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Avatar (2009)
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This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris return to Pandora to discuss 2009's Avatar, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary.
Directed by James Cameron, Sam Worthington is Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine who heads to the planet Pandora to pilot the "Avatar" of his murdered scientist brother. The Avatars are genetically grown bodies that are human and Na'vi hybrids, the Na'vi being the indigenous species on Pandora, and that person's mind can be transferred between bodies. Jake joins a science team led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and eventually stumbles into learning the ways of the Na'vi from the daughter of a tribal leader, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Learning to love the nature of Pandora and the ways of the Na'vi (and Neytiri), Jake is pulled between the human and Na'vi worlds as a battle between the two species becomes imminent. Zach and Chris talk about what Unobtainium is used for, how Jake stupidly blunders his way upward, the badass villainy of Stephen Lang, the bizarre lore of Disney's World of Pandora, and more.
You can watch Avatar on Disney+. Next week, we close 2024 with two of our favorites, Sly Stallone and Kurt Russell, to discuss Tango & Cash, celebrating its 35th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast podcast for the week of December 16th, 2024. I'm your host Zach. I'm your co-host Chris.
Avatar's Legacy: 50th Anniversary
00:00:27
Speaker
And this week we are heading back to Pandora And talking about Avatar, because it's celebrating its 50th anniversary this week, it came out December 18th, 2009. And still the highest grossing movie of all time. It lost its title a little bit after Avengers Endgame, when they released Way of Water. They put Avatar back in theaters and it made a bunch more money. So it is back to being the number one movie all the time.
Speculation on Avatar's Box Office Strategy
00:00:56
Speaker
a record that James Cameron just like, hands off to himself, basically. I'm wondering if that's what's always going to happen, is whenever they release a new Avatar, then they release this again, just to kind of inflate those box office numbers over and over again. Well, i feel it's it's if something threatens Avatar, I feel like they would like, re-release releasee it like, oh, it's the whatever anniversary, or it's special it's it's a special trainee of Avatar.
Avatar's Unexpected Success
00:01:23
Speaker
I think Way of Water is third of all time behind Endgame. So it's Avatar, Endgame, Way of Water.
00:01:33
Speaker
I mean, it's an epic. I'll give it that. But I would never think as a kid that the best-selling movie of all time would be a sci-fi, Western romance, interspecies, erotica movie.
Earth's Resource Desperation in Avatar
00:01:52
Speaker
the guy bus terminator and uh aliens yeah yeah if you told me that the best movie of all time was going to be terminator 2 it's like oh i get it's got a little bit of everything and it's one of those um movies that in culture is more relevant about the the problems of ai and you know technology then i need to worry about um navi people you know i mean i'm not going to worry about I mean, this movie set in a crazy future where Earth is so, like, desperate for resources, we're taking over other planets for Unentanium, which they never explained what it does. I was going to bring it up. Yeah, I just I definitely noticed like this time watching it again, and that um they mentioned Unentanium is so like, it's just like, it's $20 million dollars a kilo or whatever. They never explained what they use it for or why they did it.
00:02:42
Speaker
and They just showed us. I think that would have been fine, where it's like, hey, you know, you don't need to harvest raw on a team. You can get it from like something else and you can coexist on this planet. But it seemed like we need this thing. It's like, what does it do? We need to buy. We need to strip buying this planet to get
Avatar's Storytelling and Character Development
00:03:00
Speaker
all. Yeah. yeah We need to. We need to like terraform it in a crazy way where we will destroy like the living things around this rock. I don't even know.
00:03:11
Speaker
where the obtanium is. It's like in the dirt. Like the movie spends, hypes it up, but they don't show you besides the one scene where the guy has like the thing, like of it, and then we never see it again. It's not like, yeah um it comes back in a big way. It's not like, you know, Jake eats it and gets the power of it. He doesn't even come back in that way. Yeah. The Na'fi don't seem to care about it at all. They care about everything else except the ottanium.
00:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, uh, and it just like it, that is the one thing that stood out when I watched it the first time. And now it's on my rewatch. but This is my fourth rewatch. Um, and it's just like, Oh yeah, we, we, they don't make a weapon out of it. They don't.
00:03:55
Speaker
Um, they don't pray to it. Like they pray to a tree. So like, yeah, it's not even the thing that is the like turn thing. We're like, okay, they used it. Right. You know, is it an energy source? Is it, do they manufacture something with it? We never know. Yeah. That's like the one thing I think everyone has these complaints of just natural movie watchers, you know, like the ones that basically just say, I don't mind it. It's not my favorite movie. And these are these reasons.
00:04:26
Speaker
But for me, that's why Avatar, it's like i won I watched it like every three years. like I don'll watch a bit of it, or I watch it whole because someone else hasn't seen it all the way through, or like us watching it like as an anniversary.
00:04:39
Speaker
but Yeah, I think the last time I watched Avatar was like speed watching it to get ready for Way of Water. That's why, what let's that's let's say Way of Water 2 was before Way of Water came out. Yeah. Otherwise, this has the issue of ah you don't need to really see the first act. You really just need the second and third act. But we'll talk about it. We'll talk about how like it starts and all that.
00:05:04
Speaker
Well, yeah yeah the opening meeting is crazy because just the circumstances that I get Jake to Pandora are insane where his brother is just murdered on the street for like mugged and murdered on the street for money. And then there's like, Hey, you're his twin. You want to go to, you want to go to Pandora? Okay. Here's the insane thing. I still can't figure out. Okay. Jake's brother. What was it? I don't know.
00:05:33
Speaker
tommy yep Tommy was a scientist. yes He's got the scientist's mind, not Jake. He's been training for like three years to pilot an avatar. But it's not his avatar he was training, right? like i mean he so jake i mean Tommy's avatar is the one that Jake uses.
00:05:55
Speaker
But the thing is the government must have gave them another avatar or some simulation to get used to that. That was kind of like important. I think they, I think they train on like a simulator because they have, the thing is that they grow the avatar bodies on the way to Pandora. Cause it takes six years to get the Pandora. So they grow the bodies on the way there. So before they even grew the body or no, they were growing it before.
00:06:19
Speaker
ah this I at least they started it. Yeah. Cause like he, I think his time was just like, I think it was like literally just about to leave, but then he just got murdered like a day before he left or something. It's like, well, okay. So this government that is really dependent on all their staff, all their budgets, why would they let him go to like a rough neighborhood alone? That's why I thought the same thing. I was like, if you're, cause you're they're like, Oh, we invest all this money and time and resources into like your brother and his avatar.
00:06:48
Speaker
Like if you're spending millions of dollars on this avatar, like protect the guy that's going to like pilot it, like never don't let him leave like your facility or like give him a bodyguard or something. like You don't astronauts do that. You know how like an astronaut, um, before their mission, they can't just wander off for like the
Jake's Leadership and Film Comparisons
00:07:06
Speaker
month. I think they basically have to be in training isolation, get you ready to what it's like to be that you can't, because you can't just like walk off the tree and be like time to fly.
00:07:19
Speaker
because there's like a thing you might regret. your brain your Your brain, you're not supposed to go in space. Like humans really weren't supposed to like go away for six years to space. So in the way how they just casually mentioned that, that's why I think everyone who signed up for the travel and stuff are all loners. They're all like, oh, I don't have any family. Like that's what basically Jake is like this, like, I don't give a crap, get me off of earth. Yeah.
00:07:45
Speaker
I got nothing going on. I was, um I was, I was critically injured in the war in Venezuela.
00:07:53
Speaker
There's like, there's so many, like, like off, like off mentioned things about earth, like, like Coric says he was like in like three tours in Nicaragua. So apparently there's been like a bunch like South American wars in the future. And then I think they had time to go to another planet and start another war. Yeah. Well, I think it's, I think,
00:08:13
Speaker
I think it's in the like director's cut, so which I don't think I've ever seen the director's cut, but I guess there's more scenes scene of actually on Earth that you you get to see what Earth looks like. It's like a cyberpunk nightmare where it's it's all just like smog and like neon. and it like There's basically no nature left. It's all just like cities. and It's like running out of resources, running out of the climate is about to collapse. That's why they're trying to like colonize Pandora and like mine Pandora so they can like get resources and like maybe either either make Pandora the new earth or I guess I'm teaming like might help earth recover or like do something to earth ah back home to like help it but yeah earth earth is basically a dying wasteland apparently
00:09:02
Speaker
like I kind of knew something was not great about it because Jake does mention that like okay the earth is like they did it to themselves they're killing they killed their own planet yeah because when Jake starts kind of ah becoming more native or more Navi and he starts talking like Navi and and referring to nature and all that and it's I like the change the subtle like okay I think actually halfway hack two. That's where Jake is basically just referring to humans as like alien sky people.
