Unobtanium is basically Cameron’s version of Miyazaki’s laputa floaty stone. 
Hell, Avatar to me is kind of like Cameron’s super 3D version of a number of Miyazaki anime films. Good film, and a must to see in a theatre (I’d opt for the 3D, because that was stunning and such a fun experience), but a (visually stunning, storywise I think less successful) derivative.
ETA: Audra’s just been watching Flight of the Conchords, huh?
I watched a couple Avatar: Last Airbenders. Cameron took, like, A LOT of liberties with the story.*
I’d agree that there are a lot of protagonists (note that I’m not saying “heroes”) in movies, TV, books, and comics who are similar to the Colonel. The first one that comes to mind is Richard Rahl from the Sword of Truth books. The guy is committed to keeping his people safe from a pretty bad guy. He does this by going around slaughtering pacifists and non-combatants who are under the other guy’s rule. That doesn’t make him admirable, and IMO it doesn’t make him a hero.
Anyway, listening to this podcast made me cry at work remembering how pretty the movie was. I wonder if I can squeeze one more viewing out of the husband…
Thaks for the info. I still think that there should be more of a reason than it’s worth billions. Can’t wait to see it again, in IMAX.
Glad to see Avatar getting some love, it almost makes up for my friend who I saw it with craaaaaping on the movie for 30 minutes non-stop right after we saw it. 
Oh. My. Gods!!!
Sean was right!!!
You laugh, but because I hadn’t looked into it at all, I went almost to the end of November thinking that was exacTly what the movie was going to be about.
Great podcast guys! A few thoughts…
Saw Avatar and was completely blown away! Visuals were like nothing I’ve ever seen before, really exciting stuff. Holy crap the colors alone are enough to go back and take it all in again. Plot has many “Cameronesque” elements - mechs, evil corporate characters, etc- but I like that stuff. MUST be seen in the theater to fully appreciate the 3Dness of it all. And I agree, regular arrows aren’t that scary, but arrows that are 7 feet long and 2" in diameter…very scary.
Iron Eagle rocks, loved the movie as a kid. Made me think we could all jump into an F16 and save the day under the right circumstances. I always did think that a major flaw in Doug’s plan was parking the plane on the runway, going to fetch his dad, and coming back out expecting to find an intact plane still there. A bit of poor planning IMO.
Chuck…Masterchiefing it? really? This might just be too much of a stretch for me. Team Audra is looking pretty good! Go team big lip alien!
Haven’t seen DTESS yet but plan on watching the old and new soon. Keep up the great work.
d
ACtually, I remember this song from the movie, Highlander (which also has a heavy Queen soundtrack) - 'twas the scene where the army/vigilante guys comes across the Kurgan.
Audra, you’ve hit the jackpot when you said that stories like Avatar educate audiences about problem-solving! The Grand Argument Story is the cornerstone of Dramatica theory - which is the story paradigm that I subscribe to. 
Not to derail the thread too much, but at one point the New York Islanders changed their logo to what is not commonly known as “Fishsticks”:
Due to the obvious similarities to the the Gorton Fisherman. This of course, begs for this image:
“So, you like fishsticks?”
^ Lol!
Great cast guys.
I saw Avatar and I loved it. Seeing it in 3D was great.
I don’t believe it was ever said what the unobtainium did. Only that it was worth a ton of money. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter what it does. It’s the macguffin of the film.
I’m with Sean about the 2010 movie making me want to say two thousand. But, I’m gonna say twenty-ten. If by some freak accident I live that long, I wanna be able to sing twenty-ninety-nine (for 1999) instead of two thousand ninety-nine. d:
I thought Brandon Routh had the Superman look. Dean Cain I thought was alright, but meh. I know I’ll get in trouble for saying this, but I think Tom Welling is the next best personification of Superman after Christopher Reeves. His hair and looks says Superman to me.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Wolverine fairly hirstute in the comics and cartoons? I’m not saying he’s on Beast’s level, but he can give Robin Williams a run for his money.
Wow, Sean does a great Wookie impression.
