Titan Maximum Season One...   Starring (voice): Breckin Meyer, Rachael Leigh Cook, Dan Milano, Eden Espinosa and Seth Green Revolver Entertainment RRP: £19.99 REVD2488 Certificate: 15 Available 30 August 2010

When a once peaceful solar system is threatened by a genocidal madman, Titan Force Five, commanding the mighty Titan Maximum, are humanity's only hope for survival. It's robo-bashing, laser-blasting, monkey-flying, sometimes naked space faring action and adventure...

Titan Maximum is an animated claymation style spoof based on classic kids shows like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Over this first season's nine (11 minute) episodes we see how the new team is formed (out go two characters in the Pilot, to be replaced by two new team members) and learn the team dynamics as they constantly fight one another as well as those that would bring destruction to their homeworld.

The five team members are Palmer (the dashing and cool leader); Sasha (cheeky, cocky and slutty - you don't want to mess with her); Jodi (naive, wide-eyed innocent do gooder who is worried she's not good enough to be in the team); Willie (Palmer's geeky younger brother who only got into the team after a previous member died in an accident); Leon (the team's former monkey butler. He doesn't talk or react with any emotion and is a replacement for a former team member who turned to the dark side).

This first season represent an ongoing story arc, which works much better than the alternative - ''fight of the week' affair that would have probably materialised if the producers had made each episode a standalone story. Gibbs, former number two in the team, is now Titan Maximum's nemesis (complete with eye-patch and goatee beard in true sinister villain style), is constantly devising new ways to destroy his old team mates.

For me, the thing that works the best is the relationship between Tasha and Jodi. Tasha is constantly devising ways to give Jodi a hard time - especially playing off her belief that she's not good enough to be on the team. So, every time there is an accident or things don't go to plan, Tasha makes Jodi feel like it's her fault.

Extras include Anatomy of a Sequence (5 min, 22 sec look at the breakdown of a scene in various stages of the production); Behind the Scenes (15 min, 22 sec which interviews cast and crew); Crew Mugshots (photos of all the crew); Deleted Animatics (19 min); Table Read (2 min, 21 sec look at a rough read through of some of the characters so that everyone could get a feel for who would play which character); and trailers for other releases.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable series - especially if you were a child of the '80s and grew up on shows that this takes the Mickey out of.

8

Darren Rea