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[BotoxAgent]

completely floored by the PQ of this Blu-Ray. Holy fuck!

I saw this on IMAX 3d in Dec, and this Blu-Ray is just as visually gratifying as the 3d presentation, imo

 

[Mr. Sam]

completely floored by the PQ of this Blu-Ray. Holy fuck!

I saw this on IMAX 3d in Dec, and this Blu-Ray is just as visually gratifying as the 3d presentation, imo

Alright, I'm sold. To Amazon I go.

 

[dallow_bg]

HDD review up.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2915/avatar.html

Kinda what I figured.

Movie itself 2.5/5
Video 5/5
Audio 4/5

Lots of talk about the aspect ratio.
I do like the look of the custom ratio he used.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

HDD review up.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2915/avatar.html

Kinda what I figured.

Movie itself 2.5/5
Video 5/5
Audio 4/5

Lots of talk about the aspect ratio.
I do like the look of the custom ratio he used.

1.78 is far from custom After all, that is the ratio of your HDTV.

 

[Slavik81]

I'll probably buy this soon. I enjoyed the movie, and I don't care about 'special features' in the slightest. 3D would have been nice, but I don't have a player for that yet anyways.

 

[dallow_bg]

1.78 is far from custom After all, that is the ratio of your HDTV.

Nah, the reviewer used a custom 2:20:1 ratio to watch the movie after trying the 1:78:1
He was looking for a compromise between the 2:35 planned for standard projection and 1:78 for IMAX.

 

[Zzoram]

If this BD wasn't $30 in Canada I'd probably buy it just as a visual showcase, even though the story was pretty weak. I'm kinda hoping that this BD release will tank in price when the special edition version comes out so I can pick up just the movie for $15.

I've never paid more than $25 for a BD movie and I don't intend to start now. The only exception I'll make is for the Life (BBC version) documentary boxset.

 

[jamesinclair]

So im wondering, all these people are saying "OMG at the image, better than theaters!!!"...

Are people saying this because they watched it in 3D in the theater, which steals half the brightness?

 

[Medalion]

If you've seen other HD presentations on home TV's, Avatar is the BEST. Even if you've never seen the movie in theatres, it's just that good.

 

[Teddman]

HDD review up.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2915/avatar.html

Kinda what I figured.

Movie itself 2.5/5

:lol

Why do these hi-def/home theater sites even bother reviewing the movie critically in these Blu-Ray writeups? He wastes more than half the article on a boring screed.

All anyone ever wants to glean from them is the technical details and quality. Everybody skips the section where the guy tries to play Roger Ebert.

 

[Vic]

If this BD wasn't $30 in Canada I'd probably buy it just as a visual showcase, even though the story was pretty weak. I'm kinda hoping that this BD release will tank in price when the special edition version comes out so I can pick up just the movie for $15.

I've never paid more than $25 for a BD movie and I don't intend to start now. The only exception I'll make is for the Life (BBC version) documentary boxset.

Though you could get it for 19.99 at Wal-Mart?

 

[zoukka]

All anyone ever wants to glean from them is the technical details and quality. Everybody skips the section where the guy tries to play Roger Ebert.

Cept you of course.

 

[Teddman]

You have to scroll a looong way down the page to get to the technical details. Kind of hard not to notice.

 

[Medalion]

I only want to read opinions that reflect my own, so fuck all that praise shit, I want to read some reviewer tear this movie to shreds to validate my feelings.

 

[Jex]

I only want to read opinions that reflect my own, so fuck all that negative shit, I want to read some reviewer praise this movie to heaven to validate my feelings.

Although I will admit most people seek reviews to justify their own opinions.

Everywhere I see has gone for having AVATAR movie adverts to AVATAR DVD adverts. That money train keep rolling.

 

[Dead]

Fox are gonna be riding that train for a while

Considering all the bombs the studio had in the past few years, they are probably praising the heavens for this.

