Transformers Prime cartoon reviews/comments (spoilers) [Archive] - Ozformers Transformers Club of Australia (otca.com.au)

GoktimusPrime

28th November 2010, 11:21 AM

I haven't read the rest of this thread cos I've only seen ep 1 thus far (I'm about to step out, so I'll watch ep 2 later).

But some of my thoughts so far:

+ The episode more or less picks up where the comic book left off - though apparently some time has passed since Arcee and Cliffjumper arrived on Earth. Not too surprising considering the comic was intentionally written as a prequel to the pilot.

+ This cartoon is very much inspired by the live action movies. Seeing Orci and Kurtzman's names in the credits explains a lot. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I think Hasbro are seizing the opportunity to create a series that parallels with the movie franchise and ride along with its success, which makes sense. Being written for a younger audience allows young kids who might otherwise not have access to the M rated films (or even if they did, it might not appeal to them as much (not that parts of it even appealed to adults :p)), are able to enjoy something very similar to the films. In some ways there are elements to this that I prefer over the movies... Jack isn't walking around desperately trying to get laid, and Miko isn't a "trophy girl". And Rafael also helps younger kids to relate too, as many of us were when Transformers came out and would be around the same age as most kids who are currently playing with toys (not that I've ever stopped playing with toys, but ya know... :p)

+ Is Soundwave a chick? If so, I think that's an interesting move. It allows the Decepticons to also have a female that's also a homage to a G1 character (cos it's not like we had a lot of female Decepticons in G1 to draw on - and even if they did, they'd be pretty obscure... "Esmeral who??" :p). Soundwave's a character who's never been overtly macho or "manly" so it's possible to make him female. Of course, they could make Starscream female too... hehehe. ;)

+ I'm happy with the animation quality. It's no Clone Wars, but of course, TF Prime probably doesn't have anywhere near the same budget as Star Wars. There's a lot of nice visual details, such as the battle damage on Cliffjumper, bleeding mech fluid etc. The rendering looks good, I like how the metallic car parts have that shine, and the headlights look cool.

+ Neat references: Cliffjumper often being referred to as "Cliff" (referring to his Japanese G1 name); Jack works at a place called "KO Burgers" (Knockout Burgers) - but of course, KO means something totally different to collectors :D - and he doesn't even have a uniform when he's at work... what kind of knockoff drive thru is this!?! ;); "Robot Fight Club" -- heheh; setting the story in Nebraska is reminiscent of the way that Portland Oregon (presumably) was portrayed in the G1 cartoon - as Thundercracker would say, "Earth's so flat"; and of course, heaps of movie references.

+ The Space Bridge looks COOL! Reminds me of the Space Bridge from the G1 Marvel Comics, only cooler cos it's built inside an asteroid instead of a suspension bridge. Not sure if that asteroid is an enslaved Cybertronian or not though. :p

Bartrim

28th November 2010, 01:06 PM

+ Is Soundwave a chick? If so, I think that's an interesting move. It allows the Decepticons to also have a female that's also a homage to a G1 character (cos it's not like we had a lot of female Decepticons in G1 to draw on - and even if they did, they'd be pretty obscure... "Esmeral who??" :p). Soundwave's a character who's never been overtly macho or "manly" so it's possible to make him female. Of course, they could make Starscream female too... hehehe. ;)

No. Why does everyone think Soundwave is a chick? He plays back part of Arcee's dialouge with Cliffjumper.

1AZRAEL1

28th November 2010, 01:13 PM

No. Why does everyone think Soundwave is a chick? He plays back part of Arcee's dialouge with Cliffjumper.

We haven't actually heard Soundwave speak yet. Unless he does in part 2, which I haven't watched yet. What we did hear was Arcee like you said.

Bartrim

28th November 2010, 01:41 PM

We haven't actually heard Soundwave speak yet. Unless he does in part 2, which I haven't watched yet. What we did hear was Arcee like you said.

Yeah your right. Soundwave could be a girl but that voice that played wasn't his so it isn't confirmed either way yet.

1AZRAEL1

28th November 2010, 02:04 PM

It would be interesting if they went that way, but I hope he will be male.

FFN

28th November 2010, 02:37 PM

Anybody notice the brief use of footage from War for Cybertron at the beginning of Prime's flashback?

griffin

28th November 2010, 02:39 PM

Soundwave could be like Bumblebee - he might not actually speak, or doesn't need to.

I saw episode 2 this morning, and wasn't too impressed with the resolution of Cliffjumper. That face and rage, with Megatron's organically corpse-like face is gonna give kids nightmares.
Still surprised that a death occured so early, in a CG show. I'd still expect that they will re-use the animation model some how, to make the most out of its expense.

Quite a few concepts and terms from WFC, like the name Dark Energon, but also a few conflicting things as well, like what is Dark Energon... :p

More confusion for the kiddies.
It's as bad as reusing character names in parallel series - too many similar but different concepts will just make it difficult to work out and/or remember what each one is/does for each series. And not just for the kiddies, but us collectors as well. :p

Tetsuwan Convoy

28th November 2010, 03:17 PM

I quite enjoyed it. The character designs are not so movie like that I want to vomit when I see them. Shame about Cliffjumper as I liked the design and personality, although having the Rock play his character would probably have cost them a bit. Wouldn't mind seeing some more of Cliff through flashbacks or something. Didn't expect it to be so dark, so that was a pleasent surprise for me. Wonder what the Parents of America will think though.

Prime's face. Sorry, can't get over it. The 'vent' thing that is always in his forehead (and in this case covers his nose) just looks way too huge.

Interestingly, with the WFC references and as Griff pointed pointed out, the Dark Energon not fitting in. It actually fits quite nicely with the WFC: Exodus book as that had Dark Energon coming from the same sourcee, although in Exodus it was used as a powerup for decepticons, and didn't touch on the ressurection thing. Bumblebee couldn't speak in that either.

Digging the Tf chars a lot at the moment. Glad to see Steve Blum doing his other voice for Stars, Megatron + Welker = Awesome!!!!!!:D Arcee is good, Prime is usual self. Bulkhead I like as well, not as clumsy as animated (yet). Bumblebee - meh. Ratchet is my favourite again. Not quite up to the grumpy levels of Animated Rarchet, but still managing to pull off the old 'I'm tired of working with no resources' schtick.

Looking forward to more!

GoktimusPrime

28th November 2010, 03:48 PM

Yeah, this Bulkhead is a big improvement over the one we saw in Animated. And I don't think all the cross references will confuse kids - not the ones who are seriously into Transformers anyway. After all, we had multiple parallel continuities in G1 when we were kids (e.g. tech specs, books, comics, cartoon etc.) and most of us understood them to be separate continuities (maybe not consciously, but I think most of us didn't confuse them).

I'm also pleasantly surprised by some of the more darker elements of the show, particularly with killing Cliffjumper off so early, and Jack's line about "robots that can die" drills in the consequentiality of war; which I think is good (unlike say the G1 cartoon where warfare was mostly non-consequential, which arguably serves to make war appear "fun"). There is an incredible amount of violence in the show, but there was also incredible amounts of violence in Beast Wars and Beast Machines too. And as Mainframe said, they were able to get away with it because their characters are machines, and not humans or animals. A lot of kids' cartoons these days are showing the consequentialism of violence/conflict, such as Star Wars Clone Wars, and even the occasional episode of Ben 10.

Jack's line about being "too old" for cartoons at age 16 amuses me... reminds me of some kids I went to school with who, during high school (and some as early as Primary), decided that toys, cartoons and comic books were for babies and decided to give it all up... and of course hassle people like me who refused. Yeah fine, go ahead and throw out/give away all your toys... I'll keep mine thank-you-very-much. Good on ya Jack. His mum's pretty hot though. ;)

Tetsuwan Convoy

28th November 2010, 04:37 PM

I quite liked Arcee's line about going back to the base and watching cartoons with Bumblebee. Although the cartoon watching 'Bee was more Animated than Movie and it goes a bit against the kick-ass warrior we saw when he took on thise drones.

About time to see som consequentionality of battles methinks. Hopefully they don't kill Cullen off in THIS show...:D

Good on ya Jack. His mum's pretty hot though. ;)

Oooh, Gok...:rolleyes:

Quickstrike

28th November 2010, 05:09 PM

The character designs are so movie like that I want to vomit when I see them.

Really? I don't think they look very "movie" like, except for Prime and Bumblebee. They don't really have the Movie's aesthetic though.

I like Soundwave's Oscilloscope face.

Paulbot

28th November 2010, 05:11 PM

Generally this show so far is what I expected: a cross between Animated and the Movieverse.

Although the trio of kids and the Autobots hiding on earth actually remind me more of Cybertron actually too.

I was surprised that Cliffjumper was chosen to be a redshirt, but with him out of the picture (at least for now?) we've left with at a glance is the Animated cast again, except the motorbike is now a woman.

I prefer to look at this series so far as an alternate more kid friendly(?) take on the Movie-verse. The same way that the G1 comics/cartoon/storybooks all had different takes of the same characters and basic situation.

Yeah, this Bulkhead is a big improvement over the one we saw in Animated.
How exactly? Bulkhead barely did anything in these two episodes and yet somehow you think it's a "big improvement"? :confused: I'd rather watch clumsy good-natured Animated Bulkhead anyday. So far the Prime characters don't look like they will have any fun. Not surprising when the five of them are apparently the only Autobots left.

Tetsuwan Convoy

28th November 2010, 05:34 PM

Really? I don't think they look very "movie" like, except for Prime and Bumblebee. They don't really have the Movie's aesthetic though.

I like Soundwave's Oscilloscope face.

Whoops, I meant 'Not so movie like'

off to edit...

shokwave2

28th November 2010, 06:08 PM

Just watched the first episodes with my kids. They love it, i like it so far, would like to watch it with bigger resolution to see how good the animation really is.

2 things annoy me though: the transformers mouths/faces (why can't they be robotic like the rest of their body, they just look wrong), and the little know-it-all kid who can translate Bumblebee's voice and fix computers.

Seriously why does every TF show need a 10 year-old tech-geek?

liegeprime

28th November 2010, 06:59 PM

Okay I kinda like it, so far.....kinda - except for it having token humans ... again, sigh. I hate token human allies.....they take valuable screen time off the bots... I know, I know it's a kiddie aimed show.....:rolleyes::rolleyes: I say if it's a "realism" thingie they were aiming for, Im just saying.....fine... it's a kids show:mad::mad:

The Negatives so far.

1. Token human allies - why is it all kids? Isnt there like any adult for once in the mix..... jeez, dont they know they set a bad example again ( like in Cybertron) that these "children" are out gallivanting to who knows where, and what parents keep track of em with just celphone calls, that's it? Oh and you know no humans will ever get hurt - not even a single scratch:rolleyes:. cmoooon - fighting hard metal here, human casualty, even off screen cmooooon.

2. How stupid are those cons in the first episode to go after the kids BY WALKING TO THEM TO CAPTURE THEM instead of just shoot em where they stand and be DONE with it? like laser fire can't be slower than kids legs running - cmooooon:rolleyes::rolleyes:they got short legs people, they cant run fast enough to dodge laser fire - evn if they dont use sensors to shoot at em a ten feet laser sweep is certain to hit em or at least take a couple of limbs off:rolleyes::rolleyes: or jeez just transform in car mode and run over the little bastards!

3. Dark energon - hmmm just like hasbro - recolor something in black and its either "dark", "Nega", "stealth" this and that, sigh.

3. No nosebots - this i can understand - THEY DONT BREATH!! so no need for it, finally they get it!! Get used to it guys. :p

4. Non talking bumblebee - its a very large MINICON!:p and that Raf kid can understand him perfectly - wow talk about.... geeez. Which planet is that kid from? coz he's certainly not HUMAN! - I dont think even Stephen Hawking can understand - "dot di dot. poot, dot ting ting " yet somehow this Raf kid can, really now?:rolleyes::rolleyes:

5. Autobots can't even save one of their own (Cliff) and yet these kids( and every other token human ally) never gets killed cmoooooonn:rolleyes::rolleyes: -

Some positives.....some

Soundwave is so ominously mysterious and Starscream's not so bad too - even if he has spindly limbs. The voices I can live with.
Megatron - hmmm, take cue from the various Megsys - erm like a friend of mine has said - looks like a robotic little shop of horrors' monster plant with massive teeth eheheh:D - now that's a villain.

I can't wait for the toy line:). Very interested how they will translate the look into real live toys. I was really amazed how they did it in Animated so it's a wait and see for this if its going to be pass or fail

Jeez, well its early on in the show so we'll see. Overall, its ok, it might get interesting later on much like how beast wars story got interesting later on. Oh but wait, there's no annoying token "human characters" in BW which prolly explains why its the best TF storyline so far, ever with TF Animated being second in my book. Hopefully the storyline will be good for this one to compensate for it having token humans ( who'll never get squished -seriously, even in an all out blast fight war?, cmooooon) in the show:rolleyes:

SilverDragon

28th November 2010, 07:21 PM

I wrote up a more detailed analysis of what I thought about the show here (http://db-silverdragon.livejournal.com/65416.html), but in a nutshell, I found it to be mediocre with a very nice presentation.

Yeah, this Bulkhead is a big improvement over the one we saw in Animated.

He hardly did anything aside from say one-liners and shoot things. How is that an improvement?

SMHFConvoy

28th November 2010, 07:25 PM

When you think about it the main human characters are an even representation of Transformers consumers: kids, teens and adults be they male and female.

Re: Soundwave I don't know if I'd even apply gender to this iteration of Soundwave, it makes him just a bit more creepy. If he can speak (and not just mimic or play back voices) I figure it would be Frank Welker...

