Trailer Trash MASH, Epic Edition: First Trailers for James Cameron’s Avatar & The Wolfman

Well, it’s finally here. After more than a decade of technological development, hard work and eager anticipation, the first full-length trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar has arrived. And, it looks…pretty damn epic. As you may recall from my recap of the Avatar footage screening at Comic-Con last month,  people who had attended the Avatar panel and saw the 25 minutes of footage, admitted that it probably won’t make Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson re-examine their lives, but was a pretty stunning spectacle. There are a lot of ground-breaking technologies and filmmaking techniques at play here, which should be influential for other future filmmakers.

Avatar is  the story of an ex-Marine on the planet Pandora who, as an Avatar – a human mind in an alien body – finds himself in a desperate fight for his survival and that of the indigenous beings called Na’vi. The film has a very solid action cast, including: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi and Michelle Rodriguez.

This first trailer gives us an orgy of sights, sounds and insights into Cameron’s vision and the potential epicness of this film. The fight scenes look amazing, the creatures look meticulous, the CGI/effects do look ground-breaking and I’m sure the story is just as compelling, if not more than Cameron’s previous works; as he has been dabbling in the Avatar universe for over 14 years. As I used the term “ground-breaking technology,” some of you may be unimpressed by the trailer because that term immediately sky rockets expectations. But remember, this film has been shot to specifically be seen in digital 3D, so the compression of the images and footage do not do the film any justice in regards to its visual beauty.

Tomorrow, at Imax theaters around the globe, James Cameron will be premiering 15 minutes of footage and this first trailer in digital 3D to showcase that ground-breaking technology. For more information on showtimes and tickets for the event, click HERE. Check out the first official trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar, which opens across the globe on December 18.

Next up, instead of the future, we head to the past. And instead of a new frontier, we have some familiar faces and mythology. Another long-awaited and long-delayed film has finally premiered its trailer comes from director Joe Johnston (Jumanji, Jurassic Park 3 and also the upcoming Captain America movie).  I am of course talking about  The Wolfman. The film started filming about two years ago, but was delayed due to casting conflicts, scheduling conflicts and creative disputes between the studio and director. Well, it looks like the wait was worth it because this movie looks AWESOME.

The film chronicles the origin of the legendary myth of The Wolfman, which is a remake of the 1941 classic of the same name. The cast is chock-full of amazing actors, including: Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Anthony Hopkins and the great Hugo weaving. Official synopsis of the film is as follows:

Set in the late 1880s, the film keeps the plotline of the original, with Lawrence Talbot (Benicio del Toro) meeting his father (Anthony Hopkins) following the death (and in the remake, disappearance) of his brother. The film details events during Lawrence’s past that led to his estrangement from his father (which includes Gwen), and the setting is changed from the mythical Welsh village of Llanwelly to the English village of Blackmore and the city of London^. The official synopsis states Talbot was traumatized by his mother’s death as a child, while Gwen Conliffe (Emily Blunt) is his brother’s fiancée. Following his brother’s disappearance, Talbot hunts a murderer, which turns out to be a werewolf, and the curse is passed on.

I think this looks friggin’ great. The scenery and cinematography is incredibly creepy. The performances look top-notch. And one of the most crucial aspects of any werewolf movie, the transformation, looks awesome. “I’ll kill all of you!!!” Del Toro screams as his phalanges shatter during his wolf metamorphosis. Check out the first official trailer for The Wolfman, which opens everywhere November 6.

What Do You Think? Discuss.