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Gareth takes an early peek at TITAN AE!
Hey folks, Harry here... and I'm anxious as hell to see this film. I've been a lifelong fan of Don Bluth's work. From XANADU to THE SECRET OF NIMH (one of my favorite animated films ever) and forward from there. The number of quarters I plunked into the ol Dirk machines... DRAGON'S LAIR and it's science fiction relative.... SPACE ACE... well, I can't even begin to imagine. I dumped hundreds into those machines. And right now... I'm jazzed to see this film. I like Bluth's signature character design style, but I've wanted him to move outside of the Disney mold and try something newer. I feel that this could very well be that film. I know Bill Mechanic is boiling over with pride for this film, and when Segue Zagnut saw it... he was quite happy with it. In ol Gareth's review here, it sounds like he feels it's a bit of a guilty pleasure. Well, I love guilty pleasures... like A BETTER TOMORROW II... flawed but fun as hell. Hopefully it'll do well because the rumors I hear is that FOX wants to do a PG-13 to R rated animated DRACULA next.... Personally... I really really dig that idea. Here's Gareth...
For many years, Disney has had a lock on the feature length
animation department. However in recent years, companies ranging from
Dreamworks, to 20th Century Fox have opened up animation departments to
give Disney some competition.
Much was made years ago of the brain drain at Disney, as rival
studious hired away top talent, and began to create films to rival the
best Disney features.
Already we have seen films such as "Anastasia", and "Prince of
Egypt" arrive, and do well at the box office.
This summer, 20th Century Fox unveils their latest animated work
from master animator Don Bluth, "Titan AE".
"Titan AE" tells the story of Earth in the 31st century, or rather
how Earth was destroyed by a race of energy beings known as the "Drej"
It seems that the Drej fear what humanity may become to them, and wipes
them out before they can reach a threat status to them.
The Earth is destroyed at the start of the film and we are told by
a narration that the Drej may have feared the Titan project, and before
you know it, ships are fleeing the Earth before it is destroyed.
The film then moves fifteen years in the future, where we learn
that humans are nothing more than drifters in space, who either live in
refugee colonies made from their escape ships, or they are scattered
about the galaxy and looked down upon by the other races.
The hero of the story, Cale, (Voiced by Matt Damon) is working at a
deep space scrap yard, when a sleek ship piloted by the lovely Akima
(Drew Barrymore) arrives. The captain of the ship, Korso, (Bill
Pullman) informs Cale that his father, who was the creator of the Titan
project, was never found, and that he has spent the last fifteen years
searching for his son. It seems that Cale, and Cale alone is the only
person who can find his fathers Titan ship, as it was lost escaping the
destruction of the Earth. It seems that the map to locate the ship is
keyed to the family genes, and that Cale is the only one left who can
find the ship and save humanity.
Naturally the Drej get wind of this, and will stop at nothing to
ensure the destruction of the Titan once and for all.
What follows is a standard adventure tale that is accompanies by
the latest heavy metal music. It seems that in some ways the filmmakers
where trying to make a modern "Heavy Metal" but since a sequel to that
film is nearing completion, and the fact that Titan lacks the adult
content of the film, the music is a strange fit at times.
The animation is first rate, and was a delight to see. On several
instances I found myself wondering if the sets were real, and portions
of the ship animated around them.
While the story of the film does have some enormous plot holes, the
film was entertaining. The film will probably delight those 15 and
under the most as older audiences are likely to pick up on the lack of
substance, and a "haven't I seen this before" mentality,
That being said, "Titan AE" can be an entertaining summer
distraction, if one does not set their expectations to high.
2.5 stars out of 5.
Gareth J. Von Kallenbach
KGHP FM
The Galaxy Times
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Jun 06, 2000 1:41:11 AM CDT
Top Movies of the Summer2000: Titan AE, Xmen, & Me Myself and Ir
by darthpsychotic
Titan AE gonna see it, oh yeah, first.
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ALL OF THEM
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I just watched American Pop recently, and was reminded of how much is actually possible in the realm of animation. Sure, Disney doesn't have a stranglehold on the audience anymore, but there still hasn't been enough of a departure from the Disney formula. Titan AE just looks like Battlefield Earth with a cartoon Matt Damon. Who gives a fuck? Give me Ralph Bakshi or a good anime any day over this tired cliched thirteen-year-old-target audience shit festival.
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The "teaser" trailer for T:AE was pathetic! It lowered my expectations for the film so low that's going to be impossable for it to recover. But the full trailer that I saw... wasn't... toooo... bad. Plus, I think most of it was made right here in Phoenix, where I live... So I think I'm required by law to see it. Never the less, its going to be squished when FF:M comes out!!!
