Titan Maximum:S1 (DVD)

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Product Description ------------------- One hundred years in the future, our solar system is protected by Titan Force Five, a squadron of crack pilots whose spaceships combine to form the giant robot Titan Maximum. After years of peace, the inactive team must hastily reassemble to square off against the biggest threat humanity has ever faced - but before they save the day, this new version of Titan Force Five must overcome their astounding incompetence. .com ---- Created by Tom Root and Matthew Seinrich of Robot Chicken fame, the stop-motion animated series Titan Maximum follows in its predecessor's footsteps by skewering a fanboy-favorite genre--specifically, Japan's Super Sentai, which pits giant robots against outlandish monsters--with the same level of hilarious pop culture obsession and below-the-belt humor that made their first series an Emmy-winning hit. Titan Maximum follows all the touchstones of the Sentai meme--the youthful crew of the title mecha is torn asunder (by budget cuts), only to reassemble when a former member (voiced by executive producer Seth Green) attempts to overtake the solar system--but with one significant difference: the crew are, at best, complete idiots, and at worst, the most awful people imaginable. Their inability to get past their own egos and ineptitude form the back of the first season's nine episodes, which, unlike Chicken's machine- bursts of sketches, actually follow a story arc; it's one of several elements that set it apart from that series, as well as improved animation and scripting. That's not to say that the humor in Titan Maximum is any more sophisticated--crotch trauma, obscene gestures, and berserk party girl/crew member Sasha Caylo's every action should assure viewers that the show is definitely for grown-ups--but the attempt to blend a consistent story line with a barrage of jokes is a definite step forward. The robot action also does a fine job of balancing parody with appreciation for the real thing, with several sequences offering a seamless mix of CG and stop-motion animation, and the vocal talent, which includes Robot Chicken vets Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Eden Espinoza, Billy Dee Williams, and Dan Milano (Greg the Bunny), handle their outrageous characters with the appropriate degree of near hysteria. Extras on the single-disc set are plentiful and highlighted by over a dozen commentary tracks for the nine episodes; though you might have to do some digging to find them (they're listed in the episode selection menu), you'll hear Green, Root, and producer-director Chris McKay, as well as several of the cast members, offering some amusing observations on every episode, with a second audio track featuring members of the production crew on five episodes. There's also an impressive exploration of a 40-second sequence as it moves from animatic to final version, while interviews with the cast and crew--some serious, some less so--give a history of the series and its production. The supplements are rounded out by a peek at a scene read-through with the cast, a frantic "Episode Re-Dub" featuring the cast and crew winging their way through "Went to Party, Got Crabs," and even a mini comic that brings viewers up to speed with the show's back story. Oh, and for the curious, the whole thing's uncut, which means that the frequent strong language is in full cry here. --Paul Gaita