Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)

Hello to everyone who reads this. I have bought from Amazon over 125 Blu-ray titles by now.. and this would be my first ever review on a Blu-ray title if I am not mistaken I think I did one review on "Short Circuit " not sure. I still didn't get my "Avatar" Blu-ray from Amazon, as at the time I am writing this, it is 04-21-2010 12:37PM on PST. I should receive my copy of "Avatar" Blu-ray tomorrow which is 04-22-2010 on it's official schedule release on "Earth's day". Yet I received a copy of it on Blu-ray yesterday from another very well known source to me which I can't mention here due to legal street issues date. Firstly I have to let you all know that my friends TV is calibrated and this review is mainly based from what I see on my friends calibrated TV settings. ( in other words if your TV is not yet been calibrated please don't blame my review after watching "Avatar" on your none-calibrated TV ) Let me start with just saying this UNBELIEVABLE quality. I have no idea how Mr. Cameron did it. This is the best-ever Blu-ray title that I have ever witness. Just amazing and mind blowing ( Waiting on Star Wars Blu-ray set and hoping it will have the same quality knowing Mr. G.Lucas ) It took my breath away. ( I think I disturb my friend Gary many times while watching the movie by parsing the quality of it) Mainly I take my hat off to Mr.Cameron for giving the viewers of "Avatar" experience by taking off all that Hollywood crap out from the menu which they usually adds... and cheers again for that Mr.Cameron. Cheers a lot for having respect for viewers. Cheers again for giving us a such a nice treat we appreciate your art with great respect. My ratings on video quality I gave it a Five Stars, Audio Quality I gave it a Five Stars, Overall Blu-ray quality I gave it a Five Stars,Overall for the movie 'Avatar" Five Stars and Two thumbs up.I do also know that the release on 22nd of "Avatar" will not have the extra Forty Five minutes. But Mr.Cameron were nice enough to let us know way-ahead about it so we can make our choice of which version to by such as April 22nd release or the late November 'Avatar" Directors Cut release. Therefore we will not have to double dip-it. ( Not many in Hollywood movie industry does give that early information of a late "Directors Cut" release before they release their very first title release, they always grab our money by releasing a late "Directors Cut" with a surprise ) Also I will not forget to thank the "Fox" Studio for releasing the Blu-ray for $ 19.99. Where they would have unarguably sold it for very easily over $ 26.99 ( which is considering with the cost of the movie/even though they covered in Two weeks of the opening well as thinking of other prices of some not so good new releases ) My hats off to you on that "Fox" Studio. Still there is one thing that bugs me and I am sad or rather upset about what "Fox' Studio did. Which is stated here by me. ( this is only my opinion and does not say I am right here, but it's a strong opinion ) We here in USA produce all the Blockbusters and still England and Europe gets the best deal and pricing why?. I don't know. It is a Million Dollar question for me. Example "Avatar" in England gets a choice to buy the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with a Steel Book and other survival guide book of "Avatar" for British Pounds 24.99 which is $38.00 at today's currency exchange rate. Or else they can buy just the Blu-ray at a cheaper price. It might be expensive for most of us yet the choice would have been give to us in the USA market too. And most of other titles that are released in England and Europe they always gets a very good buying options well as good pricing too... mainly Amazon UK. Then-again this is only my opinion like I have mentioned above. What I am trying to say here is.... we the USA make these films and such choice should have been given to us in USA too in-definitely . I have pre-ordered the USA and the UK version of it.. the UK version was ordered because I wanted the Steel Book Edition. But if the choice was given to the USA market I would have saved the $38.00 that I have spend on the UK "Steel Book Edition' as it would helped me on the long-run as I am going to buy the "Avatar" November "Directors Cut" release too. There-after if they release a 3D version I will not buy it because the movie was not shot on 3D camera. But still it would have help me if we in USA had the choice overall. My European version of "Avatar" Blu-ray will not go a waist as I will keep the steel book and give the Blu-ray to my nephew who lives in Spain. ( For those who are waiting for a good 3D movie... in 2011 Mr. Michael Bay's "Transformer 3 " is the best why!!!... he is shooting it in the real way how it is meant to be shot. With 2D and 3D dual lens anamorphic camera. Just a tip for fans.Overall my anonymous respect goes to Mr. Cameron for taking us into a such a wonderful,unforgettable excursion in life. Million thanks to you again. And cheers to "Fox" Studio for keeping the price at $ 19.99 for Blu-ray and DVD combo pack. ( at Amazon ) And thanks for the great production crew of this movie "Avatar"... well as let us not forget to thank the Geeks who work in it too without them there wouldn't be a "Avatar" movie. Cheers to all of you. I will not have to write in here asking people to buy it within another week time if you read [...] I am very sure this will be the ( AVATAR ) most sold Blu-ray title in currant Blu-ray history. Enjoy your "AVATAR" copy. Please if you can try and calibrate your TV before you watch it, calibrate your sound system and watch it ON DTS-HD ( UNCOMPRESSED sound ) Those who doesn't have Blu-ray system and 1080P TV with their own good reasons... whenever time permits you please buy it as this is how movies are meant to be watch. I thank you all a lot for reading my review on "Avatar" Blu-ray. Take care may Peace Prevail On Earth. Please plant a tree whenever you can, and don't destroy any that you have.Love,Brazil D. Uluwita,Long Beach, CA.

