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Welcome to the next part of our <\/span>free English class<\/span><\/a> series about <\/span>English in Blockbuster Movies<\/b>! Today we\u2019re going to look at one of the most popular science fiction movies ever made: <\/span>Avatar<\/b>!<\/span><\/p>\n Goals<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n Difficulty Level<\/b>: Intermediate<\/span><\/p>\n Time<\/b>: Approximately 15 minutes<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you\u2019re a fan of the science fiction <\/span>genre<\/i><\/b>, you\u2019ve probably heard of James Cameron\u2019s 2009 film, <\/span>Avatar<\/span><\/i>. The movie is set over one hundred years in the future after humanity has used up almost all of the Earth\u2019s <\/span>natural resources<\/i><\/b>. It tells the story of Jake Sully, a <\/span>paraplegic<\/i><\/b> soldier who is recruited to help scientists explore a distant planet, Pandora. They hope to find a rare material called <\/span>Unobtainium<\/span><\/i> that will solve Earth\u2019s energy crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The planet is poisonous to humans, so Jake must work as an \u201cavatar.\u201d In the film, an avatar is a <\/span>hybrid<\/i><\/b> of a human and the blue, <\/span>humanoid<\/i><\/b> species (called Na\u2019vi) who <\/span>inhabit<\/i><\/b> Pandora. Once Jake <\/span>befriends<\/i><\/b> the Na\u2019vi, he struggles to choose between preserving Pandora and finishing his mission.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Years in the Making<\/b><\/p>\n Director James Cameron began working on the <\/span>screenplay<\/i><\/b> for <\/span>Avatar<\/span><\/i> in 1994. Though he planned to start filming <\/span>Avatar<\/span><\/i> after finishing <\/span>Titanic<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>computer animation<\/i><\/b> technology had not advanced enough to match Cameron\u2019s <\/span>vision<\/i><\/b> for the film. Pre-production for the film officially began in 2006, though it would take Cameron several years to plan, shoot, and edit the film. Finally, on December 10th of 2009, the much-anticipated movie <\/span>premiered<\/i><\/b> in the UK and London.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Changing Filmmaking Forever<\/b><\/p>\n Avatar<\/span><\/i> was a <\/span>revolutionary<\/i><\/b> film for several reasons. The <\/span>groundbreaking<\/i><\/b> visual effects stunned both critics and audiences. The Na\u2019vi were created using advanced <\/span>motion-capture <\/i><\/b>technology and the film was made available for both traditional and 3D viewing.<\/span><\/p>\n At the time of its making, <\/span>Avatar<\/span><\/i> was also the most expensive movie ever made, with an estimated budget of $237 million. It would also be the highest-grossing film of all time with nearly $3 billion in revenue (it held this record for almost a decade). However, it wasn\u2019t just a financial success. <\/span>Avatar<\/span><\/i> was nominated for a total of nine Academy Awards, of which it won three. Thanks to its overwhelming popularity, James Cameron is currently working on multiple <\/span>sequels<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Youtube Links<\/i><\/b>:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=P2_vB7zx_SQ<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n
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