Martin Barker, with Thomas Austin _From Ants to Titanic: Reinventing Film Analysis_ London: Pluto Press, 2000 ISBN: 0-7453-1579-8 (pb); 0-7453-1584-4 (hb) v + 222 pp.

Avatar draws us into the beautiful and exciting world of Pandora, with its fantastic locations and its exotic and dangerous creatures. The experience of watching Avatar in 3D is like looking into a cabinet of curiosities, a pastime that was particularly popular during the Victorian era. Avatar's incredible special effects make Pandora seem as believable and real as our everyday world. Most of the creatures and plants of Pandora, including the Na'vi, are designed using computers. These digital special effects deliver (...) a level of detail far beyond what was possible before computers started creating alien worlds and their inhabitants. Avatar offers an ecological warning, telling us that something is going terribly wrong on planet Earth and encouraging us to be kind to our planet. A phenomenological view of Avatar allows us to see how its special effects can have a positive influence on how we view our own world. (shrink)