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James Cameron’s gamble, in other words, has paid off in ways both problematic and successful beyond measure. The 60 percent of “Avatar’’ that comes from the computer – either in wholly invented images or by wrapping human bodies in imaginary digitized forms – is bewitchingly, tantalizingly realistic. The film creates a planet called Pandora, a race of tall, blue cat-people called the Na’Vi, and gives them both a dazzlingly colorful rainforest reality – part Rousseau, part George Lucas on inhalants.

The roughly 40 percent of the film that is live action – those scenes involving human colonizers from Earth amid their predatory mining and military hardware – is, oddly, less convincing. “Avatar’’ focuses on a scientific team that has cloned Na’Vi bodies for human hosts to patch into as they (the humans) lie in high-tech tanning beds back at the base. With these biotech sock-puppets, head wonk Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, juicily riffing on both Ellen Ripley and Dian Fossey) hopes to “win the hearts and minds’’ of the indigenous population. If she doesn’t, the corporate suits and military men (represented, respectively, by Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Lang, both of whom would twirl their mustaches if they had them) will happily force the issue.

Still yet, there’s one thing everyone agrees on: the special effects are awesome. The Na’vi – the 10 foot tall blue creatures that Sully encounters – are unlike anything ever seen before. The colors, the special effects, everything in this film (which cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce) are what makes the show so awesome.

Pandora is inhabited by an indigenous paleolithic species of sapient humanoids called the Na’vi. Standing 9 feet (2.7 m) tall, with tails, bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber, and bioluminescent blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with the natural world, and are considered primitive by human standards. They worship a mother goddess called Eywa.

Humans are unable to breathe Pandora’s atmosphere, and peaceful interaction with the Na’vi is difficult. Researchers led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) create the Avatar Program, creating human-Na’vi hybrids. A human who shares genetic material with an avatar can link to it, allowing them to control it while their own body ‘sleeps’. These avatars are expensive to create; gaining access to one is difficult. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a former Marine who was paralyzed below the waist in combat on Earth. His twin brother was a scientist working in the Avatar Program. When Jake’s brother is killed, Jake takes his place because he is compatible with his brother’s avatar. Augustine is not happy about Jake being there; unlike his brother he is not a trained scientific researcher, has no knowledge of Na’vi culture and has never used an avatar. The research team lets him into the program, having him act as security detail rather than a scientist.

While Jake is escorting Augustine and a biologist named Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) through the jungle, the group is attacked by a thanator, a large predator, and Jake becomes separated from the others, forcing them to leave him behind for the night. Jake attempts to survive in his avatar body, fending off dangerous creatures. This attracts the attention of a female Na’vi named Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), who rescues Jake. Though troubled by Jake’s recklessness, when some floating seeds are attracted to him she sees it as a spiritual sign from Eywa. She takes him to the Na’vi Hometree, the spiritual and geographical home of her clan. The Na’vi decide to teach Jake their ways.

Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) orders Jake to obtain the trust of the Na’vi clan and is given three months to convince them to abandon the Hometree, which sits above a large deposit of unobtanium. As Jake learns Na’vi ways, he finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth and a newfound love for the Na’vi culture. As part of his initiation into the tribe, Jake tames a flying creature known as a Banshee. While flying with Neytiri, they are attacked by a “Toruk”, a formidable and revered winged creature. Neytiri explains that only five Na’vi have tamed the Toruk, and that those who bond with it can unite the Na’vi clans.

Jake is initiated into the tribe. Neytiri and Jake choose each other as mates, much to the jealousy of Tsu’Tey (Laz Alonso), heir to the chieftainship of the tribe, who was chosen to be Neytiri’s mate. Jake keeps silent on the humans’ plans to use force if the Na’vi will not leave peacefully, but when the deadline runs out, a bulldozing machine almost kills Jake and Neytiri. Jake asks for more time to convince the Na’vi to leave, but Quaritch reveals a vlog where Jake says the Na’vi will never leave, and Selfridge orders an assault on Hometree.

Jake pleads for another chance to convince them to leave and is given one hour. When he reveals his mission to the Na’vi, they feel betrayed and leave him and Augustine strung up to die when the hour runs out. The human forces destroy the Hometree, killing Eytucan (Wes Studi), the tribe’s chief and Neytiri’s father. Jake and his compatriots are detained. Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez), a pilot who is disgusted by the violence, breaks the prisoners out, but Augustine is wounded by Quaritch during the escape. Deciding there is only one way the Na’vi will listen to him, Jake tames the Toruk, earning the Na’vi’s respect. He pleads with Mo’at (C. C. H. Pounder), the spiritual leader of the Na’vi, to heal Augustine. They attempt to transplant her soul into her avatar, but Augustine dies from her injuries.

Jake stirs the Na’vi to war with the assistance of Neytiri and Tsu’Tey, now chief of the clan. Jake assembles thousands of Na’vi from other tribes to battle the human forces. Colonel Quaritch, seeing that the Na’vi are growing in numbers, orders a preemptive attack to destroy the Tree of Souls, the center of Na’vi religion and culture. If the humans destroy it the Na’vi will be too demoralized to resist their conquest of Pandora. Jake prays to Eywa to intercede on behalf of the Na’vi in the battle. The Na’vi put up a formidable defense, but take heavy casualties, including Tsu’Tey, Trudy, and Norm’s avatar. When all hope seems lost, the Pandoran wildlife launches an attack, overwhelming the humans. Neytiri interprets this as Eywa answering Jake’s prayer. Colonel Quaritch orders the Tree of Souls bombed, but Jake destroys the bombing shuttle.

Quaritch’s gunship is destroyed, but he escapes in his AMP (Amplified Mobility Platform) suit. As he proceeds to the Tree of Souls to destroy it, he finds the Avatar interface field pod Jake’s compatriots moved and attacks it to kill Jake. Neytiri and Jake’s avatar arrive to defeat him, but the pod is damaged, exposing Jake to Pandora’s atmosphere. Neytiri kills Quaritch and saves Jake, seeing his human form. They reaffirm their love for each other.

The humans are forced to leave Pandora, while Jake and his friends are allowed to remain. Jake’s soul is transplanted from his human body into his Na’vi avatar.

The film begins in the year 2154 and focuses on an epic conflict on Pandora, an inhabited Earth-sized moon of Polyphemus, one of the three fictional gas giants orbiting Alpha Centauri A (the names Pandora and Polyphemus are taken from two Greek mythological figures). On Pandora, human colonists and the sapient humanoid indigenous inhabitants of Pandora, the Na’vi, engage in a war over the planet and the latter’s continued existence. The film’s title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na’vi bodies used by the film’s human characters to interact with the natives.

Avatar had been in development since 1994 by Cameron, who wrote a 114-page scriptment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Titanic, and the film would have been released in 1999, but according to Cameron, “technology needed to catch up” with his vision of the film. In early 2006, Cameron developed the script, the language, and the culture of Pandora. He has stated that if Avatar is successful, two sequels to the film are planned.

The film was released in traditional 2D and 3D formats, along with an IMAX 3D release in selected theaters. Avatar is officially budgeted at $237 million; other estimates put the cost at $280 – $310 million to produce and an estimated $150 million for marketing. The film is being touted as a breakthrough in terms of filmmaking technology, for its development of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film’s production. Opening to critical acclaim, it grossed an estimated $27 million on its opening day and an estimated $77,025,481 domestically its opening weekend. Worldwide, the film grossed an estimated $232,180,000 its opening weekend, the ninth largest opening-weekend gross of all time, and the largest for a non-franchise, non-sequel and original film. It is also considered to be a front-runner for awards and nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards.