Avatar's Strong Anti-Smoking Message

I haven't heard much about in it the news, but Avatar has one of the strongest Anti-Smoking messages I have seen in a long time.

First there is the MPAA Rating warning:

Avatar is rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

And then what happens in the movie.

Really, they couldn't have made it any clearer:

You smoke, you die.

Avatar 3D Imax! The Sequel! The Plot!

As far as the Avatar plot, ... well you are probably not going to see this movie just for the plot.

Actually, it wasn't bad (Pincus complement)... it just was so familiar.

According to the web - In 1994, director James Cameron wrote a 114-page script for Avatar. Cameron said his inspiration was "every single science fiction book I read as a kid".

It certainly contained elements of every science fiction story I have ever read, as a kid, and more recently, as a much older kid.

I may have a spoiler here so if you haven't seen the movie yet, you may not want to continue reading.

So which books / short stories might Mr. Cameron have borrowed some plot lines from?

Off the top of my head, the credits could have included:

Desertion by Clifford D. Simak - "Colonizing" Jupiter, human minds in native alien life form bodies. Written in 1944 (!), read by me later than that, earlier than 1994.

Various John Varley short stories - bio-engineering for inhospitable atmospheres

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card - neural network of trees.

Various stuff by Anne McCaffry - sentient planets, riding dragons.

Raising the Stones by Sheri S. Tepper - sentient planets, environmentalism.

Caretaker Series by David Klass - Greedy Big Business/Evil Corporations that pollute the environment!

Etc… Etc… Etc…

At least the plot doesn’t include time travel or parallel universes ie Schrödinger’s Cat references.

Avatar 3D Imax! Special Effects! Side Effects!

We saw Avatar 3D Imax over the weekend. (Motz shabbos as part of the Vacation At Home program).


The movie was fantastic. The computer graphics live up to the hype. Another level of movie spectacle has definitely been reached.

What I had forgotten about, however, is the nausea inducing properties of Imax.

Imax 3D is definitely the way to see this movie, but they should give out Dramamine along with the 3D glasses. Maybe it would have been better if we sat further back?

I got so caught up in the movie that at times I almost forgot how sick I felt, and I managed not to throw up on the people in front of me, but going out for pizza after the movie was certainly not an option.

Lumpy had to leave the theatre for a few minutes at one point, and I shut my eyes during the credits, which we stayed for in their entirely (as per the family custom), or I would have lost it.

As far as my review of the plot... Stay tuned for Avatar 3D Imax! The Sequel! coming to a blog post near you, later this week!