Quaritch fans
 

The fact that so many rooted for Quaritch (and more are likely to root for him in the special ed.) is disturbing. Apparently Cameron failed to truly show the horror of being invaded. If the Na'vi were human size, he and his men could be shown molesting the native women; if there were less mining tech, the Company could be shown using the Na'vi as slaves. This is the true history of colonization, and if the RDA jerks were shown doing it, all sympathy for them would go out the window...I hope.

Well i do not like what he does but Quaritch simply is badass - at least its to honor that he does not give up - better that as being a coward ;)

Oh I never root for Quaritch while watching Avatar. Never. Cameron did a fine job with his villain-ry.

...However, I can't help but liking Quaritch when I'm not watching Avatar, just because the overall idea of his character is intriguing, and he looks cool. He's also, as Saphir put him, badass. So the concept of Quaritch is fun to think about. His actions on-screen are fun to root against. :)

this guy simply knows how to kick butts with maximum effect, and often villains are just some pathetic losers in the end, at least quarich had even style going out of business :D

And since being a villain too i really love Quaritch's Style :P

Quaritch's death was one of the most satisfying villain deaths I've ever seen on screen.

:DThis should probably be in the character section.

In some ways, the fact that some people are rooting for Quaritch shows how great Avatar is. There are not many movies where people can root for either side.

It also reflects how people can think in these situations in the current word reality.

Of course, I never rooted for Quaritch, although I did sympathise with your run-of-the-mill RDA guy.

I for one never supported Quaritch, So i agree with Woodsprite that JC did a good job of showing Quaritch as the villain without showing scenes of slavery or torture (and we have no evidence such a thing was happening anyway).

I think Avatar is in general an upbeat movie. I am not sure darker images would have made it better. the destruction of Home tree was dark enough.

But the reason I love Quaritch is becuase he is the Cliche- King. And I mean that in the most positive way possible. Perhaps someone photo-shop a picture of Quaritch being the cliche-King.

Pretty please.:)

Haha.. yeah.. some uper Epic Fanart :D

Yes, I agree. For sci-fi the last fight was actually quite down to Earth and believable. Also I was glad there was no "It ain't over yet" scene where the we all think the villan is dead but he comes back.

It was nice and straight forward.

There are a number of reasons to cheer for Quaritch.

A) He's effortlessly badass. He's on fire AND IGNORES IT. *goes to TV Tropes* Ah, yes. Colonel Badass

B) Not only is he badass, but he's also trying to do his job and keep his men alive in an incredibly hostile environment. He doesn't, can't succeed - of course that's going to inspire sympathy.

C) And, to quote the ever-wonderful TV Tropes again, on the page "Scr*w You, Elves":

I think he provides an interesting counter to Grace - she only really cares about the Na'vi to the point of scorning and dismissing and actively insulting the humans (and, lets not forget it, it IS the job of the RDA Marines to protect Grace - they are paid to be willing to die for her should the need arise, which makes her scorn all the worse). Quaritch, in contrast, only really cares about his Marines, to the point of being perfectly willing to commit genocide in both in retaliation and in a hopefully pre-emptive attack that, in the long term, would keep his people alive and the operation running.

So, no. I don't find it disturbing at all. In all honesty, what's a large blockbuster without an enjoyable villain?

That is generally my view too. His pre-emptive raid was meant to at least partly prevent an imminent and overwhelming attack.

In saying that, he does have a panache for big explosions and over-reaction.

During the attack on home tree, after launching cannon-ball like gass canisters at the Na'vi, the Na'vi respond with some archery. Despite the fact that the arrows were causing no material damage, Quaritch decides to escalate the action by giving a further warning shot with....er...incendiaries which they fire right into the middle of the na'vi.

what I fing interesting is that they did not even bother using a mircophone asking the na'vi to move or surrender. I am sure he could have played a tape in Na'vi telling them to move. Surely before ordering a full incendiary attackn there were other options:
1) Avatars (i.e Jake and Grace)
2) Microphones warning
3) Warning shots.
4) Gas
5) Limited demonstration of incendiaries away from the Na'vi

But no, Quaritch goes from point 1 to point 4 then directly to point 10. As I say, he loves explosions and is a master of over-reaction.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" evil would be too over the top.

I think his patience had gotten REALLY used up.

And the surrender was what Jake and Grace were supposed to try and do. That was Jake's job for the past three months, pretty much. And he did use gas - although, yes, he didn't give them that much time to flee first. I basically think Quaritch just reached a snapping point.

