crafted as Pandora, every single place on that planet looks absolutely gorgeous. I’ve watched the movie about 15 times at least and I honestly did not think that they would actually make a sequel but I’m so happy they finally did :)
And can we take a moment to hand it to Quaritch? He has to be one of the coolest Hollywood villains, ever.
I would have almost been happy, if he had won!
I love this movie, i saw the 2 at the movies and i cried very much. It was beautiful!
Honestly, I HIGHLY recommend seeing the sequel in theatres. The visuals have gotten even better. I know content is content, but this is a rare experience that I think any film fan should experience the way it was meant to be seen, in theatres. You could always do a rewatch with the channel if enough people ask for it.
The thing about this movie that made it a must see in theaters was not just the visuals but also the 3D. It basically revolutionized the technology. No one had seen it work so well before, or since really. If you get a chance to see the new one in theaters, I recommend doing so for that reason also.
PLEASE watch it in theater! Its the top moment of escapeism, and the 3D makes you experience it in a much different way! Its SO much better in theater!!! I swear!
You should def check out the ride in Disney World. I couldn't get over how realistic it was. I honestly felt like I was in an avatar myself and just couldn't get enough of it. Breathtaking from start to finish.
Man, if I had a nickel for every time a story called 'Avatar' involved travelling to different tribes based on the elements, whilst the main heroes attempt to overcome imperialist conquerors, I'd have two nickels
Which isn't much, but it's weird that it's happened twice.
Did you see that the 3rd movie will include fire Na'vi? This is literally going to become ATLA.
Hehe. I heard that. I think they’re called the Ash tribe or something who live in a more volcanic area of Pandora. To be fair though James Cameron wrote Avatar back in 1994 and must’ve secured the rights to the name before 2005, forcing the ATLA name change. It’s still funny how two properties with such similar names became popular.
the problem with building guns into your suit is then if you want to use it for something else (logistics, building things, etc) then suddenly your exoskeleton is useless or atleast inefficient. Better to have hands/magnets/whatever and have the guns removable.
A lot of react channels are doing this but Natalie is the one I am MOST excited for. I think you'll be amazed
Natalie is just way better than ANY other reacter on YT.
All the others are incredibly bland and stupid by comparison
Thanks
It wasn't just seeing it in the theater, it was seeing it with groundbreaking, bleeding-edge 3D, so good that it looks like you're looking at it through a window rather than projected on a screen.
Avatar is such a seamless wonderful trip.
You already know what is likely going to happen because this story has already been told (Pocahontas, Dance With Wolves) but it's not important because the movie take us on such a wonderful ride. Besides the visuals, this movie is so well-executed because its take you on a journey in theses out-worldly forests and yet this place and the Navi fells almost familiar to us.
Great reaction Nat, and nice editing too !
More FernGully. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw it. They updated the story of FernGully.
Fun fact: Apparently one of the main reasons why the sequel took so long was that the director was waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision for the movie
And boy did he make use of every little bit of tech he could get his hands on.
For the same reason the first film took him like 10 years? Avatar 3 in theaters 2033.
@@udalix If I remember correctly the next two, or three movies will roll out every two years till they're done
Pretty much. They're filming all of them back to back (which is part of the the delays). The general in Avatar 2 filmed all her scenes 4 years ago apparently.
Technology wise, the tricky bit was doing full performance capture underwater. Traditionally infrared is used to track the motion, but water is really good at blocking that so they had to develop new versions using ultraviolet light instead. It's also why the reported budget of Avatar 2 is so high, but that doesn't reflect the fact that a lot of those costs will be able to be spread across the rest of the sequels assuming they don't get cancelled. Given Avatar 2 has nearly hit $2bn worldwide though, I suspect Avatar 3 is fairly safe at this point :)
Natalie, you being someone who appreciates cinema you owe it to yourself to see the sequel in the theater. It's mind blowing.
I remember watching this as a 5 year old kid when it came out and saying something like "I wish I was an Avatar (I didn't know what they were called at the time). Why did I have to be a Human?" and I also remember being depressed that the World didn't look like the Navii Planet. I watched this and the second part last Week and at the Age of 19, it was like I was 5 Years old again, that feeling is one I can never forget. Also in a way, what happened to the Navii's home wasn't exactly Jake's fault, the plan between him and the Corporal (Not sure of his rank and don't know his name) was for him to negotiate the terms of Naviis relocating in order to mine the valuable mineral under the Great Tree, but before that happened, the Corporal launched an Assault, which Jake honestly didn't see coming. When Jake mentioned that he's close to becoming one of the Navii and mentioned negotiations, you could've clearly see that the Corporal wasn't too happy about it, so I personally don't think it was Jake's fault. Also you're gonna love Avatar 2: Way of the Water, not sure if you'll watch it on the big screen or just react to it, if it's the latter, then I'll be there..
