London, Apr 24 (IANS): Acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron's oscar winning 3-D sci-fi epic "Avatar" has beaten "The Dark Knight" to set up a Blu-ray record as consumers snatched 1.5 million copies of the movie on the day of the home video release.

A total of 4 million copies (including Blu-ray) of the movie were sold on the first day itself, reports contactmusic.com.

The previous Blu-ray record was held by "The Dark Knight" with 600,000 copies.

While some analysts had wondered whether home video sales of the movie would take off without a 3-D element, reviewers Thursday praised the overall look of the film on the small screen, several using the term "gorgeous" to describe it.

In Britain's Guardian newspaper, critic Gordon Mackie wrote that the DVD release "still feels like an event without that third dimension. It's very much a James Cameron movie, for better and worse."

"Its visual splendors are many. But Cameron movies come with his own dialogue so it's only the visuals that stay with you, and you sometimes feel bludgeoned with his none-too-original green, antiwar message writ large," he added.