The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Titan AE

It's been said that a number of old Science Fiction authors hated Howard Hawks movie "The Thing".

Reputedly, Hawks was stuck with the film contractually, hated Science Fiction and the story the movie was based on, and dumbed the script down on the principle that Science Fiction Fans had to be too stupid to understanding anthing but a monster chase film. If you've seen John Carpenter's remake of the movie you get some sense of what was cut out in Hawk's film. You still lost a lot of the material in John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?", but Carpeter at least tried to make a movie out of Campbell's tale.

Moral of the story: Don't unnecessarily dumb down a SF movie script.

This was a lesson the makers of Titan AE needed to learn. On the plus side of the movie are superb animation, a decent story line by American Anime standards, even by Japanese Anime standards in many cases.

You probably won't feel like walking to the concession stand to kill time during the movie. It's an action film where the plot goes from A to B to C like most action flicks. But it keeps a fairly cohesive storyline if you forget Kale's easy escape from the Drej and his unbelievable ability to find the ship of his partners who are fleeing the Drej and traveling to parts unknown.

The setting and background for Titan AE makes for a suitable RPG in any number of systems. In developing a ship called the Titan, Humanity draws the wrath of the Drej a race of energy beings who pretty much are the top of the galactic food chain. Something about the Titan technology makes it a threat to the Drej, who attack and destroy the Earth.

Kale is the son of the Titan's designer and at the age of 4 is given a ring that will both let him locate the ship and activate it. 15 years have passed. The remaining humans are scattered across the galaxy, discriminated against, impoverished and often living in drifter colonies, shanty town style jerry rigged space stations. Associates of Kale's father get ahold of Kale just before Drej hunter parties show up to get him. The chase is on.

What hurts the film is a lead character who comes off more like a sulking little kid than an angry young man, villains who are reduced to spouting anti-human slogans and shooting without much accuracy. But most of all, what hurts the film is the idea that the intended audience would be put off by explanations.

One of the strengths of of a series like Babylon 5 was that it left you with questions. Why did the Minbari, after winning the war, surrender? Who destroyed Babylon 1, 2 and 3? What happened to Babylon 4?

Babylon 5 answered the questions before it's 5 year run ended. It took the great leap of faith that the audience could understand subtle issues. It's called teasing the audience. By and large, we love it when it's done well.

Titan AE has one question like that: WHY did the Drej go after the Titan? It failed to answer the question. The tease was put out but never delivered. The original story had an explanation for what was so important about the Titan. The filmakers decided their audience wasn't up to understanding or caring in the event they could comprehend it.

They dumbed it down. It showed. This was animation aimed at mid teens to mid twenties males. They kept trying to sweep in the single digit age set as well and hurt their product as a result. This is particularly true with the largely cartoony aliens who act all too cartoony human. But at least they didn't attempt to have the characters break out into a song and dance routine.

One of the first rules of fiction is that your audience has to identify with the protagonist. You should *care* if the hero succeeds. One of the MANY reasons "Mom and Dad Save the Universe" bombed was because Mom & Dad were presented as total cliches.

I have no doubt this was intentional, the idea being that keeping Earth from being destroyed would turn these stereotypes into real people. But by the time any signs of humanity appeared, the audience had no interest in these characters. "Almost Cliches" becoming real people might have worked. Kale is almost as 2 dimensional and lifeless as 'Mom & Dad' were. "My daddy promised me he'd come baaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccccck..." Sniff. I had a hard time sympathizing with him.

Is it a bad film? No. Don't go in expecting high drama, put up with a bit of cartoonishness in an otherwise straight forward story. It's a good if not spectacular bit of entertainment that could have been a LOT better.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Titan AE
Author: Don Bluth Productions Category: Animation Company/Publisher: 20th Century Fox Studios Line: Movies Capsule Review by SD Anderson on 06/28/00. Genre tags: Science fiction Post-apocalypse	Titan AE It's been said that a number of old Science Fiction authors hated Howard Hawks movie "The Thing". Reputedly, Hawks was stuck with the film contractually, hated Science Fiction and the story the movie was based on, and dumbed the script down on the principle that Science Fiction Fans had to be too stupid to understanding anthing but a monster chase film. If you've seen John Carpenter's remake of the movie you get some sense of what was cut out in Hawk's film. You still lost a lot of the material in John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?", but Carpeter at least tried to make a movie out of Campbell's tale. Moral of the story: Don't unnecessarily dumb down a SF movie script. This was a lesson the makers of Titan AE needed to learn. On the plus side of the movie are superb animation, a decent story line by American Anime standards, even by Japanese Anime standards in many cases. You probably won't feel like walking to the concession stand to kill time during the movie. It's an action film where the plot goes from A to B to C like most action flicks. But it keeps a fairly cohesive storyline if you forget Kale's easy escape from the Drej and his unbelievable ability to find the ship of his partners who are fleeing the Drej and traveling to parts unknown. The setting and background for Titan AE makes for a suitable RPG in any number of systems. In developing a ship called the Titan, Humanity draws the wrath of the Drej a race of energy beings who pretty much are the top of the galactic food chain. Something about the Titan technology makes it a threat to the Drej, who attack and destroy the Earth. Kale is the son of the Titan's designer and at the age of 4 is given a ring that will both let him locate the ship and activate it. 15 years have passed. The remaining humans are scattered across the galaxy, discriminated against, impoverished and often living in drifter colonies, shanty town style jerry rigged space stations. Associates of Kale's father get ahold of Kale just before Drej hunter parties show up to get him. The chase is on. What hurts the film is a lead character who comes off more like a sulking little kid than an angry young man, villains who are reduced to spouting anti-human slogans and shooting without much accuracy. But most of all, what hurts the film is the idea that the intended audience would be put off by explanations. One of the strengths of of a series like Babylon 5 was that it left you with questions. Why did the Minbari, after winning the war, surrender? Who destroyed Babylon 1, 2 and 3? What happened to Babylon 4? Babylon 5 answered the questions before it's 5 year run ended. It took the great leap of faith that the audience could understand subtle issues. It's called teasing the audience. By and large, we love it when it's done well. Titan AE has one question like that: WHY did the Drej go after the Titan? It failed to answer the question. The tease was put out but never delivered. The original story had an explanation for what was so important about the Titan. The filmakers decided their audience wasn't up to understanding or caring in the event they could comprehend it. They dumbed it down. It showed. This was animation aimed at mid teens to mid twenties males. They kept trying to sweep in the single digit age set as well and hurt their product as a result. This is particularly true with the largely cartoony aliens who act all too cartoony human. But at least they didn't attempt to have the characters break out into a song and dance routine. One of the first rules of fiction is that your audience has to identify with the protagonist. You should care if the hero succeeds. One of the MANY reasons "Mom and Dad Save the Universe" bombed was because Mom & Dad were presented as total cliches. I have no doubt this was intentional, the idea being that keeping Earth from being destroyed would turn these stereotypes into real people. But by the time any signs of humanity appeared, the audience had no interest in these characters. "Almost Cliches" becoming real people might have worked. Kale is almost as 2 dimensional and lifeless as 'Mom & Dad' were. "My daddy promised me he'd come baaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccccck..." Sniff. I had a hard time sympathizing with him. Is it a bad film? No. Don't go in expecting high drama, put up with a bit of cartoonishness in an otherwise straight forward story. It's a good if not spectacular bit of entertainment that could have been a LOT better. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average)