If you have any recommendations for other Avatar fans, please post them here. Acceptable items include, but are not limited to: Movies, TV shows, Web-comics, books, and graphic novels. I know that TV.com already has a "similer items" feature, but it is very limited.
Please include a 1 to 10 personal rating, and a MPAA equivalent rating.
For those that don???t know what the MPAA ratings stand for, go here: http://www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_Ratings.asp
1 to 10 ratings:
10 = one your favorite thing in the world
9 = excellent
8 = very good
7 = very good
6 = decent/better than average
5 = average
4 = flawed
3 = Junk
2 = Terrible
1 = an affront to mankind/pure evil/evidence that the devil exists
To start us out I have 2 films and 2 books that I recommend. If you are underage, consult your parents/guardian before reading/watching any of these as they are all rated for more mature audiences (lowest being PG-13) than Avatar (rated Y-7).
Films:
Kung Fu Hustle, director and star: Stephen Chow (10, R for stylized and strong violence)
This movie is martial arts mayhem of the highest order. This action comedy is set in the 1930???s in China, were a run down village must defend itself from the terrible Axe Gang due to a bumbling applicant???s efforts to join the gang. I can???t give the plot any further without ruining half the movie.
Shaolin Soccer, director and star: Stephen Chow (9, PG-13 for action/violence)
Sing, a Shaolin master of the Steel Leg style, is on a quest to show the world how martial arts is not just for beating people up, but also can be used in everyday life. When he meets disgraced soccer champion Fung, they together try to get his brothers to remember their former glory and win the National Soccer Championship using martial arts.
Both of these films use a martial arts style, and humor very similar to those found in Avatar.
Books:
The Codex Alera, a series by Jim Butcher the greatest author of all time IMHO (8.5, R)
This series is set in an alternate history, where the people rely on Roman era technology and creatures called Furies to defend themselves from the environment of a harsh world and traitorous elements in the government. Every single member of the civilization has at least one of these Furies, with the ruling monarch controlling the most powerful, which allow them to control (to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the element and the power of the Fury) the element that the Furies are attuned to: water, metal, earth, wind, wood, or fire. Everyone, that is, but the hero of the story Tavi, who must learn to deal with this strange world with only his wits and the support of his extended family (he is an orphan) and friends.
Here are the first and second chapters of the first book, Furies of Calderon: http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/alera/1/
These chapters deal with a major secondary character, rather than the main character.
The Weather Wardens series by Rachel Caine (8, PG-13/R)
Ever wonder why, between earthquakes, floods, forest fires, hurricanes and other natural phenomenon, civilizations exist at all? In Rachel Caine???s books, the reason is a group of element controlling protectors, know as Earth, Fire, or Weather Wardens, fight to stop the planet from kicking us off. Some days they do better than others, and when they fail, you know it. They do what they can, but sometimes the problem is just too big and too mean to stop: Hurricanes Katrina (and the 2006 season) and Andrew, the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, and the 1994 Californian earthquake are some examples of what happens when thinks go wrong. Not all Wardens are altruistic, as the protagonist, Joanne Baldwin finds out first hand. She recently received a Demon Mark (a psychokinetic marker, of sorts, that will eventually take over her soul and kill her) because of her naivety about just how far that corruption ran. On the run because the Warden association believes she is a cold blooded killer, Joanne must turn to one of her few remaining friends, Lewis. At least she hopes they???re still friends.
Tagline: ???You???ll never watch the Weather Channel the same way again.???
The first book is called Ill Wind. Sample Chapter: http://www.rachelcaine.com/illwindsample.htm
These books don???t use as much humor (very little) or Asian culture (none at all) as Avatar, but the theme of humans controlling the elements is handled nicely in both.
Edited on 10/15/2006 12:56pm
Edited 3 total times.
Edited 3 total times.
