I dislike how distinctly un-alien the planet is. It's just a slightly jazzed up Earth. I also dislike how distinctly human the Na'vi are. The fun of using aliens and setting it on another planet is to actually make it alien. If you're just going to have forests of trees with green leaves, and a tribe of blue Felis Sapiens, why not just set it on Earth and use native Americans instead.

Oh, yeah. I know why. Because then there'd be a law suit.

But whether or not I see it is not even a question. It's a James Cameron film. Seems like a massive missed opportunity to make something actually interesting, though.

The movie looks very cool. The plot though is hardly innovative and frankly boring (how often do we really need to see a story about greedy White Euro/Americans trying to wipe out a noble savage group only to be stopped by one of the invaders going native? Is there anyone who can't name at least three movies with exactly the same theme right off the top of their head?).

I still want to see it.

have to admit it looks a heck of a lot better.

Yeah, this is going to be a blockbuster for sure, but Cameron -- Please... before I die, give me what I have wanted since the day I saw ALIENS when I was a kid -- A follow-up to ALIENS with the Colonial Marines stopping by the Xenomorph Homeworld to get some payback for Apone and the boys.... PLEEEEASEEEE

I like big battles, but they can leave the posteriors out of it. We got enough of that in Braveheart.

Looks very interesting and I love the alien Na'vi. I'm on their side.
The only problem I have is 3D. It hurts my eyes and gives me a headache. Always has.

"Outstanding!"

Looks incredibly boring, cliche, predictable and unimaginative. Earthlike world, painfully earthlike "aliens" that look more like they've come from world of warcraft, its like Cameron's gone out of his way to tick all the cliche boxes and put it into a film that looks like an xbox game. Just another reason to stick to books...back to Star Maker I think..

Dances with Aliens!
The plot classic, The American self guilt would be appropriate. except that all were really doing on a cultural level is boosting our own egos for how much compassionate we have. If we really were as compassionate as we would like to believe, we would spend a lot more on assistance to the reservations. All arguments on the issue aside, There really does need to be a lot more done.
Maybe the next one of these heart felt movies released should donate half the profits toward helping the native Americans we have left.

Poll-
Which do you think I'd have better luck at-
--- Breathing in the alien atmosphere without a respirator.
OR
--- Holding my breath until there's real compassion.

It seems that you American's can't escape the black hole of your own unearned guilt. Damn cultural apologists like James Cameron want you all living in the savage era (interestingly using one of the most hi-tech means of getting the message across; Cinema. A concept that is only profitable because of American ingenuity hmmm).

On the Internet you can't fulfill 100% of the desires of 100% of the people at any time.

It’s a longer trailer than what we’ve seen previously, and reveals much more of the story, which, once you watch it and think about it, is really just another imperialist tale with the usual white male hero – but a futuristic version (in 3-D too), not all that different from films like "The Last Samurai," "Dances With Wolves," and others

Firstly, I can understand the general consensus that this seems like yet 'another' spin on a particular genre setting of characters and scenarios that we have seen played out time and time again. However, if one looks at seemingly every movie which has come to fruition with-in the last decade or so, most if not all of them have followed this formulae. To put it simply, sticking with what works.

However, with Avatar, I feel most are taking the time to pick it apart frame by frame, character by character, while forgetting that at it's heart it is, as with almost all of Cameron's films, a story about people, making choices that seem simple on the outside, but become far more complext as we delve deeper into those characters and their motivations. As to the setting not being original enough, or too Earth-Like? Forgive me if the following seems like an attack, but those comments are sorely ignorant or, at the least, terribly one sided. As an example, I'll point to the Discovery channel's mini-series released just two years ago dubbed 'Alien Planet'. In the mini series, respected members of multiple fields of science including Biologists, Xeno-biologists, Palentologists, Botonists, etc, came together to assemble what an Alien planet, a complete and foriegn eco-system, might look like. This was done weighing in multiple variables including plaentary rotation, type of Star, distance from Lunar bodies, etc. And, in point of fact, the world depicted in Alien Planet bares many similarities to Pandora. The simple fact of the matter is, one can not be one hundred percent sure what a true non human planet will look like, nor it's native denizens. One can bring to bare percentages and variables, but in the end the universe is full of surprises, as is the process of evolution. Is there a species out there that bares a stricking resemblance to the Na'vi. There could be a chance the answer is yes.

In closing, Cameron's Avatar is, at it's heart, the classic Heroes journey. From humble beggining and simple ambition, to changing the very course of a people's destiny or history itself. I feel people have become so lost from the ability to simply enjoy that time honored tale that they chose instead to pick it apart and bring in comparisons to mistakes made during the expansion of America. If it is indeed Camerons wish to couple this metaphor with the heroes journey, than so be. However, one need not see and enjoy this film with that in mind. I ask, that for those of you who choose to see the film, watch it as you would as a young man or women, marveling at a incredible adventure set in a world far beyond our own, but not so different that we can not see through the eyes of those who call it home.

HOLY FRAK!

"Star Trek: Insurrection" anyone?

It's all very pretty, but its absolutely nothing we haven't already seen many times before. The aliens, the planet, the ships, the story...all done by Star Trek or Star Wars somewhere down the line. Perhaps this proves once and for all that Cameron really is just a semi-talented hack who got lucky.

Actually, on the Internet you can't fulfill 100% of the desires of any percentage of the people at any time.

