Home Entertainment Guilty Pleasures – Titan AE

Guilty Pleasures – Titan AE

2 min read
10

I’ve always been a huge fan of animated films. They’re an under-appreciated art form,a way of telling a story while being more imaginative than a room full of Industrial Light & Magic employees that I have currently locked up an – I’m drifting.

But there aren’t too many films in that category that can appeal to both kids and adults. Titan AE, was the exception to that rule.

A young man learns that he has to find a hidden Earth ship before an enemy alien species does in order to secure the survival of humanity.

A wham bam thank you ma’am of traditional 2D animation and then still unexplored computer technology, Titan AE wasn’t your run of the mill space opera.

Heck, the film starts out on a genocidal note, with the planet being wiped and humanity relegated to space-hobo status, thanks to some particularly nasty aliens.

But considering that it came from the Don Bluth stable of films, this shouldn’t have been too surprising. Not everyone gets a happy ending in those movies, a theme which found itself repeated in Titan AE. It was a massive flop at the box office when it was released, earning only half it’s $75 million budget back, effectively killing Fox Animation.

That’s something that could be blamed on the poor marketing surrounding the film. A strong action film with sci-fi elements and heart, this was a movie that was just begging for more adult audiences to come take a gander at the spectacle that was unfolding.

The animation was crisp, smooth and fluid, while the CGI effects painted a potential picture that really showed what the medium was capable of. I dare anyone to take a look at the chase scene amidst the more frozen parts of the gallery, and not be impressed.

And of course, you had a magnificent cast that really gave the characters life, from Matt Damon in the title role, through to support from such veteran actors such as Drew Barrymore, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Bill Pullman, Ron Perlman and Janeane Garofalo.

But what I really loved, was how the film had those little touches woven into it. Little nods and jokes, that stretched from miniscule, through to planetary (“I’m going to call it Bob”).

If you have yet to see Titan AE, do yourself a favour, rent it, get some popcorn, and enjoy a film that was ahead of its time.

*Editors Note: We apologise if this post brings back any memories of Creeds’ “Higher” song

Last Updated: June 20, 2012

10 Comments

  1. Stephan Wolhuter

    June 20, 2012 at 17:02

    Couldn’t agree with you more. Indeed an awesome movie!

    Reply

  2. Justin Hess

    June 20, 2012 at 17:37

    No mention of Joss Whedon? For shame. And you lot call yourselves a film website. Pfffffft! 😀

    Probably the only one of his films I have not seen (besides Cabin)

    Reply

    • Darryn_Bonthuys

      June 20, 2012 at 18:03

      Quite true, but then you have to also give credit to Ben Edlund, John August, Hans Bauer and Randall McCormick.

      As great a writer as Whedon is, he was only one of many chefs who stirred the script pot. But I will admit, the film does contain some DNA from his later works.

      Reply

      • Justin Hess

        June 20, 2012 at 18:07

        A strong warrior type girl? A scrappy group of outsiders who have to save the day? Zinging one liners?

        If so then the stink of Whedon is all over this one. 😀

        Reply

  3. V@mp

    June 20, 2012 at 19:09

    Guilty pleasure? Hell, this is still my favorite animated movie of all time.

    Reply

  4. xdvd

    June 21, 2012 at 08:59

    Yes, you did remind me of that creed song. Damn you to hell. Awesome movie, definetly ahead  of its time.

    Reply

  5. PsyChoPanthis

    June 21, 2012 at 09:21

    i watched this last weekend 😀 was a childhood favorite of mine on VHS

    Reply

  6. Theunis Jansen Van Rensburg

    June 21, 2012 at 16:06

    This was and is still an awesome movie. I don’t even want to know how many times I have watched it. It was unlike any other 2D animation of the time, and they really pulled out all the stops.

    I wonder how things are going on Bob these days…

    Reply

  7. Julian Di Cataldo

    June 22, 2012 at 00:38

    Yeah, without a doubt my favourite animated movie of all time; the cast, the story, the visuals & CGI was breathtaking and came together to form one seriously awesome movie! When it comes to the score I am reminded of Like Lovers (Holding On) by Texas more so than any other song from the soundtrack; if you’ve never heard it before do yourself a favour and listen to it on YouTube or stay until it plays in the credits. 😉

    Reply

  8. Lupus

    October 22, 2012 at 15:41

    I’ve not watched this since it was on at the cinema, feels like ages ago. I still remember the last line 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

That One Game….

There are certainly games out there that we can consider “generation-defining”, their impa…