Check out these two new images from 'Avatar: Special Edition'

Avatar: Special Edition is set to be released exclusively in theaters in 3D and IMAX 3D on August 27th. The re-released film is set to include an extra 8-9 minutes of new material (including the famous 'sex scene').

Obviously, these two pics have not been taken from that particular scene but are still great to look at.

Click on the pics to view them in High Def and Enjoy!

Titanic Getting the 3D Treatment for April 2012

I know what you're going to say: Titanic is not a Sci-Fi movie!!

Yes, BUT, according to Slash Films, the movie is apparently finally getting the 3D conversion treatment from THE MAN himself, James Cameron, and Fox is supposedly quite keen to have it released in time for the 100 year anniversary of the sailing (and sinking) of the most famous liner in history.

List of Saturn Award Winners: Avatar Rules!

The 36th Saturn Awards (which honor movies and TV shows in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre primarily) were handed over last night.

It was Avatar who basically dominated the awards with ten wins, including Best Picture, Best Writer and Best Director (James Cameron), Best Actor (Sam Worthington), Best Actress (Zoe Saldana), Best supporting Actor (Stephen Lang) and Best Supporting Actress (Sigourney Weaver) - take that Oscars!

Star Trek was recompensed for Best-Makeup and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman received the George Pal Memorial Ward.

Exclusive Article by Sci-Fi Writer/Producer/Director Patti Beninati: The New 3D World Order

The Inside Trekker is proud to present an article by Sci-Fi Writer, Producer, Director Patti Beninati of Centerboro Productions LLC. 

The New 3D World Order

3D movies are here to stay, thanks to the first 3D camera, which was invented by Sir William of Bristol.  3D films have existed since 1980, but until 2010 had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion picture industry because of the costs, and the lack of ingenuity regarding a standardized format for all sectors of the entertainment business.

More Sci-Fi for Sam Worthington! Actor to Star in Quatermain!

Wow! Sam Worthington sure loves Sci-Fi!

Not only has Worthington starred in the most succesful movie of all-time, Avatar, he also starred in Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans (Ok, it's more fantasy than Sci-Fi but close enough).

Could Star Trek Finally Get an Oscar?

Over at Trek Movie they have an analysis of the chances of Star Trek winning an Oscar on this Sunday's Academy Awards.

This has led me to think about this and to give my own opinion and predictions on the matter.

Below are the categories in which Star Trek was nominated with a list of the other nominees:

Visual Effects

• Avatar
• District 9
• Star Trek

Sound Editing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglorious Basterds
• Star trek
• UP

Sound Mixing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglorious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Transfomers: Revenge of the Fallen

Makeup

• Il Divo
• Star Trek
• The Young Victoria

I believe that Avatar will win the Visual Effects category. This is almost a no-brainer. Trek Movie claims that District 9 could pull an upset over Avatar because of the quality of the effects achieved with a small budget. However, all 3 nominies definitely boast some particularly impressive effects but it's Avatar's 3D technologie and motion capture that gives it the edge.

Trek Movie is also pegging Avatar down for Sound Editing. In my opinion it's a difficult category to guess but my belief is that it will play between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Still, I'm not ruling out Star Trek either.

The Hurt Locker seems to be Trek Movie's choice for Sound Mixing. Apparently it won the CAS Guild's award. Once again, this is a category hard to pin down and any of the nominees could walk away with the Oscar sunday.

(Seriously though. These are the two categories I have a difficult time understanding as most of you certainly do as well. Sound editing and sound mixing certainly sound alike no? And yes, the pun IS intended.)

For Makeup I'm going with Star Trek. There were some amazing makeup effects in the movie. Being nominated against Il Divo and The Young Victoria may render the competition less fierce, but I believe it would be no less deserving. One must know as well that The Young Victoria was the winner at the BAFTAS (Trek Movie blames the win on the UK home advantage which I agree with. I mean come on!)

So bar an upset in the sound category, I believe Star Trek will at least walk away with the Oscar for Best makeup.

It would be the first Oscar ever for the 30 year old franchise. Crossing my fingers!

