With his 3-D blockbuster, “Avatar,” director James Cameron gave millions of moviegoers a glimpse into the future of filmmaking.
But the “Avatar” DVD, which arrived in stores today, seems awfully old-fashioned.
There is no 3-D version. There’s no director’s commentary. No making-of featurettes or documentaries, no deleted scenes or outtakes. Just the movie.
If something about this seems familiar to you DVD geeks, you’re right – Cameron’s been down this road before. In 1998, his “Titanic” went to VHS and laserdisc first, then was released on DVD in 1999 with no special features other than the theatrical trailer. Everyone bought a copy. Six years later, a fully loaded special edition of “Titanic” hit stores … and everyone bought a copy again.
The wait for an “Avatar” special edition will be more like six months than six years – Fox plans to deliver a multi-disc edition with all kinds of bonus features in November – but still ... what we’ve got here is another case of film fans falling for the oldest trick in the DVD book: Why make people pay for something once when you can make them pay for the same thing twice?
Anyway, if you haven't already rushed out to pick up a copy, I've got two words for you: Rent it.
