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[Malsua]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdxXPV9GNQ

So who has missed seeing the trailers for this? Anyone?

It's been a full court media press.

The above link is to the trailer that is the latest and has actual talking and plot points.

Let me break it down a bit.

Evil Corporation finds that natives have valuable substance X
Some arm of the evil corporation is sent to negotiate and move peaceful, harmonious native creatures to new, less desirable lands so evil corporation can plunder the natural resources.

Negotiating arm "find their conscience" and sides against militant wing of evil corporation.

Natives and former Evil corporation guys now fight against evil corporation, throwing off the yoke of oppression and winning the day.

Does the story sound familiar? It should.

Shall we count the ways?

Star Trek: Insurrection - Almost exactly the same story. "Na’vi" for Avatar "Ba'Ku" for Trek.
Dances with wolves. - Soldier goes native

How about what the libs were saying about Iraq? George Bush was going to kill the natives and steal their oil".

It's common theme these days. White man comes to destroy the natives and steal their stuff.

I find it truly irritating.

[American Patriot]

This is a movie?

[Malsua]

Yes.

This is a movie. James Cameron's epic big budget blockbuster.

Yes, that James Cameron. Terminator, Titanic, Aliens, Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies.

[American Patriot]

Finally watched the trailer.

Wow. Well done it appears.

One of my old gamer buddies called me and asked me to go to opening night. Got a group going.

Why not?

Looks like the graphics are well done from what I can see. Story line? Don't care as long as it's set in future times.

[Malsua]

I agree, it looks GREAT! I just hate the noble savage theme. This reminds me of something Michael Crichton said in his Environmentalism as Religion speech:

There is no Eden. There never was. What was that Eden of the wonderful mythic past? Is it the time when infant mortality was 80%, when four children in five died of disease before the age of five? When one woman in six died in childbirth? When the average lifespan was 40, as it was in America a century ago. When plagues swept across the planet, killing millions in a stroke. Was it when millions starved to death? Is that when it was Eden?

And what about indigenous peoples, living in a state of harmony with the Eden-like environment? Well, they never did. On this continent, the newly arrived people who crossed the land bridge almost immediately set about wiping out hundreds of species of large animals, and they did this several thousand years before the white man showed up, to accelerate the process. And what was the condition of life? Loving, peaceful, harmonious? Hardly: the early peoples of the New World lived in a state of constant warfare. Generations of hatred, tribal hatreds, constant battles. The warlike tribes of this continent are famous: the Comanche, Sioux, Apache, Mohawk, Aztecs, Toltec, Incas. Some of them practiced infanticide, and human sacrifice. And those tribes that were not fiercely warlike were exterminated, or learned to build their villages high in the cliffs to attain some measure of safety.

How about the human condition in the rest of the world? The Maori of New Zealand committed massacres regularly. The dyaks of Borneo were headhunters. The Polynesians, living in an environment as close to paradise as one can imagine, fought constantly, and created a society so hideously restrictive that you could lose your life if you stepped in the footprint of a chief. It was the Polynesians who gave us the very concept of taboo, as well as the word itself. The noble savage is a fantasy, and it was never true. That anyone still believes it, 200 years after Rousseau, shows the tenacity of religious myths, their ability to hang on in the face of centuries of factual contradiction.

[American Patriot]

Paradise, Mala, is what one makes of it. Some folks have never had the opportunity to visit a South Pacific Island as I have, and see what true "paradise" is. It's not people getting along with one another, it's a lack of people who can't get along with one another and a place where you can live easily, quietly, without stress (except the occasional storm) and eat from the land and sleep with the sound of the waves crashing on the coast line.

Or, for some, it's the smiles on the faces of their grandchildren whom still believe in the Magic of Christmas.

[Malsua]

I agree. Paradise means year round warm weather and few people who want something from you. The more people you get, the more rules you need and the more rules you need the more "leaders" you need who then decide they need your stuff. It's a vicious circle. It's almost like someone set us at conflict and then turned us loose.

[American Patriot]

It's almost like someone set us at conflict and then turned us loose.

/chuckles

Ya THINK?

[zenbudda]

yeah this movie looks really facinating. i try not to tie politics to movies even though some movies are politically driven. i'm very interested in seeing this one. the sci-fi aspect of it looks awesome. the paraplegic solider's concious inhabiting an aliens body. somewhere in the trailer they talk about how these alien's seemingly primitive weaponry is still a great match for their technology. good stuff!

rick, you're a gamer? if you don't mind me asking, what games? if that's too personal to answer, np. :-)

[American Patriot]

gamer... World of Warcraft mostly these day. In years past, DAOC, UO and others. Role Playing, table top etc.

