Best Blu ray Movie Review: Fantasy

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List Price : $54.99 Price : $19.97

Product Description

Experience the spectacular world of James Cameron's Avatar as never before with this all-new three-disc extended collector’s edition. The journey begins with three movie versions: the original theatrical release, the special edition re-release, and the exclusive extended cut not shown in theaters. And that's just what's on the first Blu-ray disc. The set's bonus feature run more than eight hours and include over 45 minutes of deleted scenes; actor's screen tests; on-location footage; feature-length documentaries on the film's groundbreaking production; an interactive scene-deconstruction feature that lets you explore different levels of production for 17 scenes; a comprehensive guide to the world of Pandora; and more. The greatest adventure of all time just got bigger and better.

Amazon.com

Here's what we had to say about the original theatrical edition of Avatar after seeing it on the big screen:

After 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a distant planet, Avatar spins a simple little parable about greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lush tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although he's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the planet and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking to the Na'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's complicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn between his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of its point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central plot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle sequences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-saturated universe only the movies could create. --Robert Horton

Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD

Edition	Format	Release Date	Special Features
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three Blu-ray Discs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than eight hours of bonus features including over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, interactive scene deconstruction, Pandorapedia, documentaries and featurettes, and BD-LIVE content (requires compatible player and Internet connection)
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three DVDs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than three hours of bonus features including documentaries and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Two-disc Blu-ray/ DVD combo	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	DVD	Apr. 22, 2010	None

Contents of the Blu-ray Extended Collector's Edition
What follows is the back-of-the box summary of the Blu-ray set's contents and then a complete listing of everything that's included.

Disc 1: Three Movie Versions

Original Theatrical Edition (includes family audio track with objectionable language removed)

Special Edition Re-Release (includes family audio track with objectionable language removed)

Collector’s Extended Cut with 16 additional minutes, including alternate opening on earth

Disc 2: Filmmaker's Journey

Over 45 minutes of never-before-seen deleted scenes

Capturing Avatar: Feature-length documentary covering the 16-year filmmakers’ journey, including interviews with James Cameron, Jon Landau, cast and crew

A Message from Pandora: James Cameron’s visit to the Amazon rainforest

The 2006 art reel: Original pitch of the Avatar vision

Brother termite test: Original motion capture test

The ILM prototype: Visual effects reel

Screen tests: Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana

Zoë’s life cast: Makeup session footage

On-set footage as live-action filming begins

VFX progressions

Crew film: The Volume

Disc 3: Pandora's Box

Interactive scene deconstruction: Explore the stages of production of 17 different scenes through three viewing modes: capture level, template level, and final level with picture-in-picture reference

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 original script

Avatar screenplay by James Cameron

Pandorapedia: Comprehensive guide to Pandora

Lyrics from five songs by James Cameron

The art of Avatar: Over 1,850 images in 16 themed galleries (The World of Pandora, The Creatures, Pandora Flora, Pandora Bioluminescence, The Na’vi, The Avatars, Maquettes, Na’vi Weapons, Na’vi Props, Na’vi Musical Instruments, RDA Designs, Flying Vehicles, AMP Suit, Human Weapons, Land Vehicles, One-Sheet Concepts)

BD-Live Extras

BD-Live extras require a BD-Live-enabled player and an Internet connection. The following extras may be available a limited-time only and are subject to change over time: Crew Short: The Night Before Avatar; additional screen tests, including Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, and Laz Alonso; speaking Na’vi rehearsal footage; Weta Workshop: walk-and-talk presentation

Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] Reviews

638 of 663 people found the following review helpful:

Storyline differences between Extended Collector's Edition and Theatrical Release, November 14, 2010

Senor Zoidbergo (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I'm primarily interested in the storyline differences between special sets and their theatrical counterparts, so here are the differences between the two (NOTE: SPOILERS FOLLOW).

The extended collector's edition runs 16 minutes 28 seconds longer than the theatrical cut, and listed below are the major differences.

1) The opening scene is different, and starts with Jake in a wheelchair on Earth, in a Blade Runner-esque Earth city. The scene moves to scenes of Jake in his apartment, then taking liquid shots in a bar. Jake's narration of "I told myself I can pass any test a man can pass" and "They can fix the spinal if you got the money. But not on vet benefits, not in this economy" are inserted during this new opening scene.

Jake beats up a bar patron who is mistreating a woman, and then Jake and wheelchair are unceremoniously thrown outside by bouncers into an alley. While in the alley, Jake meets the two RDA representatives who bring him news... Read more

377 of 413 people found the following review helpful:

Don't let the one star reviews throw you off, November 12, 2010

Kevin L. Theobald (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

There are many low score reviews purely based on the fact there was a release of this movie earlier this year and now the extended version comes out feels like a marketing game. When the first release happened it was known an extended version was coming, but some people just had to have it now. I just watched it on Netflix and waited for the extended version. I agree if you bought the first release version you have little real reason to buy the extended version, unless you love this movie and want the bonus features.

Some of the other low scores talk about the 3D version coming, but that is weak reason for most people because most do not own and will not own a 3D TV set. If you do your research on 3D TVs you will find they clunky and costly. Unless you are among the few who have a 3D TV, then there is no reason to wait to buy this release of Avatar if you enjoyed the movie.

