I misunderstood, I thought he was talking about the 3D SKU. The upcoming 2D one is on a single disc. 16 minutes isn't that much really, it has a shortened credits sequence too no doubt. The first one didn't completely fill the disc. The quality hit will be minimal I'd imagine. There is an additional audio track though.
So is the 16 minute extended version on the same disk as the 9 minute extended version and the theatrical cut?
If so, I can see them nearly matching the bitrate/image quality of the bare-bones release, since blu-ray doesn't have to store the shots that are repeated between versions...only the original cut and the extra stuff.
Or maybe they discovered some new tricks and the 16 minutes extra version looks just as good as the theatrical cut released earlier this year.
So is the 16 minute extended version on the same disk as the 9 minute extended version and the theatrical cut?
If so, I can see them nearly matching the bitrate/image quality of the bare-bones release, since blu-ray doesn't have to store the shots that are repeated between versions...only the original cut and the extra stuff.
Or maybe they discovered some new tricks and the 16 minutes extra version looks just as good as the theatrical cut released earlier this year.
The three cuts are all on the same disc, it's branching so it's basically the same but with the additional 16 minutes (or 9 if you so choose). But with an additional audio track. Should be almost the same quality.
So yeah, I find myself listening to the much maligned score again. There IS greatness to be found here amongst the recycled Horner stuff. I love the "I See You" theme that Horner uses throughout the film, and I still say that "War" has my favorite minute of score from 2009 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw6Se1Wo4S4#t=6m33s
6:58-7:21 is sublime. Still fucking hate Cameron for cutting it out of the movie.
So yeah, I find myself listening to the much maligned score again. There IS greatness to be found here amongst the recycled Horner stuff. I love the "I See You" theme that Horner uses throughout the film, and I still say that "War" has my favorite minute of score from 2009 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw6Se1Wo4S4#t=6m33s
6:58-7:21 is sublime. Still fucking hate Cameron for cutting it out of the movie.
The score got good to great reviews and was oscar nominated...doesn't sound maligned to me...
The great thing about the score is that it works in unison with the visuals, rather than overpowering the entire scene to the point where the music is the only thing holding together whats going on screen (like Zimmers work on Inception). Horner wrote a score that feels very organic to the movie, even despite his usual recycling.
Finally ordered. I don't know why I took so long considering as big of a fan of this as I am. Not too much longer!
I've actually started listening to the soundtrack a lot again...when I don't have any podcasts to listen to on my way to and from work I keep playing this (40 minute drive). I am getting hooked again... stop me!
Waah, that´s crazy. It´s English language only though, isn´t it? That makes it pretty much useless for family viewing, so Santa will have to get the more expensive one.
PS: Did Amazon lower their shipping charges for mainland Yurop? It says one pound per game/blu, I vaguely remember it being 5 a pop and shaking my head in disgust. Am I remembering it wrong?
Disc 1:
Direct Acess to New/Additional Scenes
- From Special Edition Re-Release
- Scene 39 "Herd" / Scenes 44-45 "The Schoolhouse"/
- Scene 60 "Purple Moss"/
- Scene 64 alt 1 "I Don't Even Know Your Name"/
- Scene 81J "What Does Hold Them Up?"/
- Scenes 102, 105 "Extended Montage"/
- Scene 112 "Neytiri's Flyby"/
- Scene 121 alt 1 "Sturmbeest Hunt"/
- Scene 151 "Extended Love Scene" /
- Scenes 174-176 "Drums of War"/
- Scene 276 "Tsu'tey's Fall"/
- Scene 282 "Sturmbeest Attack"/
- Scene 332 "Extended Thanator Fight"/
- Scene 348 "The Last Shadow"/
