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The most expensive movie ever, the one which will change the way movies are made, or so claim its author, James Cameron, will be released in December 2009. The film is being touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film's production. The result is the most realistic computer generated images ever created, and virtual actors whose capability to express movement and emotion reaches 95% that of real actors.

In a far-distant future, the story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former U.S. Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race, who are considered primitive, yet are more physically capable than humans. Standing three meters tall (approximately 10 feet), with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.

Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake will be able to walk again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).

Over time, Jake integrates himself into the Na'vi clan, and begins to fall in love with Neytiri. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth and the Na’vi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of Pandora forever.

-  Are You Jake Sully?
-  I'd like to talk to you about a fresh start on a new world.
You'd be making a difference
-  I became a marine for the hardship. Told myself I can pass any test a man can pass. All I ever wanted was a single thing worth fighting for.
-  Ladies and gentlemen, you're not in Kansas anymore, you're on Pandora.
-  You should see your faces.
-  We have an indigenous population called the Novi. They are very hard to kill
-  This is why we're here, because this little grey rock sells for 20 million a kilo.  Their village happens to be resting on the richest deposit and they need to re-locate. Those savages are threatening our whole operationWe're on the brink of war and you're supposed to be finding a diplomatic solution.
-  The concept is to drive these remotely controlled bodies called avatars. They're grown from human DNA mixed with DNA of the natives.
-  a marine in an avatar body, that's a potent mix
-  You get me what I need I'll see to it you get your legs back. Your real legs.
-  Oh yeah sir
-  Looks like you. This is your avatar.
-  Just relax and let your mind go blank. Shouldn't be hard for you.
-  Jake, it's real simple.
-  I want you to learn from the inside, I want you to gain their trust.
-  You should not be here.  Go back. All this is your fault.
-  I need your help
Outstanding
-  haven't gotten lost in the woods have you?
d'you forget what team you're playing for?
The strong prey on the weak and nobody does a thing.
-  you've got one hour
-  You knew this would happen?
-  Everything Changed
-  Jake it's crazy here.
-  Woolrich is rolling and there's no stopping him.
We're going up against gunships with bows and arrows.
-  then I guess we'd better stop him
-  They've sent us a message, that they can take whatever they want. But we will send them a message. That this... This is our land!

A FRESH START= A new start, when you start it all from the beginning.

YOU'D BE MAKING A DIFFERENCE= What you do would have important consequences.

MARINE= /məri:n/ A member of the U.S. Marine Corps (especially trained soldiers)

HARDSHIP= Extreme privation; suffering.

TOLD MYSELF...= I told myself (in colloquial English the subject of the sentence is sometimes eliminated because we know it).

A SINGLE THING WORTH FIGHTING FOR= Just one thing good enough to fight for. The adjective WORTH is followed by –ING and means "deserving". If it's good or correct to fight for one thing, then that thing is worth fighting for.

THE RICHEST DEPOSIT= The area with the most concentration of the material they want.

RE-LOCATE= Go to a different place.

SAVAGES= /sævɪdʒɪz/ A savage person (or a savage) lives outside civilization and their behaviour is wild and dangerous.

THREATENING= To threaten is to indicate danger or harm.

OUR WHOLE OPERATION= All our operation.
The words ALL and WHOLE have usually the same meaning but their place in the sentence is different:
- All the city was destroyed = the whole city was destroyed.
- All my family lives in Barcelona = my whole family lives in Barcelona.
- All the population was against it = the whole of the population was against it.

WE'RE ON THE BRINK OF A WAR= We're almost to the point of starting a war.
If something is on the brink/verge to happen, it's probably going to happen any moment now.

REMOTELY CONTROLLED= That can be controlled from a distance.
Modern televisions can be operated using a remote controller, so you don't need to be near the television to change channels. That means your television is remotely controlled.

AVATAR= The word "avatar" originally referred to the different bodies the Hindu god Shiva used the different times he visited Earth. Now we also used "avatar" to refer to the visual appearance you can choose in chats or other interactive programmes on the internet. In this film, an avatar is a new body humans use to go among the aliens without being recognised.

I'LL SEE TO IT= Be careful or certain to do it; make certain that it is done.

LET YOUR MIND GO BLANK= Stop thinking, let your train of thought stop.

OUTSTANDING= Excellent, of a superior quality.

THE WOODS= The forest.

D'YOU= This contraction of the verb DO is not used in formal writing, but it very often happens when speaking. If we make this contraction we usually get the assimilation D+Y=J, so it usually sounds like "joo" /dʒu:/, but not in this example.

THE STRONG PREY ON THE WEAK= Literally it means "the strong feed on the weak", but it is also used in a figurative way to talk about exploitation.

GUNSHIP= An armed aircraft, such as a helicopter, that is used to support troops and provide fire cover. Here, it is an armed spaceship.

WE'RE GOING UP AGAINST GUNSHIPS WITH BOWS AND ARROWS= We're fighting against gunships with very simple weapons. Bow is pronounced /bəʊ/ (see picture of a bow and arrows)

WE'D BETTER STOP HIM= The best thing to do is to stop him. The phrase HAD BETTER is followed by infinitive without to. In colloquial speech we often drop the HAD part and say "we better...".

WHATEVER= Anything.

MESSAGE= /mesɪdʒ/

 

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