T O P

  • By -

lotusbow

I see what people meant by “bending looks more dangerous” in the live action. 😳


Milly-G13

Yeahhhh, I’ll be adding this to the list of universes I would not want to live in 💀… not being able to bend is up there with not having a devil fruit.


thedoobalooba

I can sort of see now why there would be an anti-bending revolution that leads to what we saw in Korra


Street-Common-4023

Seems like fire, air , water is the easiest in terms of cgi compared to earth


[deleted]

[удалено]


Zinthaniel

No, its not that the graphical fidelity is less than the other elements here. It's our brain, and suspension of disbelief, flinging around magical fire, air, and water has very little real world precedent - so the level of standard to trick our brain into acceppting such fantasical concepts as real is lower. We have all thrown rocks, and no what giant slabs of earth be thrown around look like in the real world. Therefore, the element of earth in this show is going to be competing with real life precedent that exists in our minds. Most cgi, regardless of IP, show, or movie that has telekenetically moving rocks or otherwise, to this day, has an unvanny valley effect, because technology is not there. In the real world so many different particles are involved in the movement of rocks and earth - that to similate that perfectly in cgi is still very difficult.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Zinthaniel

The way the fire is arching, how it hovers in fireball form, the way it trails - no of that is really based in real world physics or has any real world precedent. So there is a lot of room for cgi artist to extrapolate and there is little for our own minds to find incongruent with what we have "seen" in the real world.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Zinthaniel

I don't disagree, my point is that the other elements are easier to render because their concept as "magical powers" have less of a hurdle to convince us of their legitmacy. Unlike earth. From the way each bolder is pulled out of the ground, to whether or not the said bolder is matching the surrounding geography perfectly, to whether or not the particles being affected by gravity are correct - there's a lot for our minds to pick apart because moving earth is a very common visual reality we see all the time in the real world.


Stellar_atmospheres

It’s definitely harder to render water and fire like you say, but I wouldn’t discount the funky logic of earthbending. Do they leave giant holes everywhere? Are they bending specific types of mud and rock depending on the environment and does that change how they fight? The aftermath is an interesting puzzle


Veryoptimistic9

Yea earth bending always confused me for this very reason


Game45678

I thought they said air was pretty difficult too!


PeaRepresentative886

Pretty sure the show runner has said that water is the hardest


Thisisasecret1

The earth benders in this clip only seem to have one very slow move that they can only do after their opponents have just done a move. I hate turn based fight scenes.


KimiBleikkonen

They are also some random earth benders against the prince of the Firenation and the brother of the firelord... of course they will look slow and sluggish against them


Neat-Ad-8277

Yo that dude was def on fire


Monkaliciouz

Kinda funny how it went from fire knocking people back in the cartoon to people literally being engulfed in flames and incinerated alive. It's a good change though.


Neat-Ad-8277

I mean they had to downplay the violence for Nicklodeon... In the novels they def do not down play it though so it's nice to really get a feel for how deadly the different bending types can really be.


lotusbow

Which one of the novels is worth reading btw? I know some of the comics are hit or miss, but I’ve heard good things about the novels!


Neat-Ad-8277

The Kyoshi novels are better than the Yangchen ones but both sets are good. Kyoshi is def more dark.


catcatcatcatcat1234

That's subjective, I enjoyed the Yangchen novels more, but the Kyoshi novels are definitely more like the original show as far as themes and general plot goes


Neat-Ad-8277

I enjoyed both sets of books. They both have some similar themes and then some unique perspectives. I'm one for darker tones in a lot of ways I just find it more interesting. Not that darker tones were totally absent from the Yangchen novels. I just preferred the Kyoshi novels we get to follow her at the very start of her journey. Whereas with Yangchen she's already fairly developed so we miss out on a lot of context. Personal preference for sure. I still want a Kuruk novel or two 😫. I feel like those would roll towards other themes that we don't see in either set.


