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Titan A.E. (Special Edition)

Titan A.E. (Special Edition)

List Price: $9.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A visually spectacular futuristic adventure.
Review: This film opens in 3028 as the hostile alien species, the Drej, attack Earth. A little boy, Cale, is sent to safety by his father, who then escapes on a mysterious spaceship, the Titan, just before Earth is completely destroyed. Fifteen years later, Cale, still bitter that his father never found him again, works at a salvage station. An old friend of his father's, Korso, shows up and tells Cale he is the key to finding the Titan, which can save what is left of the human race. So along with Korso, a young pilot named Akima, and a couple of friendly aliens, Cale sets out to find the Titan before the Drej do. Although a lot of the plot twists weren't original, the 3-D computer animated space scenes were beautiful, and I enjoyed the futuristic adventure.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun movie
Review: Titan A.E. is a great movie. Some people may think it is a kids movie, which it is supposed to be. Through the movie, you'll hear your kids laughing in that way, that shows they have NO idea what that joke ment, but they are laughing with everyone else anyway. Some kids might be scared. The Earth blows up, the Queen is scary, and most of the creatures are scary too. It even has some romance and swearing too. It has a good plotline and the action is always going, plus, the animation is great. Its a good summer movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Who's your Daddy! "
Review: I went to see "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" the second day it came out,(and boy was I dissapointed) during the previews I saw a small teaser trailer for this film with Cale speaking while the Titan escapes the Earth's destruction. I expected that Titan A.E. would be an all-CG film ala "Antz" or "Toy Story" so I was curious. Later on I discovered that it would be a hand drawn animated film combined with CG animation and effects. I grew even more curious, but I was a serious anime fan, and after seeing great stuff like "Akira," "Bubblegum Crisis" and "Ghost in the Shell" I was convinced that I would never see anything the least bit close of quality come out of the U.S., I was in for a huge surprise.

Titan A.E.(in which I went to see the first day of it's release) turned out to be an awesome experience that was just as exciting as any anime I've seen. First of all the animation was simply incredible, the characters were the normal, well-drawn Don Bluth character designs which were good, but the real star was the CG effects and animation that blended with the hand-drawn animation even BETTER than the anime,"Blue Submarine No. 6" did. Plus, it was nothing like anything I've seen out of an American animated movie. No comic sidekicks(which is symbolized in one early scene in a comically violent scene) intense kick-ass music that perfectly complements the tense action and DOESN'T degenerate into a dumb musical. And it contains a number of awesome, visually spectacular action scenes. From the fast- paced chase scene involving spherical hydrogen trees to the final chase at the Ice Rings of Tegrin(Cale's chase with the Wake Angels was an awe-inspiring moment), Titan A.E. is a far cry from anything that Disney has put out. But cynical and angry critics and moviegoers buried Titan A.E. and just saw it as a "cartoon." Which is a real tragedy, cause Titan A.E. deserves a lot more recognition than it's getting.

Overall, I really think people should appreciate this film for what it's trying to be, a mature animated film that is really targeting teenagers and tries to avoid the "Disney" syndrome. Titan A.E. isn't really a movie for children, it can be violent and has content that reaches the PG-13 rating.(which I find even more refreshing) But overall, I can't wait for this wonderful movie to come out on DVD, and I hope that Fox puts plenty of effort into it and provides it with lots of extras. If you just leave your cynicism at the door you will discover an awesome film. Titan A.E. is one of the best (and underated) films of the year, that's even better than Disney's "Dinosaur". American Animation would take a turn for the better if there were more films such as this( and "The Iron Giant" which suffered the same fate.) But unfortunately after the results of the last two movies, that doesn't seem very likely...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Very pretty, but seriously lacking in content.
Review: I was looking forward to this movie. I love animation, and am always on the look out to see animated features like this one and the "Iron Giant." The previews made it look spectacular, however the rock and roll music made me begin to worry. The worried feeling was not off the mark either. It started off great, the visuals of the Earth getting blown up...not to mention Earth's debris taking out the moon, too...were really amazing to see. The colors and backgrounds of the computer graphics were really breath-taking. Worth seeing once.

However, once the plot gets going, it fizzles. The first incident, I thought "okay, this is meant for a younger audience." Then it got worse and worse and worse. By the time you get to the Ice Fields (very amazing sequence...visually), all respect for this flick was long gone. I don't want to give any of it away, but they played out the prison and betrayals scenes extemely poorly. I just couldn't buy it. Another issue that bothered me, if the Drej are a single energy unity, why do soldiers march inside the space ship?

