Avatar (2009)

Written by: James Cameron
Directed by: James Cameron
Reviewed by: Dmitrij Polukarov

Review Topic:  Concept Design of the Environment and it's Connection to the Story

Avatar is a story about an ex-soldier named Sully,who replaces his deceased brother's place in a diplomatic program to befriend a race called Na'vi on the planet Pandora in order to geographically be able to get a rare mineral under the village where Na'vi reside.

The movie in itself has the phenomenal level of quality in the design and concept of the nature on Pandora. The movie is made with the help of green-screened filming combined with CG arts. The most powerful visual accent would still side with the CG side of the movie.

"Like "Star Wars" and "LOTR," "Avatar" employs a new generation of special effects. Cameron said it would, and many doubted him. It does. Pandora is very largely CGI."
                                                                                                                           - Roger Ebert

The scenes with a strong visual concept would be: The Jungle,Na'vi's village/The Tree,Flying Halelujah mountains.

The Jungle is done with a high level of creativity. All the plants,trees and creatures have their own unique characteristics and structures. The ambient and flamboyant illumination has created a mystical feeling around the jungle. Especially during night time when some of the plants glow in the dark with soft purple-white-green ambiance.

"The computerized creation that is Pandora overflows with beauty and terror." 

                                                                                                                - Peter Travers

The Tree where the Na'vi reside is a grand structure inside a tree. The whole structure is designed in a spiral form making the tree a giant skyscraper with it's own unique network system. It has several levels,dedicated to their purpose and go below the ground.

Halelulujah mountains are floating mountains in the sky,due to the magnetic field of the Unobtanium below it. They're made with a slight connection to the ground with vines and smaller floating rocks. These mountains were made with an inspiration from the Chinese mountains.

In overall the film is done top notch and with high quality CG. The created world might resemble something from the real world,but it's still created in an original and unique format that is practicably eye candy for the audience.

"Parallels with history and current events are obvious enough, but it's Cameron's fabulous, far-fetched moonscape: vast, beautiful and meticulously detailed, a near-seamless blend of live-action and digitized footage that blasts us across the galaxy - and blows our minds." 


                                                                                                                       - Amy Biancolli