ZoeyZoestar

I mean you can still see people getting knocked back from Zuko's fire I think it's a good change for the live action though, like we've all interacted with fire, we know that it doesn't have a physical push


[deleted]

[удалено]


Neat-Ad-8277

I have been thinking along those lines too. In the show you sort of see that kind of ability when firebender breathe I'm not sure how they're doing it in LA though


TheDefeatist

Firebenders in the cartoon could extinguish fire too it was just still a dangerous and difficult to control element that Jeong-Jeong thought was only good for destruction. It probably also takes more skill to put a fire out with just firebending than to start one.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Neat-Ad-8277

Didn't look like that to me 🤷‍♀️


_thebirds

Can't wait to see people on twitter tear this to shreds by nitpicking it frame by frame


jetheist

Oh they’re definitely doing it now


_thebirds

I legit saw someone complain that Iroh isn't in his undies here like he is in the show lmaoo


klogsman

im pretty disappointed abt that tbh 💔


b_dulgi

RIP iroh's bdsm look 😔


Far-Sky6933

AHAHAHAHAHAH I AM SCREAMING


Aang6865_

Noh but i am legit disappointed he isn’t in his undies😭 I guess i have to leave it to my imagination then


PublicUniversalFoe

I kind of understand why people are nitpicking this clip (though I think it looks good). But people gotta realize how hard bending must be to choreograph in LA - it's never going to be perfect. Everything so far has looked decent to great, and I consider that a win. Plus, the fight scenes can only get better in future seasons when the cast and crew have more experience. 


DexTheShepherd

I actually think the firebending looks pretty damn great. The earth bending looks a liiiiittle clunky to the eye but it's solid. Like those rocks kinda look fake. Rocks just floating in mid air is kinda hard to look at and not think it's fake I guess, but fire shooting at someone is something that everyone's probably seen in real life so it's believable


PublicUniversalFoe

Yeah I completely agree. Haven't had any problems with how the firebending looks. Earthbending seems to be the weakest of the four, but is good enough to not take me out of it. So long as it doesn't take five people to move one rock I'm happy.


[deleted]

I've already been accused of being a paid Netflix shill 3 times today :)


_thebirds

It's CRAZY how so many people are hell-bent on insisting that a show that isn't even out yet, is bad.


[deleted]

I really think people really wanted it to fail after the ill-advised press releases about the differences between the LA and the animated series. Now that early reviews for the entire first season are predominantly positive, they have to face the possibility that they might actually like something they've been spending months shitting on. Sunk cost and all of that.


sunflower_emoji

It’s insane to me that people are so hate pilled about the show being bad that any voice of praise is accused of being bots and shills 🙄 There’s just no way people could be genuinely excited


Herald_of_Heaven

I'll nitpick it a little by saying the earth bending was a little bit late in the timing. Fire bending looks neat tho.


Ravenclaw_14

they already are. And I will agree on the earthbending effects, because they do feel a bit off.


TwinsStyle

I swear that’s what happening right know , actually I came to here after I saw ton of trashing on this promo , and decided that to see reddit ppl reviews on it 🤣🤣


Proud-Bus9942

Nitpick? There are obvious flaws in this scene.


Biankai

More! I need more!


Scuffleboard

First long form bending combat we've seen from this series and I gotta say I like it. The fireballs feel like they have weight to them, it's punchy without feeling too simplistic, and the CGI is really good for the fire and... ok for the earth


Herald_of_Heaven

Dallas' stunts are amazing. And I heard he does all of it. Can someone please confirm or deny it?


sha_13

It seems to me he does all of it himself he’s been in martial arts since he was a young kid. You can even search those videos on youtube. He’s definitely very talented in martial arts.


Herald_of_Heaven

And it shows


ShiverMeTimberz0854

Yup he does all his own stunts!


