When it comes to a movie like Avatar I’m a firm believer that it is a film that should only be seen in theaters. After seeing the re-release of the movie in IMAX 3D earlier today, I have only become more opinionated in this matter. This was the first time I have revisited the film since it’s original theatrical run and it was truly worth the wait. While the jury is still out whether or not Avatar is the Star Wars of it’s generation, the pure cinema of it is still just as impressive as it was the first time around.

One of the big selling points of this re-release was the nine or so minutes of extra footage added back into the picture. Do the scenes help or hurt the film? Why not just wait for the recently announced DVD of the film which will have even more footage? Well, the truth of the matter is that unlike Cameron’s other extended cuts of his films such as Aliens and Terminator 2, which added many controversial scenes (among fans) this is more of an enhancement to some minor plot threads. With some extra Pandora goodness thrown in the mix. Below are the highlights of the added bits, with commentary.

• We see a new heard of beasts from the air as Jake heads out on his first mission. Nothing much of note here, but it establishes the creatures for a hunting scene later.
• Jake, Grace, and Norm visit the now wrecked schoolhouse where Grace thought the children English. The scene basically provides us visual evidence of the what was only alluded to in the original cut. Damn humans. We also see Pandora’s version of a bat in the sequence.
• A longer version of the campfire scene at hometree. Here Jake gets assessed by a younger Na’vi girl and learns Neytiri’s name after failing to pronounce it several times. It was nice to see more of the tribe’s way of life, but it didn’t really add much overall.
• The Hunting sequence alluded to earlier. This scene was my favorite of bunch. It takes place shortly after Jake learns to fly and truly start to understand the Na’vi way of life. A herd of the beasts are being hunted by Tsut’sey and others on horseback when Jake and Neytiri fly in to help out. Jake scores his first kill which adds more weight to his following line about being an “stone cold aerial killer.”
• The extended mating scene. Pretty inconsequential stuff here, and I’m not sure why it didn’t make the original cut as it’s basically a shot of them linking their braids.
• We see the aftermath of Tsut’sey and the Na’vi’s retaliation against the first bulldozer attack, while Quaritch watches and plans his counter-move. This was one of the best new bits as it added more motivation to both the Na’vi and Quartich. Plus, more Steven Lang is always for the best. Bring on his clone in the sequel.
• Tsut’sey’s fall from the ship and death scene. We see him survive the fall in the battle, and after Quaritch is dead Tsut’sey convinces Jake to send him back to Enywa. A moving sequence, but takes the flow out the ending somewhat.

Does those come with a loan application?

So does the footage add to the film? As with other extended cuts it’s a mixed bag, but the experience of seeing the film in theaters again may be worth it for those that haven’t seen the movie since last December. It sure was in my case. One can only hope that there will a day when both versions will appear on DVD/Blu Ray. Maybe by then I’ll have an amazing home theater system that can do the film justice. Until then I’ll be waiting for the next theatrical double dip.