Paulbot

28th November 2010, 08:06 PM

Oh but wait, there's no annoying token "human characters" in BW ...
Have you blocked out "Go with the Flow" from your memory? :)

kaiden

28th November 2010, 09:37 PM

Seriously why does every TF show need a 10 year-old tech-geek?

because kids like kids more. cause then they can pretend to be the kids on the show.

Sky Shadow

28th November 2010, 09:55 PM

because kids like kids more. cause then they can pretend to be the kids on the show.

That's unnecessary. Kids cut out the middle 'man' and pretend to be Transformers. They still have imaginations (unlike your average TV executives.)

(I know as a kid I wanted to be Blitzwing or Grimlock. I never wanted to be Spike or Daniel.)

VERT

28th November 2010, 10:13 PM

That's unnecessary. Kids cut out the middle 'man' and pretend to be Transformers. They still have imaginations (unlike your average TV executives.)

(I know as a kid I wanted to be Blitzwing or Grimlock. I never wanted to be Spike or Daniel.)

So true I was the same and so were all my friends.

Lint

28th November 2010, 10:43 PM

I'm not really impressed yet. But like the original beast wars if given enough time it could develop into something good.

A 'few' things that irk me:
-Overuse of dramatic cinematic music. I found this comical in Orci and Kurtzman's Star Trek remake but its just plain annoying here. I hope they tone this right down in future episodes.
-The whole atmosphere seems very broody and emo. The lack of hope or optimism is kind of stifling.
-Star Trekky sound effects whenever anyone shoots stuff.
-Welker's interpretation of the modern cold-and-calculating Megatron. It's almost painful hearing this voice subdued when you're used to the maniacal screams and laughter :p

They're really going for the dark and gritty mood in this new series and for now its really overbearing. It's like watching an episode of CSI:NY (or so i've been told)

On the upside, the character models aren't annoying me as much as I thought they would. I reckon Starscream is the best of all the fresh characterisations in this series.

GoktimusPrime

29th November 2010, 12:24 AM

How exactly? Bulkhead barely did anything in these two episodes and yet somehow you think it's a "big improvement"? :confused: I'd rather watch clumsy good-natured Animated Bulkhead anyday. So far the Prime characters don't look like they will have any fun. Not surprising when the five of them are apparently the only Autobots left.

Let me rephrase: Prime Bulkhead has made a much better first impression on me than Animated Bulkhead.

2 things annoy me though: the transformers mouths/faces (why can't they be robotic like the rest of their body, they just look wrong),
The faces don't bug me that much. Maybe cos the comic book got me acclimatised. :p I do find Optimus Prime's face to be the least appealing though. None of them have noses, but I think Prime's helmet central-ridge thingamajig doesn't descend far enough to act as a pseudo-nose (hence why it stands out more).

What do you guys think about them all having eyebrows though? I suspect this was done to help them facially emote. Interestingly enough, Megatron's massive 'brows coupled with his buckethead makes him look like Beast Wars Second Galvatron (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/6/62/MegatronGalvatronBW1.jpg). ;) Not sure if this was done as an intentional homage or if it's just a happy accident.

and the little know-it-all kid who can translate Bumblebee's voice and fix computers.
I can suspend disbelief in Rafael being a computer whizz-kid... fine... but understanding Bumblebee's buzzes?! That's a tad forced. :/ Especially considering that Rafael is too young to have used a dial-up modem, he probably has only ever used broadband his whole life. Unless he's a serious geek who had a dial-up modem just because he liked listening to it, and he can somehow decipher Bumblebee's buzzing from that... that... umm... a wizard did it!! :p

At least he isn't a pretend cripple (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/9/94/Chipchase.jpg) like Chip Chase.

Seriously why does every TF show need a 10 year-old tech-geek?
Erm, isn't Rafael the first tech geek kid we've seen since 1985? Unless you wanna count Una as a tech kid geek. :D (hey, she managed to sabotage the Predacons' Disruptor Cannon - not bad for a little nekkid ape ;))

1. Token human allies - why is it all kids? Isnt there like any adult for once in the mix..... jeez, dont they know they set a bad example again ( like in Cybertron) that these "children" are out gallivanting to who knows where, and what parents keep track of em with just celphone calls, that's it? Oh and you know no humans will ever get hurt - not even a single scratch:rolleyes:. cmoooon - fighting hard metal here, human casualty, even off screen cmooooon.
I don't mind having humans in the show. One thing I like is seeing how humans react to the Transformers. Fowler's an interesting character though... reminds me of G1's Walter Barnett, only starting off with a MUCH friendlier relationship. ;) And he's not a complete bumwipe like Galloway (as Optimus Prime pointed out, he's only acting with best interests at heart). It did strike me as strange that the kids could hang out at Autobot HQ up till 10PM without the kids thinking that their parents might worry!

2. How stupid are those cons in the first episode to go after the kids BY WALKING TO THEM TO CAPTURE THEM instead of just shoot em where they stand and be DONE with it? like laser fire can't be slower than kids legs running - cmooooon:rolleyes::rolleyes:they got short legs people, they cant run fast enough to dodge laser fire - evn if they dont use sensors to shoot at em a ten feet laser sweep is certain to hit em or at least take a couple of limbs off:rolleyes::rolleyes: or jeez just transform in car mode and run over the little bastards!
They weren't walking... they were dawdling. Heh... that part did seem a bit silly to me. "I'm gonna _slowly_ amble up to you now and -- HEY -- they ran away!" d:

3. Dark energon - hmmm just like hasbro - recolor something in black and its either "dark", "Nega", "stealth" this and that, sigh.
For extra cheese, they could have Dark Energon infused Megatron upgraded as: SHADOW COMMAND MEGATRON! oooOooOoOOOooOoOooHHhhH! Anyway, it's a relatively new concept for anyone who hasn't played War For Cybertron... the idea of corrupted and "evil" Energon - well, unless you include the Personality Destabiliser Device (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Personality_destabilizer_device) :p But Dark Energon is a way cooler concept! It made a zombie! :D Linking it with Transformers spiritual beliefs and Unicron was a nice touch IMO.

3. No nosebots - this i can understand - THEY DONT BREATH!! so no need for it, finally they get it!! Get used to it guys. :p
Yet they have eyebrows. :p Heheh, nah I agree... but still weird to see those "Pai Mei" eyebrows (http://echeng.com/journal/images/misc/paimei.jpg) (Tarantino'd!). ;)

4. Non talking bumblebee - its a very large MINICON!:p and that Raf kid can understand him perfectly - wow talk about.... geeez. Which planet is that kid from? coz he's certainly not HUMAN! - I dont think even Stephen Hawking can understand - "dot di dot. poot, dot ting ting " yet somehow this Raf kid can, really now?:rolleyes::rolleyes:
Lol! That Mini-Con analogy is great! :D I almost forgot that the Mini-Cons didn't talk in the Armada cartoon (I always preferred the comics where they did talk).

5. Autobots can't even save one of their own (Cliff) and yet these kids( and every other token human ally) never gets killed cmoooooonn:rolleyes::rolleyes: -
Cos the kids were told to remain at base - which is the SENSIBLE thing to do! Unlike say, Daniel Witwicky, whose negligent parents let him gallivant all across the galaxy without adult supervision (Wheelie definitely does not equate to anything remotely akin to adult supervision :p). Especially that episode of The Headmasters where there was some dangerous asteroid that the Autobots couldn't touch, so a human had to go in - Spike was injured so the choices where either another adult (Carly) or a child (Daniel). So naturally they elected for Daniel to carry out the mission.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/th_ngsmoov_facepalmconvoy.jpg

I can't wait for the toy line:). Very interested how they will translate the look into real live toys. I was really amazed how they did it in Animated so it's a wait and see for this if its going to be pass or fail

I'm still not a great believer in creating Transformers as cartoon models first then engineering the toys based on those models. It really limits what toy designers can do because they're wrestling between making at toy look like its animation model alongside other real life toy factors (e.g. real life laws of physics, budget limits etc.). (-_-) Then you occasionally have recurring characters that are made for the show which NEVER have toys made (e.g. Animated Omega Supreme, Constructicons etc.) I much prefer HasTak design the toys first, then let the animators make models based on those toys.

i.e.: I'm looking forward to the toys too! :D :)

That's unnecessary. Kids cut out the middle 'man' and pretend to be Transformers. They still have imaginations (unlike your average TV executives.)

(I know as a kid I wanted to be Blitzwing or Grimlock. I never wanted to be Spike or Daniel.)

True, but as a kid I always loved seeing how humans reacted to the Transformers. I often used my Lego men as stand-in humans and have them react (i.e. totally freak out) to the Transformers as they transform, fight etc. ;)

-Overuse of dramatic cinematic music. I found this comical in Orci and Kurtzman's Star Trek remake but its just plain annoying here. I hope they tone this right down in future episodes.
I like the orchestral music. <shrug>

-The whole atmosphere seems very broody and emo. The lack of hope or optimism is kind of stifling.
Naw, compared to Beast Machines this series is really bright and uplifting! While this series is kinda dark in some places, I don't find it particularly brooding or emo... Beast Machines was very brooding and emo, but I don't really feel that with Prime. At least the Autobots fight back instead of hiding and running away from drones for an entire season!!! Although those drilling vehicles he Decepticon drones used was very reminiscent of the Vehicon drill-drones in Beast Machines. ;)

-Welker's interpretation of the modern cold-and-calculating Megatron. It's almost painful hearing this voice subdued when you're used to the maniacal screams and laughter :p
I actually prefer it over G1. JMO

shokwave2

29th November 2010, 05:44 AM

because kids like kids more. cause then they can pretend to be the kids on the show.

True, but the kid doesn't have to know how to write binary or decipher electronic sounds. Why can't they be a normal kid for once? For once show us a standard dumb kid who just goes along for the ride without repairing something for the TF's (Sari anyone?).

The "no noses" robots don't bother me, it's just that they look like something organic dressed up. A whiteish blob mouth with a helmet on just doesn't look right to me.

SkyWarp91

29th November 2010, 06:28 AM

Saw some of the first episode with my incredibly slow capped internet.

Cool series.

Gonna have to go to a web cafe to watch the rest :) Also to play some CS:S!

liegeprime

29th November 2010, 09:27 AM

Have you blocked out "Go with the Flow" from your memory? :)

Those were cro magnons:p pre humans, and well kinda necessary, kinda - coz these same pre humans made a Hero out of Dinobot:D. With the humans in every other line - Armada, Energon, Cyb, now this - the humans have yet to prove they are "necessary" or just decorative excuses. Besides its not like in BW they took the pre humans to live/hang out with em in their base all the time.

@Gok: yes Bumblebee is the new Mega minicon:D:D and will be sold in new sizeclass version - Minicon Deluxe

GoktimusPrime

29th November 2010, 09:58 AM

True, but the kid doesn't have to know how to write binary or decipher electronic sounds. Why can't they be a normal kid for once? For once show us a standard dumb kid who just goes along for the ride without repairing something for the TF's (Sari anyone?).

Kids don't have to be dumb (we already had one incredibly stupid human companion with Daniel Witwicky) - but I agree that they don't all have to be Peter Parker-esque freakish geniuses either. Gets boring after a while. But hey, at least Rafael doesn't have superhuman strength as well (e.g. like when Chip Chase tore a floppy disk apart with his bare hands -- I' not sure if even Arnold Schwarzenegger could do that! :o)

But to be fair, there have been plenty of fairly average (i.e. not demonstrating 'super' intellectual or physical abilities) human companions of the Transformers. e.g.
+ Buster Witwicky
+ Sam Witwicky (a bit too average perhaps :p)
+ Spike Witwicky
+ Sparkplug Witwicky (comics only, cartoon Sparkplug was freakishly smart - being able to repair Cybertronians on par with Wheeljack and Ratchet. He even BUILT an Autobot shell once! How does someone this smart end up as an oil rig worker? Or a mechanic... or whatever the hell his job's meant to be)
+ Jesse
+ Minerva, Go Shuta, Cab, Cancer, Bullhorn and Wilder (aside from the powers given to them by their bracelets, they're ordinary humans - and of course they lost those powers after their Transtectors gained sentience)
+ Jan/Jean
+ Akira (ambiguous gender issues aside :p)
+ Onishi Yuuki (aka Koji)
+ Bradley "Rad" White, Carlos Lopez, Alexis Thi Dang, Billy and Fred.
+ Sally Jones, Misha
...etc etc.

Those were cro magnons:p pre humans, and well kinda necessary, kinda - coz these same pre humans made a Hero out of Dinobot:D. With the humans in every other line - Armada, Energon, Cyb, now this - the humans have yet to prove they are "necessary" or just decorative excuses. Besides its not like in BW they took the pre humans to live/hang out with em in their base all the time.
Tru dat. There were humans in Beast Wars, but I don't think they were as "token" as in other Transformer series.

G1Optimal

29th November 2010, 12:15 PM

3 words...

I Like It. :)

Sky Shadow

29th November 2010, 12:34 PM

Let me rephrase: Prime Bulkhead has made a much better first impression on me than Animated Bulkhead.

The faces don't bug me that much. Maybe cos the comic book got me acclimatised. :p I do find Optimus Prime's face to be the least appealing though. None of them have noses, but I think Prime's helmet central-ridge thingamajig doesn't descend far enough to act as a pseudo-nose (hence why it stands out more).

What do you guys think about them all having eyebrows though? I suspect this was done to help them facially emote. Interestingly enough, Megatron's massive 'brows coupled with his buckethead makes him look like Beast Wars Second Galvatron (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/6/62/MegatronGalvatronBW1.jpg). ;) Not sure if this was done as an intentional homage or if it's just a happy accident.

I can suspend disbelief in Rafael being a computer whizz-kid... fine... but understanding Bumblebee's buzzes?! That's a tad forced. :/ Especially considering that Rafael is too young to have used a dial-up modem, he probably has only ever used broadband his whole life. Unless he's a serious geek who had a dial-up modem just because he liked listening to it, and he can somehow decipher Bumblebee's buzzing from that... that... umm... a wizard did it!! :p

At least he isn't a pretend cripple (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/9/94/Chipchase.jpg) like Chip Chase.

