This movie is getting more hype than all the other holiday movies put together.  Is it all just overblown or is this the beginning of a whole new way of thinking about filmmaking?

According to the movie’s Web site, “'Avatar' takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home.”

OK, this plot line sounds familiar, but this doesn’t begin to describe the movie.  According to its publicity, “Avatar” is designed to “deliver a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story."

What’s this “revolutionary technology”?  Made in stereoscopic 3-D and combining live-action and computer animation, the film was created using such innovative techniques as a new kind of “image-based facial performance capture,”  intricate “head-rig” systems, a “Fusion Camera System,”  a “Simul-Cam,” and an “AMP — Amplified Mobility Platform — Suit.”

What?

I’m not sure what all this means, but I think it’s worth the price of movie ticket to find out.

What do you think? Has this movie been overhyped?