Tonight's marathon is all about a man uncovering a new world and facing the choice of whether to leave behind his old home for a new one and stand by the new people he came to know as family. Whether this new world is on planet Earth or on another distant planet full of aliens, these ordinary men are going to end up becoming saviors to the new found tribes and defend the against enemies who were once their own kind. While it is true that many films have used this same formula and recycled it for their own synopsis, it's up to the distinct style of each filmmaker that makes the movies separate from each other and how the same story is told. All of these movies are unique in how they approach the same storyline but use groundbreaking technology and different styles of filmmaking technologically to present their scenarios to the audience. Tonight's marathon is all about a man being forced to make a choice between the world he once knew and leaving that world behind for a greater one. We have on the following menu for this evening:
Pocahontas 1995, Ferngully The Last Rainforest 1992, John Carter 2012, Total Recall 1990, and Avatar 2009
Pocahontas 1995, Ferngully The Last Rainforest 1992, John Carter 2012, Total Recall 1990, and Avatar 2009
One word that perfectly sums up this marathon is it's exciting. It's exciting in every sense of the word and is never truly boring. Here we have heroes that we come to root for and connect with along with villains that we grow to hate and want to see get their just punishment by their films end. Along with having a great hero and a menacing villain is a beautiful woman in the mist who the good guy ends up falling for and changing for the better. The girl helps to make the man in these stories see the error of their ways and the beauty of their world in which the man becomes accustomed to. The girl has a family in these stories who are hesitant of trusting the unseen hero at first but in the end welcome him as family. The parallels with each of these films runs deep and the outcomes are all similar with the good guy performing the three rules of Total Recall which is A. Get the girl, B. Kill The Bad Guys, and C. Save The Entire Planet. The planet can be a metaphor for the new world that the lead character uncovers whether it's on Earth, on a moon or Mars.
The first movie of the evening is the 1995 Disney classic titled Pocahontas featuring the voice talents of Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, and Christian Bale. The story centers around an English soldier who stumbles upon a new world and falls for the daughter of an Algonquin Indian chief who send up sharing a forbidden romance during the backdrop of English colonists invading 17th-century Virginia. Pocahontas is essentially the perfect first movie for this marathon as it comes full circle with James Camerons Avatar. The film introduces an outsider individual who physically looks different than everybody else, lands on a location that is totally unknown to him and encounters a different kind of culture that he's not accustomed to. The love story is essentially Romeo and Juliet with two people from opposite sides sharing a romance that tests the tolerance of both sides in regards to the issue. The backdrop is the English colonists wanting to take the land of Virgina in the search for gold and force out the Indians. The lead character in this tale named John Smith begins the film siding with the English but realizes that everything he was told about Pocahontas side was wrong, and begins to sympathize with them when they are harassed by the English in pursuit of their land. Pocahontas remains one of Disney's greatest achievements and was actually the first live action movie to feature an interracial romance.
The second movie of the marathon is the 1992 fantasy animated movie titled Ferngully:The Last Rainforest. Featuring the voice talents of Robin Williams, Christian Slater, Tim Curry, and Samantha Mathis. Boasting even more similarities to Avatar, the tiny inhabitants of a rain-forest fight to preserve their home that's being threatened by a logging and polluting force named Hexxus. One of the members of the logging team named Zak is sent to cut down the forest but ends up falling for one of it's beautiful young inhabitants named Crysta, a beautiful tree fairy who shrinks him upon accident. When Zak see's the beauty of Ferngully and what it means to it's inhabitants, he begins to experience a change of heart and vows to save it. While doing so, he faces off against an evil force named Hexxus who was turned into a tree when he attempted to unleash chaos upon Ferngully. Although not as financially successful as Pocahontas in terms of box office, the film is considered a cult classic and is often brought up by detractors of Avatar in regards to it's story being non original. It was the animated version of Avatar before Avatar exploded onto the screen. Like Pocahontas it shares a forbidden romance and has a powerful message behind it about preserving the environment and not letting greed conquer all.