Cultural Integration and Dynamics in Avatar
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, bro, you're a sky person. It's like 90 more. But it's so funny to think that by the time um
00:09:52
Speaker
like the the humans kind of throw that back into Jake's face. He's like really like a shame of that. He's like, Oh yeah, I am sky people. I did do this. I kind of forgetting who you are. I have been, I haven't like giving like vital intelligence to, uh, the military and the RDA that let them attack the Navi super efficiently.
00:10:14
Speaker
So not to ruin the the movie suspense, but usually they do like a psych eval if you're going to do like special ops like this. Um, and Jake failed it like spectacularly. Well, I noticed that the site watching it too is like, I mean, I think I noticed it before, but it's really, like Jake is just like a dumbass. like that yeah like the yeah For most of the movie, like that's like everyone recognizes that and calls him that. and then he also I think he also mentions it, but like he's just so stupid. ah He just stumbles into like danger. or like he i like He first gets in his avatar and he's just like, whoa, I'm going to run. Whoa, yeah. I'm going to touch everything.
00:11:03
Speaker
He's just like, i well just I'm just a stupid, mar I'm just a jarhead. I'm just, I don't know. I shoot a gun. and i Well, I think that's how it starts. ah He basically starts as like, uh, just a mindless warrior. However, uh, I think the the nature part makes him like smarter because he's able to lead like an army. like he He suddenly has way more like intelligence or logical. like his that It doesn't make sense because the Navi had no and tactical things, so it's not like he was practicing tactics with them to make him a better general. He just sort of snaps and he's like, all right, I know how to plan like attacks and ambush and like the motivational speeches.
00:11:47
Speaker
I mean, he was, I mean, he was a Marine, but I don't think he, like he was like a corporal. So I don't think he was like, you know, he was just, he giant and big he was just he was like a ground on the ground, like fighting like in Venezuela. Like he wasn't like leading like a squad or anything. But yeah, but then, yeah, but by the like, before like the big final battle, like, you know, he's given like his like eloquent speeches and like playing this massive army attack.
00:12:10
Speaker
Cause I think, okay, not, I mean, we know this movie was basically ripping off of Dances with Wold. A lot of, there's a lot of like, anything where like a guy goes into a different culture and then like fights, fights the culture you came from. So last samurai, red scorpion, like. So like in those movies, in last samurai, Tom Cruise was a lieutenant, I think. but He was like a commander, like he led a squad.
00:12:38
Speaker
Yeah. So it made sense for him to just print naturally, okay, lead or co-lead the, um, the samurai army. And then in dances with wolves, I think Kevin Costner is a Colonel or a pretty high up. Yeah. Pretty high up. And he's like a vet already. He's, he's basically what, um, Steven, what's his name would have been.
00:13:01
Speaker
the equivalent of Stephen Lang's character. Oh, yeah. I think Stephen, Stephen Lang is a a colonel. Yeah. So I mean, he's OK. He's high up. He's ranking. But Kevin Costner wasn't just like a random officer. Like he was actually just like, OK, I've fought these wars. I've lit it. I live this. And now I have to like he fell in love with the culture eventually.
Avatar's Technology and Plot Devices
00:13:25
Speaker
Mm hmm. But yeah, no, he Jake Scully is just like
00:13:30
Speaker
a guy, random soul jarhead. And so how long do you think he's been on the V four? Well, he gets, so he he gets, so it's six years to get from earth to Pandora. And then when he starts, uh, kind of the avatar program, they basically give him three months to, uh, learn how to be a Navi and then kind of like Cause the main thing is they want him to gain an obvious trust that he can negotiate them to like leave home tree their homes. Cause that's what the most, like the biggest pile of Amontanium is apparently. Um, so yeah, his whole like training is like three months basically. Well, she learns a hell of a lot of people. but Wow. He thought it was something else. like here's like Yeah.
00:14:23
Speaker
No, you have three months to like learn ah ah how to be a Navi. And then if you want if you check the ah like the video logs he does, which is the Exposition Machines, um the date on it keeps going up. like by like It's like May, June, August. so it's like You can tell you could tell like it's it is like three months, basically. like His last one he does before like the...
00:14:47
Speaker
I think it's before he either joins the tribe or like like afterwards is like August, he started like May.
00:15:00
Speaker
But he yeah, he learns like the entire language or most of the language, like he learns how to hunt, how to ride like all the animals, ah the all like the cultural things he needs to learn.
00:15:14
Speaker
So I will i will give him, he's a pretty fast learner, apparently, if he, like, I guess, run for some retraining. Okay, because Mike Bay's question is, ah so he had to be the same DNA of his avatar, right? Like, if not, it doesn't work. Yeah, they they but genetically match it to whoever's going to use it. So because he and his brother are identical twins, that's the only reason that he can use the avatar.
00:15:43
Speaker
I bring that up because it seems like it's not so much the DNA, it's the machine. You know, it's not like some spiritual thing where like, okay, it's your body, go there. It's your second body. It's like, how does the machine do that? And then just like, don't worry about it. Like, you know what I mean? Like it. Yeah. Cause it's more, it's more like the matrix. It's like, yeah it's like you're going into, like you know, you're entering the matrix and going to like, I mean, your consciousness is going to the other body, but, um,
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah, it see it seems like you could just play you can just put like anyone in into any avatar. I mean, it's a good thing that by the second movie, they really drop having an avatar person. Like the the the reason why this movie is not just called Navi. Yeah. um But. Yeah, like. Do they even call them avatars? Yeah, they do. OK, I forgot that, like by the second movie, they don't even say that anymore.
00:16:41
Speaker
No, because it's that because it's not really avatars anymore, the second one.
Mechanical Aspects and Consciousness Transfer
00:16:48
Speaker
Because cause they they reveal, I guess i guess in the in the years since the first one and the second one, they've come up with, um you can basically like inject avatars with memories.
00:17:00
Speaker
Because it's like being like Quarriage Back and stuff.
00:17:06
Speaker
is they just, like they're constantly like monitoring your brain so that then they can just like upload like the point when his brain died in the first one, they can upload his avatar like body and be like, hey, you're you're an avatar now.
00:17:20
Speaker
like
00:17:25
Speaker
Which is what the like you know the the tree like the tree does at the at the for Jake in this one. and Yeah, so. It's not like you just need like and ah another form of, I don't know, like satellite boosting.
00:17:47
Speaker
I don't know. I got stuck on the whole technology thing because it's like, okay, don't worry. It's just a machine that lets you control another con, send your consciousness somewhere else because they play that in the, a lot of movie where. You have to like fall asleep willingly and then you can like let go. But if you get ejected, it like who knows what could happen, but nothing ever goes bad about that so far. No. Yeah. Like it definitely is more like matrix style rules of, Hey, be careful if you you know you've done like, I mean, I guess it's, it's implied, but like if you died, your avatar, your diet, your human form by obviously dies too. Cause your brain is dead in the other body.
00:18:24
Speaker
Yeah, but I feel like that should go both ways, right? If you die in your avatar, you die in your real life. Yeah. find your other body But like, it doesn't seem that way because I think, um, what's his face, uh, norm. Yeah. His body, his avatar dies. Does it or you just get shot? Cause it gets something like the shoulder and then he kind of like bails out. But I don't know. yeah I don't know. I don't know if he like, like, yeah, I think he's by in the movie, he's like, he's back in his avatar or so. Is he? I thought he was human.
00:18:56
Speaker
What's he made? It is another guy. So there are other avatar users that like they the movie just puts no effort into like, like those people, those people play basketball. Yep. In the beginning. or just like Who are they? I don't know. People play basketball, people running the obstacle course, people like just hang out like it. They do not get involved at all.
00:19:22
Speaker
Because because they they're probably not part of the science team because theyt they don't go on like the science missions with Scoring Weaver and them. But they get to do other things because the equivalent of wearing an avatar person is the same as wearing one of those mech suits because it's just as strong I guess.