 

[ArachosiA 78]

Fuck yeah! I have always thought this was the most incredible shot in the entire film. Just pure Cameron badassery right there, and that scene alone pretty much kicks the shit out of anything else I've seen since Titanic.

All this talk about how great the PQ is on the Blu-Ray is making the wait for my copy rough...got to wait until May 3.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Picked it up in Aus today!

What is this shit? How come we don't get the dvd/blu combo? Or at least my pre-order copy wasn't that. I didn't even bother to check the other that seemed to be the same packaging because it doesn't make a difference to me. But yeah, $25 for the blu and book.

 

[Zzoram]

Though you could get it for 19.99 at Wal-Mart?

Canada

CDN$1=USD$1

$30 vs $20 Avatar

 

[Neverender]

Picked it up in Aus today!

What is this shit? How come we don't get the dvd/blu combo? Or at least my pre-order copy wasn't that. I didn't even bother to check the other that seemed to be the same packaging because it doesn't make a difference to me. But yeah, $25 for the blu and book.

Mine was just the blu-ray. I hate how the case is blocky and square, it really sticks out against my nice curvy blu-rays.

 

[theignoramus]

Yeah, I bought the sucker and watched a part of it before I read any feedback about the picture quality, and 10 minutes in, I decided it was the best looking Blu Ray I'd ever seen and I didnt care what HighDefDigest or anyone else had to say about it. We've had damn near impeccable transfers before but the use of the colour and contrast in this film really shine through in 1080p, whereas the other impeccable transfers like 2001 ASO have more muted colors and contrast. Such a great treat, especially after the rather dissapointing LOTR transfers.

edit: wait what? people are hating on the picture quality?
Fucking losers. Nothing in my collection looks better, and I own lots of demo disc material-Matrix trilogy, Order of the Phoenix, Dark Knight, Star Trek 2009, 2001 ASO... Avatar looks better than all of them.

 

[CozMick]

Picked it up yesterday (UK launch day) and watched it last night.

Not much to say that hasn't already been said,

The PQ is fucking incredible, the sound is just as astounding and the actual movie/story is excellent.

Role on the Special Edition, Mr Cameron can have more of my monies

Oh and Ms Weaver is still hot as fuck!

 

[Gary Whitta]

Custom ratios, now I've heard everything. I guess that reviewer must know more about how Avatar is supposed to be presented than James Cameron does.

Meanwhile, it's sacrilege to cut off the sides of an image but cutting off the top and bottom is okay? :lol

 

[Saiyar]

Or how big of a bump in Blu Ray player sales there were this past weekend or leading up to release.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/s..._Is_The_Best_Selling_Blu-ray_of_All-Time/4599

Avatar has helped push sales of Blu-ray players above DVD players for the first time.

 

[mrkgoo]

Custom ratios, now I've heard everything. I guess that reviewer must know more about how Avatar is supposed to be presented than James Cameron does.

Meanwhile, it's sacrilege to cut off the sides of an image but cutting off the top and bottom is okay? :lol

Movies are in landscape because that is how we naturally view things (having a horizontal horizon and horizontally oriented eyes for stereoscopic view etc.) and as such, any sacrifice made to the sides of an image is considerably more significant than the top and bottom.

That is, horizontal composition in film is generally more important than vertical. I guess top and bottom would be more important for images/documents composed in portrait orientation.

All that said, you're still right. It really depends on the original composition and intended viewing. Often movies can be made to compromise the top and bottom without much impact.


In other news, where is the iTunes HD version? I'm trying not to buy discs any more.

 

[Gary Whitta]

Isn't iTunes HD only 720p?

 

[mrkgoo]

Isn't iTunes HD only 720p?

Yes, I think so.

But with no Blu-Ray at the moment, and the need to ditch physical media where possible, I'd make do. It's not that bad at 720p.

