Yahoo has the new "The Last Airbender" trailer:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810071569/video/18070297
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810071569/video/18070297
New The Last Airbender trailer
- Thread starter Hyperspace05
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It might be longer than the super bowl spot, but no more helpful or enticing. So many stories have a chosen one and all that, and since I have no nostalgia for this franchise, I wil not eb seeing it. Of course, attaching Shamalan's name to the project is no real help.
I'll probably go see it because my kids like the animated version a lot...and the visuals, at least, look pretty entertaining...
It is directed by M. Night...but it's based on existing material, and not some story he came up with based around a twist he thinks is cool.
It is directed by M. Night...but it's based on existing material, and not some story he came up with based around a twist he thinks is cool.
I guess my reaction is mostly "Meh"... I expected something more.. epic? I certainly looks more like a kids film than I thought it would.
But then again I never watched the TV series, so perhaps my expectations where not realistic.
But then again I never watched the TV series, so perhaps my expectations where not realistic.
I recognized almost every scene. As long as they get Zuko's complex character arc correctly I will be a happy camper. As someone who has only recently been introduced to Avatar. I find this recreation of the cartoon pretty remarkable. I just hope it has the heart of the cartoon, I am 37 and I loved this show and think it will make a fantastic movie. There is a a lot of hidden depths in Avatar, Its going to be interesting if M knight can bring those out.
One plus is M knight is a huge fan of the cartoon. What he does will be out of love for the material and you can see a lot of love in that trailer. Another plus is that M knight is working with the creators of that show and they approve. M knight used to make good movies. Unbreakable was awesome and so was was the 6th sense. HE just needs to channel his inner Spielberg and he will be fine.
If he doesn't his kids will kill him. His kids are even bigger fans of the show then he is. In fact M knight first saw Avatar while his kids were watching it. He become hooked and obsessed and then made Friday nights family nights where they would all watch Avatar together. SO in a way this is a pretty special project for him. As a stepfather I know if I recreated one of my kids favorite show's incorrectly, I would be dead within a week
One plus is M knight is a huge fan of the cartoon. What he does will be out of love for the material and you can see a lot of love in that trailer. Another plus is that M knight is working with the creators of that show and they approve. M knight used to make good movies. Unbreakable was awesome and so was was the 6th sense. HE just needs to channel his inner Spielberg and he will be fine.
If he doesn't his kids will kill him. His kids are even bigger fans of the show then he is. In fact M knight first saw Avatar while his kids were watching it. He become hooked and obsessed and then made Friday nights family nights where they would all watch Avatar together. SO in a way this is a pretty special project for him. As a stepfather I know if I recreated one of my kids favorite show's incorrectly, I would be dead within a week
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They do appear to be following a lot from the animated series and I'm guessing by that trailer the ending point for the first movie (since I assume they plan on sequels) is at the North Pole and that this first movie will be a condensed version of Book One/Season one of the show. Which probably means the blond in the trailer is Princess Yue.
I can't see any actress listed for Azula though on IMDB so I'm guessing they bumped her to the sequel if the first movie is successful. She really didn't appear in the show until the final episode or so of S1. Maybe they feel like introducing a new character in the last 10 minutes of the movie wouldn't work.
The one thing that will make or break this movie though is acting performances, you need the young actors playing Katara, Aang, Sokka to actually be decent. I'm not expecting academy award performances, but we need decent. You can't have them delivering Jake Loyd as Anakin in Ep1 performances.
At least I'm not worried about Zuko since Dev Patel is playing him.
I can't see any actress listed for Azula though on IMDB so I'm guessing they bumped her to the sequel if the first movie is successful. She really didn't appear in the show until the final episode or so of S1. Maybe they feel like introducing a new character in the last 10 minutes of the movie wouldn't work.
The one thing that will make or break this movie though is acting performances, you need the young actors playing Katara, Aang, Sokka to actually be decent. I'm not expecting academy award performances, but we need decent. You can't have them delivering Jake Loyd as Anakin in Ep1 performances.
At least I'm not worried about Zuko since Dev Patel is playing him.
I am most worried about Aang. We havent seen enough of him and this is his first role. Aang goes through a lot of emotions in the series and you need a good actor to play that. Also Aang has a lot of innocence about him.
Katara sounds like Katara, I even close my eyes and pictured Katara saying those lines. However Katara is the heart of the team. She has to be mother,sister and potential love interest. Its a lot for a young actress to carry. But what I have seen so far seems to be in the right direction.
