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[june]

hello all,

is this the best film transfer ever ;x(
the top menu screen is so beautiful, it could hang on a wall as motion art!
the audio is wonderful also. lots of ambience!!!

[George Bellefontaine]

Great disk for showing off your HT, especially if you have a good front projection system. At times, I swore I was watching the thing in 3D. I wasn't big on the story, but who cares. There's just so much for the eyes to take in. A true feast.

[june]

george,

ear candy also!!!

[John Holmes]

I'm no expert by any means but, I think most would be hard press to find a fault with the visual or sonic aspects of the Blu-ray release. Simply stunning!

[Chris D]

Thanks, guys, I was wondering what the quality was of this release. I was planning on holding off for the 3D version. I'll need the 2D version as well, so I'm expecting that they'll release a "super set" with BOTH 2D and 3D.

I'm assuming that the tree village destruction scene just DESTROYS subwoofers? Should be some mega bass.

[PewterTA]

The best thing for showing off your subwoofer is the THX demo at the VERY end of the film. I almost &*^$ myself when it came on because I didn't expect it. Wow, it practically pressurized my whole house (which is bad when you have sliding glass doors completely open on the other side of the room).

If you haven't watched all the way through on the credits... it's a MUST do!

On topic:
The movie was completely amazing, picture, sound, everything. It would've been nice for a 3D viewing, but from what i've seen, I've not been impressed with the home 3D viewing... the theater is far better in that aspect.

[Ralph P.]

Thanks, guys, I was wondering what the quality was of this release. I was planning on holding off for the 3D version. I'll need the 2D version as well, so I'm expecting that they'll release a "super set" with BOTH 2D and 3D.

I'm assuming that the tree village destruction scene just DESTROYS subwoofers? Should be some mega bass.

Greetings,

Chris, that sequence contains clean, low level infrasonic bass but it isn't the sustained type that makes for a vigorous subwoofer workout. The battle sequence later on is better suited to give your sub lots of work. 8)

Regards,

[wettou]

The best thing for showing off your subwoofer is the THX demo at the VERY end of the film. I almost &*^$ myself when it came on because I didn't expect it. Wow, it practically pressurized my whole house (which is bad when you have sliding glass doors completely open on the other side of the room).

If you haven't watched all the way through on the credits... it's a MUST do!

Strange why would the put the THX demo at the end usualy it is at the begining!!! I will try it out to see.

Also even so I thought the video and sound were pristine the story was stupid. All the reference to Vietnam war, Iraq, dances with wolves, pochahontas, big bad Caucasians stealing poor natives of their rights and land.. What a stupid movie, great demo material, I am glad I waited until the release on blu ray, I could not have imagined forking $50 to watch this in theater!!

Also why 16:9 format rather than 2:35 !!! I also heard that the extended version make it 6 hours....will come out in Nov 2010 right before the holidays, open your check books

[P-Dub]

Strange why would the put the THX demo at the end usualy it is at the begining!!! I will try it out to see.

Also even so I thought the video and sound were pristine the story was stupid. All the reference to Vietnam war, Iraq, dances with wolves, pochahontas, big bad Caucasians stealing poor natives of their rights and land.. What a stupid movie, great demo material, I am glad I waited until the release on blu ray, I could not have imagined forking $50 to watch this in theater!!

Also why 16:9 format rather than 2:35 !!! I also heard that the extended version make it 6 hours....will come out in Nov 2010 right before the holidays, open your check books

6 hours! :E How much more time can you spend in Pandora?

[Alaric]

Can't watch the movie. The eco-weenies don't get 2 hours of America-bashing fantasy time that belongs to me. The techno-babble doesn't impress me when the basis of the story is "I suck". IMO.

[Chris D]

I hear ya, Lee. For me, it was good ENOUGH that I'm still going to buy it as a reference disc, I think.

Ralph, hey, good to see you here!

Good info from all of you.

[numberoneoppa]

Downloading a relatively transparent x264 rip in 1080p now. I plan on buying it; if it's as good as you guys say, I probably will!

[PewterTA]

Funny I really enjoyed the story. I mean I don't think it's the most amazing story by any stretch...but I think it's a good one. I guess I went in thinking it wasn't going to be much of anything, so I was pleased.