 

[Adamm]

As for its other image quality attributes, this 'Avatar' Blu-ray is, frankly, perfect. I can find nothing at all wrong with it.

this is the best-looking demo material yet released on Blu-ray, regardless of which aspect ratio you watch it in. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.

I was going to hold off until a special edition/3D edition, but now....

 

[LosDaddie]

I went to the grocery store to grab some bread for lunch and and the Avatar stand-up cardboard case was completely empty. Crazy sales.

 

[Zzoram]

So does this movie even have a menu, or does it just start playing the movie since there is nothing else on the disc?

 

[JB1981]

So im wondering, all these people are saying "OMG at the image, better than theaters!!!"...

Are people saying this because they watched it in 3D in the theater, which steals half the brightness?

yes .. well I am at least .. the color and snap of the PQ on the BD is out of control!

 

[hirokazu]

Mine was just the blu-ray. I hate how the case is blocky and square, it really sticks out against my nice curvy blu-rays.

Aren't all the newer Blu-ray releases like this?

Anyway, can anyone confirm whether the Australian release plays on Region A? I know the UK release supports Region A as well as B, and we should get the same disc, but the Australian box only says Region B.

If it doesn't play on Region A, then I'm thinking of selling it sealed. Otherwise I'll have to open it and try it myself when I get home. :/

 

[Cypher]

So does this movie even have a menu, or does it just start playing the movie since there is nothing else on the disc?

There's a menu. You can go to Setup and select your audio output and subtitles, as well as jumping to certian Scenes.

 

[StuBurns]

Got it yesterday, pretty blown away by how incredible it looks. Although, I actually prefer the 'dirtier' image quality I got from the 3D viewings. It's shockingly vibrant and crisp, to the point where it's actually easier to see the more 'strange' design decisions, still, it's stunning.

It made for my sixth or seventh viewing in all, I don't think the film is nearly as good in 2D, and in fact has given me greater desire for 3D. Avatar is very pretty in 2D, but it's not special. I guess it was the 3D that was.

As much as Cameron banged on about avoiding stupid 3D shots, there are a few that actually stand out as stupid in 2D and don't play at all, Jake kicking up dirt when he first goes running, the triggers on the grenades flying at the screen etc.

Somethings are actually better though, the flicker of objects falling such as the firey ash stuff doesn't jump as much etc. And the film does still give a really great sense of depth throughout. Overall, the video is really amazing, the film is really not.

 

[ChrisRT]

For the people asking how the DVD looks in comparison to the Blu-Ray version... Day and night.
Go into your tv's settings and turn the sharp all the way down and you'll be about half way there.

If you actually enjoy the movie and you don't have an HDTV, you might want to consider getting one and a Blu-Ray player since you would have gotten one sooner or later.

You cannot imagine the difference in HDTV VS SDTV.

Pretty much this, and this only more-so due to the bitrate of Avatar's Blu-Ray iteration.

In short, you cannot begin to compare the two. I have both.

 

[speculawyer]

Well . . . tonight I watched Avatar & The Hurt Locker back-to-back.

Avatar was awesome. By what I understand, he wrote this script a long long time ago. And it seemed that lots of ideas from this movie had showed up in many other movies. (Mechs in aliens, drop ships in aliens, underwater-like glowing things from Abyss, Creepy corporate guy from aliens, etc.)

Loved it.

But Hurt Locker did deserve to beat it for best picture. Definitely way lower budget. But very visceral and real. Easier to relate to.

Both films totally rocked.


Unobtainium? Really? C'mon . . . that sounds like a resource from RTS where they don't even bother with story. 'Unobtainium' was so lame it broke the suspension of disbelief.

 

[hirokazu]

Well . . . tonight I watched Avatar & The Hurt Locker back-to-back.

Avatar was awesome. By what I understand, he wrote this script a long long time ago. And it seemed that lots of ideas from this movie had showed up in many other movies. (Mechs in aliens, drop ships in aliens, underwater-like glowing things from Abyss, Creepy corporate guy from aliens, etc.)

