Avatar [Blu-ray]

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 ...]

This is about the original movie and DVD only, not the 3-disc version being released tomorrow. I'm biased because I loved Avatar and saw it five times in the theaters. The 3D was excellent and enjoyable. By far the #1 complaint was that the special effects were incredible but the plot was boring and unoriginal. The FX are of course amazing but I liked the story as well - "Romeo and Juliet" set in outer space. Also, Mr. Cameron deserves a little more credit here than what he's been getting. This is an incomplete list and it'd take someone better informed than me to complete it, but here are some of the influences that I spotted: Sir James Frazier, Joseph Campbell, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Frank Frazetta, the Bible (love those Christ-figures), the aforementioned Shakespeare, Joseph Conrad, the Ramayana, Plains Indians, Amazon rain forest Indians, Gaia, T.H. Lawrence, the Masai, Vietnam, the Middle East and that's all I can think of right now. My point is that more thought went into the script than people seem to realize. It is of course very derivative, but there aren't too many totally unique plots out there (show me a few, please). At least Mr. Cameron used high-quality sources for his concept.Another complaint was Mr. Cameron's politics. I'm not a liberal or a leftist and I wasn't inconvenienced by any attempts to brainwash me into anti-American, anti-military, anti-consumerism, anti-business, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism or anti-anything viewpoints. I just appreciated the movie and enjoyed the ride. I figured that Mr. Cameron needed despicable villains and henchmen as well as noble heroes and heroines, which is what any epic requires. Because the main evil-doer and his mercenaries and the corporate execs were American, some people got very offended. I just looked at them as handy, all-purpose scoundrels; not as representatives of something I was supposed to hate forevermore. Don't forget, the hero (and Christ-figure) was an ex-Marine. Didn't that balance things out for you? I don't know or care about James Cameron's personal philosophies, I just believe he intended to create an entertaining, enjoyable, enthralling movie and that he succeeded admirably. Anybody who only sees art produced by people who share the same outlook is missing out on a lot of what the world has to offer. You don't have to be converted in order to appreciate someone else's vision.There has to be a final note about the incredible FX. The visuals were undeniably spectacular and even people who hated the movie itself all agreed on that. A lot of diligence and work and thought and effort went into Avatar and it clearly shows. Mr. Cameron and his actors and crew and staff were obviously deeply committed to their vision and it showed in every scene. My only complaint was the soundtrack. A flick like this deserved a score on the same level as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" or "Once Upon a Time in the West" or "The Last of the Mohicans" or "The Magnificent Seven" (it was, after all, an exciting cowboy movie placed in outer space). It richly deserved a stirring and emotional soundtrack but instead there was mostly innocuous elevator music throughout. I love Leona Lewis but putting her song over the end credits wasted it, IMHO. It would've fit in better during the movie itself, also IMHO.Anyway, I highly recommend Avatar. Hard to imagine a more enjoyable film.