Where I Watched it: Disney plus

English Audio Description provided By: Deluxe

I decided to take a second trip to Pandora since I’m convinced that The Way Of Water must be coming to Disney plus at some point. it’s already been on VOD and available for home rental and purchase for a while now. Unless they are planning a rerelease this summer (which is totally possible, since Avatar had one), I don’t see why not. I’ve always kinda of made fun of this film for drawing so many comparisons to other films, like Ferngully and Pocahontas, both that used a similar Tree of life/White Savior structure. Truth is, this is an entertaining film, and while it’s not my favorite thing of all time, for as long as it is, it is paced quite well.

But I don’t need to sell you on Avatar. That’s not why you came here. I was curious if Avatar could be fun now that I’m blind, and this is such a visual film. It’s why Cameron couldn’t lure me back to the theatres. I wasn’t that hyped for the film, and the visuals and “seeing them on the largest screen possible” is just a pointless conversation now. But, for the most part, I found the original to be entertaining.

And fairly well described.

I’m not going to say the audio description is the most immersive thing I’ve ever heard. it’s hard to capture the majesty and creativity of the design of Pandora. All the things that were imagined out of thin air for this, an entire world that makes you feel like you are really on another planet, requires almost constant description. Each of the Na’vi are distinctly visually different. There are creatures that seem to get rather cursory descriptions, instead of devoting time for you to understand this world. It’s entirely possible that once Cameron is gone, that Avatar could become like Star Wars, with more films, TV shows, books, and everything around this franchise. But, in Star Wars, the designs of Chewbacca and other Wookies, or Yoda, or the Ewoks are so iconic that they translate. I’m not sure how this world would translate if expanded upon.

The audio description is enough to follow the rather basic plot we’ve seen before, but could really strive to push itself further if we plan on being immersed forever in the mind of James Cameron. Cameron always goes big, always needs a spectacle. And that spectacle, instead of being a time travelling Android, or an acid spitting alien, is an entire world. It’s not just the blue people, but the whole world around them. Make me feel like I landed on Pandora, because that’s what James Cameron is trying to do.

on a side note, these were such simpler times, when Hollywood was really trying to make Sam Worthington happen. no one actor i think in history had as many chances to land on the A-list as he did.

Final Grade: A-