Avatar

Director: James Cameron James Cameron

Overview

A paraplegic ex-marine finds a new life on the distant planet of Pandora, only to find himself battling humankind alongside the planet's indigenous Na'vi race in this ambitious digital 3D sci-fi epic from Academy Award-winning Titanic director James Cameron. The film, which marks Cameron's first dramatic feature since 1997's Titanic, follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a war veteran who gets called to the depths of space to pick up the job of his slain twin brother for the scientific arm of a megacorporation looking to mine the planet of Pandora for a valued ore. Unfortunately the biggest deposit of the prized substance lies underneath the home of the Na'vi, a ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned native tribe who have been at war with the security arm of the company, lead by Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Because of the planet's hostile atmosphere, humans have genetically grown half-alien/half-human bodies which they can jack their consciousnesses into and explore the world in. Since Jake's brother already had an incredibly expensive Avatar grown for him, he's able to connect with it using the same DNA code and experience first-hand the joys of Pandora while giving the scientific team, led by Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore), some well-needed protection against the planet's more hostile forces. On a chance meeting after getting separated from his team, Jake's Avatar is rescued by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a Na'vi princess, who brings him into her tribe in order to give the humans a second chance at relating to this new environment. When word gets out of his increasing time with the alien species, Quaritch enlists Jake to do some reconnaissance for the company, as they'd like to persuade the tribe to move their home before taking more drastic measures to harness the treasure hidden below. Yet as Jake becomes one with the tribe and begins to understand the secrets of Pandora, his conscience is torn between his new adopted world and the wheelchair-bound one awaiting him when the psychic connection to his Avatar is broken. Soon battle lines are drawn and Jake needs to decide which side he will fight on when the time comes. The film was shot on the proprietary FUSION digital 3D cameras developed by Cameron in collaboration with Vince Pace, and offers a groundbreaking mix of live-action dramatic performances and computer-generated effects. The revolutionary motion-capture system created for the film allows the facial expressions of actors to be captured as a virtual camera system enables them to see what their computer-generated counterparts will be seeing in the film, and Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Weta Digital visual-effects house supervises Avatar's complex special effects.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/20/2023
UPC:	0786936898064
Original Release:	2009
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	20Th Century Studios
Language:	English
Time:	2:42:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Zoe Saldana	Neytiri
Sam Worthington	Jake Sully
Sigourney Weaver	Dr. Grace Augustine
Stephen Lang	Pu¿kownik Miles Quaritch
Michelle Rodriguez	Trudy Chacon
Giovanni Ribisi	Parker Selfridge
Joel David Moore	Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder	Moat
Wes Studi	Eytukan
Laz Alonso	Tsu'tey
Dileep Rao	Dr. Max Patel
Matt Gerald	Kapral Lyle Wainfleet
Sean Anthony Moran	Szeregowy Fike
Jason Whyte	Cryo Vault Med Tech
Scott Lawrence	Venture Star Crew Chief
Kelly Kilgour	Lock Up Trooper
James Pitt	Shuttle Pilot
Sean Patrick Murphy	Shuttle Co-Pilot
Peter Dillon	Shuttle Crew Chief
Kevin Dorman	Tractor Operator
Kelson Henderson	Dragon Gunship Pilot
David Van Horn	Dragon Gunship Gunner
Jacob Tomuri	Dragon Gunship Navigator
Michael Blain-Rozgay	Suit #1
Jon Curry	Suit #2
Luke Hawker	Ambient Room Tech
Woody Schultz	Ambient Room Tech
Peter Mensah	Horse Clan Leader
Sonia Yee	Link Room Tech
Jahnel Curfman	Basketball Avatar
Ilram Choi	Basketball Avatar
Kyla Warren	Na'vi Child
James Horner	Conductor,Composer
Julene Renee	Ambient Room Tech
Lisa Roumain	Actor