Which, I hasten to add, does NOT let him off the hook at all, but it explains his behaviour. It's one of the things I play with when RPing Trudy my game - we (because there is a Quaritch as well, and they are both three years pre-canon) kill people. Kill Marines. Just to tighten the pressure and build up to canon. It's a fun exercise in motivation.

As a villain, I like Quaritch.

I think what he does is wrong, but he does it an awesome way. The man has got style.

Perhaps. But I tend to think it is more to do with the fact that Quaritch is a warrior and not a dimplomat. He wants to fight. That's who he is and that's what he does.

I am not even sure he even cares much about the Na'vi either positively or negatively. He just wants to fight and they are then enemy of the time. It is possible he would just as happily use them as allies against another enemy.

I tend to think of Quaritch as the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong time.

When you think about it, the title of Chief of Security does not suggest a position which involves leading raids against the natives.

In saying that we don't know why he was recruited or who recruited him. Perhaps those who recruited him wanted an aggressive military leader who would take active action against the natives.

At the very least they probably wanted someone who would take (probably limited) punitive action against natives where required. The question is whether Quartich is trying to fulfill his own destiny (which is what I believe) or is he just following orders.

It just shows how different observations come to mind as think about it.

Moved to 'Characters' section.

Or, more likely, because he's stupid.

He didn't even do his job. Remember 'my job is to keep you alive'? :P
His attack was clearly not meant to be any kind of defensive move, because he would have done it anyway, he just did it as son as he could because the Na'vi were about to come to Hell's gate and kill him.

There really is no reason to like him, at all.

Yep, and THEN he says, "I will not succeed." He can't, because Pandora is that hostile to the humans. He'll lose choppers to the Banshees and Toruks, and there isn't anything he can do about it.

That, um, would be the reason why the move is defensive. The best defence is to attack. Particularly in those circumstances.

Of course there is, I just listed them. You are welcome to disagree, naturally, but I personally think there are perfectly valid reasons for liking him.

I don't believe he is stupid. In fact I think Quaritch is quite a complex character hidden under a cliched shell.

In fact there are aspects of Quaritch that remind me of JR Ewing of the Dallas series as he was arrogantt, cruel and opportunistic.

it is difficult to call him stupid when his tactic almost paid off. Only the intervention of Eywa (which even the Na'vi wouldn't have forseen) resulted in the RDA defeat.

Of course, whether his plan would have paid of on a strategic level, both military and political, is a different matter.

Could have certainly avoided getting every last marine killed bar the 2 or 3 we see getting onto the shuttle (presumable the ones who were left at Hell's Gate). He said he will not succeed with EVERYONE, not that he wouldn't try.

Strategy didn't even come into it because he was only focussed on revenge.

Again, I disagree. Simply catching fire does not make a good character :P
The truth is, he's extremely cliched, not that well written, possibly one of the least complicated/interesting characters I have ever seen (a HUGE contrast to Jake, Grace, Neytiri, Norm, Mo'at and the others) and ends up simply doing things for no real reason than for the sake be being evil. Since you like linking tvtropes (aka 'let's insult every series/movie/game as we can'), have Obviously Evil - Television Tropes & Idioms . Also, an almost perfect page is Motive Decay - Television Tropes & Idioms (not to mention Draco In Leather Pants - Television Tropes & Idioms :P )

All of which he should have foreseen. He knew the Na'vi were better than the marines and outnumbered them. He heard Grace explain about the interconnectedness. He heard Jake say that they would never give up. He willingly ordered everyone into a suicide mission.

To be fair, doing nothing and allowing the Na'vi forces to grow tenfold to 20,000 warriors would've been pretty suicidal too.

The Na'vi technically aren't better fighters than the marines are. Jake bested Tsu'tey. Quaritch bested Neytiri. The marines on the ground bested the Na'vi direhorse riders with ease. I think it's pretty clear how superior the marines are in their warfare tactics. They were incredibly outbumbered, yet won against them in the first wave. It was only deus ex machina that saved the Na'vi. Without Eywa, the Na'vi didn't have a chance.

Not to say I'm on the mercenaries' side or anything (that I can bet a billion bucks that a certain person is going to accuse me of if I didn't write this current sentence :rolleyes:), but Quaritch isn't that dumb a guy.