Love how excited you get on a first watch. Always an enjoyable watch 😊
This is one of my favourite films of all time. I remember going to the cinema seven times to watch it
How many times will you go for the sequel? It's even better than the first one.
Zoe’s acting is incredible
I will watch anything James Cameron makes or produces, dude is legendary.
Agreed.
Pirhana 2 is his only bad movie.
@@motorcycleboy9000 Even Nolan, Scorcese, and Spielberg have at least one stinker each lol no one bats a 1000%
I agree with OP though, betting against Cameron is a fools errand.
@@KS-xk2so Nolan has many bad movies. His name does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as the other legends.
@@jasonschuler2256 I disagree.
Natalie guessing every major plot point ahead of time without failure kinda shows how simple this movie was written. Truly Pocahontas in space.
The first time I saw I was 17 when Avatar came out in theaters and it became an incredible experience I have. It inspired me to take a film major since.
After watching it again before the release of Avatar: Way of Water, I asked my history professor at the Sacramento State University about the themes of the first film, he stated that it show references of imperialism and colonization. If you looked how the RDA decided to take the riches/resources of Pandora with superior technology for profits and they think this will make things better, the Navi like Omatikaya clan are furious about these actions as the Tree of Souls are very sacred as they’re connected to their ancestors.
For example: The French of the early 1800s want bring modernization to Hanoi because they view the villagers and their way of life as more uncivilized. They build major cities, streets and sewer lines, and the French later build a modern VitebEurope delivered the statue of Paul Bret as a symbol of enlightenment to the French brought to Hanoi. But this lead to several consequences to the Vietnamese as their ancestral ways are removed which led to a build up tension between the Vietnamese and the French occupiers.
Both films show references of the real world and James Cameron have crafted it very well (even the script for the first Avatar was made in 1995 but haven’t started in production until a decade later).
To me, storytelling is what got me into movies!
I really really really recommend watching the 2nd one in movie theaters and in 3D, I was blown away from the visuals even more now for 2023!
I honestly appreciate you sharing your first time reaction to the Avatar movies but I also hope you find a way to react to the sequel in 3D as well because the graphics and the whole visual journey is truly mind-blowing. I would love it if you get to have that experience too. You deserve it. #love ❤️
Loved this movie and looking forward to whenever I can see the sequel
One of the saddest parts of avatar is that at the end when jake is watching the humans leave he is wearing Tsu'tai's nech piece bc in the director cut he survived the fall and jake finds him but he dies in jakes arms finally seeing jake as his brother
In the full version which explains more, they say Tsu'Tey (the one who didn't like Jake) and Neytiri were engaged, so yeah he felt threatened lol but comics explain before that he was engaged to her sister until she was killed by humans (as the full movie version says which is why the school was closed) and actually loved her so he would marry Neytiri more out of duty and hated humans more than otherd out of grief
I could never get tired of watching this movie 🤩
Oh boy I‘ve been waiting for Natalie to finally watch AVATAR🥰
What coincidence, I literally just saw the sequel and got out of the theater like 10 mins ago. Lol
I still feel that avatar shows us what we could have been like with the earth( connect, more intune with energy & natural roles) but how the government/ higher ups has other plans for a robot cyberpunk world. Also our past and future of possibly how our world once was and links to colonization.
3:16 good question Natalie
Because that claw scar on Colonel Quaritch’s head is from Pandora’s largest land predator the Thanator, the big six legged leopard like alien predator that u saw later in the vid. In lore Colonel Quaritch had an encounter with one and lived to tell the tale, pretty bad ass for an awesome villain like him
Jake and Neytiri are an extremely underrated couple their bond is strong and eternal and it honestly makes me feel like i will never find that kind of connection as them and even my parents love for one another is one of the strongest i’ve ever seen! the high expectations is becoming a problem but then again nothing is wrong with being alone,hopefully!
Great job on your reaction! I thought it was really interesting and funny as well and you really had some great moments in your reaction as well! I want to thank you for reacting to one of my favorite movies! The sequel is even better than the first one and I do hope you react to it on your channel!
thanks! Looking forward to the sequel!
Can't wait for the sequel reaction. That movie blowed my mind. I wasn't expecting it to be soo good.
An absolute beautiful movie the story, the visuals, nothing like it in the last 30 YEARS!!! Can't wait to see the next one.
Oh, I was hoping you’d watch this! Thanks as always Nat! This is one of my favorite movies and remains so to this day!