00:19:39
Speaker
Man, those mech suits are they're awesome, but it's also it seems like very unwieldy to use because you have to you have to do the hand motions that you you you do in yourre and like to control the arms. like it'slars When they're holding a gun in the mech, you have to hold your hands in the cockpit like you're holding a gun.
00:19:58
Speaker
Yeah, pretend that you're holding on. Which seems so uncomfortable and unwieldy. I'm just like, well, I gotta pretend, i got maybe you can kind of feel it with those gloves they wear. Maybe you can like kind of feel how it is, but that would just seem to be so uncomfortable. It's like, I gotta to hold my hands in this position because I'm holding a gun.
00:20:15
Speaker
Yeah, you can't give your hands a rest. Yeah. Cause you drop your gun. If you have to do something in the cockpit, like toggle buttons, but ah does your arms outside mimic that? Do you have to turn that off? It seems like, cause like when Korich like flips, like his cockpit open, like like he does his hand motion and then there his like arm just opens the cockpit.
Jake's Narrative and Cultural Challenges
00:20:34
Speaker
So like, I think, yeah yeah, whatever you're doing with your hands, like your neck copies it. So like, don't scratch your nose or anything. First your glass. Yeah.
00:20:50
Speaker
Uh, what do you think about, uh, the like first encounter where, where, um, Jake first meets Nateri and Nateri is just like piss that she has to protect Jake. That she was like forced to kill animals, which she didn't need to. Yep. I mean, it was like very symbolic, I think, of just showing and how the Navi kind of like don't mind nature because It's not like they're trying to, the Navi just want to hang out in the woods and chill. Like they're not progressing in a way where they were building skyscrapers or anything. I don't know what their whole deal is besides just existing. But mind you, this is back in the first movie where it didn't seem like there were other clans or anything, just just them. Or like their versions of them, their tribe, because
00:21:46
Speaker
If you, I thought, I thought about the way of water where like there's the aquatic Navi versions. Yeah. And how they had, they wanted nothing to do with, with what's going on in this area. Well, I think the only, they fly out like for like the final battle, they fly out to like recruit everybody, but then it seems the only bring in like two tribes. They get like the, the, the horse riders and they're like the like dragon riders.
00:22:14
Speaker
And then it's like, yeah, they don't they don't go to like, they don't talk to like the ocean tribe at all. Apparently there's like an evil fire tribe that lives like in your volcano. That's going to be in like the one that's coming up next year, fired at that's like the, the fire ones that yeah. And then I don't like the Ubisoft game just came out has like a ton of tribes that they haven't mentioned the game movies at all. It's like so many, like so many tribes are that game that I haven't mentioned.
00:22:41
Speaker
It's fine because they just fought like invaders and then no one on that planet seemed to care besides the tree nubby people. I guess I guess because they weren't really the humans weren't really going after the other maybe their but resources weren't there yet. I know like in a way of water they reveal that the the whales that like the that tribe like ah you know is like basically the family with like their whatever whatever it's like their oil or like they're some sort of like thing in like whale thing like some sort of like like their blood or whatever it is in them is like as valuable as on a titanium Oh
00:23:23
Speaker
you know like because they they basically They basically dump on Obtadium, the second one. and it's like Now it's all about ah <unk> all about whale-like oil or whale, whatever this is. I kind of forgot that was the point. Yeah. I always assumed it was because, one, Steven Lang's character, Colonel Miles, wants revenge. And then, two, like the is it a different corporation or is it the same one?
00:23:54
Speaker
I think it's the same corporation because, because in the second one, like the RDA, it's 16 years later, but then the RDA yeah finally comes back and they're like, they just like, it's so crazy. Cause like in the first, the like within the first like 20 minutes, the first one, they like wipe out like the tribe. They want me to Kaya tribe. That's in the first one. It's like, well, you're you're, they're done. Like Jake, Jake, his family always left. They have to like, that's why that they have to go like live with like the ocean people. Oh, I kind of forgot that. Like I thought they were, um,
00:24:23
Speaker
Someone at least survived, but I guess not. Yeah, they get they they get like wiped out. and then well well I think a lot of Jake, because they're they'reing specifically hunting Jake and his family. So then they're like, well, we have to leave this tribe so like so they don't hunt them anymore. that i thought So it's like we have to go find where they won't find us, which is like the ocean tribe on the other side of the planet. But like let's skip the fire tribe.
00:24:50
Speaker
Yes, let's not talk to them until next movie.
Character Focus: Nateri and Stephen Lang
00:24:56
Speaker
You know, it is it is it is funny to like watching the first one again, because like, the the one thing it really like, like the second one does is like, they really like sideline Nateri. Because like, she has basically nothing to do with the second one, but she's like the most badass character in the first one. Yeah.
00:25:15
Speaker
I realize that too. I think that we just, we talked about that when way water came out, came out and we're just like, wow, she does nothing in that movie besides like yell. Except for like the last, like they give her like one action sequence so at the very, like the last 20 minutes, they finally give her like a big like action sequence to do. But then, I mean, this one, she's like, yo, she's like, she's at the bow. She's like jumping into slow motion. She's like, you know, killing a bunch of people. She kills, she's the one that kills Quarriage. Like she's the one that does like the final blow with the bad guy. Like Jake is like unconscious, like she's the one like,
00:25:44
Speaker
delivers the final blow to the bad guy.
00:25:49
Speaker
How's she not the leader? Well, she was like but she she was in line to be like the to take over from her mother, who's like the the spiritual leader. And then she's supposed to she was supposed to marry or like meet with ah the other guy. That's like the he's gonna be like the chieftain. Well, in the comic, he was ah supposed to marry like the series sister.
00:26:16
Speaker
before in one of the movie. OK. It was like a Dark Horse comic prequel that like they delve deeper into to see. You know. If there is a. You know, like a sub franchise they can do. Hmm. Because I think when the first game came out, people were just were like, what is this? And that it it was also a prequel, I think. The Avatar, the first Avatar game.
00:26:48
Speaker
Oh, the game. Yeah, i I never played the first game. I just saw like the footage of it it looked kind of ridiculous.
00:26:59
Speaker
So at the end, we'll talk about all the we'll we'll find all the marketing tie ins, the avatar, because I think there was a McDonald's avatar thing that was kind of counter ah the message of like nature and stuff. It was something crazy like all this plastic shit. You're like, what?
00:27:16
Speaker
and Embrace nature. Eat McDonald's. Drive a Ford.
00:27:27
Speaker
But I do want to mention, I felt this movie was where I first saw, or a bunch of people first noticed, Stephen Lang. This is the first time I was like, who the hell is Stephen Lang? This guy's awesome.
Cultural References and Real-World Narratives
00:27:39
Speaker
like Oh, yeah. Then you find out that he's actually been in a lot more things than like a million things for this, but he's, he's more of like a character actor. Like he was like just a side character, to a bunch of stuff. Like, like you just pop up like a random TV show, but feel this is this is definitely where he was like, oh, Steven Lang is like a, like second or third build person in movies now. like Or when he did the whole, uh, was it like, don't speak, don't breathe movies. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:09
Speaker
But he yeah, he is so awesome. like like That speech he gives like the the first 10 minutes is just like an all-time classic. like like Welcome to Pandora's speech, where he just is like, if you believe in hell, ah go there for some hour and hour, because you're a Pandora now. They're going to eat your eyes like jujubes.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah. ah It's pretty funny that like it it seemed like they didn't tell you how bad living on Pandora was going to be until you got there. You had six years. You had like a whole bunch of things and just some psych.
00:28:46
Speaker
Uh, by the way, every animal has like super sharp teeth claws. They want to kill you super poisonous. You can't eat anything. That's basically grown air. Cause it's all like the wrong chemicals for us. You can't breathe. Yeah. The air is poisonous. yeah like What? Oh, you hear from Tamian. Like, yeah. What does it make? It's like, Oh, actually it's more of like food flavoring. It's like really delicious. If you grind it down, it could be maybe it's a drug.
00:29:16
Speaker
You don't know. You grind up in the store to like a cocaine.
00:29:22
Speaker
But I also imagine like the vegetation in this place is probably like hypnotic or some sort of like drug induce that response that the body can do because they don't explain the Navi diet and they don't explain like how the people living there survive so long. Like do they constantly have to get like food shipment from off world?
