Synopsis:

This is a less heavy-handed version which focuses on the core story of Jake’s journey and assimilation with the Na’vi. It also cleans up the more clumsy and general structural problems of the original.

Intentions:

This edit aims to eliminate the extreme environmental and political overtones that the viewer is bashed over the head with in the original. The original tried to make poorly conceived political statements which were executed even more poorly. At the same time it attempts to clean up some poor dialogue, poor acting, poor pacing, and just a slew of other problems inherent with the film.

Change List:

*Cut opening flyover of forest *Cut extended shot of Jake in his pod (This was basically just for the 3D effect anyway). *Cut all of Jake’s voice over until his first “confessional.” *Cut first shot of Jake’s brother. *Cut small clip inside spaceship with Jake going to his locker. *Cut recruiter’s line about making a lot of money. *Cut stupid lines by soldiers about “fresh meat” and an insult of Jake *Cut guy in robosuit telling Jake to watch out. *Cut the “rules” from Quarritch’s speech. *Cut Norm’s line about the Avatars maturing. *Cut Jake’s last line of first video log. *Cut short Grace’s introduction. *Cut short Grace’s storming out of room and instructions for Jake. *Cut “Unobtanium” *Cut lame discussion of Jake’s brain. *Cut short Jake’s conversation with Quarritch. There’s no mention of his “real” legs. *Cut line by grunt after helicopter lands. *Cut Jake’s first encounter with Pandora wildlife. *Cut almost all of Jake’s taunting. *Completely cut initial conversation between Jake and Neytiri when she goes off about “No thank for this!” *Cut Jake’s foray into the Na’vi’s powwow where nothing happens except him stepping on someone’s tail. *Cut scene of Grace commenting on Jake fleeing from the Panther like thing. *Completely remove the useless subplot that goes nowhere – Norm being jealous of Jake. *Cut mention of unobtanium in briefing room. (I felt this scene was needed since it is the only one that mentions why Home Tree specifically is important). *Cut line about shareholders caring more about bottom line than killing. *Cut Jake being quizzed as he prepares to go back in – eliminating another moment of Norm’s jealousy etc. *Cut bickering about floating mountains – again more pettiness with Norm and Jake. *Cut Trudy’s line about seeing their faces. *Cut Trudy’s line about “Air Pandora.” *Cut Jake’s voiceover about Grace and what she knows, trim shots of photos. *Several cuts to montage of Jake training – talks of flow of energy, and spirits of animals, etc. *Couple cuts to Jake’s battle with Banshee for continuity purposes, removal of Tsu’tey laughing when he falls, and Jake’s taunt to the Banshee when he finally gets him. *Small cut of flying sequence *Cut more of Jake’s voiceover (pretty much everything throughout the rest of the movie that can’t be attributed to him doing his video logs). *Cut part of Jake’s talk with Quarritch when he tells him he’s got approval to get his legs for him. *Cut Grace’s objections to Tsu’tey going to battle. *Heavily trim of argument scene on the bridge. Removed much of Grace’s lines, specifically about the “wealth of this world.” *Also cut Grace’s dog line and Quarritch’s mocking Jake. *Cut scene of Jake saying “This is how it’s done!” *Cut Jake’s line about falling in love with the forrest. *Cuts to home tree attack – No Trudy, fewer shots of Quarritch, “Get some”, fixed a few inconsistent shots. *Remove Trudy calling Jake/Norm/Grace Treehuggers. *Cut a Trudy’s response to Grace being shot, and trimmed part of Jake and Grace being flown away in the station. *Cut shot of Na’vi gathering w/Jake’s voice over. *Cut Neytiri’s talk of her fear. *Shorten gathering of tribes (By far my least favorite cut in this edit – done to remove Jake’s voice over). *Trimming of Quarritch’s briefing to eliminate “terror with terror” line as well as stupid shots and reactions of soldiers. *Cut “Shock and Awe” line and Trudy wanting to avoid martydom. *HEAVILY cut Jake’s prayer to Eywa. No more yapping about killing our mother. *Trim takeoff scene to eliminate idiots cheering in the background. *Lots of trims during final battle: Many shots of guys in cockpits, shots of soldiers being pumped, Neytiri’s war cry, Jake telling Tsu’tey to follow him, more “get some!”, shortened Trudy’s “success” against Quarritch, Jake calling out to everyone, the “get some” guy’s expression during death, “That’s an order”, old spirit Na’vi staring up, etc. *Cut Quarritch’s comments about Jake betraying his race and being one of them. *Cut Quarritch’s dying expression close up. *Small cut of humans marching into ships to go home. *Added “recyled” to the title. *Other various small cuts.

Additional Notes:

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Other Sources:

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