Erm, isn't Rafael the first tech geek kid we've seen since 1985? Unless you wanna count Una as a tech kid geek. :D (hey, she managed to sabotage the Predacons' Disruptor Cannon - not bad for a little nekkid ape ;))

I don't mind having humans in the show. One thing I like is seeing how humans react to the Transformers. Fowler's an interesting character though... reminds me of G1's Walter Barnett, only starting off with a MUCH friendlier relationship. ;) And he's not a complete bumwipe like Galloway (as Optimus Prime pointed out, he's only acting with best interests at heart). It did strike me as strange that the kids could hang out at Autobot HQ up till 10PM without the kids thinking that their parents might worry!

They weren't walking... they were dawdling. Heh... that part did seem a bit silly to me. "I'm gonna _slowly_ amble up to you now and -- HEY -- they ran away!" d:

For extra cheese, they could have Dark Energon infused Megatron upgraded as: SHADOW COMMAND MEGATRON! oooOooOoOOOooOoOooHHhhH! Anyway, it's a relatively new concept for anyone who hasn't played War For Cybertron... the idea of corrupted and "evil" Energon - well, unless you include the Personality Destabiliser Device (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Personality_destabilizer_device) :p But Dark Energon is a way cooler concept! It made a zombie! :D Linking it with Transformers spiritual beliefs and Unicron was a nice touch IMO.

Yet they have eyebrows. :p Heheh, nah I agree... but still weird to see those "Pai Mei" eyebrows (http://echeng.com/journal/images/misc/paimei.jpg) (Tarantino'd!). ;)

Lol! That Mini-Con analogy is great! :D I almost forgot that the Mini-Cons didn't talk in the Armada cartoon (I always preferred the comics where they did talk).

Cos the kids were told to remain at base - which is the SENSIBLE thing to do! Unlike say, Daniel Witwicky, whose negligent parents let him gallivant all across the galaxy without adult supervision (Wheelie definitely does not equate to anything remotely akin to adult supervision :p). Especially that episode of The Headmasters where there was some dangerous asteroid that the Autobots couldn't touch, so a human had to go in - Spike was injured so the choices where either another adult (Carly) or a child (Daniel). So naturally they elected for Daniel to carry out the mission.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/th_ngsmoov_facepalmconvoy.jpg

I'm still not a great believer in creating Transformers as cartoon models first then engineering the toys based on those models. It really limits what toy designers can do because they're wrestling between making at toy look like its animation model alongside other real life toy factors (e.g. real life laws of physics, budget limits etc.). (-_-) Then you occasionally have recurring characters that are made for the show which NEVER have toys made (e.g. Animated Omega Supreme, Constructicons etc.) I much prefer HasTak design the toys first, then let the animators make models based on those toys.

i.e.: I'm looking forward to the toys too! :D :)

True, but as a kid I always loved seeing how humans reacted to the Transformers. I often used my Lego men as stand-in humans and have them react (i.e. totally freak out) to the Transformers as they transform, fight etc. ;)

I like the orchestral music. <shrug>

Naw, compared to Beast Machines this series is really bright and uplifting! While this series is kinda dark in some places, I don't find it particularly brooding or emo... Beast Machines was very brooding and emo, but I don't really feel that with Prime. At least the Autobots fight back instead of hiding and running away from drones for an entire season!!! Although those drilling vehicles he Decepticon drones used was very reminiscent of the Vehicon drill-drones in Beast Machines. ;)

I actually prefer it over G1. JMO

So... how's spending less "time TALKING about Transformers" going for you, Goki? :p

Sharky

29th November 2010, 12:43 PM

was it just me or did it seem like every time prime spoke it was a "big speech" this might be the last time i have anything to say speach or they may take our homes but they will never take our freedom speech......

mknell

29th November 2010, 01:34 PM

I only just watched the first EP & I quite enjoyed it

"Robot Fight Club"
This was my fave bit lol

5FDP

29th November 2010, 02:50 PM

So... how's spending less "time TALKING about Transformers" going for you, Goki? :p

I was just going to ask the same thing :D

was it just me or did it seem like every time prime spoke it was a "big speech" this might be the last time i have anything to say speach or they may take our homes but they will never take our freedom speech......

You're not alone in this observation. I also found the music to be quite obtrusive. There would be this big heroic score playing when nothing much was really going on.

i_amtrunks

29th November 2010, 04:14 PM

so..... that was different.

The ani9amtion was very good, fluid and the lip synch was better than I had hoped. The angular lines and general darkness of the overall style is very reminiscent of Beast Machines, and the backgrounds and towns while unpopulated (I can understand it from not only a design perspective, but also from a technical perspective) are more detailed than the teaser trailers indicated.

The character models are very unique, and I'll be very interested to see if the toys reflect their show counterparts as well as the Animated series. The designs are nice movie/animated amalgamations, although probably still a bit too movie for my personal tastes.
Starscream is a little "igor" for my likes, and the voice will take some getting used too. Welker's Megatron voice was superb, but Cullen's Prime was a little... too much. Everything he said seemed grave and important. Ratchet again looks to be the standout favourite character for me.

As for the content of the episodes themselves... the fight scenes were great, and I am as surprised as Griffin at the treatment Cliffjumper got, I don't think it was overly graphic or brutal, just surprising that we got a death (unless he survived the blast as well) so early from what looked to be a character that would have been pretty good to have around. I guess it showed the decepticon clones are tough in packs and in one on one situations they can be dangerous.

Certainly not a bad start for a new show, but I can see where it could be confusing for people to get Prime and the movie universe mixed up!

GoktimusPrime

29th November 2010, 04:40 PM

So... how's spending less "time TALKING about Transformers" going for you, Goki? :p
My average posts per day is dropping (I think I was on about 18/day last week, now I'm down to about 14). I actually spent most of my computer time on the weekend playing WFC Multiplayer for the first time (as gekisou can atest :)).

Back on topic...

and the backgrounds and towns while unpopulated (I can understand it from not only a design perspective, but also from a technical perspective) are more detailed than the teaser trailers indicated.
I have a friend whose family originally immigrated to Sydney from Nebraska and the town pretty much looks like how they've described Nebraska to me - one big, flat boring state. ;)

The character models are very unique, and I'll be very interested to see if the toys reflect their show counterparts as well as the Animated series. The designs are nice movie/animated amalgamations, although probably still a bit too movie for my personal tastes.
I'm assuming that Hasbro's definitely going ahead with a toyline for Prime then. swoop mentioned on another thread that there wasn't going to be a toyline, which sounds ridiculous to me. Why bother investing in making a TF cartoon if there isn't going to be a toyline for it? (cos Transformers is first and foremost a toy franchise and Hasbro's core business is selling toys)

I'm not saying it would be impossible... but it would be mighty silly and I'd be quite miffed if there no toys for TF Prime. The cinematography is also quite movielike too (e.g. lots of steep high and low angle shots to give a sense of scale and portraying the Transformers as Giant Effing Robots(TM)) - the cinematography for when Optimus explains the Autobots to the humans is almost identical to the equivalent scene in the first Transformers movie.

Bartrim

29th November 2010, 04:52 PM

+ Sparkplug Witwicky (comics only, cartoon Sparkplug was freakishly smart - being able to repair Cybertronians on par with Wheeljack and Ratchet. He even BUILT an Autobot shell once! How does someone this smart end up as an oil rig worker? Or a mechanic... or whatever the hell his job's meant to be)
.

Simple... the money. Why else does anyone like working on an oil rig?

"I do this job because the pay is good, the scenery changes and they let me play with explosives" - Steve Buscemi in Armageddon

Tallestblue

29th November 2010, 05:03 PM

An Interesting start. And a few unexpected twists (Cliffjumper!! Nooo!) I enjoyed it and the only things I had a problem with were that the Japanese girl sounded Russian and Bulkhead could have just as easily been Ironhide.
But here's hoping it last longer than Animated.

Paulbot

29th November 2010, 05:31 PM

When Arcee referred to the Decepticon cars as "twins" I started looking at them as new incarnations of Runabout and Runamuck. Try it: it makes the scene a bit more interesting than thinking of them as drones.

1AZRAEL1

29th November 2010, 06:18 PM

The scene where Arcee drops Cliffjumper, and he bonces off the floors was pretty brutal, for a kids view. They could have just as easily pulled away for that. But I still enjoyed it. I will watchi this show. I may even decide whether to watch the series' that I missed (everything after Beast Wars :p)

GoktimusPrime

29th November 2010, 07:22 PM

Simple... the money. Why else does anyone like working on an oil rig?
Well he sure ain't spending his money on new clothes. Or buttons. :p Maybe he faked his own death after Season 2 and went off with a harem of hawt mistresses. Sure beats babysitting his loser of a grandson. ;)

The scene where Arcee drops Cliffjumper, and he bonces off the floors was pretty brutal, for a kids view. They could have just as easily pulled away for that. But I still enjoyed it. I will watchi this show. I may even decide whether to watch the series' that I missed (everything after Beast Wars )
It's still not half as brutal as half the stuff that happened to Waspinator when you think about it. ;) It probably feels worse because Waspinator's horrific deaths were portrayed in a non-serious slapstick manner -- and of course, he'd always be back in one piece by the next episode. :p No surprise as to why everyone compares Waspinator with South Park's Kenny. ;)

Towers_Spy

29th November 2010, 09:17 PM

As I'm reading all the comments posted so far, I can't believe how many people like it! I personally, was horrified. I don't know much about animation, but I felt like it was unfinished, almost like a project done by some Uni student. IMO even Beast Wars animation sh#ts cosmic tons all over this, at least aesthetically. And the mouths... I-I cant even look at Prime. Not at all. Every scene he was in I had to look away because it freaked me out. Not to mention his dramatic speeches every time he speaks. Criiiinge.
Plus the overly cinematic music, bumblebee talking in crappy electronic noise, soundwave basically being a drone, annoying token humans, and generally everything I can think of.

I have to say, I can't think of anything I enjoyed. At all. Sad face.

5FDP

29th November 2010, 10:30 PM

I don't know much about animation, but I felt like it was unfinished, almost like a project done by some Uni student. IMO even Beast Wars animation sh#ts cosmic tons all over this, at least aesthetically.

^ This *nods in agreement*

I was saying the same thing when they first aired the promos but held some hope that they were unfinished. Looks like that was the final animation.

I'll still watch it tomorrow night... it's almost xmas and there is nothing else on anyway :p

1AZRAEL1

29th November 2010, 10:34 PM

^ This *nods in agreement*

I was saying the same thing when they first aired the promos but held some hope that they were unfinished. Looks like that was the final animation.

I'll still watch it tomorrow night... it's almost xmas and there is nothing else on anyway :p

I know ay, what happened to all the cartoons I used to watch as a kid? They show one or 2 and that's it. Sux.

But who knows, could be like BW and make it better as they went along :D

Hursticon

30th November 2010, 12:00 AM

Hmm...

Characters -
Cliffjumper: Meh, I liked that he was killed off (Stupid Dwayne 'The'Sellout' Johnson) as it shows that they are clearly going to have a similar writing approach that Beast Wars had i.e. not afraid to pull the right punches as there is too many cartoons these days that are way to 'kiddy' if that makes sense.

Bumblebee: Not fussed by the fact he doesn't talk, it puts a different spin on things plus who cares really anyway, he's just a character that get's under foot. ;)

Arcee: Really well done I thought, glad that she's not pink too because I think she'll be more appealing as a character to male kids.

Ratchet: Is where the comedy gold is, agree that he is a good amalgamation of the many Ratchets and Ratchet-like characters that preceded him.

Bulkhead: Is indeed a better version of the Animated character, having a bungling idiot for purely slapstick purposes get's old quick.

Optimus: Not a fan of the face but meh, he's an Optimus and makes up for it in pure '�an't Touch This' battle style. :D

Eradicons: Glad that they aren't just simple fodder for the Autobots, I've always hated that whole '�nonymous Henchman' approach to filling in the ranks.

Starscream: The personality is spot on, not too sure about the voice though as he sounds... I dunno, too sinister? :confused:

Soundwave: Intrigued but concerned, I don't know how people mistook him for female - the T-800 has being pulling voice tricks since '84 guys :rolleyes:, he seems to have a lack of a face and I'm concerned about him not having a proper voice like Bumblebee, they've got Welker just give him his G1 voice.

Megatron: So much awesome-sauce it's not funny, Evil? Check, Welker? Check, Personality? Check, Look? Check!

Overall-
The shows good, the CG is very stylised so that's ok with the character design reflecting this too and I've no doubt that the '�mptyness' feeling one gets from the open environments will change once they move past the initial 5 ep pilot stage.

The mood, setting and writing is envoking quite a bit of Beast Wars which is great for me because I liked the fact that the show is clearly not going to be aimed squarely at kids 5 and under. Those who think that these 2 eps have been too scary for kids... :confused: - I really don't know how you come to that conclusion, I mean fancy an Evil character looking scary? or Oh no a character died? :rolleyes: Guys, trying to hide kids from the factor of Death is just silly, I'm not a parent but I believe that wrapping blankets around everything that a child comes into contact with just causes them more problems later.
(Spare a thought for those who grew up in the various Plague eras or WWI/II)

The characters I think need more time to be fleshed out but from what I've seen so far I reckon it's heading in the right direction albeit with a few giving to the stylised take on things.

The human characters are alright, I like that the Human Lead is paired with Arcee for a change and that the Asian Girl is a Metal Head is also Awesome! :cool:
The little bloke who's this wiz... eh?, I've seen plenty of characters before like this and yeah it's a bit lazy I guess but if it works, why not?

