Avatar Press Event Coverage: Avatar will street on Earth Day April 22nd (1 Viewer)

[Adam Gregorich]

I suppose it's understandably irrelevant that no here mentioned the whole Glenn Beck / Global warming dialogue. His comments (recorded) were funny and very serious, but they would likely turn into a political debate nightmare.

It funny you mention it. I was sitting right next to James Cameron during this conversation. Personally I am a bit annoyed at the question. It was the perfect opportunity to talk about the film and the upcoming Blu-ray releases, and that particular reporter in my opinion wasted that opportunity, and then made it worse by specifically asking about Beck in a follow-up question. I don't watch Beck, I have no idea what he thinks about Avatar, but considering that exchange appeared to be the bulk of the home video release event coverage on that website it seems like that site was more interesting in controversy than real content. I'm sure Fox is glad that they put on an event and instead of talking about Avatar, everyone is now talking about Cameron v. Beck . Partially because of that, and definitely because of our ban on the discussion of politics and religion that content won't be part of our coverage and that closes this topic on HTF.

I will say that James Cameron is a pleasure to interview and I will be posting some video excepts from that group interview tomorrow regarding the upcoming special edition release, a bit more on aspect ratios and some of his thoughts on 3D in the home--all good stuff.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

There have been several posts about why a film-only edition now, why not give us everything now, or wait a few months to release it? I had the opportunity to ask Jon Landau about the multiple releases and how he thought the film would do on Blu-ray compared to DVD. Please excuse some of the background noise.

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A bit more:

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Jon Landau discusses some of the special features on the November release:

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[Nick Martin]

I know virtually nothing about Beck at all and ended up finding out about it because of something totally unrelated (looking up casting information on the TNT series "Southland" - the Cameron mention was a sidebar link)

It's of course typical to try to drum up a bit of gossip and controversy wherever the media can, particularly with someone as polarizing as Jim Cameron can be. I am fascinated by pretty much anything he has to say because he is truly, utterly intelligent and always has something interesting to say. I couldn't care less about whether or not he's a "nice" person, though I do admit, I like the guy. Always have.

I'm very grateful to you and HTF for providing these video segments. I've been periodically refreshing the HTF Youtube page waiting for more videos, like the newly provided Jon Landau comments about the eventual SE release.

Thank you for sharing these.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

I couldn't care less about whether or not he's a "nice" person, though I do admit, I like the guy. Always have.

"They" say he is hard to work for, and I never have so I have no idea, but I have met him twice in person and he was VERY nice both times; taking the time to answer questions (one time wasn't even a real press event). That attitude will come through in the clips tomorrow.

I'm very grateful to you and HTF for providing these video segments. I've been periodically refreshing the HTF Youtube page waiting for more videos, like the newly provided Jon Landau comments about the eventual SE release.

Thanks, that's good feedback and great to hear. I have a few stills to post tonight, then tomorrow will be the really good James Cameron clips I mentioned, followed on Friday by James Cameron and Jon Landau telling some behind the scenes stories as they comment on scenes that they screened for us. If there is interest I can also post Jon Landau's take on some of the Oscars they didn't win and how award shows aren't keeping up with technology in some of their categories.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Here are some pictures from the event:

Images of some of the "decorations":

 

[Southpaw]

Yeah, great stuff. Thanks so much Adam. You don't see this type of coverage very often.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich

Keep in mind there will be a discount for owners of the first disc when they buy the second.

Has the amount of the discount been stated?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angell



Has the amount of the discount been stated?

No. They didn't discuss it as it was a global event and the exact discount will vary by region. As it comes closer to street date we will have that info.

 

[TravisR]

Thanks for the Landau interview video, Adam!

 

Awesome article and posts Adam. I wonder if they previewed any footage of the Blu-ray, and you could post impressions if you could.

Thank you!

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich

A couple of other observations. The menus were fairly minimalist (ok by me), the disc did support bookmarks and it looked and sounded fantastic!

I would love it if the menus were so basic that they could avoid the software that doesn't allow the disc to resume. That would be a "feature" to me.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich




No. They didn't discuss it as it was a global event and the exact discount will vary by region. As it comes closer to street date we will have that info.

The fact they are going to acknowledge our previous investment in the first release is a definite plus, in my book.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Awesome article and posts Adam. I wonder if they previewed any footage of the Blu-ray, and you could post impressions if you could.

Omar-
I'll go into more detail about the clips they showed tomorrow, but the video was spectacular! Color, fine detail, everything, just spectacular! It will be an absolute reference disc. With all the care that they put into the transfer I am sure the sound will be fantastic as well, but we viewed the clips in essentially a large square room with hard reflective surfaces filled with approx 70 people--far from ideal audio conditions. I am confident it will sound great at my house, and lets just say it will give your sub a workout!

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Bertrand-R

My only hope for Avatar is that the French audio track will be in DTS-HD Master Audio like many Sony movies translation.

[COLOR= #1f497d]The French audio on the worldwide BD sku is French 5.1 Dolby Digital.[/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #1f497d]On the domestic DVD its French Dolby Surround.[/COLOR]

 

[Nick Martin]

When the trailers were released, there seemed to be a lot of complaints about the film looking too artificial. That changed only when longer scenes of the film were released, such as IGN's clip of the Thanator chase and the shorter clips that have been shown whenever there was something about the film on talk shows and the like. I wonder if the film will resemble the trailers (maybe it was the framerate making things look too animation-like for those HD trailers? ) or will it look as real as in theaters.

 

Originally Posted by Nicholas Martin


When the trailers were released, there seemed to be a lot of complaints about the film looking too artificial. That changed only when longer scenes of the film were released, such as IGN's clip of the Thanator chase and the shorter clips that have been shown whenever there was something about the film on talk shows and the like. I wonder if the film will resemble the trailers (maybe it was the framerate making things look too animation-like for those HD trailers? ) or will it look as real as in theaters.

I agree, seeing the first clips of the film on a 17inch computer monitor through medium res flash video was very underwhelming. This is a classic case where the movie HAD to be seen on the big screen to do it any justice. I saw it both in IMAX and DLP, I have to say I liked the DLP slightly more for it's clarity.

 

[Nick Martin]

I wonder if that's how most saw the trailers.

I didn't, simply because my computer is too primitive to handle HD video, so I put them on PS3 and watched them on television.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

As promised here are some excerpts from the James Cameron round table I attended. Some questions weren't directed to the camera so its not as easy to hear over the background noise, apologies in advance.

Always the perfectionist he adjusts the camera before he confirms all releases (including 3D) will be 16x9:

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Why no 3D now:

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3D Conversion:

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Blu-ray pre-orders:

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Go big for 3D:

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[Adam Gregorich]

James Cameron on the Special Edition Blu-ray:

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James Cameron on watching Avatar at home:

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Great stuff again!

I really got a good laugh when he adjusted the camera at the beginning of the interview. Man, I bet those WETA guys in New Zealand have some great stories of how much he made them crazy try to get the CG just right the way he wanted.