 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Titan A.E.
- Review Date: June 30, 2003
- PG
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- 2001
Common Sense Media says
A so-so animated feature aimed at an older crowd.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know there's lots of fantasy violence in this movie. The earth is destroyed by an alien race. Some characters die on screen. There are fistfights, laser gun battles, and numerous scenes of spaceship combat. The heroes are constantly in danger, and a scene in which Cale and Akima are brought aboard an enemy Drej spaceship portrays an unnerving and hostile alien environment. Five-year-old Cale is traumatically separated from his father in a scene that could disturb sensitive youngsters. The weird-looking Drej themselves may frighten very young viewers.
What's the story?
TITAN A.E. is set in the 31st century, when alien invaders have turned the Earth to charcoal and humanity is in danger of being wiped out altogether. Cast out into the universe, survivor Cale (voiced by Matt Damon) is in possession of a map to Titan, a space station created to house displaced Earthlings. Cale, his friend Korso (Bill Pullman), and pretty pilot Akima (Drew Barrymore) set out to find the Ice Planet, where the Titan is located.
Is it any good?
This animated feature aimed is at an older crowd, a fact made clear by its PG rating and less than sunny premise. Refreshingly, the filmmakers--notably legendary director Don Bluth --have gone out of their way to ensure that the movie is not a Disney clone. The story jettisons fairy tale magic and Broadway-style songs for elaborate high-tech imagery, fast-paced action, and a loud rock music soundtrack. On a strictly visual level, it's is a smashing success, with imaginative futuristic environments and spacecraft created with state-of-the-art computer animation.
On the down side, we never connect with the characters in an emotional way that would take the movie to the next level. Cale's transition from uncaring cynic to committed hero is predictable, and his romance with the space pilot Akima is perfunctory at best. Science fiction fans will recognize some recycled plot ideas, and even occasional lines of dialogue lifted from previous sci-fi classics. However, as the movie's primary goal is apparently to provide its target audience with an adrenaline rush every ten minutes or so, at this, it succeeds admirably.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the animation techniques used in this film, and how it compares to other computer-generated films.
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AGE
"As scary as Battlestar Galactica."
My 11-year-old son and I turned this off halfway through. The movie starts with Earth being destroyed, and the aliens are so scary he was afraid of nightmares. The aliens were drawn with great cgi, and their other-worldly voices were cool (with subtitles). But we saw enough.
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AGE
A good animated sci-fi for older kids
The thing I liked about this movie growing up was that it was animated but it had great action. There are space ship battles, shootouts and fist fights. There are definitely several intense action scenes but in the end it is still PG. Some kids will love it where some more sensitive kids will be scared. The other thing besides violence is one scene where the main character is being medically examined and his towel falls off (we see his butt) and a scene where we see a female character's silhouette as she takes a shower.
This was my first introduction to the world of sci-fi when I was a kid. I enjoyed the creativity of the settings, aliens and story.
In the end, it's a good action movie for kids. Actually, it's good for anyone; I'm 21 and I still love it.
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AGE
A decent, though slightly violent movie.
I found it to be a good story with decent animation. It is a little violent for kids under 7 but not extremely so.
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AGE
Just as good as I remembered
I watched this movie last night, and the last time I saw it before that was way back in 1998.
As for sexuality, you actually see Cale's butt for a second (making this the ONLY PG movie I know with nudity) and there's another scene where Cale goes into Akima's room and she only has a towel on.
For Violence, I think this is also the most violent PG movie I know, and there are actually a few scenes with a fair amount of blood in them. It's all gun fights and a few explosions though, nothing close combat.
Language: nothing worse than "D**n" and I don't even think that was in there.
Everything else: there was no product placement or drugs, and I guess you could say the Social Behavior leans towards a pause, because...
*spoiler warning*
Korso backstabs them, but then sacrifices himself so that they can survive.
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| Topics: | adventures, space and aliens |
| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Don Bluth |
| Cast: | Bill Pullman, Drew Barrymore, Matt Damon |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 95 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | March 6, 2001 |
| DVD release date: | March 6, 2001 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | action violence, mild sensuality and brief language |
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