Re-Watched Avatar... After A Year And A Half
 

So today marks the day I finally re-watched Avatar after over a year and a half... finally worked up the courage. Me and my lover did on his new 60" 3-D TV when he went out and bought the 3-D release yesterday (Tuesday). Looking at the main menu i was honestly a bit nervous, feeling some of the feelings of... the unknown and past I guess. We put on our 3-D glasses and left for about 2 1/2 hours...

Through the movie, we would comment, talk, make jokes, ect. but of course had an amazing time watching the movie that changed my life. Watching it in a new light of lightness (no pun intended) and fun was a different experience than the other times I watched it; twice at home for the DVD/Blue-Ray release and $250+ in movie tickets. But as the time came closer for the devastating Hometree scene, I could feel something twist in my stomach amiss the talk and jokes.

Then it happened. Quartich came and shot down Hometree... and I clenched my fists in anger as some tears rolled down my face. I couldn't hold it, nor did I want to. The last time other than Avatar crying during a movie I remember was when my lover and I saw the Titanic 3-D re-release in theaters (go Cameron haha). Then the movie went on, and the lightness came back as we talked again. Then the final battle scene, where again I started crying at the devastation and destruction of the Na'vi and their forest. Then Jake came to the rescue and (with the help of Eywa) kicked the annoying pesky d***s in their a$$ as the climax ended with explosions and well... winning (for the most part) as we cheered. Then the final part where Jake is struggling to retrieve his mask, and Neytiri comes to his rescue... me remembering how I nearly had a heart attack every time I saw that scene, fearing for Jake and Neytiri.

The movie never lost its spark. Still as beautiful and heart mind and soul speaking as ever. We laughed, cried (well I did) and cheered as we watched (IMO) the greatest movie ever... the movie that changed my life forever. The clarity and sound on the TV and home theater system brought it home. It feels good seeing it again and this time, having a good happy (for the most part) experience which will fill my mind of imagination and fantasy for a while till I watch it again... or see a certain sequal ;) PAD later? we'll see... I've got thinking to do as I reminisce the past and remember one of the greatest and biggest landmarks of my life that I'll never forget.

Look out Avatar merchandise websites...

P.S. I love you all <333

Okay, I have to ask a couple of things that I feel you can probably shed some light on.

A. Watching a 3d television, I've heard the picture is kind of like a diorama in that it sinks into the television whereas seeing a 3d movie in theaters, it pops out at you. Is this true?

2. Growing up, I spent half my life with a 26" television. When my family upgraded to a 32" television, that became my standard for what a "big screen" television was and I have been using televisions varying in size from 26-32" ever since. I never thought of a 32 inch television as being "small" until I saw Avatar on blu-ray for the first time; and it somewhat lessened the experience because I felt for the first time that I was watching Avatar rather than experiencing it. Having seen it on a 60 inch television, would you say regarding that?

1. On the 3-D tv that I watched, I say the picture did both... honestly to me it looked just as good as the theater, if not even clearer. When we watched How To Train Your Dragon in 3-D I noticed how the background seemed to sink into the TV, adding depth further back, and how things that were supposed to be in the camera were more moved out. With Avatar it was hard to say, my mind was clear and I was immersed in Pandora, but when I thought about the 3-D, all that I thought was, "damn thats so awesome"

2. And I believe you're asking between experiencing it while watching it in theaters and just only watching it on a TV? Maybe its the setting and mindset. We moved his couch to where we felt was the perfect distance from the TV to it being big enough and where we werent going to burn our eyes out or the picture doesnt look clear. Its hard to say honestly for me. I didnt definitely just watch it, but I wasnt full blown experiencing it either.

Last night I felt fine, but now when I'm up at 4:30am when its still dark and nobody else is up and I was in the shower, I kept thinking... well... it wouldnt leave my mind. Everything. The times on the other forum, this forum, all the people I know/knew. The music... just... everything... my heart longs for something... just to remember... to re-live it. I dont know if I'm going to experience PAD again, or just a depression-ish thing regarding my whole experience with avatar the forums and what I went through. Time will tell. I'd write more but I have to get ready for work :'(

Oel ngati kameie <333

Congrats!!
How does the 3D viewig at home compare with watching Avatar on a standard tv? :)
I'm glad to see that you can still get those old feelings back through that viewing.

I know this was not intended for me but i'd like to share my experience. I too was stuck with a 32" tv for a very long time until three years ago when Avatar kinda forced me to buy a big tv, a 50" panasonic plasma (so i could get the Avatar disc that came with it!). The difference on the two tv's was night and day, seriously. I would darken the room and pull the couch up about 6 feet from the tv so it was very similar to a move theater. The movie's outsanding graphics and picture just sucks you in like you are there. Using 3D is even better because Avatar uses 3D like it should be, to add depth and realism to the movie, not have things thrown at you so you duck LOL (although there is one scene in the SE where the spear bounces off and flies toward the screen). There's just no comparison to watching it on a 32 and 50.

My 50" tv recently got a bad pixel in the middle of the screen so best buy gave me a replacement tv, a samsung 51" plasma. Nice tv but the picture was just not the same, especially Avatar. I couldn't deal with it (LOL) so i gave it to my sister and got another Panasonic plasma, the newer version of my old TV (P50ST50) and WOW, even better than the old one!