All in all I think this show is taking the best of what has come before, putting it in a visual vehicle that works and is contemporary, appeals to a broader audience and sets the franchise up for an immediate future without a film to rely upon. I like the writing and tone as I think the cartoon will need to appeal to more than just 5 year olds in order to be a continued success and I personaly hope that this show lasts longer than 3 seasons.

I look forward to seeing more of this series but will be reserving final judgement for later, this show may just finally be...
"More Than Meets The Eye!" ;)

liegeprime

30th November 2010, 12:34 AM

kup

30th November 2010, 04:58 AM

I watched Transformers: Prime on the weekend, as many of you know, I went in somewhat reserved given the recent streak of disappointments from the TF fictional world but I still held enough of an open mind to allow the show to 'convince' me that it's worth following.

Overall, I am impressed by the result. It is certainly much better than the Animated pilot and adds a new story continuity to the franchise rather than expanding on an existing one. There are a few annoyances here are there with one major one that is very frustrating but overall the show hit the right notes.

I am very happy to see that the story is attempting to provide a serious plot and that the humor is generally subtle but appropriate without breaking the flow of the story. The action was also well done and made sense for the most part although there was a bit too much 'theatrics' involved when it comes to poses and pre-battle stances but I can see passed that as it is afterall, a kids cartoon and unlike Bayformers, you can actually see what is happening with the action contributing to the story rather than the other way around.

Some have said that the way the plot moves is reminiscent of Beast Wars and I do agree with this view, at least as far as the first two episodes are concerned. The story has a clear direction and focuses on the Transformer characters, all with unique personalities and drives - Living TF characters which is a core factor of the franchise that the movies were often distracted from.

As mentioned earlier, the humor is subtle and in line with the plot which is a welcome change from recent times but despite the Beast Wars similarities in it's overall story handling, the humor in TF:Prime is so far much more low key. I would go as far as to say that the show is perhaps more similar to Beast Machines than Beast Wars in it's overall mood and characters as it is a much more serious and darker story. However unlike BM, this is clearly in line with the 'familiar' Transformer style story than the left field direction that BM took but despite that, what was positive about BM is certainly present in TF:Prime.

As mentioned before, the action was somewhat exaggerated in a cartoony form (understandable) but was overall well executed and did not break the story flow. Something that did catch my attention was the considerable violence that was present in the fight scenes. Some bits went as far as being 'gory' in a robotic way and I was also pleasantly surprised that the show displayed consequences to the violence as there was real death, something which is normally absent from cartoons. It was also good to see the violence wasn't done with the sole intention to shock or awe audiences but to complement the story to a level of 'realism' that immerses the viewer. In a way this show is more in line with 90s cartoon than contemporary ones which is very good.

The characters in this show are also well executed, as mentioned, all the TF characters have distinct personalities and views of their current situation (similar to BW/M) but unlike Bayformers, everyone here has a purpose...well...except for one but we'll get to that later. Optimus Prime has gone back to being the wise and experienced leader who is focused on his mission to defend the Earth from the Decepticons but unlike the unfortunate late interpretations of him (IDW/Bayformers) he commands his troops with confidence, dignity and direction.

Ratchet - He seems to be the familiar character we have always known but leaning more towards the Animated 'grumpy' personality but not as much. He reminds me a little more of the Marvel Comic Ratchet but older.

Bulkhead - We didn't get to see much of his character but enough to show us that he is certainly different from the Animated version. He seems more gruntish than 'gentle giant' and seems to be much more of a veteran warrior. I would say that he has a somewhat similar personality to Ironhide but we have not seen enough to say that for sure.

Arcee - Now this character was well done but I do have some reservations on how this came about. Arcee seems to have a female version of Bumblebee's G1 personality in the sense of how she befriends the human characters, her brash and somewhat impulsive personality due to inexperience as well as a bit of a 'try hard' nature. I am inclined to think that perhaps this role was intended for Bumblebee but some changes were later made and it was assigned to Arcee instead.

Bumblebee - He is by far the worse character in the whole show and utterly pointless. He is actually more useless than the movie version which is saying a lot. All he does is stand around and beep like R2D2 with the nerdy human kid apparently being the only one who can understand him. He is shown as a capable fighter but apart from that, he contributes nothing aside from a 'familiar' throwback to the movies but executed much worse, at least Movie Bumblebee had a point (as far as TF1 is concerned that is). Every time Bumblebee appeared and 'beeped', my enjoyment of the show halted and turned into annoyance, thankfully once his pointless bits were over, I was able to get back into the show.

The human kids - This was actually done rather good, the human kids are not shown to be messiahs like it was done in Bayformers or ridiculously 'suave' TF killers like it was done in IDW Ongoing. They are actually portrayed as normal human kids who happened to be thrown in the middle of the Decepticon/Autobot guerrilla war by random circumstance. The kids like all previous TF cartoons are there to show a human perspective and for once, they are actually serving that purpose. The kids do not take over the show as it was with the Unicron Trilogy or Bayformers and used in a balanced form as they are not there barking orders to the Transformers not dictating how things should be done. They are there because they are under the protection of the Autobots not to take the lead. Therefore the main human characters do not overwhelm the show and their prominence balances out nicely and not made useless. Their role is to offer a window for the autobots to understand humanity and this seems to have been properly set up. The only human who seems a bit pointless and somewhat annoying, is the hyperactive Japanese girl, she is actually more in line with the annoying and pointless human characters from the past but thankfully she was not a big part of these episodes.

When it comes to the Decepticons, only two Decepticons are seen portraying some character, the rest were 'template' grunts. Starscream despite his odd vampiric looks is somewhat identifiable as Starscream in character although he is portrayed as a more reserved servant to Megatron but it is too early in the series to Judge. Megatron has a typical Megatron personality but much less refined than the Animated one.

In regards to the animation, although some scenes were much smoother and better handled than others, the animation as a whole looks very dated, specially when you compare it to modern CGI cartoon series like Clone Wars. The cost saving desert sceneries and limited color palette as well as 'deserted' towns also highlight the budget nature of the animation. However having said that, the production seems to be doing the best they can with what they got so there is nothing 'half assed' about it and scenes are very well executed with a natural flow to the animation. Some people may have issues with the movie inspired designs with a somewhat 'animated' style thrown in but if the story is good, it's easy for me to see passed those things. The Prime 'kid' face looks better when animated but if you pause the scene, it looks bad so hopefully they will refine that a little in the future.

Overall it was a well constructed episode with a good story despite nothing too epic happening plot wise but that's understandable since this is just the first episode. This is a fine start to a promising series and I am looking forward to more. I hope that the episodes continue to improve but most of all I hope they get rid of JarJar-bee or at least get him to talk normally as his R2 beeps were really teething for me.

GoktimusPrime

30th November 2010, 10:47 AM

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Bumblebee is utterly worthless -- unlike G1's Wheelie and Daniel (and Star Wars' Jar Jar Binks), Bumblebee is contributing to the plot, even if it's in a relatively minor way. For example, he did save Arcee and helped to save the human kids. Characters like Wheelie, Daniel and Jar Jar just get in everyone's way and don't really do anything useful.

And I do like the reduced role of Bumblebee - cos since the movie and Animated franchises, I'm kinda sick of seeing Bumblebee always being portrayed as the hero. So I would welcome seeing other Autobots being put in the main hero spotlight (like say Arcee). I also welcome seeing a non-pink/pastel female Autobot. It's not just more appealing to boys, but also more positive for girls as it doesn't hammer in the stereotype that girls should be 'pink' and therefore suggestively demure, reserved, non-assertive etc. The worst would have to be G1 Arcee during The Headmasters series who was relegated to being not much more than a "bridge bunny" (or "OL" for those who understand Japanese office culture (-_-)). This was something I also enjoyed with Beast Wars and Beast Machines -- giving us strong and fiercely independent female characters. Although I was just a tad disappointed to hear Tigerhawk exclusively speaking with Tigatron's voice... I was hoping Tigerhawk would speak in a dual Airazor-Tigatron voice (like how Gogeta speaks with both Gokuu's and Vegeta's voices in Dragonball).

The one thing I'm enjoying with Prime is that they are TRYING to make the show appeal to both kids and adults, which isn't easy. One of my main gripes with Animated was how it was too focused at kids. Yeah sure, it was loaded with references to previous TF series (e.g. G1), but that alone doesn't really give it adult appeal (more like Easter Eggs for fans, which I do appreciate - but it's not the same as attempting to make the story appeal to me as an adult). And unlike Beast Machines it's not so dark, brooding and highly philosophical with dull repetitive action (oh look, they're running and hiding from Vehicons this episode... AGAIN!)

griffin

30th November 2010, 02:04 PM

Maybe the animation for these first 5 episodes is a bit rough because it was rushed out in time for the Hub Launch... The series itself isn't airing until February, which is a long time to work on the show itself (if those episodes are still in production).
Maybe for the visual side of things we see how episodes 6+ turns out, after they've had another 3 months to work on them.

Bartrim

30th November 2010, 02:19 PM

kaiden

30th November 2010, 02:37 PM

Personally, I didn't like this.

The story is as badly written as the bay movies. Optimus Prime talks too much crap and needs a good punch in the face. Cliffjumper was a so-so cameo.

I did very much enjoy the car sequence in the mines when Optimus in truck mode smashed his way through everything. Though I found it odd that bulkhead didn't do it being the one that looks much more armoured - but i guess thats the perk to being leader.

The way they made Bumblebee is stupid and humans are annoying as hell. Especially the when that little kid helped Ratchet with the computer thing at the base.

The Decepticons I need to see more off because its mostly drones but it was cool to see Starscream actually kill someone.

I actually was glad when the episodes were over.

I recommend the new Youth Justice show over this. Its so much better in every way other than not being Transformers.

griffin

30th November 2010, 03:04 PM

Thats a bit cruel isn't it? Airing 5 episodes then nothing until February

Unnavoidable I think. If it was a new Transformers series conceived by the toy division of Hasbro instead of its new TV network division, we probably wouldn't have had any of the cartoon released early (the first 5 Eps), and we'd have toys in stores with its screening (which can take up to 18 months to produce).

They needed a range of new programing for the TV channel's launch capitalising their most known brands - TFs, GIJoe, etc, so we get a TFs cartoon rushed out so fast, they probably only have 5 episodes completed, and before we even have any toys produced for it. February was probably when we should have seen its release, if the toy-division had conceived the replacement-to-Animated show. At least, that's how I see it.

SharkyMcShark

30th November 2010, 03:24 PM

Thats a bit cruel isn't it? Airing 5 episodes then nothing until February

They did a similar thing with Animated.

I'm watching this now, halfway through the first episode.

I'm liking Starscream a lot more than I thought I would and I'm hoping that Cliffjumper has a role to play in future episodes (mainly because I'm hoping the Rock hangs around)

SkyWarp91

30th November 2010, 04:24 PM

3 words...

I Like It. :)

Me too. ;)

FFN

1st December 2010, 03:48 AM

As I'm reading all the comments posted so far, I can't believe how many people like it! I personally, was horrified. I don't know much about animation, but I felt like it was unfinished, almost like a project done by some Uni student. IMO even Beast Wars animation sh#ts cosmic tons all over this, at least aesthetically.
^ This *nods in agreement*

I was saying the same thing when they first aired the promos but held some hope that they were unfinished. Looks like that was the final animation. While Mainframe's work had much better facial animation (which was their strength), the CG work in Prime is generally better in every other area compared to Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Sharky

1st December 2010, 08:16 AM

I recommend the new Youth Justice show over this. Its so much better in every way other than not being Transformers.

i too enjoyed young justice over transformers... much better quality...

i do find the human cast pointless... its the token genius kid, the token dweeb that knows the hotchick that is in his class.. and the token girl... they could of had a mechanic father his two dumb kids and a wheelchair bound computer genius and it would make no difference.....

un original...

5FDP

1st December 2010, 09:54 AM

While Mainframe's work had much better facial animation (which was their strength), the CG work in Prime is generally better in every other area compared to Beast Wars and Beast Machines.

Seems we have a difference of opinion.

Advancement in technology doesn't necessarily mean a better product.

GoktimusPrime

1st December 2010, 09:59 AM

Personally, I didn't like this.

The story is as badly written as the bay movies. Optimus Prime talks too much crap and needs a good punch in the face.
I don't think it's as bad as the weak points in the Bay movies. Some things Prime (so far) has that I prefer over the live action movies include:
+ No where near as much time focused on humans. The live action movies have so many scenes focused on humans you sometimes forget that the film is about Transformers!
+ No lewd humour based on humping or drugs etc.
+ Jack isn't desperate to get laid like Sam, and Miko isn't as objectified as Mikaela.

Cliffjumper was a so-so cameo.
His (and Arcee's) appearance makes a bit more sense if you've read the comics. But there were plenty of "hi then die" characters in G1. ;)

The way they made Bumblebee is stupid and humans are annoying as hell. Especially the when that little kid helped Ratchet with the computer thing at the base.
I don't find this Bumblebee anywhere near as annoying as Animated Bumblebee. Silence is gold, eh. ;) And yeah, the scene where Rafael just happened to fix the Autobots' computer systems was a tad too convenient and terribly cliched... but it's no worse than G1's Christopher "Chip" Chase.

At least Raf's not a pretend cripple (yeah, we all saw him STAND UP to catch that bomb that Spike threw at him! I reckon both Chip and Professor Xavier* are totally faking it to get govt benefits! :p)

Unnavoidable I think. If it was a new Transformers series conceived by the toy division of Hasbro instead of its new TV network division, we probably wouldn't have had any of the cartoon released early (the first 5 Eps), and we'd have toys in stores with its screening (which can take up to 18 months to produce).

They needed a range of new programing for the TV channel's launch capitalising their most known brands - TFs, GIJoe, etc, so we get a TFs cartoon rushed out so fast, they probably only have 5 episodes completed, and before we even have any toys produced for it. February was probably when we should have seen its release, if the toy-division had conceived the replacement-to-Animated show. At least, that's how I see it.

