Titan A.E.

Filled with spectacular visions of other worlds, Titan A.E. brings us into the 31st century and into a whole new level of science fiction. The story is pretty simple, a race called the Drej feel the human race is a threat so they decide to destroy us. The only hope for the survival of the human species is a ship called the Titan. Only trouble is, no one knows where it is. The answer lays with Cale, the son of the inventor of Titan. Once Cale realizes what he's in for, we're off on an intergalactic roller coaster ride. We get chases in swamps filled with hydrogen trees and an imaginative hide and seek game in a field of ice crystals. Traditional hand drawn characters are blended in with amazing CGI renderings of planets, ships, and the vast emptiness of space with very good results. Sure there may be some clunker lines here and there but Titan A.E. gives fans of sci-fi what they want. Well worth the price of admission

It's 3028 A.D. Earth is attacked by the Drej, aliens of pure energy. Hundreds of ships manage to escape before the earth is destroyed. Cale is separated from his father Professor Sam Tucker who saves the spaceship Titan. Sam gives him a ring which is a map to find Titan. Tucker was the lead researcher on Project Titan which is feared by the Drej. 15 years later, Cale is working on a salvage station with other aliens. Humanity is reduced to lower class citizens. Joseph Korso, captain of the Valkyrie, finds Cale and his ring to search for Titan, humanity's last hope.

The blend of traditional hand drawn animation and CGI works well mostly. The best is the ice crystal world. The hide-and-seek game inside the crystal is both exhilarating and visionary. In general, the story is a little too simplistic with questionable plot lines. Why would the father give the key to the ship to his son? Why couldn't the father do what the son ended up doing? If the father figure out how to build Titan, couldn't he build simple weapons against the Drej? Wouldn't it be simpler to build contraptions that sucks up Drej energy? The whole quest seems manufactured. The simple story has some rip-roaring fun. The characters are interesting. The evil aliens are formidable. The animation is interesting. I don't like the use of rock music. Overall it's a fun ride but not that compelling.

Saw this on DVD, missing it completely at the cinema. Which was probably what happened to the audience for the film, as it was difficult to market for any target group. Having seen it, it's apparent that lot of very hard work went into producing it.

I can compare it to a few other sci-fi animated films of recent years...

As ground-breaking as The Last Starfighter was in its day. Though not pure animation, Starfighter showed off what even early CG could do in terms of gimbal-free animation of spaceships and vehicles.

Much, much better than Final Fantasy, as the action is genuinely epic. The story goes places and uses the chosen technology very nicely. Titan is not a boring film.

Very similar to Disney's later production of the Treasure Island book. Disney appeared to have cribbed one or two scenes from Titan A.E. Not nice.

Graphically, it's up there with Iron Giant, using finely animated CG figures mixed with traditional cell animation. The scene where we first see the older Cale Tucker (in space, cutting up junk) is very impressive.

But something bugs me. There was something missing. Iron Giant gave me a sense of wonder, which was achieved by some great character acting, clever pacing and a wonderful story line. At no point was I "taken" by what I saw on-screen while watching Titan A.E.

I think Titan tripped over itself in the drama department more than a few times. Along with the latest Star Wars films, it tumbles along without stopping up and letting the audience know what the characters are feeling. The actors have to have the skills to enable the audience to feel, to immerse. Without that, the action has a risk of becoming incomprehensible.

Pretty, fast-paced, intriguing. But I wish someone would use these toys to produce something great, something big.

Something wonderful.

The storyline of TITAN A.E. follows standard mythical canon: unlikely youthful hero from the boondocks is forced to follow his destiny and struggle against overwhelming odds to save his people. No surprises there, to be sure, but God is in the details, and the details is where this film excels. I can't say enough good about the animation and visual artistry--it's the best ever. Hopefully this will raise the bar for animated feature films. After forty-odd years, I have had enough of the formulaic Disney approach.

I would also give TITAN A.E. high marks for acting and for the musical selections in the soundtrack. This film should make a great addition to any enthusiast's DVD library.

I agree that the plot is rather holey, but I was so busy enjoying the film that I didn't notice at the time.

The first time I saw this I was 13 or 14. I saw it in a theatre with some friends. Most of em didn't really seem impressed but I really thought it rocked. I really like Cale's character. He seemed to "click" as a normal guy you wouldn't mind being identified with. And that Goon character was just fantastic. I really liked the scene with the giant ice crystals, and the sound effects during that scene were awesome. And I noticed this movie had a lot of Starwars references, but who cares. Didn't bother me in the least---in fact I like that kind of thing.

I was sort of disappointed at how this one just sort of dried up and blew away (I don't even think it played a whole week at the theatre). Luckily a friend, knowing I liked this movie, gave me a DVD he'd bought and no longer wanted. So, again, I watched and enjoyed this unappreciated great creation. Somehow it seemed even better now.

As usual, I'll leave all the technical discussions to other reviewers (of which there are a multitude). I try to review on an entertainment level only...yeah, I suppose I'm the shallow guy who only sees what's right up front.

Anyhow, if you care a whit about sci-fi, don't miss this one even if it is animated. It doesn't really have that "anime" feel to it. So if you're turned off by anime, check this one out anyway.

BTW, this movie is great for family viewing.