Ah. Asked by generations of Star Trek, Stargate and Star Wars fans, not necessarily in that order. The only SciFi that solved this to my liking is Farscape. And the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
A possible explanation here would be that the Na'vi are speaking their own language, and you hear English because American audiences can't handle subtitles. Then the only question is how does Sam Worthington's character speak Na'vi?
A whole new film language. Before you had to use fake depth cues to make a scene translate to a flat image. Now with 3D you have real depth cues. Cameron has spent years just to figure out this new film language. He hasn't made a less than great film yet! I hope this one holds up. -Karl
Why are they humanoid with four limbs, two eyes and one mouth? Why do their faces make the same relative expressions as ours? Why is there an obvious 2 sex separation? If their atmosphere is unbreathable (as implied by his mask when he gets off the dropship), why is everything except their skin (trees, etc.) the same color as it would be on earth? For that matter, why would gunpowder combust the same way? Why does their gravity seem to be different yet it's still holding them on the planet in the same way? If this is the future, why is everyone speaking an english dialect from the turn of the 21st century? Why are the aliens three-dimensional? Why not four? Aren't they in fact natives and not aliens at all since the story takes place on their planet? Why do they even communicate with sound? Why not smell? WTF WAS THAT? A blue tiger?!? Ahhh!!! RUN!!!!!!!
>> ^Crake: ^Gunpowder contains its own oxidizer I believe, otherwise excellent questions.
Modern weapons will fire underwater and it's a sealed environment anyhow, the casing is air-tight and the whole reaction sends gas outwards so there would be no opportunity for oxygen or any other gas to get to the source of the explosion anyhow.
The story looks fairly cliche as presented in this trailer -- realize you're fighting for the wrong side, epic battle climax. But James Cameron has done some amazing things in the past.
I have been looking forward to this for a long time. James Cameron is always on the cuttin' edge! However, I'm looking forward to the sequel where Pandora become the new free world and the Na'vi open a lucrative casino operation.
>> ^rychan: The story looks fairly cliche as presented in this trailer -- realize you're fighting for the wrong side, epic battle climax. But James Cameron has done some amazing things in the past.
Good point, I hate how modern trailers attempt to give you a complete outline of the entire movie. It's like they assume audiences will avoid the movie unless they know exactly what to expect and can be assured that they will not be surprised by anything.
I have my doubts about this movie, given his last two (Titanic and True Lies). But, just like with George Lucas, I can't help but have so much fondness for his early movies that there's always the lingering hope he'll do something good again.
I think people should stop doubting things based off trailers, they're hardly if ever a true representation of the film, they're just to get you in to the cinema, hell sometimes the things in a trailer aren't even in the movie and I doubt James even cut these trailers together.
When I was listening to James Cameron talk about Avatar at E3, I didn't get the impression this story was going to be cliche. When I saw the trailers for District 9 I thought, "This is pretty cliche, I bet I know exactly where that movie is going" but District 9 turned out quite different to what I expected. The story was still mostly predictable sure but the way it was delivered was new and it was very enjoyable. Stories rarely change, we've been telling the same basic stories for a long time, it's all about the execution.
All I'm getting from this trailer is that every fantasy and sci-fi book I've ever read are being mashed together in to a beautifully realised world and I'd be just as happy watching this whole movie with the sound off, just to live my imagination. I'm terribly excited about this film!
>> ^Drachen_Jager: >> ^Crake: ^Gunpowder contains its own oxidizer I believe, otherwise excellent questions.
Modern weapons will fire underwater and it's a sealed environment anyhow, the casing is air-tight and the whole reaction sends gas outwards so there would be no opportunity for oxygen or any other gas to get to the source of the explosion anyhow.
A barrel full of water means the gun does bugger all though.
See -- the blue aliens are Iraqis and the rocks are oil and the Marines are the US combat troops and their mindset is an extrapolation of the US military policy . . . but it's very very subtle and hard to see.
>> ^StukaFox: See -- the blue aliens are Iraqis and the rocks are oil and the Marines are the US combat troops and their mindset is an extrapolation of the US military policy . . . but it's very very subtle and hard to see.
Also, the blue aliens did FUTURE 9/11!!!
Dammit, how many times do we have to tell you? The blue-green aliens on a backwater planet on the other side of that star system (mostly *from* one of our trade-partner planets) did future 9/11.
Ugh freaky. I'm kinda slow so let me get this straight. The movie goes like this - USA goes to some planet that has good resources but they are inhabited by some blue guys, so USA marines transform to blue guys so they can kill them better and take their resources?
Tags for this video have been changed from 'James Cameron, Pandora, Sam Worthington, navi, space, aliens, mechs, fights, film' to 'James Cameron, Pandora, Sam Worthington, navi, space, aliens, mechs, avatar' - edited by dystopianfuturetoday
>> ^Thumper: >> ^yourhydra: Why would anyone of that size living in a green and brown forest habitat evolve to be blue????
Duh! So they can attract James Cameron to film them...
Many humans are white/orange despite living in green and brown terrain, so camouflage isn't always the most important factor.
If blue pigmentation was associated with greater fitness in some way (e.g. health or dominance) due to some kind of chemical factors, sexual selection alone could create it.
