Titan Maximum – Season One (2009/Adult Swim/Warner DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: B Episodes: B
Inspired
by series like the SuperMarionation series Thunderbirds,
as well as classic anime, Titan Maximum:
Season One is a great new addition to the Adult Swim line up. Whereas I was admittedly hesitant about the
series at first, the stop-motion styling almost immediately sucked me in after
only a few episodes. The series parodies
classic ‘super robot’ series and does it amazingly well. What seems like a simple concept actually
manages to blend comedy, action and all out creativity in a tangible and
intelligent manner.
The
series’ plot surrounds the solar system’s dream team of bright and brilliant
minds who once protected the moon of Saturn (Titan) with their ‘super robot’
Titan Maximum. Unfortunately for the
team a series of heroic incidents, awarded medals and budget cuts eventually leads
to the team being disbanded; where they are forced to get ‘ordinary’ day to day
jobs. Back in the ground most of the
team settles in, while one member (Spud) dies in a horrible accident, a second
team member (Gibbs) switches sides to try to take over the universe. As Gibbs releases his monsters on the
universe (2 years after the team split up) team Titan Maximum comes together
(with two new team members) to defend the solar system once again. Unfortunately (again) for the team their
robot is horrible shape and it is up to (team member) Palmer’s genius younger
brother to get the metal beast up and running with the help of monkey (awesome)
janitor Leon.
The
series moves at a rapid pace and the jokes come flying even faster; some
referential, some slapstick and some plain crude…but overall wonderful. Each episode only runs about 10-15minutes and
as it is from the same creators as Robot
Chicken it has that vibe, though the episodes actually maintain solid plot
and continuity. The series is
exaggerated and over the top with plenty of potty humor (many ‘kicks to the
balls’ come to mind), but it is easy to get into and enjoyable beginning to
end. As the series’ creators borrow
(just like on Robot chicken) from the best that entertainment has to offer
along with blending in their own style and creativity Titan Maximum turns out brilliantly and I hope there are many more
(expanded) seasons to come.
The
technical features are standard and not all to amazing, but nevertheless get
the job done. The video is presented in
an anamorphic widescreen that looks very nice with bright colors, great details
and inky blacks. I surprisingly never
was disappointed by the picture and whereas not perfect it made for a pleasant
viewing experience. The sound is a Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track that is SURPRISINGLY immersive for a short
episode animation series. The sound from
beginning to end is loud, loud, loud with solid surrounds and puts you in the
heart of the action.
The
extras are nice and I wish more series, films and all other home video releases
worked as hard for their fans as Adult Swim series do. As soon as you open the DVD case you are
treated to a 4 page full color comic book that is brilliantly done and
entertaining as hell. The single disc
release also features three audio commentaries featuring cast and crew; behind
the scenes look; deleted Animatics; anatomy of a sequence; crew mug shots
gallery; table read; trailers; a pop-up trivia track; design showcase. Overall, this Titan Maximum release has a wonderful amount of extras that should
please fans all around.
This is a
great series that I can’t wait to see more of.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