Ooohh... if this series was conceived by Hasbro's Toy Division, then I certainly hopes this means that Hasbro are planning on releasing toys! (I want to be able to dispell rumours that there aren't going to be toys for Prime).

While Mainframe's work had much better facial animation (which was their strength), the CG work in Prime is generally better in every other area compared to Beast Wars and Beast Machines.
I agree that the facial animation isn't so good here. But when comparing the animation quality between Beast Wars and Prime, keep in mind that Beast Wars was animated fourteen years ago. By 1990s standards, Beast Wars animation was, IMO, really good (even winning an Emmy for best visual effects in an animated television series). By current day standards, I think the animation in Prime isn't bad -- but it's not exceptionally great either.

I am satisfied with the animation in Prime though... aesthetic issues aside there doesn't appear to be any great technical flaws (Beast Wars had a lot of technical flaws, but they were limited by the available technology of the time -- Mainframe had to actually write most of their own animation software because the stuff that was available at the time simply couldn't keep up with what they wanted to do).

i do find the human cast pointless... its the token genius kid, the token dweeb that knows the hotchick that is in his class.. and the token girl... they could of had a mechanic father his two dumb kids and a wheelchair bound computer genius and it would make no difference.....

un original...
Jack's mum's still a hot MILK (Mum I'd Like To Kiss d: ) though. ;)

liegeprime

1st December 2010, 10:01 AM

Meh, just decimate the humans already!!:p Before Gok perv's on any other moms....

Sharky

1st December 2010, 12:44 PM

Jack's mum's still a hot MILK (Mum I'd Like To Kiss d: ) though. ;)

at this time i would like to say something.

Ick....

kaiden

1st December 2010, 02:18 PM

I don't think it's as bad as the weak points in the Bay movies. Some things Prime (so far) has that I prefer over the live action movies include:
+ No where near as much time focused on humans. The live action movies have so many scenes focused on humans you sometimes forget that the film is about Transformers!
+ No lewd humour based on humping or drugs etc.
+ Jack isn't desperate to get laid like Sam, and Miko isn't as objectified as Mikaela.

-That's because the human characters have to actually act and they are there to appeal to the masses.
-The script is written for adults mostly whereas TFPrime is a children's show.
-The Bay movie cast are adults... and TFP are children. It would be weird to objectify Miko to pedophiles.

I don't find this Bumblebee anywhere near as annoying as Animated Bumblebee. Silence is gold, eh. ;) And yeah, the scene where Rafael just happened to fix the Autobots' computer systems was a tad too convenient and terribly cliched... but it's no worse than G1's Christopher "Chip" Chase.

TFA is about a bunch of underachieving goofs which explains bumblebee's character faults. TFP Bumblebee doesn't even get to tell people what he's about :P

FFN

1st December 2010, 03:03 PM

Seems we have a difference of opinion.

Advancement in technology doesn't necessarily mean a better product. The thing is CG animation is largely driven by advances in technology. Skill plays a part, of course, but a large part of it is also the hardware, software, time and budget.

SMHFConvoy

1st December 2010, 05:17 PM

Skill plays a part, of course, but a large part of it is also the hardware, software, time and budget.

As someone who has worked in animation skill plays an enormous part in animation. Skill and planning. It's not like an animation studio scans in a storyboard and a computer does the rest. There's still an animator at that workstation acting their guts out.

No, I'm not confusing mocap with animation. Animators are actors too.

Hursticon

1st December 2010, 08:38 PM

As someone who has worked in animation skill plays an enormous part in animation. Skill and planning. It's not like an animation studio scans in a storyboard and a computer does the rest. There's still an animator at that workstation acting their guts out.

No, I'm not confusing mocap with animation. Animators are actors too.

Too right! ;)

I remember back in the day of PPMs for Quake 2 & 3 where people animated these things at home for free!, these were the days of pre-skeletal modelling and animation - sure Q3 had it's MD3 clipping system but for Q2 the best PPMs were the ones that had been creatively animated, often having to exploit flaws in the engine and/or employing tricks like hiding objects within objects so as to lessen the burden on the renderer. Some of the things that were achieved were insane!

Of animation note were the Evil Professor in a wheel chair for Q2 and the Q4 Gladiator for Q3, both were rigged and animated by a bloke, or blokes, going by the net handle BrosGrimm if I remember correctly. :cool:
(I wish I still had these PPMs as they show what talent and skill were required by the Animator to pull them off :()

Things like avoiding clipping issues, applying accurate weighting and mesh deformation require great skill and talent in order to be a top tear animator, abilities I wish I had. :o

The_Damned

1st December 2010, 09:38 PM

i really enjoyed the first 2 episodes as did my 2 kids, the only thing missing was at the start there was no transformers theme song :(

Vector Sigma 13

1st December 2010, 11:05 PM

Ive just skimmed over this thread as its getting bigger by the second- So i apologise if ive doubled up.

I think Cliff death was waaay to violent for a G rating. I wont let my youngins watch it.

Is it just me-

or could Cliffjumper and those horns of his be a connection of some sort to Unicron- seeing he does have his blood or whatever they call it running through him?

I dont think we have heard the last of cliffjumper- But i could be wrong and often am.

The_Damned

2nd December 2010, 04:40 AM

i think getting cut in half and left in the massive energon explosion is the end for cliffjumper and would be very suprised if he make another appearence.

5FDP

2nd December 2010, 09:18 AM

i think getting cut in half and left in the massive energon explosion is the end for cliffjumper and would be very suprised if he make another appearence.

It was just a flesh wound ;) :p

gekisou

2nd December 2010, 10:39 AM

kup

2nd December 2010, 12:28 PM

It was just a flesh wound ;) :p

That's basically the excuse they used in Beast Wars when they 'permanently' killed off a character at the end of a season only to have fans or Hasbro demand that they make him come back the next.

This resulted in 'It was only a flesh wound' brush offs after the character was blown up, disintegrated or quartered suggesting a permanent dismissal the season before.

Naturally the above doesn't apply to Waspinator.

FFN

2nd December 2010, 04:37 PM

Liked today's episode. Atmosphere in the Decepticon ship and that canyon was great.

Hursticon

2nd December 2010, 04:44 PM

Liked today's episode. Atmosphere in the Decepticon ship and that canyon was great.

Yep, would have to agree with you there dude. ;):)
My concerns though?
1. Soundwave = Mute. :mad:
2. Waves and Waves of undead drones that all look the same. :(
3. Not being able to wait until February to see the 6th and subsequent episodes! :p:D

Oh and for those who were frightened by Cliffjumper's death scene, you're not going to like how a Decepticon drone dies in this one. :rolleyes:

Bartrim

2nd December 2010, 04:49 PM

Just watched episode 3. Humans are starting to annoy me and Bulkhead has some animated traits but overall I am still enjoying it alot more then I thought I would.

i_amtrunks

2nd December 2010, 05:57 PM

Ratchet is gold. (but not in an actual metal or colour sense).
Turns out he is purely a technician in this series too, not a soldier, a nice trait to steal from Animated.

The drones are anything but cannon fodder, Starscream is nice and Saturday morning cartoon evil, while Megatron looks to be a much more solid and wholesome evil. :D

Soundwave is mute.

Prime is looking up, nice and dark to begin the series, wonder where they can move to from here for the rest of the season?

Quickstrike

2nd December 2010, 10:17 PM

Miko's annoying but amusing at the same time. I liked "HOLD HIM STILL".

5FDP

3rd December 2010, 09:01 AM

Just watched episode 3. Humans are starting to annoy me....

+1

Hmmm... this show isn't really for kiddies is it?!

gekisou

3rd December 2010, 09:43 AM

I am enjoying this series. It isn't really in tune with Hasbro's reboot though is it? While it does take elements from WfC... its not really in-sync with it.

Watched the 3rd ep... and have to say, I liked it. Sure people talk about the annoying humans and for some part, they are but it also gives a chance to show the differences between humans and their visitors, the Autobots.

I agree that this show doesn't seem to be aimed towards kids too much but really, in Japan, the kids watch death happen to characters in their anime too and its usually in the same time slot. Kudos to the writers to not being afraid to push the envelope for American cartoons.

I eagerly await ep 4. :)

Hursticon

3rd December 2010, 01:05 PM

I agree that this show doesn't seem to be aimed towards kids too much but really, in Japan, the kids watch death happen to characters in their anime too and its usually in the same time slot. Kudos to the writers to not being afraid to push the envelope for American cartoons.

I eagerly await ep 4. :)

^^This!^^ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fAPEUWowEc)
Very well put Gekisou. :D:cool:

Tetsuwan Convoy

3rd December 2010, 02:14 PM

I am enjoying this series. It isn't really in tune with Hasbro's reboot though is it? While it does take elements from WfC... its not really in-sync with it.

It is quite in sync with the Exodus book though.

Just watched ep 3. Noice! Megatron in his little bits so far has been pretty creepy and leading on tot he crazy part I think when he started hearing the voices of Unicron. I dig the way the drones are just as tough as your usual Decepticon. How long was Bulkhead wailing on that one? No single hero charging in to save the day.

Starscream , I am beginning to like more and more. Torturing humans for a start is something that hasn't happend for a while!

Aside from the death, it has some interesting themes going on. I think it was ep 2 when Ratchet expressed his concern about protecting the humans to the detriment of the (possibly last as far as they know) 5 Autobots. Some possible dis-satisfction withing ranks.

Now I am beginning to find the music a bit much, especially in the helicopter bit with Fowler when he was gettin attacked. It is in theme with the movie, but seems excessive for the cartoon.

Just wish there were some better quality torrents about for it. I can handle larger than 180 meg. Give me good quality please.... I think that has been the most annoying thing so far....

5FDP

3rd December 2010, 02:42 PM

Just wish there were some better quality torrents about for it. I can handle larger than 180 meg. Give me good quality please.... I think that has been the most annoying thing so far....

Agreed. Apparently they are all SD rips and the only person putting them out is Cartoon Palace (C_P). They created the Animated torrents which were also poor quality. I don't think we'll see a good quality version until the DVD is released.

gekisou

3rd December 2010, 02:49 PM

It is quite in sync with the Exodus book though.

Aside from the death, it has some interesting themes going on. I think it was ep 2 when Ratchet expressed his concern about protecting the humans to the detriment of the (possibly last as far as they know) 5 Autobots. Some possible dis-satisfction withing ranks.

Haven't read the Exodus Book so not sure... thanx for the info.

Why are people saying that they are the last 5 Autobots? Prime has said that they are the last 5 on Earth. So there are probably more Autobots out in space.

5FDP

3rd December 2010, 04:57 PM

Ep4 is posted on youtube -

Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9bFeZLKIEo)
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1Ov7B7LXU)

I haven't watched them yet; waiting for a torrent.

kurdt_the_goat

3rd December 2010, 06:11 PM

Boy some G1 Prime purists are going to choke on this episode! Awesome stuff :)

Hursticon

3rd December 2010, 06:34 PM

Too right!

This episode is easily the best yet and I'm really digging some of the camera and situation effects that have been brought over from the Movies. :eek:
The fight scenes between Transformers really have that well thought out approach to them and in all honesty, crap all over the lame fisty-cuffs that broke out on the G1 cartoon. ;)

This is seriously setting the tone for a good series, it's got all the ingredients for some decent longevity and interest as really, the ground work needs to be set up for the next 25 years of the franchise. :cool:
Don't get me wrong, I love G1, Beast Wars and their continuity - but the franchise can't continuously rely on things that in not too long a time will be considered fairly dated, like 1920s Cinema dated. :o

The future looks bright indeed, contrasted with the dark - this franchise will survive for quite some time to come. :D

loophole

3rd December 2010, 08:07 PM

I love hearing Welker doing Megatrons voice its so AWESOME!!

Its looking to be a good series my only fear is that it will start getting really good and then Hasbro will decide that they want to freshen up the franchise again and it will get canned before its time.

kurdt_the_goat

3rd December 2010, 08:11 PM

I like Welker's voice but i think i could handle and prefer it as closer to the original like Cullen's Prime. Starscream's VA is utterly awesome too!

FFN

3rd December 2010, 09:42 PM

I prefer this voice. As Welker said, he brought his Megatron voice down to more of an "acting level". So instead of Megatron being a shouty cartoon dude most of the time, he's much more subtle, until he really explodes, like when he abuses Starscream.

War for Cybertron's Cybertron makes another appearance.

GoktimusPrime

3rd December 2010, 10:33 PM

I also like Welker's current Megatron voice. :) Starscream's voice... meh. Don't love nor hate it.

Okay... the human kids are getting on my nerves now - _especially_ Miko. As frustrating as Raf and Jack's interference with the groundbridge was, at least they had good intentions. Miko's just... spastic. Oh look, a giant robot's off to rescue Fowler from enemy giant robots. Yeah... tag along.

No wonder her family back in Japan shipped her off to the other side of the world. :p

5FDP

4th December 2010, 12:15 AM

With all this love for Welker, I still can't understand why Bay chose to go with Hugo Weaving for the movies.

I remember watching the special features on the DVD and they explained why they went with Weaving by showing a clip of movie Megs with Welker's G1 Megatron voice. Sure it didn't suit, but the guys a professional voice actor and could've changed his method as is clearly evident in Prime.

Boy some G1 Prime purists are going to choke on this episode! Awesome stuff :)

How so?

I just finished watching the latest episode and to reiterate, this is not a show for kids. I am enjoying it though and I look forward to the finale tomorrow night.

Lint

4th December 2010, 12:37 AM

It's getting better. I must say the fight choreography is a huge step up over anything we've seen before in both cartoons and possibly films (haven't seen ROTF).