Loved it.

But Hurt Locker did deserve to beat it for best picture. Definitely way lower budget. But very visceral and real. Easier to relate to.

Both films totally rocked.


Unobtainium? Really? C'mon . . . that sounds like a resource from RTS where they don't even bother with story. 'Unobtainium' was so lame it broke the suspension of disbelief.

It does sound cheesy, but the word wasn't invented by Cameron, and I thought it's use in the film was appropriate after looking at the history of the use of the word on Wiki.

 

[Templar Wizard]

the image quality is so high, that the fake humans in the live action look even WORSE.
i was disgusted by them when i saw them in the theatre, what a waste of money.

 

[Veidt]

Well . . . tonight I watched Avatar & The Hurt Locker back-to-back.

Avatar was awesome. By what I understand, he wrote this script a long long time ago. And it seemed that lots of ideas from this movie had showed up in many other movies. (Mechs in aliens, drop ships in aliens, underwater-like glowing things from Abyss, Creepy corporate guy from aliens, etc.)

Loved it.

But Hurt Locker did deserve to beat it for best picture. Definitely way lower budget. But very visceral and real. Easier to relate to.

Both films totally rocked.


Unobtainium? Really? C'mon . . . that sounds like a resource from RTS where they don't even bother with story. 'Unobtainium' was so lame it broke the suspension of disbelief.

Avatar is an 80's movie released in 2009. Glorious cheesiness.

 

[xMk2x]

Pretty much this, and this only more-so due to the bitrate of Avatar's Blu-Ray iteration.

Why wouldn't you just link to the Avatar comparison on the same site?

 

[G_Berry]

Wait, people hated avatar?

 

[Karma Kramer]

Got it yesterday, pretty blown away by how incredible it looks. Although, I actually prefer the 'dirtier' image quality I got from the 3D viewings. It's shockingly vibrant and crisp, to the point where it's actually easier to see the more 'strange' design decisions, still, it's stunning.

It made for my sixth or seventh viewing in all, I don't think the film is nearly as good in 2D, and in fact has given me greater desire for 3D. Avatar is very pretty in 2D, but it's not special. I guess it was the 3D that was.

As much as Cameron banged on about avoiding stupid 3D shots, there are a few that actually stand out as stupid in 2D and don't play at all, Jake kicking up dirt when he first goes running, the triggers on the grenades flying at the screen etc.

Somethings are actually better though, the flicker of objects falling such as the firey ash stuff doesn't jump as much etc. And the film does still give a really great sense of depth throughout. Overall, the video is really amazing, the film is really not.

Completely disagree with this.. that shot contrasted the differences between Jake and Quaritch (his opening shot, of his boots walking).

 

[Dabookerman]

Wait, people hated avatar?

It crossed a line in popularity and thus got the Titanic treatment.

 

[StuBurns]

Completely disagree with this.. that shot contrasted the differences between Jake and Quaritch (his opening shot, of his boots walking).

That's one of them, what about the grenades? What about Neytiri waving her bow and arrow at the camera? What about the guy cleaning the pods the Avatars grow in? There are lots of shots that feel as if they are there to remind an audience this is in 3D, and when it's not, actually stand out to me as being pointless and intrusive.

Another thing about the bluray that I don't like is the aspect ratio, I saw the film in 16x9 and scope, and enjoyed it more in scope (in 3D, unlike Cameron who said he preferred the opposite), and I remember Cameron saying that in 2D he preferred it in scope, and yet we get the 2D version in 16x9 for some reason.

 

[Karma Kramer]

That's one of them, what about the grenades? What about Neytiri waving her bow and arrow at the camera? What about the guy cleaning the pods the Avatars grow in? There are lots of shots that feel as if they are there to remind an audience this is in 3D, and when it's not, actually stand out to me as being pointless and intrusive.

