'Avatar' DVD and Blu-ray to Arrive on Earth Day
Filed under: 20th Century Fox, Newsstand, Home Entertainment
If you've been wanting to take a return trip to Pandora, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has you covered. James Cameron told The Wall Street Journal the company will release his mega-blockbuster, Avatar, on Blu-ray and DVD this April 22nd. Just in time for the globular masses celebrating Earth Day.
For those of you looking for all the bells and whistles, you'll have to wait a bit longer. Cameron told the newspaper, "That's our plan as of right now, and that'll be pretty much bare bones. And then we'll do a value-added DVD and a 3-D Blu-ray in I think November sometime." A spokesman for Fox confirmed that the 3-D version is still in the conceptual stage and doesn't foresee a November release.
The Oscar-nominated director also spoke briefly about a sequel. Cameron would like to do it "cheaper and faster" and have the second installment serve as "a continuation of the same characters." He then added "we're going to widen the universe in quotes, meaning the envelope of the setting of the story."
Avatar's Earth Day release date is not just a witticism. The filmmaker wants to shed a green light on the film with good reason. "We're not going to bequeath to our children a world that's a sustainable world at the rate that we're going," he said. "It's gonna take a fundamental reboot of the way we view our relationship with the natural world and each other and with business and with the economy...that indefinite growth is not a good thing."
Can you justify shelling out the cash for a bare bones disc when the special edition is right around the corner. Is Avatar mania so strong that people will double dip?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
2-19-2010 @ 11:38AM
Vince said...
I never figured that James Cameron would want to take part in the whole "multiple bites of the apple" that's been commonplace with Mirimax releases (not to mention splitting up releases, like with Kill Bill and Grindhouse).
I've held off on most of the barebones relesaes and have gotten better versions afterwards (Sin City, LOTR trilogy), and hopefully it'll work out here too, especially since it's not even 3D.
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2-19-2010 @ 11:43AM
Simon said...
I tend to wait for the special-er edition, as long as I know that they exist. So thanks to Mr. Cameron for tipping us the wink!
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2-19-2010 @ 12:05PM
CineLoad said...
I was lucky to see Avatar at a pre-screening a few hours ago. It completely blew me and the whole room away and i dare to say it will do so to 80% of any audience anywhere. The remaining 20%, who always finds something to complain about, will whine about character development, dialog, story or the pop-corn.
Well, let me tell you: they went to this movie with the wrong expectations.
You have most likely met Cameron's previous work(s): Aliens, Terminator 1 & 2, The Abyss, Titanic (!), just to name a few.
So WHAT should you expect from Avatar??? MORE of the same!!! More of revolutionary film-making, more of grandiose new ideas, more of never-before-seen special effects, more of 150 minutes without relapsing, more of the James Cameron genius...
I am very happy that the trailers didn't give the full story away. Lots of emotions are waiting for the viewer, laughter and tears also. Cameron was very smart keeping the teasers as teasers, nothing more... as the full movie will take your breath away.
You will practically not notice that you are watching a non-existing world, it is sooo real. Attention to detail is superb. You computer geeks will know what I am talking about. This move was not rushed in the making. No wonder it could not have been done before - not having the proper computing power.
The wild life, the jungle, the animals, the Na'vi-s, or the dragon-like flying creatures are all so life-like, they almost pop-off the screen (and in 3D they actually do :) .
The sound effects were so well done, that when I saw at the credits that Skywalker Sound was behind it, i could only think of "yessss... now THAT makes sense."
Cameron is a visionaire - and again, he delivers, with full blast.
A certain character says in the movie that Pandora (the planet where the story takes place) became his real world. My advice to you: let Pandora become YOUR real world for two and a half hours, let it make you completely forget about your life and problems, let it entertain you, move you, let it carry you away.
Because THAT is what i expect as an exchange for my ticket.
And a few hours ago i got tens of tickets worth of that. Comment by http://cineload.net
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3-03-2010 @ 10:50AM
Shaw N. Gynan said...
I loved the enthusiasm of your review. It's gotta make you ask questions about this director, James Cameron. He is a visionary. He's brilliant. He wants a better world. He loves the earth. He so much wants to make a difference.
Well, I have made a bit of a reputation for myself as a linguist, and I have worked with rare indigenous groups in Latin America, and I wept when I saw this movie.
I have heard the pride and lament of indigenous peoples of Mexico, Paraguay and Brazil. In Paraguay, the indigneous people have protested in response to agroindustry that burns up the jungle, killing the armadillos, the jaguars, the myriad flocks of exotic birds, the capibara, the flora and fauna of nearly infinite variety.
James Cameron is incredibly rich, and with a small amount of his money, he could completely save indigenous cultures that face extinction. It would not require a huge amount, but instead just a few hundreds of thousands so that the Ishir, among others, could buy back land taken from them which they need to lead their life and continue their culture and language.
It really wouldn't take much.
And it would so much reinforce the message that James Cameron communicates in this beautiful movie: the pillage of the Indigenous Peoples of America (and all others of the world) of their land is unconscionable.
