Thirteen years after "Avatar" made its theatrical debut, its first sequel "Avatar: The Way of Water" brings viewers back to the lush tropical world of Pandora. The film is now available to own on digital video through online retailers such as Amazon, Apple, Vudu and Movies Anywhere. The digital version of the film is available in 4K Ultra HD resolution with HDR10 high dynamic range and a Dolby Atmos immersive surround soundtrack.
The movie comes with over three hours of extras including behind-the-scenes footage and documentary featurettes. As with the original film, "Avatar: The Way of Water" is a tour de force in CGI and digital cinematography. Blending live action footage seamlessly with digital effects, "Avatar: The Way of Water" will make you feel like you're visiting an actual different planet. This time, we're moving beyond the forests and human habitations on Pandora into the world beneath Pandora's vast oceans.
At a little over three hours long (3:13 including credits), the version of the film available on digital download is the same as that shown in theaters. There is no "Director's Cut" or "Extended Cut" to be found here. The film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio just slightly wider than the standard 16:9 (1.78:1) aspect ratio of current TVs and projectors. This means you will have very thin black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the screen unless you are using a projector with a custom zoom memory or anamorphic lens.
Note: there are some spoilers here so skip this section if you like surprises. In terms of the story itself, "Avatar: The Way of Water" takes place more than a decade after the events of the first film. While Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his friends sent the company and their mercenary security team packing at the end of the first film, those evil "sky people" are back in force. They've come once again to ravage the planet for its natural resources. The company also has it in for Jake Sully (new improved blue version) in particular due to his actions in the first film.
In order to protect his adopted "Omatikaya" clan of Na'vi from retribution, Jake decides he must escape with his wife Netiri (Zoe Saldaña) and children to a more remote part of the planet. They make it to the coastal domain of the "Metkayina" water clan, where the tribe leaders (played by Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslett) grudgingly allow the family to remain in hiding. Jake's family includes two "natural" sons, Lo'ak, and Neteyam, and a daughter, Tuktiri ("Tuk"), Na'vi children conceived with and birthed by his wife, Netiri.
The Sully family have also adopted another child: a Na'vi/human hybrid girl, Kiri. Kiri was discovered as a fetus growing inside the Na'vi Avatar body of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), who died in the first film. The new character Kiri is acted and voiced by Sigourney Weaver who actually does a great job sounding like a petulant 14-year-old girl. Rounding out the Sully family is a human boy, Miles "Spider" Socorro. Not technically adopted, Spider is inseparable from the Sully Kids, speaks Na'vi like a native and climbs trees and cliffs with the best of them. We find out later that Spider is actually the son of the main villain in the first film (Colonel Miles Rick Quaritch) who was killed by Netiri as he was trying to murder Jake.
Kiri appears to have a deep connection with "Eywa" - the great mother - a higher collective consciousness comprised of all living (and once living) things on the planet, Pandora. I like the line that Cameron walks here between science and mysticism/spirituality. It still has the appeal of "The Force" in Star Wars lore, before George Lucas decided he had some 'splaining to do by attributing this spirituality to tiny little organisms in the blood ("midi-chlorians"). That pretty much killed the Force for me. In the "Avatar" universe, scientists attempt to explain/describe this spiritual network, but ultimately, they realize it cannot be reduced to what is currently known in science. Kiri is able to commune with Eywa and even manipulate other creatures to do her bidding. This comes in handy when the family gets in some tight situations later in the film.
Sigourney Weaver isn't the only unexpected return in the sequel. The first films' main antagonist, the mercenary Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is back in "Avatar: The Way of Water," along with his top cronies. This is odd since they all died in the first film. But this time they're all back in Avatar/Na'vi form. Like Jake 2.0, these Avatars have their own independent consciousness, they're not just shells driven remotely by human operators (as in the first film). It is explained that these mercenaries had their consciousnesses "backed up" before they went on their final mission in the first film. When they all perished, their consciousnesses were then uploaded to Na'vi/human hybrid bodies that were being grown in a lab.
The company believes that military operators in Na'vi form will be able to slip past Eywa's "immune response" which rallies the planet's wildlife against non-native invaders. While Jake and his brood are off learning the ways of the Metkayina clan, Quaritch is in pursuit, with his psuedo-son Spider in tow as a hostage. This leads to Quaritch eventually commandeering a high-tech "whaling" vessel to follow up on a lead.
In the first film, the mineral "Unobtanium" was the resource that the multi-trillion dollar company RDA "Resources Development Administration" coveted on Pandora. Pandora was the only known source of this compound which is essential for many advanced technologies including "Superluminal communication" - the ability to communicate at faster than light speed - as well as enabling the energy technology required for near-light speed interstellar travel. So Unobtanium comes in handy for keeping up with the news and happenings on planets several lights years away. It also allows humans to travel from Earth to Pandora - a distance of 4.4 light years - in about 6 years.
This time around, the company has expanded the scope of their operation. In addition to mining Unobtanium, the company harvests a substance called "Amrita" from the brains of sentient whale-like creatures known as "Tulkun." Apparently a small quantity of this material can completely stop the aging process in humans. So Amrita is actually even more valuable than Unobtanium. As you might imagine, the harvesting process is barbaric. As if we didn't already hate the RDA enough.
The new head of planetary security, General Ardmore (Edie Falco), explains to Quaritch that the company's mission on Pandora is much more important than the mining and harvesting of rare materials. With the depletion of natural resources on Earth, and its catastrophic climate changes, the Earth is well on its way to becoming uninhabitable. So the company's real mission is to Terraform Pandora into a world that is habitable to humans so that humanity can escape its own ravaged planet. The first step in this process is to eliminate the threat posed by Sully and his merry band of rebels. And this is where Quaritch and his team come in.
