Favorite Scene On Special Edition (Spoilers!!!)

[tsamna]

My new favorite is when they are hunting sturmbeast. When Jake yells, "Hell Yeah!" and then neytiri yells it.

[WoundedWarsong]

Yeah, that whole sequence was win. The aftermath of the attack on the bulldozers was good because it helped explain why the RDA were so heavy handed attacking hometree. Also, poor Tsu'tey 

[tsamna]

I only barley saw the end of the bulldozer attack because i had to go to the bathroom really bad and didn't think new stuff was coming. I'll have to see it again.

[Txur’Itan]

I saw all of the new scenes, and I liked the School/Bulldozer/Hunt/Extra Tsu'Tey scene additions the most.

I thought the other extras were cool.

I did not necessarily like the quality of the Jump insert of the flyby on the sturmbeests when they were first flying out into the wilderness.

And I was able to forgive it for happeneing when they reused the same musical scoring from the battle sequence during the sturmbeest hunt, but it would have been nice if they stuck to the musical formulations from the origioinal release, where they had 4/4 time for the RDA, and 6/4 for the Na'vi. And slower tempo for the previous and following sequences.

[Ekirä]

Oh my god. Just got home. THAT WAS INCREDIBLE. I love this movie so much!!!!!!

I especially liked the added part in the love scene--when Jake and Neytiri connected queues. It made me wonder why it wasn't in the original release....I thought it was so deeply emotional and well played. Amazing. I also agree with Tsamna, the hunt scene was really cool. Especially when Neytiri echoes Jake. Love that. Tsu'tey's death was very meaningful, but I can see why it wasn't in the original.

I was really struck by how many new scenes there were! It felt like a ton more than 8 minutes, and I would get a little thrill of pleasure when the movie took an unexpected turn.

[Payä Tìrol]

HELL YEAH!

That made me laugh

This looks like it's becoming the main discussion thread, so I'll repost or something
Only complaint was that the transition to the hunt scene was a bit jarring, since I was expecting the calm-ish music of the start of the Toruk scene, but I'm guessing that all JC had to work with was completed post-production materials, so it's understandable

I can why they cut some of the scenes in the SE from the original, but the scenes at the school, and the added scene with the Na'vi attack on the bulldozer with Wainfleet and Quaritch emphasized that Quaritch was doing this to justify an attack on Kelutral to Parker.

Slightly disappointed that they brought up Grace's school without bringing up Neytiri's sister :/

The Tsu'tey scene was powerful... no idea why they cut it.

[Eanikran]

Hrh, oe wish I would have seen this thread before I started mine =p

But srane, my favorites would have to be the hunting party and tsu'tey's death. I have to say I had to fight the urge to fall apart though,it was really hard.

[Ekirä]

But srane, my favorites would have to be the hunting party and tsu'tey's death. I have to say I had to fight the urge to fall apart though,it was really hard.

I cried. But I'm not a guy. It was impossible not to.....and it felt good to cry, like holding back tears would just make my throat ache unnecessarily. What I loved that the theater was so incredibly quiet the whole time, there were a few chuckles but all the people were reverently silent.

[Ngima Nikre]

I just went to see it for the first time (for me) in theaters, and the fact that it was the special edition made it even better.  I hadn't felt that emotional since I saw it the very first time. Overall, excellent in every way.
My favorite addition had to be the love scene, as in my opinion it made it more complete, but the addition of the school house left me with another question, which I felt wasn't answered: what happened there for there to be bullet holes in the framing?

[Payä Tìrol]

Basically, Sylwanin, Neytiri's older sister, and a couple of other Na'vi children decided to try and stop the RDA by setting fire to one of the bulldozers. I believe they succeeded, but ended up being pursued by the RDA. Hoping that Grace would protect them, they ran to the schoolhouse, but Grace was unable to do anything before they were killed. The Omatikaya stopped communicating with Grace afterwards, and this is the event Grace was talking about during her conversation with Parker.

[Ekirä]

My favorite addition had to be the love scene, as in my opinion it made it more complete, but the addition of the school house left me with another question, which I felt wasn't answered: what happened there for there to be bullet holes in the framing?

Ah, as for that, you need to read the script. Payä basically explained it, but here's something just copy and pasted from JC's 2007 script:

