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Dec 16, 2022 · With Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang. Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.
- James Cameron
- 2 min
Plot. In 2154, Earth suffers from resource exhaustion and ecological collapse. The Resources Development Administration (RDA) mines the valuable mineral unobtanium on Pandora, a lush habitable moon of Polyphemus, a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system.
- $2.923 billion
- James Horner
- $237 million
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- Overview
- Plot
- Cast
- Development
- Release and editions
- Soundtrack
- Awards
- Reception
is a science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. It was made by Lightstorm Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox on December 18, 2009. It is the first installment in the planned film series of five films.
The film is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a fictional Earth-like moon in a distant planetary system. Humans, who have depleted their planet's natural resources, are engaged in mining Pandora's reserves of a precious mineral vital to the economy known as unobtanium, while the Na'vi, the race of humanoids indigenous to the moon, resist the colonists' expansion which threatens the continued existence of the Na'vi and the Pandoran ecosystem. The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically-engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the humans to interact with the indigenous population.
Jake's life on Earth
In the year 2148, Earth has become overpopulated with over 20 billion humans and its resources rapidly depleting, with pollution, famine, poverty, and war. Jake Sully is a 22-year-old ex-marine paralyzed from the waist down due to wounds sustained in combat. He is living in a literal one-room dilapidated apartment resembling a prison cell. Jake is forced live out his life in a wheelchair because veteran benefits are not enough to pay for a spine surgery, especially in his highly inflated economy. Earth is suffering from an energy crisis and the residents of Jake's city wear masks to combat its air pollution. One night, Jake starts a bar fight with a man who strikes a woman. After breaking up the fight, the bouncers throw Jake out into the street, with one even throwing his wheelchair at him. Jake is approached by two Resources Development Administration (RDA) agents who confirm his identity and inform him that his identical twin brother, Tom Sully, has been killed by a robber. The agents take Jake to a crematorium where he is shown Tom's body, and Jake laments his brother is dead due to someone wanting paper in his wallet. The agents mention Tom was one of the selected few scientists chosen to participate in the Avatar Program and one of even fewer avatar drivers. Tom had trained on Earth for three years in preparation for Pandora and controlling his avatar. Since Jake is genetically identical to his brother, he can link with the avatar, saving the RDA the cost of creating a new one. Jake agrees to take over his brother's contract and is put in cryosleep for the trip to Pandora.
Arrival on Pandora
In 2154, arriving from the six-year journey to Pandora, Jake awakes from cryosleep with hundreds of other personnel to work at the human colony on this inhabited moon of Polyphemus, one of three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A. In the RDA's facility Hell's Gate, Jake attends a briefing led by Colonel Miles Quaritch, a hardened and seasoned military veteran who is in charge of security on the colony. Quaritch welcomes the new personnel and military soldiers and briefs them on Pandora. It is mostly covered with lush rainforests and wildlife, and home to the Na'vi, a race of tall blue-skinned humanoids. Jake is introduced to Norm Spellman, a biologist who arrived on the same rotation of personnel as he did. He also meets Dr. Max Patel, who connects the avatars, and Dr. Grace Augustine, a botanist as well as the leader of the Avatar Program. Using the avatars, Grace and her team have made some considerable progress learning about the natives' language and culture. Grace is displeased with RDA administrator Parker Selfridge's decision to use Jake to replace his brother's avatar position. Parker stresses that Grace's science is being paid for by the extremely profitable mineral unobtanium, so she should suck it up and give the RDA some good results from the Avatar Program. Upon meeting Jake, Grace is very standoffish due to her disdain of soldiers, but implores Jake to begin making his own video logs to document his journey. On the day Jake links with his avatar, things go dangerously due to Jake being ecstatic about being able to walk again, causing the scientists to become so concerned they attempt to tranquilize him. He runs outside the compound and enjoys sprinting, causing the scientists to drop their pursuit. Jake then meets with Grace who appears much happier in her avatar form. That night, Jake looks at his queue, a sensitive part of his avatar body that is located at the tip of a long appendage connected to his head (at the end of his "ponytail") that plays an important role in Pandora's ecosystem. After Grace tells him not to play with it or he will "go blind", Jake falls asleep in the avatar compound. The next day, Jake meets Trudy Chacón, a retired Marine pilot who is assigned to work with the Avatar Program. Upon hearing that Trudy could use someone else on her Samson's door gun, Jake volunteers. Jake is then directed to Quaritch who convinces Jake to become his informant to gather information on the Na’vi and their home, the Hometree, which has huge deposits of unobtanium buried deep below its surface. He wants Jake to gain their trust and convince them to leave their home within three months. Jake agrees when Quaritch offers to pay for his spinal surgery so that he no longer has to use a wheelchair. After being trained for several weeks in his new body, Jake, Grace and Norm explore the native wildlife with Trudy. The team explores an abandoned school house where Grace taught young Na'vi English. Grace reminiscences over how intelligent the children were and feels sad upon seeing the unused books scattered on the floor such as The Lorax. Norm asks Grace why the Na'vi don't return and she replies that they learned as much about humanity as they needed to. Jake notices bullet holes and asks Grace what happened at the school, but she dodges the question. While Grace and Norm study the wildlife, Jake encounters a group of hammerhead titanotheres, a rhinoceros-like animal species. However, the titanotheres flee from a thanator, a terrifying land predator. Grace shouts at her group to flee. Jake runs from the thanator, who is after him, and loses most of his equipment and weapon in the process. He narrowly escapes death from the predator and falls into raging rivers below.
