James Cameron clearly thinks his "Avatar" sequels will be the bees knees of the cinematic world when they are unleashed upon us at the start of the next decade.
Is there any way around the fact that 2009's "Avatar' sparked the 3D boom? And, yet, almost a decade later, it's still the film that used 3D in the most efficient and visionary way. Suffice to say, as much as he's been blabbing his mouth the last few years, attacking "Star Wars," "Marvel movies," the Terminator's he wasn't a part of etc. Cameron seems to have the utmost of confidence his "Avatar" sequels will, again, revolutionize the biz. I am ready to be blown away by whatever Cameron has for us, especially if it's a notch higher than the wow-factor that came with the visual technology in 'Avatar."
Is there any way around the fact that 2009's "Avatar' sparked the 3D boom? And, yet, almost a decade later, it's still the film that used 3D in the most efficient and visionary way. Suffice to say, as much as he's been blabbing his mouth the last few years, attacking "Star Wars," "Marvel movies," the Terminator's he wasn't a part of etc. Cameron seems to have the utmost of confidence his "Avatar" sequels will, again, revolutionize the biz. I am ready to be blown away by whatever Cameron has for us, especially if it's a notch higher than the wow-factor that came with the visual technology in 'Avatar."
Speaking at Vivid Sydney, where he was selling 3D, Cameron made a few guarantees:
“I guarantee one thing: Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5 are all going to be in 3D and they will look sumptuous.”
After electrifying the industry, a mini post-Avatar 3D revolution ensued, one that had most blockbusters employing additional costs to 3D glasses with the ticket price. That whole movement now seems to have subsided. Movie studios are less inclined to have 3D accompanying their picture because the people, quite frankly, have stopped caring for 3D. And yet, here is James Cameron and he is banking his film career on 3D. After all, for all its mind-blowing effects, "Avatar" was, and still is, a poor story that stood in front of a towering visual palette. So the director does need to "wow" us again here. People aren't going to be buying tickets to "Avatar 2" just for the story of Pandora vs. the American military.
What people fail to understand is that "Avatar" was shot with stereoscopic cameras, which is why most of Hollywood 3D is awful, they don't use stereoscopic 3D, but when it's done the result is damn-near stunning. There have been plenty of auteurs trying their hands with 3D and, many times, with exceedingly impressive results: Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," "Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," Robert Zemeckis' "The Walk" and even Jean Luc-Godard's "Goodbye to Language."
What people fail to understand is that "Avatar" was shot with stereoscopic cameras, which is why most of Hollywood 3D is awful, they don't use stereoscopic 3D, but when it's done the result is damn-near stunning. There have been plenty of auteurs trying their hands with 3D and, many times, with exceedingly impressive results: Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," "Ang Lee's "Life of Pi," Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity," Robert Zemeckis' "The Walk" and even Jean Luc-Godard's "Goodbye to Language."
Don't think Cameron, whose ego has been ballooning, it seems, the more worktime goes into these sequels, will ever admit defeat, He thinks what he has is purely groundbreaking and will revolutionize the field:
“They will be, to the best of my ability, the best 3D that’s possible to make. That includes collaborating with the people at Dolby Cinema, who have developed high dynamic range projection that could put 16 foot-lamberts of light on a 3D screen through the glasses, which is revolutionary. Normally, you’re looking at about three foot-lamberts. Sixteen is what you should be seeing. That’s what movies should look like,” said Cameron (VFX blog).
I'm not worried about Cameron's ability to discover new things on the technological front, but, after the balloon-sized fail of 3D in Hollywood, are we ready for "Avatar 2"? Will it kickstart another 3D renaissance?