The third movie of the marathon is 2012's not quite a box office smash visual feast titled John Carter starring Taylor Kitsch, William Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Thomas Hayden Church, and Lynn Collins. The story centers around a Civil War vet being transported to Barsoom and suddenly uncovering a planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. When he finds himself to be a prisoner to these creatures, he manages to escape, only to come across Woola and a princess in desperate need of a savior. Like the previous two films in the marathon, the story centers around a young man who falls for a woman on the opposite side and becomes a savior to a humanity he never knew prior but grows to appreciate them. There is a common threat going on like the other two films prior where the land or it's inhabitants face a mortal threat such as being annihilated or losing their homes to outside forces. John Carter. On a budget of nearly $300 million dollars, John Carter made only 73 million domestically forever cementing itself as being one of the biggest box office flops of all time. The film is visually appealing and won acclaim for it's visual splendor but received criticism for an uneven narrative, slow pacing, and uneven characterization. Still, it bears strong resemblance to Avatar in regards to it's general plot and being a visual sight that earned it an Oscar nom for Best Visual Effects.
The fourth film of the marathon is the 1990 blockbuster and Science Fiction classic titled Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside, and Rachael Ticotin. Nominated for two academy awards including Best Sound and Sound Effects, the story bears an even stronger resemblance to Avatar than the other films before it. In this story Arnold Schwarzeneggar plays Douglas Quaid, an ordinary man who goes on a virtual vacation with the intent of visiting planet Mars on his mind. While doing so, an unexpected and harrowing series of events occur that force him to go to the planet in reality and save it's inhabitants from a corrupt dictatorship. Total Recall boasts many similarities to Avatar from it's basic generic storyline right down to it's VHS cover which is the same design essentially of both characters faces. Like Avatar, there is a common corruption going on like the invasion of the forest with Total Recall focusing on a ruthless dictarorship on Mars controlling the growth of air. There is a likeable hero such as Douglas Quaid like John Smith, Zak, and John Carter who starts the film being on the enemies side but through meeting a girl worth fighting for, they realize that they've been playing for the wrong team the entire time. Largely thanks to the directing of Paul Verhoeven who previously helmed classics such as Robocop, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers, and Hollow Man, Total Recall is well directed and combines action, violence, gore, humor, and store all together in a way in which they never overlap each other. It is the perfect movie to watch before Avatar because of the three rules of Total Recall which are to A. Get the Girl, B. Kill the bad guys, and C. Save The Entire Planet. Total Recall and Avatar accomplish both by their respective finishes.
The fifth movie of the marathon is James Cameron's Avatar starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang. This is the film that blends all of the stories together into the ultimate visual feast with the technology reaching it's peak. Nominated for a total of nine academy awards and winner of three, the story centers around a paraplegic marine whose dispatched to the moon Pandora on a one of a kind mission as an Avatar. Once he arrives on Pandora as an Avatar and meets the natives, he becomes torn between following his orders to infiltrate their lifestyle routine and report back to his superiors and protecting their world which has become his new home. He meets and falls in love with one of the beautiful Navi tribe women in the forest who teaches him their culture that becomes his custom. Currently standing as the highest grossing movie of all time, Avatar earned high points for being a visual masterpiece but received criticism for it's storyline that's essentially considered generic due to it being done numerous times. This marathon clearly shows that the storyline of Avatar is not original in any sense of the word but like the beginning of the blog states, each movie can have the same story but it's the distinct style of each studio and filmmaker behind the films that make them the movies that they are today. Avatar didn't earn nearly 3 Billion dollars for nothing, it presented something that audiences have never seen before which is groundbreaking technology.