For the few who have never seen the movie, the key factors to consider is if you are... Read more

240 of 270 people found the following review helpful:

A Pinnacle of SF Cinema, November 11, 2010

Marvin Kaye (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition) (DVD)

There appear to be two kinds of people in today's filmgoing public: those, like me, who regard AVATAR as a pinnacle of SF cinema, and those who find fault with it, and I confess to being utterly puzzled about their carping. Clunky dialogue? Well, I thought it perfectly workable and, at times, brilliant, and I've been writing my own SF and opinion re the same for several decades now. The overly familiar plot? It seemed utterly fresh and beautifully structured to me. Yes, it has historical analogues, but that is true of many, many excellent films.

I have been a devotee of SF all my life, and I'm in my seventies. Notice I do not call AVATAR "the pinnacle," but one of them. To my mind the list must begin with "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (NOT THE REMAKE), and include CE3K, the 1st Star Wars trilogy, and some, though not all, of the Star Treks. But James Cameron has created a myth of enormous power wedded to stunning technology that so engaged me intellectually and... Read more

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Hugo (Three-disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy)

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List Price : $54.99 Price : $27.99

Product Description

Welcome to a magical world of spectacular adventure! When wily and resourceful Hugo discovers a secret left by his father, he unlocks a mystery and embarks on a quest that will transform those around him and lead to a safe and loving place he can call home. Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese invites you to experience a thrilling journey that critics are calling “the stuff that dreams are made of.” *Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Amazon.com

In resourceful orphan Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield, an Oliver Twist-like charmer), Martin Scorsese finds the perfect vessel for his silver-screen passion: this is a movie about movies (fittingly, the 3-D effects are spectacular). After his clockmaker father (Jude Law) perishes in a museum fire, Hugo goes to live with his Uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), a drunkard who maintains the clocks at a Paris train station. When Claude disappears, Hugo carries on his work and fends for himself by stealing food from area merchants. In his free time, he attempts to repair an automaton his father rescued from the museum, while trying to evade the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), a World War I veteran with no sympathy for lawbreakers. When Georges (Ben Kingsley), a toymaker, catches Hugo stealing parts for his mechanical man, he recruits him as an assistant to repay his debt. If Georges is guarded, his open-hearted ward, Isabelle (Chloë Moretz), introduces Hugo to a kindly bookseller (Christopher Lee), who directs them to a motion-picture museum, where they meet film scholar René (Boardwalk Empire's Michael Stuhlbarg). In helping unlock the secret of the automaton, they learn about the roots of cinema, starting with the Lumière brothers, and give a forgotten movie pioneer his due, thus illustrating the importance of film preservation, a cause to which the director has dedicated his life. If Scorsese's adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret isn't his most autobiographical work, it just may be his most personal. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Hugo (Three-disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy) Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

_This_ is why we go to the movies, December 8, 2011

Whitt Patrick Pond "Whitt" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo (DVD)

Different people go to the movies for different reasons. Some of us want to be entertained. Some of us want to be dazzled. Some of us want to be engaged by a story, or by characters that stick in the mind after the film is done. Some of us want to be transported to a different time or place. And some of us want to see talented actors create a bit of magic in the hands of a masterful director. Martin Scorsese's Hugo does all of these things. It is, more than any other film I've seen this year, _why_ we go to the movies.

The film is based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. If you've read the book, then you know the story already, but for everyone else I am going to be careful here and not reveal anything that might spoil the film. I will say that Hugo is about many things, but at its heart, it is about obsession, discovery and how one person's story can lead to - and become entwined with - another's.

The film is set in Paris in the... Read more

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

No-Spoilers review of the 3D movie and the coming 2D DVD, December 19, 2011

Ehkzu (Palo Alto, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo (DVD)

Few read reviews to find out whether the reviewer liked the film. They want to know whether THEY will like the film--to decide whether to see the movie or not, and whether to see it in the theater or wait and see the DVD (or the download). That's the task I'll take on here.

As the Rottentomato website has already shown (it assembles and correlates scads of reviews from the press and the web, along with reader responses), the critics adore this film, the audience somewhat less so.

Part of this has to do with managing expectations. The marketing presents Hugo as an Avatar-ish 3D fantasy with a C3P0 (StarWars)-type flying robot. this is actively misleading, though that's not the director's fault.

What Hugo is, is a fable--not a fantasy--that's part tween adventure and part infomercial for the preservation and viewing of old silent movies. Most importantly--and this is a point that hasn't been made by most reviewers here and elsewhere--it's a film about... Read more

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

One of the Finest Family-Oriented Pictures in Recent Memory from a most unlikely source, November 30, 2011

John Kwok (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hugo (DVD)

Martin Scorsese offers audiences a film absolutely like none of his others, a truly heart-felt valentine to the early history of cinema and of a young boy's indefatigable search for a hidden message from his deceased father in 1920s Paris; "Hugo", based on Brian Selznick's bestselling children's tale "The Invention of Hugo Cabret". It is Scorsese's most personal, and most poignant, film, and is certainly among those destined to be remembered as his finest in long, quite distinguished, star-studded cinematic career. Working with a talented team of actors led by Sir Ben Kingsley and Christopher Lee, and a technical crew led by visual effects guru Rob Legato ("Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Avatar") and film composer Howard Shore ("The Lord of The Rings"), Scorsese has rendered a cinematic vision of Paris as vividly magical as the futuristic worlds of "Star Trek" or the fantasy realm of "Middle Earth"; a vision that is still most apt even in the... Read more

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