Sokka is a difficult character because he is basically Xander light. To much and he could be overbearing, to little and you lose his character. Sokka keeps things light hearted even though all hell is breaking loose around them. He is a pivotal character who also goes through a pretty intense character arc. We have to believe Sokka because of what happens later with princess Yueh.
I am also not worried about Zuko, Dev Patel is a great actor. I am sure he will do my favorite fire bender justice. He looks the part. I hope they slowly foreshadow what Zuko becomes.
Avatar lives and dies on its characters. They have to be believable and sympathetic. I am guessing M knight knows this. The blueprint is there all he has to do is follow it.
The first movie is based on book one Water. It believe it does end at the Northern water tribe city. Which is awesome because I loved those episodes. Next movie we will see Toph and Azula.
To Hyperspace 05 if they follow the series. You will get your epic and then some!!!!!
All I have to say is Appa yip yip!!!!
Katara sounds like Katara, I even close my eyes and pictured Katara saying those lines. However Katara is the heart of the team. She has to be mother,sister and potential love interest. Its a lot for a young actress to carry. But what I have seen so far seems to be in the right direction.
Sokka is a difficult character because he is basically Xander light. To much and he could be overbearing, to little and you lose his character. Sokka keeps things light hearted even though all hell is breaking loose around them. He is a pivotal character who also goes through a pretty intense character arc. We have to believe Sokka because of what happens later with princess Yueh.
I am also not worried about Zuko, Dev Patel is a great actor. I am sure he will do my favorite fire bender justice. He looks the part. I hope they slowly foreshadow what Zuko becomes.
Avatar lives and dies on its characters. They have to be believable and sympathetic. I am guessing M knight knows this. The blueprint is there all he has to do is follow it.
The first movie is based on book one Water. It believe it does end at the Northern water tribe city. Which is awesome because I loved those episodes. Next movie we will see Toph and Azula.
To Hyperspace 05 if they follow the series. You will get your epic and then some!!!!!
All I have to say is Appa yip yip!!!!
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What bugs me in the trailer is that in that slow-motion shot of "Aang" sliding underneath a weapon or whatever, it's clearly a female stunt double who seems to be taller and slimmer than Ringer.
Yeah, the voice is close, but I may have to keep my eyes closed, because she sure as hell doesn't look like Katara. I thought it was really silly-looking to see these very white people dressed up as faux-Inuit.
The voiceover guy was clearly Avatar Roku, and he was a fairly good voice match too. It does seem that Shyamalan is going for authenticity, which makes the whitewashed casting all the more bizarre and incongruous. I think it must be the result of an order from a studio executive.
Oh, for the love of God, you're not one of the people who think that Paramount's studio executives got together one day and decided they didn't like brown people and issued some order on high not to cast them, are you?
Besides, M. Night himself wanted Niccola Peltz, according to People Magazine. This was his exact words to them.
M.Night. “I told the studio I didn’t want to make this movie without her,” Shyamalan tells PEOPLE. “I said that only once before in my career, and that was when I met Haley [Joel Osment] in the Sixth Sense auditions.”
Besides, M. Night himself wanted Niccola Peltz, according to People Magazine. This was his exact words to them.
M.Night. “I told the studio I didn’t want to make this movie without her,” Shyamalan tells PEOPLE. “I said that only once before in my career, and that was when I met Haley [Joel Osment] in the Sixth Sense auditions.”
Me and my brother agree to disagree on the racebending issue. At first I was pretty upset, however I came to realize that this is a american cartoon made for an american audience. I dont think this is racism on the part of the director. It is however possible that it was a directive from the studio.
I do feel that since we have never seeen these characters in live action that there is room for interpretation. If they had painted Sokka and Katara's skin brown then I would be very upset. However portraying them as Scandinavians doesnt really bother me even though they are Inuit in the cartoon.
Having the fire nation as indian instead of Japanese is a interesting choice. Again I have no real complaints.
Noah himself looks like he has asian blood. In fact this is also what I have heard. I am much worried about his acting capability. As I am about all the main characters.
Didnt notice the stunt double will have to watch again.
Now keep in mind that I am white as the snow in the southern water tribe. So I might have a different perception then you do. I hope that doesn't make me insensitive. However this is how I feel now. I do understand the issue and if I was producer I would have done it differently. I was very nervous about this. However seeing the trailer does look like the show I saw 6 months ago for the first time and fell in love with. I am excited about this even with the racebending thing.
I do feel that since we have never seeen these characters in live action that there is room for interpretation. If they had painted Sokka and Katara's skin brown then I would be very upset. However portraying them as Scandinavians doesnt really bother me even though they are Inuit in the cartoon.