They've toned down on the orchestral score and the suffocating emo-ness which is good. However Starscream is degenerating into a grovelling backstabber & Megatron punching bag caricature instead of a legitimate threat, which is the vibe I got from the first two episodes.

kurdt_the_goat

4th December 2010, 01:26 AM

How so?

I just finished watching the latest episode and to reiterate, this is not a show for kids. I am enjoying it though and I look forward to the finale tomorrow night.

I was just recalling all the comments made about Prime being too violent in ROTF as he blows away Scavenger at the beginning. Which now seems pretty weaksauce compared to slaughtering a whole field of robots!

Hursticon

4th December 2010, 03:30 AM

gekisou

4th December 2010, 09:28 AM

Oh my... the drones are not incredibly intelligent but very resilient. And Prime... pure awesomeness. And I love the build up to Meg's endgame.

Sky Shadow

4th December 2010, 01:12 PM

Very nice ending to Episode 4. I like this series - it's definitely the best current ongoing Transformers continuity - leagues above IDW and the Bay films. I look forward to watching it progress.

kup

4th December 2010, 01:28 PM

I just watched episodes 3 & 4 and although they were overall good, it felt much more disjointed than the first two.

The most annoying bit were sadly the humans which in this episode seem more in line with the infamous annoying humans of the past, the girl in particular. Another thing which annoyed me was how that kid managed to hack into the FBI database - That was absolutely ridiculous and I wouldn't be surprised if even children feel that their intelligence has been insulted after that scene.

Before that girl was just a nuisance now she is very annoying and disrupting. If I were the Autobots I would simply lock up all the kids in a box like the Furman IDW Autobots did in Infiltration.

It was a very disjointed couple of episodes which is more indicative of Orci and Kurtzman's writing style. One moment it's very cartoony with 'yipee!', 'Awesome!' 'Kid hacks FBI computer' but by the next scene with the same humans, there is this attempt at realism with pain, angst and depression throwing me off as a viewer.

I hope the series improves as I can see myself loosing interest if it continues to be this disjointed with the humans becoming 'super kids'. So far the main plot is good but not that interesting to balance out the now more prevalent annoying bits.

As Sky Shadow mentioned, it is certainly by far the best current TF fiction out there as the IDW comics are horrific but I still feel that it could be better if they tone down the kids, particularly Miko and stop giving them random 'super powers' like Raf's hacking skills.

kup

4th December 2010, 01:34 PM

I was just recalling all the comments made about Prime being too violent in ROTF as he blows away Scavenger at the beginning. Which now seems pretty weaksauce compared to slaughtering a whole field of robots!

The nature of that complain was not that Prime was too violent but how he killed Scavenger in cold blood and seemed to enjoy it which was completely against his character.

kurdt_the_goat

4th December 2010, 02:29 PM

I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to be more specific about that scene! I was merely suggesting someone who thinks the ROTF scene was out of character, might also think this scene was out of character, not necessarily exactly the same.

SMHFConvoy

4th December 2010, 03:01 PM

So I've watched all of the mini series and while it look very nice - although the human character design could use more work - in the end it amounts to a very basic story with no real depth. The characters aren't too interesting and I put it down TF:Prime is missing some heart.

The best way I can put forward this argument is Prime's iteration of Bulkhead. He has been made the token strong guy. I understand that this is only a mini series not really enough room to develop a character.

However, I feel that the new creative team has really mishandled a character that was in his previous version an artist and a space-bridge engineer. I expect that we'll just get more of the same when the series starts next Feb.

kup

4th December 2010, 07:38 PM

TF:Prime is missing some heart.

I was actually thinking that today as I was analyzing the episodes so far. the TF characters although well rounded, do seem kind of bland.

SMHFConvoy

4th December 2010, 08:26 PM

the TF characters although well rounded, do seem kind of bland.

I do hope that the characters are explored more in the new series. But I don't think that'll happen.

kurdt_the_goat

4th December 2010, 08:38 PM

Sometimes you guys make me feel like i'm back in English Lit class at high school with the analysing! I don't notice half the stuff you're pointing out; hopefully not because i'm an idiot, just i'd rather not watch the show then come write an essay about it. That kills my enjoyment way more than any retarded human characters :)

Hursticon

4th December 2010, 08:39 PM

Guys, c'mon - give it a chance, it's only been 5 episodes of a 26 episode season. :eek:
(To paraphrase, Rome wasn't built over night. ;))

kup

4th December 2010, 08:51 PM

Guys, c'mon - give it a chance, it's only been 5 episodes of a 26 episode season. :eek:
(To paraphrase, Rome wasn't built over night. ;))

We are all giving it a chance or we wouldn't be watching it. We are just giving our own opinions as we watch the episodes. No one has said that the show is bad and not worth watching, we are just offering our views on the bits that could be improved.

Sometimes it seems that some take any sort of criticism as 'hating' the show. There is nothing wrong with watching something, enjoying it but also be able to point out what we didn't like about it.

Sometimes you guys make me feel like i'm back in English Lit class at high school with the analysing! I don't notice half the stuff you're pointing out; hopefully not because i'm an idiot, just i'd rather not watch the show then come write an essay about it. That kills my enjoyment way more than any retarded human characters :)

Everyone has different ways of enjoying the show, if you enjoy it better by not giving much thought to such plot factors then good but don't expect everyone to be the same.

The_Damned

4th December 2010, 10:20 PM

episode 4 and 5 are out downloading now but will watch them tomorrow

Sharky

4th December 2010, 10:29 PM

i just finished the 5 eps and i must admit it is not to bad at all i really do like the fight sequences of the toon, some are just borderone brutal.... it is good to see some robot carnage, the human factor is a bit to much at times... kinda over done but other then that i enjoyed it

it is a good cast i would like to see a few more "independant" decepticons...

i think if the whole series will follow this it will be pretty good...

come on february

g i joe renegades isnt too bad either

kup

4th December 2010, 10:40 PM

Hursticon

4th December 2010, 10:49 PM

Sometimes it seems that some take any sort of criticism as 'hating' the show. There is nothing wrong with watching something, enjoying it but also be able to point out what we didn't like about it.

I'm probably one of those people dude :p, but do know that I agree with people being able to voice their opinions, that's why we're here :D, it's just that some comments seems to be just a little ridiculous to me :confused: - but with that said my interpretation of someone's typed words is probably different to how others would interpret them. :cool:
(Hence why my posts make liberal use of the few emoticons we have ;))

I'm not having a go at anyone, all I'm suggesting is that on the character development front - give it sometime. :)

kup

4th December 2010, 11:42 PM

I'm probably one of those people dude :p, but do know that I agree with people being able to voice their opinions, that's why we're here :D, it's just that some comments seems to be just a little ridiculous to me :confused: - but with that said my interpretation of someone's typed words is probably different to how others would interpret them. :cool:
(Hence why my posts make liberal use of the few emoticons we have ;))

I'm not having a go at anyone, all I'm suggesting is that on the character development front - give it sometime. :)

I think that criticism here has been pretty constructive and balanced by mentioning the positives as well as the negatives. No one has condemned the show, boycotted it or anything of the sort to warrant such 'give it a chance' posts when everyone here already is. No one has pulled a 'Trukk Not Munky' attitude which your post seems to suggest.

Frankly speaking, something that I feel is really bad within the TF fandom in general is that many have a too polarized 'You must love it or hate it - Nothing in between' attitudes. I wrote a big post on the first two episodes which was mostly composed of praise for the show as I very much enjoyed it but because after that, I gave my opinion on parts that i didn't like in the last two episodes, some are immediately assuming that I am not giving the show a "chance" and hating it. Very frustrating and discouraging.

Demonac

4th December 2010, 11:53 PM

Actually, I think this show is pretty awful. :P
If they can't fit any characterization in 100 mins (the average length of a movie), then they are really struggling. I have better things to waste my (not very) valuable time on.

On a positive note: the fight scenes aren't as confusing as the Bay films.

Tallestblue

5th December 2010, 01:10 AM

I watched episode 5 and I think it's the best one (So far). I don't find the human characters anywhere near as annoying as the kids from the Unicron Trilogy but that's most likely because no-one has "Radical" or "Holy Frijoles".
The action in the first five eps has been pretty kick-ass and they added some classic G1 qoutes to the final fight as well. I think the miniseries is as decent as the two Transformers Movies we got at least. Bring on february!!

King Atlas

5th December 2010, 02:45 AM

Yeah, it's not bad show. I am enjoying this alot more than the first couple of episodes from animated. I like how they made the energon crystals look like raw energon as a throw-back to Beast Wars :)

Bartrim

5th December 2010, 08:33 AM

Everyone has different ways of enjoying the show, if you enjoy it better by not giving much thought to such plot factors then good but don't expect everyone to be the same.

But try to remember Kup that this a kids cartoon,not some gritty oscar winning drama. If you over analyse it of course you'll find errors. It's a kids cartoon. I'd think that all the errors and things you find annoying, 99% of the target audience don't even notice. Honestly do you think all the 7-12 year olds watching this are concerned about the lack of character development. They just want to see giant robots kicking arse.

I have no problem with critiquing the show. My concern is that overall (not just this thread) there seems to be alot of criticism of Hasbro. Now while it's true that not all criticism is negative it can easily be seen that way and it can seem to potential new members that we are a bunch of whingy fanboys and as such drive them away.

Again as I've said twice it's a kids cartoon and while it does have it's faults IMO (looking at you Miko!) I'm willing to let them slide as I am not the target audience and I can enjoy the rest of the Transformery goodness

kup

5th December 2010, 10:43 AM

But try to remember Kup that this a kids cartoon,not some gritty oscar winning drama. If you over analyse it of course you'll find errors. It's a kids cartoon. I'd think that all the errors and things you find annoying, 99% of the target audience don't even notice. Honestly do you think all the 7-12 year olds watching this are concerned about the lack of character development. They just want to see giant robots kicking arse.

I have no problem with critiquing the show. My concern is that overall (not just this thread) there seems to be alot of criticism of Hasbro. Now while it's true that not all criticism is negative it can easily be seen that way and it can seem to potential new members that we are a bunch of whingy fanboys and as such drive them away.

Again as I've said twice it's a kids cartoon and while it does have it's faults IMO (looking at you Miko!) I'm willing to let them slide as I am not the target audience and I can enjoy the rest of the Transformery goodness

Like some others, you are erroneously treating me as if I am hating the show just because I complained about an aspect of it. I never said anything against the character development or analyzing it as an Oscar winning drama. What I said is that the kids are becoming more of a nuisance in episodes 3-4 and that the TF characters could be more lively. Again, any criticism given is being blown out of proportion by those who disagree. To me that creates more of a negative atmosphere than the actual criticism as it highlights the negative and ignores the positive in the thread which was actually pretty prevalent before those posts begun.

I also don't see whingy fanboys here, this thread is largely positive about the show! What is highlighting negativity and magnifying it are the people who complain about anyone who offers any form of criticism about any aspect of the episodes.

If you disagree, that's good, it's your right but don't make assumptions about others or talk down people's criticisms while ignoring everything positive they have said.
If those posts have not come up calling people's criticism as ridiculous while ignoring anything positive said and concentrating on the negative so that they can complain about it, this thread would have gone on as normal.

Bartrim

5th December 2010, 11:26 AM

I have no problem with critiquing the show. My concern is that overall (not just this thread) there seems to be alot of criticism of Hasbro.
Again as I've said twice it's a kids cartoon and while it does have it's faults IMO (looking at you Miko!) I'm willing to let them slide as I am not the target audience and I can enjoy the rest of the Transformery goodness

I also don't see whingy fanboys here, this thread is largely positive about the show! What is highlighting negativity and magnifying it are the people who complain about anyone who offers any form of criticism about any aspect of the episodes.

If you disagree, that's good, it's your right but don't make assumptions about others or talk down people's criticisms while ignoring everything positive they have said.

If those posts have not come up calling people's criticism as ridiculous while ignoring anything positive said and concentrating on the negative so that they can complain about it, this thread would have gone on as normal.

Try reading all my post before you retort...

Now back to Transformers: Prime. I enjoyed episode 5. My only gripe is that I have to wait until next year for episode 6.

kup

5th December 2010, 11:33 AM

Try reading all my post before you retort...

I did and that is what I understood of it or you wouldn't have brought it up in this particular thread.

Sky Shadow

5th December 2010, 12:43 PM

More tentacle rape... :P

The only issue I have with the characterisation of the Transformers is that it takes itself too seriously. The best Optimuses are the ones who have to prove themselves, like Primal or Animated. This one is presented by the series as if the audience should already bow down and worship at his awesome Optimus Primeityness when we've only just met him. And he's played ultra-seriously - there's no attempt to subvert the icon with any sort of humour, it's laid out that this-is-Optimus-Prime-and-he's-the-best-thing-since-sliced-Jesus-and-everyone-knows-it. Despite the cringeworthy clich�s ("one shall stand..." <puke>), it is fantastic that we have Cullen and Welker playing archnemeses again, I just feel like Prime needs a Rattrap or Animated Prowl to take him down a peg or two. Maybe when the series proper starts, the Autobots will have a couple of additions to act as foils to their deadpan humourless core cast.

I await the ongoing series.

Gutsman Heavy

5th December 2010, 01:16 PM

Sky Shadow

5th December 2010, 01:23 PM

hmm I gotta say I find it a tad meh overall, its not bad per say, but it definitely lacks something, heart. It feels so much like a committee design, as opposed to a piece of art put together by passionate people.

This is true - it's going to be hard for the audience to love the characters until the series shows some signs that its creators do.

kup

5th December 2010, 01:28 PM

I just saw episode 5 and it is much better than 4&5 which despite being very good from the robot perspective, they were a bit too annoying on the human side. This episode was much more balanced and consistent like the first two so I enjoyed it more.

