Just thought I would add my 2 cents worth....
Firstly, I would like to point out that my wife is not a SciFi fan and initially did not want to see the movie. She normally falls asleep several times through any movie (including the ones she wants to see, so I have to watch the whole thing to explain the things she missed
). Eventually, I convinced her to see it but she didn't want to see the 3D version as it would make her feel sick. After passing on some of the comments from IIS I convinced her to go yesterday. Well....she did not fall asleep once and thought it was fantastic and was really glad I convinced her to see it. I thought it was great too and would give it four and a half to five stars. The effects were incredible, the story simple and entertaining. As for the length of the film, it felt like I was in the cinema for about 1:50 not almost 2:30, so don't be put off by the length of the film.
As I was watching the film, I couldn't help thinking that the story is very much an analogy for the plight of the North American Indians (and to a lesser degree all other native populations struggles with the greed of more "advanced" civilizations), which I don't believe makes it racist. It is very much a comment on contempory society's values (ie greed) and lack of concern for others. I loved the look on the faces of the other "support crew" after the attack, they were obviously thinking "what have we done!"....too late now guys, should have thought of that before you did something you would regret. I for one would have shot the guy in the back...probably 5 minutes into the film, he was destined to be the bad guy!
Question though, was Pandora a planet? If so, why did it appear to have Jupiter in the background as well as several other moons? Or was it in another star system altogether, I ask this because Pandora orbits Saturn and not Jupiter. Or is this too "scientific" a question?