‘Avatar’ – James Cameron’s answer to the 12 year wait after Titanic has arrived. An epic tale of love and war set in a distant moon inhabited by tall, blue-skinned Na’vi, Avatar is rumoured to be the most expensive movie ever made. The movie squarely dominated the media the last few weeks, which is understandable, given that it’s a successor of the celebrated Titanic and most importantly, is a 3D venture.
Avatar is bleeding high-end special-effects whose full glory can be best savoured in 3D. It is a 3D spectacle, intended by the director to be watched in 3-D Imax. (digital 3D). Cameron apparently conceived the story fourteen years ago, but then the necessary technology did not exist back then. But digital 3D paved way for the ace director to translate his imagination into the big screens. The movie does gleam with the lustre provided by latest technologies and is the “most expensive and technically ambitious film ever made” according to weekly entertainment-trade magazine, Variety.
Will the self-proclaimed “King of the World” pave the way to a new era of entertainment where things are more alive and real than they ever can get? Well, he certainly hopes so. His message is clear: 3D in the future of movies. The growing 3D industry will definitely do good with a boost, which it hopes will be provided by Avatar. And movie theatres are already riding along the initial wave raised by Avatar by equipping themselves better for not just the movie, but for future of movies as well.
In Canada, the Cineplex chain of theatres has installed 149 digital screens that are capable of rendering 3D movies. The television industry has also joined the 3D party with Sony signing up an agreement with RealD, the most widely used technology in the world for watching 3D movies in theatres. According to the agreement, Sony can license RealD’s technology and equipment to be used in it’s TVs. BSkyB is also using Avatar to promote its first 3D TV channel in Europe which is to be launched next year.
So from the looks of it, Avatar has already stirred up the entertainment industry in its own way. Will this world of graceful, blue-skinned people change the way we view entertainment? Or will it just be a flyspeck blue wave that’ll die out before it reaches the shores? We’ll have to wait and watch.
When James Cameron boasts about his latest macro-budgeted movie pushes the limits of cinema, he sounds like a politician bragging about a pork barrel project. Unlike elected officials, Cameron actually delivers.