A Look Back at the Groundbreaking 2009 Film “Avatar”

“Avatar: Fire & Ash,” the third installment of the still popular “Avatar” franchise, is probably the most eagerly-awaited film of the year and will be showing in theaters soon! So, to get ready for “Fire & Ash,” I’m getting a fresh look at the previous two entries!

In the 2009 smash hit, on the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na’vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved. Because the planet’s environment is poisonous, human/Na’vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora.

Jake Sully, a paralyzed former Marine, becomes mobile again through one such Avatar and falls in love with a Na’vi woman. As a bond with her grows, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of her world.

This recent revisit of the 2009 hit “Avatar” was actually the first time I have seen this film since I gave it another watch for the first sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” for the Examiner a few years back. After my latest “Avatar” revisit, I still believe this is easily one of the most visually astounding films I have ever seen!

“Avatar” was a technological milestone, using innovative 3D cameras that made the world of Pandora feel immersive and incredibly real. I remember seeing all of the incredible visuals on the big screen (even though it was the 2D version) and kept thinking that this is one of those films that had to be seen in theaters. Even though this latest watch wasn’t on the big screen, it’s still visually astounding.

The entire world of Pandora is absolutely captivating and rather unique. The detailed environment offers an escape from reality that many have found deeply engaging. “Avatar” also delivers clear messages about environmentalism and the

interconnectedness of nature that also struck a cord with audiences.

“Avatar” also delivers us some very memorable moments that are centered on the wonder of the alien world of Pandora and the emotional beats of Jake Sully’s journey and the conflict with human forces. Jake’s first time linking with his avatar hybrid is a powerful moment since it’s his first time to experience the ability to walk again in a long time. Another moment that ended up being really moving was when the human forces destroyed the Na’vi’s Omatikaye Hometree and how this emphasized the stakes of the conflict.

The initial audience response to the original “Avatar” was overwhelmingly positive, driven by its groundbreaking visual effects and immersive 3D experience. The film was a global phenomenon that appealed to a universal, general audience rather than a nice fanbase. After subsequent re-releases, the 2009 film generated a massive $2.923 billion worldwide ($785.2 million domestically).

MPA: Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking   (runtime 162 minutes)

You can currently stream both “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” on Disney Plus.

I am currently planning my revisit of “Avatar: The Way of Water” for the December 17th edition and my review of “Avatar: Fire & Ash” for the December 31st edition!

• The Na'vi language was created entirely from scratch by linguist Dr. Paul R. Frommer. James Cameron hired him to construct a language that would be easily enunciable for actors to pronounce but would not resemble any human language. Frommer created about 1,000 words. Cameron requested Dr Frommer that the Na'vi language must be entirely new, as it's supposed to be from another planet, and that it should sound "nice" to the audience. Cameron didn't want any additional editing done to their voices and wanted them to sound authentic and not unnatural. Equipped with a vast knowledge of linguistics, Dr Frommer understood what kinds of sounds the Na'vi language would or wouldn't have. Just like "j" and "r" don't exist in Korean, in English, the 'h' sound is unaspirated. In a similar vein, Frommer's conception of the new language totally avoided the sounds of "ch", "th", and "sh". Additionally, Frommer had to decide on the language's syntax -- or rules regarding word order. He came up with his own set of constraints and words to be used in the language of Pandora. The tongue took inspiration from the natural languages of the world to create a totally different spoken form.

• Most of the animal noises heard in the movie are recycled dinosaur noises from Jurassic Park (1993), notably the T-Rex and the Raptors.

• At the time of auditioning, Sam Worthington was living in his car.

• James Cameron was convinced that CGI effects had progressed enough to make this film when he saw Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

• James Cameron originally planned to have the film completed for release in 1999. At the time, the special effects he wanted increased the budget to $400 million. No studio would fund the film, and it was shelved for eight years.

• This movie took four years to make, from pre-production to release.

• Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal were the studio's first choices to play Jake Sully, but James Cameron decided to cast then relatively unknown Sam Worthington in the lead role.

• To help the actors prepare for their roles, director James Cameron took the cast and crew to Hawaii, where they spent their days trekking through the forests and jungles in order to get a better sense of what it would be like to live and move around in the jungle on Pandora, since there would not be any actual jungle sets to aid and guide the actors and crew. Zoe Saldaña even dressed up as a warrior during these journeys, complete with an alien tail symbolic of the one her character has in the movie. These hikes were only done during the daytime, however, as the cast and crew spent their nights at a Four Seasons hotel.

• James Cameron's first directorial feature since Titanic (1997), which was the highest-grossing film of all time--until this one.

• The movie is 40% live action and 60% photo-realistic CGI. A lot of motion capture technology was used for the CGI scenes.

• The was the first film in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide. James Cameron's own Titanic (1997) became the second after its 2012 3D re-release. Avatar is the highest-grossing film worldwide, unadjusted for inflation. It lost the top spot to Avengers: Endgame (2019), but reclaimed it after a 2021 re-release in China. Avatar was also the first film to gross over $2.5 billion worldwide, and remained the only one until Avengers: Endgame also reached the milestone.

• The film reached the U.S. $500-million mark in 32 days, beating The Dark Knight (2008)'s previous record of 45 days. James Cameron's previous film, Titanic (1997), took 98 days to reach the mark.