Plot isnt original...

[Stanley_9875]

I agree that its very hard to come up with an original plot these days, including numerous remakes (2012 was made more than twice, there is already a Friday the 13th, and you're making another!?) but I thought the plot was well put for this movie, but I think what was more important was the story line, how the story flowed was beautiful, intense, creative, unique, wonderfully made.

[JakeFanGirl]

If people do not want to like Avatar, they are not going to like it. I am especially irked by people who have never even seen the film criticizing it. I am at the point now where I just ignore any type of negative comments. I would say to your friend: "Oh, well if you think the plot is un-origional, you'd better not see it." Or say "yes, it's a new twist on an old plot." He or she expects you to defend the movie. Just refuse to do it. After all, this is the highest grossing film of all time. We don't have to defend it anymore. Just ignore the detractors - especially those that are trying to get under your skin.

Here is a great, great article that I think everyone here needs to read:

http://www.geekosystem.com/avatar-re...e-stop-hating/

[Gunny]

That is a good article! So true also!

Also those are definitely the only response I am going to give him next time. Why add fuel to the fire. LOL

[neytirifanboy]

Originally Posted by Gunny

Okay, so earlier today I had this discussion with a friend who has not seen Avatar yet saying how everyone has told him its only good for CGI and the story is so unoriginal "just like Pocahontas" etc. This picks a bone with me. Because, please tell me what movies today are original anymore?

The previews I have seen lately are as follows:

• Robin Hood (done before)
  Clash of the Titans (done before)
  Alice in Wonderland (done before)
  Batman (done before)

Yes, I agree. What blockbuster is ever truly original. And it makes me wonder what movie supposed masterpieces these critics like so much. I bet in mainy cases most of their favourutes are also unoriginal or just plain dull.

I also wonder how these people watch movies.

When I watch a movie I don't sit there and think "Mmmm the plot is just like movie A, or the setting is just like movie B, etc." Nor do I sit there with a calculator an allocate points for different aspects of the movie like it's some sort of olympic ice dance.

I watch a movie and I either like it or I don't. And to be honest, whether I like it or not will not be influenced by whether there are plot elements that are similar or not. I may think about these things after watching the movie, but by then I have decided whether I like it or not.

Also, even if certain elements have been done before that doesn't mean that it is bad. In fact, I usually like certain movies because they do have certain elements that I like and enjoy. And that is true of most people.

And in the case of Avatar, some people even like it precisely because it does remind them of Dances with Wolves. Some people see it is a positive factor.

And finally, supposed originality doesn't make a good movie. And I am sure if Cameron had made a completely different movie to satisfy all these critics, The movie would have been very different. The chances are I wouldn't have liked it, many fans here wouldn't have liked it, and the critics who slammed the movie still wouldn't like.

[Sonoran Na'vi]

I wouldn't argue against the plot not being original. I felt that Cameron took a plot most people would be familiar with and placed it in a whole new setting.

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

I agree with the OP, and also went to great lenghts on Facebook to convince my friends that it wasnt original (like 3 A4's of typing!).

But the reason why people got so hooked on exposing the plot as a flaw is because the plot isnt as subtle as other remakes. There's a new spin to the movie but when the viewer recognises the plot from another movie it's already to late to convince him/her otherwise.

[Loverofnature]

this how i kinda figure:

well as you may know, JC was affraid not to Alienate audiences so he had to make it a bit typical with stereotype characters, but i still think he made it Perfect

[Taw Makto]

A man was born. He lived and died. The end.

How boring! Such an unoriginal plot... I mean, I saw the end coming from the next county. Repetitive too. How many lives have you seen with exactly the same plot???!!!

But that is how each life is, and each story is a life unto itself. I can't stand the ayskxawg that think they're Gene Siskel reincarnated and have to pick something beautiful apart. Each movie is exactly the same way...a story unto itself. There will always be echoes, but there is only ONE Pandora!

[Dreaming Of Pandora]

What really annoys me is that everyone says that JC copied Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas and Atlantis to make Avatar. But what these haters fail to realize is that Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas and Atlantis all have similar plots to each other. So if all these movies are the "same", then why is everyone having a problem with Avatar? It clearly wasnt the first movie to "copy" the plot.

[Iluvrien]

Originally Posted by neytirifanboy

When I watch a movie I don't sit there and think "Mmmm the plot is just like movie A, or the setting is just like movie B, etc." Nor do I sit there with a calculator an allocate points for different aspects of the movie like it's some sort of olympic ice dance.

But you see, there is the difference. The relationship between a normal movie-goer and a movie critic is the same as an art gallery visitor and a critic or a normal reader and a critic.

There is the group of people who take each movie as it comes and enjoys it for itself (with appropriate levels of introspection and discussion afterwards), that would be us.

There is another group of people who by inclination and employment analyse a movie (... a picture/photo... a book etc.) for the structural/technical/narrative/artistic methods it uses and contributions it makes. This is a fundamentally different approach to that of normal people.

A problem the media seems to have is the need to say that the views of the latter group should either influence, or even be important to, the former. This is not, in my view, the case. Hence the Avatar vs. Critics problem is immediately resolved.

[Taw Makto]

Very well said, Iluvrien! Now...convince the critics! I was treated a bit poorly in another forum by a few of those self-appointed critics due to my love of Avatar, and it was a less than pleasant experience. Then again, that forum by it's very nature invites that sort of analytical mind, so I know I shouldn't be too surprised or disappoint. Makes me all the gladder that I found ToS!!

[Iluvrien]

I think in that case, Taw Makto, you have answered your own request. There are places that devote themselves to such approaches. And they should be allowed to do so, just as we are allowed to do so. There is a saying in Japanese "U no mane suru karasu (mizu ni oboreru)" which translates as "the crow that mimics a comorant (willl drown)". It is the old old idea of not intentionally going to places where you will find difficulty.

ToS is a haven and a home. I for one don't really feel the need to spend any more time away from it (with those who don't See) than I need to .

[Taw Makto]

The critical nature of the forum I mentioned was not specifically aimed at movies, however, and it is still a gaggle of great guys and gals. But they are model builders, and being self-critical and critical of others' work is part of their genome. For which they can be forgiven, of course. It is a matter of swimming in the correct waters for the conversation content at hand. And perhaps just getting a bit lucky in friend finding!

[tm20]

I actually found Avatar's plot original since I have never seen Pocohonta's, dances with wolves etc... and although I have seen the last samurai which has a similar plot the movie never came to my mind.

[Iluvrien]

I would have enjoyed Last Samurai more if:

a) I hadn't already known the history, i.e. what actually happened (my wife is from the city the rebellion's first official engagement took place in)

b) There was someone else, not Tom Cruise, playing Nathan Algren. He is always fairly wooden, but against such actors as Watanabe Ken* and Koyuki*he just looked like a robot, grimacing and pantomiming. In a way I actually felt it was rather insulting to their infinitely more moving performances, that they had to put up with his rotten acting.



*[both of whom I have seen in other things; Watanabe Ken was superb in "Letters from Iwo Jima" and Koyuki has done half a dozen Japanese TV serieses, out of which I would recommend "Kimi wa Petto" for people who don't mind a bit of amusing, romantic j-dorama.)