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Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Book Two Collection
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
DVD Cover InformationActor: Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Jack De Sena, Mae Whitman, Zach Tyler Brand: Nickelodeon Writer: Bryan Konietzko Writer: Michael Dante DiMartino DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Format: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC Picture Format: 1.33:1 Running Time: 492 minutes DVD Release Date: 2007-09-11 Audience Rating: Unrated Studio: Nickelodeon Product features: - All 20 chapters from Book 2: Earth on 5 discs
- Interview with Creators and M. Night Shyamalan
- "The Essence of Bending" with Bryan Konietzko and Sifu Kisu
- Avatar Super Deformed Shorts
- "Escape From the Spirit World" Animated Graphic Novel
Movie Reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Book Two CollectionMovie Review: Be the Envy of Nerds Everywhere Summary: 5 Stars
Note: This review is written on the basis that you are already familiar with the main story and that I don't need to explain the basics.
People hate Avatar for two reasons. The first, it's a cartoon that airs on a kids station, and people believe anyone who spends time watching kid's shows is sad and/or have no life. The second reason is (and I can't believe this is a reason) it's not real anime. It was written in America. These are the same people who refuse to try sherbert because it's not real ice cream.
Still, there is a very good reason that this series has gotten five stars consistantly from reviewers, and it's not because all the reviewers are eight years old and know more about hacking the iPhone than I will ever learn in three lifetimes. It's because this series has depth, character, a complex but easily followable plot, reasearched, and has yet to be corrupted by the likes of stockbrokers and lawyers.
Warning: Do not buy season two of Avatar if you have not bought season one or at least have a basic understanding. You will be lost.
Season two of Avatar, although richer and deeper than season one, lost some points for me due to the fact that you practically need to watch every episode in order to understand what is going on, something season one managed beautifully. Much to my surprise, buying the entire season on DVD solved that problem, bumping my rating back up to five stars. It was wonderful to see the episodes all the way through and see them all flowing toghether. The artwork is magnificent, and the research the creators put into their action sequences is appreciated, even for those of us in the norm (myself included) with a lack of any martial arts experience. The overall feel is a superb story blending comedy, drama, action, romance, and tragedy almost flawlessly (let's see non-cartoons pull off something like that.)
This set comes with five DVDs, four containing chapters 1-20 of Book 2, Earth, and the fifth comes with special features including Super Deformed Shorts and the standard behind the scenes features. The commentary on some of the episodes is actually pretty interesting if you have an hour or so to kill.
Final Tally...
Actual Show: 10/10
DVD Features: 8/10 (I have no complaints, just that they might have added more stuff)
Endurance (as in, how many times can I watch this before I go crazy?): 10/10
Condition/Durability: Just don't use the box as a doorstop and you should be fine.
Price: 7/10. Really expensive, but I definetly worth saving up for.
Summary of Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Complete Book Two CollectionAvatar: The Complete Book 2 DVD Collection includes 20 action packed episodes from Book 2: Earth, plus an exclusive never-before-seen bonus disc! This 5 disc set centers around Avatar Aang and his continious quest to master the four elements. Together with Katara, Sokka, Momo and Appa, he journeys across the Earth Kingdom in search of an Earthbending mentor while staying one step ahead of Prince Zuko and fighting off the treachorous, Princess Azula, of the Fire Nation, who will stop at nothing to defeat the Avatar! Book 2: Earth, Vol. 1 Avatar the Last Airbender: Book 2 Earth, Volume 1 finds Aang, the Avatar and potential reconciler of a world divided into air, earth, water, and fire kingdoms, now a master Waterbender. That means he and companions Katara and Sokka can now leave the Northern Water Tribe and concentrate on mastering earth. New adventures and dangers await the heroic trio in the five episodes included on this DVD, which finds Aang experiencing nightmares about the power of the Avatar State. He also meets an earth kingdom general with plans for attacking the warrior tribes of the fire nation, gets trapped with possible love interest Katara in the Cave of Two Lovers, and gets pulled into a supernatural swamp by a tornado. As always, Avatar is above average as an engaging anime tale, with a wonderfully