Avatar 3D Blu-ray Review
Updated: Apr 8, 2023
Avatar is a 2009 sci-fi adventure movie that virtually all of you have seen. So thankfully, I can spare myself from having to give a plot summary.
Alright, for the 15% of the population who haven't heard of it yet, I guess I ought to tell you what it's all about. Avatar takes place in the year 2154 when humanity is on the verge of collapse. In order for humanity to save itself, the U.S. military has created a base on the planet Pandora, a place that contains a rare substance called (quiet snicker) "unobtainium" that can supposedly save humanity. Their plan is to communicate and form bonds with the native creatures, the Na'vi, by using "avatars," bodies formed by human DNA and Na'vi DNA and are piloted by human conscience, in order to peacefully obtain the unobtainium (comedic drum roll).
This is where we meet Jake Sully, a handicapped man who along with his twin brother travelled to Pandora. Sadly, his brother died somewhere during the journey. But that doesn't last too long because it's soon revealed that due to Jake sharing DNA with his brother, he can pilot his brother's avatar. Soon, he finds himself communicating with the natives and forming relationships. Eventually, Jake forms a romance with one of the creatures and starts participating in their religion. But when the military later becomes forced to use violent tactics on the Na'vi to achieve their, he begins to question what side he is really on.
Ever since the hype for Avatar died down in recent years, I've constantly heard many a people compare Avatar to environmentalist films like "Ferngully: The Last Rainforest" and "white man bad" films like "Dances with Wolves." I do my best to stay neutral when it comes to politics when it comes to the 3D Dinosaur. But I will say that for the most part, I can't really disagree with most of those claims. Even plenty of popular YouTubers such as ScreenJunkies have pointed out that the film's message is pretty preachy and that the overall plot is kinda rehashed from plenty of other preachy films.
Personally though, I don't believe it is necessarily the content of a film's message that makes it bad, but rather the way it's presented. And while Avatar has plenty of plot elements taken from other movies, I still try to look at it as it's own thing. And as it's own thing, I don't find it as bad as lots of people say it is. But it isn't a modern day masterpiece either. Instead, it ends up somewhere in between.
The film does have some pretty clear flaws that certainly shouldn't go unaddressed. First off, being as the film is mostly about spectacle, the story, the characters, and the character development aren't really that easy to get invested in. Most of the people in the film are pretty basic and have little to no depth in their personality. The bad guys are all pretty much stereotypes of other bad guys. While the good guys aren't all that dislikable, there's hardly much about them to appreciate either. The people themselves don't make the film unwatchable. But beyond serving their purpose in the film's plot, there isn't that much else to them. It's disappointing for sure. But it especially doesn't help when the film they live in is about 40% exposition.
As for the plot itself, I wouldn't say it is a bad one, that is if you overlook the countless details stolen from other movies, the forced character motivations, the part about the "unobtainium" (Seriously Cameron, was that really the best name you could think of?). It's a long movie, but it moves at a good enough rate (decent enough to soak in the environment, that is). While the first bit of the movie isn't something to behold, it still manages to pick up some good momentum, especially near the end when the humans and aliens wage war on each other, leading up to a genuinely good action climax.
And while the message does throw off a lot of right-wingers (or people looking for something original), it isn't entirely without merit. While gaining resources from others is perfectly fine, we shouldn't do so in a way that results in violence and chaos. In fact, for most right-wingers, that's the basis for the free market. And sometimes, it helps to stop consuming altogether (though that doesn't really work in the context of the movie) and instead devote our attention to how the world around us works. While I can see where others can disagree with how far the message goes and how it appears to aim strictly at white men, the message itself in its most basic form is something that I think most of us can agree with.
Avatar's biggest saving grace, and you probably can tell where I'm going with this, is the visual effects. I think it's best I leave most of the details in the 3D review. But the scale and environment of the film is still something to behold. It's lush and vivid, but also big and grand. The film knows you'll want to get lost in it, and it makes sure to spend enough time allowing you to do so.
I think the best way to describe this movie is probably the same way Roger Ebert describes the Flintstones movie: "Just watching it is fun. Following the plot is not so much fun." Now, Avatar isn't on as low of a level as that movie was. But the premise still remains the same. The film is much better remembered for its beautiful environment and fantastic usage of 3D than it is it's story. It's not so much that the story itself is bad. But for the type of movie this is, it's a lot more bland and preachy than it deserved to be. If you choose to look at the film for the things it gets wrong, that's acceptable. In fact, this movie will probably go down in history as an example of how substance always ages better than style. But personally, I think the film could've been much worse. And even by today's standards, it's still a gorgeous looking movie. So all in all, I agree it wasn't worth all the hype. But as an average sci-fi adventure movie, its still worth giving at least one trip to Pandora.
