Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 19, 2023

Disney / Buena Vista is (are?) offering fans of the Avatar franchise some gorgeous repackaging editions with some actual new content to boot, one assumes as potential holiday gifts. This release features both 4K UHD and 1080 resolutions for the theatrical, special edition re-release and collector's extended cut of the original Avatar film, along with some nice bonus material.

For reviews of the various previous releases of the film, please click on the following links:

Avatar Blu-ray review

Avatar Blu-ray review

Avatar 4K Blu-ray review

Our original news posting about the release offers a glut of additional information which won't be repeated in this review.

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

General video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews, though this is the first time the Special Edition and Collector's Extended Edition have been available in 4K UHD. Also kind of interestingly, the 4K UHD versions now have Dolby Vision in addition to "regular" HDR, something that I'd argue may bring just a bit of new nuance and luster to the surplus of tones in the blue-green-teal gamut, though any differences are probably relatively minor. I really didn't notice any huge detail discrepancies in any of the "new" material in either the Special Edition Re-Release or Collector's Extended Cut.

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Per the previous releases of the film, the 1080 disc offers DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as its surround track, and the 4K UHD disc offers Dolby Atmos for the Theatrical Version and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for the other two versions. Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

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

Additional details on previously released supplements can be found in the above linked reviews.

4K UHD Disc

• Theatrical Release (2:42:02)


• Special Edition Re-Release (2:50:53)


• Collector's Extended Cut (2:58:28)


• Direct Access to New/Additional Scenes for either the Special Edition Re-Release (UHD; 16:48) or the Collector's Extended Cut (UHD; 32:47) is available under the Extras Menu.

1080 Disc One

• Theatrical Release (2:42:02)


• Special Edition Re-Release (2:50:53)


• Collector's Extended Cut (2:58:28)


• Direct Access to New/Additional Scenes for either the Special Edition Re-Release (HD; 16:48) or the Collector's Extended Cut (HD; 32:47) is available under the Extras Menu.

Note: For those of you who may struggle with figuring out how to choose between the versions, instead of allowing you to change under the Play Menu (where the versions are listed), you actually have to go into the Setup Menu, which offers a Film Selection option, and toggle to a different version there, in what I consider to be a kind of boneheaded authoring decision.

1080 Disc Two

• Behind the Scenes Presentation Hosted by Jon Landau (HD; 18:08)


• Colonel Miles Quaritch RDA Promos (HD; 7:16)


• A Message From Pandora (HD; 20:16)


• Deleted Scenes: Never Before Seen (HD; 1:11:03)


• Scene Deconstruction (HD; 1:06:11) allows you to use the color buttons on your remote to see the rendering/compositing processes for several scenes.


• Archives: Script, Artwork, Marketing

  Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:32)

  
  

  Teaser Trailer (HD; 2:05)

  
  

  Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana Special Shoot (HD)

  
  

  Avatar: The Original Scriptment (HD)

  
  

  Avatar: Screenplay Written by James Cameron (HD)

  
  

  The Art of Avatar (HD)

  
  

  Avatar: The Songs (HD)

  
  

  Pandorapedia (HD)

1080 Disc Three

• Memories from Avatar (HD; 21:20)


• Avatar: A Look Back (HD; 10:03)


• Capturing Avatar (HD; 1:38:25)


• Featurettes (HD; 1:31:51)


• Production Materials (HD; 1:24:25)

Avatar 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My hunch is few would argue the theatrical version of Avatar actually really needed any additional footage, but for completists, this set now aggregates the three versions in both 1080 and 4K UHD formats, with generally superb technical merits and a glut of great supplements. The packaging is also incredibly gorgeous, as can be seen in the photos I've uploaded to this review. Highly recommended.