Today was Avatar Day, in which IMAX theaters around the country showed a 16 minute preview of James Cameron’s upcoming epic 3D film about aliens and humans interacting on an exotic planet. If you were one of the lucky ones to get into this free screening, you got to see part of the culmination of Cameron’s work over the last decade on the over $200 million project.
I was able to attend the showing in Irvine, and I was surprised that the theater was not full (I’d say may two-thirds). Those that were there seemed to be very excited to see the clips, however. We were not disappointed. The scenes shown were a good cross section of the imagery and story throughout the film. I’m not much of a fantasy guy, but I really got into it. Despite the bright colors and exotic scenery, the experience felt real. The CGI acting of Sam Worthington as Jake, the main character, was no small part of that realism. I loved his character. This is definitely a film you want to see on the big screen, though the 3D made some of the frenetic action scenes hard to see clearly. Otherwise, the 3D was subtle but really did add a lot depth to the world of Avatar.
Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine on the planet Pandora who, as an Avatar – a human mind in an alien body – finds himself in a desperate fight for his survival and that of the indigenous beings called Na’vi. (Description via Firstshowing.net)
For those that missed Avatar Day, check out the teaser trailer released yesterday on Apple:
For those who also got to attend a showing for Avatar Day, what did you think of the footage? Leave a comment below! Avatar opens nationwide in IMAX 3D on December 18, 2009.