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Jun 06, 2000 3:15:25 AM CDT
The trailer made it look awful, and yet I want it to succeed. Am
by dave_f
Every preview I've seen of "Titan A.E." has been filled to the brim with cliches, cornball dialogue, and the worst blending of traditional animation and CGI I've seen since "Batman: Sub-Zero". How can I possibly hope for this movie to turn a profit? Well, I could care less about the movie itself - I'm thinking more of the positive repercussions it might have if it's a hit. Its success might inspire more American animation aimed at a science fiction audience, more animation aimed at male audience, more animation aimed at a teens-and-up audience...basically, I'd be happy with ANY animation not aimed at the generic family audience Disney's been courting for decade after decade after decade. Who knows what coolness might follow in the wake of a successful "Titan A.E"? Well, probably a bunch of lame space opera knock-offs to start with, but then what? "Dragon's Lair" and "Space Ace" features? I'd be up for that. More support for serious ventures like the "Final Fantasy" movie? Rockin' good. And maybe, just maybe, there'd be a chance at that Holy Grail of animation hopes - superheroes. I can get pumped for live-action superheroes, sure, but we all know that animation is really the medium to translate superheroes (witness the animated Batman series). Imagine Disney deciding to court the teen market and turning all its mighty resources to that end. If they wanted to, really wanted to, they could make a better "Fantastic Four" movie than live-action could ever touch. Or an "Avengers" flick that'd blow you away. Okay, so Disney might be too stodgy to jump on true adventure animation right away, but there are other animation studios out there, second-class Disneys that might be more willing to take a chance. And certainly Disney would seriously consider an action-oriented, animal sidekick-less movie if "Titan A.E." pulls in some real money. So that's why I'm pulling for it...'cause I want to see it open some doors. Yes, and to that end, I'm gonna see it when it opens. Shitty heavy metal music and all.
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I see what you mean. It doesn't look as if this don bluth crap is gonna be any good, but it's a teeeny notch above the standard Disney fare. A tiny bit more mature, a tiny bit more testosterone. Maybe in the next few years it'll move up. Or, maybe with the advent of Final Fantasy, studios in America will realize what kind of a market it's missing out on. Super-heroes? Count me in! The geek audience is pretty big.......... someone should at least try to tap into it!
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OK, I'll admit right along with you, i saw the first TAE trailer with the rest of the world last year when it came out attached to Phantom Menace, and while i was curious, i wasnt much impressed....then as info came along on the project, my curiosity dwindled, mostly due to the fact that aside from the classic Dragon's Lair, Don Bluth was the epitome of cartoon bullshit(crucify me if you want...). But, as the newer trailers start to arrive, im becoming very anxious for this movie to arrive...and i want it to be good....in the past few years, we've seen american cartoons get better and better, all the while, they still dont get the respect they deserve(am i the only one who is pissed beyond all definition that Batman: Mask of the Phantasm didnt do well at the box office? Or that they took the animated series off prime time years back? Or that the WB{though god bless 'em for at least putting the best damn network cartoons in existence on the air in the first place} has gone far too overboard in their pokemon madness, i mean, come on! 3 pokemon episodes a day?!). This time around, it looks like they have a good enough script(i think its damn obvious that the japanese have the space alien/human drama genre locked down), and the ability to tell the story well....this movie now belongs in the same category as X-Men....if they succeed(and we pray they will), they will open the floodgates for a whole mess of movies in the same vein as those two.... if they suck, though, 20 million cartoon and comic fans, respectively, will hang their heads in quiet shame, and walk home, knowing the studios will never let another movie like this past their producers ever again. and that would be a shame.
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I don't think this reviewer has even seen Heavy Metal. Heavy Metal was just a series of sequences with no coherent plot. Titan AE is nothing like that. Besides, does this reviewer remember Transformers the Movie? The songs in that movie didn't relate to the plot or further it! I mean, seriously, does anyone think Weird Al's Dare to be Stupid related anyway to the planet of junk?!!! Titan AE is harkening back to the days when Transformers the movie was the coolest animated movie. Anyone who grew up in the 80's should love this film. Especially, the Khan/Kirk hideandseek in the ice field! Tee hee.
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Was "Rock and Rule" a Don Bluth film? It was a Canadian flick, and
the characters kinda had that of Bluth style.