Though the 3D in the theaters blew away the presentation on Blu-Ray...

and I'm not impressed with the in-home 3D... here's a hint, DLP can do 3D LCD can't.

...and I do believe completely that this is the way we are treating our planet...and how we do things...

[greenhorn]

I didn’t see it in the theater, so I went out and bought the Standard DVD last week. I had my expectations in check, the commercials didn’t wow me, but there was substantial buzz. I like a good epic or different style of movie, be it somewhat goofy or not.

So I settled and off we went.

Visually I thought it was pretty good, some scenes looked created for 3D and in 2d came across as set like, albeit almost 3D like, but more like props than something real.

As for sound, well I’d like to shake that fella’s hand (or lady). While the musical sound track was Ok the mastering was fantastic. For a movie that had sonic high and lows and in-betweens, never once had to reach for the remote.

The first 30 minutes I had to keep asking questions about what seemed to be story holes, then I gave up and just went with it. I decided it wasn’t the type of movie where you expected back story or substantiating details for everything, you just went with it.

The makeup of the movie over all was better than I expected. I thought it might be a bit helter skelter, with smurfs running around all willy nilly, Jar Jar Binks they weren’t. The blue folks were a tight group. I was surprised, I also thought the movie would be a little more polished over all. Sound and Scenery were well done, but I thought the acting, script and story were just average. Not far removed from a cowboy and Indian movie in some ways. Politics, I can watch stuff and still know my own mind. Sometimes it good to see what’s in somebody else’s too.

There was a lot to see, hear and watch, so I’ll be giving it a second viewing soon. Overall I give it a little better than average, it did different things. Just the story (mostly script) and acting, average or a little below.

Didn’t see the THX deal at the end, will check out next time I watch it.

[ShadowZA]

I loved it! Fantastic visuals. Some graphics details drew parallels to similar seen in computer games (Unreal II - The Awakening, UT3, Heaven benchmark). A fantastic feast of eye-candy. I can live with the story. I might like to get the full 6 hour extended verson just to give the eyes a feast

[numberoneoppa]

It was pretty, but that's about it. I wouldn't buy it.

[ShadowZA]

I watched Avatar again ... and then I watched Alien (on Std defn DVD).

I'd like to tone down my enthusiasm a little as per my earlier post. Yes, I found the graphics on Avatar to be a blast. But ... what I love about Alien is the slow detailed way in which it was filmed. I came away from watching Avatar feeling cranially exhausted. Too much fast movement. Too much motion-blur. A strain on the eyes. I would have enjoyed it more if the filming was slowed down & I could enjoy slow camera pans of Pandora's forests. When I can blink and feel that I don't loose any eyecandy by doing so.

Just my thoughts revisited.

[Alaric]

I tried to watch it. The premise is crap , IMO , and I just couldn't stay with it. My country takes enough abuse without some local jackass piling on. My $.02

[David Meek]

I watched Avatar again ... and then I watched Alien (on Std defn DVD).

I'd like to tone down my enthusiasm a little as per my earlier post. Yes, I found the graphics on Avatar to be a blast. But ... what I love about Alien is the slow detailed way in which it was filmed. I came away from watching Avatar feeling cranially exhausted. Too much fast movement. Too much motion-blur. A strain on the eyes. I would have enjoyed it more if the filming was slowed down & I could enjoy slow camera pans of Pandora's forests. When I can blink and feel that I don't loose any eyecandy by doing so.

Just my thoughts revisited.

To me, both are pinnacles of achievement for different reasons. James Cameron has a history of rollicking, technically challenging action films with sentimental back stories, see Terminator, Aliens and True Lies as other good examples, whereas Ridley Scott could well go down as one of the best story-tellers in modern cinema. Alien, Kingdom Of Heaven and Gladiator are good examples of his approach to cinematography and storyline that focuses on the characters but still delivers a serious helping of action/tension.

If I was going to compare Avatar heads up to a film it would be to another of Cameron's works - Aliens. Very similar in feel as to plot lines damning corporations, the venturing of the military into the mess, the development of the audience's feelings toward the central characters, the technical peaks reached for with regard to top-of-the-shelf CGI, the rollercoaster of emotions generated by periods of non-stop action interspersed with calmer moments, the feeling of having been on a good amusement park ride when the film is over, etc. Both films are on my "desert island" list and I would have a hard time picking one over the other if it came down to it.

