Golden Age Sci-fi come to life

Rating: 10/10 (27 January 2010)

Other reviewers here have catalogued the various stunning virtues of this movie: its breathtaking beauty, the fullness with which Pandora is rendered; the exciting action sequences, the pawky humor. (A throwaway line barely heard near the beginning, Sigourney Weaver's Dr. Grace Augustine is overheard saying to one of the avatars, "Don't play with that; you'll go blind." Gotta love it.) Since I'm talking dialogue here, and Cameron has been excoriated by some critics for it, I want to say that the following exchange is pitch perfect, as anyone who knows a Marine can attest:
Jake Sully: How will I know if he chooses me? Neytiri: He will try to kill you. Jake Sully: Outstanding!
But that's not my main point. As I watched, I thought again and again how I wished some of the Golden Age Sci-Fi writers were still alive to see this. Heinlein, for example -- the movie is filled Waldos! And Pohl Anderson; Ensign Flandry would be right at home on Pandora. Cameron has put on screen what they imagined, and which has never been done before. Anyone who loved the sci-fi books of the 50's and 60's will finally see on the screen what only existed in their imaginations before.