I just got back from seeing Avatar. (Although the movie is very beautiful, I didn't find the script quite as compelling as Stephan did.) I wanted to make a point though about the man who wrote and directed the film—James Cameron. While Stephan is absolutely correct that the movie makes a "dig" at our current war on terrorism, Cameron only meant the "dig" for the Iraq war. As you can hear in this NPR interview, the left-wing Cameron believes in his Master O-bomb-a's view that the Afghanistan war is a "just" war.

I also think that knowing Cameron's mindset (remember the "evil" rich people in Titanic?), the movie can be seen by some as a "dig" against corporations—but Stephan is correct when he writes that you absolutely have a sense that the indigenous people are fighting for their property. I do like the fact that the movie shows the military as absolute monsters. And it also shows the horrors of a big corporation/government partnership. (I guess things don't change much 150 years from now.)

I agree with Stephan about not worrying whether or not you see it on IMAX, or even in 3D. I saw it in 3D and the process didn't do much for me. The movie is definitely worth seeing for the visual artistry alone.