"Plants, animals, and marine organisms share the same trait, emitting light in breathtaking patterns. From what scientists can tell, the Pandoran ecology works and communicates like a nervous system, suggesting a symbiotic relationship between all things Pandoran," says Sigourney Weaver in the Discovery-channel-like trailer for James Cameron's Avatar.

The Pandoran jungle is exceptional but still materially consistent, which is its beauty. Systems are intricately interwoven, color and light features are never separated from formal features, and creatures don't exceed their exceptional mechanics. Extreme biodiversity generates a hallucinogenic ecology. Familiar features are hybridized with alien features: pterodactyl wing morphologies transform at the tips into dragonfly wing morphologies, rhinos have peacock and hammerhead shark features, horses shimmer with multicolor abalone shell skin, wolves move like insects, and everything exhibits characteristics of bioluminescent marine life. Species emerge as categorical novum from radical reassemblies of features and behaviors.

The story is more or less inert. It is a Shakespearian backdrop that allows the context to unfold. Atmospheres and sensations, generally side-effects of narratives, become primary drivers. Exquisite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE1IvFDrRUs