I loved tha villian Mok. He looked (and acted) like a freaked out Mick Jagger. And for the time I think the sndk whas pretty cool
(EW&F, Lou Reed, Cheap Trick).
But I can't remember if it was Don Bluth or not.
My Favorite Non-Disney\Anime Animation:
1. Watership Down
2. Secret Of NIMH
3. Rock And Rule
4. Iron Giant
5. Wizards
6. Fritz the Cat
7. Heavy Metal
8. American Pop
Am I missing anything?
rtj
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Look, I want to see the animation floodgates opened just as much as everybody else, and probably a lot more than most of you. Titan A.E., however, is going to fall prey to the same bullshit generalizations that made "South Park:BLU" and "Iron Giant" financial disappointments: namely, "grownups" don't go to see animated movies, unless they're taking their kids to the latest Disney opus. (And while we're on the subject of Disney and Bluth, did anybody else realize how much those ridiculous big-eyes, effeminite-looking Alasauruses (or whatever) in "Dinosaur" resembled Ducky from "Land Before Time." I kept expecting the entire stupid herd to break out in a rousing chorus of "Yup yup yup!" Hey, Disney, it's not photo-realism when the dino's eyes are half the size of their fucking head!. . . ahem, sorry)
Anyway, Titan A.E. is going to flop because:
1) It's a sci-fi movie following Battlefield Earth. This is like a gold coin falling out of your ass after you take a particularly nasty crap. I don't care how poor you are, you're still not gonna go fishing around in the bowl, hoping to find something good. This could be the best sci-fi movie ever, and audiences would still run screaming out of the theater, images of a dreadlocked dork fresh in their minds.
2) Is it a kid's movie? An action film? A Creed music video? Looks kinda cool at parts, but who the hell knows? The lousy mixed-marketing job so far has KILLED this film's chances. "Mommy, can we see that one?" "Hmm . . .no, it look's kind of . . . weird." Which brings us to:
3) Weird, weird, weird. This doesn't look like Disney, but this doesn't look like Bluth either. It doesn't look anything like any animated American film in recent memory. Different is bad, folks (speaking strictly from a financial standpoint here, not an artistic one). Disney didn't get to be on top by throwing in a bunch of tit-shots in his movies or by suddenly and mercilessly slaughtering all of the heroes and letting the villan win. Disney got to be on top because his movies were predictibly safe. Parents know this, they know what to expect. They feel comfortable letting their kids watch these movies. Titan A.E., on the other hand, is just . . . weird. And in a parent's mind, that can come with all sorts of negative stigma.
I'm pulling for this movie, I really am. I hope it blows away me and my friends and every other doubter in the country. But I'm still skeptical . . . Guess I'll know soon enough. -
Isn't there an internet sneek preview of this movie today?
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Ben Edlund have something to do with this film? As in writing the screenplay or something? I'm pretty sure that I saw his name in passing regarding this project, and I think I've noticed his name on the commercials... Anyway, I think there are quite a few Tick fans here, so that may make this film marginally interesting, eh? Unless I'm completely wrong on this. By the way, I'm First. Really.
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Hello,
I have seen "Heavy Metal" many times. In my review, I was drawing the
comparrison to an adult style Sci-Fi cartoon, as that was what Titan was going for in
places. The mix of sci fi and Heavy Metal is wheer I drew the referance from, not
content nor segmentation.
Gareth J. Von Kallenbach
KGHP FM
Galaxy Times
Star Wars The Prequels Http://www.nwlink.com/~gareth/starwars.htm -
It surprises me that no one (besides First) mentioned that Ben Edlund (The Tick) wrote the thing. I was looking forward to it for that reason and no one has mentioned the writing at all. Is it funny? does it have any humor for adults? I just can't imagine that it's that bad but I guess I will have to get more info now before deciding whether to see it or not now.
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What do you mean by calling BETTER TOMORROW 2 a "Guilty pleasure" in your intro, Harry? It's a sequel that stands alongside the original quite nicely, thank you. And I assume you're all aware of the blasphemous cadre of HK film nuts (me among them) who think that A BETTER TOMORROW 3 is the greatest of the three, even though it's directed by (shock!) Tsui Hark, not John Woo? Rent all 3 and see for yourself!
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Bluth had nothing to do with this film, being soley the creation of the great animators at Nelvana in Canada, who brought us classic stuff like "Eek The Cat" and not so classic stuff as "Star War:Droids".
