History Film / Avatar

A sequel, now titled ''Film/AvatarTheWayOfWater'', has been in the making [[ExtremelyLengthyCreation for the better part of the following decade]], since Cameron (as usual) was interested in utilizing experimental technology to portray new environments (specifically, Pandora's [[AuthorAppeal oceans]]), taking a few years to improve it. Production finally began in September 2017. Currently, there are four sequels planned for release starting in December 2022. Cameron is set to write and direct all of them. Alleged titles for further sequels include ''Avatar: The Seed Bearer'', ''Avatar: The Tulkun Rider'', and ''Avatar: The Quest for Eywa'' respectively.

The film takes place in a future where Earth is a polluted CrapsackWorld, though the story itself unfolds on Pandora, a large moon of the planet Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri A system. The planet's air is toxic to humans, but it has lots of {{Unobtainium}} [[note]]Seriously, that's what it's called as an in-joke; most viewers miss the single line in the film in which it is revealed that the characters in the film intentionally chose the name ironically.[[/note]], which the human [[MegaCorp Resources Development Administration]] is mining, but in order to get at the richest source of it, they need to relocate a clan of the native population; ten-foot-tall, blue HumanoidAliens called the Na'vi who live in the forests.

** The avatars are, despite all appearances, remarkably human -- their voices, spectrum of vision, and hearing all fit human parameters, despite Na'vi evolving on a planet with a different atmosphere guaranteeing all three of the above should be significantly different. The fact the Na'vi are [[HumanoidAliens functionally human with the exception of some minor physical traits]] despite the extreme unlikelihood of this coincidental evolutionary route (even evolving from the Pandoran equivalent of "monkeys") [[WordOfGod has been stated]] to be entirely for artistic reasons.

** There's also Pandora. The moon is so dangerous to humans, they call their colony "Hell's Gate". The moon is covered with lethal animals and vegetation, and even the atmosphere is ''naturally'' poisonous, without the need for pollution. Colonel Quaritch, a career military veteran, who had been on the front lines of wars for decades without a scratch, got a scarring head wound on his very first day planetside.

** Though best known for opening the box, the Pandora of Myth/ClassicalMythology was created to be the perfect woman, and her name literally means "All-Gifted". The namesake planet is everything that the earth of the time is not: Lovely, with a rich ecology and massive natural resources.

** To ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' (and, to some degree, its SpiritualPredecessor ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind''). Both dealt with the theme of militaristic human civilizations clashing with MotherNature, and featured a disabled protagonist mediating both sides along with a young woman siding with the nature. James Cameron has acknowledged Hayao Miyazaki's anime's influence on his movie, based Pandora's ecosystem from the forrest from the anime, and some shots from the movie homages the others shots in the anime. Both Jake Sully and Neytiri in some ways both DecompositeCharacter and CompositeCharacter of Aishitaka and San - Jake is Aishitaka but decided to abandon his humanity and fully sided with the nature (like San), and Neytiri is San but came from a dying indigenous tribe where she's their prince(ss) (like Aishitaka). [[RecycledInSpace Setting wise]], ''Princess Mononoke'' did a fantastical take on Japan's past, where ''Avatar'' did a fantastical take on the hypothetical future where intergalatic space travel is possible but [[CrapsackWorld the planet earth remained polluted]]. However, on thematic stand-point, ''Princess Mononoke'' [[WarIsHell treats the battle between humans and nature as destructive to the point of no return]], while ''Avatar'', being a sci-fi action flick, embraces the method of going [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption all-out war]] on mining corporations settled on the planet. In comparion with ''Nausicaa'', characters riding wild banshees almost resembles the hang-glider in the anime.

A paraplegic former U.S. Marine named Jake Sully (Creator/SamWorthington) is given a remotely-controlled Na'vi body called an "avatar" in order to communicate with the Na'vi and gain their trust, but the resident GeneralRipper Colonel Miles Quaritch (Creator/StephenLang) has other ideas and wants to [[KillItWithFire remove]] [[HumansAreWarriors the Na'vi by force]]. Jake ends up torn between his humanity and the adopted Na'vi way of life, made harder by his growing bond with Neytiri, TheChiefsDaughter (Creator/ZoeSaldana).

%%* CoolStarship: The ''[[http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/realdesigns.php#id--Avatar_ISV_Venture_Star ISV Venture Star]]''is so godadamned realistic, that it even feature ''radiators'', something that even other hard sci-fi spaceships forget.

* BaseonWheels: The Bucket-Wheel Excavators, despite only having ''15 seconds of screentime'', is the single largest vehicle on Pandora save for starships. These monsters are ''half a kilometer long and 300 meters tall''. It is effectively a mobile mining installation on threads.