So what are these movies all trying to say when you put them together as one? The message says that the environment must be preserved and greed should never get in the way of it. Just because you grew up believing a specific class of people to be bad doesn't mean that they truly are. People can have a sudden change of heart and end up taking their side if it is morally right. People can use the same stories but unless you bring something new to the table then it is pointless. True Love such as Pocahontas and John Smith or Jake and Neytiri from Avatar will have no boundaries and no one to hold them back. Nothing can get in the way of a persons destiny if they are meant to do great things and become somebody like Douglas Quaid stated in Total Recall. Humanity in general has a powerful capacity for destruction and when you switch sides, suddenly things come into perspective and you remember what is worth fighting for most. The brutal honesty is that we cannot own nature and that you should always listen to your heart. War and fighting are never the right solution and if we open our eyes, we can learn from people different than us all.
Our characters for this evening:
The fourth film of the marathon is the 1990 blockbuster and Science Fiction classic titled Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Sharon Stone, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside, and Rachael Ticotin. Nominated for two academy awards including Best Sound and Sound Effects, the story bears an even stronger resemblance to Avatar than the other films before it. In this story Arnold Schwarzeneggar plays Douglas Quaid, an ordinary man who goes on a virtual vacation with the intent of visiting planet Mars on his mind. While doing so, an unexpected and harrowing series of events occur that force him to go to the planet in reality and save it's inhabitants from a corrupt dictatorship. Total Recall boasts many similarities to Avatar from it's basic generic storyline right down to it's VHS cover which is the same design essentially of both characters faces. Like Avatar, there is a common corruption going on like the invasion of the forest with Total Recall focusing on a ruthless dictarorship on Mars controlling the growth of air. There is a likeable hero such as Douglas Quaid like John Smith, Zak, and John Carter who starts the film being on the enemies side but through meeting a girl worth fighting for, they realize that they've been playing for the wrong team the entire time. Largely thanks to the directing of Paul Verhoeven who previously helmed classics such as Robocop, Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers, and Hollow Man, Total Recall is well directed and combines action, violence, gore, humor, and store all together in a way in which they never overlap each other. It is the perfect movie to watch before Avatar because of the three rules of Total Recall which are to A. Get the Girl, B. Kill the bad guys, and C. Save The Entire Planet. Total Recall and Avatar accomplish both by their respective finishes.
The fifth movie of the marathon is James Cameron's Avatar starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang. This is the film that blends all of the stories together into the ultimate visual feast with the technology reaching it's peak. Nominated for a total of nine academy awards and winner of three, the story centers around a paraplegic marine whose dispatched to the moon Pandora on a one of a kind mission as an Avatar. Once he arrives on Pandora as an Avatar and meets the natives, he becomes torn between following his orders to infiltrate their lifestyle routine and report back to his superiors and protecting their world which has become his new home. He meets and falls in love with one of the beautiful Navi tribe women in the forest who teaches him their culture that becomes his custom. Currently standing as the highest grossing movie of all time, Avatar earned high points for being a visual masterpiece but received criticism for it's storyline that's essentially considered generic due to it being done numerous times. This marathon clearly shows that the storyline of Avatar is not original in any sense of the word but like the beginning of the blog states, each movie can have the same story but it's the distinct style of each studio and filmmaker behind the films that make them the movies that they are today. Avatar didn't earn nearly 3 Billion dollars for nothing, it presented something that audiences have never seen before which is groundbreaking technology.
So what are these movies all trying to say when you put them together as one? The message says that the environment must be preserved and greed should never get in the way of it. Just because you grew up believing a specific class of people to be bad doesn't mean that they truly are. People can have a sudden change of heart and end up taking their side if it is morally right. People can use the same stories but unless you bring something new to the table then it is pointless. True Love such as Pocahontas and John Smith or Jake and Neytiri from Avatar will have no boundaries and no one to hold them back. Nothing can get in the way of a persons destiny if they are meant to do great things and become somebody like Douglas Quaid stated in Total Recall. Humanity in general has a powerful capacity for destruction and when you switch sides, suddenly things come into perspective and you remember what is worth fighting for most. The brutal honesty is that we cannot own nature and that you should always listen to your heart. War and fighting are never the right solution and if we open our eyes, we can learn from people different than us all.
Our characters for this evening:
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