The Last Airbender

[jpanimation]

Well, I'm sure by now anyone who's an Avatar fan knows of this movie's existence and has already seen the trailers:

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So what's your opinion on this movie? How do you feel with M. Night Shyamalan directing? How do you feel about the non-ethnic casting and changing of tribe races? How do you feel about the condensing of 21 episodes of character development and story into 90-120 mins? Would you be upset if characters are missing and whole plots (like Bumi and Jet, who come into play later in the series)? Would you be upset if the iconic Avatar music from the TV show isn't present? How do you feel about the lack of Avatar in the movie title?

Personally, I don't have any faith in this movie at all. I gave up on Shyamalan after Unbreakable and while he's a good director, it's his scripts that suck (which he wrote The Last Airbender's). The series was great and part of that was the wonderful character development and pacing of the series. Upon watching the SuperBowl trailer, the first thing I noticed was (I know I sound racist) how white Sokka and Katara look being surrounded by actual inuit people. Too many of the characters just look way to white to be in Asian clothing. I'm also baffled at the decision to change the Fire Nation to that of Indian decent. As good as James Newton Howard is, he really should just adapt the music from the series, as nothing he comes up with can compete. I also find the lack of Avatar in the title dumb (I know their is confusion on both sides over the name and franchises). Just judging by the Superbowl trailer, I can safely say that the visual effects will be awesome as both the bending and Appa look great (too bad they haven't shown us Momo yet).

My biggest fear is this movie will stray from the story and feel white-washed like DragonBall: Evolution, which was completely unrecognizable from the series.

[disneyboy20022]

Could there possibly be like...more movies coming if this is succesful and has a good plot...I know some people are saying no no no....but honestly I was confused whether this was being directed by James Cameron or M. Night Shyamalan....its the first movie that he has made that I actually plan on seeing....I think this will more faithful to the series than Dragonball Evolution Movie ever was or is....Basicly DragonBall is a very educational film if you wanna wreck a franchise or dishonor it totally...

Anyway I found this on Youtube...someone did an animated version of the Super Bowl Spot and their fan made trailer is almost identical to the Live Action Super Bowl Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXHA5kHV ... re=related


Anyway I still need to watch the complete series on DVD...I dont have Nicktoons 24/7 but those Avatar box sets are so expensive....$50 at target yikes

[Dragonlion]

I'm having doubts about this movie. I never seen any of Shyamlan's work, so I can't say this'll be bad off the bat. I pretty upset with the changing of races. From the show, I always got the impression that Fire was Japanese inspired, Earth was Chinese inspired, Water was Inuit inspired, and Air was Tibetan inspired. I'm pretty upset with the tribe casting because all of the ethnicities made sense.

Upon watching the SuperBowl trailer, the first thing I noticed was (I know I sound racist) how white Sokka and Katara look being surrounded by actual inuit people.

Oh my God, I think you may be right about that. I saw it too.
I would only be upset if they deleted things that were truly important to the actual plot ( therefore, Jet wouldn't be too bad not to have).
For the title, I simply thought that they didn't want to have confusion with James Cameron's Avatar, as even before that movie came out, there was confusion.
The only hope I have is that the original creators are heavily involved in this movie and that they will make sure that this movie won't be an abomination.

[ajmrowland]

I think this'll be a very good movie. The season 2 box set has an interview with Shyamalan, and he talks about how he was introduced to the series by his daughter, how he loves the show, and everything. Also, if this is ever really gonna do Season 1 justice, we're talking at least 130 min. without credits. Otherwise, I'm very excited!

Also, it's a planned trilogy. One movie every two years for each season the show was in production.

I have no problem with ethnicities. Aang is Caucasian in the series, and there's a lot of racial diversity going around.

Considering how White sokka and Katara look, let's not forget that their faces are closest and they have a lamp. And those little kids have similar tones on their faces. It might be that the Water Tribe is a melting pot of races, but it's best to reserve judgement.

[jpanimation]

Also, if this is ever really gonna do Season 1 justice, we're talking at least 130 min. without credits.

Knowing Nickelodeon, they'll make it short (even if it hurts the quality of the film). I don't think it'll be over 2 hours as they'll claim children and their parents won't sit through it (the show's primary demographic).