Ack new keyboard, give me a few days to get used to a tiny keyboard then I can type at 100 wpm again. sheesh.

[MTStringer]

Rick, ever play poker? I didn't really have you pegged as a gamer, sorry to say, but I'm sure you'd be successful given a bit of practice and time to learn the tricks of scripted hands. Once you get a handle on the different software, it's as much fun playing the program as it is beating the other players.

[zenbudda]

i gave up playing mmo games for lack of finding the right circle of people to play with (Everquest, WoW). but i'm with stringer. for some reason, i pictured rick being either a poker player or paintball war games.

[MTStringer]

In my case, until very recently I was stuck on dialup and unable to so much as successfully download a song, let alone play any advanced games online. So I eventually tried online poker and the rest is still to be determined, if and when our current legal situation is corrected in regards to regaining the ability to play online for real money. Hopefully the efforts of Mike Sexton, among others, will bear fruit sooner, rather than later, as poker most definitely is not a game of chance.

[American Patriot]

Rick, ever play poker? I didn't really have you pegged as a gamer, sorry to say, but I'm sure you'd be successful given a bit of practice and time to learn the tricks of scripted hands. Once you get a handle on the different software, it's as much fun playing the program as it is beating the other players.

I don't play cards AT ALL. I used to play some card games as a kid, but honestly, I want something more mind expanding than a card game

(Then again, honest leisurely killing is sometimes mind expanding... LOL)

[Malsua]

I'm a gamer and the Avatars definitely look like WOW blue trolls.

For what it's worth for a FANTASTIC single player game. Dragon Age - Origins is amazing.

I'm still playing LOTRO though and an expansion is coming in DEC.

[Toad]

I play WoW on Emerald Dream. (lvl 80 gnome rogue)

Thinking about giving Age of Conan a shot.

[American Patriot]

Drop into the Shadow Council Server, Horde side.

Phil (Hi Phil!) is in our guild, but he's not been around much lately.

Look for someone in "Tolkien Bane" on the Horde side and ask if I'm around, they all know "Rick".

One of the officers can do a guild invite if you want to join us there.

[Malsua]

I play WoW on Emerald Dream. (lvl 80 gnome rogue)

Thinking about giving Age of Conan a shot.

I played AOC at release.

Without a G11 keyboard, that game would be a gigantic pain in the ass. Chained melee attacks would be quite difficult to consistently pull off.

There were massive holes in questing that made certain level ranges into mind numbing grind fests. You couldn't take on the higher level content so you were stuck grinding low greens.

My understanding is that they've fixed it to some degree but the place is forever tainted as far as i"m concerned.

[MTStringer]

I don't play cards AT ALL

Rick, that's about exactly what I expected you to say. I can't see you hanging around a bunch of fat chimneys playing cards. Of course I don't smoke anymore, but smoke and poker do go together. I was doomed before I knew better, Mom and Dad both smoked. Dad tended bar as a second and sometimes only job, a real natural for him. The bar owner and his wife were my part time baby sitters, since THEY felt obligated to stay sober enough to function, something my Dad had trouble with. I recall standing on a chair so I could see to play pinball, WAY before school age. Instead of Old Maid or Fish or whatever, I played blackjack or tonk or, eventually, poker. I did, however, learn to leave dice and pitching coins alone, but I guess I was born to wager and that's the thrill to poker for me, as it's not always about the best hand but the best player in the hand. It's a matter of finding competition, for instance I played so much euchre and pool my buddies quit supplementing my income. I'd gladly bet on pinball or trivial pursuit or simon says or chess, but noone wanted to bet on those games, either. And hell, it was always a distraction from the fact I wasn't having sex that moment, anyway. Dat's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

[American Patriot]

hehe I used to go to bars when I was a kid. I played the bowling game. I don't even think pinball existed yet.

I don't smoke. Never have. never will. I think it's a terrible habit for people to take up - and when I was younger I was one of the people who thought it should be banned.

I've grown up and realize it's not something we should force people to not do - but at the same time, I expect others to have some consideration for me and not do it where I have to smell it or deal with it.

I have as much right NOT to as they have to do it. They can deal with it at home.

Most of the people around me have finally quit smoking, and I'm finally enjoying NOT having to smell that crap haha.


I never liked card games. They simply are... I don't know, boring.

How did this thread go from movie to card games, anyway? LOL