Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 23, 2023

Is it possible to improve on perfection? Diehard home theater aficionados who have been clinging to their 3D setups like they're a veritable floating door in, say, James Cameron's Titanic may well have first bought their equipment to be able to watch the first release of Avatar 3D, which, as you can see from Martin Liebman's review, was actually part of a "bundle" offered by Panasonic in order to coax consumers to spring for 3D equipment. A so-called "wide release" of Avatar 3D followed, which was the exact same offering divorced from the Panasonic bundling. In both cases, Marty gave top notch marks to both the 2D and 3D presentations, which may beg the question as to what kind of "new, improved" qualities this remastered release may offer. As I've mentioned when discussing other "older" reviews (including my own), what seemed like "perfection" in the Dark Ages (and/or 2010-2012, as the case may be) might not come across exactly the way to contemporary eyes (and ears), but that said, I don't think anyone would quibble too much with Marty's assessment of those now ancient releases. This new version may not be markedly different, but it does show some interesting new depth and dimensionality that should certainly excite fans who still have the ability to play 3D Blu-ray discs. Unlike the first two 3D Blu-ray releases, this release also offers the Bonus Disc that was included in both Avatar 4K and Avatar: The Way of Water 4K (and the recent DigiPack reissues of those titles).

Probably unsurprisingly, you have your choice of reviews to look at if you need plot summaries or other information on the many previous releases of Avatar. I am evidently a bit more of a fan of the film than either Casey or Marty, in just the latest iteration of my mantra "different reviewers means different opinions".

Avatar Blu-ray review

Avatar 3D Blu-ray review

Avatar 3D Blu-ray review

Avatar 4K Blu-ray review

Avatar 4K Blu-ray review

Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Avatar is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Studios and Disney / Buena Vista with AVC (2D) and MVC (3D) encoded 1080p transfers in 1.78:1. My assumption is most people coming to this review are mostly interested in the 3D version, since 2D options are plentiful at this point, including the 1080 discs included in the 4K releases linked to above. Are there differences to be noted in this new 3D version? Yes. Are they monumental? Probably not, though there are significant if subtle upticks in spatial clarity, but my hunch is lovers of 3D presentations will most likely want to check out this release one way or the other. I noticed new depth and dimensionality almost immediately in the very opening moments, but there's a subtle but observable uptick in both general detail and especially the "in your face" moments of this 3D presentation that I personally found to be the most distinctive elements of this remastering. Marty's review(s) of the older 3D versions is/are a good baseline for what to expect here, but I'd add that a lot of the flying material in particular offers improved depth of field and spatial relationships, with clear delineation between foreground and background that probably didn't pop (literally, in some cases) as much in the older 3D release. I get rather severe negative reactions to misaligned 3D imagery or aggressive parallax effects (probably more prevalent in older analogue technologies for understandable reasons), and I had absolutely no issues with any of the 3D effects throughout this presentation.

Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In what might be termed two (video) steps forward, one (audio) step back, and perhaps for "real estate" reasons, this release does not include the Dolby Atmos tracks that are on the 4K releases linked to above. Instead, this repeats the generally fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that was on the prior 2D and 3D releases of the film. Both Marty and Casey gave top marks to this track in their reviews that I've linked to above, but I'm docking this release a point for the omission of what is obviously an available Atmos track (if indeed it's a disc space issue, one has to wonder why 20th Century Studios and Disney / Buena Vista didn't opt for a two disc presentation of the 3D version, like they did with Avatar: The Way of Water 3D, though it's notable that that release also didn't have Dolby Atmos, but at least had a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 option).

Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As mentioned above, this release duplicates the strategy of the 4K releases of both Avatar films by offering a bonus disc which contains the following supplemental material:

• Memories from Avatar (HD; 21:20) features Jon Landau, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang in conversation.


• Avatar: A Look Back (HD; 10:03) has some reminiscing by James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington.


• Capturing Avatar (HD; 1:38:25) is the same in depth four part documentary that was initially offered as a supplement on the four disc release of Avatar.


• Featurettes (HD; 1:31:51) offer the same assortment of often pretty short but still generally very informative pieces on all manner of production aspects that were originally part of the four disc release of Avatar on 1080 disc. Casey features a complete list of these under his Disc Three details in his Avatar Blu-ray review.

Additionally, a digital copy is included and packaging features a slipcover.

Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm "that guy" who always has to have the latest tech, and so I've long had (and tried to "curate") 3D equipment, though kind of hilariously I never got that original Panasonic bundle for Avatar, waiting instead until 2012 (when maybe the 3D craze had already started to wane) to get the wide release. This is a really great looking transfer that offers some exceptional 3D effects, both within the frame and in the "pop out" variety, and it's commendable that this release also offers the previously available bonus disc. On the minus side, there's no upgrade to the audio. Recommended.