Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 07/29/2008 Run time: 150 minutes Rating: Nr

Amazon.com:
The long-running series Avatar the Last Airbender comes to a dazzling conclusion in Book 3 Fire, Volume 4. Poised for quite a number of episodes (seen in previous volumes) to go to war against the tyrannical Fire Nation, Aang the young Avatar and his cohorts must now bring down the Fire Lord and his army, or watch them ramp up their destructive powers during an imminent solar eclipse. But there's a lingering question only Aang can answer: can the Avatar, who has never killed anyone, bring himself to take the Fire Lord's life? That is what he must do, according to Zuko, the Fire Prince who has thrown in his lot with Aang and the latter's friends.

While Aang is sorting that out--receiving various wisdoms from past Avatars and advice from a giant turtle-lion creature--Zuko and Katara take another leg of the battle by confronting Zuko's crazed sister. Meanwhile, Sokka re-asserts his latent talent for commanding dangerous missions as he and earth-bender Toph attempt to sabotage Fire Nation airships. The final episodes on this disc are thrilling, in no small part because they have been so long in arriving. Before those, however, there are a couple of interesting chapters to get through, including 'The Southern Raiders,' in which Katara attempts to exact revenge for the disappearance of her mother. As always, there's some comic relief, in this case 'The Ember Island Players,' in which our heroes experience the ignominy of watching some of their previous adventures become a ridiculous, staged play. --Tom Keogh









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Rating: - Not just for kids, adult can enjoy this too
I love the Avatar The Last Airbender. I love the story and the adventure. I hope the series will continue.

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Rating: - No Epic Conclusion, but Not Complete Failure, Either
* Rather solid, but merely average. The final showdown is not the epic conclusion I expected, but at least it doesn't sputter out completely. I'd say this final collection is a moderate success.

The one thing that really bugs me about these episodes -- and about the last season in general -- is that they just CHARGE for the ending with little to no build-up. This is a shame, since it's that build-up that made the first season so epic in scale, and also since they waste their time with a lot of filler episodes when they could have been building up the plot and characterization in those time-slots.

Chapter 16: The Southern Raiders. Zuko and Katara soar off on Appa to find Katara's mother's killer. (Speaking of Appa... with all these nightly excursions, the poor guy hasn't had a full night's rest in a year!) There are some just \"sweet\" battle scenes in this one; you've gotta see what Katara does with raindrops.

Cons involve a host of small, niggling concerns. For one thing, the way they're able to float around the world so quickly, you'd think it was the size of a football field. And, although I entirely agree with Aang's statement that revenge gains nothing, I could only roll my eyes as he talked; the preaching only made the episode feel like a morality play than actual entertainment. Also, Katara's goody-two-shoes melodrama couldn't be worn more thin by now.

I'm fine with filler episodes -- if they're good. It was as though they were grasping for ideas in these, and I question why they were made when there were plenty of other more nagging plot holes to fill. This ep was more boring than anything else; if anything, it cheapened the way the first season spoke of Katara's mother's death. I imagined something a bit more epic along the lines of, say, a Viking raid against a relatively harmless monastery in the Middle Ages, and many deaths. But this was no raid -- how could it be when ONLY Katara's mother dies? That's not a raid, that's assassination.

It's almost goofy, the way they \"misuse\" words in this series to amp up events that really aren't that big (e.g., \"invasion\" at the beginning of Season 3, when it was just twenty guys lobbing rocks and peanut sauce). I suppose it wasn't the creators' faults; after the first season, it seemed Nickelodeon laid down the law and death was downplayed dramatically. Thing is, that's what initially attracted me to the series -- its maturity and willingness to face death head-on! Of course, by now, such maturity is utterly lost.

Chapter 17: The Ember Island Players. In a word: UGH. It's embarrassing. The only redeeming quality is Toph; I guarantee that you'll laugh your lungs out at the super-sonic screaming. Now, I know what the producers were going for here (a self-aware commentary filling new viewers in about past events and making statements about its fandom), but it's just lame, sad, and just a bit pretentious.

This episode could have been so, so hilarious and entertaining in many other ways. What if it were real, honest-to-goodness Fire Nation propaganda, demonizing the Avatar, making him and his friends look like criminals, getting events wrong, and making things up? This would have been a more realistic approach, and it would have been more revealing and entertaining, too. As it was, it was just another really lame filler episode. I can't tell you how many times my friends and I groaned and covered our faces during this one. Whatever you do, don't introduce your friends to Avatar with this.