After watching Avatar again, this time at home and under the shadow of corporate malfeasance which is trying very hard to kill the Gulf Of Mexico even as we speak (full disclosure: I worked in the oil industry for 24+ years) it resonates even more on that level. As a roaring, fun action film it again scores highest marks even though I admit that a little less scene jumping would have been a good thing. In that thought, this time around I was seeing small details and things I'd missed in the theater, but I guess that's true of most films when you get down to it.

As always, just my 2 cents.

[1oldguy]

I tried to watch it. The premise is crap , IMO , and I just couldn't stay with it. My country takes enough abuse without some local jackass piling on. My $.02

I saw it this evening for the first time.I really tried to get into it.But even the inner child in me was struggling to keep interested.Truly a pain to get through it.

[George Bellefontaine]

As always, just my 2 cents.

Two cents from you, Tex, is like a million bucks to me. That was a very insightful post and right in line with my view of the film as well.

[scarpi]

That's exactly why I rented it for a buck from the local Redbox in front of our neighborhood supermarket. Cameron made a billion putting down the Marines and the USA. Another hollywood celebrity that takes his US dollars and tells you how lousy his country is and the servicemen that protect him. There sure are alot of US soldiers buried around the world that died fighting tyranny. Something to remember on Memorial Day.

[David Meek]

I'm going to go back and watch it again just to be sure I didn't overlook something, but as far as I remember, Cameron did not slam America nor our armed forces.

He did get all over the mega-corporations that put the dollar first. He did get all over the mercenary "gun for hire" corporations. He did get all over the "let's ignore the environment" types. He did make all sorts of statements in this film, but he didn't get after us as a country and he didn't get after our service men and women.

See you in 3 hours or so, just to be sure.

[scarpi]

I'm going to go back and watch it again just to be sure I didn't overlook something, but as far as I remember, Cameron did not slam America nor our armed forces.

He did get all over the mega-corporations that put the dollar first. He did get all over the mercenary "gun for hire" corporations. He did get all over the "let's ignore the environment" types. He did make all sorts of statements in this film, but he didn't get after us as a country and he didn't get after our service men and women.

See you in 3 hours or so, just to be sure.

Then what the heck were the marines in the film, and the references to "shock and awe" (a term from the Iraq war), and basically the marines were there for the "unobtanium" ore (read oil) that the indigenious population (Iraqis) were basically living on so they had to be destroyed so the marines (US companies) could mine it. The marines in the film were a much larger force than a band of mercenaries. In Cameron's world, they represent the US military. This film reaks of antiamericanism.

[Chris D]

While I don't think it's overt, I do think you're on to something, scarpi.

Just to participate in this thread, I'll repost my posting into the original movie thread here for Avatar. Take it FWIW, just one dude's opinion. scarpi, for that specific issue you mention, see my "Side Note" discussion below.

Okay, so I made sure I went and saw it on big screen 3D while in Hawaii. This caliber of movie deserves some good discussion, so I'll post several thoughts here, although it's been several days since I've watched the movie.

Bottom line, this was a good, enjoyable movie, more good than bad, although my points to talk about may seem more negative. As I mentioned above, I take a movie for what it is. I think it's obvious on this one that Cameron did NOT intend for "Avatar" to be just mindless entertainment, or brainless action, and purposefully put in social commentary, so I'll evaluate the movie as such.

