Hey man, I'm DL'ing your cut right now.
I'm wondering if you entirely cut out the voiceover at the beginning with the forest flyover.
If you did, it would have been even better to just play his voice on a black background with nothing happening, then let the movie start. The last movie I saw that did this was Jarhead, and it seems to work really well.
And from what I heard about the Special Edition (which I haven't seen), all that was edited back in were more shots that contribute to the preachy message of the film (such as scenes in an abandoned school building. which looked utterly stupid judging from the re-release trailers). Everything else is just meaningless extensions of scenes on Pandora, with the exception of Jake explaining the physics of the floating mountains.
The only thing now that really sounds substantial to put back in are the Earth scenes, which Cameron recently revealed will be put back in the 16 minute-longer November edition.
Anyways, here's a list of footage, taken from an enthusiastic IMDB fan:
- When Jake goes on his first sortie in the Helicopter, theres a scene where the team observes a group of Sturmbeasts. Put back in in order to re-establish the Sturmbeast, as it was completely taken out before
- The group visits Graces old school for supplies. This was a great scene and should have never been taken out in the first place. It also showed another brand new animal, the Stingbat.
- When Jake meets Neytiri, the scene where Jake taps on the glowing plants, the scene is a bit extended as the characters walk over some glowing marshes.
- When Jake has dinner with the Na'vi, the scene is extended. A Na'vi kid is interested in Jake, but his parent keeps him away, meanwhile Jake asks Neytiri for her name. This was a really nice extension that showed a playful side to Neytiris personality.
- When Jake and crew arrive at the Floating Mountains, the scene is extended as Jake is on the mountain and views them while in voiceover he talks about how grace explained them to him "something about the mag lev effect of unobtainium" or something to that effect.
- Extended scene with Jake, Neytiri and the Fan Lizards. A very nice scene where the characters are having fun.
- When Jake, Tsu'tey and the other Na'vi travel through the mountains to get to the banshees, Neytiri does a flyover around them and shares a greeting with Jake. I really liked this extension.
- Sturmbeast hunt. A short, but very awesome action scene, it leads into Jakes voice over about him being a hunter now "death from above." Theres a great moment in this scene where Neytiri copies what Jake says.
- The Love scene. Jake and Neytiri attaching their queues. I actually think this is a good addition, because the scene is edited much better this time. You could tell before that footage was taken out.
- The Na'vi, including Tsu'tey, burn down the RDA bulldozers, equipment, and kill the soldiers and workers. We're shown the aftermath with charred bodies, etc. This is a pretty short scene, but its once that really should have been in the movie since day one as it provides a better rationale for Quaritch convincing Selfridge to attack the Hometree
- Extensions in the battle. Mostly when the animals come. There are new shots of the Hammerheads rampaging through the amps, the Sturmbeasts have been added back in and cause chaos as well. Also a few new shots of Banshees eating humans. Also some new shots in the Neytiri vs Quaritch battle. Also, after Tsu'tey is gunned down, you see him fall through the forest and land on the ground violently, it seems like his ponytail was ripped off in the fall.
- Finally, the death of Tsu'Tey. This was a GREAT scene. Great acting, and amazing CGI that perfectly capture the emotions.