Living with the Omatikaya
As darkness falls, Jake creates a fire torch using a sap substance on the trees, and once more runs and fights a large group of small sized viperwolves. A Na'vi named Neytiri rescues him and kills several of the viperwolves before they all flee. She is at first angry with Jake for having caused her to kill the viperwolves needlessly and leaves him. Jake goes after Neytiri, who tells him not to follow as she knows he is an avatar hybrid - a dreamwalker from the Sky People (humans). Jake is caught by her fellow Na’vi, but Neytiri defuses the situation by telling her people that she witnessed him being chosen by the seeds of Eywa, a spiritual and also physical biological entity that the Na'vi revere, which indicate him as a pure spirit. Meeting Eytukan and Mo'at, the leaders of the Omatikaya clan, who are also Neytiri's parents, Jake presents himself as a warrior "dreamwalker", a term the Na’vi used to call the avatar hybrids, with his intention to learn from them. Eytukan and Mo’at agree to teach Jake, making a reluctant Neytiri his tutor. From that day on, Jake spends his time learning the ways and culture of the Na’vi warriors, while jumping back to his original human body to report to Parker and Quaritch on information regarding the Na'vi. Grace arranges the movement of the avatar team to a remote camp in the Hallelujah Mountains after finding out from Max Patel that Jake has been having regular communications with Quaritch about the Na'vi. In his avatar form, Jake completes a rite of passage known as Iknimaya where he learns how to bond using his queue and control his flying mountain banshee whom he names Bob, while gaining respect and admiration from the Na’vi, his relationship with Neytiri continuing to grow, but also earning the jealousy and annoyance of Tsu'tey, Neytiri's betrothed and next in line to be the clan leader. Neytiri also tells Jake about the great leonopteryx as well as Toruk Makto, and how her great-great-grandfather was one of the few Na'vi able to ride one. Jake becomes somewhat addicted to being an avatar, causing Grace to force his human body to keep eating so that he does not become anorexic. Grace tells Jake about how she taught the Na'vi children for ten years, including Neytiri and her sister Sylwanin, and how they viewed Grace like a mother. Grace reveals the RDA shot Sylwanin to death after she destroyed a bulldozer when she was angry about the RDA's deforestation. Because Grace was exiled from interacting with the clan due to this incident, Jake is able to persuade Mo'at and Eytukan to let Grace back in, causing her great happiness when she returns to the Hometree to reunite with her students. Reporting back to Quaritch, the Colonel wants Jake to begin his plan to convince the clan to leave the Hometree, but Jake is now reluctant and wary of the RDA's desire to exploit the moon's resources. He tells Quaritch that he will attempt to convince the clan once he is made part of the People, a ceremony granting the greatest honor to an avatar. That night, Jake undergoes the ceremony where Eytukan considers him as one of their own and made part of the People, with Grace and Neytiri looking on. Jake is now part of the Omatikaya clan, and with this he can choose his mate; he and Neytiri choose each other and spend that night mating at the Tree of Voices, and they are now mated for life. When Jake and Neytiri awake, they encounter several bulldozers, sent by the RDA, destroying the nearby forests. In his attempt to stop them, Jake destroys one of the machine's camera arrays. Returning to the Hometree, Tsu'tey confronts him for mating with Neytiri. Before anything else can happen, Jake and Grace are suddenly sent back to their human bodies when soldiers sent by Quaritch arrive and open their link units to take them back by force. Quaritch and Parker have seen footage of Jake destroying the bulldozer's cameras and have checked his entry logs, indicating that the Na'vi refuse to leave their home. Grace tells Parker that the trees and plant life make up a huge network which connects the spiritual consciousness of all life, including the Na’vi, and must not be destroyed. Parker merely reacts with disbelief and thinks Grace has gone insane. That night, Tsu'tey and other Na'vi set fire to the RDA bulldozers. In the morning, the RDA discovers the wreckage and sees that six of their men were killed by the Na'vi. Quaritch insists he will try a humane approach towards the evacuation of Hometree using tear gas which Parker approves. Grace is upset and she tells Jake how the RDA never cared about the Avatar Program and that they bulldozed a sacred site on purpose to initiate a war in order to justify further brute force. Trudy tells Grace about the impending Hometree evacuation, causing Grace to confront Parker about them using violent methods to potentially kill the Na'vi. Jake convinces Parker to give him and Grace a final chance to persuade the Na'vi.
