Here is my penny of info on this.
You may also want to check out the availability of training materials on the product you choose.  I have noticed tons of training videos, books, etc. for products like 3ds max.  I purchased Cinema 4D R10 a few months back because I wanted to do more than just assemble prebuilt primatives like those in Vue.  But before I bought Cinema 4D I was also thinking of 3ds Max.  I only chose Cinema 4D because the demo seemed easy in creating things with primatives and some splines.  I did not know much and so that is what I played with in the demo.  Who the hell new to 3d is going to know the most important things to check out in a demo?  I checked out the primatives because that is what I played with when I worked with Vue.  I thought  Cinema 4D had all I needed and it would be more straight forward than 3D Max.

After a few months it turned out to be pretty good in making man made things like machines, weapons, equipment, buildings, etc.  When I was done playing with that, I then wanted to explore making non man made things like humans, animals, creatures, etc.   However, in my opinion, it would appear that C4D is not strong in modeling these kinds of things, although it can be done.  

I have found very few training materials on how it is done with C4D compared to other larger products like 3D max.  If I had to do it all over again I think I would have preferred to of bought 3D Max and bite the bullet on the learning curve.  This I say because either way, your going to have to do a lot of reading, experimenting, etc. even with C4D.  C4D is easy?  Puft!  I have a few hundred hours into that product and there is still a lot to it.  So might as well of jumped into Max I think.  

At least if i had chosen 3D Max, I would of had a product that would of been equipped to fully to handle not just man made structures (buildings, tools, weapons, etc.)  but woud have also had a tool that was equipped fully to handle character modeling like animals, people, monsters, etc. and yet still have a huge selection of training materials and local classes to take with the tool to help me through it.  

If you'v got the money then I'd say go 3D Max.  I had the money and feel I went the wrong way.  I spent $2,600 on C4D and its plugins and another $300 on books and online video subscriptions .... argh!  I should of gone 3D Max for that money.  And you know what?  You will still end up spending money on other things later probably like more plug-ins, textures, etc...its a pricey activity.  But as is commonly said here, that is only my opinion.

By the way, I also don't like the landscape environment capability with Cinema 4D.  Vue Infinite blows it out of the water.  Vue Infinite is not just a renderer but excellent for creating worlds of plant life, mountains, grass, etc. to make a world for you to import your 3D creations into.  I'm only adding this last part because of a Vue statement I saw earlier.  I still say I should have gone 3D Max over C4D.

Oh and one last thing...here I go again.  ALL these products HAVE PROBLEMS.  None of them are perfect.  Just look at the threads.  Someone is always having one problem or another, even with 3DMax.  I'm only saying this so you can expect it.  Thats technology for you.  We just have to get around the problems, as many do.