Heh...Blender does fluid, ocean, hair, particle and smoke, and cloth simulations as well as soft and hard body dynamics. You can sculpt in Blender, retopoligize, model, rig, animate, etc, etc. It even has dynamic paint and projection painting. I don't know of any other program under a grand that will do that, much less a free program to boot ;).

edited to add: Cycles is a great render engine. It's still in its infancy but still powerful. Add that to Blenders internal renderer and you have two for the zero price of one :P.

Laurie