00:29:47
Speaker
Oh, like the humans. Yeah, yeah. Well, they're growing those like they're growing those fruits in like the compound. but I think that for the Naveed themselves, like for their own avatars. Maybe, yeah. Because it makes it seem like the Naveed are vegetarians because they mostly eat like fruit and whatever they grow because they don't have the body type or um I mean, okay, if you go back, so like, that you know, like, Red Letter Media or someone did like an analyst of what the Navi people are and they're like exactly what a committee that like, or like, I forgot like what it was, but they got a whole bunch of like test audiences. And essentially it's like, oh, cats, bunnies, like supermodels, basketball players. Like those are the top things that they essentially blended together to get the Navi. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
It's like, oh, we we love like Native American wardrobe. And then we love, um, like the tribalism from like Africa. And we love how lanky they are. And we love like cat ears and we love cat noses. And then we love like bunny hair. Like what?
00:30:56
Speaker
And, uh, we, look we love like tentacles coming out of their like braids that they use to forever snuck in that and that audience, that test subject. Holy shit. Some guys like, you know, what if they had like tentacles and they could, think they could like, like my control animals and fuck each other with them. It's like, sure. Yeah. And then, you know, the animals don't really want it, but then as soon as you put it in, they want it. Like what?
00:31:21
Speaker
That happened. that That's how the they tamed a lot of these animals, was basically get on them and then plug your hair and mind control them. But yeah, I want to see that movie. I want to see the person who suggested that and had to tell test audiences enough to be a majority. Like, you know, it's like a horror thing. There might be a James Cameron original. I'm just like, I want to see, I really like tentacles.
00:31:47
Speaker
But that comes out of nowhere. Almost everything else in this movie is a James Cameron like staple. um Oh, yeah. There's like the Marines. There's like, you know, like the dangers of technology. Yeah. Scrony Weaver. Yep. ah Right.
00:32:04
Speaker
the the fear of environmentalism, ah like you know environmentalism, a romance story between two different class lovers, yeah a woman who basically can't like get the grips out of her like her family heritage.
00:32:21
Speaker
ah I'm surprised there's no like scene where Jake wants to draw on a teary. You probably can't It'd be a stick figure.
00:32:32
Speaker
so That's the best I could do. i'm I'm a marine. I don't know how to draw. And then I'm surprised there wasn't a scene in this movie where he teaches them like slang, like California slang or... Oh, that's that's the second one. That's in the second one. I'm surprised that's not in this one. It's like, hey, it's here. I want to teach you a cool word. Because his all the kids are just like, they're just dropping massive slang all the time.
00:32:58
Speaker
I'm just like, whoa, when did Jake, when did Jake talk like this? In the beginning, like when he, uh, you know, that like, um, the hammerhead, whatever animal was coming at him and he like yells at it and scares it off. And he's like, yeah, yeah, that's right. Bitch. What do you want to go? You want to go? Well, Jake does that here. Yeah. He does the like, yeah. Bring it. He yells at like an animal like that. So it's a, it's a playback.
00:33:27
Speaker
But it doesn't quite make sense that the kids learn it. Yeah. It's also 2154. So we're still using like, you know, like 2000 slang or like 90 slang. Yeah.
Na'vi Culture and Jake's Role
00:33:44
Speaker
figure by then to find some other weird... so some new Yeah, some new, like, you know, Batman Beyond or whatever. ah Like, you know, like, whatever, like Shway or something that like that. Or, yeah, just like suck it, Megobot. You're like, oh, there's a Megobot.
00:34:02
Speaker
Is that why we're more feared as a cult, as the society? Because we can't use the word bitch in the future because it's like less and less relevant.
00:34:12
Speaker
That's just it's just like part like but part of his like dumbass personality in the beginning. of just like yeah he's He's calling animals bitches, like acting like he's a ah and like ah ah big man. like yeah like He's like in a city. you know He's like a tough guy in a street brawl. You want Go Bro? You want Go Bro? um but why it I'm surprised he used Bro all the time. I would have loved a version of ah of Avatar where it's like Jake drops that later more and more.
00:34:41
Speaker
especially when he's giving these like tribal speeches and they have to like look at each other and be like, what does that word mean? He's just yeah he's just using like references like movies and music that they have no context for. Yeah. This is just like it today iss our great independence day. This is just like that classic movie Star Wars. They're the Emperor Empire. We're the, we're the rebels. The Star Wars have any good speeches? Speeches? I don't, not really.
00:35:13
Speaker
I feel like Star Wars is more about like single lines. I feel like. I mean, it's like. Use the force Luke is like pre-equotable, but then it's like not really relevant as a rally call. Mm hmm. I don't know. That's one thing you're right. No one gives like speeches in money to try to do it. It's like super forgettable.
00:35:35
Speaker
Yeah, there's not like there's not like great like Star Wars like monologues or anything. I guess I guess the only one is um Andor had um a stone's card card has that that he has that Incredible speech about like when he gave up to like become to like fight the Empire. Mm-hmm That's like the best like that's why like the best like actual like so monologue in Star Wars Damn
00:36:01
Speaker
But yeah, Avatar has a couple. I mean, the Quench one is the best one, but Jake has his Inspirational one at the end. Where he's like, leading like, what he just happens to like, decide, like, did no one else decide to like, try to like, take the Tarak before? Like, he just like, stumbles, he's just like, I'm just gonna jump on it. I don't know, maybe. I feel like if you have enough Novey, you could take it down.
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah, but I guess they just get it because like the one like what person who bonds with it is like like the most powerful person in like Na'vi culture because they're like the Tarak Matou and they can like okay but everyone. Here's here's the crazy thing. Does if you force bond with it, like that's how you do it or is it like it has to accept you while you're bonding with it? Because it seems yeah, it seems like Jake just you know, like ambushes it.
00:36:54
Speaker
So there's wasn't even a chance for it to like, accept him and just like, I'm on, I jumped on you. You're, you're buying now. And I also wanted other creatures sort of like yield to their, their writer, but yeah, I know the, the big bird dragon was just like, not about that. I also, I also feel very bad for Jake's dress, like Ekron.
00:37:17
Speaker
Because they're like, oh, the echrons, when you bond with it, they bond it for life, its entire life. And it's like, Jake just abandons it. Like, I got a bigger i got a bigger cooler bottle now. Like, get out of here. Like, I'd rather two rock now. I think, basically, it's in waiting for the rest of the movie. Yeah. But no no like no one can ever ride that one again. Like, it'll it'll never take another person again. If Jake just like, never like rides that dragon again.
00:37:48
Speaker
Because I guess those horse-like creatures, I guess anyone can just ride those. You just put your tentacles in it, and then you can ride that for that time. But then the Ekron's bound with you for life.
00:38:05
Speaker
But then Nateria rides like one of those like panther things like panther lizards later on. I don't know if she tentacled it or just like it let her ride it. I think it might have just let her like get on it and ride it, because AWOT was like helping fight fight the RDA. The planet was deciding to help them. Yeah, it's ending way more. like where Why did it wait until basically half that time? They were getting slaughtered, yeah. It's like, well, they suffered enough.
Actor Performances and Narrative Impact
00:38:34
Speaker
It's like, you couldn't you couldn't step in when our sacred home was being destroyed, AWOT. They blew up our gigantic tree.
00:38:43
Speaker
and Well, I just wanted to see a lot of damage first, like cool exclusions. And then it's like, all right, now it's time to set in the birds. The birds and like the the hammerheads and like the panthers, the lizard panthers.
00:39:05
Speaker
They do like it takes like they lose like a bunch like named characters before they do like Michelle Rodriguez is like killed Suit suit egg gets killed just like is it's like well, I'm out like Yeah, she leaves this franchise way too early hmm
00:39:31
Speaker
i forget Almost sometimes I forget that she's in it. I think I'll feel forget that. Yeah, cuz like, you know, this is where was like, this is like smack dab in the middle of like Fast and Furious stuff. So Actually, what what what Fast and Furious was like, where are we at in the first few freds style but Fast Cuz fast 5 was ah Like two thousand
00:40:01
Speaker
Oh, it was right before Fast Five. Oh, so she was very rude and out of it. So she was quote unquote dead in the Fast Furious franchise. Until they brought her back with Amicia. Yeah, she got bombed out of Avatar and came back in this.
00:40:21
Speaker
He's a character killer. He's like, well, I guess go I go back to the Fast Furious movies, though.