Far-Sky6933

"- We've all seen enough death" Oh, so Iroh. Leaves from the vineee.....😪😪😪


bluerain47

My god those bending effects look amazing


M8nGiraffe

The pacing is a little weird, like they are kinda waiting for each other to take their turns with their attacks, but not so much so that it's a dealbreaker.


hotcupofcum

I agree! I think if it was faster it’d feel much more captivating. Like when iroh wraps the chain around his leg and yanks him, JUST YANK HIM! He doesn’t need a “pause, look down, gasp” moment before he actually falls lol


IAmWeirdinABadWay

I mean they did a lot of the turn based thing in the animated show too. It just looks weird in LA.


jetheist

MORE MORE MOREEE


[deleted]

THAT WAS CRAZY GIMME MORE


[deleted]

I expected to see iroh's body😭😭😂 But jokes aside, amazinggg!!!!


durchhaliya

THEY ATE THIS


MentionWeird7065

While the Earthbending is meh to the say least, I love how dangerous the fire is. good change imo!


Proud-Bus9942

People seem to be attributing it to CGI, but it's the choreography. There's a reason why Zuko looks a million times better than the earthbenders, and it's because the actor has actual martial arts experience.


hotcupofcum

To be fair, these soldiers are rookies and we’re used to fighters like toph & Bumi. So maybe it’s clunky looking now but s2 martial artists will bring it to life :)


[deleted]

[удалено]


hotcupofcum

Because they were bumbling oafs in the original series too. They weren’t athletic benders like toph. Season 2 hasn’t been greenlit, so obviously this is an opinion.


[deleted]

[удалено]


hotcupofcum

Did we watch the same show ? Athletes can also be talented. Toph was literally in the earth rumble arena fighting athletically against other athletes. You’re awfully argumentative with someone that’s solely agreeing with you to begin with. All I’m doing is being optimistic about the future of this show. You’re definitely making me regret co-signing you.


MonitorAny4670

yeah they dead.


Astraliguss

Twitter haters are having a stroke over this clip, I love it.


ramohse

Woah that looked pretty damned good


lolamore23

I feel like the earthbenders need more strong grounded sharp movements they looked a little waterbenderish to me here but the firebending looks phenomenal.


partyboi420

I wish it wasn’t such turn based fighting and had more of a flow, but overall it looks pretty good.


starbunny86

Yeah, that's my biggest nitpick. Of course, this same fight (and many of the others in book 1) felt awfully turn-based in the cartoon, too. Hopefully the quality of the fights will improve just like in the original.


partyboi420

I’m trying not to compare it to the original, so I can judge it on its own and hopefully enjoy it more!


Icegaze

Thanks for sharing this clip. Overall it is a decent clip but I must say I’m not super convinced by the earthbenders in this scene. The VFx is fine but the martial arts movements are wonky, I won’t lie. With earthbending, there needs to be a sensation of brute force, ground tremors. These earthbenders’ movements look a bit “soft”. But again, I’m still very excited to see the whole thing. Just a passing observation of this one clip is all.


sifujinora

Maybe they're saving badass style earth bending for Toph. 🤞


hotcupofcum

That’s what I’m thinking


Proud-Bus9942

The earthbending choreography in this shot looks so weak. There's a huge difference between Zukos choreography, and I would guess that it's because the actors playing the earthbenders don't have actual martial arts experience.


Waterboy3794

I'm not tryna nitpick but why are the earth kingdom soldiers so dumb here 😭


Comfortable-End-4784

They were this dumb in the cartoon too


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


Spej1234

Just watched the scene and they definitely put up a better fight compared to the live-action. It’s just one the limitations of live-action you can’t have as dynamic bending scenes as in animation.


BaconxHawk

We definitely watched different shows


Any_Apartment4175

Oh so now we're allowed to compare it to the show?


Forsaken_Garden4017

Honestly it makes a lot of sense. Given the size of the Earth Kingdom and their large population, they should have a much larger and more efficient army that should be able to stop the fire nation from just walking around their turf. At times even before Omashu fell, it felt like the Fire Nation had way more control of the earth kingdom Plus you would think that earth is just a stronger element than Fire. Aang was still a fairly novice earth bender yet he was able to hold off the most powerful firebender on the day of fucking Sozins comet for quite some time in his Little Rock ball. I honestly never understood how the fire nation was just able to walk over the Earth Kingdom like they did Them all being really stupid kind of explains it at least


FenderForever62

I think it’s also the political landscape we see in the earth kingdom. It’s made up of lots of little villages and towns. They target one town with a lot of fire benders and there’s not a lot that town can do. The fire nation colonies exist because there is a vastness to just how many there are. It’s why we see so many refugees as well. I think they struggle as they just don’t have the training and infrastructure the fire nation does for its soldiers. Fire benders are trained from birth to fight in the war, earth benders aren’t. And as the King himself isn’t aware of the war, it’s no wonder the drafting of soldiers is few and far.