Technical Credits

James Cameron

James Cameron	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Jon Landau	Producer
Colin Wilson	Executive Producer
Laeta Kalogridis	Executive Producer
Margery Simkin	Casting
Garrett Warren	Stunts
Kevin Romond	Special Effects
Joe Letteri	Special Effects
Steve Ingram	Special Effects
Christopher Boyes	Sound Mixer,Sound Effects
Gary Summers	Sound Mixer
Andy Nelson	Sound Mixer
Tony Johnson	Sound Mixer
Brooke Breton	Producer
Josh McLaglen	Producer
Tim Burby	Sound Effects
Ryan Cole	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Sometimes a film comes along that pushes the boundaries of what moviemaking can yield -- the kind of movie that reaches beyond the limits of the medium and blazes a new trail, subsequently allowing others with abundant resources to follow in its path. Despite any nitpicky flaws one might -- or might not -- find within the picture, James Cameron's Avatar is absolutely this kind of touchstone. Although audiences have become used to seeing advances in high-end technology, those previous developments haven't quite added up to this level of razzle-dazzle. For that, the filmmaker and his tireless crew deserve the many praises that they'll no doubt get. Avatar is a special-effects marvel -- and it's that area of the film that will rule many people's reactions, even if one may wonder whether a film with as grand a reach as this deserves a bit more scrutiny for falling back on familiar ground story-wise. For all of his talk of putting characters and story first, Cameron basically jazzes up a cocktail of Dune, A Man Called Horse, and Dances With Wolves, yet presents it with such panache that it'll leave the majority of viewers unfazed by its rehashed nature, with a few others questioning if there should have been more meat to such an extravagant feast. Devil's advocate aside, Cameron does deliver the goods in the action arena, as well as the spectacle of this wondrous new world he built from the ground up. It'd be hard to blame paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) for siding with an indigenous alien race such as the Na'vi. When faced with infiltrating their ranks for the megacorp that's invading their planet, Pandora, Jake is pulled into a new life, discovering love, spirituality, and the kind of exhilaration he's never experienced before. The lush world is a visual wonder, complete with a heartbeat that pulses through all of the living things that populate it, including Jake via his Avatar (a being made out of human and Na'vi DNA which his consciousness is jacked into). As Jake becomes part of the Na'vi tribe -- and closer to their princess heir, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), his linked-in life begins to overrule his normal wheelchair-bound one. Soon his bosses begin to wonder if he's really trying to bring a diplomatic end to the fight between the natives and the invading human force (set in motion because of greed) -- or simply siding with an indigenous species who can't possibly compete with the firepower of the corporation's private security arm, lead by Col. Miles Quaritch (a star-making turn from Stephen Lang). Make no mistake, the level of artistry on display is beyond most anything seen on the big screen before -- and it should be seen in the theaters. Presented in impressive 3D, the screen is filled with depth and color the likes of which are being hailed as the new benchmark. Certainly the motion-capture elements (where actors' minute movements are recorded and translated onto ultra-real computer-animated characters) come closer to fantastical hyper-reality than anything before. Yet, Cameron isn't just concerned with showing off his very expensive goods; Avatar is at its heart a popcorn flick -- albeit, one with a political conscience. Despite its fairly obvious morality lessons, the film doesn't preach as much as deliver large-scale action and wrenching drama for mass audiences to eat up. The man is a showman -- and he packed his new baby with enough awe, excitement, and emotion to justify the 160-minute epic running time, which to his credit, never once feels too long. Story issues aside, if there are flaws -- and various people will no doubt have different reactions to it -- one could start with the staleness of James Horner's all-too-familiar Titanic-sounding score (not surprising since the composer is notorious for aping the same themes for decades now). The design of the film will also be a contentious issue -- with people who do and don't connect with the blue cat people aesthetics. Cameron doesn't make a great case for Sam Worthington either, whose non-charismatic nature is on full display whether delivering awkward "stoked" dialogue or rallying the alien troops for battle. In contrast, Saldana's performance gives Neytiri a stunningly real quality -- lending her not only a soul but an acute physical prowess that sells the entire character. She's exactly the type of actor that this technology needs in order to prove its state-of-the-art promise of limitless imagination. Though it is merely a stepping stone in a long line of pioneers, one thing is for sure -- viewers who are at all interested in being transported to this new land have quite the experience waiting for them. How they'll feel on the way out of the theater is the real question.