00:40:32
Speaker
u Sam Worley had a crazy year when this came out, too, because he was in Avatar and Turn to Resolvation. Turn to Resolvation came out like earlier. We did our commentary earlier this year when it was like the anniversary of that movie. But ah i mean that that kind of like you know was his first like i felt his first like big starring role. And then this was, obviously, he's in the biggest movie of all time.
00:40:56
Speaker
Well, it's funny because then like you'll be in random things at times. Well, I think he was in another avatar like movie.
00:41:08
Speaker
Like recently or like in the last like five years, five, six years, I'll look at it again. But like oh, are you talking about the Titan, like the Netflix movie? Yeah. Mm hmm. I think in that one he So I don't know if it I can't remember if it was him or like he actually like they like genetically modified him into like an alien or something. It wasn't like its basically. Yeah. So you can survive the harsh conditions. But yeah, essentially another avatar thing. It's the same premise of like, you know, the Earth is in problems for like where to send humanity. Yeah.
00:41:46
Speaker
Yeah, I feel I feel like in like this kind of like, you know, just 2009 around the time there was like there was a lot of guys who were trying to like feed up as like Here's the next here's next huge like ah leading man star. It's like Sam Willington, like, I don't know, like Boyd Holbrook, like Taylor Kitsch.
00:42:06
Speaker
um who was Who's in Tron?
00:42:12
Speaker
Oh yeah, Garrett Hedlund, throwing these guys up there. i feel like I feel like all of them, including Sam Lourdes, are like way better with their character actors, like supporting characters. like It's like the villain or like just like a side character. like they like All of them have been way better doing that.
00:42:32
Speaker
But it was it was kind it definitely was like this like revolving door of, like here's like the next like um Australian guy that's going to be our leading man. Well, you see it worked for Mel Gibson back then. Yeah. But yeah, it's not always like consistent. I think it was until like Chris Hemsworth. It was like Australia. Oh no. ah It's like Hemsworth, Jackman.
00:43:00
Speaker
I feel like there's another like secret Australian that we always forget him about. Can you imagine this movie had like a star as one of the Hemsworth brothers?
00:43:11
Speaker
Well, I mean, you know, like Matt Damon was supposed to start it and then like I seem like a bunch of years ago that Matt Damon was like, um, he always talks about he, uh,
00:43:24
Speaker
they were good. Like he, he, he, he had to leave because he was going to do the born off the made him, but he had a 10% stake in the, like the take maybe it would be get signed on. Holy shit. So he lost like millions and millions of dollars.
00:43:40
Speaker
Well, and what do they offer Sam Worthington? You think they offered him something like that? Oh, do you want to like get paid up front or do you want to get a percentage? Well, court according to like, uh, like Wikipedia, I had to be like Sam Worthington was like working, like living in his car at the time. So I think he was just happy to like be starting to make a major motion picture. Holy crap.
Casting Choices and Speculations
00:44:00
Speaker
Apparently it was, um, it was Sam, Sam Worthington, Chang, Tatum and Chris Evans were the, the, like the top three.
00:44:09
Speaker
for for for for Jake. Wait, Chris Evans? Yeah. Wow. Which I don't, I hate that idea, but I think because of the commitment in this movie, I don't think he could have done ah Captain America.
00:44:31
Speaker
I mean, it was how how many years between like Avatar and Way of Water, it was like, it was a long time. Yeah. Chris Evans gets like bouts of like oh I love being this and he's like I don't hate this. I also feel Chris Evans when he's not catching America like reverts to like like like I don't know if he's not read one yet he's reversed like he's got like a like the I'm a scumbag Boston guy like oh he gets back to like uh not another teen movie yeah
00:45:04
Speaker
Yeah, people think he's supposed to be like Steve Rogers all the time. It's like, no, I think he started as like a comedian actor first.
00:45:13
Speaker
And Chang Tatum, that'd be a totally different movie. Especially like 2009, Chang Tatum, like fresh off, like step up. Yep. It's like, oh, will I be dancing? It's like, no, you will not. Oh, I guess he was the rise of Cobra like in 2009. So.
00:45:31
Speaker
he would He would have been G.I. Joe and Avatar if he had been cast in Avatar.
00:45:47
Speaker
But probably they also wanted, um they were looking at possibly casting Michael Bean as Quirich, but then James Cameron was like, well, I don't want, I guess, I really don't want to like have people like, like basically like, oh, what do you do with aliens look like over again? Like, so that's why they cast Steven Lang. I mean, Steven Lang is pretty cool. No, yeah, I can't, I can't see anyone says, Steven Lang just like owns that role, so.
00:46:14
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. It's one of those things where it's like because he's so imposing and he has great like seeds. He has something like when he like walks out of the control room with no mask on and sort of shooting at the like the like jet, like the plane taking off and then like he's holding his breath the entire time. And it finally takes the mask out it. Yep. Done it a million times. Yeah, it's pretty good. And like the when he's in his mech, he does like the knife flip like he's like got like perfect like knife fighting skills in his mech. Yeah, I'm like, unless the glove is amazing, he has to like kind of gauge the weight of that in his own mind.
00:46:54
Speaker
but Also, I forgot how awesome that like, um, when he, cause he's in like the, the massive bomber, they turned the shuttle that brings everyone to Pandora into like a bomber plane to like blow up like the most sacred place to the Navi for the final battle. And then he, uh, when it's getting blown up, he jumps out of, uh, like his like command ship in his mech and then just it just like blows up behind him as he like jumps down.
00:47:21
Speaker
It's like such an awesome like scene. Just like, man, Cortex is like a badass, even though he's like an asshole. like He's just like an awesome asshole.
00:47:35
Speaker
and also i lovely like yeah like I think they mentioned one point, he's like, oh, well, Cortex is like, Cortex is taking over everything, like, because, like, do you have any other PCs there? It's like the, like, so the douchebag, like, corporate guy. But then, like, apparently, Cortex just, like, takes over everything. It's like, I'm running this now.
00:47:50
Speaker
yeah I think basically that's the justification is that the private guard takes over because he's the only he represents the U.S. He represents like the company. No, every all the military that's on Pandora, they they were like Marines or something, but now they're just like mercenaries. They got hired by the RDA to like come to Pandora and be like for a series.
00:48:18
Speaker
I mean, yeah.
Plot Logic and Sequel Storytelling
00:48:20
Speaker
Giovanna Ribisi's character, Parker, it it and he is just the corporate voice, but honestly, he just isn't like a big enough villain in this. He actually tries to like give Jake a chance in the beginning. Yeah, they give him three months. But not even that, like the three month thing, but then also where he sends Jake back, he goes, you have like 90- An hour, yeah. Yeah, an hour.
00:48:47
Speaker
that's bad guy wouldn't do that a bad guy I've been like it's over but he's but he's fun he has flyboard like well the ocean just failed like we can blow blow up the tree dough or like or he's just like or like just level everything's like everything's sacred to these people like level it all I don't care
00:49:07
Speaker
Well, I'm also essentially it's like, OK, well, hey, we got to do it for the board members of the profits. He says he says it's like like they they might care about blood, but they care about war, losing money.
00:49:25
Speaker
But I love that like they've they send um Like they're sending like a squad of bulldozers through and they they' they they're like going through the jungle for like the entire three months Jake is like in like, you know, learning how to be a Navi. Like those boulders are just like driving through like the base to where he is. It's that far.
00:49:48
Speaker
Yeah. Cause cause they usually say like you have three months and then that's when the bulldozers get there. I guess they are super slow. Apparently. or And they're also just like theyre like leveling everything in their way. So they have to make sure they like destroy every like piece of vegetation. Slowly bulldozing it to build a highway? i think Yeah, I think it's a highway so that they can drive out and like when they. Harvest, I guess. Then they turn the home tree looked spot into ah like a strip mine. And they can just transport all the Octavia back.
00:50:23
Speaker
yeah there's There's a whole thing where like they're trying to build basically like a proper mining facility. But I guess for all the years they've been there, they only done the Avatar program where Sigourney Weaver's character was teaching the Navi like English. Yeah. And then she wrote a book about the Navi because she was basically Jane Austen or Jane Goodman. Jane Goodall, yeah. Jane Goodall, that's it. And then ah
00:50:56
Speaker
They closed that program down because she was outcast from that. So she was kicked out for I guess like lying about like being there. So okay, so now that's more confusing. So she should have been the representative. Like she should have been the, okay, I'll get myself in the tribe, I'll be in good graces and then I'll tell them, hey, like the humans wanna get some resources from you. Do you mind like,
00:51:24
Speaker
just going on vacation or something or you just, you know, like I think, I think she said she was, she'd been trying for like, that's her, like her entire goal has been to like, you know, get to like home tree and see like the tree of souls, whatever it is. And then Jake's just like stumbles, his like backwards, stumbles backwards into it. She's like, yo, yeah, you're right. Obviously when we were like, what all I had to do was like bunk one.
