Yes, it was the 3-D.

From the moment that it became clear that Avatar was going to be a runaway hit, a question hung in the air, "Is this really a great movie, or are people simply blown away by the 3-D?" Now that the movie is available on Blu-ray Disc, we can get a more definitive answer to that. When viewed at home, viewers will either understand exactly what those who saw it in theaters were raving about, or they'll be left scratching their heads. Get ready for a lot of head scratching.

Avatar is set over 100 years in the future and introduces us to Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington). Jake was wounded in battle and is now confined to a wheelchair. His twin brother was assigned the "Avatar" project, but he was killed before he could begin his work. As Jake shares his brother's DNA, he joins the project, as it will allow him the opportunity to pay for surgery to regain the use of his legs. Jake flies to the distant planet of Pandora, where humans are mining for a rare element. The planet's indigenous inhabitants, a race called the Na'vi, have been resistant to negotiations and often attack the humans. Under the supervision of Dr. Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), Jake's task is to mentally pilot (like a telepathic remote control) a cloned Na'vi body and explore the area, learning about the Na'vi and gaining their trust. Jake's first trip into the forest ends with him lost and alone. He soon meets a Na'vi female named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) who begins to train him in the way of the Na'vi. As Jake gets to know the natives and learn more about them, he realizes that the humans would be making a grave mistake to use military force about the blue aliens.

I was a huge fan of James Cameron during the earlier part of his career and count Aliens and the first two Terminator films amongst my favorites. But, with True Lies, he lost me and Titanic didn't help matters. Avatar presents a new kind of challenge -- I certainly admire what Cameron was trying to do with the film and it's admirable that he went through so much trouble to perfect the 3-D technology which he desired for the film, but this may be the ultimate example of style over substance.

Apparently, seeing the film is 3-D was a mesmerizing experience which allowed the viewer to easily overlook the movie's many flaws. The story is simply Dances with Wolves combined with The Matrix and...blue characters. We've seen this story before where an outsider becomes part of a different society and then see the errors of his old life. The plot twists fall right in line with what we would expect from this kind of story. This rob the movie of any kind of emotion or suspense. Save for one death, there aren't any surprises here. The script is also full of plot-holes. They tell us that the avatars cost millions, yet one easily gets lost in the woods. They don't have it Lojacked? At this moment, I can take my cat to the vet and get it chipped, but they can't do this in the future? They can download Jakes brain/essence into this cloned body, but they can't put the Na'vi language in their with it? And during the final battle, where does that huge knife come from? And don't get me started on the whole pony-tail thing.  Oh did I mention that the element found on the planet is called "Unobtainium"?  Wow...just wow.

That aside, there's no denying that this is gorgeous movie. The use of colors is amazing and the fact that most everything on Pandora glows only adds to the visual beauty. I was surprised to find that the bulk of the movie is an animated movie, with intermittent live-action sequences. This is like the $300-million version of James and the Giant Peach. Given this, it's understandable why the movie won an Oscar for Art Direction and Visual Effect, but why Cinematography? It this could win, then why aren't the Pixar movies nominated?

Obviously, the one thing which is missing from the home viewing experience is the 3-D. Those who saw the movie in theaters have told me that it was an immersive experience. Watching the Blu-ray at home was my first exposure to Avatar, and it didn't blow me away. Again, it was pretty, but it didn't effect me the way that it apparently did those who saw it in 3-D. It was just another animated action film. And given the left-wing slant of the movie, I'm even more surprised that it made $700 million. I'm glad that I saw Avatar, but I am definitely not on the bandwagon.

Avatar rides a dragon-thing on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 35 Mbps. In short, this transfer is perfect. The image is incredibly sharp and clear, showing not a bit of grain and no defects from the source material. Again, the colors look fantastic, and we can see every single hue. The image is never overly dark or bright. The picture shows an amazing amount of depth and the level of detail is impressive. The Disc holds a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track running at 48 kHz and an average of 4.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The track makes great use of the many opportunities offered by the movie, including the sounds of the forest and the battle sequences. The stereo effects are great, showing good detail and noticeable stereo separation. The surround sound effects are nearly constant and really place us in the action. The track really shines when the sound moves from the front to the rear. The subwoofer effects rock as well, providing realistic recreations of the explosions and hits. Overall, a great technical package.

There are no extras on this Blu-ray Disc release.