Are the AVATAR movies just flashy-but-kinda-mid seat-fillers? If so, how did they fill that many seats? Sure, the latest one is only #16 on the list, but that's out of how many thousands of other films?

And if they're so popular, why do they have almost zero footprint in our cultural conversation?

April 11, 2026 - 15:27 UTC

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What I mean is this:

The TERMINATOR movies are literally part of our cultural parlance now. ALIENS is the SF action thriller to which all other SF action thrillers are compared. THE ABYSS revolutionized how films approach SFX in visual storytelling.

The AVATAR movies are just... kinda there.
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Yes, they did amazing things with SFX, but advancements in technology don't mean compelling art. I've read a lot about how beautiful they are, but almost nothing about how they make audiences FEEL.

In the end, they feel like a bejeweled platinum monument to the concept of "well, that happened."
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