00:51:48
Speaker
or or almost get myself killed and then they'll like save me. And then like, all right, we'll teach you cause you're an idiot. Like, yeah, essentially Jake is the idiot protagonist who idiot idiot his ways upward to everything falling and into place for him. And he's the chosen one. Like the seized pick him. Uh, and the theory picks him. Uh, the like elder queen picks him to like Lee. Like it's so crazy.
00:52:22
Speaker
Yeah, I guess, can Aewa sense the future or something, where she's like, oh, he's going to be important? Because like the seeds fall on him and when he he's like in when he first meets Nateri. And then, so it's but it's like, oh, this is like this is special. Aewa has chosen you or something. It's like, why? He's an idiot.
00:52:48
Speaker
i mean they get and I think they get into the second one. like We have water more. but we're like um And in the end a little bit here where like A-Wah is basically, or like Pandora is basically a giant computer. yeah Where it's like, or it's like a giant brain, where it has like a neural network, like everything, like you basically download, they they like, they can download all the like memories of the ancestors. That's why you can hear like the ancestors really touched like those trees, like special trees. You hear like, the like the past basically. it's And that's why you can like download like, like Jake can like download himself into like his avatar body permanently.
00:53:22
Speaker
Oh, you're right. It saves a copy of his brain. Well, whatever the neural network is able to transfer his brain from his human body to his avatar body. But then it can also it also like stores like all the knowledge of past navies and ah all all the trees communicating with each other, all the like everything communicating with each other across the entire planet. But then, OK. So there's something about that. i'm confused Because what about the like, so is that tree connected to the whole planet? And then it just like, there's some tribes that just don't refuse to listen to it.
00:54:05
Speaker
No, I think there's different spots across the planet where you can like like there's like special places around. Because in Way of Water, like the the Water Tribe, has there's like an underwater. They have like underwater, basically the same as like the trees that are in this one. There's like neon trees. There's an underwater part but where you can go. And then you like you can like you know commune with the Ewa.
00:54:29
Speaker
Because they're setting up. The whole thing of the seventh second one is that, um The daughter, like the daughter that Sigourney Weaver plays in the second one is like a manifestation of Ewa herself or something, or it's like a new chosen one who's like specifically like
Cultural and Thematic Analysis
00:54:49
Speaker
can like communicate with like the planet more than anyone else can. Wait, wait. So Ms. Sigourney Weaver plays Jake's adoptive daughter, right? Yes.
00:55:00
Speaker
Where did she come out of? That's, they, um, her, her avatar was pregnant. That's what they reveal. So at some point, like, sort of at sex with someone in her avatar body. And she was denied into the the tree sanctuary until she basically was dying.
00:55:24
Speaker
Yeah, I don't like that was like the like craziest part like that. Like the first like 20 minutes of way of water were like, they're they're going through like what happened since the first one. It's like, Oh yeah. And like, uh, uh, Grace's body was like after I was pregnant and then this girl came out, maybe came out as we adopted her. You're just like, wait, what?
00:55:45
Speaker
like Wait, does Sigourney Reaver play her again? Sigourney Reaver does the voice and then I think I don't know if she like either like does like tries to make it sound young or they do something your voice to make it sound young but then she also appears as like herself as in like a vision.
00:56:01
Speaker
I have only seen way more ones and I'm just like, I gotta watch it again after this. Yeah. See how this all connects. Cause I'm like, I knew there was like a crazy like jumping point in how they're telling the story because I don't think they knew Avatar was going to be like a big series. Right. It doesn't feel like it was ready to be a big, big series. Like it just seems like a great like pilot for it, but the sequel, they don't know where the hell we can go.
00:56:29
Speaker
But then what they do with the sequel is such a crazy, like, oh, wow, they're really introducing new concepts in this one. They're introducing new concepts in the second one, but then the second one's also basically the same exact plot structure as this one. Where yeah yeah they have it's like, you go to a new, like, there's a new tribe, you have to and it's been like the first like half of the movie learning the ways of the new tribe, and then there's a big battle with the RDA at the end. OK, Drew.
00:56:59
Speaker
And I think in the sequel, though, the love story is like a little more straightforward. It's more like, oh, you know, we're two different people, but we like each other. This one is Jake convinces her eventually after he's he's accepted into the tribe and they all do that cool like hand hug thing. Yep.
00:57:24
Speaker
but But then but the they immediately kick him out and then and it's like, oh, yeah you you knew you knew this was going to happen? I mean, they're trying they're trying to warn them, but then they're like, oh, well, you didn't tell us this was going to happen. Maybe if you didn't spend basically all the time going on dates with Materia, not just explaining how like human warfare was going to be played out. Yeah.
00:57:47
Speaker
Maybe that would have helped and giving, giving quarch like, well, here's, here's the weak point. Like here's like, I, here's like a detailed schematics of the tree. Like if you want to blow it up, blow it up right here. That's a good spot. Oh yeah. Just like, Oh, you know, when the Navy hate fire, you should torture everything on fire.
00:58:09
Speaker
I don't know. Like it's so crazy to think, cause if you think about this movie through um miles, like what, what's his name again? Quarriage. Mile Quarriage's view. Here's a guy that has spent years trying to just stabilize the safety on this base. And then the new guy shows up, leaves for like a month or two. Cause I, cause do you remember in the movie where Um, the science team just sort of goes on vacation. Yeah, because they find out that Jake's talking to the like horse or they're like, we're going to go to a remote site and like be out there. And then I, like, I guess it's, they just let them do that until a certain point. And they're like, well, like you gotta to come back now. like
00:58:53
Speaker
Yeah. Encourages. I'm doing like check-ins and like, Hey, like, are we still on? What's going on over there? I think it's, I think it's lying like, like Steven Langen's line where he's, uh, when Jake goes back to, uh, the main base after like they were in like the trailer for awhile, he's like, your last check, it was two weeks, soldier. What's going on? Like all that was two weeks. The last part where basically Jake falls in love and he gets accepted into the tribe.
00:59:19
Speaker
Yeah, like because ah it was because that's right before he gets to set the final ceremony, because Jake's like, I got to finish this. sa I got to become a ceremony where I become a man. like I got to be part of the tribe. And then they'll fully trust me, which is like where it's like, all right, that part' good that part's fine. Because then you can like tell them to leave or help me kill them. Yeah. um It's so crazy. cause then the human guy who doesn't, he doesn't expect to fall in love with the Navi, falls in love with the Navi and then betrays them. Um, yeah, man, Jake's got like Stockholm syndrome. Yeah. Like in, in other terms, if the Navi weren't just like fruit eating warriors and essentially just like chilling and not causing like pollution or like war with each other, I feel like,
01:00:19
Speaker
You know, it's like a Rick and Morty thing where it's like, okay, well, I'm the lesser of the two evils that's going on because you imagine they landed and they first had to deal with the fire nation first, like the fire tribe. Yeah. Supposedly the evil Navy. Yeah. Like that makes more sense to see them in line and be like, do not befriend them. They will burn you. We've been at war with these. Yeah. These get these people.
Avatar's Cultural Impact and Audience Reactions
01:00:47
Speaker
I mean, it seems like the Umedakaya are attacking them. But just just like when they like encroached in their territory or something, because when Jake first gets to Pandora, that bulldozer droids pay with arrows in it. And then Quartz is just like, yeah, the Navi, they got they're 10 foot tall. They got carbon fiber bones. They're going to shoot you with arrows that have neurotoxins in it. like they're They're hard to kill. You got to kill them before they kill you. like
01:01:21
Speaker
And then they're also, you know, they're constantly calling up savages and other, like, aborigines and, like, slang terms that are just not great. It's like, oh, Stephen Lang, or Miles, cor I think you might be our earth racist. They're definitely racist, yeah. They're specious. he's just yeah
01:01:55
Speaker
But a yeah, so they I think you want to talk about some of the like tie-in stuff, Chris. Because cause like that's part I think it's part of like the, you know, there's's there's always the argument about like is is Avatar culturally relevant? even though it's Because like it's the highest grossing move of all time, but like people don't remember anything about it or like mention talk about it, really.
