Avatar Day proves that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover

Posted Monday, August 24, 2009 at 1:21 PM Central

by John Couture

As someone who's seen the inside of a McDonald's more than the inside of a gym, I can certainly attest to the merits of that statement. But all my self-loathing aside, James Cameron's Avatar is movie that can only be experienced on the big screen, preferably on IMAX 3D.

Let's be frank. Come December when Avatar bows in theaters, the IMAX ticket is going to cost you $20. But, I can guarantee you that it will be the best $20 you ever spent at the theater.

I was one of those fortunate souls (although to be fair tickets were easy to come by in the "flyover states") that secured free tickets to Avatar Day. When I got the tickets on Monday, I was like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, I was the "king of the world." By Friday after the teaser trailer leaked on to the Internet, I felt more like those poor musicians plying their trade until the bitter, icy end.

So, I went into the screening with a mixed bag of feelings, but determined to give the movie a fair shake. What I saw was something that can only be described as game-changing. Will the movie be perfect? No, there is no movie that could ever live up to the mantle of perfection.

But, it's got all of the wonderful elements that make movies timeless and discussed ad nauseam for years to come. The standout of the presentation of course was the 3D landscape that was so lush and realistic that it truly made you feel as though you had traveled to this planet and were immersed in the action.

The footage helped to lay the groundwork for the epic story that James Cameron is trying to tell. Is it a new story? Not in the least, but it certainly hits on all of the main archetypal ideas that make Sci-Fi/Fantasy movies so accessible and exciting.

In many ways, I think Cameron is pulling from Aliens in the storyline, but throwing a unique curve ball to the mix that they only touched upon in the following Alien movies. What if Ripley became an alien and could learn to sympathize with them and see the invading humans for what they are.

To be frank, it's basically Independence Day, but in this case, humans are the aliens trying to conquer a different world. That's at least the feel that I got from the footage that I saw, but since all of the footage was taken from the first half of the movie, it's hard to tell exactly what tricks Jim has up his sleeve.

As for the Twitter response, it seems that I'm not the only one who came away with a renewed sense of optimism for Avatar after seeing the extended scenes.

@SDMoviePro avatar is going to be amazing! Avatar day made me wish i could watch the whole movie. Can't wait for December!

@Aguyandhisfilms Off to review Avatar Day. It was Awsome the trailer doesn't do it justice

@jackuffer117 AVATAR DAY WAS AWSOME!!

@carlodasilva was blown away the 15 minutes of 3D footage shown on Avatar day.

@jimmye1 saw 16 minutes of Avatar the other day and it was awesome if you like really angry tall smurfs with fangs in 3D...it was a lot like Titanic.

Not sure if that last was being sarcastic or not, but I had to include it as I also thought that the aliens looked a lot like Smurfs on PEDs. At the of the day, I will see this movie when it comes out, even if it does become the Ishtar of this generation.

Did you go to Avatar Day? If so, what was your impressions? I've included the trailer below for posterity.