>>63790914
>Is this movie unoriginal

Yes.

>different story elements from varied sources

The whole industry is based on this.

>>63790914
DUDE POCAHONTAS LMAO

It's literally Dances with Wolves in space with aliens

>>63790914
I defy you to find a sci-fi/fantasy story that isn't inspired by something else.

>>63790979
You mean like Star Wars was literaly The Hidden Fortress in space with aliens?

>>63791082
I just think the movie may be getting unfair criticism in this camp.

>>63790914
The difference being that this took a pre-established story and adapted it to a new universe with original elements whereas star wars took a pre-established story and applied it to the same universe that the story originally came from.

>>63790979
>Ulysses is literally The Odyssey in 1904 Dublin

POCAHONTAS AND ALIENS

>>63790914
I liked Avatar more than I liked Star Wars.

>>63791588
Why? Other than it's 3D gimmick, there is nothing interesting about Avatar. It looks good. That's it.

Something I took from this movie when I saw it and that I haven't read anywhere is that it takes the typical alien invasion plot but with the roles reversed.
In alien invasion movies, like the ones from the 50s, it's very often stated that the aliens are invading because their own planet is dying, they are just trying to survive. But the movies rarely go deeper into this problem, they don't seem to want the aliens to be seen as tragic or sympathetic, like their survival is just an excuse for the plot; they are simply the villains and when they get defeated it is treated as a happy ending, and if one of the aliens changes sides to the humans (betraying its own species in the process) it becomes a "good guy". Movies like these always felt off to me.
So "Avatar" is like an alien invasion movie but with the humans as the aliens and the aliens as the humans. Even their atempts at negotiating with the na'vis through the avatars can be seen as an equivalent to aliens sending one of their messagers diguised as a human or a human who is being mind controled, just to be rejected because the invaded won't give in to the terms of the invaders.
It was interesting that the movie was critizised for not siding with the humans and for the main character being a traitor.

If the sequels ever get made I wish they would intentionally play with expectations about who to root for and on what terms, like a reverse E.T. where a human kid gets lost in Pandora and a group of Na'vis try to help him and are deemed traitors by their comunity in the process.

>>63791320
Yes. Joyce was a hack, everyone knows that.

>>63790914
It sucks. Blue Pocahontas in space, its not a meme its the truth. Don't fall for the jimposters

>>63791698
better story, visuals, acting, direction, and tone than star wars

It's a glib fascimile of Dances woth Wolves

>>63790914
Cameron said he took the idea from the John Carter novels.

>>63790914
It's unoriginal, yes; but it also doesn't work.

>>63793404
Pochantas is not a better story than a father's redemption, there aren't enough characters not covered in slabs of CGI to count acting in Avatar, and the visuals are boring.

>>63793404
>better story

Wrong. Avatar story was terrible and a rip off of several other movies,

>visuals

About the only thing that MIGHT be better. Still Star Wars is top tier as well

>acting

No. No CGI characters are going to have better acting

>direction

Debatable. Star Wars the better overall movie.

>tone

Star Wars wins this many times over. Never root against your own species.

>>63791132
Yeah but keep in mind that "Dances with Wolves" type stories have been done a thousand times.

>>63796542
Our of curiosity, before or since? The only other example I always hear is [Disney's] Pocahontas.

>>63797700
Off the top of my head:
The Last of the Mohichans
The Last Samurai
District 9
Lawrence of Arabia

>>63799030
speaking of which it is therefore funny that district 9 is considered good

>>63799030
>District 9
How fitting, I remember that movie being compared to Avatar in some aspects back in the day.