Case for Best Sci-Fi Pic Ever - Avatar

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2019)

Yes, The Day the Earth Stood Still (original) is still probably champ, but this film gives it a run for its money. I had thought James Cameron to be an egotistical meglomaniac when I saw him at the Academy Award ceremonies for Titantic, but I have changed my mind after Avatar. Cameron is a very good writer and director. His sets, special effects, makeup and production values for Avatar are unsurpassed. The acting crew, led by buffed-up Gary Sinese as an all-time heavy is more than competent. Sigorney Weaver, who does her impression of Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, does a very credible job as well. The sets are magnificent. As Issac Asimov once said, you can only write good science-fiction if you are able to create a believable environment that surrounds your story. Well, Cameron accomplished that; to his credit. Philosophically, however, the film is much deeper than the eye candy that we behold for almost two hours. Ultimately, this film is a tragedy or triumph, depending on your life view. Man vs. Science and Nature is an eternal struggle. It appears as if Nature wins this one, but there is plenty of precedent for Nature getting clobbered by Science and Man in the history of Mankind. The American Indian, who should have slaughtered the first settlers of the American continent made a fatal mistake and allowed them to live alongside them. Ultimately, these invaders destroyed the American Indian and its culture. The same could be said for ancient man; evolution generally wipes out any previous edition that has basic flaws. But is that nature or science?
There were sequences in the film that were reminiscent of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, The Last Samurai, Star Wars, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Full Metal Jacket. An animated film, Forbidden Planet, also came to mind. The Vietnam War (Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Go Tell the Spartans) also had parallels. The Iraq occupation has parallels. Haleburton, anyone? There are political considerations. Conservative hard-liners might favor the colonists. Liberals would naturally tend to favor the natives. But Nature has no political alliance. Nature overcomes all political and religious beliefs. There is no need to go any further than Deep Impact to realize that scenario (the bad one, not the lucky one). Or Sunshine (once again, bad scenario, not the lucky one). Science and man are always destined to lose to nature the vast majority of times. Occasionally, science and man wins, but those wins are only temporary. Nature always wins in the end.