The soundtrack was germain to the plot (a bit hokey at times) but far superior to anything else out there at the time. Was it any wonder it bounced around from the LA International Animation Celebration (where I first saw it) to limited release under the name "Ring OF Power" (Wassup with that? What Ring?) to HBO to videotape moritorium and bootlegging. Makes me wish for "Metamorphosis" before the suits got a hold of it and slapped on the lame Peter Ustinov narration (Can we say "The Thief and The Cobbler"?). -
Am I the only one who is just a *little* tired of the cyberpunkelectroanime scene? Really...it was awfully cool when blade runner first came out but that was a few years ago. I think The Matrix and The X-Files have seriously warped the science fiction audience into thinking that dark, profane, and dystopic automatically equals intelligent. I actually like to see the "good guys" win once in a while. Or maybe even see a glimpse at a *hopeful* future. Titan AE looks like it may offer that so I'll be checking it out.
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Amen. This is one of the greatest animated features released, a very strong story,a nd far more adult then any of the live action movies. This film was far under appreciated. A bad guy who was seriously sympathetic who you could relate to, batman questioning his own values.
This was serious stuff, well done, with great action. And a lot of people missed it. -
I was already interested in checking this out when I heard that Don Bluth was gearing this to an older audience. When I found out that Ben Edlund and Joss Whedon were the screenwriters, I became REALLY interested. I know most of the talk backers are a tad anti-Whedon at the moment, but hopefully both him and Edlund will add enough humor and quirkiness to this flick to make it worth something.
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Jun 06, 2000 12:01:40 PM CDT
Me again. So you think Titan AE is trying to be Heavy Metal in
by dextarin
So you think Titan AE is trying to be like Heavy Metal in terms of sci-fi/adult in nature? To tell you the truth, when i watched Titan AE, there wasn't any John Candy voiced robot trying to get laid. Is that the type sci-fi/adult aspect you think Titan AE is trying to emulate? Think again. I don't know what movie you saw. To everyone else, if any of you played LucasArts' The Dig, you will like this movie. If you've played Dragon's Lair and enjoyed, you will like this movie. If you like Space Act, you will like this movie. If you are a fan of animation, you will like this movie. If you are sick of fairy tale movies, you will LOVE this movie. If you liked the storyline and action scenes of Blizzard's StarCraft, you will like this movie (especially the leader of the Drej). This is simply amazing! Prince of Egypt raised the bar in animation, and this movie tops it. I tell you, I enjoyed this movie from start to finish. Go see it! And no, it is not sneak previewing over the internet today! They are only transfering it over the internet to a digital theater to be played on a DLP digital cinema system, the first time that has ever been done.
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It's been many years since I watched it but it came out early 80's. Pretty sure it was Bakshi and the art was by Frazetta. It was a pretty cool sword and sorcery type of thing.
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Forget about this mediocre "titan a.e." movie, go see StarGeeks on AtomFilms, a great spoof about StarWars and StarTrek fans, great acting, great effects, a must see.
AtomFilms.com in the "spoof-a-delic" channel, alos in the top 10 of the most watched movies! -
Hey folks-- think twice on this new Bluth project before you dismiss it out-of-hand. So far this year we've had some awful crap in the feature animation department. DINOSAUR and El DORADO are still stinking up the local multi-plexes (sorry D'works, but sometimes a turd just refuses to float). It seems clear that TITAN AE and certainly CHICKEN RUN are going to be the *only two* decent animated flicks we'll get to spend our money on in 2000. We don't even know if HEAVY METAL 2000 will find a distributor yet (or if it will be any good to our post-80's oh-so-jaded sensibilities). So quit complaining about Bluth so damn much! Would you rather he go back to doing sanitized pabulum like A TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK? ~~Shiver~~ Consider this final point: Since the evil corporate death camp that is Disney would never touch a fast-paced sci fi action project such as TITAN AE, who better to do the job with panache than Don Bluth?! Pixar won't make anything with traditional 2-D cell animation (unless now that Brad Bird is working with them he can convince them otherwise), D'works is busy on OSMOSIS JONES, Kricfalusi is busy on his new T.V. contract, and Bakshi couldn't get financing to save his life after the travesty of COOL WORLD (key sign that Bakshi has really hit the bottom of the pathetic barrel: he's currently selling his own painted cels out of his private collection on eBay... *ouch!* Gotta pay the rent somehow). But I digress. My point is that even though Bluth's track record has been uneven, he still has made some tremendous films in his day, NIMH and ANASTASIA being equally splendid for different reasons, and of the extant American animators working at the top of their field, I think Mr. Bluth can yet surprise us with his talent. I personally know *scads* of kids in the 9 to 15 age bracket who are eager to see TITAN AE (primarily boys) -- anything to avoid being dragged to that snoozer DINOSAUR a 2nd time! As for the crappy soundtrack: well, I don't like Creed anymore than you do, but the executives want to make some extra money, so... Capitalism reigns over all the ugly proceedings in Hollywood, you know that. And don't forget: I think PRINCESS MONONOKE comes out on Miramax Special Edition DVD next week, let the salivating begin! Cheers! Bregalad
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Sorry, I made a mistake. It's Warner Bros. that's doing OSMOSIS JONES and not D'works. I punish myself for being so fact-sloppy as only a film geek can: Forcing myself to watch Joe Eszterhas/Paul Verhoeven films over and over until the blood drips out of my eye-sockets. Mea culpa.