The first thing I notice is the extreme packaging - a slip-off sleeve, then a box cover containing a book with three really fancy pages with a pull-out disc holder - all with very nice depiction of AVATAR scenes over every visible inch of the packaging. All this hints that something special lies inside.And you won't be disappointed - at least I wasn't - and it was well worth the price.DISC 1 - AVATARDisc Menu: PLAY / SETUP / SOUND / SEARCH / EXTRASThis disc contains three versions of AVATER:1) original movie release2) Special Edition DVD Re-release (with 8 additional minutes), and3) Collector's Extended Cut (with 16 additional minutes)If you saw the movie, then you've seen version 1. If you bought the DVD, then you've seen version 2. What you want to see now is version 3, the Collector's Extended Cut, with 16 additional minutes.If you just click on the PLAY menu choice, you'll get version 1. To play version 2 or 3, click first on SETUP - FILM SELECTION, then choose the Special Addition Re-release, or the Collector's Extended Cut. The Collector's Extended Cut contains all the scenes in versions 1 and 2, plus the additional scenes, so no need to view versions 1 or 2, even if you haven't seen the movie yet.Under the SOUND menu is an option to have all the swear words deleted from the sound track, but it doesn't work for version 3, Collector's Extended Cut, which is the version you want to watch, and the swearing is very light, no "f" words.Under EXTRAS menu are all the added scenes, which is handy of you fall asleep watching the Extended Cut movie (as I did) and want to see if you missed anything new.DISC 2 - FILMAKER'S JOURNEYDisc Menu: DELETED SCENES / CAPTURING AVATAR / A MESSAGE FROM PANDORA / PRODUCTION MATERIALThe best thing about Disc 2 are the more than 45 minutes of "Deleted Scenes." There are many of them, all in various stages of completion, and all but two add considerably to understanding the story line, especially "Dream Hunt" and "Challenge." The two deleted scenes that should stay deleted are : "Norm is a God," and "Norm's attitude Improves." The Deleted Scenes are the next place to go after viewing the "Extended Collector's Cut" on Disc 1."Capturing Avatar" is about how the film married real human facial expression and human movement to the animated AVATAR scenes. It is very interesting to see."A Message form Pandora" is about James Cameron going down to the Amazon Basin in Brazil and joining the jungle tribes fighting against the construction of a dam. If there was any doubt that Cameron was anything other than a dedicated tree-hugging environmentalist, this will dispel all doubts.DISC 3 - PANDORA'S BOXThis disc primarily has items a filmmaker might be interested in,The BD-Live portal is also on disc 3, which allows you to download additional material. I tried this but found nothing new that wasn't already on one of the three discs, and also the download was very slow.MY TAKE ON THIS EDITION OF AVATARI am a civil engineer who thinks bulldozers and mining equipment are righteous and good. I suppose in an environmentalist's eyes I have done my share of raping the environment, although the way I see it, natural resources are there to be utilized. I do believe, however, that the resources need to be used wisely and efficiently and that renewable resources should be harvested by sustainable methods, and the earth returned to a green state after opening it and harvesting whatever is there.I present the above, because it is very clear that AVATAR is permeated with tree-hugging, environmentalist propaganda. And Cameron so much as admits it in "A Message from Pandora" on Disc 2. Nevertheless, Cameron made a really terrific movie promoting environmentalist concerns, though probably his message is totally lost on sinners like myself.Still, I very much like this movie and especially the Collector's Cut, because 1) it is so realistically done, 2) because it is an exciting adventure story with lots of very dangerous creatures, 3)because it is also a love story, and 4) because it is a hero story - the little guy fighting the faceless bureaucracy of a large corporation or government.As someone who has thrice married into different cultures in different countries, and experienced the somewhat difficult task of adjusting to and accommodating a foreign culture, I think Cameron has done a good job presenting the difficulty and opposition that naturally occurs against inter-cultural romance, and much more so for inter-specie romance, even if it is through a remotely controlled avatar body. Much of this opposition was deleted in the original movie, but is evident in the added scenes, and especially the Deleted Scenes.SUMMARYThe extra scenes in the Collector's Extended Cut (Disc 1), and the Deleted Scenes (Disc 2) by themselves make this set well worth the price, and a story worth watching over and over, all the while hoping for a sequel. If you are also into how movies are made, there are plenty of ground-breaking techniques presented on Disc's 2 and 3.THE SEQUELMy idea of what would be an interesting sequel -Jake and Neytiri have a baby or two. Jake leads the Navi to develop some technology to prepare for the return of the Earthers but find the Navi uninterested. Jake remembers how European settlers arrived in America in such overwhelming numbers that the natives were completed subjugated and near annihilated. He fears that unless the Navi modernize to some degree, at least the military, the same will happen to the Navi when the Earthers eventually return for revenge.Jake goes to the Tree of Souls and discovers Grace has merged with Eywa and can communicate with Jake. Jake and Grace discover they can reach each other telepathically. Grace-Eywa has some ability to sense events beyond the planet-moon's surface. Grace and Jake begin to develop their telepathic powers, and discover thay also have some telekinetic powersBy the time the Earthers return, Jake and Grace can affect the control mechanisms on the Earthers ships.[Take it from there, Cameron ...]