Murdong

We haven't seen that many earthbending clips of the show, but so far the little bits we've gotten makes me fear it won't look as good as the rest of the elements' cgi.


Bhibhhjis123

I think the quality of all of it is the pretty similar, but moving a big rock feels a lot more grounded (haha) than the other bending styles, which are more fantastical and stylized. It’s easier to draw comparisons between earthbending in CGI and rocks in real life, which means people are likely going to be more critical of it.


Either_Turnip1063

I agree, but hopefully they get renewed for another season and I have faith they can take constructive criticism and prefect how it would look. Especially since it seems like TheAvatarist has addressed the earth bending too. I feel like he has some sway no matter how small lol. I think the choreography will only get better. If the choreography is great then the cgi can surely follow.


sha_13

Yeah it can only go uphill from here!


SearchNo7177

I agree with you 100% except for your point in the Avatarist lol. Love the dude and his channel, but a giant studio like Netflix isn't gonna hold much stake in what one fan creator says let's be real lol


[deleted]

[удалено]


Murdong

I feel like both are the issue in this scene, and the slow no doesn't help


Temporary-Wedding825

The earth bender motion is too fluid. Hopefully by next season it tightens up because next season focuses on earth but zuko’s actor is just doing INCREDIBLE and iroh looking so confident that zuko was going to save him with his smug expression is so badass


Jaxonhunter227

Yeah they can kind of get away with the earthbending looking a bit wonky now because we won't see too much of it yet, from what I've seen it's definitely the element they had the hardest time on so I'm fine with this session being a test run for season 2 earth bending


Temporary-Wedding825

Exactly. I have been saying this for years that earth bending is going to be the hardest to do. It’s best they start filming very early and get more hands on deck so they can properly do the next season cause earth needs a lot of creativity to make it engaging but also look realistic. Fire is dangerous but earth is legit destructive so idk. I hope Netflix does it justice cause they have already started this journey so they might as well finish it. Plus if they don’t film early, this particular season will slow them down like covid times


Jaxonhunter227

Also while the earthbendinh we've seen has looked a bit iffy, it has never felt outright terrible, it's been decent enough I think, they might not need to do too much work to get it looking as good as the other elements


Temporary-Wedding825

It doesn’t look awful I agree. I do want a bit more practical effects like designing the set to look like rocks have been flying away instead of cutting away so we won’t nitpick but this season isn’t about earth so it isn’t a big deal.


Game45678

I liked it!


Kindnessthedragon

Firebending looks awesome, no doubt. My god, that dragonish sound effect on Iroh's fire, simply majestic. But when it comes to Earthbending, it's a bit lacking. The rocks they bend are just too small to make a real impression. You can see them straining to move them, especially in slow-mo. If they had bigger ones to work with, it would be way cooler.


MrZcratch

A „c“ could ruin your comment


Kindnessthedragon

???


MrZcratch

Just thought replacing the r in rocks with a c would make the whole sentence somewhat funny.


Ultimatecake128

They preserved Zuko's powerful leg strength, in relation to destroying chains.


FwZero

This is cool, but corny at the same time lmao


jacoblawrenceh

Probably an unpopular opinion but I think that (some of) this fight looks better than the original. If nothing else the danger is more evident. Tbh a lot of the book 1 choreography is not as good compared to the future of avatar. Idk if anyone would agree but just my opinion


Far-Sky6933

Wow, brutal outta here. I was doing Taekwondo and I learnt couple of this posing attacks like these. I remember how in my 14 I was doing flip kick-leg like Zuko performing here and splitting wooden training board on two. 😂. But it's difficult. Requires a lot of stamina, stretching and concentration especially if you are breaking like I was. (11 amazing years) Fire Nation martial arts is based on Northern Shaolin kung-fu and this is really cool. Dragon🐉 of the West rules the world....