3D VIDEO: I saw this on big-screen in 3D--thought I was seeing on the IMAX screen, but the IMAX showing in that theater was on a different screen an hour earlier. :M Grrrr... still looked great. I thought the 3D was overall very well done, and not just over-applied in the common "make things stick out of the screen just because we can". And it was better 3D technology overall than I've seen used before. However, I did NOT see enough evidence from the movie to convince me that 3D technology is the standard staple of the future. Thus, I'm still concluding that 3D is a "niche" technology, still a semi-gimmick. It's one thing to tell your family, "hey, let's sit down and watch our favorite TV show/movie tonight", and it happens to be in 1080p with Dolby Digital 5.1 that you can take advantage of if your equipment supports. It's different being in 3D, that you can take advantage of if your equipment supports AND if you feel like watching in 3D, and putting on the glasses--and unless there are two channels/screens, if you don't feel like watching in 3D, you're stuck with an unwatchable blurry image. I'll go to theaters and watch some more movies in 3D. But I DON'T want every movie to be in 3D. The glasses didn't give me a headache or anything, but I did notice 3D focusing errors here and there, and screen edge limitations. And since I don't wear eyeglasses in real life, they started to give me some minor discomfort just having them on my face towards the end of the movie. Until we figure out how to make hologram movies that don't need glasses, I don't see 3D becoming fully mainstream--sorry, folks. I'll give big credit for the 3D being better than ever before, though, with much less eye/brain strain. Before, I thought Robert Rodriguez did it best with PORTIONS of "Spy Kids 3D" being in 3D, with breaks were the audience could take off their glasses.

PICTURE AND AUDIO QUALITY: Great as expected. As everyone comments, the colors in the Pandora wild were AMAZING, and they'll look great on my home theater screen when I eventually buy it. (which I probably will, although I won't be in a rush) Yes, some great sound in there, and I'm sure the tree destruction scene will rock your home theater's subwoofer. CGI was astounding, and as my friend commented, there were many parts where you didn't know what elements on screen were real, and which ones were CGI.

STORY: Overall, good. Right up front, I'll give HUGE kudos to Cameron and any writer/director like Lucas, Wachowskis, or others that create an entire alternate planet/universe with its own back story, languages, rules of physics, animals, "human" customs, etc. That's always fun to experience when masterfully done, as Cameron does here. The remote avatar control aspect was also reasonably groundbreaking, although suddenly it's a very common theme in media that's being released at the same time! (and not just as "Avatar" copies--think "Surrogates", "Caprica", etc) When you get down underneath the totally unique setting, though, this is NOT a unique story by any stretch of the imagination. We've seen this several times before. As the Meek one points out above, this was pretty close to "Dances With Wolves" in space. (I've never seen "Fern Gully") The intentional story parallels with the white man's imperialistic domination of native Americans is blatantly obvious. Okay, okay, Cameron, I GET it... "Unobtainium" is oil, the Na'vi are the Indians, they relate to animals they hunt, their sacred burial sites were desecrated, they used bows and arrows against superior weapons, etc, etc.

SOCIAL COMMENTARY: I found this part tiresome. Yes, the imperialism and ecocentric themes of the movie have been done over and over and over again in science fiction. Did this movie really raise any new eye-opening issues? Make us see it in any shockingly different light? I think Cameron could have eased off the preaching, or even done complete without it, and still made just as strong of a movie. His other films haven't been anywhere so overt on the preaching, so why this one? Did he have a crisis of conscience?

At times, I was rolling my eyes at the things that were said, and themes that were presented. Cameron stepped back into pure stereotypes sometimes, so obvious it was frustrating. I get it--the message is mankind is bad. Planet good. Plants good. Animals good. Mankind kills planets, destroys animals. Bad mankind... bad. I'm a little tired of coming away from these kinds of movies, though, impressed like the director wants me to feel dirty for being part of the human race that is so evil. Honestly, I think this is part of why some of the public is having those wild feelings of depression and even suicide after seeing the movie--Pandora is portrayed as pure good and nobility, that the evil man trampled upon. Walk out of the theater after the movie, and you remove Pandora, leaving only the sullied real life of this world.

SIDE NOTE: As a member of the military, I've got to say I am absolutely, positively, sick and tired of the axiomatic Hollywood stereotype of the military. The stereotype is that the military is nothing more than the force/violence organization that does the bidding of evil empires and corporations for imperialistic, monetary profit. Individual members of the military are portrayed as evil, corrupt individuals that thrive on violence and bloodshed, having complete disregard for any value of life, natural beauty, integrity, etc. There is no conscience, just robotic obeying evil orders. There is usually one soldier in the movie with integrity and a conscience, portrayed as being rogue and disdained by the rest of the military for doing the right thing. As one film critic put it, (I think it was Roger Ebert) Cameron takes an interesting stance by setting up the story and background so that the audience cheers in celebration when a US Marine gets his head ripped off. It's evident to me that Cameron and the other director/writers like this not only have never been in any role with purposes similar to the military, but also have no idea what the military really does. Sad. Sure, I'm certain Cameron's explanation would be, "well, this is science fiction, and those aren't real soldiers". Or that they were positioned as mercenaries this time. To that, I'd only ask, "so were the Na'vi just blue aliens in this movie, not representing anything else either?" The character of the Colonel just summed it up for me. In the end, as everything unraveled, he still was just as content, even thrilled, to just fight the hero.

