Avatar: Extended Blu-ray Collector’s Edition
DVD Reviews | Nov 24th, 2010
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore
Written By: James Cameron
Directed By: James Cameron
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy On Amazon.com
Just when you thought Avatar was long enough, James Cameron releases an extended cut on Blu-Ray and DVD! But what’s funny is that the movie doesn’t feel any longer, but at the same time it feels complete. If there is one movie that should only be watched on Blu-Ray, it’s Avatar!
I’m not going to go into the whole story of Avatar, because I’m sure you’ve all seen it before. Plus, I’ve already reviewed the film back in the Spring. You can read that original review here. My love for the film has only grown since then, and with the additional scenes; I feel the movie is now complete. The additional scenes show more backstory to Jake Sully in the beginning, and there’s a quick side story involving Neytiri’s sister. Grace ran a school with Neytiri and her sister, and the school was attacked by rebels. There’s also a little bit of additional footage at the final battle, and involving Tsu’tey, the heir of the tribe. Lots of little, subtle things here and there.
The deleted scenes are definitely worth checking out since it’s 45 minutes worth of them. Some are added back into the movie but not all of them. It might be worth seeing them before the other sequels come out, whenever that might be. The 4 part documentary is worth the price alone, just because of how much detail there is. You are sucked into the drama that is Avatar and how much work and man power went into making this movie. I didn’t realize that Weta and ILM worked on this movie. No wonder why it’s so damn great! You find out James Cameron has been working on this story since the mid 90s but didn’t think the industry was ready for it back then. I think it’s safe to say it was well worth the wait. You see in the documentary how Cameron brought in a small team at first to construct the look and feel of Pandora, brought in professors to extend the language he developed.
Then once the movie was finally greenlighted, it was time to hire the actors. Before then, he did test with actors who were not included on the final movie like LOST’s Yunjin Kim. The actors talk about how much work went into them getting the roles, and then how much work went into acting with the motion capture suits. You see them training for the roles, learning to speak the language, fighting, horse training, archery, etc. etc. etc. This movie is just massive in scale, with how much stuff went into it and this documentary definitely helps tell that. If you feel the need to watch the theatrical release, that’s on here too but I honestly wouldn’t since the director’s extended cut is far better! James Cameron is one director that clearly knows how to make an extended cut of a movie!
Besides the documentary, deleted scenes, and other featurettes, there’s also a family friendly audio tracks, Which I just think is fucking stupid. So it’s okay to show kids a ton of violence, sex scene with aliens using their tails but bad for kids to hear words like shit, fuck, ass, and other “curse” words. Just goes to show you how ass-backawards Americans and families are. Here’s a gun son, but don’t you say naughty words when shooting it! Sigh… ANYWAY.
Avatar was the best movie of 2009 and perhaps this decade. This 3 disc set is also one of the best Blu-Rays I’ve seen to date. If you were bitching (like myself) about the lack of extras on the original set, this is the set to get!
Features:
Original Theatrical Version
Special Edition Re-Release
3 Hour Collector’s Extended Cut
Exclusive Alternate Opening On Earth
Capturing Avatar
45 Minutes Of Never Before Seen Deleted Scenes
Interactive Scene Deconstruction
17 Featurettes
The Art Of Avatar
Family Audio Track
Video:
Widescreen 1.78:1 Color
Screen Resolution:
1080p
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
ENGLISH: DTS-HD MA 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1
PORTUGUESE: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English, Spanish, Portuguese
Bottom Line: One of the best Blu-Ray movies I’ve seen (or any movie for that matter!)
Running Time: 162 mins
Rating: PG-13
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