Other than the visuals, what earned this DVD those three stars are the deleted scenes included in the extras. The featurette is a 20-minute commercial for kids which does not say anything useful about the making of the movie. Trailers and TV spots remined me why I skipped catching this flick in the theatres. However, the deleted scenes were amazing. Alot of the sequences you find in there are not completed. So, for example, there are line drawings of the characters with a CG generated background. It was very intersting to see, and provides a glimpse of a stage of animation we viewer rarely get to see.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Steal From the Budget Bin
Review: I'm always astounded when I see this dvd offered so cheap. It's usually thrown in the same budget bin with really bad movies.

To cut to the chase, the story is ok; not great, but not bad either. What really separates this one into the pile of DVD's that I like to watch are the stunning visuals and the even more stunning (DTS) sound. If you have a home theater, then this dvd will pay for itself in the first few minutes of the movie.

An indicator of the excellent sound on this dvd is that when I finally added a subwoofer to my home theater, the first dvd I put in to try out was Titan AE (and it left my whole family with mouths agape).

The story itself is fine, though it would have been better if it were developed more. There is a good story there, it's just not fully presented. Some of the secondary characters are very forgettable. In other words, it's pretty much on par with most SciFi movies. I could have written this same paragraph about any Star Wars or Star Trek movie. That may not be high praise, but it's no indictment either. It's SciFi; enjoy what it gives you and don't be overly critical.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sci-Fi's Greatest Hits All in One Movie
Review: "Titan A.E." is one of the top ten biggest cinematic disappointments ever made. For all the hype that it got, especially being trailered before "Star Wars Episode I" last year, it really fell short of my personal expectations. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting "Akira" from this film but I was expecting something on the original side. Anyone who knows movies can tell you that "Titan A.E." ripped off (or overzealously paid homage to, depending on your point of view) just about every science fiction film made since 1968. I was able to pick off references to all four "Star Wars" films, at least two "Star Trek" films, "2001", and "Tron" to name a few. I haven't seen such a blatant rip-off of standouts of a particular genre since "Drop Zone" with Wesley Snipes. The one strength the film had was its animation. By no means was it the best I've ever seen but it was interesting enough to watch the fusion between traditional and computer animation. Not to mention the design of the film itself was great but not enough for me to recommend this film. If you're in the mood for good sci-fi, don't bother with "Titan A.E." Just check out... well, anything else.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not exactly "Titan"-ic...
Review: Although I'm a fan of both "space opera" sci-fi and 'toons geared more towards the older crowd, I didn't find "Titan A.E." to be a particularly interesting or original melding of these two elements. On the story side, I found the whole "boy-man-destined-to-save-humanity" angle that the central character plays a bit derivative of, and not played out quite as well as such previous sci-fi messiahs as the 'Star Wars' trilogy's Luke Skywalker and 'Dune's' Paul Atreides/Muad'Dib. I also would've preferred they put a little more exposition into-- and explained with a bit more detail-- the period between the Earth's destruction and the commencing of the hero's search for the Titan. On the technical end of things: although the folks who put this together made an admirable effort to meld both 3-D computer animation and traditional cel animation together as seamlessly as possible, It rarely ever looked quite right. This lack of cohesion is especially noticeable in one scene where a cel-drawn character is walking down a CGI spiral staircase. Or was he walking UP it? See, the thing looks so odd I couldn't even tell which direction the guy was goin' on the staircase! How's THAT for a case in point, eh? Otherwise, the 'toonage was some of the most detailed and painstakingly-rendered I've ever seen in a non-anime feature.

But even though I found the story and animation less than stellar, I thought some of the deleted scenes in the bonus features section were moderately interesting. A few parts of these scenes were rough-drawn, giving the viewer a little window into the animation process and what the film's producers worked with before adding the finishing touches to the 'toonage. The feature-length commentary track featuring co-directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman also lets the viewer in on the more technical aspects of producing animated features in general and 'Titan A.E.' in particular. Sadly, I found their commentary so dry that I bailed out on them about twenty minutes into the feature. It also didn't help that they spoke in an almost hushed tone half the time, prompting me to turn the volume up just so I could understand them.

Also included among the special features were the usual trailers and TV spots for the movie, and a behind-the-scenes special on the making of the feature. My viewing of the BTS special made me come to the realization that I've become rather tired of most of these "making-of" featurettes that they throw onto most "special-edition" DVDs nowadays. About halfway through the show I realized I really didn't give two doots about how the animation was done, or the voice actors talking about the complexities of their characters. Immediately after making this realization, I bailed on the special and decided to go do something a little more productive-- like writing this review about the DVD.

And people say I'm a slacker...