Humans
•Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a paralyzed ex-marine veteran that goes to Pandora as an avatar driver. He is the main protagonist of the film. •Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, a xenobotanist and in charge of the Avatar Program. •Joel David Moore as Norm Spellman, an anthropologist who studies plant and nature life like Grace. •Stephen Lang as Miles Quaritch, is chief of security on Pandora and the main antagonist. •Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the administrator of the RDA and the corporate, second-most prominent villain. •Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacón, a SecOps pilot that transports the avatar team around Pandora. •Matt Gerald as Lyle Wainfleet, a SecOps corporal. •Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, the doctor of the operation that passes the human mind on an avatar. •Sean Anthony Moran as Sean Fike, another SecOps soldier working for the RDA. •Scott Lawrence as Venture Star Crew Chief •Michael Blain-Rozgay as Suit#1, an RDA agent who sets up Jake's travel to Pandora •Jon Curry as Suit #2, an RDA agent who sets up Jake's travel to Pandora •Kevin Dorman as Tractor Operator, an RDA employee who tries to bulldoze the Tree of Voices •Jahnel Curfman as Basketball Avatar (female), one of the avatar drivers in the Avatar Program. •Ilram Choi as Basketball Avatar (male), another of the avatar drivers in the Avatar Program.
Na'vi
•Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, the daughter of the Omatikaya clan leaders. Neytiri and Jake gradually fall in love with each other after she trains him for months. •CCH Pounder as Mo'at, the clan's spiritual leader and mother of Neytiri. •Wes Studi as Eytukan, the clan's leader and father of Neytiri. •Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey, the clan's finest warrior that was supposed to become Neytiri's mate. •Peter Mensah as Akwey, the leader of the Olangi clan •Alicia Vela-Bailey as Ikeyni, the leader of the Tayrangi clan and Saeyla, member of the Omatikaya clan. •Ilram Choi as Ka'ani, member of the Omatikaya clan •Kyla Warren as Na'vi Child, member of the Omatikaya clan
Early inspirations
The ideas for many elements in the film date back to James Cameron's early life. While in 11th grade, he did a pen drawing entitled "Spring on Planet Flora". It depicts the jungle environment of an alien world with a human figure in a spacesuit walking on one of many gigantic trees, which have interconnected branches and are overgrown by vines and epiphytes. The concept for Avatar stems back to a dream James Cameron had when he was 19, and at Fullerton Junior College. According to Cameron, the dream featured a bio-luminescent forest, with "lizards that didn't look like much until they took off." When he woke up, he drew it. Reportedly, the drawing has saved Cameron from about ten lawsuits pertaining to the film. In 1973, James Cameron wrote a story named "Absense" for a college project which evolved into a short film script titled "Chrysalis" in 1974. The script tells the story of a wheelchair-bound man who has all sensory input surgically removed and undertakes an inward journey across an alien landscape to eventually rise from his chair after repairing his own central nervous system. In the late 1970s, James Cameron worked as a co-writer on Xenogenesis, in which he further explored his earlier ideas. The script features a mile-long spaceship with fusion ramjet drive unit. With Earth at the brink of destruction, scientist try to find a new planet for humanity. The ship carries cell samples which an artificial intelligence would develop into cloned individuals once a suitable planet has been found. The protagonists experience exotic, danger-filled alien landscapes on different planets with bizarre flora and fauna, and take samples. Pandora was modeled after one of these planets, the Luminous Planet, which itself is sentient. It has a beautiful forest with a vast network of interconnected, bioluminescent trees, a glowing river, and a deadly atmosphere. The script also describes moss that glows with a violet light at nighttime, little ripples of light that expand at the impact of the protagonists' feet on the ground, a small, black lizard-like creature with orange and ultramarine spinning discs that unfold upon contacting a limb of the creature (Fan Lizard), a small flying creature which resembles a butterfly-sized dandelion seed with gently swaying filaments which lands of the female character's hand (Woodsprite), an "air shark" with distensible jaws and glassy dagger-like teeth (Mountain Banshee), and a "hybrid of a fiber optics lamp, a sea anemone and a willow" (Tree of Voices). These willow-like trees gravitate toward the female lead as she passes by and two characters kiss beneath the tendril trees. The planet reacts to the arrival of the protagonist by immobilizing him with creeper-like tendrils from the surrounding plants that embrace him, an idea that was re-used towards the end of Avatar when Grace Augustine's and later Jake's human