Spoiler

GRACE
Other body. You need to take care of
this body.
JAKE
Yeah yeah.
GRACE
Jake, I'm serious -- you look like crap.
You're burning too hard.
Jake takes the cigarette out of her mouth and stubs it out.
JAKE
Get rid of this s***, then you can
lecture me.
GRACE
I'm telling you, as your boss and someone
who might even consider being a friend
someday, to take some down time.
JAKE
Not now. Tomorrow we leave for Iknimaya.
GRACE walks past Jake, starts making herself coffee.
GRACE
Yeah -- you're gonna go ride a banshee.
Or die trying.
JAKE
That's right, Grace. This is what I've
been working for.
GRACE
And this is your check up from the neck
up, Marine. You're getting in way too
deep.
(she turns away)
Trust me, I learned the hard way.
Jake scans the pictures tacked up around Grace's workstation.
JAKE
What did happen at the school?
GRACE looks up from making coffee. Her eyes track across the
pictures of the laughing children. Finally --
67.
GRACE
Neytiri's sister -- Sylwanin -- stopped
coming to school. She was angry about
the clear-cutting.
GRACE sips her coffee, grimaces at the taste.
GRACE
One day, she and a couple of other young
hunters came running in, all painted up --
they'd set a bulldozer on fire -- I guess
they thought I could protect them.
GRACE'S voice stays oddly CALM as he tells this terrible
story, while getting MILK out of the refrigerator.
GRACE
The troopers pursued them to the
schoolhouse.
MACRO as she pours the milk -- her hand is SHAKING.
GRACE
They killed Sylwanin in the doorway.
Right in front of Neytiri. Then shot the
others.
(mildly)
I got most of the kids out, before they
shot me.
JAKE
Jesus.
GRACE
Yeah.
Jake realizes that Grace is on the verge of tears and
desperately trying to hide it.
GRACE
A scientist stays objective -- we can not
be ruled by emotion. But I poured ten
years of my life into that school. They
called me sa'atenuk. Mother.
(turning to him)
That kind of pain reaches back through
the link.
GRACE sits down at the table, looks intently at Jake.
GRACE
It's a job. Learn what you can -- but
don't get attached.
68.
GRACE looks at him with real PAIN in her eyes.
GRACE
It's not our world, Jake. And we can't
stop what's coming.

[Ngima Nikre]

My favorite addition had to be the love scene, as in my opinion it made it more complete, but the addition of the school house left me with another question, which I felt wasn't answered: what happened there for there to be bullet holes in the framing?

Ah, as for that, you need to read the script. Payä basically explained it, but here's something just copy and pasted from JC's 2007 script:

*snip*

It's funny because I actually found and read the script shortly after I posted that; too bad that it didn't make it into the re-release, though Can't have everything, I guess

[Human No More]

Jake and Neytiri's love scene... so beautiful, and really makes me wish I was Jake there...

[Zhowìntll]

I was surprised by how much of the new footage I liked. I really liked most of the new footage in the "Special Edition".

However, I can see why it was cut. The sturmbeast hunt scene is the perfect example. The scene, in and of itself, is pretty sweet. But it kind of pulls us out of the narrative. Here we have this wonderful scene/montage of Jake taking his first flight -- that's our high point of the story, and from there the story needs to progress to what comes next. For me, it's perfect for Jake's first flight to be followed by Neytiri telling him about the legend of Toruk Makto, and then Quaritch comes knocking to remind Jake of what he was brought here for. The sturmbeast scene, as awesome as it is, does not move the greater story forward, and I think Cameron made the correct decision cutting it from the original theatrical release.

The one exception, in my opinion, is the early scene in Dr. Grace's schoolhouse. I really liked that scene, and I think it should have been in the original theatrical release.

[Ngawng]

Ma tsamna that's my favourite too. HELL YEAH!

[Human No More]

I was surprised by how much of the new footage I liked. I really liked most of the new footage in the "Special Edition".

However, I can see why it was cut. The sturmbeast hunt scene is the perfect example. The scene, in and of itself, is pretty sweet. But it kind of pulls us out of the narrative. Here we have this wonderful scene/montage of Jake taking his first flight -- that's our high point of the story, and from there the story needs to progress to what comes next. For me, it's perfect for Jake's first flight to be followed by Neytiri telling him about the legend of Toruk Makto, and then Quaritch comes knocking to remind Jake of what he was brought here for. The sturmbeast scene, as awesome as it is, does not move the greater story forward, and I think Cameron made the correct decision cutting it from the original theatrical release.

The one exception, in my opinion, is the early scene in Dr. Grace's schoolhouse. I really liked that scene, and I think it should have been in the original theatrical release.

hmm, I think it makes sense to be in there, as it shows Jake participating as a full member of the clan 

[Kìte'eyä Aungia]

I liked the school scene the most because it explains why Grace is so cold and unapproachable, which adds depth to her character. I think they removed way too much backstory and development from the characters in the original cut.

[Payä Tìrol]

And there's still -even- more backstory that got cut, and which will probably never be seen completed. It's a shame but the movie really was inching on a reasonable upper time limit for feature films, and a ton of people (none of us!) really don't care. They're there for a decent story with good effects, that will make the 10-20 bucks they spent per ticket feel worth it.
That the SE scenes that got cut were cut was probably a good decision.

I just also realized that I -never- would have said that previous sentence that way before learning Na'vi... >_>

['Oma Tirea]

Spoiler

HELL YEAH!!

My first thought was "Why the Ìnglìsì?"  Now I see it's Jakesully's influence...
My other thoughts revolved around how these scenes really added depth to the movie, even though it was tricky to work around the musical score (notice how there was recycling a lot of the time)

...ulte srane, oe omängum that the whole script wasn't used, but that whatcha get when only 170m (2h and 50m) of runtime is available in those reels.

[Ekirä]

...ulte srane, oe omängum that the whole script wasn't used, but that whatcha get when only 170m (2h and 50m) of runtime is available in those reels.[/spoiler]

Certainly the longest movie I've ever seen. But I wouldn't complain if it was longer!