This 'mini-series' opening is considerably better than the Animated one, not without it's gripes but it does good overall. Hopefully the series will be able to reach the same heights that Animated did in Season 3 but much sooner.

As mentioned by everyone, something that this show is doing right is the fight scenes. You can see what is going on although they did do a kind of 'Bay tribute' in a slow motion scene in the 4th episode but since you could see what was going on it was better executed than Bay's. My only complaint is that it goes too much into '1 on 1s' not allowing epic battles between the Autobots and Decepticons as we saw between the Maximals and Predacons in Beast Wars, hopefully we will see that in future episodes as those scenes were also great for cross-faction character interaction and also showed a 'comradeship' relationship within the Maximals.

The start of episode 5 was very good but I got a bit worried when they had the kid 'hack' into the Government satellite network as I found that very much ridiculous. As a kid, I thought it was ridiculous when Chip used to know how to use Teletraan 1 better than the Autobots and even more so as an adult, so this aspect was a bit annoying for me. Thankfully the 'hacking' attempts did not come to complete fruition so that kind of neutralized that bit. What they went for instead with the schematics was a much better outcome than having the kid with his super powered hacking skills save the day so I am happy with that.

I also thought it was a nice touch that Soundwave did the practical thing and prevented the kids from accessing the satellite dishes by cutting the hard wire instead of wasting time finishing them off. Overall the kids were much better handled in this episode.

So far I am enjoying the show and it is the best current TF fiction by far. However I do share the same view as some like Sky Shadow. The TF characters do take themselves too seriously and that makes them rather bland. Prime is also somewhat boring and talks in slow motion as if he is reading from a book rather than performing, this was particularly obvious when he was quoting his 'classic lines' at Megatron.

What the show needs is more clever humor or as Sky Shadow mentioned, a Rattrap sort of character to liven things up or a Dinobot character to throw some spice. The show as it is now is indeed lacking heart and that is the biggest down side of it so far as much of it is very good. We also need more Decepticons with character - This is a must as Starscream and Megatron can't carry the whole show on the Decepticon side. A bit of soul is needed.

Hursticon

5th December 2010, 01:48 PM

We also need more Decepticons with character - This is a must as Starscream and Megatron can't carry the whole show on the Decepticon side.

I very highly agree with you here Kup, because Soundwave is clearly a mute so they're gonna have to pull their thumbs out on this one. ;):D
I'd also like to see the 'phasing out' of those cheap and nasty drones - sure keep 1 or 2 around and maybe have them get hit with a lightning bolt that causes them to miraculously acquire an individual personality, ala Johnny 5 :cool:, because their design is pretty cool, they just end up as fodder though. :(

Tetsuwan Convoy

5th December 2010, 02:20 PM

I was just recalling all the comments made about Prime being too violent in ROTF as he blows away Scavenger at the beginning. Which now seems pretty weaksauce compared to slaughtering a whole field of robots!
But they were Zombies, so that makes it ok.:D

I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to be more specific about that scene! I was merely suggesting someone who thinks the ROTF scene was out of character, might also think this scene was out of character, not necessarily exactly the same.

The best way I can put forward this argument is Prime's iteration of Bulkhead. He has been made the token strong guy. I understand that this is only a mini series not really enough room to develop a character.

However, I feel that the new creative team has really mishandled a character that was in his previous version an artist and a space-bridge engineer. I expect that we'll just get more of the same when the series starts next Feb.

I am going to put all these arguments down to 'new show.' I can understand people wanting the same type of character when they use the name again, but just re-hashing the same personalities for each series would get a little tedious wouldn't it?

Plus it is only the start of the series, perhaps Miko will teach BH about music to soften him up. Smae with Prime's ruthlessness, perhaps he has been fighting the war for so long that he has become more like the deceps than he thinks, and the humans will help him regain his old self. After all, we have only had 5 eps.

Speaking of those 5 eps, I quite enjoyed them. Sure some were a bit emo and Raf is a tad annoying, but that doesn't detract from the overall cool-ness of this series methinks. Megatron is great with massive plans, Starscream is brave when megs isn't around him, but obviously scared of Megatron. I hope to see some back stabbing in the future, which is what Starscreams are all about (contradicting my previous comments on BH in the process :p ).

I was thinking, that we could see some good variety in 'bots thorugh this. With Op and pals on Earth, it would be cool to see Tfs of different themes come from other planest, after Cybertron is a dead planet (in more ways than one now) and so some Tfs that took the shape of Beasts to survive could come visit, kind of like Galaxy Force.

I was also thinking that a good story could be done with Wheelie, being a survivalist, I suspect surviving n Cybertron would be quite a challenge. (Assuming it's Wheelie from SPotlight, not Daniel and Wheelie, or leg humping wheelie)

Sky Shadow

5th December 2010, 02:31 PM

Chemistry! I've worked out that's what's missing. G1 Megatron and Starscream; Kup and Hot Rod; Beast Wars Blackarachnia and Silverbolt; Animated Bulkhead and Bumblebee; Sentinel and Optimus Prime (etc.) All the great Transformers characters worked because they had banter and conflict and emotional interest in the other characters around them. Here we don't see that, and we're going to need it to add an extra dimension to the rest of the series.

Tetsuwan Convoy

5th December 2010, 03:35 PM

looks like there might be some robo-love between Arcee and whats that guys name.. human guy, not Raf.

Hopefully some more characters will spunk things up a little.

I must say that I am very fond of Ratchet "No need for long goodbyes. There's the door" GOLD! He has had some the best lines in this series!

And his VA is familar, anyone able to tell me what else he has done, as I swear I have heard that voice before.

1AZRAEL1

5th December 2010, 03:59 PM

And his VA is familar, anyone able to tell me what else he has done, as I swear I have heard that voice before.

That would be none other than Jeffrey Combs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Combs), great horror movie actor, among other things.

gekisou

5th December 2010, 04:33 PM

I swear, Soundwave is the most intelligent Decepticon... bar none.
Prime vs Megs... totally awesome.
Ralf... somewhat useful.
Have to admit... while Starscream takes over the Decepticons fairly quickly, he DOES seem concerned over Meg's well-being through the 5 parter. Different... not as different as the Micron Densetsu and Superlink version but different enough.

I've enjoyed this 5 parter, hope the rest of the season will be at least as good.

Tallestblue

5th December 2010, 07:08 PM

That would be none other than Jeffrey Combs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Combs), great horror movie actor, among other things.

I was surprised it was Re-Animator dude, I could have sworn it was the Voice Actor who played Prometheus Black/Meltdown....

GoktimusPrime

5th December 2010, 08:05 PM

Just saw eps four and five, and I enjoyed them. Miko's pretty annoying though... whenever I was watching her the word クソガキ ('kusogaki' = little s***) kept popping in my mind. (x-_-) But afterwards I was thinking... there have been plenty of examples of teenagers throwing themselves into warzones simply because they're seeking adventure (e.g. Jim Martin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Martin_%28Australian_soldier%29)) - so as annoying as she is, she isn't a completely unbelievable character.

As for Raf's "1337 h4xX0rZ 5|<!11z", I think it was handled better and explained when he studied the Decepticon screen and said that although he didn't understand the Cybertronian language, he could still recognise and understand mathematics. And that would explain all of his super abilities so far... Rafael is basically a mathematical genius, and his understanding of math allows him to basically hack into computer systems, even alien computer systems. Perhaps it's all too convenenient and cliche/corny for a little kid to be such a math genius, but not absolutely impossible. Although you'd think that a kid this smart would have been picked up by his parents and teachers much sooner... you'd think he'd be like one of those Doogie Howser kids who would've been accelerated and would already be in uni now! (cos at least Chip was portrayed as a young scientist - not some random schoolkid).

looks like there might be some robo-love between Arcee and whats that guys name.. human guy, not Raf
Jack. I wanna see his mum again. ;)

Ralf... somewhat useful.
Ralf fail English? That's unpossible! :p ;)

I also thought the fight scene between Optimus Prime and Ratchet against the hordes of zombies was way cool. :) Although... I never knew Cybertronians had veins! :o

Tetsuwan Convoy

5th December 2010, 10:02 PM

Jack. I wanna see his mum again. ;)

Ha hahaha! lol..

I also thought the fight scene between Optimus Prime and Ratchet against the hordes of zombies was way cool. :) Although... I never knew Cybertronians had veins! :o
Yeh, I thought that a bit odd too. Why not at least use circuits when wrigint about robots... Maybe they do, I haven't seen a transformer physiology book. Remember on Zone, Predaking had brains and intestines...

GoktimusPrime

6th December 2010, 09:50 AM

Yeh, I thought that a bit odd too. Why not at least use circuits when wrigint about robots... Maybe they do, I haven't seen a transformer physiology book. Remember on Zone, Predaking had brains and intestines...

Yeah, that was a rather gutsy moment.

しぃ～～～ん

FI-YAA GUTS!! (http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/a/a1/MF42_Ginrai_vs_BlackZarak%27s_heads.jpg)

gekisou

6th December 2010, 11:56 AM

Stop dragging Cicadas into this Gok. :p

I suddenly remembered what really bugged me about the ep. The ending communication Prime sends out. Its almost like the Bay Movie ending commu, which isn't unexpected cos its got the same writers, but instead of telling Autobots to come to the planet, its telling would-be invaded to try it and we will kick your asses off-planet. Interesting but odd.

i_amtrunks

6th December 2010, 05:06 PM

Not bad, but it is borrowing all the good stuff from Animated at the beginning of the series, rather than at the end (Decepticon Army arrive via spacebridge).

Bulkhead really is the standout from the mini, nice to not have "Bumblebee is teh Awesum!!!11!" shoved in our faces for a change.

Animation is nice and fluid, fighting is really well choreographed, not to the Avatar, last Airbender level, but it is still very dynamic, with each bot having their own style for fighting, both hand to hand and with weapons.

GoktimusPrime

6th December 2010, 11:37 PM

I was watching some TF Prime during my lunch break today, and ya know, putting all the fan-b!tching aside -- I really am liking this series a lot. Ever since Beast Wars ended, I've often complained about Transformers series simply failing to deliver a simultaneous appeal to both child and adult audiences. Beast Machines was too adult and everything after that was too kid-oriented. Car Robot (RiD) was good considering it's target audience and Animated got better later on... just before being canned. And the Unicron Trilogy was rather forgettable. The comics were more enjoyable, but of course, we all know happened with Dreamwave <sigh>.

I feel that this is the first Transformers cartoon we've had since the Canadian Beast Wars series that actually is trying to appeal to both kids and adults at the same time... and IMO it's doing a fair job (cos it's NOT easy to appeal to two such different audiences at the same time) -- a helluva lot better of a job than Michael Bay. The only thing, for me, that is missing would be tying in with G1-G2-BW-BM continuity, but that's obviously never been the intent of this series (and the fact that Beast Machines ended in a way that boxed in continuity makes it jolly hard to follow up doesn't help) -- so it's not something I begrudge them for.

I just hope they run with this continuity for a good long while before doing another reboot. I'm tired of seeing 'disposable continuities' thrown all over the place for the last 10 years. Yeah I know G1 had different continuities within it, but it all belonged to one larger "universal" continuity (i.e. same core cast of characters, one toy line etc.)... I'd like to think that if Prime is successful then Hasbro will decide to continue this series... but Hasbro has a habit of prematurely cancelling series in fear of it becoming stale (e.g. Beast Wars and Animated).

Now... bring on the toys!!

Oilspill

7th December 2010, 03:04 AM

Overall, it's not a bad series in my opinion, but then it's not great either. I think it comes down to the characters. I just fail to care about them. Arcee and Jack are kinda likable, Ratchet and Bulkhead are bearable and everyone else seems boring.

Prime is getting some terrible movie-style dialogue in this show. I don't really blame Cullen, it seems to be more-so the script/direction. But damn Prime needs to lighten the f*ck up.

But it's still ok, has plenty of action, a few interesting ideas and the sporadic comedy is quite well done.

While nowhere near as good as Animated's opening three-parter, it was still somewhat enjoyable and has plenty of potential.

Prime_217

8th December 2010, 01:51 AM

i have only watched the first 2 episodes so far but i have to say i think it is turing out really well. i am loving the animation and the character designs. i do think it is probably a bit dark for younger kids but i dont really mind as i am not a younger kid and enjoy the darkness :P
looking forward to watching the next episodes

Robzy

8th December 2010, 09:36 AM

Meh - it's not bad. I'll probably get in to it more, but it's not blowing my mind just yet.

Doubledealer

9th December 2010, 01:22 AM

I'll keep watching but Prime isn't doing anything for me at the moment. I think it's biggest problem (horrendous designs aside) is that it takes itself far too seriously. It's just not that fun at all.

I also loved how in TFA the Decepticons were a real threat, even Starscream could really hold his own against the whole team of Autobots making for exciting viewing. In this show, every fight seems to consist of the Autobots against wave after wave of generic clones, meanwhile, Big Girls Blouse & Mrs Pantyhose AKA Starscream & Megatron sit in the background shining their breastplates.

GoktimusPrime

9th December 2010, 09:50 AM

I'll keep watching but Prime isn't doing anything for me at the moment. I think it's biggest problem (horrendous designs aside) is that it takes itself far too seriously. It's just not that fun at all.

I think there are plenty of light hearted moments to break up the tension and seriousness, like Ratchet saying to Optimus that if he leaves him stranded on Earth by himself surrounded by humans, that he'll never forgive him - or Agent Fowler's delirium ("Soldier you're out of uniform, put some pants on!") - Miko actually questioning the improbability of Raf's "leet haxxor" skills ("You're like... two!") etc. And there's plenty of kick-bum action to entertain too. It's no where NEAR as bad as Beast Machines which, while revolving around a sophisticated and philosophical plotline, was also chock full of emo angst; not to mention spending nearly the entire first season with lots and lots and lots of running away from Vehicons. Join us next week to see the Maximals run away from more Vehicons. And did we forget to tell you that the seeds of the future are lied buried the past? We did tell you that the seeds of the future are buried in the past, right? Cool. So yeah, don't forget that the seeds of the future are buried in the past. ;)

kup

9th December 2010, 10:14 AM

I also loved how in TFA the Decepticons were a real threat, even Starscream could really hold his own against the whole team of Autobots making for exciting viewing. In this show, every fight seems to consist of the Autobots against wave after wave of generic clones, meanwhile, Big Girls Blouse & Mrs Pantyhose AKA Starscream & Megatron sit in the background shining their breastplates.