bodies were placed under the Tree of Souls for their respective consciousness transfers. Cameron produced a pencil sketch for Xenogenesis titled "Exploring the exotic environment of a luminous planet". The sketch shows a male and female character on an alien planet, a tree with a spiral shape and a spaceship in the background. The tree in the drawing became the basis for the helicoradian, and the "brain coral floor" went on to become the basis for the area around the Tree of Souls. Cameron also made a series of paintings, showing "jagged, vertical mountains or cliffs wreathed by clouds and mist". These paintings contain "material that was not used in the Avatar film but may be used in Avatar sequels". A first draft of the Avatar script contained a similar scene as depicted in the concept art image of Xenogenesis shown next to this paragraph, where the protagonist gets captured by a jellyfish-like creature named "aerocoelenterate". Another painting for the project features a spaceship called "Cosmos Kindred" with a long central truss, engines glowing red with heat separated by a long boom from the habitability module in front, and cryo-capsules used for suspended animation. It became the basis for the Interstellar Vehicle Venture Star. A walking machine called "spider" was another painting Cameron did. A fight sequence using a physical model was filmed as short film of a small portion of the Xenogenesis script. The "spider" eventually became the basis for the AMP suit. James Cameron openly admits Avatar was inspired by Dances with Wolves, although believes Avatar does enough different in its details to stand on its own. He believes the sci-fi take on a familiar classic story about someone experiencing a different culture is what makes Avatar interesting and enjoyable, commenting regarding the audience, "They're not just sitting there scratching their heads, they're enjoying it and being taken along. And we still have turns and surprises in it, too, things you don't see coming." The anime film Princess Mononoke also partially inspired life on Pandora, and contains elements of "man versus nature". Cameron also took inspiration from Indian mythology for the film. White not stated by Cameron itself, it has been postulated that Avatar takes inspiration from Dune. Cameron is known to be a fan of Dune, and both stories share similar plot points and worldbuilding aspects.
Full production
itself was in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film known as Project 880. He wrote the script from a ranch he owned in California. The look of the Na'vi was inspired by a dream that Cameron's mother had, long before he started work on Avatar, in which she saw tall blue people. Visual artists were conflicted about the look of the Na'vi and how alien they should appear; they ended up removing elements such as gills in order to make them still be physically appealing to most people. When Cameron showed his script to 20th Century Fox executives, they asked him to tone down the "tree-hugging, Ferngully stuff" in it. However, Cameron stood his ground, saying the environmental conscious themes were integral to the storyline of Avatar, and he was determined to create a mainstream movie focused around it. For example, the destruction of Hometree is meant to symbolize the damage of Earth caused by humankind. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to James Cameron, "technology needed to catch up" with his vision of the film. In early 2006, James Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora. A CGI prototype was also developed to showcase the CGI and motion capture technology. The film is estimated to have cost over $300 million to produce, and another estimated $200 million for the distribution and other costs, thus totaling to about half a billion dollars. Avatar was touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production. After the film was produced, issues arose again between Cameron and another Fox executive. who begged Cameron to shorten the film. Cameron was reluctant and replied, "I think this movie is going to make all the fucking money. And when it does, it’s going to be too late for you to love the film. The time for you to love the movie is today. So I’m not asking you to say something that you don’t feel, but just know that I will always know that no matter how complimentary you are about the movie in the future when it makes ALL THE MONEY. You can’t come back to me and compliment the film or chum along and say, ‘Look what we did together.’ You won’t be able to do that." The executive "went bug shit" on Cameron and Cameron told him to get the fuck out of the office.
The film was released in traditional 2D and 3D formats, along with an IMAX 3D release in selected theaters.
There are three editions of the film: the theatrical edition, which was the version originally seen in theaters, as well as the special and extended collector's editions, which have additional scenes added. While all three have seen several home media releases, only the theatrical edition has been made available in 3D.