01:02:15
Speaker
But I mean, at the time, it had like, um I think we said like there' a there's a tie-in comics, tie-in novel. There was the game. ah there was, um, was there like, there was a big, like Coke, was there a Coke, um, promotion? I think like Coke zero had like avatars stuff about it.
01:02:40
Speaker
Ah, I might've been in Pepsi max. I'm one of those Coke. I'm a computer says Coke zero and they had, and it had like a, Um, like you'd be held up to a webcam. You could like, I think you could turn yourself into an avatar or do something with like, like automated reality in it. Okay. Cause there was Pandora vision or whatever Pandora. Oh, VR, which was basically adding AR stuff. Uh, that was like also part of the McDonald's thing where if you got like a special Big Mac, you got like code and that'll let you like, they didn't do a food per se, like advertisement where you've got like a Navi burger.
01:03:19
Speaker
But you got, like I guess, the ah like packaging for Avatar. Yeah. Oh, I realize this. So Joel David Moore, who is like plays Neil,
01:03:36
Speaker
or no? Is it Neil or noel ah norm no? Norm. Norm. Uh, he was on Bones at the time. And apparently there was an entire episode of Bones that was just like a, basically a promo for Avatar. Really? Where it's like he, his character is waiting for Avatar to come out. The movie that he is in, in real life.
01:04:04
Speaker
And then yeah, there's there's a bunch bunch of like books. There's like the art of Avatar, all that kind of stuff. Action figures. Yeah, there there was the McDonald's Happy Meal toys that, yeah, kind of like ghost gets you tired, like messaging of the movie.
01:04:20
Speaker
Like, yeah, kids, these like toys are gonna probably end up in a landfill. Yeah. I mean, I, I looked at those toys and there's nothing cool about it that's like, Oh, like, like a GI Joe or, or like fantasy where it's like, Hey, I have powers and I can do this. Like those toys look like,
01:04:42
Speaker
You're playing like melted like tribal men, you know, like it's like very, very weird to play with like avatar toys just because it's like, look, I'm a giant bird. It's like, well, I would rather play like Jurassic Park toys. You know, it just seemed like it's, it's like.
01:05:01
Speaker
you You kind of have to keep breaking the fantasy. It's like, well, what are you doing now in this next adventure? Oh, no, like they're after the tree. Yeah, I don't I don't know. I don't know anyone who like buys bought the toys or like but who would buy the toys. What kid would be into that? Yeah.
01:05:19
Speaker
And like i think that's part of the cultural reance relevance thing too is um you know no one's dressing up as Avatar for Halloween. like No one's playing the toys. If people do um like dress like Navi for Halloween, it's like a joke. Yeah. It's never like, oh, I'm really into this. I mean, I guess there was that thing where you know after Avatar came out, there was the whole thing about people were like,
01:05:42
Speaker
like Like want to commit suicide to go to Pandora or like it's like I don't know fantasy I don't know if it's because you can soul transfer or is it like you'll never live in a society that beautiful It's like the I know that was like a thing it became super popular but I feel like you have to be susceptible as a person to get that illness because It one of them is like the delusion. I like up on that one because it's pretty famous because it's like one of the
01:06:13
Speaker
Avatar is like one of the only movies I know where the world looks so nice. And especially if you saw it on IMAX. And if you're like, I guess like a nature person. Like to me, it just seems like where can I go to the bathroom? Everything this planet wants to kill me. I do not want to go there.
Market Influence and 3D Movies
01:06:33
Speaker
You know? So when I watch that movie, also, how did you see Avatar for the first time? That's also very important to like any more stories.
01:06:42
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I mean, in theaters in 3D. OK. I saw this movie in 3D in like the third row where the last people to show up for the screening. Oh, ge and I remember like the we went to friendlies and we got like lunch and then saw Avatar. And I was just like so queasy. Oh, that's why I like I had to see it again later, like on DVD when it came out, just because to see it like in a normal perspective and then not feel like gross from eating like a chicken tender sandwich. Yeah, I i think the immediate legacy of Avatar was every movie but like got turned to 3D. Yeah, even like the 3D doesn't really play a big part in the story but it's nice. um It's visually like cool but
01:07:34
Speaker
It's not like there's a cool 3D gag or something. I think maybe one or two scenes. No, it's not. look It's not like explicit like I'm i'm i'm dropping a yo-yo on your face. Look at it. It's it's coming out of the screen. Like, yeah, like I think like James Cameron really like ah like introduced like, you know, just adding depth to 3D, like 3D like ads like it like basically expands the screen outward or inward. However, you're looking at it. So like you're looking at like into like like deep into the the image.
01:08:04
Speaker
But then there were so many like posts post-Avatar 3D movies where where like the movie wasn't designed for 3D, so they used like, and I don't think they had AI yet, but like they were just like ah you know using a computer to convert it into post-converted 3D that looked horrible. There was very few movies post-Avatar like actually was like were like made for 3D.
01:08:29
Speaker
But then like Alice in Wonderland, like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland made like a billion dollars just because of like, it was like one of the first big movies after Avatar that was 3D. So we were like, I need more 3D. I gotta go see Alice in Wonderland.
01:08:43
Speaker
Yeah. ah I think the other thing the Avatar did was bring back um bone arrow things back into pop culture.
01:08:55
Speaker
Right. Like it it seemed like the bow and arrow was way more versatile or like cool looking than a gun. There were like future machine guns in this movie, but the bow and arrow were was like the thing that I guess like. Everyone was into because I think around this time, like.
01:09:14
Speaker
Hunger Games is out. Hunger Games, I think the books were out. The movies were coming out like a few years after those. Yeah. So it was just like the start of like checkout bow and arrow people. And then like the, like the reboot, chart ras like was using a bow and it was like another cultural, like we'll make arching a big thing again.
01:09:41
Speaker
And also obviously to like the, uh, The biggest like current thing is the, uh, the world of Pandora animal kingdom, which I've never read too. I've never been that. Yeah. Have you been there Chris? Uh, yeah. So I could talk about that. That, that came out in like 2017. I think I went in 2018. Yeah. Um, and it's, oh, it was packed then. I think it still is packed because it's just like a very immersive area in, um,
01:10:13
Speaker
Hollywood studio. Well, it's it's ah it's Animal Kingdom. I'm sorry, Animal Kingdom. Now, there are three rides, I think there's the like the flight where you get to ride like the bird thing. Yeah. um there's There's. So true. Yeah, the flight of passage which is like you're riding on like the acron.
01:10:36
Speaker
Oh yeah. And then then Navi, the the river journey where you're it's basically a small world, but you're in a boat just like kind of cruising around. Let me tell you this, that boat ride, the dumb spirit thing is a waste of goddamn time. I've seen video of it. I waited an hour for it and I got there and it was like a five minute boat ride and I was just like, what the fuck?
01:10:57
Speaker
Yeah, looking at the video, and like see you see like basically nothing happens. You're kind of just like floating around in like, you know, a Pandora. de mar bedroom And then the only the only like really impressive thing about it is like the like the um but like the spirit ah spirit leader at the end. She's like, it's like like super impressive, like animatronic.
Pandora Theme Park at Disney World
01:11:20
Speaker
But that's like the only like thing that like like makes it like. It's like a 10 chances that bot goes down.
01:11:26
Speaker
That was, that's, yeah, there's like, that's an issue with like these like advanced animatronics they have. They kind of like put them into quote unquote B mode where they just like flash a strobe light on them or something. Oh, no, no. I think like if the bot goes down, they pull down like a curtain and then they play like a projection on it. It's like not even a B mode. It's like a whole, like it's out of commission until they reboot everything. And then they just like bring down like a projector. And I know, I know like, um,
01:11:54
Speaker
Expedition Everest, like the roller coaster at Animal Kingdom. The Yeti, when it first came out, was very like super advanced. like It was moving around, swiping at people. And then it broke, and they just haven't fixed it yet. So it's in it's been in B mode for like years, where it just ah has like a strobe light basically flashing on it. It's a mimic bike. Did you just go by it? Yeah. Yep. So I would say the Avatar Land is pretty cool for the aesthetics.