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...I'm bothered by the magical amulet ending. For a movie that's actually rooted in a bit of science, to throw out such a deus ex machina ending as being saved by a faith-powered, telekinetic necklace is almost a betrayal. Been a long time since I read the book on which the movie was based, but I do know the magic amulet element was totally conjured for the screen. I mean, the movie is so great in every other respect that I want to overlook the cheesy amulet bit, but it's the whole friggin' ending, man!
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I can't wait for this movie. Sure, it might not be great and to tell the truth I've never cared for Bluth's style. But if it does ANYTHING to convince the powers that be that this type of animation is viable, I'm there. If it's a big hit maybe Disney will quit waffling and give their guys the blessing for Treasure Planet. Say what you will about Disney, but can you imagine their talents put to use on a real, serious sci-fi project? The mere thought makes me drool. See Fantasia 2K and think what that talent could do if it were given free reign...
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you know people are going to tripppp to this film....
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Last I hear "Princess Mononoke" DVD was held up until 2001 for some unknown reason--if anyone knows different please let us know!
Disney, which holds most of the American rights to Miyazaki's films, seems to be wasting this priceless treasure. The video of "Kiki's Delivery Service"--released a long time ago--has a trailer for "Castle in the Sky," implying that it is "coming to video in 1999" Anyone seen a hint of this movie? "Princess Mononoke" was released to a scattering of obscure theatres, and then vanished. Miyazaki's most spectacular work, "Nausicaa," is nowhere in sight. Neither are any other Miyazaki films.
Strictly from a financial standpoint, these films, like the Japanese Pokemon movies, are a license for Disney to print money. Take a film already made, clean it up, do some dubbing, and bingo! Instant movie. Why aren't we seeing piles of Miyazaki movies out there?
Miyazaki's work is, either through stupidity or design, apparently being spiked.
Maybe some of the crack AICN investigators can look into this? -
Is gonna fuckin kick some disney ass....Look I despise don bluth and think the character desgin in this film blows...HOWEVER I fell this film is gonna be a huge grosser....Yeah the rosie o'donell (that facist pig) crowd of soccer moms wont see it and guess what that is OK since Its not aimed at that crowd...Like many I was not thrilled with the first two trailers but when the new one came out I got jazzed (it even made me like the creed song) its predictable but yu wanna know something if this hits big (and I think it will) it will encourage more diversity in animation.............Oh yeah adult animation does not require nudity or a swaring or a goth inspired soundtrack
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I predict that the Patriot will be huge. Everything else is a crapshoot, IMHO.
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Argh, I sense...an anti-Disney tirade...struggling...to break free! Those idiots. They're sitting on a pile of Miyazaki's films, arguably some of the finest cartoons in existence, and doing nothing with them. "Mononoke" was practically suppressed at theaters, and now you say it's being delayed on DVD? And as for "Castle in the Sky", hasn't that already been delayed SEVERAL times? Keee-rist, how hard can it be to just release a finished film with dubbing (I assume) already long-completed. Tbrosz, you wondered whether the suppression is by stupidity or design, and the cynic in me is starting to suspect it's by design. Maybe Disney's having second thoughts about releasing animation that's so very different from the formula they covet. God knows, if Miyazaki's movies gained any popularity, Disney might have to become innovative itself and crawl out of its comfortable niche. The horror! Shit man, and I was just getting back to liking Disney, having picked up the DVD to the generally great "Tarzan". Now...I'm reminded that I want their heads. I'll cruise by Nausicaa.net later tonight and get to the bottom of these endless delays...
