Filed under: — Nickelodeon, Press Releases, Television
Written by: Dominick at 10:00 PM
TV Show Info:
Creators: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Cast: Dee Bradley Baker, Zach Tyler, Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena, Dante Bosco, Mako, Jessie Flower, Grey DeLisleRating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount and Nickelodeon
Release Info:
Original Air Dates: February 21, 2005-July 19, 2008
Season Air Dates: July 17, 2008-July 19, 2008
DVD Box Set Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $11.99
Episodes: Six Episodes from Book 3: Fire, 3.16-3.21
I love the cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. I fell in love with this show after I reviewed Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Entire Book Two Collection. I had never seen the Nickelodeon show. It was one of those shows my son had missed watching. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before all of us (Ash, the O.G. Kid (our son) and me) were hooked. Avatar became a mainstay in our household and we quickly caught up on the season we missed by watching reruns on the Nick Toons network. So, when we heard that Avatar was planning three or four more seasons, we were thrilled!
Then the writer’s strike happened. Television was all messed up. Avatar: The Last Airbender had a messed up season. Rather than air the third season all in order, Nickelodeon decided to take a hiatus from the show. It aired reruns of Zoey 101 and Spongebob in its time slot. Needless to say, the hordes of Avatar fans, myself included, were not very happy. Then, to add insult to injury, the last few episodes aired in a one week span, building up to the “ultimate” Avatar, TV movie . Made up of the last four episodes of the season, “Sozin’s Comet” was said to be the last episode of the show…ever.
This was a major disservice to both the series and the fans of the show. Nickelodeon really didn’t seem to care if Avatar aired on the network. Talk of four more seasons ended abruptly and the word on the street is that “Sozin’s Comet” is the last episode to air on Nickelodeon and for the series period. Sure, there are a lot of things that seem to point towards “maybe” an additional season. IMDB would have the series end date as 2008, but the show still shows 2005-????, which is typical for a show that is still in production. The finale didn’t answer some very important questions, specifically, where is Zuko’s mother? There hasn’t seemed to be a formal announcement about the end of the series, and the Nickelodeon advertisements aired during the show had it listed as the series finale, but the announcer on the ads actually called it the “season” finale instead.
All of the confusion and damage done to the series by Nickelodeon doesn’t take away from how great a show Avatar: The Last Airbender really is. I wasn’t overly in love with the ending. I felt some things could have/should have been changed, and no I’m not talking about “Zuko and Katara” should have ended up together (grow up – they’re cartoons!) because there were more important elements that I found to be brushed over or rushed through. I understand this is a kid’s show, but there could have been a way to make this a little more violently realistic without lowering the maturity rating for the show. Still, when looking at the overall series and all three seasons, Avatar: The Last Airbender is an amazingly well written, well voiced, entertaining television show that everyone in the family can enjoy.
The Avatar: The Last Airbender Plot
I’ve had the chance to review Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 1 and Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 2. You can read these reviews as well as my review for Book 2 of the show, to find out about the plot for the episodes leading up to Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 4.
Presented in a one disc set, these four volume packs make the full season more affordable and accessible to a broader audience. Die-hard Avatar: The Last Airbender fans will want to just wait for the Book Three DVD Collection, which is slated to be released in September of 2008. Those who may not be able to afford the full collection and those who are new to the show are encouraged to purchase individual volumes. By doing so, you receive 5-6 different episodes for a much more affordable price.
For those who’ve never seen the show, here is a brief synopsis. The world is split into four parts. There is the region of the Air Nomads, the Southern and Northern Water Tribes, the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. In all four regions, those called “benders” are able to manipulate the main element of the region. The Air Nomads are air benders. The Earth Kingdom has those who can bend Earth and some can manipulate the bending of metal. The Water Tribe bends water and the Fire Nation is made up of fire benders. Not everyone can bend. To keep order between the four nations, an Avatar is born into one group. The Avatar is the only person who can learn to bend all four elements. The Avatar can also achieve a higher level of being, known as the Avatar state.
When the last Avatar, born into the Fire Nation, disappears, the world is thrust into chaos. The new Avatar, an Air Nomad (the Avatar is reincarnated into a new nation with the cycle of life meaning the Avatar is born into the same nation every four lives), has also disappeared. This gives the Fire Nation a chance to go to war with the other nations. The Air Nomads are destroyed. The Water Tribes are damaged and the Earth Kingdom is slowly being taken over, one village at a time.
One hundred years pass. Two teenagers from the Southern Water Tribe, Katara (Mae Whitman) and her brother, Sokka (Jack De Sena), discover the new Avatar, an Air Nomad named Aang (Zach Tyler). He has been frozen under the frigid waters for 100 years with his flying Bison, Appa (Dee Bradley Baker). Having been pursued by the banished prince of the Fire Nation, Prince Zuko (Dante Basco) and his evil sister, Azula (Grey DeLisle), the Avatar hasn’t had an easy time learning to bend (he can only air bend at this point – since he ran away from the Air Nomads when he found out he was the Avatar) water, earth and fire or how to save the world, which is his job.
