this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2024
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Avatar: The Last Airbender

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 10 months ago (18 children)

I haven't seen the second Bluvatar movie because the first one was just scifi trope: the movie. He actually named the macguffin "unobtanium" ffs. Not even close to what I've come to expect from the person that gave us The Abyss, Aliens, and T2.

Meanwhile, The Last Airbender is the only cartoon to ever make me cry.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

FYI since you appear to be stuck on this point. Unobtainium is used in science and engineering for a material that can meet requirements but is too expensive, yet to be discovered or inaccessible by any means. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtainium

That being said bluvatar was a cookie cutter adventure story. Nothing special but it has mass appeal. For those of us who enjoy movies and television typically acknowledge that ATLA has a rich story, tons of depth and conveyed meanings and somehow doesn't take itself to seriously. ATLA is a work of art, bluvatar was a cash grab.

[–] starman2112 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Unobtainium is used in science and engineering for a material that can meet requirements but is too expensive, yet to be discovered or inaccessible by any means.

That was their point. It's a sci-fi trope, a stand-in term that describes a thing that doesn't exist, and Cameron decided nah, it's not a stand-in term anymore, that's just what this blue stuff is called. Most fictional media names it Adamantine, or Vibranium, or Stellarium, or something.

[–] snugglesthefalse 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I thought that was the joke? Someone with a sense of humour names it that and there's people unironically calling it unobtanium.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I think that's part of the problem. It's not a joke, it's played completely straight. That is the name in universe of the substance. If this was a comedy named SpaceBalls 2: Pocahontas in Space, sure, that would be a cute and funny detail. But it is an action adventure drama. It's completely out of place and displays a complete lack of sci-fi creativity.

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