Avatar-Extended Collectors Edition (2009)

"An extraordinary act of visual imagination...feel like you understand filmmaking in three dimensions for the first time.  Los Angeles Times
""[A] trippy joy ride about the end of life....An emersonian exploration of the invisible world of the spirit filled with Cameronian rock 'em, sock 'em pulpy action.  New York Times
"...game-changing, magnificent visual spectacle...  USA Today

Editor's Note ALIENS and THE TERMINATOR director James Cameron returns to the genre that made him famous with AVATAR. As an avatar (a human mind housed in an alien body), an ex-Marine finds his inner conflict competes with the far-flung war he must fight. This sci-fi film reunites the director with his ALIENS actress, Sigourney Weaver, and it co-stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, and Michelle Rodriguez. Cameron also brings on WETA, the special effects team behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in his efforts to create this 3-D film filled with awe-inspiring CGI.

	Michelle Rodriguez
	Sam Worthington
	Zoe Saldana
	Stephen Lang
	Sigourney Weaver
	James Cameron - Screenwriter
	James Cameron - Producer
	Jon Landau - Producer
	James Cameron - Director

Los Angeles Times
"An extraordinary act of visual imagination....To see AVATAR is to feel like you understand filmmaking in three dimensions for the first time." 12/11/2009

USA Today
3 stars out of 4 -- "With the game-changing, magnificent visual spectacle that is AVATAR, writer/director James Cameron can be crowned king of the virtual world." 12/16/2009

Chicago Sun-Times
4 stars out of 4 -- "AVATAR is not simply a sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a technical breakthrough." 12/11/2009

Box Office
4 stars out of 5 -- "Cameron wants us to appreciate the world he's toile to make....His Pandora is a revelation -- truly a must see." 12/16/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"As a spectacle, AVATAR is indelible -- a true rush..." -- Grade: B 12/25/2009

New York Times
"[A] trippy joy ride about the end of life....An Emersonian exploration of the invisible world of the spirit filled with Cameronian rock 'em, sock 'em pulpy action." 12/18/2009

Variety
"[AVATAR] delivers unique spectacle, breathtaking sights, narrative excitement and an overarching anti-imperialist, back-to-nature theme....[T]he picture is a triumph..." 12/10/2009

Hollywood Reporter
"[Cameron] brings science-fiction movies into the 21st century with the jaw-dropping wonder that is AVATAR." 12/10/2009

Total Film
5 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's utterly captivating. A glistening banquet for the senses." 12/11/2009

Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Here's a filmmaker who knows how to harness technology to storytelling....Cameron's talent really is as big as his dreams. 01/21/2010

Washington Post
"Cameron has managed to get genuine performances....Worthington and especially Saldana do a terrific job of imbuing their characters with life and spirit..." 12/18/2009

Movieline
"[A]s heartfelt as it is spectacular...As a showman Cameron will not be denied." 12/18/2009

Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "AVATAR turns out to be a work of imagination on an industrial scale....The last act shifts from carefully cultivated enchantment to all-out action." 06/01/2010

Premiere
4 stars out of 4 -- "From the barely noticeable sci-fi/tech details to the mind-blowing Pandora landscapes, this is a movie that truly transports an audience." 04/22/2010

ReelViews 10 of 10
Avatar has been described as a "game-changer," and perhaps it is. I'll leave that for future historians to determine. What I can say with some assuredness is this is the most technically amazing motion picture to have arrived on screens in many years - perhaps since Peter Jackson's The Return of the King. It's also among the most anticipated openings of the decade. Expectations can be a double-edged sword; ask George Lucas. But when a filmmaker meets or exceeds them, the results are tremendous, and that's the case with Avatar. James Cameron has a lot riding on this film, his long-delayed follow-up to Titanic (which came out an even dozen years ago), the all-time box office champion in unadjusted dollars. Under "normal" circumstances, at stake would have been only Cameron's reputation and future autonomy with astronomical budgets. But Cameron has hitched his wagon to 3D and declared this to be the wave of the future. Watching Avatar, I can almost believe it. If every filmmaker could do with 3D what Cameron achieves, I'd gladly wear the uncomfortable glasses to every screening...Avatar is the most engaging and enthralling motion picture I have experienced this year - and "experience" is the appropriate word. There's a rush associated with coming to Pandora; this feels more like an interactive endeavor than a passive one. In addition to being emotionally satisfying and one hell of a wild ride, Avatar boasts a smart script, reminding us that would-be blockbusters don't have to be defined by the imbecility of a Transformers 2 or a 2012. James Cameron has been entertaining movie-goers for more than a quarter century and he is in an elite category of filmmakers who has yet to spawn a dog. For quality like this, I'm willing to wait, although hopefully his next movie will come a little more quickly than the 12 years of Avatar's gestation - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Watching Avatar, I felt sort of the same as when I saw Star Wars in 1977. That was another movie I walked into with uncertain expectations. James Cameron's film has been the subject of relentlessly dubious advance buzz, just as his Titanic was. Once again, he has silenced the doubters by simply delivering an extraordinary film. There is still at least one man in Hollywood who knows how to spend $250 million, or was it $300 million, wisely...Avatar is not simply a sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a technical breakthrough. It has a flat-out Green and anti-war message. It is predestined to launch a cult. It contains such visual detailing that it would reward repeating viewings. It invents a new language, Na'vi, as Lord of the Rings did, although mercifully I doubt this one can be spoken by humans, even teenage humans. It creates new movie stars. It is an Event, one of those films you feel you must see to keep up with the conversation...At 163 minutes, the film doesn't feel too long. It contains so much. The human stories. The Na'vi stories, for the Na'vi are also developed as individuals. The complexity of the planet, which harbors a global secret. The ultimate warfare, with Jake joining the resistance against his former comrades. Small graceful details like a floating creature that looks like a cross between a blowing dandelion seed and a drifting jellyfish, and embodies goodness. Or astonishing floating cloud-islands...Cameron promised he'd unveil the next generation of 3-D in Avatar. I'm a notorious skeptic about this process, a needless distraction from the perfect realism of movies in 2-D. Cameron's iteration is the best I've seen -- and more importantly, one of the most carefully-employed. The film never uses 3-D simply because it has it, and doesn't promiscuously violate the fourth wall. He also seems quite aware of 3-D's weakness for dimming the picture, and even with a film set largely in interiors and a rain forest, there's sufficient light. I saw the film in 3-D on a good screen at the AMC River East and was impressed. It might be awesome in True IMAX. Good luck in getting a ticket before February...It takes a hell of a lot of nerve for a man to stand up at the Oscarcast and proclaim himself "King of the World". James Cameron just got re-elected. - Roger Ebert