The film begins with the camera sweeping across the tree-line of a lush,
green world. It is a wonder land and abode of aliens in unimaginable light
years distance. Jake Sully, a crippled
war veteran wakes up in a giant
spaceship on its way to Pandora, a lush Earth-like moon orbiting Polyphemus, a
blue planet similar to Jupiter. He is one of passengers, all waking up from
zero gravity after almost six years of cryosleep en route to Pandora. Jake has
a deceased twin brother -- Tom, a scientist.
Because Jake and his brother are an exact genetic match, he was
presented with a unique opportunity: take over his brother's contract with a
corporate-military entity and travel light years away to an outpost on the
previously glimpsed world, Pandora. Hoping to have a "fresh start," Jake agrees to the
deal as his brother's body is cremated.
Pandora, some 4.3 light years from Earth. We
see immense mining machines digging up the soil in a large quarry as Jake ponders
his new role. The passengers are all instructed to wear a full-face breathing
mask since the atmosphere of the planet will not support human life; 20 seconds
of exposure to the poisonous atmosphere of the planet causes unconsciousness,
with death occurring about four minutes later. While the other passengers
disembark and take their first steps onto the base, called "Hell's Gate.
Jake goes immediately to a military briefing where Colonel Miles is
addressing the assembled soldiers and a few civilians who have come along. He
tells them about Pandora's indigenous population, he warns that if they want to
survive they should follow the rules of Avatar.
Jake goes to a science lab where Parker the commander and Dr. Grace Augustine the program's science lead, who awakens in a specially designed pod that
links her to her avatar and flips open the top. Jake gets his first look at his
own avatar, we learn about the program:
Avatar is a genetically-bred human-Na'vi hybrid, and function as if it
were a Na'vi native. Avatar Program enables a human to link with their own
avatar. In the avatar bodies, Humans are
unable to breathe Pandora's air. That means the Jake is able to walk again and
breathe the atmosphere. Dr. Grace doubts Jake will be of any use to her
botanical research. Parker says that they can use his military skills in an
avatar body toward the overall objective of the operation -- mining the mineral
unobtanium, a potent source of energy that sells for many millions a kilo, and
can bring cheap power back to a dying Earth.
Back in the lab next morning, Jake and Norm are linked to their avatars
for the first time. Jake, in his avatar, wakes up in a different room with
other avatars and staff. Within a few moments, Jake is making his handlers
nervous because, overjoyed with his ability to move his legs again, he is
moving too quickly and trying to walk, the first time he has been able to do so
since becoming a paraplegic. The human lab workers cannot stop him; a Na'vi is
over 10 feet tall, sometimes closer to 12 feet, and far stronger than humans.
When his long tail knocks over instruments, a staff member tells him to stop
and lie down again. Jake ignores him and bursts out of the room and into the
daylight. He finds himself in a recreation area where other avatars are playing
sports and staff, in their protective gear, are performing various duties. Jake
meets Grace's avatar, who, better-tempered than human Grace, accompanies Jake
to the barracks where he is eventually encouraged to rest. Before he lies down
to sleep, Jake inspects his neural queue, a long appendage that looks like a
braid of hair. At the end of his queue is a cluster of hidden tendrils. When
the avatar sleeps, the link is broken and Jake himself awakens.
The team lands in a forest, where Grace and Norm begin to take samples
of the flora and make measurements. Jake is distracted by his surroundings and
wanders into a field of helicoradian flowers, which are quite tall and shrink
at Jake's touch. a heavily-armored dinosaur-like creature -- confronts Jake. a larger creature, a thanator, Ultimately,
the chase leads to a waterfall, where Jake jumps to safety, leaving the
thanator alone above him.
we see Jake sharpening a long stick into a spear Jake is being watched
from above, this time by a Na'vi. The Na'vi aims an arrow at Jake and is about
to shoot, but decides against it when small, ethereal, luminescent creatures
land on her bow. (Later we learn they are "very pure spirits," also
known as the "seeds of Eywa", the Na'vis all-powerful god.) The
archer retreats. Jake is surrounded by a
pack of viperwolves. He lights the end and uses it as a a torch against the
viperwolves, The animals attack Jake; he fights back, kills some, and is taken
down by others. Then the archer who was observing Jake joins the battle on his
side. She kills some viperwolves and causes the rest to flee. She tenderly puts
out of their misery some whimpering wounded animals and says prayers over them.
When Jake thank her for helping him
fight off the attackers. She meets his thanks with scorn, tells him all this is
his fault, that they did not need to die, and that he should "go
back" to where he came from. Jake asks if she feels that way, why she
helped him. "You have a strong heart.. "But stupid!"
Jake attends a Na'vi ceremony, where he learns the Na'vi believe that
every person can be born twice. Neytiri leads Jake to a place of prayer, the
"tree of voices," where they use their queues to bond with the tree.
Neytiri tells Jake he can make a bow from the tree ... and that he can choose a
woman. Jake tells Neytiri that he has already chosen her, and she says that she
has chosen him. They sleep together under the tree and Jake wakes up back in
the lab.
In the morning, Neytiri awakens to falling trees, then the presence of
bulldozers. Soldiers are advancing as the forest falls around Neytiri, who is
dragging and carrying Jake to safety. When he finally revives, Jake climbs onto
one of the bulldozers and tries to stop it, eventually blinding its camera
system and drawing some gunfire. Other Na'vi warriors arrive, while the
Colonel, reviewing films back at the base, recognizes Jake in his avatar form
as the person who tried to stop their mission. The bulldozers continue their operation,
wiping out the sacred ground.
Before the Colonel has a chance to kill Neytiri as well, avatar Jake arrives. The two engage in combat, the Colonel in his AMP suit and Jake as his avatar, armed only with a piece of pipe. Jake smashes the suit's plastic canopy, the Colonel pops it off, dons a breathing mask, and, before he moves off toward the structures that house the pods, asks Jake how it feels to have betrayed his race. "You think you're one of them? Time to wake up," he taunts, as he smashes into the mobile lab, looking for Jake's.
The battle resumes. Jake is grabbed by an arm of the AMP suit and
hangs from his queue before the Colonel. Meanwhile, Neytiri has almost freed
herself. the Colonel now moves Jake closer to him and reaches for his knife,
intending to finish Jake by slitting his throat. Suddenly, Neytiri shoots an
arrow at the Colonel that penetrates deeply into the center of his chest. The
Colonel, reeling, is unable to continue his attack on Jake. Neytiri's second
arrow lodges right next to the first. It brings the Colonel in the AMP suit to
the ground. However, much damage has been done to the lab, which is leaking
oxygen. Human Jake is awake but having difficulty both breathing and trying to
get a mask on. Neytiri arrives and helps Jake on with his mask. Cradling human
Jake, she says, "I see you." It's the first time they have seen each
other face-to-face. Most of the remaining humans are being marched into a shuttle to be
shipped back to Earth; however, a select few Earth people, such as Norm and Dr.
Patel, are invited to stay on Pandora. Jake signs off in his final videolog,
where we learn that he has chosen to transfer his consciousness to his avatar
for good and wakes up in his avatar with Neytiri watching over him
