Avatar The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 1 (Collector's Edition) DVD Review

Even more so, the amount of craft that went into it, from the use of a Kung Fu consultant to make sure that each of the elements got the moves right, and the emphatic limiting of the series to three seasons in order to ensure that there was a story arc and an ending, Avatar does just about everything it can do right. With the live action film coming out this summer, if you have not seen it, or if you know it and want the collector's edition, this is a great place to start.

The story takes place on a world where there are four nations: one for each of the classic, western, alchemical elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water). At each age there is an "Avatar" who can command all four elements; everyone else is lucky if they can do one. He keeps the peace and maintains balance. This time around, however, the Avatar has come 100 years late and is a young boy who is untrained and only able to handle his native Airbending. Even worse: the Fire Nation (the bad guys, to an extent) has started a war of global conquest.

Ang, the Avatar, and his traveling companions, from the Water tribe, must evade the fire armies, get training, and eventually, possibly save the world.

The Book 1 (Season 1) Collector's edition is gold-plated. It comes with all the disks and two bonus disks. These include extensive interviews with the creators, Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It takes you through the history of the show -- including their wish for a cinematic finale which they managed to get shown in an actual theater. We get to see how they developed the different styles of element-bending and meet the Kung Fu instructors who consulted with them.

There is a 12-minute "pilot" episode that they used to sell the series where you can see most of the major elements, but a few things are different. Most "behind the scenes" stuff is boring to me, but here it is riveting. The creators go into what they were thinking when they crafted characters and how they evolved. Surprise: their favorite is probably the bad-guy's uncle who changed dramatically in the creation of the series to become one of the biggest favorites.

The packaging, which looks like a book, also comes with an art-book that shows the main characters and some of the more breathtaking locations. It is a nice edition and rounds out the gold-plated packaging.

The series is groundbreaking in its vision. It pushes the envelope of American kid's TV, and is even at the adult level -- smart and sophisticated storytelling. I like how each nation uses doors that require their unique bending skills to open. The series completely got my attention, and this is one Collector's Edition, that if you're a fan, earns its place on your bookshelf.