Despite my pet peeves with Animated, they did handle the Decepticons extremely well. I think that Transformers is at it's best when you have a good balance of interesting characters on both factions. Transformers is also at it's best when it doesn't take itself too seriously and there is a good balance between fun and seriousness with a natural flow between the two in the story. Marvel G1 managed it and so did Beast Wars and arguably the G1 cartoon too despite the cheesy 80s plots.

In recent times, another fictional story that has managed to balance out the seriousness and the fun is War for Cybertron. The situation and the war was serious but the G1 quirky characters were fun like Breakdown and Warpath and their interaction with the more serious characters made it funny and balanced out the atmosphere.

Prime may develop into something a little bit more like that but I am not holding my breath but will give it a shot. Despite it all, it is still the best fiction out there and IMO it had a better start than Animated.

Doubledealer

9th December 2010, 12:29 PM

I think there are plenty of light hearted moments to break up the tension and seriousness, like Ratchet saying to Optimus that if he leaves him stranded on Earth by himself surrounded by humans, that he'll never forgive him - or Agent Fowler's delirium ("Soldier you're out of uniform, put some pants on!") - Miko actually questioning the improbability of Raf's "leet haxxor" skills ("You're like... two!") etc. And there's plenty of kick-bum action to entertain too. It's no where NEAR as bad as Beast Machines which, while revolving around a sophisticated and philosophical plotline, was also chock full of emo angst; not to mention spending nearly the entire first season with lots and lots and lots of running away from Vehicons. Join us next week to see the Maximals run away from more Vehicons. And did we forget to tell you that the seeds of the future are lied buried the past? We did tell you that the seeds of the future are buried in the past, right? Cool. So yeah, don't forget that the seeds of the future are buried in the past. ;)

For me, the humour that is there (particularly from those loathsome human characters) feels forced and out of place. It ruins any kind of intruiging darker atmosphere that was there, and reminds us all we're meant to be 10 years old.

kup

10th December 2010, 04:08 PM

For me, the humour that is there (particularly from those loathsome human characters) feels forced and out of place. It ruins any kind of intruiging darker atmosphere that was there, and reminds us all we're meant to be 10 years old.

IMO that is typical of Orci's and Kurtzman's writing. You saw that sort of 'out of place' humor in Star Trek and in TF1 & 2 although in the latter it was more crude (Bay).

kaiden

13th December 2010, 10:55 AM

http://www.rlslog.net/transformers-prime-s01e01-e05-darkness-rising-720p-hdtv-dd5-1-x264-etp/

eps1-5 in 720p hdtv quality for those that need it.

5FDP

13th December 2010, 11:53 AM

http://www.rlslog.net/transformers-prime-s01e01-e05-darkness-rising-720p-hdtv-dd5-1-x264-etp/

eps1-5 in 720p hdtv quality for those that need it.

Can't access the site from work - are they .mkv files?

Hursticon

13th December 2010, 06:55 PM

Can't access the site from work - are they .mkv files?

Yep, they sure are dude. :)
Are you able to use .mkv files?

Cheers Kaiden! :D:cool:

5FDP

13th December 2010, 08:26 PM

Yep, they sure are dude. :)
Are you able to use .mkv files?

Thanks Hursty :) Yeah, .mkv files are no good to me :(

Hursticon

13th December 2010, 08:32 PM

Thanks Hursty :) Yeah, .mkv files are no good to me :(

Try this (http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.videolan.org%2Fvlc%2F&rct=j&q=vlc&ei=-OcFTdmlDcf3rQeckYCRDw&usg=AFQjCNHhAJ3QZ6KepVQi6V4S-8QzwYZeMA&sig2=j8KshSiPdEQLmlN7ID545w&cad=rja) then dude, it'll play literally, near-on anything. :D
I don't use any other media player to watch videos. ;):cool:

5FDP

13th December 2010, 08:36 PM

Try this (http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.videolan.org%2Fvlc%2F&rct=j&q=vlc&ei=-OcFTdmlDcf3rQeckYCRDw&usg=AFQjCNHhAJ3QZ6KepVQi6V4S-8QzwYZeMA&sig2=j8KshSiPdEQLmlN7ID545w&cad=rja) then dude, it'll play literally, near-on anything. :D
I don't use any other media player to watch videos. ;):cool:

Thanks buddy. I'd want to play them on my PS3 however I need the files to be either .mp4 or .avi. Unfortunately .mkv files don't work with a PS3.

Hursticon

13th December 2010, 08:39 PM

Thanks buddy. I'd want to play them on my PS3 however I need the files to be either .mp4 or .avi. Unfortunately .mkv files don't work with a PS3.

Apparently they do with the latest update or something, my brother tells me if you update to the latest 1.35 patch, you'll be able to use .mkv files. ;):)

kaiden

13th December 2010, 08:43 PM

Thanks buddy. I'd want to play them on my PS3 however I need the files to be either .mp4 or .avi. Unfortunately .mkv files don't work with a PS3.

you could download a free video converter (http://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=free+ps3+video+converter)

liegeprime

13th December 2010, 09:25 PM

The humans SHOULD have died :mad::mad::mad: to prove their relevance , they had to sacrifice to save humanity from the evil of the Decepticons. I'd accept that, especially kill the annoying Jap b$#@H first, then the lame-o teen then lastly after he's done what needs to be done that Raf kid. then probably that would make their existence in the cartoon sorta valid, they had to help and DIED doing so for the greater good.... seriously for the greater good kill the humans!! Leave Fowler, him I can tolerate... for now

5FDP

13th December 2010, 10:16 PM

Thanks Hursty and kaiden. I learnt something new today :)

Hursticon

14th December 2010, 03:28 PM

Well, it only took 9 hours, transferring at 153.23Kbps (Average) but I now have all 5 eps in glorious HD! :D
Thanks again Kaiden for the link. ;):)

The_Damned

13th February 2011, 07:02 PM

so what did everyone think of episode 6? i like Bumblebee more after that ep(without giving away to much) and i like how it now has a proper intro looking forward to the next episode. skyquake was interesting.

twisted_belly

13th February 2011, 07:25 PM

Starscream was awesome and funny too lol. Did we just hear soundwave voice in this ep or was it just another playback?

The_Damned

13th February 2011, 07:30 PM

i dont remember hearing him. starscream was good to. i am really liking this series

twisted_belly

13th February 2011, 07:35 PM

i dont remember hearing him. starscream was good to. i am really liking this series

And the toy images from the Toyfair just make it even better. Really digging Starscream.

The_Damned

13th February 2011, 07:38 PM

yea watching the show is making more excited for the coming toys. be intersting to see where they are going with this and what other characters they are going to bring into the show.

Hursticon

13th February 2011, 08:36 PM

I've got to say that I am really enjoying this series and I can't wait for a HD file of this episode to show up. ;)
Skyquake looks to be an interesting, if not necessary, addition to the Decepticon ranks and it is clear that some interesting story arcs are beginning to take shape. :D
It is very easy to see why this show has been picked up for a Second season though, I hope there will be many more to follow too. :cool:

The_Damned

13th February 2011, 08:58 PM

Tallestblue

13th February 2011, 09:03 PM

Yeah, it was neat. But nothing too spectacular.

SPOILERS-

The new opening uses the sweeping orchestral Movie score, as opposed to a rehash of the G1 theme. I'm annoyed Skyquake died in his first appearance, that's my main gripe with the show, the second is trotting out the tired old "Damaged/Comatose Megatron plot" that we've seen a hundred (All right, like, five, but still) times before. I did enjoy the brief interaction between Ratchet and the human kids. That was amusing but Miko still has a ridiculous European accent, not a Japanese one, and that grates on me. .

I'm not as entertained by Prime as I was by Animated. I'm holding out hope something will happen to make me love it. Fingers crossed.

GoktimusPrime

13th February 2011, 09:36 PM

***SPOILERS***

I quite liked this ep. I loved Starscream's line of "I, Megatron's true heir, Lord Starscream, Emperor of Destruction!" -- nice. ;)

The new opening uses the sweeping orchestral Movie score, as opposed to a rehash of the G1 theme.
Well it's about bloody time since we saw an Anglophone Transformers cartoon whose theme song is something other than a rehash of the G1 theme! Haven't seen this since Beast Wars/Beast Machines (although I don't think Phat Planet was explicitly composed for BM). It's not the greatest theme song, but at least they're making an effort to be different.

I'm annoyed Skyquake died in his first appearance, that's my main gripe with the show, the second is trotting out the tired old "Damaged/Comatose Megatron plot" that we've seen a hundred (All right, like, five, but still) times before.
I'm sure Skyquake will be back (especially if Hasbro are gonna make a toy of him)... after all, Skyfire was presumed KIA in his first appearance in the G1 cartoon too.

I did enjoy the brief interaction between Ratchet and the human kids. That was amusing but Miko still has a ridiculous European accent, not a Japanese one, and that grates on me. .
Well we don't know where she may have learnt English. Perhaps she lived in Europe for a while. I once knew a Mongolian guy who spoke English with a Russian accent, because his father worked in a Mongolian consulate in Moscow and that's where he learnt English from. Pretty funky seeing an Asian dude speaking English with a strong Russian accent. ;)

I'm not as entertained by Prime as I was by Animated. I'm holding out hope something will happen to make me love it. Fingers crossed.

Prime Prime (heh) is a more "conventional" Optimus Prime insofar as being the seasoned military leader who commands respect from all friends and foes alike. Animated Prime was more like Optimus Primal -- started off as a non-military leader (Animated Prime = space bridge crew leader, Primal = expeditionary crew leader) who was unwittingly thrust into being a military commander... although Animated Prime had the experience of at least having had some Academy training. So from that perspective that can make such characters more interesting -- one difficult thing about writing a conventional Optimus Prime character is finding weaknesses in the character and exploiting it. That's something that the G1 cartoon did not do very well and the G1 Marvel Comics handled a lot better -- the G1 cartoon all too often portrayed Optimus Prime as a near-flawless Saviour archetype. And a flawless character is a boring character -- the hero is only as interesting as his (or her) weaknesses. Even Superman has his Kryptonite. ;)

Prime Prime is much like G1 cartoon Prime so far... the 'perfect' hero. They need to give him some character flaws to make him interesting.

And WHAT is up with agent Fowler constantly flying around in military aircraft with NO safety equipment on (other than a seatbelt?)?? Whether it's a helicopter or jet fighter, he just wears a business suit. No flight suit, no helmet... just the kind of clothes you'd wear to the office. Rriiiiiiggghht...

I did notice that this episode revealed Fowler's given name - William... perhaps a reference to G1's William Irving "Sparkplug" Witwicky? ;)

Hursticon

13th February 2011, 09:57 PM

***SPOILERS***

I quite liked this ep. I loved Starscream's line of "I, Megatron's true heir, Lord Starscream, Emperor of Destruction!" -- nice. ;)

Oh yeah, his Voice Actor hit that one perfectly IMO - Felt very much like a true Starscream. ;)

Well it's about bloody time since we saw an Anglophone Transformers cartoon whose theme song is something other than a rehash of the G1 theme! Haven't seen this since Beast Wars/Beast Machines (although I don't think Phat Planet was explicitly composed for BM). It's not the greatest theme song, but at least they're making an effort to be different.

I agree here too because the more people tend to 'play-around' with the G1 Theme, the more in tends to loose it's charm, IMO, so like Beast Wars - It's nice to see Prime trying to make it's own thing. :)
(Though obviously the show owes alot to the Movies ;))

I'm sure Skyquake will be back (especially if Hasbro are gonna make a toy of him)... after all, Skyfire was presumed KIA in his first appearance in the G1 cartoon too.

Oh he'll be back, and in greater numbers! :p:D

Well we don't know where she may have learnt English. Perhaps she lived in Europe for a while. I once knew a Mongolian guy who spoke English with a Russian accent, because his father worked in a Mongolian consulate in Moscow and that's where he learnt English from. Pretty funky seeing an Asian dude speaking English with a strong Russian accent. ;)

Meh, I don't mind the tweaked accent - though that case you describe Goki would've been really odd to hear the first time. :D

Prime Prime is much like G1 cartoon Prime so far... the 'perfect' hero. They need to give him some character flaws to make him interesting.

Oh but Truck was SO better than Monkey... :rolleyes::p:D
I reckon we've only scratched the surface with Prime: Prime and I'm personally hoping he grows a little bit of a mean streak like his Big Screen counterpart ;):D, I like me's some Robo-Dismemberment! :p:cool:

And WHAT is up with agent Fowler constantly flying around in military aircraft with NO safety equipment on (other than a seatbelt?)?? Whether it's a helicopter or jet fighter, he just wears a business suit. No flight suit, no helmet... just the kind of clothes you'd wear to the office. Rriiiiiiggghht...

This!
When they go to that first shot of him in the cockpit I was like: "So he's heading to work I guess? :confused:".
I think it is probably an oversight, but I hope we don't see a continuing trend with him 'just happening to be in the vicinity' all the time. :(
(I think that is probably my only gripe with this episode :cool:)

I did notice that this episode revealed Fowler's given name - William... perhaps a reference to G1's William Irving "Sparkplug" Witwicky? ;)

It's possible but... Writers Lie!, He's A Robot In Disguise! :D