Why Cameron Failed.

[ScottWashburn]

The issue of How Futuristic to Make It is one that all SF writers have to deal with (I'm an SF writer myself). The problem is that if you try to get too clever and imaginative then you spend way too much time explaining all your clever little ideas instead of telling the story. Cameron (wisely, I think) stayed away from too much clever, futuristic stuff. Still, this forces him to use some anachronistic dialogue from time to time:

Jake describes Mo'at as "Dragon Lady" How many know this is a reference to a 1940s-50s cartoon strip titled "Terry and the Pirates"?

The remote bulldozer operator says that Jake is "Doing the Funky Chicken". That was a short-lived dance craze from the 1980s.

After finishing the destruction of Hometree, Quaritch says to his pilot: "Let's Boogie." Another 1980s reference.

And yet if Cameron had had Jake say: "Velociraptor Woman" about Mo'at (a character form a 2140s cartoon series Jake watched as a child), it would have meant nothing to audiences in 2010.

It's always a challenge.

Still, he could have added some non-American accents to the mix of RDA personnel. The only noticeable accent in the whole movie is Quaritch's southern drawl.