James Cameron interview with info about Re-release and more...

[kewnya txamew'itan]

IMHO Tsu'tey fell way too far from Wainfleet's position, for this to have happened the way it was written.

I'm not sure if you're saying the fall was too far or that he'd have landed too far from Wainfleet.

If the former, you've got to remember that Pandora has significantly lower gravity and thicker atmosphere which, combined with a tall and dense forest could possibly cushion his fall enough for him to survive particularly seeing as Tsu'Tey's probably better at the leaf-falling trick than Jake when uninjured so could probably do it about as well as Jake's first attempt when injured (also remember that the bullet wounds wouldn't be as severe as they would for a human as the na'vi have the naturally occurring carbon fibre).

If the latter, I don't think we're ever told where Wainfleet is in relation to the shuttle so I don't think you can really say.

My question though is, isn't it Wainfleet who has his AMP suit's face smashed in by the titanothere? That looked pretty fatal, it will be interesting to see how he survived.

[omängum fra'uti]

That would have happened after he came across Tsu'tey - because Tsu'tey was shot and fell before the animals joined the battle.

And I'm guessing that the raid on Hells Gate did not make the cut, as that would be additional live action, even if it is CGI enhanced.  (But can you name many scenes in Avatar which don't have at least SOME CGI in them?)

Also anyone else notice Neytiri's piercing is in the wrong ear?

Sounds like something was just mirrored in publicity material for better effect or something (Or as a goof), but it doesn't mean it will actually be like that.

[Toruk Makto]

I didn't mean losing sleep from scary...
To me, the defining feature of the Na'vi is their tswin. Being able to communicate with their world at such a level and then losing that ability from malice is incredibly disturbing to me.

[DutchNavi]

I didn't mean losing sleep from scary...
To me, the defining feature of the Na'vi is their tswin. Being able to communicate with their world at such a level and then losing that ability from malice is incredibly disturbing to me.

Yes, the first time I saw Avatar (half Februari) and Jake makes tsaheylu with the direhorse, that's the moment that my soul fell in love with this movie.

"The Na'vi are humanoid because the audience is invited to relate to them, not as aliens but as creatures which express some aspect of ourselves which we admire and aspire to.
They are emotional, spiritual, and physically accomplished. They are brave and unafraid of death because they know it is part of a greater cycle. They live in harmony with nature, not in some idyllic hippie fantasy but in a realistic way, meaning they know that they can be hunted as well as being the hunter, and they know they must not use technology to disturb the balance and must only take what they need." - James Cameron (p. 254, "The Futurist", Rebecca Keegan)

So it seems that for a Na'vi, losing your ability to use your queue is a good reason to move on to the next part of the cycle (Eastern See).

":  I think they're missing the point of how the movie works and was intended to work.  The way I intended the film to work and the way I believe it is working is that when people view the film, they are told initially that the Na'vi are bad, that they're hostile, ferocious, and that they'll try to kill you. 
   And then you meet them and you find out that in fact they're actually pretty fearsome, but as you start to see the world more from their perspective, and our hero goes on this journey of perceptual change, we begin to embrace them more and more. 
   And really we emerge from the end of the film on the side of the Na'vi, which really means that we've gone 180 degrees and we're looking at ourselves now from the outside.  That's what science fiction can do that all the other literary forms can't do.  We can actually look at ourselves from the outside through a mirror or a lens of this fantasy-allegorical story." - James Cameron (interview with Charlie Rose, 17-02-2010)

Can it be that the reason you find the idea of losing that ability so disturbing, maybe is because it tells an important truth about humanity's (our collective) history?
Human beings have two brain halves. Each half has it own unique way of gathering and processing information. Luckily we have a brain expert who can explain the difference from her own experience.
In Na'vi there are two words for see that reflect that difference:
- tse'a, physical sense (seeing with your left brain, right brain is mostly inactive, also the way animals like Pa'li and Ikran see (left eye)).
- kame, spiritual sense (primarily seeing with your right brain, both brains are active).
When we look at our history we see that especially the "uncivilized" peoples that lived in harmony with nature (right brain), had to suffer wars and genocide.