Overall, though, such strong pigmentation has a calorie cost, so it would tend to be lost unless a significant selective pressure was maintained. However, they show a blue monster also, so maybe there's some factor in the environment that causes it more directly.
Stumble This
Why are they speaking English?
Ah. Asked by generations of Star Trek, Stargate and Star Wars fans, not necessarily in that order.
The only SciFi that solved this to my liking is Farscape. And the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
A possible explanation here would be that the Na'vi are speaking their own language, and you hear English because American audiences can't handle subtitles. Then the only question is how does Sam Worthington's character speak Na'vi?
I like it.
-Karl
Why are they speaking English?
Why are they humanoid with four limbs, two eyes and one mouth? Why do their faces make the same relative expressions as ours?
Why is there an obvious 2 sex separation?
If their atmosphere is unbreathable (as implied by his mask when he gets off the dropship), why is everything except their skin (trees, etc.) the same color as it would be on earth? For that matter, why would gunpowder combust the same way?
Why does their gravity seem to be different yet it's still holding them on the planet in the same way?
If this is the future, why is everyone speaking an english dialect from the turn of the 21st century?
Why are the aliens three-dimensional? Why not four? Aren't they in fact natives and not aliens at all since the story takes place on their planet?
Why do they even communicate with sound? Why not smell?
WTF WAS THAT? A blue tiger?!? Ahhh!!! RUN!!!!!!!
This movie sounds like it was written by Nick Griffin.
Cheers, I've replaced the embed with that.
Yahoo!'s embed is good too: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809804784/trailer (also has QuickTime HD MOVs).
Some of the movie scenes gave me flashbacks to Aliens movie!
"This is our land!"
This movie sounds like it was written by Nick Griffin.
Did you even watch the trailer?
This movie sounds like it was written by any indigenous person from North or South America, Australia, Africa, or parts of Asia.
I am definitely looking forward to a sift talk post on the film when it comes out.
^Gunpowder contains its own oxidizer I believe, otherwise excellent questions.
Modern weapons will fire underwater and it's a sealed environment anyhow, the casing is air-tight and the whole reaction sends gas outwards so there would be no opportunity for oxygen or any other gas to get to the source of the explosion anyhow.
I'm more than a little frustrated by this trend.
>> ^ant:
Some of the movie scenes gave me flashbacks to Aliens movie!
You mean like the ones with the same cast members?
The story looks fairly cliche as presented in this trailer -- realize you're fighting for the wrong side, epic battle climax. But James Cameron has done some amazing things in the past.
Good point, I hate how modern trailers attempt to give you a complete outline of the entire movie. It's like they assume audiences will avoid the movie unless they know exactly what to expect and can be assured that they will not be surprised by anything.
I have my doubts about this movie, given his last two (Titanic and True Lies). But, just like with George Lucas, I can't help but have so much fondness for his early movies that there's always the lingering hope he'll do something good again.
When I was listening to James Cameron talk about Avatar at E3, I didn't get the impression this story was going to be cliche. When I saw the trailers for District 9 I thought, "This is pretty cliche, I bet I know exactly where that movie is going" but District 9 turned out quite different to what I expected. The story was still mostly predictable sure but the way it was delivered was new and it was very enjoyable. Stories rarely change, we've been telling the same basic stories for a long time, it's all about the execution.
All I'm getting from this trailer is that every fantasy and sci-fi book I've ever read are being mashed together in to a beautifully realised world and I'd be just as happy watching this whole movie with the sound off, just to live my imagination. I'm terribly excited about this film!
>> ^Crake:
^Gunpowder contains its own oxidizer I believe, otherwise excellent questions.
Modern weapons will fire underwater and it's a sealed environment anyhow, the casing is air-tight and the whole reaction sends gas outwards so there would be no opportunity for oxygen or any other gas to get to the source of the explosion anyhow.
A barrel full of water means the gun does bugger all though.
Why would anyone of that size living in a green and brown forest habitat evolve to be blue????
Duh! So they can attract James Cameron to film them...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/
To me, that will be the only movie worthy of the name "Avatar." Instead they have to call it "The Last Airbender."
Not that I'm expecting that to be as good as the animated series...
Also, the blue aliens did FUTURE 9/11!!!
See -- the blue aliens are Iraqis and the rocks are oil and the Marines are the US combat troops and their mindset is an extrapolation of the US military policy . . . but it's very very subtle and hard to see.
Also, the blue aliens did FUTURE 9/11!!!
Dammit, how many times do we have to tell you? The blue-green aliens on a backwater planet on the other side of that star system (mostly *from* one of our trade-partner planets) did future 9/11.
>> ^yourhydra:
Why would anyone of that size living in a green and brown forest habitat evolve to be blue????
Duh! So they can attract James Cameron to film them...
Many humans are white/orange despite living in green and brown terrain, so camouflage isn't always the most important factor.
If blue pigmentation was associated with greater fitness in some way (e.g. health or dominance) due to some kind of chemical factors, sexual selection alone could create it.
Overall, though, such strong pigmentation has a calorie cost, so it would tend to be lost unless a significant selective pressure was maintained. However, they show a blue monster also, so maybe there's some factor in the environment that causes it more directly.