Source France | Publisher : 20th Century Studios | Release date : 12 July 2023
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 1.78
HDR10 / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 2K
Soundtrack
English Dolby Atmos
English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles
English
French
Rated 3 of 5
Artistic : 9 | Video : 5 | Audio : 9.5
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers that, in addition to the specified and used viewing equipment, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence notation. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Sony Bravia XR-65A80J (Expert HDR)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar (Dolby Atmos | Dolby Surround), SVS SB-4000
Work - Pocahontas, a legend Na'vi
On the luxuriant alien world of Pandora live the Na Jake Sully, a former paralyzed Marine, becomes mobile again thanks to an Avatar and falls in love with one of their own. As a bond grows between them, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of his world...
In 2009, 12 years later Titanic, the fantastic storyteller James Cameron we had returned with Avatar, a science fiction work with rare beauty and certain ecological fiber delivering a vibrant plea for love between peoples.
The imaginative Pandora planet (the fauna and flora are extraordinary) came to life thanks to incredible CGI (a technological prowess upon its release), the initiatory narrative (even if classical and marked) was of a rare emotional power, the warrior assaults (air and land), all more spectacular than each other, met the purest romance (tainted by a clash of cultures), and the casting was really impregnated with the characters (Sigourney Weaver Moreover, it was a flamboyant return).
In 2022, thirteen years after its original release, this humanist blockbuster denouncing the plundering of natural resources (an even more relevant theme today) has hardly aged and continues to fascinate... With a slight change, however: In the end, Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) is no longer content to pass before Jake and Neytiri but stops in front of them to tell them "It is far from over".
To date, it is the Director of Cut (162′), the director considering the Special Edition (171′) and the Extended Cut (178′), not included in this edition, as bonuses for fans. And he's right, so much more rhythmic film editing... For the additions, although exciting for the most part, greatly diminish the strength of its cleanness.
It's not Kansas but Pandora!
Made from an upscaling 4K made by a home AI (made by the director) based on the original 2K hardware, this remastered version recalibrated in HDR (HDR10 on the disc and Dolby Vision streaming) and operated in 3D HFR TrueCut Motion in dark rooms (the 48 fps is unfortunately not supported by the Blu-ray Ultra HD standard, where its absence) blows hot and cold! Would James Cameron have opened a Pandora's box? Has he fallen back into his already at work on the UHD transfer of Terminator 2: Last Judgment ?
Clearly yes during scenes including real shots since scaling there is coarse with artifacts from everywhere... Not to mention a numerical reduction of noise (DNR) in the pack and a reinforcement of the contours (edge enhancement) extremely aggressive for an artificial rendering as possible. The detours are approximate (sometimes with double contours), the draft backgrounds, the smoothed and/or too accentuated details (at times in the same frame), the waxy or cracked faces and too many elements (including the actors) are abnormally detached from the others (in and outside the GDR premises). That's awful!
Not really during full CGI scenes where the AI gives the impression of being in its element (the synthetic images lend themselves particularly well to clinical accuracy). The increased sharpness of the details (the faces of the Na'vis, accessories, clothing), the accuracy of the contours (the vegetal landscape) and the accentuation of the relief rarely betrays the use of an ascending conversion into automatic mode. It's bluffing!
If that is « façade » too heterogeneous to convince, the luxuriant colorimetric palette by nature sees some of its shades enhanced (blue skin, the multiple shades of exotic flowers, green vegetation), the more assertive contrasts present strong blacks (the shadows are better designed) and brighter whites (the sacred seeds), and the light sources display less intensity than in the past (bioluminescent fungi and animals, the sun passing through the vegetable roof, computer monitors, the Tree of Voices, the reflections on the wet surfaces) without however yielding to an excess of nits (MaxCLL = 297).
SOUND - That blue dream. 🎶
Rhythmed by orchestral music with new age/ethnic sounds James Horner, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack (only on the VO), which does not suffer from the syndrome « Atmouse » (too regularly met at Disney) but still needs to push the volume to fully enjoy it, spells out more than a recovery... Especially as it stands out from the previous mix DTS-HD MA 5.1 by its seat in the bottom of the spectrum and its vertical dimension.
Perfectly balanced and taking advantage of an unplanned dynamic, it delivers a lively listening to the ultra-enveloping sound field (the atmospheres of the jungle) where the full potential of surrounds and height channels (see the Banshee back flight) seems to be reached. The plant exudes the dialogues with great clarity and the LFE channel gives real weight to many passages (deforestation, the destruction of the Tree House and the heavy steps of Colonel Miles Quaritch's AMP exoskeleton).
In comparison, the VF traded the DTS 5.1 track of the old 2D editions for a Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding. « fallen » 3D disk. That's very regrettable!
CONCLUSION - Second life
If he knew (re)created the event to highlight the cinema (4K, 3D, HDR and HFR) on 21 September and prepare the release of his suite, Avatar first of the name is unfortunately not able to repeat the exploit on physical medium (despite a soundtrack Dolby Atmos immersive to wish)... The fault of an upscaling « Pick-up » as soon as humans take part in the action. And that's a shame, since between Nasvis, the planet Pandora is more shimmering than ever. Undoubtedly, this technological mastodon deserved better!
[...] that it is too late, this second wave of the great ecological saga Avatar (thirteen years after its first tsunami) continues to plead for nature by forcing us [...]
Was it worth it? Index: The 4K restorations of Terminator 2 and Avatar should put you the chip to [...]
[...] later, the 20th Century Fox revived the franchise by taking the side of Avatar digitally. Two impressive and moving suites will follow, and this new trilogy [...]
[...] Created by more than 1000 artists in the studios Wětā FX (Avatar, King Kong of 2005, Alita, etc.), sometimes composed from the movement capture, for [...]
[...] access for the first time to the 3D relief without glasses two years after the Avatar compressor roller that had shown the technology to the general public that was flowing in bulk into the dark rooms [...]