Along the way, Aang learns to water bend by Katara, earth bend by the group’s newest member, Toph (Jessie Flower) and he has more than one fire bending teacher (though one is a great surprise). The group also picks up Momo, a flying lemur who is the last of his kind from the Air Temples (all the Air Nomads and the flying bison were killed by the Fire Nation), making him a part of the Avatar family. Still, Aang struggles with his fate, his mission, and the fact that he appears to truly be the last Airbender. There is a lot more to the story, but it is more fun watching it then reading all the juicy details in a plot synopsis.
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 4 has the last two episodes plus the four-episode TV movie, “Sozin’s Comet” on it. Here is a list and brief description of each episode:
3.16 – “The Southern Raiders” – Katara takes her anger out on Zuko. She’s upset because he represents all that she hates. Trying to make up for his past misdeeds, Zuko takes Katara on a “field trip” to find and confront the man (a fire nation soldier) who killed her mother.
3.17 – “The Ember Island Players” – While hiding out on Ember Island, at Zuko’s family’s summer home, the Avatar gang hears about a theatrical show telling the story of the Avatar. Everyone is anxious to see how they’re portrayed. No one is happy, but Toph (who is played as a jerky, masculine, pig). Katara is portrayed as hot for Zuko, wishy washy, whiny and bossy. Sokka is portrayed as a neanderthal who tries to be funny. Suki is portrayed badly and so is Zuko, who is deemed moody, selfish, untalented, and substandard. However, Aang has it the worst. He’s not only played by a girl, but no one takes him seriously. He’s portrayed as a girly, love struck (with Katara) little kid who isn’t so good with his powers.
3.18 – “Sozin’s Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King” – Zuko is upset that Aang isn’t practicing hard enough. When he finds out that Aang has decided not to fight Zuko’s father until after the comet passes, Zuko must tell him the truth. Firelord Ozai is planning to destroy the world and start anew as the King of the world, the Phoenix King. Aang is upset at the thought that he must kill Ozai. He disappears (there is no trace of him) in the middle of the night, with a heavy mind and heavy heart.
3.19 – “Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters” – Aang wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Alone with Momo, the two seem to be on an island that has virtually disappeared. Unaware of where he is, he talks to his past lives (past Avatars) to try and discuss his views on killing Ozai. The Avatar gang looks for Aang with no luck. Zuko has his Uncle tracked and the group heads to Ba Sing Se, where his scent leads them. There they not only find Iroh (Mako), they also find various Masters from all four kingdoms who all belong to an Ancient group called the Order of the White Lotus, which puts principles of life above an individual nation’s feelings. Zuko tries to find another way to take on Ozai without Aang.
3.20 – “Sozin’s Comet, Part 3: Into The Inferno” – Zuko heads home tostop the coronation of Azula as the new firelord. Azula challenges Zuko to an Agni Kai and all Katara can do is sit there and watch the action. Suki, Toph and Sokka go to stop the warships that Ozai has sent to destroy the Earth Kingdom. The Masters stay in Ba Sing Se to defend and take back the city.
3.21 – “Sozin’s Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang” – The ultimate battle of good and evil. Aang must choose between putting aside his personal beliefs and battling for the greater good of the world. He must battle his own internal demon (does he kill or doesn’t he?) before he can truly fight Ozai. Whatever happens in this battle determines the fate of the entire world hereafter.
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The episodes (on the Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 4 DVD) look as good as they did when they aired on Nickelodeon. The show is presented in 1.33:1 full frames, which is typical for an animated television series. There are very few (if any) visual errors that I noticed. While there could have been more done had the show been presented in anamorphic widescreen (especially with all the action sequences), this most definitely doesn’t look bad visually. I’m just greedy!
The English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound comes through clearly. It’s relatively dynamic (for what it is) and the sound effects, music and dialogue don’t run together or out power one another. I’d have liked to hear a 5.1 soundtrack, but again, that’s just me being greedy. There aren’t any audio problems on this DVD and it sounds as good, if not better, than it did while on television. Closed Captioning is available in English for the hearing impaired.
Visual: 
Audio:
Bonus Features:
There is only one bonus feature included on the Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 4 DVD. There is audio commentary by the creators, the cast and various crew members of the show. As always, the commentary is interesting. This is pretty standard for the Avatar: The Last Airbender volume DVDs. For more bonuses, you can usually find them in the Avatar full DVD collection.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the best anime-inspired cartoons that I’ve ever seen. I love this show and plan to own all of the episodes (55 in total) in this series. If you are new to the show or you can’t afford more expensive box sets then the Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 Fire, Vol. 4 DVD will be perfect for you. If you’re a die-hard fan and you have the cash, wait until September when the Full Book Three Collection is released. Whatever way you choose to buy this series, the purchase of Avatar: The Last Airbender – Book 3 will be worth it, in the end.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 3 Fire, Volume 4, TV Show, Cartoon, Nickelodeon, Fire Nation, Zach Tyler, Mae Whitman, Dante Bosco, Mako, Jack De Sena
Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.