01:12:18
Speaker
um I think I went around the time where basically it's been like nine years since the first movie. So it was like before Way of Water was in pre-production. And yeah, like the food's OK. Like it's a lot of like interesting designs of food and flavor, but it's mostly just, you know, based on real food. Yeah. um And.
01:12:43
Speaker
I don't know like the the floating mountain thing is cool how they do like the illusion of it from a distance but it's not like so but then you have to remind yourself like oh shit we're the humans we're like the bad guys what is it isn't the storyline that oh uh like the Na'vi and humans are friends now like they're welcoming you like they're welcoming you to like this like um like i don't co-op or something it's like it's a joint it's this is like a joint area that they're like fun like it's like they want to teach you about their culture and stuff what
01:13:20
Speaker
It's so weird because then you see like the people around you who who are hardcore tourists, you know, like there are people just like littering, like being gross to each other, you know, and then just like, oh, like yeah if you told me basically people going to that place and and being kind of sad but that that Pandora isn't real. It's like, yeah, welcome to the harsh reality when you say that when you have that like exit like almost um like identity crisis and you're being yelled at because like you're not moving fast enough for the churro line. You know what I mean? Like it it's such a like, what? It's also, it's also weird.
01:13:57
Speaker
that the Na'vi would like want to turn their planet into like a tourist destination? Because that's the whole, it's kind of thing like, oh, you're a tourist. The RDA is gone. Now it's ah like this travel companies travel company that is like, they've made peace with the Na'vi. And they the Na'vi are like, yeah, sure. All the humans come and visit us. We'll teach you about our culture and our food and everything. We will exchange money. like I mean, it's not like the Na'vi need anything from the humans.
01:14:27
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like, it's not like a at least in Star Tours, it made sense where it's like, oh, there's so many destinations and we'll take you on a guided journey. It's like, cool. Star Tours makes sense for the Star Wars, at least back then. And now it's like, OK, you're part of the rebellion if you go do the like other thing, but yeah.
01:14:45
Speaker
Yeah, no, the Na'vi one, it makes less sense because in this one, it's like, well, the humans like, hey, we're here for an Unatamium, like we just go there and pretend you are part of the RDA.
Avatar's Legacy and Technological Impact
01:14:56
Speaker
Just like, hey, befriend the natives and then be like, take me to your Unatamium. Yeah.
01:15:02
Speaker
It's like the whole point of the movie is that humans came and like destroyed like are destroying the planet, so we need to like drive them off. and like This is like, well, we yeah what if what if we like were friends with them and we like they basically had Disney World non Pandora? Yeah. Essentially, the Navi set up a daycare for humans to come and try out shit.
01:15:23
Speaker
ye
01:15:25
Speaker
You can temporarily enter an avatar and ride a dragon for 10 minutes or whatever long that ride is. Oh my god. That line is pretty crazy. And then you go through, I think we all become Navi temporarily in that ride or something. Yes. You basically get like a rental avatar body. And then you're like, and now you get to the Echron experience, get the fly dragons for whatever. You see what I mean?
01:15:52
Speaker
it's like The fact that in the first movie, it was like, oh, we got to get the DNA and all that. And this one's just like, here's a rental. It doesn't have to be anybody. We've heard this vital, like very important cultural like so like like ritual.
01:16:09
Speaker
like it's like read You have to go and bond with your ekron. And it's like this very important part of like being a hunter in this culture. and it's like and But now like shlubby tourists from Earth can just like come and like do that for for like 10 minutes. And then leave. And then it's like, okay, well bye. Thanks for your your resources. We'll be back. like We'll be back for more until we basically own this. Yeah.
01:16:48
Speaker
But yeah, so Avatar, 15 years later, um it's still I think it's it still holds up. um And the special effects are still like pretty great. um All like the the the facial capture stuff, all the like visuals. are i like they look better like This movie's 15 years old. It looks better than like current movies that come come out today.
01:17:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's like a besides the obvious thing we don't like about the first part of the movie where the untameum is such a dumb MacGuffin. I think everything else that holds up like the Sam Worthington's acting is still pretty good. Zoe Zildana is amazing. Stephen Lang is amazing. Even Lang is a fucking hands down if he was like a good guy character.
01:17:36
Speaker
It would have been awesome. He would have been that grizzled colonel. I also feel like Steven Lang could also be played by Tommy Jones for some parts. That'd be cool. right Yeah. um but yeah Avatar, I guess, is like, yeah, it's like culturally. i think we I think every time we think about Avatar, it's like, oh yeah, it became a cultural movement, but it's not exactly like something you just want to throw on and it's like great to watch or it's just like okay it's like homework.
01:18:02
Speaker
I think the main thing is like, it's the highest grossing movie of all time. But then, you know, there's not a rat, like, I guess there's probably like a small rabbit families for it, but it didn't like you would think something that big would be like, like a start, like it's Star Wars, like, there's kids are playing with toys, there's like a bunch of like tie ins, there's like a bunch of like, you know, people are still like people are know the characters names.
01:18:32
Speaker
It kind of just like came out, everyone was flicking out about the 3D, everyone saw it, and then like ah kind of like in the years after it came out, people were like, oh yeah, Avatar, right, I saw that once.
01:18:45
Speaker
like I think the P2 was like, you couldn't watch it in 3D at home. I guess if you bought like when like they were trying to push 3D TVs for like whatever like a year or two that was, after Avatar came out.
01:18:59
Speaker
So like that so like you could like you know relive that in at home, but you really couldn't. like If you're just watching on like Disney+, it still looks good like it looks great, but it doesn't look like you know it's not the full experience.
3D Viewing Options for Avatar
01:19:15
Speaker
I've heard if you watch it in, like I think you can watch it in, like ah if you like spend $2,000 for Apple Vision Pro, their Apple's like VR headset, Like you could see it in like full 3d in that and apparently it's incredible, but yeah, spend whatever insane amount of money it is. Wait, wait, if you got the whole headset thing, if you if like yeah Apple vision pro, like, um, cause you know, it obviously has like the Apple store in it. So you can, you could rent avatar or avatar way of water in 3d on it and watch it in 3d.
01:19:47
Speaker
ah So apparently it looks like as good or as are you possibly even better than what's in the theater, but then the headset is like so absorbably expensive. Like it's like $2,000, wherever it is. So it's just like, do you want to like buy this headset, just like have like 3d movies?
01:20:09
Speaker
I think like the, I think medic, like the medic quest helmets can like, we'll let you like do 3d as well, but I really ah tried to do that.
01:20:24
Speaker
But yeah, if it if it shows back up in theaters in 3D, I'd say that's the best way to experience it. It's like the full avatar experience is like ah in a theater in 3D. If not, you can always go to Pandora and Disney and just trip balls. Yep. I'm riding a dragon. I can feel it breathing.
Upcoming Podcast: Tango and Cash
01:20:53
Speaker
But yes, I think they'll do it this week. um Come back next week. We're going to be kind of wrapping up the year with ah one of our favorites, Tango and Cash, which is celebrating its, I believe it's 35th anniversary? Yeah, 35th anniversary. um And yes, we'll we'll that you'll dive into all the Kurt Russell slowness of that movie. And I think the super tank or whatever that they get at some point where that movie just goes off the rails. But we'll dive into all of that next week.
New Content and Announcements
01:21:24
Speaker
And head of the site, we got all of our usual stuff out there. We got news, reviews, trailers. I got a review of Craven the Hunter, if you want to read my review of potentially the final movie in the Sony. So it's Sony's Marvel universe or Sony's Spider-Man universe. They still can't figure out what they're officially calling it, but the final chapter of that disaster of a franchise. And I think we're going to have our Game box 2.0 for December up soon so you can check out what games we played this month and our trip report from packs unplugged will also be up soon so stay tuned for that as well.
Everything Action Online and Social Media
01:22:00
Speaker
And actually, I think about yeah but my time here is to our commentary. We watched Home Alone 4, continuing our Home Alone tradition of, no, we're almost done. We got one more to watch. Then we will have watched all the Home Alone movies for Christmas. But Home Alone 4, Taking Back the House, we watched that. So you can watch that along with us for Christmas.
01:22:23
Speaker
And yeah, head over to check all of our other stuff out over there. And yes, of course, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week. For more from Everything Action, head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook dot.com slash everything dot.action and follow us on X at Evie Action. We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find more episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast Apple Choice and be sure to write and subscribe.