James Cameron's "Avatar" Thread v.4

[Eggyman]

Got my extended collector's Blu-ray yesterday. Good God, what a beautiful film. The earth opening is brilliant and does nothing to the pace. I love it.

 

[dark_b]

could it be that Cameron lied why he deleted the TsuTey scene?

because i noticed that there was a lot of blood on TsuTey . could it be that the MPAA didnt alow it for PG13?

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

could it be that Cameron lied why he deleted the TsuTey scene?

because i noticed that there was a lot of blood on TsuTey . could it be that the MPAA didnt alow it for PG13?

Yes, Cameron lying is probably the most reasonable explanation

The extended BRay isn't released in France yet but I bought the Making of book.
Fun fact : Jake legs were not CGI but prosthetic.

 

[Passdom]

could it be that Cameron lied why he deleted the TsuTey scene?

because i noticed that there was a lot of blood on TsuTey . could it be that the MPAA didnt alow it for PG13?

No, because the Tsu'Tey scene was in the Special Edition, and it was still rated PG-13

 

[dark_b]

No, because the Tsu'Tey scene was in the Special Edition, and it was still rated PG-13

i didnt know that DVD's and BR's have ratings

 

[Passdom]

i didnt know that DVD's and BR's have ratings

The special edition that came out in theaters in Agust...it was rated PG-13

 

[Frosty81]

Preaching to the choir apparently, but I love the opening Earth scene. Not just he imagery, but the way in which it establishes Jake's strength of character and action...even in a wheelchair. Wish they had kept it.

 

[Passdom]

Preaching to the choir apparently, but I love the opening Earth scene. Not just he imagery, but the way in which it establishes Jake's strength of character and action...even in a wheelchair. Wish they had kept it.

Yeah, a lot of reasons to prefer it imo.

The opening line "You always have to wake up" works A LOT better in the Earth opening imo.

The opening shot of Jake opening his eyes is in perfect symmetry with the final shot of the movie, much more so than the opening in cryo.

I love the intensity in Worthington's eyes in the opening shots, you can tell that this is a guy who'se been through **** his entire life

Like you said, you really get a strong sense of who Jake is, and his actions in the movie reflect on his character

I don't know. I find it hard to fault Cameron on how he put together the final cut, I mean, he had to go from a 220+ minute story to a 160 minute one and the result was 9 academy award noms, 2.7 billion dollars and mostly critical acclaim

BUT...I don't think he should have cut the opening. He got too caught up in not wanting to show earth in the theatrical cut. I think its almost (note I said almost) the equivalent of George Lucas cutting out Luke staring out at the two suns in A New Hope.

 

[Frosty81]

I absolutely agree...this is Cameron's film, 9 noms and $2.7b.

But I didn't even think about the parallel between him opening his eyes in the alley and opening his eyes as a Navi on Pandora. Way more powerful in my opinion. Nice observation.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I bought the Blu-Ray for this yesterday. Hope to see the extended cut in the next couple days when I get some free time.

I'm curious to see what was left out. I've not looked anything like that up, so I have no idea. It prob won't change my opinion of the movie much, but it's still an enjoyable film.

 

[Passdom]

After going through all the deleted scenes, Id say there is definitely a good chunk that should have been finished and put into the Extended cut. The main three are:

"The Dreamhunt" - Great character building scene for Jake, incredible visuals that are unlike any in the actual film. Very trippy. This would have been absolutely INSNANE in 3D. The moment where Jake is ascending "to the heavens" looks amazing, even in unfinished CG. Also fleshes out the Toruk Macto subplot. Before it was pretty easy to criticize it for saying "why was it so easy for Jake to capture it?" but in this scene its pretty clear that the animal has chosen Jake. The whole scene starts off with this really ominous "Plasma Storm" that surely would have looked incredible.

"The Hunt Festival" - Again, another scene with great Character moments. Its pretty much 4 straight minutes of character interactions. Jake and Tsu'tey even begin to bond, before Neytiri takes him away to dance. I'm sure it would have looked beautiful fully rendered.

"You're a long way from earth" - A badass scene where Quaritch pretty much takes over human operations. Quaritch totally HUMBLES Giovanni Ribisi's character, you almost feel sorry for the dude.

Those 3 scenes alone make up around 16 to 17 minutes

 

[Tacit Ronin]

What about Metropolis, 2001 and Blade Runner?

 

[Bunker]

I'm kind of 50/50 on the Collector's Edition cut. On one hand, all of the added scenes allow some important story lines to come full circle - like Grace's experience with the tribe and Jake's "stone cold aerial hunter" line. The Earth scenes are simply gorgeous and help you empathize with Jake even more so than the theatrical intro. However, the 16 added minutes make the movie seem a little too bloated. The theatrical cut was way more streamlined.

 

[Passdom]

edit: double post

 

[Passdom]

I didn't find the added footage to fundamentally change the pacing. The movie still feels pretty brisk to me. The scenes that would have REALLY changed the pacing are in the Deleted Scenes

In fact there is one area where I think it actually improves the pacing. The few added bits in the learning montage and the intercutting of Grace's story fleshes that part out more. I always thought that it always felt a bit fast how the training went to the Banshee capture, now I find it better as you get a better notion of time passing imo.

 

[Metallo]

I'm glad I waited to buy the Extended Collectors edition dvd. I really want to watch that Earth opening sequence.

 

[Brian Braddock]

The image of Jake lying in the rainwater is just beautiful.

Man, the colours..................

 

[Tacit Ronin]

...and the Jesus imagery.

 

[Bunker]

Got bored earlier and decided to test out my new camera by taking some screenshots of the Blu-Ray:

 

[Figs]

Watched this last night and loved just about all of the new scenes they threw back in. Surprisingly the movie didn't seem longer than the theatrical cut.

 

[CGHulk]

I thought the animation of Grace at the school was a bit stiff. In the new scenes there was a fleshiness in the CG faces, more so than the theatrical footage. On Earth, in the outside street scene why is Jake not wearing a breathing mask but everyone else was?

 

[Passdom]

I thought the animation of Grace at the school was a bit stiff. In the new scenes there was a fleshiness in the CG faces, more so than the theatrical footage. On Earth, in the outside street scene why is Jake not wearing a breathing mask but everyone else was?

There are several people not wearing breathing masks actually, you just have to spot them.

In regards to Jake, it just fits in with his worldview while still on earth. You get the feeling that he just no longer cares, that there is nothing for him on earth anymore.

 

[dark_b]

I thought the animation of Grace at the school was a bit stiff. In the new scenes there was a fleshiness in the CG faces, more so than the theatrical footage. On Earth, in the outside street scene why is Jake not wearing a breathing mask but everyone else was?

interesting. i thought that that it was the best facial movement from the whole movie.

and in the crowd shot if you look very good you can see where the live action ends and where the CGI crowd starts. its not 100% finished hehe.

 

[BLACK-SPIDEY]

Man, the hunt festival and the Earth scene would´ve been awesome to see on the big screen, did anybody notice how in those 2 scenes everybody goes "Jake! Jake! Jake!"

Also, the animation looked PERFECT on Tsu´Tey death, the sun on Jake´s face to Neytiri crying, just, perfect.

 

[Sentinel X]

interesting. i thought that that it was the best facial movement from the whole movie.

and in the crowd shot if you look very good you can see where the live action ends and where the CGI crowd starts. its not 100% finished hehe.

Even better than Neytiri crying over her father's death? To me that was the best facial movement in the whole movie