OVERALL FILM RATING: 3.5/5
Now we move on to the reason anybody probably went to see this movie at all, and the reason it's still well-known today: it's in 3D. The hype and legacy surrounding this movie's 3D deserves it's own essay. But here's the main summary: before Avatar, very few films were being released in 3D. And the ones that did had genuine effort put into them. But after Avatar showed how just how incredible 3D could be if done right, every movie afterwards was released in 3D. And the selection of movies had such varying qualities of 3D that Cinemablend had to create a series of articles dedicated solely on whether or not a film was worth seeing in 3D. But still. We did get 3D masterpieces like Hugo and Gravity in later years. But, even to this day, Avatar still remains hailed as one of the best 3D films in existence.
So is the 3D in Avatar as good as everyone says it is (aka, the #1 best 3D film ever)? Well, you probably already know as chances are you not only saw the movie, but you also saw it in 3D and know how fantastic it is. Because of that, I can probably spare myself from having to make this review.
But if you're one of the 15% of the population who hasn't seen this film in 3D yet, I guess I probably owe it to you to tell you how good the 3D is.
Where do I even begin with this one? There's so many things to appreciate about Avatar's 3D. I guess I'll start by giving how amazing the depth is. The first example of this in the film happens when Jake steps out of his cryogenic sleep and into a long room where other people are coming out of their cryogenic chambers. The room goes back so far into the screen it's incredible. In fact, most of the time, the parallax on display is simply staggering, giving every element in the screen realistic, lifelike 3D space. Now, it isn't always easy on the eyes. But it's still a very enjoyable sight and one that I find only rarely in 3D films such as this nowadays. Whenever you're inside a structure, the walls go back far into the screen and the surrounding objects retain proper, and even interesting shapes. There are even computers and holograms that pop out of the screen a good amount.
But you didn't come to Avatar for sci-fi hallways. You came for the lush jungles of Pandora. And in that respect, Avatar does not remotely disappoint. From what I heard, the scenes with the humans were post-converted to 3D. But when the film goes out into the jungle, the scenes are natively shot in 3D. And it really shows. The foliage always seems to be in its own 3D space, the trees move back far into the background, and the surreal creatures see moving around are mesmerizing to watch. Sometimes, they can even pop out at you. There are too many ways this film takes advantage of its 3D to count. And there aren't any real ways to properly describe them to you. I know I don't always say something like that. But I guess that says more about the 3D than it does me.
I do have a few small nitpicks that no one else seems to care about, but that I personally found took me out of the experience. As I mentioned earlier, the 3D detail throughout the film in stunning. But when the camera focuses on something far away, or far down enough, the image becomes flat or shallow. This was possibly a creative decision to emphasize how something, when looked at from far enough away, appears mostly flat. While I'm sure most people don't have a problem with this flatness, I found it a bit distracting. That doesn't make the film as a whole bad in 3D. But I've seen many other films where the wide shots are given proper depth to appear very far away. And I just don't know why Cameron didn't decide to go that.
None the less, this is still an incredible 3D presentation that certainly must be watched. Does it deserved to watched as something like Hugo or IMAX: Hubble? Personally, I don't think so, mostly because the 3D goes shy on the parts that are supposed to be far away. But because of all the ways 3D gets used in every other scene in every other way, this is still a top notch 3D movie. Usually, I'd say that 3D can't make an average film a little less average. But with Avatar, a film that's all about experience, I'd say that case is quite the opposite. What more can I say about the 3D? It's a sight more than worth seeing. Just don't get depressed once the movie is over and you realize Pandora isn't real.
3D RATING: EXCELLENT
Other sources that review this movie's 3D (the opinion expressed in these reviews may not always match up with mine. But if you want a second opinion on the film's 3D, these are some sources I recommend checking out):
Cinemablend's To 3D or Not Article (it's at the very bottom of the page): https://www.cinemablend.com/new/3D-Or-3D-Guide-Buying-Right-Clash-Titans-Ticket-17882.html
High-Def Digest Review: https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7567/avatar3d_worldwide.html
Tommy Boy 3D Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2mGhg-qeJg
3D Blu-ray Bunker's Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrEVC1xjeeE
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Avatar is a movie that was created especially for 3D, and not much else. In recent years, people have paid more attention to its flaws and how it's ultimately not a very good movie. These people have plenty of merit to what they're saying. But personally, I don't think it's as bad as some people say it is. If you want to watch the movie simply because everyone else has, you won't be wasting your time. But be sure to keep your expectations in check. Now if you're planning to see it in 3D, that's another story entirely. There's not much else I can say at this point about the movie's 3D that no one else already has (and that's probably why this review was hard to write). All I can say is, if you're planning to see this movie, don't waste your time watching it in 2D. Certainly go for the 3D. Even if you don't really like the film, buy it anyway so you can understand what all the fuss was about. I promise you, you will get an unforgettable experience.
P.S. On a bit of a related note, I can't wait to see how Avatar 2 will play out on its release. Will the criticisms of the first movie draw the fans away or will the fans remain loyal? We'll have to see for ourselves. I certainly can't wait to see what they've done with Avatar 2. And I certainly can't wait to see in 3D as well.
DID YOU LIKE "AVATAR" IN 3D
0%Yes
0%No
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