original storyline and striking artistry. --Tom Keogh Book 2: Earth, Vol. 2 The five chapters in Avatar the Last Airbender: Book 2 Earth, Volume 2 continue the story of young avatar Aang's adventures deep within the Earth Kingdom. As usual, each episode is a seamless blend of grave drama and comic relief, but the stakes seem higher than ever with the addition of a new member to Aang's team. Joining Katara and Sokka is Toph, a blind but powerful earthbending girl trying to obscure her aristocratic origins by defeating large, scary men in the ring. Aang recognizes Toph from his vision of an earthbending teacher, whom he needs to help him master control over the earth element. Toph also adds a kind of sardonic, tart tone to Aang's journey, ultimately leaving her world to join the series? trio of young heroes. "The Blind Bandit" finds Aang, Katara, and Sokka working hard at convincing Toph to help their mission. "Zuko Alone" carries on the tale of the firebending prince who now travels alone and anonymously, but comes close to befriending a boy in an Earth Kingdom town. (The episode is full of interesting flashbacks from Zuko?s youth.) "The Chase" also concerns Zuko?s past, but is primarily about Aang, Katara, and Sokka adjusting to Toph?s somewhat self-centered presence on the team at the same time Princess Azula is relentlessly hunting them all down in a kind of speeding tank. "Bitter Work" finds Toph having difficulties training Aang, while "The Library" is an exotic episode about a professor who leads the crew to a library containing information useful against the Fire Nation. When they get there, they find the place guarded by the owl-like Wan Shi Tong, who begins sinking the library in defense against the perceived invaders. --Tom Keogh Book 2: Earth, Vol. 3 Avatar the Last Airbender: Book 2 Earth, Volume 3 covers chapters 11 through 15 in the ongoing saga of Aang, the 12-year-old reincarnation of an avatar destined to reunite the warring nations of fire, earth, water, and air. Still traveling with his friends Katara, Sokka, and newcomer Toph, Aang gets into some of the strangest and most compelling situations yet seen on his journey to master control over all four elements. The first story, "The Desert," finds Aang so upset over the abduction and criminal sale of his flying bison, Appa, that the powerful boy shows a streak of rage, demonstrating to himself that he could easily use his emerging skills to harm enemies if he wished. Still, Appa remains missing through this volume, leading the gang on a mission to survive a desert sojourn and survive during a perilous flight (with a young family in tow) over a pass through mountains and ocean in "The Serpent?s Pass." They also get involved in a bizarre fight (in "The Drill") against the Fire Nation army and its gigantic drill, which is aimed at the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, a city occupied by earth people. Once inside Ba Sing Se, however, things get really weird: smiling officials (in "City of Walls and Secrets") outlaw any discussion of the war outside in order to keep the population placid and the economy rolling. Finally, "Tales of Ba Sing Se" is an original piece made up of individual vignettes focusing on each of the major characters. If there is anything surprising about Book 2 Earth, Volume 3, it?s the amount of romance (kissing, even!) in the air. These Avatar boys and girls are growing up. --Tom Keogh Book 2: Earth, Vol. 4 The long journey of young Avatar Aang and his friends Katara, Sokka, and Toph continues in this dramatic installment in the Avatar the Last Airbender series. Picking up from Volume 3, the first chapter on this disc, "Appa?s Lost Days," traces the hard times of Aang?s winged bison, Appa, after the latter is stolen in order to blackmail Aang into not going to the Earth King with information about a pending coup. The clever Aang manages to find Appa anyway and complete his crucial mission, though he learns, in "The Earth King," that the sheltered monarch doesn?t buy the notion that his own counsel, the power-grasping Long Feng, could be behind such a conspiracy. Complicating matters is the arrival of Princess Azula to take control over forces loyal to Long Feng, while Zuko, the reformed Fire Nation prince now acting as a humble but happier servant to his wise, tea-drinking uncle, is powerless to stop her. (On the other hand, Zuko forms an unexpected bond with one of Aang?s allies.) Everything comes to a head in "The Crossroads of Destiny," in which Aang, suddenly confused by the sage advice of a guru who tells him he must free himself of a crucial emotional attachment, joins the others in an uphill effort to stop Azula from overtaking the Earth King. As engaging and frequently funny as every other volume in the Avatar series, Volume Four is a great ride through a climactic time in the long-running story. --Tom Keogh
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