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Synopsis

A marine, Jake Sully, is recruited to assist in a scientific expedition on a distant planet. Once there he is virtually linked to an avatar that resembles the native inhabitants of the planet and is controlled by his brain. Jake becomes doubly involved in a business/military venture to gain access and information on a valuable mineral that lies in the heart of the home of the natives. As Jake learns the customs of the people he grows to love them and in the end must choose between his own race and the alien race.

Entertainment Value - A

Amazing effects, particularly with the 3D glasses, otherwise it wouldn't be anything too revolutionary. The only other 3D movie I've seen is Nightmare Before Christmas, and that was more of a reverse-engineered attempt and no where near as good as this was. If you think this looks interesting, the only way to see it is in 3D, and if possible try to see it in an IMAX theater. I'd probably see it in an IMAX theater.

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 3

[Spoiler Alert]

A marine with a heart (stereotypically paradoxical) sees the damage that humans are inflicting on the alien planet because of their insatiable desire for a valuable mineral found at the heart of the native inhabitants' home. That lust is displayed as wrong, in that it destroys the home and lives of the natives. A very similar story to how the English treated the Native Americans when they arrived here and how other countries treated slaves - both of which are wrong.


There's a battle between scientists and businessmen displaying how insensitive businessmen are to anything natural; they are cold-hearted and greedy (very stereotypical).


Once Jake Sully really gets to know the natives he really becomes one of them and realizes the crimes the humans are committing and how he has facilitated their strategy for attacking the natives.


Jake was pretty naive to the culture, even though he wanted to save it. He knew that their species mated for life, and he couldn't have taken that into consideration when he mated with the "princess." Doing so was pretty heartless and cruel, not to mention wrong on all levels, even if the creatures had no marriage rites. Like all such scenes, this just shows that lust is purely selfish and not capable of any good.


Jake was courageous by choosing to take the side against his own race. Maybe he figured he had nothing to lose since he was only a crippled marine to them.


The story was very intriguing, particularly the extent to which James Cameron developed this alien planet, but nothing in it struck a motivational chord for me.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

This movie could be summed up quite well in one statement: "War is Hell".  I haven't seen too many anti-war films, and though I believe war is necessary in some instances (almost never in provoking, but primarily in defending) this film did a very good job of portraying the terrors of war.  Having never been in the military, I can't imagine how terrifying and desensitizing it can be on the war front, but can relate to the false concepts of power that seem to spread amongst those not directly involved.

The movie is set in Germany during WWI.  When Paul, a young German soldier, is allowed leave to visit his family he visits with his father and some of his father's friends who seem to have the war all worked out to be won by Germany.  They assumed that everyone fighting had a deep passion for the success of Germany and desire to dominate its enemies.  The reality was that a lot of the young kids that got fired up about the war really had no clue what they were fighting for or who they were fighting against and ended up regretting even being there.  They even began to see their enemies as human beings, not just political rivals.

One of the things I gleaned from the film is that we can't afford to be afraid of the truth.  We need to be willing to search out and listen to the whole truth from the mouth of those who have first-hand experience.  For instance, there are positive first-hand stories from the U.S. presence in Iraq and other places in the middle east that the mainstream media tends to ignore and instead panders to the political left by publishing nothing but horror stories of the over seas wars we are waging distorting the truth.

I also appreciated the depiction of the need for God in such dire circumstances.  Faith in God is what can ultimately bring us out of the darkest trenches of our lives and give us hope in Christ and courage to live righteously in this immoral and amoral world.