Source: FlickDirect
I would like to think they rushed the release for earth day; I think it is a marketing super-coup that Avatar gets all kinds of earth day credibility --as though we were really mining unobtanium from the Amazon Rainforest. Speaking of which, why doesn't Amazon.com get 'earth day' credit? I would like to think that in the mad charge to get the beloved movie into the hands of its multitudes of fans that the studio did the only thing it could -- released a disc with no special features unless you count language choices or subtitles.I do not believe that though. On the inside of the box, is a flyer saying it is "the movie Blu-Ray was made for". This is true…Avatar, aside from being very, very pretty and having groundbreaking 3D technology, was no kind of great story telling; nor was it even more than a workmanlike-movie-making. To be certain, Cameron hits all his points; but he does it in a perfunctory fashion. To be sure, the movie, in the theater, preferably on an IMAX screen, is breathtaking; but it is the scale and the visuals, not the dialog.
If Avatar moves us, it is with pictures. If we connect with the characters, it is with their stereotypes. What we see on the screen, we have certainly seen before; but we have never seen it like this. Avatar is made to be seen. I am pretty sure the studio knows this, and they plan to use it to sell us Blu-Ray players and Blu-Ray discs.
The TV tells me that Avatar is now the #1 movie of all time – in my eyes, this could be worse! My natural inclinations make me happy that a science fiction movie is having this much impact. It is even better that, as utterly basic as Avatar's narrative is, and it isn't a stupid movie. Cameron is a smart guy -- he gets things right when he cares about them. All things being equal, Avatar, although in no way deserving the top-slot, could be worse. The #1 movie of all time could be Terminator 4.
Certainly Avatar has fans. It has people who want to actually go, in real life, to Pandora. It has people who lament that they cannot actually be Na'vi. China re-named, a real life mountain after the fake, floating ones in Avatar to bump up tourism dollars. I have a 40-year-old friend who has a blue Na'vi face as his Skype icon. There are people who will buy this disc.
That is why I think they came out with it -- it would sell! When they come out with the next one, and the one after, those will sell also I think calculatedly to the same people. This disc, with nothing on it, save Avatar itself and is designed to get maximal value from the Avatar fan base. I do suppose it will work. The back of the box offers the buyer a chance to Return to Pandora. This is no mistake: they know you have already seen it.
So what do I think? Well, I watched the disc, and for a DVD, it looks alright. The sound is okay; however, there is nothing in 3D, so that is all that is lacking. I suspect that Avatar will be what they used to sell 3D TV, which will be coming soon – so I am told. I would like director's commentary, but I can live without it; I can imagine Cameron talking endlessly about his technology. Why not? What would he possibly say about the characters?
I am glad they did not include story boards or the theatrical trailer and call that "content". Also, I am pretty sure that the final release will have interactive explore-Pandora stuff on it. In the end, I suppose I can live without that too. I bet the Avatar video game will probably even be decent. Why not -- the movie itself was sort of a video game ... in a way.
So now that I get to rate this, I decided it would be a 'D' since it is a transparent marketing ploy; and it gives you nothing but the worst available format with none of the features. I had to revise that though because two things changed my mind. The first was the absolute lack of previews or copy-protection sermons. You load the disc and go straight to Avatar – that is nice.
The second was that I watched it with my mother-in-law who had never seen it in the theater. She was holding my son and playing with him; and I watched her as she watched the show. She is a non-native, English speaker with a background utterly different from mine. She was interested and entertained. She didn't care that there weren't any extras. Avatar is a fun movie, and it is nice to be able to watch it at home ...even in 2D, on DVD. I can't be too upset with that.