My Paraguayan friends and I are working on this cause. We are committed to the survival of the Ishir and other indigenous groups, in non-invasive ways. We would like to think that with programs of indigenous language literacy, the Ishir, and similar groups, could empower themselves to survive in the post-conquest world with some sense of pride and integrity.
The conquest continues to this very day. The wrong can be righted. The conquered ask for almost nothing. We could give so much with so little.
Thank you for reading this.
Shaw N. Gynan
2-19-2010 @ 12:09PM
Master X 24 said...
Avatar is soooooo overrated. Sure the CGI and 3D was amazing but the story was a copy of Princess of Mars and Fern Gully.
Overall it was boring.
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2-20-2010 @ 2:18PM
Richard Byrne said...
You were brave to give an opposite opinion than the mases.
My father, Stuart James Byrne, who was a Science Fiction Writer in the '50s, always seems to criticize a lack of story in the movies being released.
Avatar has demonstrated that they are now able to place some of my fathers books on the big screen.
He's 96 now BUT I'll soon be able to hopefully follow through.
By the way, I've never seen Princess on Mars or Fern Gully and perhaps 99% of the audience hasn't either; so I imagine that at least they enjoyed the special effects, the wonders of a new planet and it's mysteries. That's what's great about SIFI.
2-21-2010 @ 6:23AM
SC said...
Agreed. Saturday morning TV at its best.
2-21-2010 @ 1:52AM
Nate said...
I see absolutely zero reason to ever watch this movie on a TV, but that's what happens with films that are purely visual spectacles.
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2-21-2010 @ 12:02AM
D said...
I am glad it is being released without the 3d effect. I loved this movie but because of motion sickness I had to remove the glasses though most of the movie! I still enjoyed the story and imaginative backgrounds but would have enjoyed it more without the 3d effect.
2-19-2010 @ 12:37PM
Natas Speltbackwards said...
Seems like the extras-stuffed package will be well worth the wait - but I don't think that anyone will want to wait! A canny marketing move to milk the maximum amount of green from the audience? Yup.
Not sure quite when I'll get around to seeing this; but word on the street seems most favourable . . .
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2-19-2010 @ 2:52PM
Matt said...
Nope, with confirmation from the director that a better DVD is coming in November, there's no way I'm going to shell out the cash for the bare-bones version in April. Bad move, James, bad move.
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2-20-2010 @ 11:04PM
Elaine said...
What does it mean release of "bare bones" disk?
2-21-2010 @ 12:15AM
Leigh said...
Why do they do that?? Why don't they just wait a little longer and put the movie out with all of the extras?? Besides the movie will probably still be playing in theaters in April (especially if it ends up winning Best Picture).
2-19-2010 @ 5:11PM
dishesaredone said...
I don't think anyone that reads movie blogs or is really into films will buy the first round dvd (on this or given the trend in general).
But there's a huge population (my parents) that wouldn't give a crap if it came with 85 hours of extra features or handed to them by an actual Na'vi. They'll just buy the first copy these see.
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2-20-2010 @ 1:59AM
j5kevin550 said...
i'll agree with people above me, if there's going to be a better release in november, then why bother getting it in april? that's a bad marketing move because people either won't buy the "bare bones" one, like myself, because they're waiting. or they won't buy the november release because it'll probably be $10-20 more (like LOTR and Narnia extended) and they already bought the "bare bones" version because they weren't aware. that's wasting a lot of resources to do both.
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2-20-2010 @ 4:19PM
bunny said...
My husband and I saw this movie in Singapore after my brother & his wife [also in Singapore] gave it rave reviews.
Unlike American movie theatres, Singaporean movie theatres require reservations and assigned seating. The house was SRO [FULL] & everyone loved the movie and gave it a standing ovation.
When the dvd is available, we will buy "the bare bones" version. We are not really into all the "extras". We just want to see the movie.......
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2-20-2010 @ 4:23PM
landers said...
Don't know about special editions and all that but you guys should check out the website videoETA. It lists when just about any movie will be released on DVD. I know I sound like a spammer, but I'm not; it's just a very handy site.
www.videoeta.com
Cheers.
(they really should pay me for that)
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2-20-2010 @ 6:26PM
Stephie said...
I'm not into "bare bones" DVD's, primarily because I feel like I'm being ripped off, in a sense, and I enjoy finding out more about the film (the "bells and whistles" stuff), and with a "bare bones" DVD, you don't get that.
In this case, instead of wasting money buying two different DVD's of the same movie, I can afford to wait until the expanded edition of Avatar is on DVD in November.
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2-20-2010 @ 7:54PM
W said...
Man speak with forked tongue,,,,,,,We shoud worry about the world we leave our children, But in the meantime I want to make sure I milk this Baby for all shes worth, after all, How long can I sell Blue People to intelligent rational people ?
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2-20-2010 @ 8:56PM
SANFORD said...
I am glad the DVD is coming out so soon. I'll be able to watch the movie in the comfort of my own home. I have difficulty in movie theaters because the cool, dark ambiance and comfy seats are guaranteed to put me to sleep regardless of how exciting the movie is..
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