Worlds Apart - Avatar

Avatar - 2009

Director - James Cameron

Every now and again there is an event in cinema history that gets you so exited that you almost forget the real world for a couple of hours. Avatar was one of those events and so justified was the exitement, this film more than lived up to its hype. Soon into the film you are transported into a world (Pandora) not of our sol where a colony of humans are mining a valuable ore called Unobtainium and in the process destroying the planets flora and forna. The humans in this case are the alien occupiers of this world and not too popular with the intellegent but less technologically advanced indigenous population, who are at one with nature and see their planets life as sacred. The plot takes an obvious journey but is incredibly well executed as battle commences and loyalties are torn between fighting for your race and for what is morally right.

The real joy in watching this film is in the worlds design and how well it looks, "The effects of Avatar are certainly something to see" says The Gaurdian . It's like a place that could really exist. There is so much thought that has gone into the whole evolution and ego systems. The forna of the planet have much in common (like our own world) that makes everything just look like it belongs in the same place. On Earth most larger land animals are quadrapeds and have a similar design. Likewise on Pandora there is a uniform idea that runs through the land animals in that they all have six legs giving (from an evolutionary point of view) that they are from a source of thier own.

The landscapes of Pandora are also so beautifully made "It’s hard to fault ‘Avatar’ as an immersive visual experience." says Time Out. Mostly digital sets but with a sense of realism that's never been seen on the silver screen before and The Times agrees and says the world is "made to look like nothing we’ve seen before." Right from the forests to the floating mountains being held by the magnetism of the planet we are in awe of the splender of a world that you would personally love to explore. Lurking in the lower atmosphere can be seen other planets that give an instant feeling that it is completely alien. There is no way this film could have been realised without C.G.  Nowhere on Earth could have even made a poor excuse of being Pandora.