Avatar

(M) Fox DVD/BD

As a piece of groundbreaking cinema, Avatar delivers on every level.

Not only does Avatar have a potent message about our disregard for other cultures and humanity’s imperial tendencies, it is also a personal journey of self discovery, awareness and wonder.

At times this allegory is laid on so thick it feels like a sermon but director James Cameron is obviously drawing some real-world parallels in this fantastic odyssey.

The visual aesthetic of the film is jaw dropping. Try not to get goose flesh the first time the camera drops you into the verdant jungle of Pandora.

At its core the film is about our need to be more connected with each other, our community and our environment. And this is wrapped in a mind-bending immersive cinematic experience.

This early release of the film on both formats seems cursory as the discs contain no extras of note; for this you will have to wait till September when an all-stops-out release will include 3D versions of the film along with a slew of extra material — set to coincide with the release of the first commercial 3D flat screen entertainment systems.

Adrian Drayton