I noticed that in the first three months, this movie had a great influence on my thinking. Whenever I hadn't something really important to think about, I was thinking about aspects of this movie or I was answering questions that I asked myself. Also it seems that the way I look at the world around me has changed: I am not the same person anymore. The only logical explanation I have for this, is that this movie somehow managed to activate or wake up part of my brain that was inactive before that time. Does this movie truly teaches you to See?
I wonder if the 9 extra minutes in the re-release will have a similar effect on me.

[Toruk Makto]

 That post was fascinating and spooky accurate, ma 'eylan!  Your quotes from James Cameron only help add a grounding to the film. Brilliant!

There may be another component for me. I am not a religious person, but Eywa is the most captivating concept I have seen in some time. Losing the ability to hear and talk to her may be another reason I find this scene with Tsu'tey so disturbing. It's like being cast out of Eden.

Irayo siveiyi!


ta Markì

[Ekirä]

A very deep and meaningful post, DutchNavi. I know that I have certainly been changed, and I'm guessing that how I've been changed will change once I see those extra minutes. Because every part of AVATAR has affected me--whether I like that part or not--and if you throw in more AVATAR, I'm sure it will change me again as the original movie did.

[archaic]

IMHO Tsu'tey fell way too far from Wainfleet's position, for this to have happened the way it was written.

I'm not sure if you're saying the fall was too far or that he'd have landed too far from Wainfleet.

If the former, you've got to remember that Pandora has significantly lower gravity and thicker atmosphere which, combined with a tall and dense forest could possibly cushion his fall enough for him to survive particularly seeing as Tsu'Tey's probably better at the leaf-falling trick than Jake when uninjured so could probably do it about as well as Jake's first attempt when injured (also remember that the bullet wounds wouldn't be as severe as they would for a human as the na'vi have the naturally occurring carbon fibre).

If the latter, I don't think we're ever told where Wainfleet is in relation to the shuttle so I don't think you can really say.

My question though is, isn't it Wainfleet who has his AMP suit's face smashed in by the titanothere? That looked pretty fatal, it will be interesting to see how he survived.

Where he fell was too far from where Wainfleet was. I posted my reasoning for thinking so in another post .....

Spoiler

Human troops & AMP's are dropped off before the bombing run starts, the Direhorse riders have some distance to travel from the tree of souls area to reach them, Tsu'tey falls from the dragon late in the bombing run maybe as much as 20-30km from the ground battle.
Could a human soldier really have reached him that quickly? How? (and why would he break all his bones as in the script?)
It was a moving scene, just too implausible, I felt it was right to cut it.
But in the scene where the aliens are being loaded into the shuttle, jake is wearing Tsu'tey's choker and necklace combo, so they have met since the battle.

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Even though the AMPs were dropped onto the ground before the air cavalry got there, that's no reason for them to be behind them, only a very stupid commander (and Quaritch certainly doesn't seem stupid) would let his force be separated by such an avoidable thing as that. Given that all the secops aircraft are VTOLs, flying at low speed is no problem for them.

Strategically, you want your land forces to  be trapping as many na'vi as possible in the area immediately surrounding the tree of souls (so that you take as many out as possible  with the blast, or so that as many see it as possible and so news could spread faster) when the bomb was dropped, to do this you'd need the land forces to get there first so you'd drop the land forces and then keep the air forces hanging back for a while before proceeding slowly until eventually (when there's a reasonable chance of the ambushing ikranä aymaktoyu attacking) you speed up to combat speed. This way your infantry arrive at about the same time or just before and Tsu'Tey wouldn't have fallen too far.

That would have happened after he came across Tsu'tey - because Tsu'tey was shot and fell before the animals joined the battle.

I was just thinking about that, whilst that has to be true, unless Wainfleet left his suit, he wouldn't have been able to cut Tsu'Tey's queue. There's nowhere for him to stow his cannon when he goes for the knife to cut the queue with and he definitely has his cannon with him later.

[archaic]

He could put it down on the ground. But I still say, the way the movie is cut, Tsu'tey is too far from Wainfleet for this to be plausible. Imho.