“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” These famous words, uttered by Forrest Gump could have easily been describing Avatar director James Cameron. He did not know what he was going to get when he first dreamt up his 2009 blockbuster hit. It was four years in the making with an astounding budget of $237 million, Avatar took a record breaking $2 billion at the box office. Cameron took an enormous gamble to realize his childhood vision of creating a digital masterpiece based around the mythical people, Na’Vi who occupy far away planet, Pandora. Meanwhile, Forrest Gump was stumbling through a plethora of historical events such as frequenting The White House and meeting Presidents Johnson and Nixon, being a Vietnam war hero and unintentionally thwarting the Watergate perpetrators! With a much less extravagant budget of $55 million, Forrest Gump still managed to take an impressive $657 million at the box office.

Forrest Gump is a hard plot to describe. This is confirmed by Tom Hanks, who plays the lead character. In his words, “…it’s about a guy, sat on a bench at a bus stop, talking about his life, which turns out to be a pretty extraordinary story.” Gump has a low IQ but the love and dedication of his mother means he is afforded the same opportunities as everyone else. He sees the world differently yet goes on to achieve incredible success as a football star, a Vietnam war hero, an international ping-pong player and owner and operator of the Bubba Gump shrimp company. Gump’s only childhood friend is a girl called Jenny. Jenny experiences a somewhat turbulent childhood which spills into her adulthood leading to questionable choices and decisions. The one constant in her life is the unconditional love Forrest has for her and the films side plot is an epic love story. Romance also unfolds in Avatar. The film, primarily of a science-fiction genre, follows the story of ex-marine and paraplegic, Jake Sully. Sully is recruited by the US military to complete a mission to far away planet, Pandora. He is given an Avatar body where he has full use of his limbs on Pandora. It is here where the native people; a curious, 6ft tall, human-like, blue species called Na’Vi live in peace and harmony, posing no threat to mankind. Sully’s mission is to relocate the Na’Vi in order for the military to move in and extract a rare and expensive mineral called “unobtanium.” This precious mineral will save Earth from its energy crisis and ensure the survival of the human race. The mission is not as clear-cut as Sully originally thought and he enters into a battle against the military to save the Na’Vi and Pandora. He falls in love with the Chiefs daughter, Neytiri and together they fight against the evil US militants intent on destroying the planet and extracting unobtanium for their selfish greed.

James Cameron, director of Avatar, had the notion to create a phenomenal technical and digital masterpiece since childhood. He describes himself as a nerd that lived in the woods with an insatiable fascination for science fiction. Cameron uses a multitude of digital technology to create the detail in the film. He uses CGI but also used an image-based facial performance capture in which the actors wore special headgear with a camera. The camera would then transmit the images which were put on the virtual characters (the Na’Vi).

This allowed Cameron to convey the emotion of the Na’Vi a very realistic way. In an interview with Forrest Gump director, Robert Zemeckis, he describes the technology used and how they used special effects to create reality. Gary Sinise played Lt Dan Taylor who loses both his legs in Vietnam. Sinise had to wear blue stockings so his legs could be digitally removed for the latter part of the film. The result is incredibly convincing and realistic. Zemeckis describes that the hardest part was creating the historical events Forrest found himself a part of and putting the mouths on characters to speak the words of the scripts, particularly the presidential scenes. When asked where he thinks technology is going, he says, “some place we can’t even imagine right now.” This is clearly demonstrated only a decade and a half later when James Cameron created Avatar.

Both films exude conventional and unconventional traits. Conventionally, both films are star renowned actors such as Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana. Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis is also credited with directorial accomplishments such as Back To The Future II and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. James Cameron is known for his director talent in films such as The Terminator and Titanic. Avatar tackles many unconventional issues such as militarism, imperialism and corporate greed. Forrest Gump addresses the social stigma attached to low IQ and limited intellect as well as multiple political and controversial historical events such as the Vietnam War, Watergate and Nixon’s abdication. 

Interestingly, both films are situated in times way before or after their time of release. Forrest Gump, released in 1994, chronicles the life story of Forrest from his 1950 birth through to the mid 1980s. Gump meets Elvis Pressly at his mother’s board house and teaches Elvis the “hip dance” which becomes Pressly’s legendary move. He also embraces Hurricane Carmen and is the only fishing boat to survive which proves lucrative for his Bubba Gump Shrimp business. Sadly, his beloved Jenny succumbs to what is presumed to be HIV and Forrest is left as a single father to their son. The 2009 film Avatar, is set way into the future in 2154, at a time where mankind is on the brink of extinction. The film is set so far in the future that it is hard to situate historically, other than the suggestion that the human race is just bad and will continue to disregard environmental issues so much so that humans will ultimately destroy itself and the planet they live on.

The comparison of science-fiction versus romantic/drama is an interesting one. At face value it may seem they have nothing in common but ultimately both films utilized film and camera technology to portray emotionally charged historical events and nostalgia as well as a glimpse of what the future may hold for mankind. Forrest Gump and Avatar tackle social stigmas and political issues that can withstand the test of time making them cult classics.

Forrest Gump was critically acclaimed although an article from Forrest Gump: A Bad Movie Gets Worse With Age says, “Viewed in retrospect, “Forrest Gump” whitewashes and dumbs down American history at every turn. But that’s an old critique that shouldn’t stop the presses.” Gump does not let his limited intellect stop him from being successful. He is a football star, a war hero, a ping-pong champion and meets two Presidents. Throughout these historical events, Gump shows any American can achieve greatness by being decent, honest and patriotic.