Chapter 18-21: Sozin's Comet. Parts 1-4: The Phoenix King, The Old Masters, Into the Inferno, Avatar Aang. Perhaps it is best to treat this as one whole episode. This final grouping was all right; on a first viewing marathon-style, it manages to keep you on the edge of your seat. Afterward, why would you ever want to watch it again? As other reviewers have so aptly stated, many plot threads remain dangling. As others have NOT stated, much of it is downright boring and slow-paced with no reward. It feels more like fluffy filler than the satisfactory meat of a plot. Aang constantly whining about facing off with the Fire Lord was realistic, but irritating and hypocritical; Aang HAS killed somebody, and rather nastily, too. Admiral Zhao, anybody? Speaking of Zhao, forget pacifism and political correctness, I wanted a smack-down along the lines of the final two episodes of the first season!

At first, I loved the idea of Aang going to this \"mysterious\" island and conferring with his past lives. However, there's no payoff; it's irritating that Aang won't listen to them. The \"wise words\" of the Lionturtle weren't actually wise as much as they were gobbledygook, and you can't even understand him the first time you hear him. In fact, even when you DO finally understand him, you realize that he says something entirely DIFFERENT in the final episode when Aang bends the Fire Lord. So what was the point in the first Lionturtle exposition? To sound smart, I suppose. If you wanted some closure in that episode, you would have been disappointed.

Also, for those of you who like hilarious, goofy lines that should never have been written: the Fire Lord's big plan is to remove the Earth Nation's (wait for it!) \"hopes.\" (Snerk!) Then he starts removing those hopes by burning an uninhabited forest, and only attacks with like... twelve airships. The whole continent's population could simply move to the other side while he got finished burning one half, and then move back as he made his second and third circuits. It's ridiculous.

The unbinding of the 7th Chakra was lame, as was the whole fight with the Fire Lord. There's some flying... lots of flying. And punching. And some fire. Aang running like a wussy. Yawn. Aang's flying, I understand; the retarded Fire Nation version of flying, with rocket-powered fists, should never, ever have been invented. (Everyone in the household sniggers every time someone lifts off with fire shooting from fists and feet like a human space shuttle.) The fighting only pays off in the latter half, when Aang enters the Avatar State and starts kicking the Fire Lord around like a rag doll.

However, if you want to see something awesome, Azula's unraveling and eventual madness is downright sweet and can't be missed. I would have liked to see it more spread out, as the madness occurs so quickly that it's easy to misunderstand why it occurs. Ironically, the fight that cannot be missed in this DVD set is not that between Aang and Ozai, but the Agni Kai between Azula and Zuko. The soft, understated music, the muted sounds of fire and shouting, gives me chills every time -- even when I think about it. In fact, during Aang's fight with the Fire Lord, I was waiting breathlessly to return to the Agni Kai.

Aang's final KO of the Fire Lord is anti-climactic. Just think: if Zuko hadn't taken over at home, the Mind-Bending would have been for naught (there's still Azula to contend with). Furthermore, the Fire Lord's still the leader of the darn country, firebender or no. So it really wasn't a very satisfying ending, all things considered. It just seemed... mushy. Rushed. Uneven. Anti-climactic. Still, at least the Fire Lord got his comeuppance.

Finally, the final kiss is just... ugh. That romance never, ever made sense to me; you know how 12-year-olds approach romance? Not very seriously, right? And you know how big that gap looks between you and a kid one mere grade above you? Yeah. That's why this relationship creeps me out. Katara is almost robbing the cradle. The romance is displayed as something \"lasting\" and central when it is just goofy and awkward and has no grounds in reality. In a year they'll both hate each other.

All things considered, this set contains some rather awkward and unsatisfying episodes... a lot of filler, a rushed plot and characterization. It's mostly tepid. You can still find some real gems in there, though -- some beautiful fight scenes, hilarious dialogue, and wonderful ideas. You'll thrill at the sight of the giant Lionturtle. You'll adore the fight scenes and Toph's \"Iron Man.\" You'll giggle at the romance between Sokka and Tsuki. But you'll probably only watch this DVD once a year or during an Avatar marathon... it's just not very satisfying or half as interesting as previous episodes. ...

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Rating: - One complaint about this great DVD
My only complaint is that this DVD has the episodes that also make up the "Sozin's Comet" DVD. I purchased both of them without knowing this. Love this series though. Cartoons made in the style that I remember as a kid back in the 80's.

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Rating: - Last Avatar DVD
* I live the whole show and it was great to see how it ended. I would highly recomend the whole show to anyone ...

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Rating: - Avatar is Awesome
Buy this, Avatar is the best cartoon since Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, but it ends happier and less ambiguously.