In his quest to find Sully, Quaritch destroys a few peaceful villages and encourages the captain of the whaling vessel to go Tulkun hunting right in the backyard of where they suspect Sully and is family are hiding. He hopes this act of barbarism will draw out the fugitives, and he is correct. Quaritch captures several children (Sully's kids and the Metkayina's tribal leaders' daughter) and holds them hostage, promising to trade them for Sully. Sully prepares to sacrifice himself for his family when a rogue Tulkun, apparently quite annoyed at the murder of his brothers and sisters, attacks the ship, causing all manner of mayhem.
In the scuffle, most of the human crew of the vessel are killed, along with some of Quaritch's blue soldiers. Quaritch himself is presumed dead after being choked by Sully in the final aquatic battle, but Spider manages to rescue Quaritch from the water and abandons him on a small island. This of course sets the stage for "Avatar 3" (and "Avatar 4" and "Avatar 5"), which are expected to hit theaters in 2024, 2026 and 2028 respectively.
The film has been criticized by some as rehashing the original "Avatar" film's story line (which some say borrowed heavily from earlier films like "Dances with Wolves"). It even brings characters back from the dead to be the villians again. But it does so in a fairly creative way. Cameron even brings back echoes of "Titanic" as the company's warship sinks into the depths of Pandora's sea, but this time there's no band on the deck to serenade the passengers.
In any case, there's no denying that "Avatar: The Way of Water" is a visually stunning film. As with the first movie, the blend of live action with computer-generated imagery is seamless to the point that you will feel like you're visiting an alien world. Details like the animals and ecosystems of the various habitats are so well thought out and executed that they feel real. As far as world-building goes, it's hard to top James Cameron. Personally, I'm looking forward to visiting Pandora again in roughly two, four and six years to see where the story goes from here.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" is truly a tour-de-force in modern film-making. The digital download's 4K Ultra HD transfer with HDR10 High Dynamic Range will make your TV or projection screen come alive with the rich colors of Pandora. Murky underwater scenes still preserve fine details while bright daylight scenes virtually pop off the screen. The 1.85:1 transfer fits a standard TV or projection screen with just the thinnest black letterbox bars at top and bottom. When making the film, Cameron and the other film-makers made sure to simultaneously compose the film for both 1.85:1 and for CinemaScope 2.39:1 so it would look equally impressive in multiple theaters (large and small) and also for home viewing. When the format makes it to physical media (Ultra HD Blu-ray), we hope the studio will offer it in both 1.85:1 and in 2.39:1 so that those of us with a CinemaScope screen at home will be able to enjoy the film in that ultrawide format.
As with the original "Avatar" film, "Avatar: The Way of Water" looks its best in 3D. The film's live shots and VFX were all done natively in 3D and the 3D viewing experience in good theaters (specifically in Dolby Cinemas with Dolby Vision 3D) brings the reality factor to the next level. The digital download is in 2D only, though we're hoping a Blu-ray 3D version of the film will be offered for home viewing. Sadly the Ultra HD Blu-ray format has no option for 3D and there are no streaming services which support 4K 3D titles so fans of the format will need to trade the more detailed, more colorful 4K Ultra HD version for a standard 1080p Blu-ray version in 3D (assuming it is even offered).
The digital download includes an immersive Dolby Atmos soundtrack which will take full advantage of all of your speakers. Rain and wind sweep down from above; explosions leave debris flying all around us and gun shots ricochet in all directions. Also, dialog is clear and articulate, even when many of the characters are speaking in made-up languages (Na'vi and the whale-like vocalizations of the Tulkun). Some standout scenes include the opening sequence which re-introduces us to the sights and sounds of the Pandoran wildlife, an early scene in the jungle where rain pours from above and the faint call of Netiri notifies her children that help is on the way, and an underwater attack of a shark-like creature on Sully's son, Lo'ak. In terms of sheer power, the landing of the invading earth ships will give your subwoofers a work-out and the final attack on the company ship will leave you ducking for cover and gasping for breath.
The composer of "Avatar," James Horner, sadly passed away in 2015, but his friend and close associate Simon Franglen took on scoring duties for the sequel, following Horner's death. There are themes and melodies repeated from the earlier film, but the new soundtrack stands on its own, reinforcing the various moods of the film, from moments of quiet contemplation to sweeping majesty. You'll want to crank up your surround system for this film, and please don't listen on TV speakers!
The extras (over three hours worth) are broken into three segments: "Inside Pandora's Box," "More from Pandora's Box" and "Marketing Materials and Music Video." The first two sections highlight different elements of the film-making process from graphic design to visual effects to the perils of filming underwater, to the design work that went into the new vehicles like the cool new crab-like submarines used by the RDA. The third section includes a teaser trailer, full trailer and the music video of "Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)" by The Weeknd. There are no deleted scenes included in the extras.
For fans of the film, the digital copy of "Avatar: The Way of Water" will be a welcome way of enjoying the film at home in superb audio and video quality - 4K Ultra HD with HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound. For those who haven't seen the film, the cost of the digital copy is not much more than the cost of a single movie ticket in many areas of the country. And with the content library sharing relationships among online retailers, a purchase of the film on one platform will allow you to enjoy it on multiple services. Cashing in my code on "Movies Anywhere," I was able to watch the film in iTunes, on Amazon Video on Demand and on VUDU. To do this, you will need to link and authorize content sharing among your various accounts.
If you don't care about having a physical copy of the film on disc, or don't want to wait, and the 1.85:1 aspect ratio is how you like to enjoy movies at home, then the digital copy of "Avatar: The Way of Water" is definitely worth buying.
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