Also, it's a planned trilogy. One movie every two years for each season the show was in production.

Correct, that is the current plan if the first one does well (look what happened to The Golden Compass). Then again, Twilight proved that a movie doesn't have to be good to make gangbusters but just have a younger following.

I have no problem with ethnicities. Aang is Caucasian in the series, and there's a lot of racial diversity going around.

No, Aang is not the least bit Caucasian. The big eyes represent children in the show. Look at all of Aang's monk masters, extremely Asian. Dragonlion is probably correct in his assessment on which tribes are based on which races as the show's creators have mentioned many times that this world is based on Asian culture (evident from the clothing, weapons, armor, architecture, food, mythology, etc). Thats like making a live action Mulan with the actors all being Caucasian.

Considering how White sokka and Katara look, let's not forget that their faces are closest and they have a lamp. And those little kids have similar tones on their faces. It might be that the Water Tribe is a melting pot of races, but it's best to reserve judgement.

Yeah but they look even whiter in other shots and press images. I've noticed that there is white people sprinkled throughout all the races which projects the American way of blending cultures in an Asian environment. Its probably got something to do with Hollywood's perversion to Asian actors and politically correctness.

Hopefully the movie is good enough to make up for any casting blunders but I'm really doubtful. Just seems like it'd have to be atleast 3 hours to be any good and I just don't see that happening.

[disneyboy20022]

New trailer via yahoo.com and an interview report with the director

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-t ... vatar.html

[ajmrowland]

I'm embedding the aforementioned trailer here.

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It's a good one, but not one that everyone'll take seriously

[jpanimation]

I guess they released the trailer that was set to be attached to the Percy Jackson movie a day early. I'm still disappointed. I'm not digging Zuko and Iroh's portrayals and I feel that even with the longer trailer, we saw more in the teaser (like Appa for one).

[ajmrowland]

i think i can dig up a poster image that actually shows zuko's scar. Since it's in none of the trailers so far, im guessing it's digital.

[ajmrowland]

Here. it so happens to be his left eye, and it looks wrinklier than the rest of him




For the record, I see a window of opportunity. With each Film, will no doubt come blu-ray releases. It'd be nice if Paramount used the films as an excuse to release the series on blu-ray. Wishful thinking, of course.

[jpanimation]

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/para ... airbender/

New exclusive The Last Airbender trailer up on Apple. Some things to note: first look at Princess Yue, the Komodo Rhinos that the Fire Nation rides just looks like giant regular Komodos (is this a hint that the animal combinations won't be happening in Shamalamadingdong's Avatar universe?), there is a dragon in a cave that Aang interacts with (since he doesn't meet any dragons until Book 3, I assume this is Avatar Roku's dragon Fang and that the cave is in the Spirit World), this is our first time seeing Zuko as The Blue Spirit, and at the end of the trailer it says it'll be in 3D, confirming the recent announcement that Paramount would be converting it in post production (I'll probably stick with 2D as I only watch post production 3D for computer animated movies as it doesn't work out too well on live action).

Also, we've had multiple looks at Appa (Aang's flying byson) but we still haven't had a good look at Momo. I love Momo and I know he's there as he's in the toy line for the movie.

i think i can dig up a poster image that actually shows zuko's scar. Since it's in none of the trailers so far, im guessing it's digital.

No, his scar is makeup and has always been there. It's in the trailers and all the promotion shots, the reason you don't see it is Shamalamadingdong wanted to reduce it from the horrible deformity he had in the series (there to always remind Zuko of what his father did to him for standing up), to nothing more then a light purple bruise. Just one of the many aesthetic changes I don't like (I really don't like how they changed Iroh from the fat old man he was in the show).

For the record, I see a window of opportunity. With each Film, will no doubt come blu-ray releases. It'd be nice if Paramount used the films as an excuse to release the series on blu-ray. Wishful thinking, of course.

I'd love that. It's funny but pretty much every show from Walt Disney Television Animation starting in 1999 to present day was produced in 16:9 HD (pretty much since they entered the digital age). It would be just like Nickelodeon to continue making SD content well into 2005, even on a big budget show like Avatar (which is a shame with all the beautiful artwork). I'm still hoping those rumors about 16:9 HD masters are true but we'll have to wait to see. Lets hope so as it would make great Blu-rays.

