SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: IGNATIUS JEE SHAO IANG

STUDENT ID NO: 0320069

FILMS SELECTED: Science-Fiction Film

WORD COUNT: 1003

ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: APRIL 8th, 2015

Nowadays, films play an important role in our daily life as everyone watch movies. One of the

most preferred genres of films is the science fiction genre. The touchstone for scientific fiction, then,

is that it describes an imaginary invention or discovery in the natural sciences. The most serious

pieces of this fiction arise from speculation about what may happen if science makes an

extraordinary discovery. The romance is an attempt to anticipate this discovery and its impact upon

society, and to foresee how mankind may adjust to the new condition. (Bailey, 1947) Recently I have

watched two well-known science fiction movies of different aspect, Avatar and War of The Worlds.

These two movies really got my attention although they are different in their storyline, ending,

personalities of their main character and also their movie settings.

The storyline of avatar is about how mankind invades the aliens but vice versa for the War of The

World. In the movie Avatar, human beings attack blue-skinned alien, the Na’vi with just one goal in

mind that is to excavate valuable mineral, Unobtanium on the planet Pandora. The storyline is

basically showing us how scientists creates Avatar to subvert the Na’vi. The humans launch their

attack on the Na’vi, killing many of the Na’vi and destroying almost everything on Pandora. Jake Sully

in his avatar, helps the Na’vi people to hold their ground and protect their home. In the end they win

the battle. On the other hand, War of The World is about Earth being attack by the aliens using

gigantic Tripod as their weapon. Aliens which were called Martians begin the war by attacking Earth,

they simply just destroy anything that comes in sight. Although the plot is rather attracting, the

reason why the Martians invade the Earth remains unknown as the film itself does not give a clear

explanation on it.

Both of these movies show a vast difference in the ending. Avatar possessed a good ending as it

gives satisfactory to the viewers. “I see you” (Avatar, 2009) is a famous quotes used in the movie.

Towards the end of the film, there is a scene showing that the natives of Pandora under Jake’s

supervision, force the RDA personnel to leave the planet on the remaining Valkyrie shutter. Norm

Spellman and Dr. Max Patel were allowed to stay remain on Pandora, this gives the viewers a

satisfied ending. The most amazing part of the movie is that when Jake returns to the Tree of Souls,

where the Omaticaya successfully transfers Jake’s consciousness into his Avatar body permanently.

The ending wraps everything up explicitly when Jake’s Avatar opened his eyes. Unlike Avatar, the

ending of War of the Worlds is not really satisfying. To me the movie is lack of the ‘wow’ factor

which can bring excitement to the viewers. The ending was not really attracting as it is expected. The

movie ends with the narrator’s voice informing us that the alien had killed billions, however were

defenceless against disease-carrying bacteria to which humans have long been immune.

There are a few distinct differences in terms of their character as well. Avatar’s main character,

Jake Sully is a physically disabled man who suffered a spiral injury in an unarmed war while fighting

in Venezuela. The injury was severe, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. Despite in his

wheelchair, Jake shows his decent personalities in few places throughout the movie. For instance,

Jake starts a bar fight with a man who strikes a woman. Even in his Avatar form, he tries to do

something that is morally correct. Jake sided the Na’vi and stop human beings from evading Pandora

after he found out the true intention of Colonel Miles Quaritch. Jake is a brave yet encouraging

leader. Even in an unfavourable situation, he encourages the Na’vi people to fight back human

beings. Unlike Jake, the main character of War of The Worlds, Ray Ferrier shows a smidgen of

humanity in his character. He is a divorced dockworker and a less-than-perfect father. Not only that,

Ray is also a self-absorbed individual who feels imposed upon by having to baby sit his own children.

While having custody of the kids, he wanders out with his neighbours to witness strange patterns in

the sky, leaving his 10 year old daughter alone in the house. Towards the climax of the movie, Ray

becomes a real father when he decided to protect his children and bring them to safety.

For the settings of the movies, it is obvious that both took place at different places. The settings in

Avatar covers mainly of on the Pandora, a planet of both living and non-living natural resources and

wildlife. Based on the director James Cameron, the screens and backgrounds in the film are mostly

computer generated, and are of high definition with the use of animation software by professional

designers and illustrators. For example, the ‘Hallelujah Mountain’ in Avatar is actually inspired by the

Chinese Huang Shan Mountain. This explained why Hallelujah Mountain has the similar appearance

as the Huang Shan Mountain. On the other hand, War of the World’s settings are mostly in the cities.

Not only that, the vast bridge overshadowing Ray’s house is the Bayonne Bridge which connect New

Jersey with Staten Island. In the film, there’s a scene in which the bridge is destroyed. Although it

seems to be just around the corner of the house in New Jersey, the area where the alien machines

make their first appearance is about 6 miles north in the downtown Ironbound, a district of Newark.

All in all, Avatar and War of The Worlds differ in terms the storyline, ending, character and also the

settings. Both the movies portrays different aspects on how humans invade aliens and vice versa. In

conclusion, I really enjoyed watching both of these movies. But If I am asked to choose one among

them, definitely I will prefer Avatar as it brings more excitement and fascination to the viewers,

unlike War of The Worlds which is lack of excitement in it.

Reference

Bills, F. (2013, April 4). Retrieved April 7, 2015, from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn

Hallelujah Mountains. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2015, from

http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Hallelujah_Mountains

Filming Locations for War Of The Worlds (2005). (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2015, from

http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/w/War_Of_The_Worlds_2005.html#.VSNuZPmUcbN

21, M. (2015, February 12). Retrieved April 6, 2015, from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407304/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn

Brians, P. (1996, May 16). Posting to the mailing list SF-LIT, Retrieved from 27 September 2013 from About.com

http://scifi.about.com/od/scififantasy101/a/SCIFI_defs.htm

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