Review of Titan A.E.

Introduction

Animated films aimed at adults have a cult following - but only if they`re made in Japan. Animated movies made elsewhere in the world generally don`t fare too well unless they are made by Disney - and Disney`s output is aimed squarely at children.

Up step 20th Century Fox with Titan A.E, a Manga style animated film, aimed at teenagers/adults, voiced by an all star cast and with a $85m budget. It opened so dismally at the box office that it took only days for the head of Fox`s animation division to resign, and about a week for Fox to close down the division altogether. Fox apparently sees the future of animation lying with computer generated material such as Toy Story.

So, ignoring all the bad press - is the Titan A.E. DVD worth buying or renting?

The basic plot synopsis is as follows: Earth is attacked by the Drej and the few humans who do escape in spacecraft see their planet destroyed. A secret craft, Titan, was launched just before the attack and has remained hidden for 15 years. The Drej are determined to find Titan and destroy her, but a small group of humans hopes to get there first as she contains they key to the survival of our race...

I have heard that Fox made quite an effort with the DVD and video releases to try and offset some of the theatrical losses. Read on to find out if they succeeded...

Video

The video is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and as you would expect from a "digital" movie made last year is flawless throughout.

The action is a mixture of traditional animation overlaid onto a combination of computer drawn and hand painted backgrounds. Some of the scenes were entirely rendered by computer.

The animated sequences look just as good as you would expect and the computer generated scenes look absolutely sensational. Of particular note is the spectacular destruction of earth at the start and the ice-field sequence towards the end of the film.

Audio

Well the video was excellent, how does the sound compare?

Forget Terminator 2 or Saving Private Ryan. The DTS soundtrack on Titan A.E. is the best sounding DVD I`ve yet heard.

From the opening sequence when you are over flown by spacecraft you know you`re in for something special. The range and clarity of the soundtrack is staggering and throughout the film all channels are used to their full potential - aside from the various spacecraft zipping around the soundstage, there`s a rock soundtrack, some almighty explosions and fantastic positioning of incidental effects. The sound engineers must have had real fun scoring this movie!

If you want to show off your expensive sound system or just annoy the neighbours, this is the disc for you.

For those without the required equipment to replay the DTS soundtrack, a Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Surround soundtrack are also on the DVD.

Features

Fox could have simply released this disc with no extras to keep costs down in the face of the already substantial losses, but to their credit, they have put together a good range of extras.

A director`s commentary is accompanied by an interesting featurette on the making of the movie called "The Quest for Titan", deleted scenes, music video, stills gallery and trailers and TV spots all tied up in a nice menu system.

The DVD comes packaged in an Amaray case with a glossy card insert detailing the chapter points.

Conclusion

On DVD, Titan A.E. is a success - it really is the sort of movie to be watched and enjoyed at home. This was perhaps the problem in the first place - most adults wouldn`t go to the cinema to watch what is basically a cartoon. Perhaps if Fox had aimed at a straight-to-video release they wouldn`t have been left with such a big loss.

The plot is standard Sci-Fi fare - good guys vs. bad guys, plenty of space battles, plenty of tension and the usual cheesy technical solution to any particular problem. The voices are well done by Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pulman John Leguizano (but you won`t guess who he voices until you see the documentary), Janeane Garofalo and Nathan Lane and the animation and effects are all top-notch. The film held my interest and there are a couple of plot twists to make sure you continue to pay attention.

The DVD is well presented, has excellent visuals and a superb soundtrack along with a good supply of extras to keep you going after the main feature has finished.