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Everyone keeps saying that Disney won't produce a straight animated adventure but isn't that what ATLANTIS is supposed to be? Hey I would love for Titan to destroy the mouse but from what I've seen it seems to lack broad appeal. At least what people think is broad appeal in animation. I honestly did not want to see this when the first trailer came out but my girlfriend was the one who said, "Oooohhh, I wanna go see that!" Which surprized the HELL outa me because she could give TWO SH#TS about animation. So maybe there is a bit of wide appeal there. And yes, it's true, I really do have a girlfriend. Not all superheroes are frustrated spandex-wearing commitment phobes who get their only sexual jones out of beating up other men! Believe it....Or not!
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Check out his interveiw at New England Comics, he talks about the new Tick live action show and Titan AE is menchoned. Here is what he says
Q.What was your involvement in that project?(/Q)A.Ultimately, as it turns out, I think I'm going to be listed as one of the writers. There were 18 writers on that film and I'm sure each one of them gave something to its final result. It's one of those movies that went through so much rewriting that... who knows exactly what happened.
(/A) That is what he says, Did anything with 18 writters ever turn out good? -
But will it *really* be straight adventure? Even a concept so pure as Edgar Rice Burough's "Tarzan" took on a traditional Disney quality with the addition of songs, wonky animal sidekicks, and Disney slapstickery. Now I liked "Tarzan", but it sure wasn't pure adventure of the "teens-and-up" variety. It was yet another safe family film, carefully tailored to appeal to all ages. I don't know much about "Atlantis", but given Disney's track record, it's hard to imagine it'll shoot for anything but the all-ages audience that has earned it so many billions. By the way, didn't comic book great Mike Mignola work up a ton of designs for that movie, only to have them radically altered? Seems I remember reading that some months ago, maybe even here at AICN. Nobody messes with my man Mignola's artwork...and lives.
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in the future and are completly sick of the crappy rosie O'donell
soccer mom lets have a clene dion sing a song bull shit then get off your ass and go see Titan A.E......Why you ask.....Simple: Fox has made this a Major summer release and the other studios are watching to see how well it does....You cant bitch about lack of adversting or lack of marketing or lack of exposure...You can bitch about that creed song all you want but you wanna know something....ITS MENT TO HELP PUT BUTTTS IN SEATS....Hey if playing that song gets em more people then GOOD! NEWS FLASH: Very few are into to goth industrial music but ALOT of people are requesting that Creed song. Yeah I like that trailer it makes me want to see the flick.....I agree it may suck but if this movie fails then get used to more Rosie O'donell playing cute apes....crappy celne dion love songs and lame ass brodway show tunes and you can kiss any good animation for mature audiences good bye. Hey I'd much rather have a ROBOTECH movie instead but this is a good start.....the choice is yours... -
Jun 06, 2000 9:05:31 PM CDT
Dear Titan A.E. naysayers: GO TO HELL!!! And by the way....CAN Y
by cinematt
Y'know, the great paradox of Aint It Cool News is that you people are screaming for things that are different and unusual. Now, when something comes along fitting that very description, like Titan A.E., you act like a bunch of whiny guttersniping freshman shopclass morons! Fine! You think it's gonna suck? You don't wanna see it? Then DON'T GO! Stay the hell home and watch your crappy Matrix movie for the millionth time! That way, you wusses won't be in my way when I go to the box office to buy my ticket!
Personally, the trailer has done it's job on me, as I have been psyched ever since I first saw the images of spacecraft evacuating Earth to the most excellent sounds of Creed singing "CAN YOU TAKE MEEEEE HIIIIIGHER???"
Hell, yeah! What is not to like about this film? This is the one I've been waiting for, and I'm not gonna let all you baggy pants wearing, Yoo Hoo slurping, chains hanging out of your pockets cyber punk pusswads ruin it for me!
And Harry, for christ's sake,LOSE THE DAMN AMERICAN PIE AD! NOBODY OVER THE AGE OF 17 OR WHO HAD ACTUALLY BEEN LAID IN THEIR LIFE GAVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THAT CRAPPY FLICK! SO QUIT SHOVING IT OFF ON THOSE OF US WHO PASSED PUBERTY YEARS AGO, OK????? -
Jun 06, 2000 10:31:35 PM CDT
"Secret of NIMH"? Yawn. I'll take "Heavy Metal" any day. That's
by dave_f
Chill, NIMH-MAN, just gettin' your attention! You can put down that big electro-spear you borrowed from Brutus now. Anyway, I agree with you that the amulet scene works, if only because of the terrific direction of the scene accompanied by Goldsmith's soaring score. And, yes, the book was a little anticlimactic as I recall. In a perfect world, I'd like to think the movie ending could've differed from the book without resorting to magic, and STILL maintain the power that scene had. I'll live with it though. I still place it in my top five animated films of all time (alongside "Beauty & the Beast", "Watership Down", and whatever Miyazaki flicks I've most recently seen). I think "Watership Down" holds the number one position, but "Kiki's Delivery Service" is a tough-as-nails contender. As for the ending of "The Matrix", I don't think it necessarily requires a break in logic or belief that Trinity's kiss "magically" revived Keanu. I've defended that scene before, but tonight, I'm just too damn tired to work up the will for a good "Matrix" debate. Besides, I need to watch it one more time on DVD to make sure I'm not just making shit up.