From Collector's Extended Cut (all the above + these)
- Scenes 002-019 "Earth"/ Scene 69A "Sylwanin"/
- Scenes 102, 105, 106, 109 "Alternate Montage with Grace's Story" /
- Scene 178 "They Bulldozed a Sacred Site"
Disc 2:
Deleted Scenes: Never-Before-Seen
- Scene 19 "Stingbat Attack" /
- Scene 20 "Pandora Rules" /
- Scene 21 "Jake Meets Norm"-First Cut /
- Scene 26 "Jake Sees Decanted Avatars" /
- Scene 30 "Norm Is A Living God" /
- Scene 35A "Breakfast with the Scientists" /
- Scenes 36A-37 "You're in My World Now" /
- Scene 64 "Grandma's Teylu" /
- Scene 79 "Pied Piper" /
- Scenes 81B-D "Going to the Mountains" /
- Scene 81K "Interspecies Booty Call" /
- Scene 91 "Norm's Attitude Improves" /
- Scenes 93A-98 "Learning Montage Section"-Early Cut /
- Scene C120A "We're Buying Time" /
- Scenes 122-123 "Hunt Festival" /
- Scene 131 "Driving Range" /
- Scenes 131A-148 "The Dreamhunt" /
- Scenes 164-172 "The Challenge" /
- Scenes 174-178 "The Drums of War"-Full Version /
- Scenes 209-211 "Escape" /
- Scene 224A "The Eye of Eywa" /
- Scene 232 "You're a Long Way from Earth" /
- Scenes 235-236 "Battle Camp" /
- Scene 248 "Kick Some Blue Ass" /
-
Scene 277 "Wainfleet Kills Norm" /
- Scene 287 "Neytiri Kills Wainfleet"-Alt Wainfleet Death /
- Scenes 288-327 "The Avatars Attack" /
- Scenes 350-351 "New Life"
Capturing Avatar
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3
- Part 4
A Message From Pandora
Production Materials
- The 2006 Art Reel/Brother Termite Test /
- The ILM Prototype /
- Screen Test: Sam Worthington-Raw Footage /
- Screen Test: Zoe Saldana-Raw Footage /
- Zoe's Life Cast-Raw Footage /
- James Cameron Speech: Beginning of Live Action Filming-Raw Footage /
- ILM VFX Progression /
- Frame Store VFX Progression /
- [hy*drau"lx] VFX Progression /
- Hybride VFX Progression /
- Prime Focus VFX Progression /
- Look Effects VFX Progression /
- Crew Film: The Volume
Disc 3 - Pandora's Box
Scene Deconstruction
- Welcome to Your New Body /
- First Run / First Sortie /
- Night on Pandora / Shahaylu /
- Seyzey / You're Mine / First Flight /
- Toruk Macto/You Are Omaticaya Now /
- I Am One of You / I Trusted You /
- The Aftermath / I See You /
- Fly with Me /
- You Chose Me For Something /
- Eywa Has Heard You
Production Featurettes
- Sculpting Avatar / Creating the Banshee /
- Creating the Thanator / The AMP Suit /
- Flying Vehicles / Na'vi Costumes /
- Speaking Na'vi / Pandora Flora / Stunts /
- Performance Capture / Virtual Camera /
- The 3D Fusion Camera / The Simul-cam /
- Editing Avatar / Scoring Avatar /
- Sound Design /
- The Haka: The Spirit of New Zealand
Avatar Archives
- Theatrical Trailer / Teaser Trailer /
- Avatar: The Original Scriptment /
- Avatar: Screenplay Written by James Cameron /
- Pandorapedia / Avatar: The Songs /
- The Art of Avatar
3D Preview
- Theatrical Trailer
- Pandora Discovered -
As awesome as all this is, I'm majorly disappointed in Cameron for not finishing the Hunt Festival scene and including it in the Extended Cut. That was probably the scene I was looking forward to seeing the most in an extended cut and figured it was a shoe-in Doesn't make sense that JC would leave it out, as it ties in with the scenes that WERE added in.
Random notes on the Deleted Scenes:
- Seems like the Dream Hunt was the single biggest deletion from the film, aside from the Earth opening. Taking up scenes 131 through 148
Maybe its just a reveal of who exactly cuts down Norm's Avatar - being Waynefleet. Interested to see his alternate death, as I hated the mood-killing death he has in the film.
You can't really blame FOX for not including the dream hunt, considering how many scenes it covered. Would probably be another 10 mil right there.
I didn't mean the Dream Hunt, The Hunt Festival is the scene after the Sturmbeast hunt where the main characters get drunk, eat, dance, etc. Its probably no more than 2 minutes, and it was the very first deleted scene that Cameron talked about back in December along with the Hunt itself.