I suggest anyone who's a fan of the movie invest into a big screen if you can. It brings the experience to a whole new level.

The 3-D completely made you feel immersed in it... that and the mind blowing picture quality was beyond incredible. And I was glad to... a mixture of PAE and PAD haha


Absolutely agree... I'll bring back the argument again of listening to an .mp3 file over a vinyl... xDDD

The ultimate Experience would be an interactive game made in conjunction with the movie, and with the permission of , (or made BY, J.C.). THEN add the VR headset, and tactile suit, and you would BE THERE.

We have the Panasonic orignal 3D release of the film on bluray and I try and not watch the film more then a couple times a year its still a deep experence almost 3 years from its release the films connections for some reflect on real world issues inside our humanity and sence of place and are very well researched there is just something about Avatar that realy touches on our deep inner humanity like a dream or a deep memory thats comes from and is bound to our primal inner understanding from the heart the film at its roots is a very powerful mirror story reflecting on our actions as a people and our deep inner accountabiltiry "For some very strongly so" this is likely for some the true"source" of PAD its diffrent for each person Avatar using symbolic fantasy mirrors reality examples, I beleve a part of Avatars experence has to do with the collective cinema audence and there emotive reactions in sharing this imersive experence as a group this is dificult to get at home there is a commit on AF speaking on our "Connection with Avatar" that touches on this, the question was asked how come "Camron has made other epic experence films and many just saw them as very creative entertainment "Yet" Avatar drove such profound global reaction In audiences around the world even Cameron himself was taken by suprise by the deep world wide reaction to the film " JAMES CAMERON INTERVIEW FOR TRIBAL LINK at AVATAR Screening during 9th Session of UNPFII - YouTube " and it has made huge changes in his lifes experence and how he sees the world, I found some posably intresting connections betwean Avatar and a film made back 2003 called "Dreamkeeper" that speaks on the wisdom of north american indian lore storys
and how they apply to a young mans life as they Mirror the issues the young man himself is going through, Cameron took examples from many those storys from native cultures all around the world and ran them "under" Avatars fantasy shell these storys reflect on our actions as a people if intrested " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdmvT...feature=relmfu "
there is also a documentery that speaks on the films creation
The making of Dreamkeeper - Part 1 - YouTube

I haven't watched it without commentary since the meetup, which was kind of devastating. Something funny happened to me since I first saw it. A long time ago, I still feel I could get as much out of it as anyone else, and I could agree with all the generic things you hear around here about how great it is, but it never impacted the way I felt later (aside from giving me a feeling of all around optimism, which just seems odd now). Maybe it's since I got to ToS, or maybe it corresponds to something or nothing at all, but now, I'm sensitive to the same sort of thing you all seem to be. I don't quite identify with any of the characters more or less, or any of the specific situations, but Avatar just makes me feel kind of scared and sad these days, even though I love it no less. Maybe it does mean more to me now, but I don't know why.

That's wonderful, Stanley, that you got to have that experience watching Avatar again (and on a 3D TV -- I'm a bit jealous)! Irayo for sharing your feelings with us here, ma eylan.

I think how I've seen it changes depending on how I feel. If I'm too emotional, too underemotional, or just tired, it doesn't have anywhere near the effect. Back when I first saw it in early 2010, I was going through a really bad time in my life and it just hit me on top of that.

I still love it today, and everything about it, about Pandora, the Na'vi, just how beautiful things are, but I think the difference is that today I have things to live for on Earth as well, which I didn't back then. That's why I see messages in it that I didn't before; how it can be a message as well as an escape... of course, it's still a beautiful escape, and it's so nice to go there when I can, even if I don't watch it anywhere near the multiple times per week I did then (last time I currently did was the meetup), it does't lose its meaning to me because of that as I might have thought it would.

I just have to be in the right frame of mind. I don't identify with characters - maybe Grace a little, but I can honestly say that I really don't identify with Jake at all past the very basic "wanted something worth fighting for" - in every other way, he's close to being an exact opposite of me at the start of the film, and what he becomes is I think undefinable in the scale of normal people even if it is closer - but I have things to care about on Earth - things to live for, people I love, and even a future now, which I lacked before, and I want things to change for the better here as well - I wish humans could put a stop to population growth and to all the harmful practices and superstitions to live as a part of the world, but I just fear it won't happen :(

Recently Swedish TV showed Avatar, with commecial breaks every 10 minutes or so and ofcourse in 2D. The worst thing was the commecial breaks that took away much of the feeling of immersion.
Better see the film on DVD, Blue Ray or whatever but no TV screening with commercials all the time.

But ofcourse, seeing it in 3D on a big screen, in a theatre is ofcourse the optimal way to see it.

Just like eating too much chocolate you get sick of it x3

The same has kind of happened to me also. I still have some connection to it, but it's just not the same as it once was. The reason is stress I think, which has done a pretty good job at killing anything I used to enjoy. I haven't tried watching Avatar since the meet because I just haven't felt like it. Still looking forward to the sequels at least...