Again, overall I liked the movie more than not, and it was a good piece of work. It was enjoyable, with a few significant detractors for me. I'm waffling between :35: and :4: out of :5:

P.S. Brandon, I'm not familiar with Midworld myself, so I appreciate your insight on that! I might have to read it myself someday.

P.P.S. Sikoniko, I agree with you, that there are portions of the backstory that could be expanded further. Perhaps the extended Blu-Ray will be able to do that with extra time, such as the twin brother's death, or involvement with the Avatar program, or the discovery of Pandora, or how they developed the Avatar technology, or others.

[David Meek]

At the start of the movie, the troops are described as soldiers that had at one time fought for freedom, but now these were on Pandora for the money, ie. mercenaries and not members of our armed forces. Grace calls Jake "Marine" as a scathing nickname at first but then it becomes more of an affectionate one as they grow closer.

Those are the only direct associations with our armed forces that I came up with, and to me I don't see them in context as damning. To me, the characters in the movie were much more like the mercenary units that oil companies funded and sent into areas in Africa in the '70s and '80s to enforce their policies.

For what it's worth, my father and son are both Air Force, and I'm a big supporter of our military forces. Again, this is all just my 2 cents.

[David Meek]

Just to be clear, if Cameron did ever come out and said this was a representation of our military I'd toss the disc in the trash and never watch it again. But at this time, that's not what I see on the screen.

[Alaric]

Just to be clear, if Cameron did ever come out and said this was a representation of our military I'd toss the disc in the trash and never watch it again. But at this time, that's not what I see on the screen.

Wouldn't matter by then. He already has your money. Just sayin'. I agree with scarpi. As for the Gulf Of Mexico reference , where was "our" government when BP asked for help and was told "tough $h1t"? They can't take over the oil (auto , banking , investment) industry until it's a "crisis". And the movie specifically portrays MARINES as mercenaries.. I stand by my previously posted opinion.

[David Meek]

Well, I stand by mine so we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[1oldguy]

While I think, (therefore I am) (sorry Had too).........(Excuse the brackets).......that the movie in general does relate ,(Indirectly) to how our world today does work.With all the greed and the constant need for more and more,I think would all be better off if we took the positive message from it.AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT,he choose to make the opposing sides have stark contrasts.Probably would have done the same thing myself.
But as for watching it again based on story I don't think ii could.The whole movie felt so predictable.With the great mind of J.C (Not J.C Denton for those who know who I'm talking about)I expected a deeper story with more shades of gray.

[George Bellefontaine]

The story is just so-so, but I have to say, I have yet to see a Blu-ray disc look as good as this one. And the surrounds are something else. Stuff seemed to be just buzzing around the room.

[1oldguy]

To be honest George ....your comment may just get me to buy it.LOl.I saw a burnt copy of it so all I had to go by was story.Beside I;m not sure my kuro would forgive me if I don't pick it up.

[Alaric]

I have no problem with a gentlemanly disagreement with someone who's opinions I have come to respect. I do have a problem with my going off-topic in this thread. Sorry , guys. The thread was (is) about production values and I wandered down the garden path with no respect for the OP's intent. My bad. ops: Not having a valid opinion on the film's technical quality I should have kept my mouth (keyboard) shut. :smackbutt:

[George Bellefontaine]

Awww, forgeddabuddit, Lee. I didn't have any problem with the discussion about the story, the director's intent or what have you. I actually encourage discussion and would never moderate the thread as long as the discussion is done in a respectful manner.

[David Meek]

Hey Lee, can I get spanked too? :

[Alaric]

Thanks , guys. And David , that's between you and your wife.......