Blu-ray Review: James Cameron’s Avatar 3-Disc Extended Collector’s Edition

December 2, 2010

I was born for this!

James Cameron doesn’t know how to do anything small and his previous successes as well as the new wrecking ball of cash that is Avatar have proven that. Avatar was the highest grossing film of all time and as of this date, Avatar on Blu-ray is the highest selling Blu-ray of all time. While not 3D, 20^th Century Fox brings us a sweet looking movie in this collection. The story of Jake Sully isn’t an original one, but I guarantee you’ll not find a better looking one.

Plot

Avatar begins with marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) waking from cryo sleep after being out for almost six years on a ship headed for the planet Pandora. He discovers his brother is dead and because his DNA is similar, Jake is offered a new start by filling his shoes in a scientific program call “avatar.” On Pandora lies a substance called Unobtainium that sells for 20 million a kilo and greedy bastards we humans are, want as much as we can get. Problem is, a tribe of human-like creatures called the Na’vi inhabit the area where this stuff is most abundant.

As part of the program Jake controls a genetically produced Na’vi through a machine that he can operate with his mind. He is asked to infiltrate the Na’vi and learn their ways so he can provide intel to Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) on how he can relocate the tribes and mine the Unobtainium. On his initial run, Jake gets lost on Pandora and is found by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). She knows he’s not one of their own, but sees he has a good heart and leads him to her people. They eventually agree to help him learn their ways and Neytiri is to teach him.

As Jake learns from Neytiri, he begins falling in love with her. In turn, he begins to see that the humans are wrong for wanting to destroy the Na’vi habitat and seeks to stop them. Colonel Quaritch discovers this and boots Jake from the program, imprisons the team, and begins his assault on the Na’vi. They destroy their home tree and scatter the tribe. With the help of Trudy (Michelle Rodriguez) the team escapes and is able to continue controlling the avatars in an effort to save the Na’vi. Jake unites the various Na’vi tribes and with their help, prevents the humans from destroying their final refuge.

Highlights

I’m just going to get this out of the way; Avatar has the BEST COMPUTER GENERATED SPECIAL EFFECTS EVER. I have never seen animation done this well before. The various studios on this project (Weta included) have raised the bar for cinematic imagery. The Na’vi themselves look incredibly realistic and the various forms of life on Pandora look highly detailed. The large amount of colors used in the landscape as well as the many characters themselves is amazing. Further all this by the fact that I saw this in 3D and I hope you get my point.

The real stars in Avatar are the computer generated Na’vi, but the return of Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace is a welcome addition here, despite her Avatar looking a bit silly when she smiles. I would have liked to see more of Parker (Giovanni Ribisi) throughout the film. His character is very one sided at first but as the film goes on he appears to become conflicted with the decisions he has to make and that character development isn’t fully shown. Michelle Rodriguez continues to be type cast here as the gruff super woman who could kick your ass and I imagine a lot of other actresses could do just as well in her role.

What hurts Avatar the most is its all too familiar story. A man follows orders but then realizes the people giving the orders are a bunch of fucktards and sets to right the wrongs he committed while following said orders. It’s clear within the first 20 minutes of Avatar that humanity is really the enemy here and we’re forced to pick the side of the Na’vi. This fact is further driven home by how much a dick Colonel Quaritch is. We’ve all seen this type of story in a lot of movies, but here it simply looks gorgeous. It’s obvious that Cameron has borrowed a lot of similar material in writing the screenplay for this film, but even knowing that I didn’t care and I just enjoyed it.

Clocking in at two hours and 42 minutes, Avatar may seem like it’s a bit long, but you’ll easily get lost in the visual feast that is happening on screen. The technical work on this film should get just as many awards as the Lord of the Rings films did several years ago. Overall, this is great film and although you’ve seen this story before, you’ve never seen it look this good. James Cameron’s Avatar is a visual tour de force and should not be missed.

Audio/Video

Despite the all-too familiar story that Avatar offers, the video quality on this Blu-ray disc is unmatched. Offering the best special effects seen to date, the transfer here will NOT disappoint you. Featuring a 1.78: 1 ratio, this film looks stunning in high def and will easily call you back for multiple viewings. The mix of the extreme color palettes from the jungles of Pandora and the dull palettes of the human world really look amazing. All of this makes Avatar the best looking film I’ve seen on Blu-ray this year.

The heavy use of computer generated special effects here plagues this disc in a similar fashion to other recent special effects laden films like G.I Joe. When scenes involve static backdrops or human actors along with the special effects, it creates a layered effect that makes the computer generated object look less realistic. I didn’t notice it in the theatrical version, but it shows up on the Blu-ray and the standard DVD versions. This small issue doesn’t prevent this film from being the best looking thing out there.

The audio is presented in 5.1 DTS HD and makes James Horner’s original score sound just as amazing as it did in the theater. The thumps of the incredible fight scene at the end all the way to the near quiet sounds of the forest make this one of the best sounding tracks on Blu. It easily matches the stuff found in Disney’s masterpieces as well as Warner. There’s enough pounding of the bass to put your speakers to the test and piss off the neighbors. Awesome.

Special Features

James Cameron’s Avatar 3-Disc Extended Special Edition on Blu-ray may not come in a 3D edition yet, but at least this time, we’ve got special features, and a lot of them. Just check out the list:

Disc 1: Avatar

Original Theatrical Release
Special Edition Re-Release (with 8 additional minutes)
Collector’s Extended Cut (with 16 additional minutes)
Optional Family Audio Track (dialog sanitized for all ages)

Disc 2: Filmmaker’s Journey

Deleted Scenes: Never-Before-Seen
Exclusive Documentary: “Capturing Avatar”
A Message from Pandora
Production Materials

Disc 3: Pandora’s Box

Scene Deconstruction
Production Featurettes
Avatar Archives
BD-Live Portal

The biggest deal out of these special features for most would of course be the extra footage, and the best of those are the added minutes of exposition for Jake Sully’s character. I found them particularly satisfying after already knowing the story, as they gave more insight and foreshadowing as to how he stands up for the weak. Another is the addition of the scene where Dr. Grace picks up a copy of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax at the abandoned school and notes her appreciate

The documentary and featurettes are worth watching, but they still feel late to the party.

One of the most appealing parts of the Collector’s Edition is the packaging. Instead of a standard Blu plastic case, we get a slipcased hardcover that looks like a book, but is really just a clever way to package 3 Blu-ray discs in full color glossy cardboard.

Overall

Avatar is a testament to how far we’ve come with movie technology. It had the best looking special effects I’d ever seen when I saw it months ago in the theater and it has the best looking high def presentation I’ve ever seen on Blu-ray. Despite the continued lack of 3D, Avatar on Blu-ray is a great film that all audiences will love.

ComicsOnline gives Avatar on Blu-ray 4.5 out of 5 CGI side-boobs.