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Sorry for the subject without a message. Now to my point. I really don't understand many of your objections to movies with a wide audience (AKA Family Films) as a whole. Granted, Most of the FF that have come out in the past few years have been utter Crap, But as a Father of a 2and a Half year old Movie fan (Odd 2 year old who will sit through an entire movie-in silence except to smille and laugh ) I would love more films of Toy story 1 + 2 caliber that we can both enjoy. She loved Dinosaur, and I enjoyed it for what it was. I think as a group we should be pushing more for Quality rather than Adult in our animation Animated blood and violence do not make A good film, story does. Thank you, Ill get off my soap box now.
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...I just wish that animated movies would branch out a bit. There's no reason family fare should have a strangle hold on animation any more than superheroes should hold a strangle hold on comics. Would you want all live-action productions to be breezy family fare too? Animation is just a medium - there's nothing inherently juvenile about it, yet most feature-length animation is juvenile in nature. And that's no fun after you grow up. Gimme some diversity, and I'm not just talking about sex and violence. Hayao Miyazaki's animated films are a near-perfect example. He's done his share of all-ages flicks, be he's also done works clearly geared for an older audience (Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, even Porco Rosso to a degree). And while these movies target an older audience, there's no gratuitous sex and violence to them, just complex storylines and adult-oriented themes. "Watership Down" is another good exception, probably suitable for teens and up. To sum: broad appeal animation is fine, but to limit animation exclusively to broad appeal projects is to stifle what could be a vibrant and growing medium. As for Disney in particular, I gripe at them because they're clearly the industry leader and I find it very disappointing that they don't take more chances. They're not obligated to or anything, but they could do so much to diversify animation if they tried...
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Im with you whole heartedly Comorant. Im more disapointed with the studio's assuption that family fare has to be breezy to be family fare. Watership Down is a good example. it in no way can be considered lite fare but with supervision and explanation it is approipriate for a wide audience Im tired of the dichotomy in hollywood that exists now that there is family moovies then there are the movies that you want to see. As much as I love 'Jaws" it started a trend in Hollywood that has all but killed a family nite out at the movies with a good movie, anything with half a production value is PG-13 or R and the g rated stuff (with the few obvious exceptions) is mindless corporate crap, I'd love to see more of films like Kiki's delivery service etc, and so would my daughter. Im just a little nostalgic for the days when mom,dad and the kids all saw the same movie, and all enjoyed it.
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And I am not singling out animation for lacking in wide audience appeal but in all film, and I dont mean by Wide appeal to be juvinile in nature, but to be able to be seen appropriately by kids but entertaining the adults at the same time, from what ive seen in the trailers, Titan AE might do that. and I don't want ya'all to think Im some kind of prude, Im not. I like all kind of movies from campy guilty pleasures like the Evil dead movies to bambi and everything in between, I just like my sex and violence to have meaning on the screen, not just "we need a gunfight here or the audience might get bored" I want more films of quality on all levels from family to the "Daddy's going to the movies alone". Just quit giving us only Pokemon and Flintstones as the family nite choice. I'll get off my soapbox now
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That's an interesting question. Why doesn't Disney branch out? What, are they afraid of losing money? Oh heaven forbid. One money-losing movie will put Disney in the poorhouse. The executives will have to buy the medium-sized yachts next year. They've got the friggin' resources to pull of something HUGE...... instead they just stick to what they know. I mean from a business standpoint I can see..........
I see kind of a parallel between this situation and their Theme Parks. As far as Disney World is concerned, all they've really had is a bunch of bullshit rides and attractions for the kiddies, but they're starting to realize that they need a real thrill ride to start attracting more than the kids who drag their parents along. Namely that "Aerosmith" themed rollercoaster. -
I agree that the choice of a metal soundtrack was a poor one. No doubt a calculated marketing move to appeal to the white-male 11-18 demographic. As far as animation goes, check out the animated segments in "Charge of the Light Brigade", the one with David Hemmings and Trevor Howard. By the way, Mr. Shillitoe, I thought "a Fine Madness" was a piece of dung...