Above_22 makes several good points, particularly the last sentence. In any story, the setting can not be so alien that the characters no longer register on our emotions. If it was truly alien, we would neither understand it nor empathize with it, thereby reducing its effect to a mere intellectual exercise.
CapitalistPhil: I disagree. I don't think Cameron or (almost) anyone else wants us to return to a life in the jungle. What they do want is for us to stop talking about compassion and actually start doing something to rectify the situation, and most importantly stop continuing to act that way. That doesn't mean stop using technology, it means doing like we tell our children and own up to our mistakes, treat people ethically, and try to make up for the damage that we have done. Does this mean living like the people we have wronged? No. Does it mean paying out huge sums to anyone whose ancestors were wronged? No, it simply means following the Golden Rule, treat people like you want to be treated.

Micronot: better start learning to breath that toxic air.

Yes much better and it will open the door for more audiance appeal. The first one was a bit scetchy and alot of people I spoke to about it did not show any interest, but this will change now

Eye candy, but boring.

Everyone else already pointed out all the other stories we have had, of high tech warmongers and resource greedy invaders versus the peaceful natives just trying to protect their backward ass culture from oblivion.

the nerd ragers who have no talent in anything besides complaining and wont be seeing a 10 dollar movie who thinks hes entittled to so much is getting worst then even IO9 on this blog...

i like these kinds of stories so shut up already. if u can't afford to pay 10 bucks for an amazing movie visually then shut the hell up and play ur dnd, maybe give praise to retarded movies like cloverfield

A better trailer, now it looks like is actually has a story that might overcome the poor video game CGI.

Does anyone know the name of the song playing at the beginning?

This movie is going to rock! Wow! What an incredible trailer. I can't wait to see this on big screen,

:)

Wow, preachy much? Methinks Cameron hath lost his atrtistic subtlety.

Whoops, I meant "ARTISTIC." GAHH!

WHAT artistic subtlety?

google: Battle for Terra. same premise.

The reason the Na'vi look human is because if they made them look too alien it would be difficult to empathize with them. And as for Pandora not looking alien enough? Looks pretty alien to me. Eye of the beholder, I guess.

Much much better than the teaser, this I actually wanna see on a big screen.

bah, typically defensive conservative sci-fi attitudes I see, gimme a break with all that "empathize/relatable" BS.

and "difficult" to empathise with ? well guess what, sci-fi isnt meant to be easy, its meant to be challenging and difficult, thats partly the point of it in the first place.

@classy,

Cloverfield sucked too. And to quote Hal Clement ;

"Writing a science fiction story is fun, not work. ... the fun... lies in treating the whole thing as a game. ... the rules must be quite simple. They are; for the reader of a science-fiction story, they consist of finding as many as possible of the author's statements or implications which conflict with the facts as science currently understands them. For the author, the rule is to make as few such slips as he possibly can ... Certain exceptions are made [e.g., to allow travel faster than the speed of light], but fair play demands that all such matters be mentioned as early as possible in the story..."

put simply, its fun to be critical because it makes one think about things, so get off your high-horse.

Pandora looks just like Earth? I didn't realize Earth had giant rock islands floating in the sky.

This is a story I've seen before. Just dances with wolves in a jungle w/ floating islands in the sky. But, Sully is sooo much hotter than kevin costner.

Look this movie is going to have the same response as Transformers 2. It doesnt matter how crappy it is, everyone who likes and hates will watch it, it'll be big around the world like transformers simply put most countries can only afford to put out a movie like this once every few to several years, while we can afford movies like this yearly.
I like the story fine if it was a game, ive read better, and seen better stories.

@Whateverdude your right, its eye candy, they put a lot of money into this eye candy, its no surprise they didnt put much thought into the story. But hopefully in some form or another, the actors will do the best they can with what they got.
@classy
a story like this could be found in many other stories, games and movies, meaning any nerd, or narrow minded person such as yourself couldve been hired looked around their game collection and written it and got paid big bucks. You like it great, you want to say shut up, whatever, but oh no like me I dont think your words shut anyone up.
@ CapitalistPhil dude, get over it. All countries make movies milking their own personal history for profit, each one with a different story. But all with the same goal, profit, thats something countries and businesses and people all around want. Profits, more money, and they'll exploit their own strength flaws to get it.
@Palodin03
The music in the beginning of this trailer, is the same music that was used in The Time Machine (Remake) With Guy Pierce. It's a score. The name escapes me because I personally don't like it, its too Lion Kingish for me. However just look up Time Machine 2001 soundtrack or original score.

I saw about 20 minutes of footage at the ADOBE MAX conference about a month ago. The audience was completely enthralled. The CGI was seamless - you really couldn't tell the computer generated effects from the practical effects. And the 3-D was easily the best ever produced. This movie is going to redefine how films are produced and shot -- and you'll want to go see it multiple times.

Lucas covered the topic in a more entertaining manner! Ewoks Rock!!!!!

How many more times do we need to see a movie about the perils of displacing a native lifeform so that we can exploit their ecosystem without feeling bad about ourselves?

Maybe until we stop doing it ?

If you think we have, talk to the Florida Panther... if you can find one...

I guess the marketing guys said, "But what's it all about?" Viola! The dumbed down version for morons who raised their collective hands and said, "I don't get it."

Nyarlathotep, sorry, my bad. Had I realized you were the final arbiter of all things science fiction I would've consulted you before posting my misguided comments.

Seriously, dude, the last line of your post is "get off your high horse." Does the word "projection" mean anything to you?

I think it looks great. The reason we all love the story of going native is because, deep down, we all want a more simple life that doesn't revolve around house payments and 40 hour weeks. I don't know about you guys, but I think I will go see it, and hope that one day someone will get the hint (that has been given over and over) to wake up and get out of the American Self Depression and DO something about it. Great Job, Cameron!
@Classy
I do play D&D. Its fun. But who needs to complain about a movie BEFORE they have seen it? That's like saying, "What you do sucks, Classy. Go do something I like."