Avatar – Movie-Censorship.com
0:00:52 The opening scene has been changed. It now starts on Earth and takes a look back into Jake Sully's past as a paraplegic war veteran. He drinks, he fights, he rusts away - aimlessly and forlorn. That only changes when he is visited by two representatives of the mining company. They ask him to take over the role of his deceased twin brother and fly to Pandora.
Further outlooks on the future of the Earth are interspersed en passant. We learn that the Bengal tiger, just like many species more, has meanwhile become extinct, but was recreated using genetic engineering. Earth is overpopulated and polluted. Most people wear respirators. Due to the quantity of people (and corpses), undertakers have degenerated into industrial facilities.
For lucidity reasons, the complete opening scene will be reproduced here. The parts of it that had already been seen in the theatrical version have been subtracted from the total runtime.
269.32 sec.
[Jake sits on his bed and pulls off his pants. Meanwhile he watches TV on the video screen.] TV reporter: "The Bengal tiger, extinct for over a century is making a comeback! These cloned tiger cubs at the Beijing zoo are the best latest of a number of species that have been cloned back into existence in the past five years." Jake Sully (off): "I became a Marine for the hardship. To be hammered on the anvil of life. I told myself, I can pass any test a man can pass."
[Jake gets terribly drunk in a bar with some friends.]
Jake Sully (off): "Lets get it straight, upfront. I dont want your pity! You want a fair deal, youre on the wrong planet. The strong prey on the weak. Thats just the way things are. And nobody does a damn thing." [Jake sees a young woman being hit by a man at the bar.]
[Jake arrives on the scene and attacks the man from behind. To his surprise, the woman tries to stop him.] Woman: "Get off! Get off of him!" [Jake and the man continue fighting.]
Jake Sully (off): "All I ever wanted in my sorry-ass life was a single thing worth fighting for."
[Without a word, the doormen throw him out of the bar and he lands on the street.] Jake Sully: "I hope you realized you lost yourself a costumer. Candy-ass bitch." [Jake lies in the gutter and senselessly yells jarhead slang.] Jake Sully: "If it aint raining, we aint training."
[Suddenly, two men approach him and look down to him.] Man 1: "It doesnt look like him." Man 2: "Its him." Man 1: "You Jake Sully?" Jake Sully: "Step off. Youre ruining my good mood." Man 2: "Its about your brother."
[Accompanied by the man, Jake enters a crematory where they ask for his brother's corpse.] Man 2: "Were looking for Sully, T." Undertaker: "In there." [The undertaker opens the cardboard coffin of his brother. Jake looks at him briefly.] Jake Sully: "Jesus, Tommy." [The undertaker closes the coffin again and authorizes cremation.] Man 2: "The strong prey on the weak. A guy with a knife took all Tommy would ever be. For the paper in his wallet. The concern of the suits was touching."
[The men turn to Jake.] Man 2: "Your brother represented a significant investment. Wed like to talk to you about taking over his contract." Man 1: "And since your genome is identical to his, you could step into his shoes, so to speak. It would be a fresh start on a new world. You can do something important. You can make a difference. And the pay is good." Man 2: "Very good." [Jake's brother is shoved into the incinerator.]
[The men turn towards Jake again.] Jake Sully (off): "Tommy was the scientist, not me. He was the one who wanted to get shot out light-years in space to find the answers. Me, I was just another dumb grunt getting sent someplace he was gonna regret."
[The camera shows Jake's dead brother slowly consumed by fire - subsequently, the picture morphs into Jack aboard the space craft.]
0:03:06 Before they take off to Pandora, an additional shot of the shuttle pilot has been added. 4.52 sec.
Pilot 1: "Copy, Venture Star. Go for de-orbit burn at 2-2-4 niner."