Another thing about the bluray that I don't like is the aspect ratio, I saw the film in 16x9 and scope, and enjoyed it more in scope (in 3D, unlike Cameron who said he preferred the opposite), and I remember Cameron saying that in 2D he preferred it in scope, and yet we get the 2D version in 16x9 for some reason.

Honestly I just watched this on DVD and the only one that stands out is the gas grenade flying at the camera. But had this never been shot for 3D... I could actually see them using that shot, because that has been done many times.. its more a cliche then an obvious 3D implementation.

 

[StuBurns]

Honestly I just watched this on DVD and the only one that stands out is the gas grenade flying at the camera. But had this never been shot for 3D... I could actually see them using that shot, because that has been done many times.. its more a cliche then an obvious 3D implementation.

Perhaps that is the case, it's hard for me to disassociate the 2D film from the 3D one. Maybe if there wasn't a 3D version, so I wouldn't have seen it, I might feel differently. However, I only meant to imply that I feel those shots don't play well in the film, and I blamed that on it being a '3D reminder' of sorts, if it wasn't in 3D ever, and those shots were in it, I think I'd dislike them still, and just have different reasons for it.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Just finished watching it on blu on my 52" Bravia.

The sound rocks, but damn do I miss the 3D. You 2D Avatar people are fucking bonkers. Not only that, for the entire first half of the flick it seemed like somebody had turned the brightness too far up to the point where colours didn't look as deep as they should. I remember that opening scene with Quaritch being in a room with hard lighting and seeming really fucking cool. Now that whole goddamn room seems lit up. Surely I'm not the only person on the planet to notice this. The Thanator also didn't even appear to be black anymore. What the fuck. I had a hypothesis that since Cameron colour-corrected whilst wearing 3D glasses for the print, what we got in theatres (the right ones anyway) was perfect, then when converting to bluray they just left those same colour settings without accounting for the lack of glasses.

The night scenes don't suffer from this, but goddamn did I notice it in the first half when they're walking around sets whose surfaces DO NOT benefit at all from that extra brightness. Makes the linkup chambers look terrible.

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills, but tell me I'm not the only one who noticed this.

 

[hirokazu]

Just finished watching it on blu on my 52" Bravia.

The sound rocks, but damn do I miss the 3D. You 2D Avatar people are fucking bonkers. Not only that, for the entire first half of the flick it seemed like somebody had turned the brightness too far up to the point where colours didn't look as deep as they should. I remember that opening scene with Quaritch being in a room with hard lighting and seeming really fucking cool. Now that whole goddamn room seems lit up. Surely I'm not the only person on the planet to notice this. The Thanator also didn't even appear to be black anymore. What the fuck. I had a hypothesis that since Cameron colour-corrected whilst wearing 3D glasses for the print, what we got in theatres (the right ones anyway) was perfect, then when converting to bluray they just left those same colour settings without accounting for the lack of glasses.

The night scenes don't suffer from this, but goddamn did I notice it in the first half when they're walking around sets whose surfaces DO NOT benefit at all from that extra brightness. Makes the linkup chambers look terrible.

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills, but tell me I'm not the only one who noticed this.

I noticed this too, but I only watched up until Jake gets in the machine for the first time, primarily to test the AU disc worked on my Region A PS3. It's like someone turned up the gamma but I don't know whether I prefer the darkened picture from 3D or this bright look, it looks great either way.

 

[JGS]

Honestly I just watched this on DVD and the only one that stands out is the gas grenade flying at the camera. But had this never been shot for 3D... I could actually see them using that shot, because that has been done many times.. its more a cliche then an obvious 3D implementation.

I could have sworn I've seen shot like that in other Cameron movies, so maybe it's directing style

 

[StuBurns]

Maybe I'm taking crazy pills, but tell me I'm not the only one who noticed this.

I agree, I mentioned it a little above, however not as articulate. The 3D version looks a lot 'dirtier' for lack of better word. The bluray is very very bright and colourful, just a lot more happy looking in terms of light and colour.