Movie discussion: Avatar and Avatar 2 (2009-2020)
Today we are going to discuss... Avatar movie! And as you can see we will speak not only about the first one, but also about sequels (Avatar2)! We are expecting to have a few famous guests and lots of exciting facts and details!
PART 1 - Avatar (2009)
- Who is the director, what other movies were directed by him?
- What was so special about Avatar? Why is it considered a successful movie?
- Which part did CGI play in the movie? (check a video interview 1 - 11:30 -12:17)
- What do you think about the plot? Are there any references to other movies or stories?
- Why we love Avatar movie?
Interesting Facts About Avatar (2009)
- Avatars have eyebrows and five digits per hand or foot while the Na’vi only have four and no eyebrows. The Avatars are also broader in the chest and arms, appearing more ‘muscular’.
- To help the actors prepare for their roles, director James Cameron took the cast and crew to Hawaii, where they spent their days trekking through the forests and jungles and living like tribes (building campfires, eating fish, etc), in order to get a better sense of what it would be like to live and move around in the jungle on Pandora, since there would not be any actual jungle sets to aid and guide the actors and crew. Zoe Saldana even dressed up as a warrior during these journeys, complete with an alien tail symbolic of the one her character has in the movie. These hikes were only done during the daytime, though; the cast and crew spent their nights at a Four Seasons hotel.
- “Unobtainium” is a humorous term used mainly in the aerospace industry. It describes a material that is perfect for an application, but does not exist, is extremely expensive, or violates the laws of physics. Its chemical symbol is Uo. “Unobtainium” is also a general concept term used by sci-fi enthusiasts for any fictional substance that is needed to build a certain device that is crucial to the plot of a sci-fi story. “Unobtainium” is featured in the movie The Core (2003), where the earth-boring vessel called the “Virgil” has a hull made from unobtainium to help it withstand the massive pressures inside the Earth’s core. “Unobtainium” is also an anti-gravity element in the online multi-player video game “Skyrates.”
PART 2 - The next episodes - Avatar 2, Avatar 3 discussion
- When it is planned to be released (December 18, 2020). How many episodes?
# Asked about the delays of the releases of the film and its sequels, Cameron stated:
"I wouldn't call them delays. It was highly optimistic that we could start quickly until scripts are written. If there's no scripts, there's nothing, right? ….. We weren't wasting time, we were putting it into tech development and design. So when all the scripts were approved, everything was designed. Every character, every creature, every setting. In a funny way it was to the benefit of the film because the design team had more time to work. . . . Most of the actors, the key principals, have all read all four scripts, so they know exactly what their character arcs are, they know where they're going, they know how to modulate their arc now across the first two films".
# Cameron stated:"Let's face it, if Avatar 2 and 3 don't make enough money, there's not going to be a 4 and 5". David Thewlis later confirmed “they're gonna see if people go and see them, and then they'll make 4 and 5."
- What is known about the plot for future releases? (check a video interview 2 - 0:25 - 2:25)
- Which actors are expected to take part in the next movies?
- What do you expect to see in sequal?
- Is there anything else that Cameron can use to thrill the audience? (check a video interview 3 - 14:55- 17:12)
PART 3 Final questions
- Do you think "Avatar" is the next "Star Wars" or "Lord of the Rings." Or it will be the next "Matrix"
- Speaking about movie success. Can you remember movies that haven't had a big box office, however are popular and considered to be cult movies?
Check our stream recording for Avatar 2 ESL movie discussion
Audio version - download
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