Anyway, been watching Avatar on Demand since I haven't been able to watch it over here in LA since movie (apart from when I saw the special edition). How the fuck is he going to top the action in the sequel? I can't wait.
I'm so fucking happy I held strong and never bought the April release. Can't believe that when I pick this up next week and watch it that it will have been 11 months since I last saw it.
If that list is accurate (which, all reasons point to it being so), then Cameron is not including a particular deleted scene on this release.
Its the scene where the RDA are mining, tearing down parts of the forest, plowing through and making "roads," and Quaritch is escorting the convoy while training a bunch of new recruits, he also kills a Banshee, etc.
Having read the script, Im not sure why Cameron is holding this scene back, considering that he seems to be including everything else...and he DID shoot it, theres a pic of the scene being shot floating around, its from one of the various clips on youtube.
If that list is accurate (which, all reasons point to it being so), then Cameron is not including a particular deleted scene on this release.
Its the scene where the RDA are mining, tearing down parts of the forest, plowing through and making "roads," and Quaritch is escorting the convoy while training a bunch of new recruits, he also kills a Banshee, etc.
Having read the script, Im not sure why Cameron is holding this scene back, considering that he seems to be including everything else...and he DID shoot it, theres a pic of the scene being shot floating around, its from one of the various clips on youtube.
All the scenes are listed in order. The scene Im talking about would be right in between:
- Scene 30 "Norm Is A Living God" /
<----- here
- Scene 35A "Breakfast with the Scientists" /
I think "Pandora rules" might be the full length Quaritch speech from the beginning of the movie. Instead of Jakes voice over interrupting it, it actually goes on.
If I'm right, I wonder why Cameron would not want this scene released?
I was looking for this thread yesterday. The HBO debut made me go back and watch this again on blu-ray. My. God.
I still cannot get over how utterly amazing this movie looks on BD. It is just an astonishing visual feat. Like Solo, I also wanted to comment on the quality of the music. The score has grown on me and I actually think Horner's score supports the movie very, very well.
I was also struck by how well paced this movie is. For some reason I didn't appreciate how well assembled the action sequence are in this movie, but their pacing, framing, and just general assembly (does that make sense) is simply second to none. The geography of the battle, both in the air on the the ground is always easy to follow. It probably has the best action of any film Cameron has ever made (on this scale at least). It, quite frankly, puts to shame anything that Peter Jackson or any of other heavy-hitters have put together recently. It is just on a whole other level. The elements all come together beautifully.
I've been wondering... since the Pandoran beasts all have those spiracles around the base of the neck instead of breathing through the mouth or nostrils on the head, can they even swim? Earth creatures like dogs and horses just have to keep their head out of the water to breathe, but that's not an option for the Thanator or Direhorse.
I've been wondering... since the Pandoran beasts all have those spiracles around the base of the neck instead of breathing through the mouth or nostrils on the head, can they even swim? Earth creatures like dogs and horses just have to keep their head out of the water to breathe, but that's not an option for the Thanator or Direhorse.
I still cannot get over how utterly amazing this movie looks on BD. It is just an astonishing visual feat. Like Solo, I also wanted to comment on the quality of the music. The score has grown on me and I actually think Horner's score supports the movie very, very well.
I was also struck by how well paced this movie is. For some reason I didn't appreciate how well assembled the action sequence are in this movie, but their pacing, framing, and just general assembly (does that make sense) is simply second to none. The geography of the battle, both in the air on the the ground is always easy to follow. It probably has the best action of any film Cameron has ever made (on this scale at least). It, quite frankly, puts to shame anything that Peter Jackson or any of other heavy-hitters have put together recently. It is just on a whole other level. The elements all come together beautifully.
Absolutely. I've been calling it 'clarity', but it's what you describe: there are no wasted, filler shots in the action sequences. Cameron doesn't do those "random action" shots just to show some action. Rather, every shot in the sequence moves the scene forward, telling the story of the battle. And it's all framed such that large-scale action is easy to follow, an order to the chaos. And it makes logistical sense because Cameron takes time to establish the structure of the environment the scene is set in. I really don't think other action directors work at Cameron's level.
