Avatar!

In the 1990's I've wondered how Titanic grossed so much and had beaten favorites like Star Wars, ET and Indiana Jones (which were personal favorites by the way). Columnists have lauded Titanic's mass appeal and I must admit that it had the combination of excellent film-making and great acting. It had a good story to tell, never mind that there were other Titanics preceding it and for some the romantic angle seemed to be just another one of those attempts to come up with a mushy movie.

I was in Japan when the film was screened in the Philippines and in Japan (surprisingly it was one of a few films at the time to screen in Japan at the same time it was being shown in the US - films usually screened a month or two after even in Tokyo)and was only able to watch portions of the film on a long bus ride back from Laguna in 1999. I was only able to watch it in full thanks to cable TV in my hotel room during one field project. This despite a copy in VHS sitting at my parents' home just waiting to be loaded and viewed. I guess I just was not into such movies though I could sit through it if the conditions were right (just like I could listen to different types of music including heavy metal given the right conditions).

A lot of films that I was excited about came and I really thought some of them could have challenged Titanic. The Lord of the Rings trilogy were among the most awaited films and did quite well at the box office but just couldn't budge Titanic from the top spot whether in the US Box Office or internationally. And then Avatar happened...

I began learning about Avatar from the Clairvoyant and first read about it from a copy of Wired magazine I purchased at Changi airport. Maybe because Avatar was a project of the same director of Titanic, James Cameron, probably was a factor in making it the highest grossing (without considering price/inflation and otehr adjustments) film ever. It had appeal across a wide audience given that it has as its ingredients SciFi, environment, romance, action and even comedy. Most important I think is that it represents a landmark in movie-making, what with the state of the art 3D filming that is best experienced in the IMAX theaters. I truly look forward to more 3D films in the future when perhaps other directors and producers will take the art to a higher level.