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Avatar is back in cinemas, as a precursor to the release of the December 16th sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, and apparently, in a 4K Remaster, but it will have been shot in at least that last time by director James Cameron, surely – if not more, and will have been done digitally. They’ve never bothered releasing 4K discs of most James Cameron films, which is odd, as 4K fans want them. In fact, there isn’t even a Blu-ray of True Lies. The only way to get an HD version is when it’s been on TV, so why haven’t we had the proper home versions, Mr C?
This is the first time I’ve actually got round to seeing this, and since the sequel was finally on its way after many delays – including wanting to get the Xmas IMAX slot (which was tied up with Star Wars for four out of the five years), and the pandemic – it finally finds a home from December 16th.
Set in the year 2154, the film centres around Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine, now wheelchair-bound, who stands in for his late brother, Tom. He’s had zero experience out in the field – and in the job, but he resembles the avatar perfectly, so he’ll take his place on that basis, the way the being works is that his consciousness will be transferred into the mind and body of the avatar.
So, a basic fish out of water tale. Can he fix it and be the hero of the piece? What do you think. This isn’t a complex story. In fact, it’s a basic good-vs-evil tale where the evil ones are the humans, but this film is about the journey and not the destination.
Avatars are big, blue and grown on the flight out, as the team spend almost six years in cryogenic suspension, that team including Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) – the safety guy who cannot guarantee they’ll all survive because there’s a tough mission ahead, and Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), who initially comes across very angry and sarcastic.
They’re all off to the land of Pandora, to track down the source of Unobtanium… (Come on, guys, couldn’t you come up with a better name for it than that?!), but Sully ends up in the jungle overnight on his own, due to evens kicking off, and one of the residents, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), spots him, leading Sully to figure out whether she’s going to be a friend or foe.
Sully is tasked with trying to get them to move out of the area, so the powers that be can grab the Unobtanium, but after befriending them, can he still go ahead with it? He has three months to crack this, either way.
Avatar is a bit like Dances with Wolves, with one outsider ingratiating himself into a completely different culture, and the Westernised world coming to stamp out their way of life. Similarly, it’s also rather like Russia invading Ukraine, even though that hadn’t happened at the time of this film’s release, so Cameron would most likely be basing the idea on the invasion of Iraq.
Quite frankly, the plot is rather boring – even in the alien world, they’re still mad, as they pray to a God – this one called Ewey, and in their world, you have to choose a mate, and they have to choose you, but how can he choose her if she already has a boyfriend? Oh, the age-old problem…
Well, there’s still the visuals, including the rather luscious Tree of Souls, with which you can bond your hair, same as you would to bond with a flying creature, and yes, it sounds weird when I write it… just watch it and see.
However, it’s meant to be all about the spectacle instead, but given that this is from 2009, it is rather showing its age a bit compared to modern movies, and feels like a PS3 game in need of a PS5 remaster, or Remake!
There’s no post-credit scene, but after the initial part of the end credits, there’s also a preview of the long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, which extends the running time of this entire presentation from 162 to 166 minutes, so be sure to use the toilet beforehand!
I think Avatar was one of the first films I came across to intentionally be released in two different aspect ratios. For IMAX it is 1.78:1 (aka 16:9) – or the close ratios of 1.85:1 for conventional screens, or 1.90:1 for digital IMAX, whereas those screens which are the Cinemascope format of 2.39:1 will be vertically cropped to fit, although I personally wouldn’t watch it in that format. I saw it in 1.78:1 IMAX 3D and would stick with that version. A shame we didn’t get the extended version in this 4K Remaster. Surely that would’ve made more sense? That said, it looks like we did get an extra scene that wasn’t in the original movie, based on the first video I’ve linked in this review.
However, one thing that’s a definite. When you’re booking a 3D film at Vue Cinemas, DO NOT BUY THE 3D GLASSES!
That’s because you’re not actually buying them, and they want them back at the end. As I left, they were collecting them up, and when I said I’d bought mine with the booking, I could tell they’d heard my story before: The system encourages you to buy 3D glasses for a pound, but – and I don’t know if this is just with IMAX glasses or for the regular screens as well – but you can’t actually BUY these because they cost £40 each!
The lady who dealt with this took me over to the nearest cashpoint to refund the pound I’d spent, and also queueing up by then, were one or two others who had done the same.
I’d rarely book a regular 3D screen for a film, since if I’m going to travel into town, I’ll go for the IMAX, but check before you go (you can ask @VueHelp on Twitter, even though they’re not often that much help), and if you get an answer about the regular 3D screens, post here and let me know!
Oh, and an aside about my audience experience – so, not particularly an end credits thing, this time: Since it was a busy screening, I knew from the seating plan that after I booked early, there would be one person to my right, and two to my left, so I couldn’t spread out as I’d like to do – especially for a long film. This time, however, the couple on my left didn’t turn up! So, I COULD spread out! Yay! 😀
Avatar is in cinemas now, and is available to buy on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 166 minutes
Release date: September 23rd 2022
Studio: 20th Century Fox Studios
Format: 1.78:1 (IMAX); 1.90:1 (Digital IMAX); 1.85:1; 2.39:1
Cinema: Vue Printworks Manchester
Rating: 6/10
Director: James Cameron
Producers: James Cameron, Jon Landau
Screenwriter: James Cameron
Music: James Horner
Cast:
Jake Sully: Sam Worthington
Neytiri: Zoë Saldana
Dr. Grace Augustine: Sigourney Weaver
Colonel Miles Quaritch: Stephen Lang
Trudy Chacón: Michelle Rodriguez
Parker Selfridge: Giovanni Ribisi
Norm Spellman: Joel David Moore
Mo’at: CCH Pounder
Eytukan: Wes Studi
Tsu’tey: Laz Alonso
Dr. Max Patel: Dileep Rao
Corporal Lyle Wainfleet: Matt Gerald
Private Fike: Sean Anthony Moran
Cryo Vault Med Tech: Jason Whyte
Venture Star Crew Chief: Scott Lawrence
Lock Up Trooper: Kelly Kilgour
Shuttle Pilot: James Pitt
Shuttle Co-Pilot: Sean Patrick Murphy
Shuttle Crew Chief: Peter Dillon
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.