The Transformers Season One

MSRP price: $59.95

Distributor: Rhino Video

Run Time: 490 Minutes

Release Date: April 23, 2002

By: Mike

MOVIE CONTENT

The Transformers was just a little before my time. I never had the chance to get wrapped up in the phenomenon of bed sheets, clothing, and of course, the many variations of transforming action figures that rained from the Hasbro building nearly every other month. I didn’t totally miss out on the action, as I did used to own the dinobot Grimlock, the dorky Scourge boat, the G2 Optimus Prime, and the G2 metallic gold Bumblebee. One of my best friends in grammar school used to bring in all of the Decepticon jets–from Starscream to Thundercracker. It was really impossible to get away from those robots in disguise, I guess, even if you’ve never seen more than a couple of the episodes as was my case.

Recently I got the “old Transformer feeling” again while playing the first official video game release of the cartoon in North America: “Transformers” for the Playstation 2, based on the Armada generation (the new, disgraceful plots harping on the old namesake). I was only made familiar with this new series through the gigantic Unicron toy that Santa left for me under the tree last Christmas (hey, I’m still a kid at heart!). Not knowing a thing about the newfangled minicons or of the storyline, I picked up the Dual Shock controller and traveled back in time. It was only a matter of one short online comparison shopping trip later that I forked over the money to buy the complete first season of the original cartoon that defined a generation of animation.


S’no problem for Bumblebee!

I found it odd how much I remembered of the cartoon, although I could have swore I had never seen any of these episodes before. Other ‘transfans’ call season 1 one of the best in the original 4. Who am I to disagree? In all seriousness, this season is a blast–better yet, a blast from the past! Ho hah. It is.

Things begin on the planet Cybertron, as the Autobots and Decepticons are battling for power and peace. During a heated confrontation in space, the two groups crash land on Earth only to be awakened millions of years later, finding themselves stranded on the foreign planet inhabited by earthlings. The race is on for energon, the main power source to solidify a win of the battle over Cybertron, as the Decepticons attempt to drain the Earth of all its natural resources (at least the one’s we haven’t drained ourselves, yet…f’ing Hummers).

This season is really fantastic, and not just because it’s the start to a franchise name. Everything is so fresh and exciting. The introduction of new robots, especially the Dinobots in succeeding every young boy’s dreams of dinosaurs and robots, and I can’t leave out the Constructicons–six construction vehicles which combine to form a huge, lurking Devastator bot.

There are a couple of downsides not to be overlooked. The original adventures feel a bit too episodic for its own good, as in Optimus yelling “Roll!” in every single episode. Then there’s Starscream constantly trying (and failing) to become leader of the Decepticons, and Megatron giving the “traitor” a time-out, only to allow him to try again in the next installment. Let’s not forget about the non-robotic characters. Spike and his father Sparkplug, along with pretty much the rest of the human cast, managed to remain annoying as all hell through and through the entire whole 16 episodes. They were like the referees, interfering in the passionate action because O.P. won’t cap that brat Spike. Although in “The Ultimate Doom” saga, where the humans are being mind controlled, it is rather hilarious to see them piling on the Autobots like ants on taffy. Mmm. Note to self: buy taffy. While I’m on the subject of taffy and fighting, there are some really lame hand-to-hand combat battle scenes in here, especially those between Optimus Prime and Megatron. In a few instances it was like watching a high school wrestling match, only that these were supposed to be tough machines having it out in a battle of brawn and strength.

Despite these few grievances, this is an all-American classic cartoon at its very core. Call me a troglodyte if you wish, but this one is the best that there is and probably ever will be. Definitely worthy of two thumbs up. I only wished someone was beside me right now to give it a couple more. On a final note, Bumblebee is the most underrated star of the season. I only wish he served more to the cause than just a transport for the annoying kid.


You, Grimlock, goooood.

VIDEO QUALITY/MENUS


Surf’s up, robo-dudes!

The quality of the video is quite good, offering a very clear restoration of the cels and backgrounds. Cough. I won’t lie to you here, I know nothing about the process of re-mastering older film to a digital output. I can hardly remember what the show looked like on TV! Lucky for you and me, on the 4th disc contains the special features (more on that later) including the process of restoring the video. The cartoon originally was shot in 35MM. The feature goes on to state “the downside to this transfer process was the inferior color depth, clarity, and the amount of analog noise” and that the digital process “has created some physical defects…dirt is embedded in the emulsion of the negative.” Need more details? A “dust-busting” crew at Rhino were assigned the job to “eliminate the more noticeable dirt, hair and animator dandruff.” Thanks for that, crew.