%%* CoolStarship: The ''[[http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/realdesigns.php#id--Avatar_ISV_Venture_Star ISV Venture Star]]''.

* ChekhovsArmoury: Eytukan's bow, the 'angtsik (titanotheres), the neural network itself, toruk, breaking your fall with leaves, and the fact that it's [[BrickJoke mentioned in passing]] as being a ''mobile'' link station.

* TheChosenOne: Jake is chosen by Eywa and becomes the first human welcomed into the tribe.

* ColonelBadass: At one point Quaritch charges outside (the atmosphere on Pandora is largely inhospitable to humans) to unload a full magazine at the deserters, then, after his assistant has shown up, slips on his breathing mask.

* BittersweetEnding: Sure, the RDA has left, but a lot of Humans are dead. The Omatikaya are homeless and the Na'vi lost even more of their members in the fight as well. On the plus side, a recent interview with the director confirms humanity ''will be'' returning to Pandora eventually, so Earth isn't entirely screwed.

* CoolVersusAwesome: Most of the battles, given that one side is armed with helicopter gunships and MiniMecha and the other is an army of 10-foot {{Noble Savage}}s riding pteranodons and six-legged horses.

* MechVsBeast: The fight between Quaritch in his MiniMecha and Jake's toruk.

[[/folder]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes A-M]]

* IronicEcho:
** [[spoiler:Grace]] mentions that she would die for a chance to have access to the Tree of Souls so she could take samples. After being mortally wounded, she is brought to the Tree of Souls in an attempt to use it to save her life. Despite being in too much pain to move, she still manages to express her desire to take samples.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes N-Z]]

* PrecisionFStrike:
** Trudy saying "[[NotWhatISignedOnFor I didn't sign up for this shit]]" when mutineering. Not the only instance of vulgarity in the movie, sure, but probably the most impactful one given the context.
%%** Grace's "Oh shit." earlier in the film is another great example.

-->'''Neytiri''': My grandfather's grandfather was Toruk Macto. Rider of Last Shadow.

-->'''Neytiri''': Yes. Toruk Macto was mighty. He brought together the clans in a time of great sorrow. All Na'vi people know this story.

** Worth special mention is Toruk Makto, who is said to be untameable by even the strongest of Na'vi. Jake manages to do so.

* BioluminescenceIsCool: Taken UpToEleven; every piece of plant life responds to touch with bioluminescent bloom.

* ExaggeratedTrope: The whole ''Film/DancesWithWolves''/''Film/TheLastSamurai'' plotline is cranked UpToEleven, and, thanks to AppliedPhlebotinum, [[spoiler:the protagonist not only goes to live with the natives and adopts their culture and identity -- he ''bodily'' becomes one of them. WordOfGod [[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/08/james-cameron-the-new-trek-rocks-but-transformers-is-gimcrackery.html states]] this was kinda intentional.]]

''[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Enter the World]]]]''

A paraplegic former U.S. Marine named Jake Sully (Creator/SamWorthington) is given a remotely-controlled Na'vi body called an "avatar" in order to communicate with the Na'vi and gain their trust, but the resident GeneralRipper Colonel Miles Quaritch (Creator/StephenLang) has other ideas and wants to [[KillItWithFire remove]] [[HumansAreWarriors the Na'vi by force]]. Jake ends up torn between his humanity and the adopted Na'vi way of life, made harder by his growing romance with Neytiri, TheChiefsDaughter (Creator/ZoeSaldana).

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No relations to]] ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', or any other meanings of "{{avatar}}".

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Not a trailer, but the soundtrack album gave away a couple of key plot points in its track titles. Most notably, "[[spoiler:The Destruction of Hometree]]" and [[spoiler:Shutting Down Grace's Lab]]". The trailer gave away basically the entire plot.

* BrokenAesop: It looks like this happens in the movie, but closer looks subvert it.
** The Navi are supposed to be an example of a sapient race living in unity with nature rather than living off it, while the humans are meant to be seen as greedy meatheads who should be learning from the Navi. This rings pretty hollow when it's revealed that the Navi's connection with nature comes down to BizarreAlienBiology rather than through any discipline, so it's hard to fault the humans for not being as in tune with nature as they are. Subverted in the extended cut when it's made clear that humans fully comprehend how much the Navi value their natural terrain, and ''weaponize'' it in a FalseFlagOperation to justify attacking the Omaticaya Hometree. In addition, the Navi hunt exclusively for food and abhor unnecessary killing of wildlife, which does require discipline on the part of the Navi willingly choosing not to do so.
** Furthermore, the Navi's connection with wildlife apparently involves overriding the animal's free will, which would fly in the face of the demonization of human's lack of connection with wildlife. But this isn't actually the case. Jake's Ikran willingly comes to him outside of their link, meaning they have genuine bonds,and it's less like enslavement and more like an empathic bond between master and mount. A similar relationship is shown between Seze and Neytiri, where Seze is shown being affectionate with Neytiri without ''shahaylu''.
** At first glance, it seems that Na'vi are no different than humans in their views of women, where it seems that women are bound to the man to whom they lose their virginity and don't seem to have high positions of power. But this is false. Mo'at shows that there are women who command great respect and women are allowed to assume a high-ranking role; Mo'at's advice in spiritual matters is considered invaluable. The leader of the Ikran People of the Eastern Sea is also a woman. Dialogue between Neytiri and Jake also make it clear that it's not ''just'' the man who claims a woman, as she must accept him as a mate, too.

