A technically awesome blend of "Dances with Wolves" meets "Alien", Avatar used the animation wisely, not allowing special effects to overwhelm the story, as is so often the case in these FX movies. Very fine acting, with good execution of background and screenplay concepts, the story was a bit lame when it started wandering far into the fantasy side of sci-fantasy. Avatar is the only 3D or IMAX film I ever saw that did not give me a headache. Overall, one of the best movies released in 2009.