Due to some of the poor animation quality of the originals from the Sunbow studios, coupled with the loss of some scenes, the overall presentation of the video isn’t perfect. But unless you’re truly a very anal transfan (and I know you people are out there…thousands of you…), a couple of grains on the screen and color/mouth misplacement once in a while isn’t going to ruin the experience one bit. As a nice extra, on the 4th disc there’s an option to watch an episode on split-screen, showing the film transfer digital betacam on the left and the original one-inch broadcast master on the right. The most shocking difference is in color–the digital transfer is much darker. The depth of cels and backgrounds is much improved, though.


Scene Selection Menu

AUDIO

The cartoon originally was shot in mono 35MM four-track with no noise reduction. The 4th disc claims the DVD collection re-masters to 5.1 digital audio and added on new stereo sound effects. In some instances, especially during battle sounds and the beginning of the intro theme, I experienced the sound volume decreasing greatly. Don’t worry too much, for all of the 1980′s phrases like “geeky,” mega-bum,” and “tinfoil turkey” sound darn good. Everything is now in stereo, too. It could have used some more work but I wouldn’t feel right giving the score anything below two thumbs up if only for having some of the very best music in cartoons.

SPECIAL FEATURES & EXTRAS


Fancy animation poses in the binding… in disguise! Roll out!

I’ll begin by saying the special features are weak sauce compared to the gravity of such a legendary cartoon. As mentioned before, all of the bonus features have been stuffed onto the 4th disc. The first menu talks about the restoration process. Boring, though the visual comparison movie of the broadcast to digital is interesting.

Then we have the bumpers. For those not in the know, a bumper refers to the short episodic-causing sequence that displays “We’ll be right back after these messages” right before and after commercial breaks. Apparently Rhino liked these a whole hell of a lot because they appear over and over again. The first bumper menu shows both the domestic and Japanese collections.


Here we see Unicron* modeling the innards of the DVD set — two animation serial cels. Also in package: a $10 expired coupon to ACTION FIGURE XPRESS(!) and a booklet brimming with colorful imagery from the show that serves as an episode guide and gives explanation of the special features found on the 4th disc . (*Action figure sold separately.)

The next feature perked my interest right up: outtakes! My mind wandered the possibilities of a secret vault consisting of hilarious bloopers and too hot-for-TV stunts done by the robot gang. I mean, really I thought we’d finally get to see Megatron as a drag queen. He always seemed to be someone who would fancy red lipstick on his metal lips. Or maybe we’d see a funny slip-up of the voice actor for Optimus Prime saying a bad word.

None of these fantasies became a reality, however, for these so-called “outtakes” were nothing more than animation pieces not matching their placement and animator’s hands. Oh. Joy. Tell me, c’mon, what in the hell is the point of including this? The features just keep getting worse, though.

Now the scariest of them all: a look inside BotCon 2001, a convention held in North Carolina every year where social outcasts come to par-tay. I mean, look, I’m all for people finding their niches and doing whatever it is that brings them happiness and a sense of enjoyment. Just….leave them out of my DVD sets, okay?


UGLY PEOPLE IN DISGUISE!


The palest, most overweight people you’ll ever see gathered in one place. That is, until there’s ever an NESCon. (I kid, I kid!)

Not only that, but we get an exclusive interview. Wow! Who is it, you ask? A voice actor? An animator for the show? Someone from Hasbro to talk about the toys? No, it’s only the BotCon organizer. Lovely. We get this guy trying to give a half-assed, on the fly interview by Rhino in the middle of the convention. At one point someone actually comes up to him and pokes his shoulder and runs away.


I feel really uncomfortable with these people talking about transformers and how it has helped their sex life.

With all this melting pot of crap combined, the 4th disc makes for absolutely unnecessary filler. There is not one feature on the mega hit toys at all, which is bad enough, but the rest makes the Transformers epic seem laughable. Rhino should have fit the restoration comparison footage on one of the 3 discs and just gotten rid of the 4th to save the consumers a buck or two. The only reason I’m giving this one thumb up is because of the fancy box and the couple of cels included. Frankly, I’m being rather generous.

“The Transformers: Complete Season One” is a well endowed nostalgic trip worth all of the $30 bucks (used from Digital Eyes DVD) I plunked down for it. Is it worth the retail price of $60 smackers, though? The better question should be: have you ever attended a botcon in your lifetime and/or pondered about dedicating a room of your residence to showcasing your collection of transforming toy play things? If you answered yes, then scoop the dough from out your pocket, run out the door, and throw it at your nearest DVD retailer clerk’s face, while exclaiming “ROLL OUT!” Despite the strong childhood memory factor, the Transformers on its own is a neat and well executed premise, perfect for children of newer generations to watch on a rainy day. The series beats just about 99% of the other cartoons currently numbing kids’ minds on a daily basis. Just don’t expect Megatron in a dress or anything (possibly this is becoming an unhealthy obsession) and you’ll be in transfan heaven. TRANSFORM FOR ACTION!

FINAL RATING: TWO POWER GLOVE THUMBS WAY UP!!

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