James Cameron's AVATAR colonized box offices and theaters to become the top money-earning film in history — albeit with the help of higher ticket prices for 3D presentations. Now this visually epic space fantasy lands for home theater viewing on a 2-disc Blu-ray edition, offering the clearest HD viewing experience yet for most viewers, but little else in this bare bones release.  The promise of a multi-disc release in Fall 2010 persists, but that only underscores the lack of even the most meager bonus materials on this initial HD bow.

The film transfer to Blu-ray itself is a no-brainer to review: the video image is crystal clear (perhaps too much so) and the hefty sound mix offers a good sparring match for your surround system.  The 1080p visuals are immaculate as one would expect from Cameron's untiring eye and demand for detail, and the 2D format actually shows off the mind-boggling CG creatures, environments, moons and textures to their fullest potential as designed.  Even when viewed on a 720p HDTV, the details are crisp and specific, the color values superb, the motion and action stunning.  One might argue that such a sharp transfer also emphasizes the sterility of the non-Avatar scenes among humans, deepening the wrinkles on actor Sam Worthington's forehead with not-so flattering effect, for example. But such observations also lean into the themes Cameron explores in this story, so judge for yourselves on these counts. The film's original 1.78:1 aspect ratio is preserved to fill HDTV screens which also removes any formatting obstacles to unfettered, wide-eyed viewing.

Likewise Cameron won't let a Blu-ray transfer suffer in sound quality either, and the English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is as robust an adventure for your ears as was Mauro Fiore's Oscar-winning cinematography.  The creatures and Na'vi of Pandora will lurk, roar, hunt and soar around you in a dynamic sound field across all channels, while the center dialogue remains clear, refusing to get lost in the mix.

A high quality transfer across the board, AVATAR on Blu-ray is a much clearer, more detailed and easier on the eyes viewing experience than seen in 3D at theaters.  Without the novelty and spectacle of depth on screen, ones eyes and mind can focus on and enjoy the lush, primeval environments of Pandora without such dimensional distraction. And Cameron truly created a world of details to explore and experience in Blu-ray HD.

Such a vivid transfer also betrays a bit of the CG-effects' more painterly qualities of this fantasy universe which film presentation (especially in 3D) tended to ease a bit. The deadly and towering forests of Pandora remain quite photo-realistic even with its exotic fauna as sunlight dapples the giant fern fronds and undergrowth. Yet the more visually splendid sunsets and evening flights and journeys emphasize CG's digital canvas aspect, looking a little too perfect and aesthetically optimized to simulate pixel-built realism. It's a small point to argue in light of the overwhelmingly good results, but worth mentioning — especially since there's little else to discuss in AVATAR's Blu-ray debut.

As many already noted (and FilmEdge apologizes that our hosting difficulties delayed our review), Fox and James Cameron release AVATAR in a 2-disc Blu-ray edition entirely devoid of bonus features, even of the most meager EPK featurette substance.  The second disc is merely the DVD release in standard definition, which also offers nothing else but the feature film transfer. The disappointment of fans and bonus feature-philes alike could be heard audibly across the land when this news broke, as Cameron enthusiastically embraces the full-throttle exploitation of bonus material inclusion on previous releases of his films, even going back to offer a treasure of extras for the TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY Skynet Edition on Blu-ray just last year. No such luck or effort for AVATAR's BD bow. Will fans scoop up AVATAR's bare bones Blu edition despite this gaping omission of what content and technology that set Blu-ray far and above DVD?  Yes, and they did in droves.  But both Fox and Cameron might well ponder whether those fans will return in such numbers to empty their wallets (again) when the multi-disc bonus-packed edition comes out this Fall, even if adding those extras may well detract from the feature's 50GB-filling quality transfer?  BD and DVD bonus-loving fanatics may wait for the uber-release, and basic-viewing audiences may skip the expensive multi-disc set in our future — but the profit crossover hoped for between the two editions may not be so fully realized as is Cameron's groundbreaking sci-fi extravaganza.

READ FILMEDGE'S THEATRICAL REVIEW OF AVATAR