Avatar 4k

“A reluctant hero. An epic journey. A choice between the life he left behind and the incredible new world he’s learned to call home. Return to James Cameron’s AVATAR – the greatest adventure of all time.”

This year will be a good one for James Cameron fans. Not only is this film finally being released in 4k, we are getting the same treatment for some of his other titles: The Abyss, True Lies, and Titanic, with the first two not even having been released on Blu-ray before. With the takeover of Fox by Disney, this is definitely some welcomed news, as their company focuses more and more on their streaming services and tends to leave physical media by the wayside.

The biggest box office success of all time. Avatar stunned audiences during its release, providing not only a breathtaking visual experience, but was released at the height of the most recent 3D craze for cinemas. When the sequel came out this past year, I was certain it wouldn’t do as well, with the public more invested in streaming services, coming off of a world-wide pandemic with theaters being some of the hardest hit businesses, and the gravitation going far away from 3D and upscaled ticket pricing. I was wrong. Not having seen the first since its release, I was anxious to give it another go after having watched The Way of Water to see if that magical experience was still present after all these years.

While I generally enjoy the film, it’s honestly one of the most generic films ever made in terms of plot, one that has been done much better by other films. I remember feeling that way when I first saw it, and that view really hasn’t changed in the last decade since. The film is filled with moments designed to enrage the audience by showing some kind of atrocity to the indigenous people of Pandora, whether it’s the destruction of one of their sacred trees, or the murder and destruction of their homes, these moments feel all too hollow when you recognize the strings being pulled to try to invoke an emotional response. It’s what Way of Water does to an even greater degree than here, mostly because this one is filled with a lot of world building, which still is one of the best qualities of the story. Even though I have a love/hate relationship with Avatar, the draw for me has always relied solely on the visuals. James Cameron is an expert at that, with the CG looking as breathtaking as the day it was released, only heightened by the 4k experience.

While we were given a digital code to review the 4k version of the film, upon starting to stream it I found myself immediately turning it off, running to one of the only stores in town that still regularly stocks new release 4k films, and purchasing the physical copy of Avatar. If I’m going to sit through another 3 hours of Avatar, I’m going to see it and hear it the best way possible, and I wasn’t disappointed. Unfortunately missing is a Dolby Vision presentation, but the HDR looks stunning in every single way possible. Colors are some of the most vibrant I’ve seen on a 4k disc, detail is refined, life-like, and simply breathtaking to watch. What I enjoyed most was the Dolby Atmos track, which is one of the first things to get downgrading in the majority of streaming content. With so many sequences of things happening overhead, it entirely immerses you in the experience, which got me excited for the film all-over again. This is the way to watch it. Skip the digital. Buy it.

With the prior Blu-ray release, it contained an Extended version with 20ish minutes or so added to the film. This is not included in this release sadly, nor is any type of 3D version of the film for those of us who own 3D capable televisions. Given the choice between watching any film in 3D or 4k, I’d probably choose the 4k anyway, but this cannot be considered a ‘definitive’ version with those missing. Perhaps in the future that may happen, but for now, Avatar looks and sounds better than it ever has for home video consumption. This is out now streaming, and to buy on 4k disc.