Avatar Blu-ray
More than fifteen years in the making James Cameron's Avatar has reached the screen in living rooms around the world and the cost is definitely worth a look at Cameron's sci-fi world.
Film making 20/25
Video 25/25
Audio 25/25
Bonus Features 0/25
Total 70/100
Avatar is an old story taken to new and high tech heights using the latest technology of film and computers melded to not only be the costliest film but the highest grossing to date. Avatar on Blu-ray is not that different from the standard DVD version other than the great high definition video and audio: no bonus content, audio commentary or other extra features.
The story is much like many told throughout history since Indians were forced to give up their land, or woods folk had technology rampaging through their lands much like Fern Gully showed us. The oppressed natives having their lands for the riches it holds taken from them by force and their eventual retaliation is a common staple of stories, books and plenty of films.
Avatar takes this same story and adds fifteen years of technology advancement mainly by James Cameron to bring the story to the screen in the way he imaged back in 1994. Avatar is more a story of how James Cameron worked behind the scenes during years of smaller projects always looking to improve the technology he wanted to bring Avatar to the big screen the way he wanted to.
The Blu-ray edition of Avatar comes as a two disc set with the Blu-ray edition and the standard edition but is lacking bonus features on both discs but more on that later. Jake Sully is a marine who is recovering from a recent spinal injury and is out of options for recovery as the cost to fix his wounds is not covered by the military.
Jake Sully takes an opportunity he cannot pass up when his twin brother dies just days before shipping out to Pandora and the company wants Jake to take the place of his brother. Pandora is a planet light years away where Jake is going to help gather scientific samples and talk to the local natives called Na'vi through an avatar.
An avatar is a genetic meld between humans and the natives that are grown on the ship while traveling to the planet and the rest of the crew are in suspended animation. The avatar body looks just like the indigenous population but the genetics and some really high tech gadgets allow the human to control the body through a mental link that is almost like the person has transferred his consciousness to the avatar.
The scientists on Pandora studying the planet are not thrilled to have a marine taking one of the avatars out but the cost behind making the Na'vi human hybrid makes creating a new one too costly. The marines are thrilled to have one of their own on the inside to be able to gather intel on the locals to see how to defeat them if an when it comes to a fight.
The mining company so interested in the planet and the mineral called, wait for it, unobtanium, will stop at nothing to get as much of the mineral as they can. The mineral is more valuable than anything on earth but they never say what its used for which by all guesses will be revealed further in upcoming sequels.
The Na'vi that the mining operation are interested in live in a gigantic tree over the biggest deposit of unobtanium so they will do anything, including burning and blowing up the tree to get at the ore. Because the atmosphere of Pandora is unbreathable to humans the avatars are a valuable tool to explore the planet as well as communicate with the Na'vi.
Our hero, Jake Sully played by Sam Worthington is introduced to his avatar and he quickly takes it out for a spin much to the anger of his doctors who want to take the first mind takeover slowly. Sully runs outside and fools around only to quickly get down to work on his first exploration into the forest accompanied by a newcomer to the planet and the lead scientist.
After Sully is introduced to the local wildlife and one of its inhabitants the story continues in true Hollywood fashion. A sign from the gods shows Neytiri, the first inhabitant who finds Jake, that he is chosen to help her people.
Jake soon is told by both the military and the scientists to learn all he can for different reasons but in the end he does tell the Na'vi why he is really there. After they find out he is supposed to have them move from their ancestral home tree the military blow the tree up as Jake rebels against them.
In the end Jake leads the locals against the might of the military and with a little help ends up defeating the marines even with their high tech weaponry. Avatar is a great film but with a bit too common theme that is highly dressed up in the technology that James Cameron has been laboring over for a long time.
Avatar is a great movie but this release, both the standard and Blu-ray edition are lacking bonus content with only the movie and a THX promo on the disc. The bonus content will be coming out in November 2010 as an Ultimate 4 disc Edition and I am sure some 3D releases will be forthcoming as well.
Until then we have the film in all its full high definition glory, and glory with plenty of exciting action in full beautiful high definition it is. I purchased the standard DVD as well as received the Blu-ray edition for reviewing and both look excellent and sound wonderful but of course the Blu-ray is much better.
The Blu-ray edition is 46.6 gigabytes on the disc which is easily twice more than your average Blu-ray movie so it is very easy to see why there is no extra content. I compared the standard to the Blu-ray at several scenes and the Blu-ray is easily a much better quality with much clearer picture.
Both audio and video are great and it really is difficult to find out where the real world film and the stop motion ends and the CGI filming begins. The movie blends the three seamlessly and looks great with an appropriate amount of eye popping scenery and fantastic color.
Avatar on Blu-ray is the standard of what Blu-ray can be and is going to be the mark for any other Blu-ray to try and achieve in video and audio quality. This movie on Blu-ray is as flawless as possible and is really fantastic, not even almost but it is perfect.
Video is in vivid color and all the nature scenes look fantastic as well as the indoor scenes with their man made grime and grease. The entire film from beginning to end looks and even sounds fantastic so there really is nothing more to say other than a top score.
Audio is in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio surround sound that is also as flawless as you could possibly imagine with everything from the loudest blast to the smallest flitter of some wild thing absolutely fantastic. The audio is also a masterpiece and I really do not have words for what this is other than also the new standard for what Blu-ray films can be.
Avatar in Blu-ray looks and sounds perfect even though the story is not a perfect match to the technology and will be the standard for what a movie can look and sound like for a while yet. Avatar on Blu-ray is a must have for anyone who owns a Blu-ray player or drive in their PC and the standard edition is also a must have for any movie collection if you don't have Blu-ray.