Idk, Cameron indicated there was a reason why the Navi look humanoid as apposed to the other creatures, so I'm thinking there is a particular design evolution wise to why the creatures are like they are, sort od ike the 6 limbs.
I'm thinking they thought too much about it and left us the viewer hangin. Pandora is too big of a world to explain in a movie where Pandora itself isn't really central to the plot. There needs to be a National Geographic mocumentary!
He's always had an incredible sense of action pacing and blocking. Avatar really took it further than he had before, no doubt because of the virtual camera etc, but even in Titanic, the ten minutes of action are just meticulous.
I can't even begin to fathom what kind of action Cameron might have in store in the sequels. When I think of Avatar 2 and 3 I kind of have this fuzzy impression in my head of more human / Na'vi battles, more creatures such as the Slinger and Medusae, and some underwater stuff...but I really just have no idea. There are so many directions Cameron could take.
As for the special edition blu-ray, I think the main thing missing from the theatrical cut is the sense of danger from the scriptment. The animals attacking the base, the thorn-shooting plants, the Slinger, etc. I also think the story of the guy who went crazy after being killed in Avatar form would have done a good job of setting up the danger of dying as an Avatar.
But I guess if they made Pandora more dangerous / aggressive some of the eco-message would have been lost. Better to make it more of the innocent victim of the humans' greed.
I can't even begin to fathom what kind of action Cameron might have in store in the sequels. When I think of Avatar 2 and 3 I kind of have this fuzzy impression in my head of more human / Na'vi battles, more creatures such as the Slinger and Medusae, and some underwater stuff...but I really just have no idea. There are so many directions Cameron could take.
As for the special edition blu-ray, I think the main thing missing from the theatrical cut is the sense of danger from the scriptment. The animals attacking the base, the thorn-shooting plants, the Slinger, etc. I also think the story of the guy who went crazy after being killed in Avatar form would have done a good job of setting up the danger of dying as an Avatar.
But I guess if they made Pandora more dangerous / aggressive some of the eco-message would have been lost. Better to make it more of the innocent victim of the humans' greed.
One thing from the Scriptment that I would have liked to seen brought up in the movie was how "Eywa" viewed the Human base on Pandora as basically a Cancerous growth, which is why the base was constantly under heavy attack. The animals were acting as antibodies.
One thing I can't wait to see on the Blu-Ray are the supposedly 1000+ artworks in the galleries. Sure to be tons of stuff that didn't make it into the movie.
A shot that nobody ever seems to point out (except myself) is this fucking amazing shot after the bomber-ship goes down with the explosives and you see Jake fly past a peak in the foreground - see the Dragon Gunship in the middle and the explosion all the way in the background. It is SUCH an awesome fucking shot.
A shot that nobody ever seems to point out (except myself) is this fucking amazing shot after the bomber-ship goes down with the explosives and you see Jake fly past a peak in the foreground - see the Dragon Gunship in the middle and the explosion all the way in the background. It is SUCH an awesome fucking shot.
I don't remember that shot, just visually speaking, my favorite shots are mostly from the early night scene, Jake picking his torch out of the water is one of them. In the battle scenes, Neytiri hiding behind the thick tree just after everything has gone bad. I noticed last time I watched it actually that she has a white hand print on her chest that has five fingers.
A shot that nobody ever seems to point out (except myself) is this fucking amazing shot after the bomber-ship goes down with the explosives and you see Jake fly past a peak in the foreground - see the Dragon Gunship in the middle and the explosion all the way in the background. It is SUCH an awesome fucking shot.
I don't remember that shot, just visually speaking, my favorite shots are mostly from the early night scene, Jake picking his torch out of the water is one of them. In the battle scenes, Neytiri hiding behind the thick tree just after everything has gone bad. I noticed last time I watched it actually that she has a white hand print on her chest that has five fingers.
EDIT: Just to be clear, I DID enjoy the movie. It's a solid 8/10. For me, it was a mix of my jaw dropping for the insane action sequences, glorious visuals, and beautiful world vs. my jaw dropping over the script and writing.