'Late

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Titan AE Rocks!! (Literally :)
Review: This movie was spectacular. Good actors, great art, and a decent story. Even my kids could tell it was a Don Bluth film right off... his style is evident from mice to aliens!! The only reason I did not give that last star was the music. I must be getting old, because I found it distracting. On the other hand... my kids loved it!!! I definitely recommend adding this to the DVD library. High "re-watch"value.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliantly written and executed
Review: Once again, I find myself defending the substance of a movie that everyone claims has none.

First off, let me say that this movie has a unique and complex plot. I really don't see how anyone can dislike Titan's storyline. The Titan is NOT like the Genesis device from the Wrath of Kahn (Titan builds a new planet, while Genesis provides instant terraforming of an existing world) and Cale has NOTHING in common with Luke Skywalker except blonde hair. I've seen movies that ended with the end of the world (End of Evangelion, for example), but this is the only one that begins with the end of the world and tells of what happens afterward. Simply put, this is a movie about finding hope after everything you know has been lost. Don Bluth tells this type of story well, and though Titan is certainly no Land Before Time, it does a damn fine job of pulling its characters' heartstrings. The first few minutes after the opening credits are VERY finely crafted, and they thoroughly convince us that humanity has become much like pre-WW2 Jews - i.e., having lost their homeland, everyone else steps all over them because they know they can get away with it. From there, the story becomes a sort of scavenger hunt, driven by Cale's desire to find his father, Korso's desire to get rich, Preed's desire to evade execution by the Drej, and Akima's desire to have a home where two inches of steel aren't the only thing separating you from space. The character interactions are as detailed and three-dimensional as the CGI, thanks in no small part to the infinite brilliance of Joss Whedon. There is a constant feeling of atmosphere; a perpetual, indescribable intensity that applies to everything from the crystal blue Drej ship interiors to the dusty and broken ruins of the Gau civilization. The ever-cool Bill Pullman does a great job as the redeemable almost-villain Captain Korso, Drew Barrymore adds both sugar and spice to the role of Akima, Nathan Lane is PERFECT as Preed, and I've never met a Janine Garofalo role that I didn't like. My compliments to the casting director.

Even the jaw-dropping eye candy is nearly always only shown when the plot is moving ahead, such as the chase through the hydrogen trees that eventually just gets Cale and Akima caught by the Drej. With a steady subtle undercurrent of sexual tension and liberal amounts of comedy to fill the gaps, there is almsot never a dull moment, although there is that one useless scene with the Wake Angels. The two or three plot twists are genuinely surprising, the blend of animation and CGI is seamless, and Don Bluth once again proves that he is the GOD of all animation.

There are no plot holes. There's a reasonable explanation for everything, you just have to pay attention and sometimes use a little logic. It's not unreasonable to assume, for example, that Cale learned the Drej language. Strict adherence to science isn't always there, but in Sci-Fi, that's impossible to avoid. The only complaint that I have with Titan is the soundtrack; it's mostly full of annoyingly anti-melodic hard rock/metal, though the lyrics (if you listen to them) set the mood quite accurately. The only song that I've come to like is "Over my Head" by Lit.

Ignore the critics; like all of Don Bluth's work, this is easily better than most Disney or Anime movies, and stands as an example of what American animation can and should be.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Highly underrated- one of the greatest animated movies ever
Review: As I tend to do in reviews, I made a claim above that seems to be over the top. However, this is one of those cases where it does ring true. Before I get to my analysis, note that this is not a kid's movie. In the U.S., animated movies are perceived as being mere child's entertainment (as opposed to the sentiment in Asia). This is one of the few animated movies that breaks that mold and offers an adult plot (violence, intelligent dialogue).

First of all, notice that this movie was made way before Disney's craptacular Treasure Planet. This was the movie that really showcased the seemless combination of computer graphics and regular animation in it's characters and environments. The movie's visuals hold up to today's standards even, in a world where both computer and animation visuals continue to skyrocket in quality.

Many tend to take points away from this movie in the plot department and even resort to calling it cheesy. Sure, you've seen SOME elements of the plot before, but much of it is original enough. But more than that, the movie has a heart. Thanks to the terrific voice-acting of Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon, and Bill Pullman in particular, the characters' feelings come across particularly well- I've seen the movie atleast 5-6 times, and the voice acting is one of the many reasons that I never tire of it.

Finally, the movie SOUNDS really good as well. The music for each scene fits well, even if it isn't "music of the future". The orchestral also adds to the majesty of some of the more contemplative scenes.

So, if you can stand animation at all and like a good futuristic story, then you owe it to yourself to buy this one. It can be found really cheap in the bargain bin- not because it's bad, but because here in the U.S., animation simply isn't appreciated.


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