avatar12

I’m so bummed. I didn’t get any presents or cards for “Avatar Day.” I’m being silly. Actually, I didn’t get to see the free footage because there wasn’t a theater close enough (and I had concert tickets to Journey and Heart).

So I did the next best thing. I raided various blogs and read a lot of comments from people who saw the 15 minutes of James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Like every other movie in history, some people liked what they saw and some didn’t.

The most surprising thing I discovered was that most theaters weren’t full of people, despite all the people who wanted tickets and couldn’t get them.

Here are some of the mixed reactions I found on comment boards (unedited):

From IGN:

“It is HYPE. I saw it with my own eyes. The 3D is blurry and hurts the eyes. The two main Naavi look real, but nothing else really does.”

“The experience was incredible and left EVERYONE speechless. Afterwards everyone kind of just hung out talking about the feeling.”

“Finally, finally CGI has reached the point where something looks like solid matter. I couldn’t believe how real everything was. I am not exaggerating.”

“It is HYPE. I saw it with my own eyes. The 3D is blurry and hurts the eyes. The two main Naavi look real, but nothing else really does. I agree that the Fanboys are ruining this. I saw the extended footage TWICE, in IMAX with 70MM film. I sat in two different sections of the theater each time. The film DOES NOT live up to the hype. There was a profound silence at the end of both showings I attended. That was the sound of people being let down and realized they worked their asses off for little pay off.”

From /Film:

“Seeing the 15 minutes of footage yesterday reminded me of when I first saw Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park. It is groundbreaking and the bar has been raised.”

“Just got back from an hour drive. Holy crap it was amazing. Yes the effects looked a bit iffy in the trailer but that was all changed on the big screen. Yes it’s a game changer and yes it was amazing!”

“i was really excited and hyped for this movie and really want to like it, so im not a hater, but…well, after seeing the 15 minute preview, i’m way less excited now. i was disappointed with the trailer from yesterday, and am generally against the idea that “oh, you have to see the movie in 3d to really appreciate it.” if it’s not good without 3d, then it’s probably not going to be a good movie period, plus the whole 3d thing looks really gimmicky, and cameron has basically said that.”

“It’s probably going to be great, but groundbreaking? No. Worth the wait? Definitely not.”

See the “Avatar” trailer here.

Did You Enjoy this Post? Subscribe to Hollywood Hills on Facebook, Twitter, & Email