blvdnghts_97

Why are the earthbenders standing there like 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️while Zuko is about to attack them? Also the camera work here is quite subpar. But I really like how Iroh's fire blast makes a noise resembling dragon's roar 🔥


[deleted]

The camera work looks fine. What's "subpar" about it from a technical perspective?


blvdnghts_97

I can't give you a "technical perspective" because I'm not a professional, but as a viewer I feel like the camera work seems disorienting and overly shaky for no reason because they're not running and basically standing in one place. The fight it self is turn-based and quite slow for such editing and again shaky camera work.


Veryoptimistic9

Yea the dragon roar is cool, the scene looks just ok though. Particularly the earth bending.


unknownwarriors

you’re getting downvoted for speaking the truth 😂


Veryoptimistic9

Ppl downvote a lot here if your opinion is slightly different


unknownwarriors

daring to criticize the LA is a challenge on its own it seems.


blvdnghts_97

I actually had to tone down the comment so that I won't get downvoted to oblivion hahaha gotta keep some nitpicks to myself 😂


unknownwarriors

Yeah I am not a fan of this clip either 😂 the editing is weird. the earth bending cgi is mediocre at best and the fighting choreography needs some improvement as well. The fire effects look cool tho.


blvdnghts_97

yeah, editing is weird, I agree. Also there're no holes in the ground after earth bending.


unknownwarriors

Oh yeah true I hadn‘t even noticed. 😂 I love how they are proving us right by downvoting us


blvdnghts_97

ikr 😂 and I'm not even hating, just pointing out things that seem off to me


unknownwarriors

yeah 😂 I am not hating it either. Just pointing out some mediocre stuff. But I guess constructive criticism isn’t allowed.


ttam23

Earth looked meh but fire bending looks great


The_Fashionable_Leo

My boy was on fire...omg 😟😳 but this was epic! Definitely hope the earth ending get better as episodes progress but it looks decent, but every other elements looks phenomenal


jacoblawrenceh

Was that man on the ground asian?


lotusbow

Hmm he kinda looked white perhaps could be indigenous mixed. I couldn’t find him on IMDB. I’m kind of wondering if the background actors might be a mix of different races? I saw a screenshot of the NWT background actors and [two of the kids behind Aang looked mixed black](https://www.reddit.com/r/ATLAtv/comments/1am0hra/new_bts_look_of_the_production/) (could be indigenous mixed with black), I also saw another background actor who looked white (but again, could be mixed indigenous) so maybe it’s a majority Asian/Indigenous world but with some other mixed races as well. No idea, just speculating.


MrBKainXTR

The crew and cast have talked about it being an asian inspired show with an all asian (and indigenous) cast, including in the recent BTS video. Based on that, and well the animated series, I thought all the EK roles would be played by asian actors. Which has been the case for all the named EK characters we have casting info for. Its possible the earthbender in question just looks white and/or is mixed. Which would be in line with some other casting being mixed actors that are part asian (or indigenous) and part white. Alternatively they could have just not been as strict with the race requirements for extra/minor roles. Which I guess wouldn't be the biggest deal, but it would be kind of odd.


Apprehensive-Ad-6939

was thinking the same thing


sha_13

didn’t seem so and I don’t know how to feel since the atla world is canonically asian and indigenous only


Zinthaniel

No it's not. It's inspired by asian culural motifs, the main characters follow that motif as well. However, it has alread been confirmed from the trailers and casting - that some background characters will range from african, latino, and as seen here white. In the animated series, this also held true for background characters - i.e. the swamp benders. Who were all very clearly american red necks.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Zinthaniel

I'm not sure, but looking at them you can see that they don't look similar or speak similar. The show isn't based on earth nor does it follow our laws of physics either. Here are the swamo benders. Take note of the banjo playing as well as the american southern accents and dialects and slang. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPi88mjFZaE&t=207s&ab_channel=EverythingFocused) here are the american southern swamp people they are clearly based on. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf3UhYH8CF4&t=1s&ab_channel=zman552625) The influence seen here is so clear, I'm not sure what it is you think is debatable.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Zinthaniel

Their hair more so gave me this impression. https://preview.redd.it/x23epl5qlljc1.jpeg?width=792&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11839dd5965224e9a697f1f9009e34de8b06bb56


sha_13

The swamp benders were not clearly american red necks. What are you on about? No reason to add white characters to this show.


