The Last Airbender (2010)

Follows the adventures of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must master all four elements and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone

8 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Noah Ringer	...	Aang
Dev Patel	...	Prince Zuko
Nicola Peltz	...	Katara
Jackson Rathbone	...	Sokka
Shaun Toub	...	Uncle Iroh
Aasif Mandvi	...	Commander Zhao
Cliff Curtis	...	Fire Lord Ozai
Seychelle Gabriel	...	Princess Yue
Katharine Houghton	...	Katara's Grandma
Francis Guinan	...	Master Pakku
Damon Gupton	...	Monk Gyatso
Summer Bishil	...	Azula
Randall Duk Kim	...	Old Man in Temple
John D'Alonzo	...	Zhao's Assistant
Keong Sim	...	Earthbending Father

Storyline

The world is divided into four kingdoms, each represented by the element they harness, and peace has lasted throughout the realms of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire under the supervision of the Avatar, a link to the spirit world and the only being capable of mastering the use of all four elements. When young Avatar Aang disappears, the Fire Nation launches an attack to eradicate all members of the Air Nomads to prevent interference in their future plans for world domination. 100 years pass and current Fire Lord Ozai continues to conquer and imprison anyone with elemental "bending" abilities in the Earth and Water Kingdoms, while siblings Katara and Sokka from a Southern Water Tribe find a mysterious boy trapped beneath the ice outside their village. Upon rescuing him, he reveals himself to be Aang, Avatar and last of the Air Nomads. Swearing to protect the Avatar, Katara and Sokka journey with him to the Northern Water Kingdom in his quest to master "Waterbending" and eventually fulfill ...

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Plot Keywords:

live action adaptation | based on animation | based on cartoon | supernatural power | handheld weapon | 

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Taglines:

Four nations, one destiny

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for fantasy action violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film received excessive criticism for its casting of ethnically and racially inaccurate actors for the roles of characters inspired by Asian culture, leading to several whitewashing accusations, as Aang is a Buddhist character, while Katara and Sokka are based on Eskimos, and Fire Nation characters like Zuko and Iroh are supposed to be Japanese. This criticism was countered by the filmmakers who pointed out how every nation in the film is multicultural, with a mix of several races and ethnicities in each location.

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Goofs

During the first conversation between Fire Lord Ozai and General Zhao we can see that Ozai's eyes move from left to right while he looks in the direction of Zhao's chest, thus revealing the use of a prompter.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Katara: A hundred years ago all was right with our world. Prosperity and peace filled our days. / The four Nations: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air Nomads lived amongst each other in harmony. / Great respect was afforded to all those who could bend their natural element. / The Avatar was the only person born amongst all the nations who could master all four elements. / He was the only one who could communicate with the Spirit World. With the Spirits' guidance the Avatar kept balance in the ...

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Crazy Credits

The opening production logos are accompanied by bending elements: the stars in the Paramount logo are accompanied by splashes of water, and the Nickelodeon Movies logo is seen ablaze and is cooled down with a blast of air.

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Alternate Versions

Also released in a 3D version.

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Connections

Referenced in Weird Movies with Mark: How Bad Is Lady in the Water??? (2014)

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Soundtracks

La La
Written by Ashlee Simpson and John Shanks
Performed by Ashlee Simpson
Produced by John Shanks

User Reviews

An Absolute Disgrace to the Series

I watched this reluctantly for the first time recently to see if it was bad as I had heard and I was wrong, it was even worse than I could have imagined. I was unable to even finish the movie. I wish I could rate it lower. I understand that adaptations are difficult to reflect in the same light as the original content but the direction style, casting, writing, acting, and animation of this movie was lazy, disrespectful, and devalued the core ideals of the series. The movie proves painful to watch. I grew up watching the series and still now as an adult I am still constantly in awe of how wonderful of a show it is. So I wholeheartedly recommend to forget you even laid eyes on this movie and go watch the series in all it's glory.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Filming Locations:

Delaware Generating Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,325,019, 4 July 2010

Gross USA:

$131,772,187

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$319,713,881

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, Blinding Edge Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 DTS SDDS Sonics-DDP

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1