Don't quite understand what's going on in the action-packed Avatar trailer? We break down the sensory overload shot-by-shot, to give you a better sense of what will happen on the lush alien world of Pandora. Spoilers below.
Much of the footage from the first Avatar trailer comes from the same footage James Cameron showed at Comic Con, with Sully's brain being hooked up to the Avatar's body, his first meeting with the Na'Vi Neytiri, and some of Pandora's fearsome creatures. But we also get new images of interspecies warfare and Pandora in flames. We break it down below:
In a later shot from the trailer, one of Pandora's giant trees is in flames, either as the result of a human attack, or as large-scale forest clearing.
Returning to the beginning of the trailer, we see a human, probably Jake Sully, bathed in blue light.
A network of human ships orbits around Pandora. Notice it says RDA VentureStar.
Marine Jake Sully wheels out of the transport ship and gets his first look at Pandora.
This is the first we're seeing of Pandora's floating lands.
Colonial Quaritch stands in the Hell's Gate station, about to address the troops and warn them of the dangers of Pandora. Presumably the scars are part of the lesson.
Sully is inside the lab where the science team will hook him up to his Avatar.
Sully gets his first look at his Avatar, still inside its tank. Norm Spellman, his fellow Avatar driver, is behind him.
Sully is inside the capsule where his body will stay while his brain is hooked up to the Avatar.
A technician monitors Sully's brain activity as they connect him to the Avatar.
Sully's brain is connected to the Avatar.
Now seeing through the Avatar's eyes, Sully inspects his new, blue hands.
While the technicians test his motor skills to see how he's adapting to the experience, Sully immediately leaps to the body part he's been most looking forward to: his feet. Delighted, he wiggles his toes.
Sully gets a bit over-excited at the prospect of standing and walking again, and stumbles against the glass.
A human ship travels through the lush Pandora jungle. Note the creature running along the left side of the image.
One of many creatures to attack Sully during his stay on Pandora. This one finds him during a routine exploration, and separates him from the other Avatars in his group.
Neytiri readies her bow to save Sully from yet another group of beasties.
Sully watches in awe as Neytiri effortlessly leaps through the air, shooting the creatures that are attacking him.
The jellyfish-like Seeds of the Sacred Tree land on Sully's outstretched arms while Neytiri watches, signaling that she should not ignore him.
The Marines at Hell's Gate ready their weapons.
Neytiri watches the Seeds of the Sacred Tree of life in wonder.
A formation of human ships sails through the skies.
Sully is bares his teeth as he takes part in a Na'Vi ritual: making a mount out of one of Pandora's dragon-like creatures.
One of the dragons has chosen Sully. He will attack Sully until he kills him or Sully manages to claim him as his mount.
The Na'Vi ride their dragon-like mounts.
From one of the ships, the marines shoot machine guns at the landscape.
Sully attempts to fend off an attacking creature with a torch.
A battle between the Na'Vi dragons and the human ships, in which the Na'Vi are definitely holding their own.
Neytiri sits beside a fallen Na'Vi...
...and weeps for the Na'Vi.
Sully is sitting in the lab again, looking at the machines that link human to Avatar. It's not clear whether this is before or after his experiences inside the Avatar, but he does look depressed, as though he's lost something.
The Na'Vi warriors snarl and shout.
A Na'Vi (or possibly Sully) takes on a battlesuit, with a very human-looking weapon.
A marine hangs out of one of the ships, shooting at the natives...
...and is summarily grabbed by an eel-like monster.
With Sully appearing to have gone fully native, he and Neytiri share an intimate, backlit moment.