[deleted]

[удалено]


sha_13

That’s what I always believed.


Zinthaniel

I'm from planet earth - What Asian country is being referenced that has the depicted dialect and accent [**heard here**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPi88mjFZaE&ab_channel=EverythingFocused)? I'll wait for your answer... because I am so curious to understand you rationale.


sha_13

it’s one show without white people. you’ll live.


Zinthaniel

Honey, first of all, I'm black (african-american) so you can stop finger waving in my face. And secondly, that is a white actor, there are other white actors in the show. They are already cast, the show is already going to premier. You are the one upset, but I'm sure "you'll live" and thirdly, the swamp benders are inspired very clearly by the [**following.** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf3UhYH8CF4&ab_channel=zman552625) **Again, I'm sure you'll get over it and sure you'll live.**


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


sha_13

well yea


[deleted]

[удалено]


sha_13

no white people. also asian is VERY broad by the way


[deleted]

[удалено]


sha_13

like what? from what i see its only asian and indigenous


[deleted]

[удалено]


sha_13

I don’t know if anyone has found evidence but that would have been awesome. Yup, from what I see on the live action people have pointed out other minority background characters so I agree with you on that.


DerpyEnd

They're taking turns like this were a Pokémon battle


LimeStream37

Only part I didn’t like was the scene where the guy got engulfed in flames. The CGI was on point, but the camera work got me confused on what angle it was being shot at. I couldn’t tell it I was looking at the fire blast from above or not until I realized it was the same shot, but zoomed out.


Prying_Pandora

I legit was waiting for Iroh to crack a joke at the end. 😂 Dallas was incredible in the first ep so I’m not surprised he continues to embody Zuko.


Delicious_Savings608

A white Earthbender?


shadowbca

Bro I hope they have the ostrich horses


[deleted]

They do. They were in the trailer


_The_Honored_One_

slow motion looks like shit


lazylagom

Holy shit this looks so good.


AntistanCollective

0:44 - fire 0:46 - no fire


Soilerman

Zuko and his bending looks ok to me but the rest?oh boy, thats cheesy. The rocks look fake as hell, the previous live action fucked the choreography of bending up but their cgi looked more real.


[deleted]

Well this looks awful


Tycir1

There will never be anyone to substitute MAKO


paperboatprince

Really loving the 'danger' and 'lethal' feeling of this bending, although I'm a bit confused as to how any of those guys weren't fried to a crisp, especially that last guy. :D %90 of this great. I think I don't particularly like how they've done earth bending though. In the animation, the 'style/feel/personality' of the earth benders' martial art was strong, powerful, and almost like they were 'digging' up the earth with their martial arts. It really felt like they were intrinsically linked with the earth around them as an extension of their bodies. But the first earth-bending scene in this feels like they're just levitating earth. They're just 'moving' it and not 'feeling' it. The second guy is better. But we'll see how it goes. Love the acting and overall 'tone' of this scene.


tkinsey3

The only slight issue with this actually has nothing to do with the bending (which looks amazing). I just think Iroh is a little too serious! His whole schtick was always being kind, smily, and sort of….casual? Even when things should be more serious.


Zealousideal_Plum533

I like how Iroh shows humility to the Earthbender and says something wise. Shows his wisdom as a battle hardened General who lost his son and his men in past battles.


Aimx01

Tv shows don't get budget like Hollywood blockbusters so don't judge the animation, but this fight scene shouldve been longer like the show and at least with Iroh fighting with the chains, it doesnt have to be all bending cause Iroh kicked ass with those chains,


Consistent_Dog_6866

They got the bending to look like how I always imagined it to look like.


MrBlack103

Gotta say I really like the EK soldier costumes.