0:51:53 Before Jake returns to Pandora, he and Grace talk some more. Norm is jealous, because a shallow ex-marine like Jake has meanwhile been accepted into the inner circles of the Na'Vi - even though Jake does not even know the goddess Eywa. When Dr. Augustine considers a picture of Neytiri, she begins to wallow in memories and talks about Neytiri's sister Sylwanin. Jokingly, Jake tells Norm that he had a date with Sylwanin too. Dr. Augustine remarks that Neytiri's sister was dead. Apparently, this scene is meant to link to the school scene. It is obvious that Neytiri's sister had been killed by humans. 19.92 sec.
[Jake teases Norm.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "Knock it off. Its like kindergarten around here." [Jake gets into the avatar box; Dr. Augustine looks at Neytiri's picture.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "Neytiri was my best student. She and her sister Sylwanin. Just amazing girls."
Jake Skully: "I got a date with Sylwanin too." Dr. Grace Augustine: "She is dead."
1:04:56 Dr. Augustine brings Jake back and tells him to eat something. He refuses, but Dr. Augustine insists on it and he obliges. At the dining table, Jake finds a picture of Dr. Augustine as Neytiri's teacher. He asks her about what happened at the school. Dr. Augustine tells him that Neytiri's sister and some of her friends had attacked a bulldozer which had threatened them. Hoping to find shelter with Dr. Augustine, they fled into the school. However, the mercenaries pursued and killed them.
For lucidity reasons, the complete opening scene will be reproduced here. The parts of it that had already been seen in the theatrical version have been subtracted from the total runtime.
180.76 sec.
[Dr. Augustine opens the avatar box. Jake gets out.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "You were in 16 hours today."
[Jakes drives into the small lounge; Dr. Augustine gives him something to eat.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "You are still losing weight." [Jake ignores the food and drives away.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "No, you dont."
[Dr. Augustine pulls Jake back.] Jake Sully: "I gotta get some sleep." Dr. Grace Augustine: "Come back here."
[Jake sits at table again and looks at the junk food in disgust.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "Bon apptit." Jake Sully: "Today I made a kill. And we ate it. At least, I know where that meal come from." Dr. Grace Augustine: "Other body. You need to take care of this one. Okay? Get it? Lets eat it." Jake Sully: "Yeah, yeah." [Jake continues to just watch the food disgustedly.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "Here, Ill make it easy for you. Give it to me." [Dr. Augustine picks up the food and opens it.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "You look like crap." Jake Sully: "Thank you." Dr. Grace Augustine: "Youre burning way too hard." [Jake pulls the cigarette out of Dr. Augustine's mouth and throws it away.] Jake Sully: "Get rid of this shit. And then you can lecture me." Dr. Grace Augustine: "Now, I am telling you, as your boss, and as someone who might even consider being a friend someday to take some down time. Eat this, please. Trust me, I learned the hard way."
[Jake looks at a picture of Dr. Augustine and the young Neytiri at school.] Jake Sully: "What did happen at the school, Grace?"
Dr. Grace Augustine: "Neytiri's sister, Sylwanin, stopped coming to school. She was angry about the clear cutting. And one day, she and a couple of other young hunters came running in, all painted up. They had set a bulldozer on fire. I guess they thought I could protect them. The troopers pursued them to the school. They killed Sylwanin in the doorway. Right in front of Neytiri. And then shot the others. I got most of the kids out. But they never came back." [Jake gives the picture back to Dr. Augustine; she puts it on the sill.
Jake Sully: "I am sorry." Dr. Grace Augustine: "A scientist stays objective. We cant be ruled by emotion. But I put 10 years of my life into that school. They called me sanok." Jake Sully: "Mother." Dr. Grace Augustine: "Mother." [Dr. Augustine touches Jake's chest.] Dr. Grace Augustine: "That kind of pain reaches back through the link."
1:34:57 When the marines vacate the research laboratory and prepare for retaliation, Jake and Dr. Augustine talk longer. A short, but interesting extension, since it becomes obvious that the war against the Na'Vi had been desired and planned. 15.08 sec.
Dr. Grace Augustine: "You know, they never wanted us to suceed. They bulldozed the sacred site on purpose - to trigger a response. They fabricating a war. They get what they want."
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Avatar - Movie-Censorship.com
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