[ajmrowland]

^Your a little late in correcting me about the scar. I seen it in plenty of trailers and ads by now.

Also, this isnt the first time the Blue Spirit is shown. It's in the past two trailers as well.

[UmbrellaFish]

I'm not really excited about this movie nor do I know anything about the TV series, but me and my friends are going to see this when it comes out.

[Elladorine]

I've caught maybe half the animated series and would love to pick up all the sets on DVD one of these days to watch at my leisure. The pacing, character design & development, voice work, and entire feel is just excellent.

I can't see how the live-action film will be able to hold a candle to it, but then again I'm pretty biased on my overall preference of animation to live-action.

[Kossage]

I'm not too concerned about the racial changes or whether the martial arts that is depicted in the film is this or that. As long as the actors do a good job, the plot keeps the basics of the series and cinematography works, I'll certainly enjoy it. The series turned out to be surprisingly good despite my high expectations so I'm certain that the film itself will at least be a decent effort (at least that's what the trailers seem to imply).

As good as James Newton Howard is, he really should just adapt the music from the series, as nothing he comes up with can compete.

I have to strongly disagree with you on this, although I suppose it's a matter of taste. While the Track Team had decent music in the series, I have to say that James Newton Howard's music is superior to it now that I've managed to listen to the Last Airbender OST.

Here's an analysis of the OST and how it compares to the series's music:

First I'd like to let you know that the themes (composed by the Track Team) from the series don't return per se in the score. I find this acceptable because for the most part the series's themes weren't that substantial (although I admit that using permutations of the Fire Nation's theme as Azula's theme was an interesting move from the series's composers). The only theme I'll actually end up missing from the series is the main Avatar theme which actually had a pretty melody which was used in many proper places.

Aside from that one theme, it pleases me that James Newton Howard has actually stayed surprisingly faithful to the series's soundscape while expanding the instrumental pallette a lot. Many ethnic instruments and choral chants are used in the score just like in the series itself. Even that kickass percussion (which the series used a lot) makes appearances (e.g. at 8:24 in "Airbender Suite"), and JNH has even added a few nice selections into the mix as well. So even if we don't really hear the actual themes from the series in the film, JNH does actually nod at the series' soundscape (and thus acknowledges its existence) by remaining faithful to it in his score, so I'm willing to forgive him for not including the series's actual themes themselves.

Orchestration is top notch and each section gets a moment to shine. The soundscape is lush and extremely vibrant, and I'm very happy that the mixing has worked well for the most part. I said "for the most part" because sadly one particular section, the choir, doesn't quite get as determined a presence as I'd hoped. Whether it's the actual mixing for the album release or JNH's preference, the orchestra actually drowns the choir for the most part, which kind of robs some cues of their majesty. However, this is only nitpicking, because even without dominating choral presence the cues do benefit from the background choir which does give some additional depth to the ensemble (particularly when chanting is involved).

It's an awesome move from JNH to represent the four elements with different instrumental sections from the orchestra. So, whenever you hear specific instruments playing (e.g. strings), you'll know which element it's describing musically. Of particular note is the combination of these different pallettes during the climactic action cues as various sections merge and/or try to dominate one another. It'll be very interesting to see how well this tonal clashing will work when the cues accompany actual scenes from the film (although I'm willing to bet that it'll work extremely well, in which case I'll be in musical heaven throughout the film).

And now we come to probably the most controversial issue in the score (in case the "under-mixing" of choir or lack of the series' themes don't count; and IMHO those two aren't that big a deal here). The third issue concerns the thematic identity which JNH has created for the score.

I'd like to point out that there are quite a few themes and motifs at work here (some themes only appear once or in fragments which to me seem to be JNH's way of musically hinting at the characters/locations/plots of the following two films) so it's not one of those "one theme only" scores. JNH has actually thought things through (in quite an intelligent manner, if I may say so) and uses lots of foreshadowing, which I like. He obviously respects the source material and is inspired by it. I sincerely hope he'll stay around for the sequels to keep thematic continuity in check because his ideas for the Avatar's world and characters are quite fascinating.

