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Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana as her digital character Neytiri in a scene from the film Avatar - Source: Reuters
James Cameron's long-awaited Avatar, one of the most expensive
films ever made, takes off this week in an awe-inspiring display of
Hollywood power that has revolutionized cinematic special
effects.
At a cost of about $550 million to make and market Avatar, the
Oscar-winning director of Titanic has created a lush world of dense
forest, floating mountains and tremendous creatures in a
computer-generated spectacular that transforms much of the cast
into giant, blue-skinned humanoids.
The movie, which premiered in London on Thursday and begins landing
in theatres worldwide next week, represents a huge risk for the
20th Century Fox studio that backed it and is being watched closely
in Hollywood for its impact on the future of movies, special
effects and expansion of new 3D technology.
"It's absolutely cinema, but I think cinema redefines itself every
few years with new techniques," Cameron told reporters in Paris
before the film's launch.
Beyond dazzling audiences with visual effects that plunge the
viewer onto the planet Pandora 4.4 light years from Earth, Avatar
provides a familiar mix of romance, action movie thrills and an
old-fashioned battle between good and evil.
"The more fantastic the subject ... the more recognizable and
universal, the relationships and people need to be," Cameron
said.
Avatar shows the forest-dwelling Na'vi fighting for survival
against a rapacious colonial mining operation bent on moving them
away and stripping their planet.
A crippled ex-Marine is chosen to make contact with the mysterious
people as an avatar, a remotely controlled body, which allows him
to move freely in the alien world where he falls in love with a
Na'vi princess.
Science fiction technology
What makes Avatar stand out, however, is the appearance of its
three-dimensional forest scenery and the seamless interaction of
the human cast with the animated world.
Rigging his actors with specially developed cameras to register
every gesture and facial expression as they moved about a bare
stage, Cameron and his technical team blended their images into the
computer-generated world of Pandora.
"The science fiction of the technology was more science fiction
than the story," said Sigourney Weaver, star of Cameron's film
Aliens, who plays a scientist in Avatar.
"You're aware that a lot of work is going on around you, but you,
the actor, just have the responsibility of being in the moment and
being in the world," she said.
Cameron, who created many of the special effects with Lord of The
Rings director Peter Jackson's studio WETA Digital, said the most
daunting problem was to ensure the effects did not overwhelm the
film and disconnect audiences from the story.
But in Hollywood, performances matter less than results at the box
office, and the film industry is closely watching Avatar for its
impact on film costs and the expanding of 3D technology.
For Fox, a unit of News Corp, the movie represents a huge risk
because typically big-budget movies have a fan base from books or
other material, like the Harry Potter movies.
Avatar has no built-in audience, and its effects are costly.
A Fox spokesman said it required $326 million to make and $206
million to promote.
When Cameron made Titanic for Fox, he drew sharp criticism for its
high cost, but the 1997 film made $2.4 billion at global box
offices and remains the highest-grossing film of all time.
Last month, Fox studio boss Jim Gianopulos said he had no doubt of
making a profit.
If Avatar is a big success in 3D, industry watchers expect more
theatres to install the new technology quickly and more directors
to make movies in the medium.
Early reviews are strong.
Show business newspaper The Hollywood Reporter called it a jaw-dropping wonder.