Which still doesn't change the fact that the Na'vi are better. That's the entire point of how the marines have to use technology. Ironically, the Na'vi could have been FAR more effective against the Scorpions if they had used proper tactics (something the 'Tom couldn't have done it' people conveniently forget too). Neither of which even go anywhere near my point, that the Na'vi are physically better and more intelligent. That's the REASON the marines have to use so much technology. Certainly not a deus ex machina either, if you were at all paying attention then you'd have expected it :P
Also, Neytiri could have easily defeated Quaritch if she wasn't forced to protect the link.

I am so with you on this one, brother.

Mowing down a stupid cavalry charge with automatic weapons isn't exactly strategic genius...

((I mean, c'mon, I could even plot/execute that))

No, but CHARGING said automatic weapons is stupid. And Jake, as ex-Marine Special Forces (which is what First Recon IS) really should have known that.

Quarich is the only one who claimed "first recon", and I really think he meant it in the more literal sense, as he came to pandora as a merc not a US marine.

"I pulled your record, Corporal. I was First Recon myself. Few years ahead of you. Maybe more than a few."

To me, that is pretty clearly saying that Quaritch used to be in First Recon, and so was Jake. They are BOTH former US Marines, from the same battalion.

Hmmm, I suppose that's another way to interpret it.

Yep. Jake had no clue about strategy. Even the ikran attack was badly done, it was initially successful but he had nobody to cover them while they then climbed for a second attack.
Still doesn't change the fact that the Na'vi ARE better than the marines, which is exactly why the marines use so much technology.

of course the Na'vi are better.. otherwise the marins would have fought in a fair way.. guns vs. bows and arrows is just the easygoing way - but i think too that Jake and his Friends have only won because of the actions of Eywa.. otherwise it would have gone to hell completly.

...I don't know about that. What if the marines were all fighting in Avatar bodies? It's said that the marines used "so much technology", when the Na'vi used tech too. It's called a bow and arrow. ;) Take a Na'vi warrior up against a marine as an avatar. No weapons. Who would win the fight? The marine. I think Jake made that pretty clear when up against Tsu'tey, the best warrior in the clan.

Yet the marines don't have avatars. Even if they did, those are technology which they need to be equal - and costing tens of millions per person :P
Without the technology, humans are inferior in EVERY way.
Take the greatest human against an average Na'vi, assuming no advantages like surprise or better weapons given to either side, and the Na'vi wins without a problem.

I just found an interesting article in an unlikely place about Stephen Lang and his take on Quaritch. He did an interview for Energy Times, (December 2010) a small health magazine I passed walking through the local grocery store. I normally don't give those a second glance but ... he was on the cover! I immediately stopped and backed up three steps to pick it up. Most of the article talks about his workout regimen, both for the film and in his personal regimen.
The quote I am posting is a small sidebar close to the end of the article and about the only bit where he talked about his character.

So there ya go. A little inside track into Quaritch's character for all of you. (I don't know about that kneejerk hatred remark.. I sure had one!)

I had the same reaction as you.
Well, Quaritch did initially say his job was to keep people alive... he just forgets that himself and gets all the marines killed.

...No, he gets all the marines to win the battle. Then Eywa came in and they were all killed.

Sympathy? fans?

You misunderstand.

I hate Quaritch. If I could somehow warp into the movie, I would grab the double-bladed concealed wakizashi (a shorter version of a katana) hanging on my wall and cut him to ribbons (if it were sharpened :/).

However, as far as villains go, he (or as much of him as we've seen) is really well designed, and the last 15 minutes or so of the movie really helped to make him seem more villainous.

I have a drawing of a "mecha-quaritch" if quaritch's mind was uploaded to a large, AMP-like mech, and I think he's a great villian, but that only means I hate him more and I was all the happier when he was killed.

That's the Na'vi's advantage, like the technology is the humans'. Face it, the side you were supporting got wiped out.

Who said I was supporting the RDA?

...Eywa is a biological force acting outside the Na'vi's knowledge. Deus ex machina. Eywa is not necessarily in alliance with the Na'vi. The Na'vi's technology plus their sheer number was a large advantage for them, but the RDA had technology that surpassed. However, the RDA's tech was not (and shouldn't be compared to) an outside force. With what they had, they won. With what the Na'vi had, they lost. Eywa was acting alone.

In my opinion, I'd say for as much as Quaritch is a total dick, he's a very likable character. He's a bad ass and doesn't let anything stop him from getting what he wants; total domination and destruction.