Upon release, the film adaptation was near-universally panned by critics, fans of the original animated series, and even viewers of the film who were unfamiliar with the series, though it did receive some praise for its visual effects and design. It ceased to be on the big screen and went into limbo just two months after its release. It is currently commercially solid with a $319,123,021 intake worldwide. The movie was released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 16th, 2010, which were advertised on Nickelodeon before reruns of the series were shown between November 2010 and March 2011, though copies had discontinued to be printed by March. It made its only premiere on the network in early April 2011 and after the TV failure it was sold to a movie channel and aired in January 21st 2013 which received minimal praise. [5]
The film tells the story of Aang, a thirteen-year-old[nb 2] airbender who runs away from his destiny as the Avatar. After a hundred years in suspended animation, Aang travels to the Northern Water Tribe on the other side of the world with his newfound friends, Katara and Sokka, to find a master to teach him waterbending. In his absence, the Fire Nation, now ruled by Fire Lord Ozai, has been waging a seemingly endless war against the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe, having already destroyed the Air Nomads. As the Avatar, he is hunted by Zuko, an exiled prince of the Fire Nation seeking to redeem his honor, and the Fire Nation itself, led by Commander Zhao.
Noah Ringer as Aang: The 13-year-old[nb 2] Avatar and the last surviving airbender. Ringer is a Texas taekwondo champion, who won the part in an open audition. He was cast after submitting a homemade DVD of himself practicing taekwondo and was 12 years old during the shooting of this film. This was his debut.
Nicola Peltz as Katara: A 15-year-old[nb 2] waterbender, the last one from her Southern Water Tribe. Peltz was highly praised at her audition by Shyamalan and was fourteen years old during the shooting of this film. Shyamalan said that he did not want to do the movie without her.
Jackson Rathbone as Sokka: A fifteen-year-old[nb 2] warrior from the Southern Water Tribe, and brother to Katara. Rathbone is primarily known for his portrayal of the vampire Jasper Hale in the Twilight films.
Dev Patel as Zuko: An eighteen-year-old[nb 2] firebending prince of the Fire Nation, banished by his father. Patel replaced Jesse McCartney for the role of Prince Zuko as the latter was unable to take part due to conflicting scheduling.[6] Shyamalan was impressed by Patel's acting performance in Slumdog Millionaire and so cast him in the role. Young Zuko was played by Rohan Shah.
Aasif Mandvi as Zhao: A high-ranking general of the Fire Nation who led the Siege of the North. Mandvi is an Indian-born, British-raised actor and comedian. He is regular correspondent on The Daily Show.
Shaun Toub as Iroh: A former general of the Fire Nation, brother to Ozai, and uncle to Zuko and Azula. Toub is an Iranian-born television and film actor of Persian Jewish background with previous roles in films such as Bad Boys, Iron Man and Crash.
Cliff Curtis as Ozai: The Fire Lord, the monarch of the Fire Nation. Curtis is a New Zealander with Maori heritage. He previously had starring roles in New Zealand films such as Whale Rider.
Francis Guinan as Master Pakku: A master and the leader of waterbenders for the Northern Water Tribe.
Damon Gupton as Gyatso: A senior airbending monk from the Southern Air Temple, and a guardian and father figure to Aang.
Summer Bishil as Azula: A firebending prodigy, daughter to Ozai, and sister to Zuko. Bishil is an American-born 22 year old actress Her mother is White American, and her father is a Saudi citizen of Indian ancestry. She rose to fame by starring in the movie Towelhead.
There is ongoing controversy in the Avatar fan community over the casting choices, in part because some of the actors were Caucasian, and the original cartoon is based on Asian culture.
The novelization was released on May 25, 2010[8], before the film was released in July 1, 2010[9]. Curiously, there were differences in the novelized story from the movie itself, including scenes not included in the movie (e.g. the Kyoshi Warriors), newly added scenes in the movie (e.g. the Azula epilogue), and alternate outcome of the story (e.g. some Fire Nation ships were crushed by the wave). Very likely, the novelization was for the movie before it was announced to be revised for 3D purposes[10] after the printing and distribution of the novelization was underway. Indeed, test screening reviews from AICN[11][12] contained elements covered in the novelization but not in the final cut such as Zhao punching the fish to death instead of stabbing it with a dagger. The theatrical version of the movie is estimated to be 20-30 minutes shorter than the novelized version, which may be what Shyamalan alluded to when he said "I'm dying to make a two-hour movie, I just haven't earned it yet"[13], and has been suggested to accommodate the limited availability of 3D screens.[14]
In the video "interview" of M. Night Shyamalan conducted by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, the film trilogy was planned to be 6+ hours long, which gave 2+ hours for the first movie (though the final running time is 103 minutes). Due to the short allotted running time, the film does not cover the entire first season of the original animated series, even though the film was titled "Book One: Water". With such rich and complex story elements, rather than a "comprehensive adaptation" like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, essential elements were selected and rewoven into its own story and direction, similar to a "selective adaptation" approach with a long series like Spider-man and X-Men.
On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they had signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series; the first of these films was to be a faithful adaptation of the main characters' adventures in Book One. The film was in a dispute with James Cameron's film Avatar regarding title ownership, which resulted in the film being titled The Last Airbender.
The Last Airbender has received a nearly universal negative response from critics, on the tomatometer receiving 7% from Top Critics and 6% from All Critics[15]. The film was nominated for eight Golden Raspberry Awards, which is a parody of the Oscars by doling out accolades to the worst films of the year, and won five[16]: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (for Jackson Rathbone), and Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D. The Worst Sequel, Remake, or Adaptation and Worst Screen Couple/Ensemble were lost to Sex and the City 2, while Worst Supporting Actress went to Jessica Alba. It was nominated with several other awards including Choice Summer Movie for the 2010 Teen Choice Awards[17], International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA)[18], the 32nd Young Artist Award[19], the 2011 MTV Movie Awards,[20], and the 3rd Annual Coming of Age Movie Awards[21] of which, Noah Ringer won for the Best Actor[22]. Many fans of the original series have demanded for a remake or reboot of the film, which is discussed in Readapting Avatar: The Last Airbender. Fans of the film itself, however, have banded together in support of the movie at various sites, many of them asked to release an extended cut of the movie[23][24].
The DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack was released on November 16, 2010 from Paramount Home Entertainment of the film. It boasts over two hours of in-depth, behind-the-scenes special features including a nine-part documentary on the making of the film, a featurette entitled "Origins of the Avatar", which documents the creative transformation of the hit animated series to the big screen, picture-in-picture insights from the cast and crew that deconstruct some of the amazing action and visual effects sequences, deleted scenes, outtakes and more. A 3D Blu-ray version was also released on the same day, but as a Best Buy exclusive release.
↑Frank Marshall had dismissed this $280 million combined figure as a rumor[2].
↑ 2.02.12.22.32.4According to the movie novelization, Aang was biologically thirteen years old, Katara was fifteen, Sokka was seventeen, and Zuko was eighteen. In contrast with the original series, Aang was biologically twelve years old, Katara was fourteen, Sokka was fifteen, and Zuko was sixteen.
Create blog post 
Added by Ruen
Added by Hasdi