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...I was just yankin' your chain with that "Heavy Metal" bit in the subject line. Actually, I rented "Heavy Metal" a couple years ago to see if it was as cool as I thought it was back when I'd sneak peeks at it on HBO when my parents weren't around. Turns out, it wasn't very cool at all. I watched about half of it, and wondered, "How, oh how did this ever become a cult favorite?" I guess before anime started making its way to our shores, teens and arrested-development adults were just desperate for any exploitative animation they could find. And "The Fox and the Hound" just wasn't cutting it.
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Shit, all I seem to do these days is respond to other TalkBackers. People- The thing had 18 writers. The CGI is ludicrously out of place next to the cel animation, which is done in the Bluth house style, a style that hasn't changed in TWO DECADES PLUS. That's new and different? Space Ace is 15 years old now, and that's EXACTLY what this looks like- Space Ace (with a bigger budget, which was all blown on useless CGI). Space Ace is a video game contemporary of Kangaroo. Would you see a movie that mimicked it too? Christ, DISNEY has changed their animation style more in that time period than Bluth has. And you're trying to convince me Titan's worth seeing? I don't think so. I'll save my money for Chicken Run, thanks. As for the folk saying we should see it just because it's not Disney, and non-Disney animation needs to make money so that Hollywood will make more of it blah blah blah we all know the argument... You're wrong on two counts. If it's crap, and we support it, Hollywood will simply think we're easily pleased morons and give us more crap. Second, no non-Disney (or non-Katzenberg) animated film has made much money at the box office, yet they keep making more of 'em anyway. Why? Because every other studio wants a piece of that juicy Mouse pie. It makes MORE sense for us to be patient and wait for something good to support, to send the message that we won't tolerate shitty animation, rather than shamble like zombies into the theater to see whatever 'cartoon' they lob our way. (Of course, we've missed every chance we had to do just that, Iron Giant being the most recent example...) There's no excuse for bad filmmaking, and no reason to support it financially. None.
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Jun 08, 2000 12:59:27 AM CDT
Normally, Anton, I'd agree with your sentiment that no shitty mo
by dave_f
...but I'm making an exception here. "Titan A.E." is the first fairly mainstream, feature-length cartoon since...umm...Watership Down, maybe?...to target a teens and up audience. Okay, an eight or ten year old would probably have no trouble with it, but the target audience is teens I think. That's notable, and yes, even worthy of support. You suggest Hollywood will just read its hypothetical success as indication of a moronic audience. Well, frankly, Hollywood has *always* believed that, and I doubt "Titan A.E. will change their collective minds one way or another. And if a few shitty "Titan A.E." knock-offs get cranked out in the wake of its success, I'll consider that an acceptable price for it starting a trend of action-oriented animation. I'm serious, I'm practically willing to support any theatrically released, non-Disney-style animation (short of "Heavy Metal 2") if it might lead to some more diversity. I'd love to wait for a really good film, but I don't see any on the horizon ("Final Fantasy" may look swell, but I predict a convoluted and uninvolving story). "Titan A.E." has just enough mainstream space opera appeal, cliched though it is, that I think it could do significant business. I have a hunch, just a hunch mind you, that it might even be a sleeper hit. Why? Guys like animation, but going to Disney movies is embarrassing unless you let your girlfriend "drag" you to one. There's always anime on tape, but secretly guys yearn to watch cartoons at a movie theater. So I think a lot of high school and maybe college guys are gonna say, "Hey, here's a cartoon that maybe kicks a little ass, and there's no crappy songs or talking candles to embarrass me! Plus there's some bad-ass CGI!" Note that a lot of people dig CGI just for the novelty of it, the shininess as it were, and could care less how well it's handled or whether it blends with the traditional animation. Thus, I see "Titan A.E.'s" CGI as a mainstream selling point, even though animation geeks know it looks weak. Plus, "Phantom Menace" primed mass audiences for a little good, old-fashioned space opera, so I think the timing is good from that point of view. Yeah, I'll feel a little embarrassed going to see "Titan A.E.", but I'm convinced of my cause. Besides, it looks fairly good-natured, not like some cynical, Disney knock-off hack job. If I'm wrong, and it has NO redeeming value whatsoever, you can bludgeon me with "Iron Giant" tapes until I repent my heresy.
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YES! NIMH kicks ass!!! And so will Titan AE!!! WOOHOO!! But...if it doesn't then you can always go have a orgasm watching Fantasia 2000!
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