Before the Battlestar Galactica reboot and Firefly, there was Titan A.E.. This post-apocalyptic animated feature about humanity's last hope was bookended by gorgeous space shots and a misfit crew of aliens. While the movie tanked at the box office, and didn't please everyone, we consider this cartoon a major classic.
Here's why Titan A.E. is an unsung classic of science fiction, that deserves a live-action remake.
Titan A.E. was released in 2000, directed by the legendary Don Bluth (The Secret of NIMH, The Land Before Time) and Gary Goldman. It's a bite-size version of the gritty space opera we all know and love, think BSG in a Firefly color palete wrapper.
Ben Edlund, John August and Joss Whedon all took a pass at the screenplay. And while Whedon may still poke fun at it now, we still think this flick is a classic that can help save space opera. But more on that later, first here's what we love about this movie.
The premise is simple: Earth is destroyed by the blue beings known as The Drej. An alien force that can't be beat because (as you'll hear over and over again) they're pure energy. The Drej blast the Earth right as Baby Cale and his Father escape from the planet on separate ships. Cale's father is manning the Titan, a giant globe-shaped space ship that is rumored to be humankind's backup plan. Cale's father is never seen again. Cut to 15 years later: Cale is a jaded teen, trying to avoid getting lumped in with the rest of the human refugees. Life's not so great for the Matt Damon—voiced kid, until his Dad's old buddy, Capt. Joseph Korso, appears looking for Cale and the Titan. The reluctant hero Cale joins up with Korso and his wacky alien crew, in search of the Titan. But will the Drej find it first?
It's got everything: the chosen one, life after the apocalypse, the rag-tag survivors, rescue missions, and space exploration tropes. All rolled into one movie. Yes, the twists in this flick are as easy to spot as Capt. Joseph Korso's bad guy beard, but the core of the movie's story is great. It's grand and scrappy at the same time. It's the ill-equipped crew vs. a giant power. It's classic scifi storytelling. You can't help but root for Cale, as annoying as his mood swings can be, because the fate of the world rests in his glowing, DNA-mapped hand.