Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Video quality bends, but doesn't break, in this quality TV release.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 17, 2018

Avatar: The Last Airbender evolves the traditional 30-minuite episodic cartoon into a wonderfully realized, living and breathing arc-driven fantasy world of many external influences and internal novelties harmoniously brought together into one fantastic show. Airing on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008, the show, telling the story of the young Airbender/Avatar named Aang and his role in returning harmony to his broken, war-ravaged world, garnered critical acclaim and a substantial fan following (which included Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote and directed a poorly received live action adaptation). For its 10-year anniversary, Paramount has released the show to Blu-ray, packed with extras and at a very attractive price point considering the quantity of content and quality of the show.

The world is divided into four nations: the Air Nomads, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation. Each exists harmoniously with the other, and each is defended by those with the ability to "bend" their native environments to their will, to wield the powers of air, water, earth, and fire, for purpose, for play, for good...for evil. A century ago, the Fire Nation attacked its neighbors, sending the world into chaos. The one person who could put an end to the rebellion, a unique master of all four elements -- the Avatar -- has died. His spirit was reincarnated into a young boy named Aang, an air bender, but the chaos of war has resulted in Aang existing in a state of suspended animation. He is inadvertently awoken by a pair of Water Tribe explorers, Katara and her brother Sokka. Aang's awakening draws the attention of a rogue, militant young Fire bender named Zuko who makes it his mission to hunt Aang down. As Aang and his new friends adventure through a dangerous world, they will face many trials and learn more about themselves and their bending abilities as they effort to restore order to their home world.

All of the show’s core construct elements (no pun intended) work well individually and collectively alike. The story, action, characterization, animation, voice work, sound effects…it’s difficult to find flaw with the show, top to bottom. It’s narratively vibrant, built around a few stock elements but Creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have accomplished something wonderful in the way they have filled in all the gaps, bending all the pieces together (OK, pun certainly intended that time) to craft a fully realized, richly textured world and character roster. Avatar certainly looks like some generic cartoon at-a-glance, but give it time -- one episode, even -- and the differences in dramatic texture compared to other similarly looking programs is apparent. Give it a handful of episodes and its story depth becomes clear. Give it a season and its intoxicating draw is fully realized. Give it the full run and its place as a classic TV show -- animated or otherwise -- becomes incontrovertible.

The show additionally reveals a healthy vitality in its action constructs. It’s really quite amazing to watch how the production team has seamlessly and precisely implemented various styles of Kung Fu into the bending motions, how each style reflects and compliments the characters and, more, their work with the elements they command. There’s a remarkable fluidity to it all, and the harmonious movements give every action scene, or even playful bit of fun with an element, a sense of fantasy authenticity that’s critical to the show’s visual success and narrative flow. Avatar is a show very much rooted in reality, even as it deals in the fantastic, and that connection between something distant and wonderful and familiar is a large part of what makes the show work so well.

Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Series was originally broadcast in standard definition and its elements finished in SD, so this set is a high definition upscale. The resultant 1080p image, which is presented in an original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 that places "back bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 frame, is fairly strong under the constraints and limitations, but it's important to note that various artifacts abound. Ringing, banding, aliasing, noise, and mild macroblocking are all issues with which the viewer must contend throughout each episode. None are severe (though the ringing is the most consistently obvious of the bunch) but are noticeable enough to occasionally interrupt a watch. Fortunately, the show is good enough on its own merits that the narrative absorption crushes video flaws; the viewer will be so hooked to the story that technical issues fade into the background of the larger viewing experience. Generally, the image is pleasing enough. Colors are consistent, though not extremely vibrant or dynamic. They're very basic, even in variations of shades of red in the fire kingdom or brighter blues and yellows throughout the world. Textures fare well, particularly stable and static environments that enjoy more complex artwork than moving parts, like characters. Considering its SD roots, it's difficult to be too disappointed. The results are very good overall. Flaws are readily apparent, but Paramount has done a very good job with this release, in totality.

Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Series features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Much like the video, it has its limits, but it's also more than adequate in delivering essential sound elements and some more nuanced details alike with pleasing accuracy. The track's most evident drawback is the lack of a dedicated subwoofer channel. The track as it's configured just cannot support the show's most intense elements and action scenes with the sort of heft that would have elevated most every moment several-fold. Such scenes do not sound empty, but it's definitely wanting greater low-end definition. The track makes good use of the available channels, however, spacing out with impressive width along the stage's front end. Music and effects alike push out to the edges, both with good essential clarity and precision in less substantial support elements. Various effects are well imaged and stage traversal is often a highlight. Dialogue images towards the center with pleasing command of that area. Even in the absence of additional channels and a subwoofer component, the track plays relatively well and supports the show very well.

Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Series contains a large assortment of extra content spread across all nine discs. Note that commentaries are not available in-episode but are rather separate features on the disc; essentially the episodes with commentaries appear on the disc twice.

Disc One:

• Behind the Scenes Kung Fu Featurette (480i, 4:38): Martial Arts Expert Sifu Kisu discusses the martial arts styles that direct the show, including Tai Chi's influence on water bending, Hung Gar Kung Fu's merging with Earth bending, Fire bending's roots in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, and Bagua (Circle Walking) and its definition of air bending.
• Credits (480i, 1.78:1, 0:53): Show credit sequence.
• The Making of Avatar -- From Real Life to Animation (480i, 3:59): Creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko act out some moments from the show.

