Avatar

[Italics]

I was hoping we discuss the upcoming movie "Avatar" that looks simply awesome.
http://www.avatarmovie.com

Speaking of the movie, I'm getting nervous it will be a little lame piece of anti-war propaganda with smurfs.

I began to worry the same thing after seeing the extended trailer.
Is it just me, or is the Gov't/American Military evil in, like, 75% of modern action movies?

[Italics]

http://pict.fm/gallery/1046/avatar-3.html

Does some super cool person want to help me know how I can get this one "down to size?"

[Mars]

I have the feeling that Avatar is the exact same movie as THIS one: http://www.redbox.com/Titles/AvailableT ... nreID=1001

But with a $300MM larger budget.

[Schmoe]

James Cameron is kind of hit or miss on his films (loved Aliens, hated titanic). This CGI in this new one is too cheesy for me to take it seriously, and the film wants to be taken seriously, so it's gonna suck.

[snoscythe]

I was hoping we discuss the upcoming movie "Avatar" that looks simply awesome.
http://www.avatarmovie.com

Speaking of the movie, I'm getting nervous it will be a little lame piece of anti-war propaganda with smurfs.

I began to worry the same thing after seeing the extended trailer.
Is it just me, or is the Gov't/American Military evil in, like, 75% of modern action movies?

You have Black Hawk Down and Behind Enemy Lines to thank for that--both really good movies, but they demonstrated to Hollywood that the public was open to movies critical of the armed forces (as opposed to patriotic, testosterone infusions like Top Gun, Iron Eagle, Red Dawn), and with the success of those two movies and the critical acclaim that followed the even more critical Tears of the Sun, the libbo's in Hollywood just went bonkers.

When did you last see a movie that made you respect our men in uniform or *gasp* make enlisting seem like a good thing to do?

[Mars]

When did you last see a movie that made you respect our men in uniform or *gasp* make enlisting seem like a good thing to do?

How was Burn Locker?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/plotsummary

[Schmoe]

Sno, don't you think movies like Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' were knocking the US armed forces long before Scott's 'Blackhawk Down'?

PS-Are we talking about 'Behind Enemy Lines' with Owen Wilson? That movie wasn't even close to being in the same league as the others.

[snoscythe]

Sno, don't you think movies like Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' were knocking the US armed forces long before Scott's 'Blackhawk Down'?

PS-Are we talking about 'Behind Enemy Lines' with Owen Wilson? That movie wasn't even close to being in the same league as the others.

Full Metal Jacket and others were knocking the military early on, but the public gave lukewarm reception to those movies so studios were hesitant to back movies with those sentiments.

Full Metal Jacket took in just over 13% of receipts it's opening weekend, and that was against a pretty weak line-up: Revenge of the Nerds II, The Squeeze, O.C. and Stiggs, The Whistle Blower, and White Water Summer.

For comparison (going in order of release), Behind Enemy Lines took in 31.8%, Black Hawk Down took in 26.3%, and Tears of the Sun took in 39% their opening weekends.

While I absolutely agree that Behind Enemy Lines isn't in the same league as the others cinematically or politically, the fact that it was a successful film (though not a blockbuster) and was not met with protest gave studios the courage to take on more anti-military projects that weren't sure-fire successes like Blackhawk Down looked to be.

Blackhawk Down showed you could make a fantastic movie with anti-military sentiment and not get hammered by the public. Behind Enemy Lines showed you could make a semi-decent popcorn flick with anti-military sentiment and not get hammered by the public. Tears of the Sun showed you could absolutely ravage the armed forces and the public would still shell out to see it.

[SpiffCoug]

Behind Enemy Lines wasn't anti-American. It was anti-NATO. The Americans did what they wanted and ignored the French admiral who commanded NATO and wanted to stop the Americans.

[hawkwing]

I understand what you are saying with Black Hawk Down, but when I watch it, I see a brave and honorable group of men who will stand up to insurmountable odds for their brothers, which makes my heart swell with pride for our armed forces.