** The direhorses would make terrible mounts in jungle environs, being tall and lanky so that any hole they step in would break their leg. Similarly, just riding through the jungle would ensure that rider and mount both would hit plenty of brush.

* FantasticAesop: Live in harmony with nature. On a moon where there is apparently next to no disease and a global sentient mind.
* FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Pandora's wildlife has a number of species that have a clear counterpart on Earth. The Na'vi are humans, of course, but the thanator is essentially a panther, the titanothere is a rhinoceros, the prolemuris are monkeys, the direhorses are horses, the viperwolves are wolves or jackals, etc.

%%Please start a Image Pickin' thread if you think this image should be changed.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Tagline}} Enter the World]]]]

A third-person action video game ''James Cameron's Avatar: The Game'' was released in 2009. The game acts as a {{prequel}} to the movie and Creator/SigourneyWeaver, Creator/StephenLang, Creator/MichelleRodriguez, and Creator/GiovanniRibisi reprise their roles from the film. Creator/{{Ubisoft}} has also announced the open world ''Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora'' for 2022.

Creator/DarkHorseComics published a comic book ''Avatar: Brothers'' for the 2017 UsefulNotes/FreeComicBookDay and the six issue series ''Avatar: Tsu'tey's Path'', written by Sherri L. Smith and with art by Jan Duursema, in 2019. The next series was ''Avatar: The Next Shadow'' written by Jeremy Barlow and with art by Josh Hood.

In late 2019, after going through DevelopmentHell for a few years, ''Avatar: Pandora Rising'', a massive multiplayer online strategy game for mobile devices, launched in its early access stage.

Not to be confused with ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', or any other meanings of "{{avatar}}".

* SpacePlane: The absolutely ''massive'' "Valkryie" shuttle is capable of going either to or from space unaided, and can rotate its engines to land without a runway.

* BrokenAesop:

** Furthermore, the Navi's connection with wildlife involves overriding the animal's free will and their women are viewed as the property of their husbands (or just any man that takes their virginity). Details like this show that the Navi are as covetous and self-centered as the humans, they just don't have the resources to destroy ecosystems. Tempering this is Mo'at who shows that there are women who command great respect and women are allowed to assume a high-ranking role; Mo'at's advice in spiritual matters is considered invaluable. The leader of the Ikran People of the Eastern Sea is also a woman. Dialogue between Neytiri and Jake also make it clear that it's not ''just'' the man who claims a woman, as she must accept him as a mate, too.

** The Navi are supposed to be an example of a sapient race living in unity with nature rather than living off it, while the humans are meant to be seen as greedy meatheads who should be learning from the Navi. This rings pretty hollow when it's revealed that the Navi's connection with nature comes down to BizarreAlienBiology rather than through any discipline, so it's hard to fault the humans for not being as in tune with nature as they are.
** Furthermore, the Navi's connection with wildlife involves overriding the animal's free will and their women are viewed as the property of their husbands (or just any man that takes their virginity). Details like this show that the Navi are as covetous and self-centered as the humans, they just don't have the resources to destroy ecosystems. Tempering this is Mo'at who shows that there are women who command great respect and women are allowed to assume a high-ranking role; Mo'at's advice in spiritual matters is considered invaluable.

''Avatar'' is a 2009 {{epic|movie}} ScienceFiction adventure film directed and written by Creator/JamesCameron.

A sequel has been in the making [[ExtremelyLengthyCreation for the better part of the following decade]], since Cameron (as usual) was interested in utilizing experimental technology to portray new environments (specifically, Pandora's [[AuthorAppeal oceans]]), taking a few years to improve it. Production finally began in September 2017. Currently, there are four sequels planned for release starting in December 2022. Cameron is set to write and direct all of them. [[https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46059129 One report]] alleges that the sequels will be called ''Avatar: The Way of Water'' (which was finally confirmed in 2022), ''Avatar: The Seed Bearer'', ''Avatar: The Tulkun Rider'', and ''Avatar: The Quest for Eywa'' respectively.

''Avatar'' is a 2009 ScienceFiction film directed and written by Creator/JamesCameron.