Disc Two:

• Behind the Scenes: The Voices of Avatar (480i, 4:35): A quick discussion of characters and the details of the voice acting process, including voicing animals.
• Ask the Creators Featurette (480i, 3:05): Series Creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko answer a few questions: the time it takes to create an episode, visual inspirations, the show's martial arts foundations, design choices, and more.
• Original Uncut Animatic -- Episode #15: Bato of the Water Tribe (480i, 24:36): The entire episode presented in storyboard form. The finished product plays in a smaller window on the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentaries: For "The Northern Air Temple:" Sound Designer Benjamin Wynn and Voice Actor Dee Baker. For "The Waterbending Master:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Head Writer Aaron Ehasz. For "The Siege of the North, Part 1:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Head Writer Aaron Ehasz. For "The Siege of the North, Part 2:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Head Writer Aaron Ehasz.
• Behind the Scenes with the Avatar Cast & Crew (480i, 3:16): A quick plot recap followed by quick cast and crew interviews that again cover plot and characters.
• Avatar Pilot Episode with Audio Commentary: Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko speak atop a full episode test animation.
• The Making of Avatar -- Inside the Sound Studios (480i, 6:13): A discussion of the process that builds the show's sound elements beyond dialogue, including practical and digital work.
• The Making of Avatar -- Inside the Korean Animation Studios (480i, 25:53): Co-Creator Bryan Konietzko guides viewers through a tour through JM animation where the show's visual magic is made. Partially in Korean with English subtitles.

Disc Four:

• Original Uncut Animatic -- Episode #21: The Avatar State (480i, 24:38): The entire episode presented in storyboard form. The finished product plays in a smaller window on the bottom-right corner of the screen.
• Audio Commentaries: For "The Blind Bandit:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Director Ethan Spaulding. For "The Chase:" Co-Creator Mike DiMartino, Writer Josh Hamilton, and Director Giancarlo Volpe.

Disc Five:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Episode #12, Journey to Ba Sing Se: Part 1 The Serpent's Pass:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Co-Writer Josh Hamilton. Note that this commentary, which is for part one of the episode "The Secret of Fire Nation," is presented in standard definition. For "City and Walls of Secrets:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Background Layout Supervisor Elsa Garagarza.

Disc Six:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Lake Laogai:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and Writer Tim Hedrick. For " The Earth King:" Co-Creator Mike DiMartino, Writer John O'Bryan, and Storyboard Artist Joaquim Dos Santos. For "The Crossroads of Destiny:" Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
• Interview with Creators and M. Night Shyamalan (480i, 10:18): Co-Creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko sit down with the acclaimed filmmaker to discuss the animated show and Shyamalan's film.
• The Essence of Bending with Bryan Konietzko and Sifu Kisu (480i, 9:23): An in-depth discussion about how real martial arts are integrated into the show.
• Avatar Super Deformed Shorts (480i): Childlike characterizations from the world of Avatar tell a trio of mini-stories. Included are Bending Battle (3:56), Swamp Skiin' Throwdown (4:06), and School Time Shipping (4:10).
• Escape from the Spirit World: Animated Graphic Novel (480i, 13:11): An Avatar tale presented as an animated graphic novel with music but no dialogue. Text-based dialogue appears across the bottom of the screen.

Disc Seven:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Sokka's Master:" Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino and Martial Arts Consultant Sifu Kisu. For "The Beach:" Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko, Director Joaquim Dos Santos, and Writer Katie Mattila. For "The Avatar and the Firelord:" Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino, Sound Designer Benjamin Wynn, and Composer Jeremy Zuckerman.

Disc Eight:

• Audio Commentaries: For "Day of Black Sun" (in 1.78:1 standard definition): Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino, Sound Designer Benjamin Wynn, and Composer Jeremy Zuckerman. For "The Western Air Temple:" Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino. For "The Southern Raiders:" Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino, Voice Director Andrea Romano, and Actor Dante Basco.

Disc Nine:

• Audio Commentaries: For "The Ember Island Players:" Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino and Actors Jessie Flower and Jack De Sena. For "Sozin's Comet Part 1" (in 1.78:1 standard definition): Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino.
• The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender (480i, 18:47): The cast, the creators, and the fans explore the powerful women in the show, including Katara, Toph, and Azula.
• Book 3 Finale Pencil Test Animation (480i, 11:18): Co-Creators Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino introduce early production drawings detailing how the show will look.
• Into the Fire Nation at San Diego Comic-Con (480i, 36:31): A panel of Avatar voice cast and crew discuss the show.

Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Avatar ranks as one of the all-time great animated programs and it's one of the better TV shows out there. A magical mix of familiar and fantastic, it's a show built on intimate and detailed characterization, full-steam-ahead drama, intense and wonderfully realized action, and plenty of narrative depth and accessible complexity. It's too bad that the live action filmed version could not live up to the series' excellence, but this is a fabulous three-season run that has finally earned a much-desired Blu-ray release. While picture and sound are imperfect, they're certainly in no way horrible given the source's limitations. Paramount has also ported over a mammoth amount of extra content from previous DVD releases. Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Series comes very highly recommended.