 "Photo: MCT Campus")
James Cameron’s Avatar is hanging in the number one spot according to the box office charts on “The Internet Movie Database”.
The film’s main characters include: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, and Michelle Rodriguez. With a staggering cost of just over $280 million Cameron’s ten-year production of Avatar makes it one of the most expensive films ever made.
Originally slated for 1999, Cameron’s Avatar struggled to get off the ground. With the massive amount of special effects Cameron wanted in the film, it was hard to find a studio willing to front the then estimated $400 million price tag.
After being put on hold for just shy of a decade, Avatar has rocked the box office with its stunning scenery and special effects, becoming the fastest film in history to reach one billion in ticket sales, reaching this goal in just seventeen days.
To date, Avatar has grossed $429 million at the box office and has also nabbed four Golden Globe nominations including: Best Director, Best Motion Picture, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. Although the stunning visual effects presented in Avatar boggle even the most avid movie watcher, many question the originality of the films plot. Avatar can be seen as a close comparison to the 1995 Disney movie Pocahontas.
As rumors of the similarities arise, Avatar has been plagued with such comical names as “The Futuristic Pocahontas” and “Pocahontas 3000”.
Although, there is an exceptional time gap between Pocahontas (based in 1607) and Avatar (based in 2154), the messages portrayed in each movie are very similar. Within both of the films there is an underlying theme of destruction through colonialism and the accumulation of wealth.
The settlers in Pocahontas wanted to find gold, whereas a powerful and very resourceful Earth corporation in Avatar was determined to exploit the mineral unobtanium from the fictional planet Pandora. Continuing with this comparison, Pocahontas and Neytiri both strive to help a man see a world full of life, beauty, and peace amidst the destruction of their worlds.
Although Avatar can be described as a “Futuristic Pocahontas”, despite the similarities, violence and war is no match for the strength and willpower of a society that loves their land and home.
12 comments
I think you better double check your numbers.