Another brutally honest flick review by The Jaeger
AVATAR
Directed by James Cameron
James Cameron’s overly hyped, extreme left wing, ultra green, anti-military movie hit on DVD and Blu-ray on Earth Day and I’m sure it will sell millions of copies. For those who don’t know, the story takes place in 2154 when a USAmerican expedition is sent to the planet Pandora to secure a mineral that is needed on Earth. Since the atmosphere is toxic to Humans, they use genetically engineered avatars that look like the local aliens, the Na’vi, and are mind controlled by the Humans on the drop ship. Controlling the Na’vi avatars gives the Humans the ability to see, hear, taste, and leap about like the locals. The protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic and finds the experience of controlling the tall smurf avatar liberating since he can move about once more.
Cameron clearly hates the military and everyone who doubts the dubious “science” of global warming, as his Na’vi characters are portrayed as wise, environmentally friendly, three dimensional (no pun intended) beings that live in perfect harmony with nature, while the Earthicans are one dimensional, war-mongering maniacs with no redeeming qualities. Indeed, even the planet Pandora itself is a more fully developed character than the majority of the Humans! That said, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the CGI visual effects are ridonkulously good, and the action sequences are freaking jaw dropping, and the third act basically drops all pretence of story in favour of wicked wall-to wall action. The blu-ray is a bare-bones release without so much as a trailer on the BD-50 disc on which it is housed. Cameron has already stated that he plans to TRIPLE-DIP this flick on home video, the second DVD and blu will be released in November as a four disc “Ultimate Edition” containing an extended version of the flick as well as all the extras that should have been included in this release, then in early 2011, a 3-D blu-ray is planned for release.
As for the video, the 1080p MPEG 4 AVC encoded transfer is simply stunning, and the DTS-HD Master Audio will give your home theatre the workout it deserves. So really, even if you don’t like the movie it is certainly worth having in your collection if for no other reason but to show off the reference quality video and sound.
In the end, it seems I’m the only reviewer in the entire blogosphere with the stones to call out this movie for what it is: a mega-budget Ferngully re-make, and if the Oscars hadn’t expanded the Best Picture category this year to include TEN pictures, this movie wouldn’t have come close to making it into the category.
AVATAR
Directed by James Cameron
James Cameron’s overly hyped, extreme left wing, ultra green, anti-military movie hit on DVD and Blu-ray on Earth Day and I’m sure it will sell millions of copies. For those who don’t know, the story takes place in 2154 when a USAmerican expedition is sent to the planet Pandora to secure a mineral that is needed on Earth. Since the atmosphere is toxic to Humans, they use genetically engineered avatars that look like the local aliens, the Na’vi, and are mind controlled by the Humans on the drop ship. Controlling the Na’vi avatars gives the Humans the ability to see, hear, taste, and leap about like the locals. The protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic and finds the experience of controlling the tall smurf avatar liberating since he can move about once more.
Cameron clearly hates the military and everyone who doubts the dubious “science” of global warming, as his Na’vi characters are portrayed as wise, environmentally friendly, three dimensional (no pun intended) beings that live in perfect harmony with nature, while the Earthicans are one dimensional, war-mongering maniacs with no redeeming qualities. Indeed, even the planet Pandora itself is a more fully developed character than the majority of the Humans! That said, I would be remiss if I did not mention that the CGI visual effects are ridonkulously good, and the action sequences are freaking jaw dropping, and the third act basically drops all pretence of story in favour of wicked wall-to wall action. The blu-ray is a bare-bones release without so much as a trailer on the BD-50 disc on which it is housed. Cameron has already stated that he plans to TRIPLE-DIP this flick on home video, the second DVD and blu will be released in November as a four disc “Ultimate Edition” containing an extended version of the flick as well as all the extras that should have been included in this release, then in early 2011, a 3-D blu-ray is planned for release.
As for the video, the 1080p MPEG 4 AVC encoded transfer is simply stunning, and the DTS-HD Master Audio will give your home theatre the workout it deserves. So really, even if you don’t like the movie it is certainly worth having in your collection if for no other reason but to show off the reference quality video and sound.
In the end, it seems I’m the only reviewer in the entire blogosphere with the stones to call out this movie for what it is: a mega-budget Ferngully re-make, and if the Oscars hadn’t expanded the Best Picture category this year to include TEN pictures, this movie wouldn’t have come close to making it into the category.
There. I said it. Let the flaming begin. A Two out of Five.