The music of Avatar was composed by James Horner with the collaboration of ethnomusicologist Wanda Bryant. The two worked together to create unique music that sounded as if it was "never heard before"; Wanda Bryant looked into minority cultures for inspiration, collecting sound samples that felt otherworldly.
Leona Lewis - I See You Theme from
Avatar: Music from the Motion Picture was released on December 15, 2009. A promotional 3-disc set was also released. A 5-disc set referred to as Avatar: Complete Score was announced, but the set was leaked ahead of the launch and ultimately never released commercially.
A CD single of the song I See You performed by Leona Lewis was released on December 3, 2009.
•Best Movie •Best Actress (Zoe Saldana)•Best Director (James Cameron)
•Art Direction •Cinematography •Directing (James Cameron) •Film Editing •Music (Score) (James Horner) •Best Picture (James Cameron and Jon Landau) •Sound Editing •Sound Mixing •Visual Effects
British Academy Awards
•Best Cinematography (Mauro Fiore) •Best Director (James Cameron) •Best Editing (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron) •Best Film •Best Music (James Horner•Best Production Design (Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair) •Best Sound (Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague) •Best Special Visual Effects (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones)
Golden Globes
•Best Motion Picture: Drama •Best Director (James Cameron) •Best Original Score •Best Original Song
received generally positive reviews, garnering 7.9 on IMDb and a 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Praise was directed to the film's worldbuilding, graphics and visuals, art design, music, dream-like qualities, as well as its environmental and spiritual themes about living harmoniously with nature and the connectivity of life. According to IMDb, men in general and women above the age of 45 are most likely to enjoy Avatar, while teenage girls are most likely to dislike the film.
Jim Vejvoda of IGN gave Avatar a 9/10, saying "The running time and the overall formulaic nature of the story is what keeps me from giving Avatar a higher score. To say that I was pleasantly surprised by Avatar is an understatement. My advice to you is to forget all that you think you know or believe about Avatar." Matthew Pejkovic of Matt's Movie Reviews felt the film has a spiritual quality to it and said, "Avatar provides the ultimate journey to a world unlike anything seen before it, with a deep spiritual core giving substance to its most impressive display of style... Avatar is not only a magnificent display of innovative filmmaking, but it is also a spiritually uplifting and imaginative cinematic experience." and gave it 4 and a half out of 5.
Richard Propes of The Independent Critic gave the film a C+ and complained the movie lacks story, and criticized the film's attention to detail with its CGI, calling it visually exhausting to watch. He called it a forgettable film.
Michelle Alexandria of Eclipse Magazine gave it a C, saying she felt the 3D was not impressive, and said she did not care about the characters or story, and despite that the film is an allegory for real-life genocide, war and the abuse of vulnerable groups, she claimed the story should have been more "cute" and "funny", complaining she felt the story takes itself too seriously. She felt Sam Worthington's performance as Jake was stiff and overall felt Avatar is a "big pile of meh."
One journalist felt "Avatar takes Cameron’s misanthropic perspective to a whole new level of anti-humanism." Humans are also portrayed as overpopulated and destroying the Earth. James Cameron said the Na'vi are supposed to represent the better aspects of humanity (caring for the environment, respecting animals, trying to create a peaceful world, etc). He hopes audiences will aspire to be more like the Na'vi. He denies he is anti-human, saying most audiences have figured this message out, and said people who don't understand this message by now are pseudo-intellectual boneheads. He also mentions the fact that the Avatar films are successful at the box office is evidence people understand the message, and gives him faith in humanity.
Long-time criticism of Avatar has created discourse over the years, such as questioning if the film deserved its financial success. James Cameron did not know that Avatar would become the most financially successful movie of all time, saying, "We didn't see this coming." Cameron believes the success of Avatar is the sum of its parts, and it can not be simplified to a single element such as its 3D or visuals or story. Cameron acknowledges that Avatar tells a fairly simple and easy to understand story, attributing its success to being able to be comprehended, resonating across all age demographics and cultures. He believes certain people's strong emotional response to the film created word-of-mouth, and also said Avatar was meant for women as well. Cameron believes that much of the human race has an inherent connection to feel connected to nature, even if it is a subconscious desire, which many people do not receive.
Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver from a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno.
Dec 18, 2009 · 99+ Photos. Action Adventure Fantasy. A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. Director. James Cameron. Writer. James Cameron. Stars. Sam Worthington. Zoe Saldana. Sigourney Weaver. See production info at IMDbPro. STREAMING. +2.