So what's the controversial aspect with his themes then, you might ask? Well, it's the fact that his score doesn't have any instant "in your face" themes. In other words the score for the Last Airbender lacks the kind of memorable themes which you might hear in e.g. Williams's Star Wars or Shore's the Lord of the Rings scores. I may be a bit harsh here, though: JNH's themes are more obvious here than, say, in Desplat's the Golden Compass (which also suffered from not having obvious themes), but they aren't as obvious as they should be for a potential blockbuster film. I doubt that many people will come out of the cinema humming a theme from the Last Airbender. Had JNH used one or two blatant themes, the score might be "an event", so to speak. As it is now, however, it requires continuous listening before you figure out what he's trying to do with his score.

To give you an example, when I first listened to the score, the only themes that I could recall afterwards were the Fire Nation theme and one of the Avatar themes. Once I listened to the score a few more times, I began to discover the other themes one theme at a time, and my appreciation of the score's thematic identity grew. All I'm saying is that if you expect obvious Star Wars type themes, don't keep your expectations too high, but the themes themselves are rather easy to figure out so it's not a head-scratcher theme-wise like the Golden Compass.

As for the themes themselves, I'll just mention a few. Aang seems to have two distinct themes which likely represent his heroism (e.g. at 1:18 in "Earthbenders") and his destiny as the Avatar (e.g. at 1:30 in "Hall of Avatars"). The first, "heroic" theme is the theme that glues the score together, but I'm more drawn to the "destiny" theme which is surprisingly tragic and yet noble at the same time. I guess I should mention that one of my favourite cues from the score, the gorgeous "Flow Like Water", combines both of these themes beautifully while the flowing string movements represent the water element in a heartbreaking way.

The Fire Nation has an almost over the top pompous march (e.g. at 7:18 in "Airbender Suite") which makes me giggle with joy because it's so blatant in an awesome militaristic way. Even though the theme likes to show off, it also has a more sinister side to it, which gives it depth. If you want to compare it to the series' Fire Nation theme, let me use this reference. The series's FN theme is like the Imperial theme in SW: A New Hope whereas the film's FN theme is like the Imperial March in SW: The Empire Strikes Back. In other words, the film's FN theme isn't just a call-out motif like in the series but an actual theme with some meat to it.

There are of course a bunch of other themes and motifs in the score that I haven't mentioned (such as the motif for the Blue Spirit at e.g. 1:11 in "The Blue Spirit" which is preceded by ominous sounds which make me recall a similar usage in the series), but the examples I've provided should give you at least some idea of what to expect.

To summarize: Even if James Newton Howard's score for the Last Airbender does have its issues, it's still an enjoyable (and intelligent) score with a bunch of interesting themes and remarkable orchestration. Some fans might be disappointed by the lack of the series's themes, but I find the score worthy of the Avatar world, and I sincerely hope that you'll enjoy it as much as I have. If the film itself is at least half as good as this gorgeous score, I'll be very pleased.

[justin]

I had nothing but bad expectations before trailers started coming out for this movie, but I think it will turn out to be good after all. Wasn't really a fan of the casting either, but I put that behind me.

[jpanimation]

The Last Airbender: Pre-Screening
http://community.livejournal.com/racebe ... 46774.html

Just wow. Everything you could imagine being wrong with this movie is wrong with it. Forget the fact that this guy started the whole "racebending" thing, as his review doesn't even mention that and is purely a fan perspective. I'm sure almost every one of his gripes others can agree with. I know everything he said just put me off from the movie. His list of excluded characters and events was enough to do that alone but there is MUCH more wrong with this movie.

[UmbrellaFish]

Well, I'll be catching a midnight showing of this the night it premieres. My friend is a fan of the show, she thinks it's sort of cheesy, but I'm excited anyway, no matter how bad it'll turn out (that'll be part of the fun!).

[jpanimation]

Paramount Has Spent $280 Million on The Last Airbender
http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/06/25/par ... airbender/

Wow, they must really have faith in this movie if they're spending nearly as much on marketing as on the actually film budget. That or the movie is so bad they need to spend that much in marketing if they want to fool enough people into seeing it to break even.

Either way, they're really taking a risk spending that much on this movie. I'm a big fan of the series but have no desire to see this, if they're lucky, I'm a rare case.

[ajmrowland]

Thif film has a crushing 9% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.

that deserves nine