Even More Avatar

While the majority of the people that saw James Cameron’s “Avatar” enjoyed it, evidenced by it’s 8.3 rating on IMDB.com, there were plenty of people who felt the beautiful special effects blinded the audience, making them forget that the story was essentially a modern-day retelling of stories like “Ferngully” and “Pocahontas.”

With 16 more minutes of footage and a nice batch of extras, the Avatar- Extended Collector’s Edition three-disc-set may make them a fan of the film. With a new beginning and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, director James Cameron’s vision is a bit different than what was originally showcased in theaters. Seeing a bit more of the life of Jake Sully [Sam Worthington] early on, viewers who complained the character was flat may think twice this time. Seeing his plight and his eventual overcoming of handicap and ultimate happiness, the film feels more like an underdog story than the one that was showed in theaters last year.

The added scenes also give us more of an insight into Grace Augustine’s character [Sigourney Weaver] and all the work she’s put into helping the people of Pandora. In the standard theatrical release, you see her as a devoted outreach worker, but after a few of these added scenes, an extra emotional element is added to her character, making Weaver’s performance much stronger and her character more important to the story.

While it may not be able to sway some people completely, it’s almost impossible to argue that this edition of the film isn’t a better movie than the theatrical release. For that reason, this may be the best version to purchase for those who are already fans of the film.

Included in this three disc set are the original theatrical edition, a special edition re-release with eight extra minutes of footage, which includes family audio track with objectionable language removed and the collector’s extended cut with 16 additional minutes, including the alternate opening on earth. Having all three of these versions in one set makes it a perfect buy for a family, because it allows theater traditionalists who want the original version and hardcore movie buffs an opportunity to see everything they missed to be satisfied simultaneously. An added 45-minute documentary, “Capturing Avatar,” adds even more luster to the final product.

With so many versions of this film already out, this version is the first to put them all together, making this set the complete package and one that both fans of the film and newcomers to the franchise alike can enjoy.

If you’ve never been to Pandora, this is a great place to start.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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