Having the fire nation as indian instead of Japanese is a interesting choice. Again I have no real complaints.
Noah himself looks like he has asian blood. In fact this is also what I have heard. I am much worried about his acting capability. As I am about all the main characters.
Didnt notice the stunt double will have to watch again.
Now keep in mind that I am white as the snow in the southern water tribe. So I might have a different perception then you do. I hope that doesn't make me insensitive. However this is how I feel now. I do understand the issue and if I was producer I would have done it differently. I was very nervous about this. However seeing the trailer does look like the show I saw 6 months ago for the first time and fell in love with. I am excited about this even with the racebending thing.
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Again, my general opinion on the racebending issue is that you can no more call these people Japanese or Inuit or Chinese than you can claim that the Ligonians from TNG "Code of Honor" were actually from sub-Saharan Africa. The actors may have been, but the characters aren't.
that is also a good point. However the other side has very good points as well. Its a very passionate and complex issues for a lot of reasons.
Is this going to come up in EVERY discussion of the movie? Going to be a long haul.
I wonder if this movie appeals at all to Joe Sixpack. We have Nickelodeon Pictures right at the front of the trailer, a lot of kids, and as far as I know no big names. I don't know if they're just hoping to rope in the kids and fans but I'm not sure of its mainstream appeal.
I wonder if this movie appeals at all to Joe Sixpack. We have Nickelodeon Pictures right at the front of the trailer, a lot of kids, and as far as I know no big names. I don't know if they're just hoping to rope in the kids and fans but I'm not sure of its mainstream appeal.
What's that got to do with anything? There are many Americans of Asian heritage. And America is supposed to be about inclusion and the celebration of diversity.
If this were only about the movie itself, I could agree that there's no harm in redefining some of the ground rules of the universe. I mean, I had no problem with a black Pete Ross and half-Chinese Lana Lang in Smallville. But it feels like a symptom of a larger, more endemic problem in Hollywood, and it feels like a deliberate act of racial exclusion on Paramount's part, so it's hard to accept. It's also disquieting that the first film breaks down as heroes = white, villains = nonwhite, although that will be ameliorated in the sequels (particularly if Toph, like other Earth Kingdom characters, is cast as East Asian).
Where have you heard that? I've been unable to find any clear information on that point.
Not just ability but appropriateness. I can't wrap my head around the idea of The Daily Show's shrill-voiced Aasif Mandvi playing the film's primary villain. And Shaun Toub seems totally wrong for Iroh, though I've only seen him in Iron Man.
Probably, because it's important. Ethnicity is not a non-issue where A:TLA is concerned. This is one point that hasn't been raised yet, I think: the fact that one of the defining qualities of A:TLA is how progressive it is in its celebration of non-Western cultures. That progressiveness, that symbolism, is important. By analogy, imagine how Star Trek fans would've reacted if J. J. Abrams had cast white actors as Sulu and Uhura. Those characters were landmarks because of the progressiveness of their casting, and that inclusion is fundamental to what ST is all about. So recasting them as white would've been rightly seen as an outrage. Well, a lot of A:TLA fans feel the same way about its inclusiveness, its status as an important step forward in the media's depiction of ethnic diversity. And as with Trek, that inclusiveness was an important part of the creators' intentions. That's why this is being reacted to as such a betrayal.
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Christoper I tend to agree with most of your points. However with the villian issue it becomes a non issue by book 3. As this goes on the nonwhite villian thing is going to be turned on its head. Zuko and Iroh are not villians period! Zuko does some bad things granted. However this is a much more complex issue as you well know. The fire nation itself is not evil just misguided. In fact a lot of Avatar explores these themes. That is one of the reason's I fell in love with it in the first place. I can think of only 3 truly evil people in all of Avatar and one of them is debatable.
With the daily show guy. I will reserve judgment until I see him. As someone who has acted in the past, I know comedy is really hard and that going from comedy to serious is a easier step then most think. Its possible he gave a really good audition. It's possible they all gave really good audition's.
The whole asian blood thing was on one of the fan sites, I cant remember which one but I can look for it if you want. It was probably about 6 months ago when I started watching the series I came upon it.
With the daily show guy. I will reserve judgment until I see him. As someone who has acted in the past, I know comedy is really hard and that going from comedy to serious is a easier step then most think. Its possible he gave a really good audition. It's possible they all gave really good audition's.
The whole asian blood thing was on one of the fan sites, I cant remember which one but I can look for it if you want. It was probably about 6 months ago when I started watching the series I came upon it.
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