With the upcoming arrival ofAvatar 2 in theaters (followed by Avatar 3, 4, 5, 6, Avatar VS Predator, Avatar Origins, Aviatar (a spin-off with Dicaprio taking over the role of Aviator) James Cameron also offered us the release of the first part remastered in 4K in theaters. So it was the perfect opportunity to reveal to you what were the details that you could have missed in this first film, like did you notice that the Na’vis were blue? Ok, I promise, the other info is better than that.
1. Anti-American criticism
Several people have said that the movie Avatar was a copy-and-paste of the movie Pocahontas with the American invasion and the massacre of the American native populations as a watermark. If you needed a single proof that humans represent a colonialist and bloody America, it is given simply in a scene with a huge, barely hidden flag that you can see in this image.
2. A nod to the book “Le lorax”
When Jake reads a book to the Na’vi children it is the book “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss, the writer to whom we also owe “The Grinch”. In the book, a character faces a big businessman who wants to destroy the forest and defends nature against the power of businessmen. Pretty much the same story.
3. Norm’s Cap
If you look at the baseball cap that the character Norm wears when he’s in Na’vi you might get the impression that it’s just a plain cap with a fictitious logo, but no, the text is in braille reality and simply means “1969”, the year when man walked on the moon.
4. The big nod to “True Lies”
James Cameron gives a huge nod to one of his best films (I don’t want to hear anything, it’s a cliché but so brilliant) which is none other than True Lies. Basically in a scene where Jake jumps on a ship he finds himself falling and clinging to a missile in extremis: this scene is almost similar to when the villain of the film True Lies clings to a missile before Arnold Schwarzenegger sends it ad patres exploding in the air with the clever punchline “you’re fired”.
5. The five fingers of Neytiri
Before the big final fight, Neytiri gets some super badass warpaints including a five-fingered hand on his chest. Except that Na’vi only have four fingers, so does that mean she can’t count to four? Maybe, or else it’s a sign that she is completely in love with Jake and forgives him even before finding him. It’s nice.
6. Unobtainium, the “real” material
The movie’s big baddies are on the hunt for a miracle material called ‘Unobtainium’ that can do all kinds of cool stuff. But this term existed long before the film in scientific jargon and refers to the same thing as in Avatar : a rare material, with incredible properties but totally fictitious, so it was a little scientific wink to use the name in the film. It’s also the name of a dumb cryptocurrency if you’re interested.
7. The mountains that inspired the film renamed…in honor of the film
James Cameron did not hide from being inspired by the mountains of the Chinese forest of Zhangjiajie to create his famous flying mountains (even if they are more reminiscent of the work of the artist Roger Dean). But after the film was released, one of these mountains was officially renamed “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” by the Chinese government in honor of the film, which is called a fair return.
8. The Na’vis who pick up Grace’s body are her students
Okay to capture this one you have to have seen the long version of the film because the first scene that allows us to understand it is absent from the cinema version. We see Grace giving lessons to five Na’vi students who seem to appreciate her enormously. When Grace dies, four Na’vi pick up her body, visibly affected by the loss, and this is normal since we recognize four of her students at this time.
9. Avatars and Na’vis are rather different
If the Avatars are made in order to look like the Na’vis it’s a bit of a failure since they have eyebrows while the originals don’t and have five fingers on their hands while the Na’vis don’t. only have four. SO IT’S NOT REALLY NA’VIS YOU UNDERSTAND IT’S AVATARS.
10. The Na’vi don’t tie their prisoners’ arms for a good reason.
When they imprison Avatars the Na’vi don’t tie their arms like we human beings would, but they tie up their hair, since that’s what they can control animals or make love with (I think they can’t do that but that’s all I got. Sorry I saw the movie 13 years ago actually).
11. The date of the final battle is a singular anniversary
In one of the audio diaries held by the character Jake, we learn that the action takes place in the year 2154 and more precisely in August. There, like that, it means nothing to you and it’s normal, but it means that this battle is happening 200 years after August 1954, the month of birth of James Cameron.
12. Na’vi women have breasts when they shouldn’t
Scientifically the only animal species to have breasts are the placental mammals, which the Na’vis are not. What explanation to give to that? None, apart from the fact that it sells better, because even Cameron has said in the press “from the start I wanted them to have breasts, even if it didn’t make scientific sense. “.