Even before AVATAR’s release, parallels with other films emerged.
Cameron has admitted a similarity with DANCES WITH WOLVES and a certain Matt Bateman ticked the boxes convincingly for POCAHONTAS. The web is rife with comparisons. Here are six:
DANCES WITH WOLVES
Yes, exactly, it is very much like [Dances With Wolves]. You see the same theme in “At Play in the Fields of the Lord” and also “The Emerald Forest,” which maybe thematically isn’t that connected but it did have that clash of civilizations or of cultures. That was another reference point for me. -James Cameron
Comparison
FERN GULLY
DELGO
- Both films have heroic male leads who sprint through woodsy shadows in foreign lands:
- Both films feature tough but emotional female leads:
- Both films feature the leads (among others) flying on the backs of winged reptilian beasts:
- Both films feature aircraft zooming through fields of massive floating rocks:
- Both films feature big, scary, fanged monsters of various types threatening their heroes:
- Both films feature alien warriors uncorking their fiercest battle cries:
- And both films feature all of the above as individual hurdles in the undying quest for love.
- Both films harbored ambition and vision that required the better part of a decade to produce.
POCAHONTAS
STAR WARS
- Visual Effects: Particularly the prequels offered state-of-the-art effects.
- “ET Phone Home”: Both films consist of un-Earthly beings as part of their story.
- New Language Invented: There are multiple languages featured in Star Wars.
- Lucas vs Cameron: Top-grossing directors.
- Big Budget: Avatar cost about $237m to make and $150m to promote. Episode III whopped in $115m.
THE MATRIX
| The Wait | James Cameron waited for 15 years. | Wachowski bros waited for 4 years. |
| The Plot | Pandora is home to a precious resource known as unobtantium which is perfect source of energy/fuel would worth millions of dollars. Huge deposits of Unobtantium are identified to be available below the tree which has spiritual importance to Na’vis residents of Pandora. | Machines have become intelligent and find hard to gather fuel/energy for their survival. They find Human Brain generates the required electricity with fusion, but to keep humans under control they design the MATRIX; dream world to keep humans under control. |
| The Avatar/ Matrix | When you go inside the Avatar body your visual appearance changes to Na’vi. When you return you are simple human being. | In Matrix inside you are human and outside also you are human. The only difference: inside your plugs are gone. |
| The Return | It takes a press of button to return from Avatar to physical body. If your Avatar is killed you dont die here operating it. | It takes a phone call to person to return from Matrix. If you are killed in Matrix you die where you are plugged. |
| The Theme | Avatar storyline gives immense importance to Mother Nature, Greenery, Spirits. Jake in the form of Na’vi Avatar protects Pandora from his own race of humans. | Matrix storyline gives importance to Prophecy given by Oracle. Neo is the chosen one who will end the Human Slavery to Machines. |
Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.
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Blah, people will always make comparisons of anything to anything. Just enjoy the movie. Not much storylines are original these days, they’re pretty much follow a preset structure and arc. But once in a while, there’s a few thar are very different, or throws comfort structure away. QT does this I think.
Surprisingly, I watched Cinemassacre’s comparison of the Star Wars Saga to older films. We know Lucas was inspired by Samurai and Westerns… but I didn’t know he took some inspirations and transitioned it shot for shot.