Avatar: Ultimate Collector's Edition is a home release of Avatar released on June 20, 2023.
It is not to be confused with the Avatar: Collector's Edition released half a year later, which can be seen as a more definitive version.
It features the upscaled edits from the 2022 theatrical remaster. It lacks the additional scenes from Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition, although this version contains the new ending dialogue with Parker Selfridge.
This is the first time Avatar has been released physically in 4K. It is a three-disc set; the first disc is the 4K disc, the second disc is a 1080P version, and the third disc features 3 hours of bonus features.
Bonus features[]
- Memories from Avatar (21:20): Jon Landau, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang recall warm memories from production and reflect on the film's success.
- Avatar: A Look Back (10:03): Cast and filmmakers reflecting on creating the film, the new technologies used and the film's impact.
- Capturing Avatar (4 parts – 98:25 in all)
- 17 Featurettes:
- Sculpting Avatar (3:46)
- Creating the Banshee (9:51)
- Creating the Thanator (3:20)
- The AMP Suit (4:31)
- Flying Vehicles (5:13)
- Na’vi Costumes ((4:14)
- Speaking Na’vi (6:37)
- Pandora Flora (5:40)
- Stunts (5:14)
- Performance Capture (6:32)
- Virtual Camera (3:21)
- The 3D Fusion Camera (3:43)
- The Simul-Cam (2:18)
- Editing Avatar (6:59)
- Scoring Avatar (6:06)
- Sound Design (8:50)
- The Haka: The Spirit of New Zealand (5:17)
Reception[]
While it has more vibrant colors, the 4K version of Avatar has been lambasted by many of its viewers. Because Avatar was not filmed or rendered in 4K, the film was upscaled instead and as a result, some feel it has poor AI upscaling, making scenes have a waxy and oil-painting look, to the degree that some prefer to stick to the 1080P version. The CGI was not re-rendered and merely upscaled as well.[citation needed]
This is not a universal opinion, however, since other viewers feel the quality is fine for a film released in 2009.[citation needed]