Who do you think will win in these categories?

Source

The Awesomeness of Avatar

2009 was an amazing year for Science-Fiction movies.

We’ve had District 9, Star Trek, Moon (which deserves its own post) and Avatar. All fantastic Sci-Fi films. For me, 3 of those 4 were absolutely amazing – Star trek, Moon and Avatar. Though I think District 9 does boast an interesting story and amazing special effects for a film that had less budget money than most films, I didn’t get drawn into it unfortunately.

But I digress.

I’m here to actually talk about the awesomeness of Avatar which I’ve seen twice as of today.

James Cameron has managed to bring the fictional world of Pandora to life through amazing special effects that look lifelike. The believability factor of these special effects was one of my personnal fears. I know CGI has come a long way in the past 10 years but from what I had seen in the trailers and in pictures, I wasn’t convinced by Avatar’s CGI (seriously, the movie trailers never did justice to the movie), and I felt they would never be able to convince me that these CGI creatures were flesh and blood when compared to the real life actors. I have to say I was agreeably surprised that they stood up well to their human counterparts in the finished movie! The expressions were as lifelike as possible. I noticed even the movements of the nose as expressions changed. It’s all fascinating stuff in my humble opinion.

The world of Avatar is a fully realized world with its own wildlife, creatures, atmosphere and rituals. Just thinking about how everything was rendered so realistically has my mind swimming with wonder. The seeds of the spirit tree (I’m drawing a blank here) were so beautiful, and the way they floated everywhere looked so real that I just stood agape at the sheer magnificence of it all. I even had the feeling that the bugs were real and just buzzing in front of me (pesky little things Haha). The attention to details was incredible - James Cameron and team did an incredible job.

At the heart of the story is a love story but Avatar also conveys important messages. The most important one is that we are destroying our planet and that there is beauty and wonder in nature. As for the story itself, the conquest of other lands and cultures for another’s own greedy benefit has existed ever since the World was born. It’s not just a parallel story for the white man coming to take the land away from the native Indians. The Romans did the same, the Vikings did the same. It’s all about conquest. That’s how we are that’s who we are. But in the process, other cultures are destroyed and irrevocably lost. It’s also a tale of resistance where everyone thinks their way is better. Okay, in Avatar, it’s mostly about greed and money which is what drives the destruction of the Rain Forest nowadays right?

Even though one is amazed by the technology and CGI displayed on the screen in Avatar, we must not forget the actors’ performances in the movie. Underneath the artificial characters, there are real flesh and blood actors that give their best performances to the Na’vi.

Sam Worthington shines in the movie and he is subdued as the human Jake Sully but also poignant and sweet. As his Na’vi self he is electric and energetic and touching. Zoe Saldana is strong and vulnerable as Neytiri and through her eyes, as well as those of Jake, we see the beauty of Pandora. I found myself believing in all of the performances onscreen. Even Steven Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch I hated with a passion (which in itself is good, since he’s supposed to elicit that feeling of hatred in the viewers). Everyone’s performance was good, no one was over the top or bad. Sigourney Weaver was great as Dr. Grace Augustine and it was definitely great to see her. However I’m not too certain about having a character smoke on screen, in 2154 you’d think cigarette would be gone, but I suppose that it shows her as a non-conformist rebel.

Avatar has definitely touched many people as evidenced by the repeat attendance of movie goers and the fact that it has now surpassed Titanic as the number one grossing movie of all time (whether it’s the story, the message or the special effects is personal to each and everyone I guess). Plus it has garnered an impressive 9 Oscar nominations (falling short of Titanic’s 14 however) including Best Picture (so has District 9 by the way). The movie has been so popular that James Cameron is now considering Avatar 2 ahead of the long awaited Battle Angel.

I loved Avatar, and now I find myself waiting feverishly for the DVD/BluRay to come out and hoping that the release will include the 3D version of the movie, much like Coraline did. I'm really happy to see that the Science-Fiction genre is in such a healthy productive state these days and that finally, it is getting proper recognition everywhere.

But I will end this post on a question. What did YOU think of Avatar?