Last Titan
Logline
After the suspicious death of his family a former military officer discovers hidden journals and the covert world of his father. He enters the murky world of a rogue CIA Group Chief as they race to unearth the one remaining cold-war era nuclear-tipped Titan inter-continental ballistic missile.
Genre
Action,Adventure
Short Summary
CIA Group Chief Donner Bly builds a covert underground nuclear missile base. When site commander Maj Arthur Cule becomes suspicious and Congress starts investigations Bly buries the site and Commander. His son finds his father's journals and begins searching for the site much to the dismay of Bly.
Cule's son (Kirk) locates the underground missile base and together with his friend (Morgan) and dog (Bones) stops madman Bly and foreign entities from targeting Washington D.C. with the Titan nuclear missile.
Setting
Washington D.C., Northern Virginia, Texas, Illinois.
Based on a True Story
No
Plot - Premise
Overcoming Monster/Villain,Internal Journey/Rebirth
Plot - Other Elements
Other
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence
Main Character Details
Name: Kirk Cule
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Confident,Heartthrob,Leader
Additional Character Details
Name: Donner Bly
Age: Varies (from 30s to 70s)
Gender: Male
Role: Antagonist
Key Traits: Badass,Aggressive,Charming,Complex,Confident,Crazy,Leader,Manipulative,Skillful,Power Hungry,Narcisstic,Villainous
Additional Character Details
Name: Arthur Cule
Age: Varies 30-60
Gender: Male
Role: protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Confident,Decisive,Heroic,Leader,Masculine,Strong Moral Code
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Development Pitch
The Bourne Identity meets The Right Stuff and Top Gun. This is a sweeping epic action adventure film spanning decades from the early 1960's cold war nuclear conflict through mid 1990s. It pits a rogue CIA villain against an emotionally injured flawed former military officer hero. After the suspicious death of his family, a former Air Force Captain discovers hidden journals and the covert world of his father; a good man drawn into a power struggle that could lead to nuclear annihilation. He enters the murky world of a rogue CIA Special Actions Group Chief - an exceptional madman named Donner Bly - his deranged obedient associate, and foreign entities, as they race to unearth and launch the one remaining nuclear-tipped Titan inter-continental ballistic missile. All have different motives, all have different goals....But who will succeed as they battle to possess The Last of the Titans.
Genre
ACTION, THRILLER, MATURE AUDIENCE, POLITICS, WAR
Brief
Kirk Cule, a former air force pilot, finds a hidden journal detailing the location of a hidden nuclear missile, following the mysterious death of his father, wife, and only son. Kirk sets out with an old friend to uncover the location of the missile and restore it, to convert it into a rocket capable of breaking past the Earth's atmosphere. Meanwhile, several factions including an Ex-CIA operative and Jihadists are plotting escape from a supermax prison to gain control of the missile for themselves. All parties eventually collide in a bloody battle with Kirk emerging victorious and venturing off into space with the missile.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: FAIR
Commerciality: GOOD
Franchise Potential: GOOD
Pace: GOOD
Premise: FAIR
Structure: GOOD
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
The script profile accurately reflects the book.
Draw of Story
The writer has a very "high-octane" style that grabs the reader's attention with fast paced action sequences.
Possible Drawbacks
The protagonist's goal is something that would be hard to get audiences to behind. The protagonist is essentially working to pull off an elaborate suicide. With the protagonist having no idea of the villain's intentions for the missile until the end of the story, there is a strange situation created where there is dramatic irony concerning the stakes, muddling the urgency within scenes with the protagonist. Either the audience along with the protagonist should be unaware (up to a certain point) of the villain's goals or have the protagonist aware of the villains goal to raise the stakes and the urgency in the script.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY RELIES HEAVILY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
Finding the hidden journals of his father following his mysterious death, a former Air Force pilot ignites a race to uncover and control a hidden nuclear missile between himself, an Ex-CIA operative, and Jihadist terrorists.
Fanbase Potential
If produced, this script has the potential for a large fanbase due to its straightforward, plot-driven, and action-oriented nature.
Awards Potential
I personally don't see this script garnering acclaim/awards due to its focus on the plot vs character or themes. As it stands now, the story does not offer a compelling reason to care about the protagonist or his goals and neither offer a compelling thematic message by the story's end.
Envisioned Budget
LARGE BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
FILMS SUCH AS "JAMES BOND" (ALL OF THEM), "THE BOURNE IDENTITY", AND "WANTED" ARE SIMILAR TO THIS STORY. THE LATTER FILM IS SIMILAR BECAUSE THE PROTAGONIST FINDS THE SECRETS OF HIS FATHER AND "TAKES UP THEIR MANTLE", WHILE THE FORMER MOVIES ARE SIMILAR IN TONE AND SCOPE.
What’s New About the Story
The fact that the protagonist is on a grandiose mission to commit suicide is unique in the action genre, however, fleshing out a more compelling arc for the protagonist is needed to make that work for the story.
Lead Characters
Nothing about the lead characters stand out from similar characters of the same genre films.
Uniqueness of Story
As currently written, this is not a rare gem. The characterization, overall premise, and themes can be tweaked to offer a more compelling story.
Possible Formats
Film - Studio, Film - Streaming, Film - Indie
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
The story has an interesting premise up until the point we learn what the protagonist intends to do with the information he discovers and how the villain fits into premise. The rest of the story plays out like a typical "buddy-action film" with the only unexpected element being the protagonist's death wish mission. There is a missed opportunity in really exploring the protagonist's grief, the villain's motivation, and giving the story a satisfying resolution. The reason throughout I refer to the story's villain as the villain and not antagonist is because in reality there is really no antagonistic force for the majority of the script standing in the way of the protagonist.
Tips for Improvement
If the writer intends on keeping the protagonist's goal the same it would help to focus on his grief more and how the death of his family affected him. In the story, the writer oddly chooses to skip over possible scenes showing his mourning/grieving process. Also, the Morgan character is a missed opportunity to serve as a mentor character for the protagonist to undergo a change and have a compelling arc. All the Morgan character does is assist in the protagonist's goal without being a catalyst for change. The villain should also have a very compelling reason for achieving his goal that isn't just mentioned in passing conversations. The dialogue would benefit from relying less on "clever American expressions" and puns. While, throwing around a few can be seen as an interesting homage to action films of the 80's and 90's, their overuse can take readers out of the story.