I can see where Chuck is coming from on the Delorean. I wouldn’t mind either if I had the cash. My dream car is the KITT from the 3rd season of the original 80’s Knight Rider. The one that popped out wings and crap from nowhere when it went into Turbo Boost. But, I could be satifisfied having that model car too though.
My question for Chuck is when is he getting a Bumble Bee Camaro? ^^
When I saw the floating mountains, I thought of Laputa: Castle in the Sky. But, yeah I pondered the water for 2 seconds, then let it go.
I have mixed feelings about the marine commander. Because I’ve seen so many series and movies like SG-1 and Transformers where the military are portrayed as the good guys, I don’t see him as evil. He’s on a mission. His planet needs this mineral and he’s been told to get it. And, he’s doing what he needs to do to successfuly complete that mission. Anyone who is in the way of that becomes a traitor to him, or at least unnecessary for the mission. And, I get that.
The point, to me, where he solidly becomes the bad guy is when he’s given a choice. He can admit defeat and leave peacefully when it becomes obvious he had lost, or fight out of spite. And, he chose spite.
Thank you Chuck for pointing out they are mercenaries with military training rather than being soldiers sent from a gvernment!! I did not catch that.
Speaking of seamlessly merging CG with real live actors, there were times I saw close ups of Sam Worthinton’s human face (not his legs though they looked convincing too) and wondered whether he was CG.
Sean got his blue boob report in. (: Btw, it’s rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language, and some smoking. So, you never know if Cameron had debated with the MPAA rating people about some shots. d:
All the bleeping during Chuck’s part of the Fantasy discussion makes him sound like he’s been drinking. Chuck, Fantasy play responsibly. Audra and Sean, friends don’t let friends Fantasy League drunk. Just putting that out there.
I loved Iron Eagle as a teenager, but I can’t remember One Vision. Not my typical music preference. I remembered it after a youtube search though. d: Nice choice.
Good lord, I’m dying at you guys talking about Buck Rogers costumes.
Come on, Sean. We understood “Party member.” d:
I’m not sure I agree with Audra about people being cynical. After Balloon Boy and the ATHF fake bomb scare in Boston, there’s still plenty gullibility to be had. Although, it took me a few minutes to believe Michael Jackson died when I first heard it. Depends on the news I suppose.
Good lord, I had a lot to say about this podcast. Sorry guys.
You said it better than I did.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who made the Laputa connection.
Haha! “The film was originally titled “Avatar: the Last Airbender”, after the TV show it was based on. However, James Cameron and 20th Century Fox had already registered the film title “Avatar”, so the word was dropped from the title to avoid confusion.”
From: Trivia for The Last Airbender (2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/trivia
I watched The Day the Earth Stood Still for the first time a couple nights ago.
Totally fascinating. The kind of movie that you could think about and discuss forever.
It’s truly a classic in that in remains compelling today I think.
I’m looking forward to seeing the Keanu version. The actor who played Klatuu in the old version seems to have a kinda a Keanu vibe about him, yes?
Welcome aboard, CrimsonRavage.
Speaking of Queen + Classic Sci fi, here’s the “Radio Ga Ga” clip, set to Metropolis footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUr1pSWTVI
(embedding disabled)
I enjoyed Avatar a lot, but agree that not every movie should jump on the 3 D bandwagon. How great was it to see Sigourney Weaver though? I loved her character in the film.
My two boys, who are 6 and 8, were absolutely enthralled by the movie. My 6 year old never sits still for anything, and yet he didn’t move for the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes of Avatar. Not even one bathroom break. Go figure. Later in the day I heard them playing “Avatar” outside. 
There was a question in the podcast wondering how much was shot vs created with CG. I found an interview on Luxology.com (makers of a 3D modeling application) with David Stripinis who was involved with the making of Avatar and it turns out that everything on Pandora that wasn’t a human was completely CG. Every single thing.
Thanks for the link and welcome to the forum Andrew, Reg and Crimson!
I just finished listening. Was a bit dry with a lot of technical aspects which were over my head, but it was a good listen nonetheless.
Edit: Btw, I’d love to see it again in Imax, but $12 is a bit steep for me. I do agree we’ll never get the same effect once it leaves the theater and goes to Blu-ray, and I find that unfortunate.