Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 17, 2023

Disney/ Buena Vista and 20th Century Studios are offering a new 4K release of the original Avatar to coincide with their release of Avatar: The Way of Water 4K. As with that release, this one is a three disc affair, with the feature film on 4K and 1080 discs, and with a third 1080 disc offering supplements, some of which were previously available on the four disc extended version of Avatar that came out on 1080 discs in 2010.

As unbelievable as it may seem, Avatar came out over a decade ago, and for any stragglers needing a plot recap, Casey Broadwater's Avatar Blu-ray review of that release should suffice quite nicely. I will only add that in the latest installment of my long running series "different reviewers means different opinions" I personally have scored the first film a bit higher than Casey did.

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc included in this package.

Avatar is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and 20th Century Studios with an H encoded 2160p transfer in 1.78:1. While this is frequently a ravishing looking presentation, those coming to it after Avatar: The Way of Water 4K, as I did, may find themselves feeling as I did that this earlier film just can't quite match the often stunning level of detail that the sequel regularly offers. Kind of interestingly, as with Avatar: The Way of Water 4K, there's no Dolby Vision, and HDR actually adds surprisingly little nuance to an inherently lush palette. I will say that the "live action" lab scenes look a bit cooler to my eye in this version than in the 1080 version, something that probably reinforces the whole "blue" tonal subtext of so much of the palette. I also found these live action sequences to look a little harshly digital at times. I would argue that the CGI aspects enjoy the most substantial upgrade in detail in this version when compared to the 1080 version, and there are any number of salient examples including everything from textures on some of the jungle creatures to all of the wondrous outdoor sites and the natural formations that are on display. That said, some of the live action moments offer some clear improvements in fine detail in this version, notably some of the more "up close and personal" framings. Once again, though, I really didn't notice a huge change in overall hues and highlights courtesy of HDR, which I personally found not to be an issue at all since the palette is so generally gorgeously suffused.

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Avatar features a beautifully immersive Dolby Atmos track that establishes verticality from the get go with the diaphanous wordless vocals that play to first a black screen and then the opening aerial shots of misty jungle environments. There is really ingeniously layered sound design at play throughout the film, including the more "realistic" RDA sequences, which can feature the roar of machinery and clamor of soldiers marching in formation. But things really come alive out in the wilds of Pandora, where a glut of ambient environmental sounds populate the surround channels with commendable consistency. James Horner's gorgeous score also resides quite comfortably in the side and rear channels throughout the presentation. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional subtitles in several languages are available, and this film like its sequel offers some "native language" moments with burnt it English subtitles in a script like font.

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As mentioned above, this release duplicates the strategy of the 4K release of Avatar: The Way of Water by featuring one 4K disc and one 1080 disc offering the film, and a third 1080 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 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Avatar was and continues to be an overwhelming viewing experience. That said, I have to say I was kind of surprised to notice how much rendering and animation technologies have improved in the last decade when comparing the protean efforts of this film with the even more protean efforts of its sequel. As such, the uptick in detail and palette highlights may not be as consistently noticeable as with the 4K version of the more recent film, but I can't imagine fans of Avatar not being generally well pleased with the excellent technical merits of this presentation. Recommended.