Stephen Lang '73 in Command as Col. Quaritch in Critically Acclaimed Avatar
Stephen Lang '73 in Command as Col. Quaritch in
Critically Acclaimed Avatar
by Michael Lott
12/21/2009
![Stephen Lang and Sam Worthington](https://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/styles/main_page_image/public/assets/images/news-archive-2009-2011/stephen_lang_avatar.jpg.webp?itok=989AlJGt)
The blockbuster fantasy/sci-fi film Avatar, which opened this past weekend, features Stephen Lang '73 in the part of Colonel Quaritch, a gruff ex-military man contracted to provide security for a mining and research outpost on the fictional moon Pandora.
Avatar, created by veteran director James Cameron, touches on environmental and political themes while immersing the viewer in the lush and fantastical new world of Pandora. The film is shown in 3D, an experience that a reviewer in The New York Times called both "immersive" and "subtle." The same review compliments Lang's performance as Quaritch, saying that he "tears into the role like a starved man gorging on steak."
Avatar took top box office revenues this weekend, with $73 million in ticket sales. Lang was interviewed on MSNBC's Today Show and MyFoxNY's Good Day.