Links to it on youtube - for the first 2 episodes. First 5 episodes will air in America next week, and probably weekly after that.
No idea yet about when it will air here.
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Links to it on youtube - for the first 2 episodes. First 5 episodes will air in America next week, and probably weekly after that.
No idea yet about when it will air here.
So Far...
I like it. The action is cool. Humans aren't annoying...yet, Megatron is truely Evil, Ratchet will take some getting used to, Bulkhead is badass, Prime is well.. um Prime, Starscream is skinny, Eradicons are not simple easy beat drones.
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Only watched the first episode so far.
Thought it was a bit gruesom with the way Cliffjumper was killed off, considering this is supposed to be G rated?
Megatron's face is a bit scary for young kids as well...
Animation looks a little bland and washed out, but good to see Transformers back in action. And good to hear Cullen and Welker again. :D
Not liking the nose-less faces.
And could that really be the only appearance of Cliffjumper? Or perhaps he'll be resurected later... Seems like a waste of animation (most of the time and money is spent on the creation of the animation model, not the usage).
I think it will probably confuse kids who think this is part of the Movie universe, due to characters and some similar forms. Some pre-existing concepts appear to be intentionally vague, but the way they introduced the 'core cast humans' will probably seem a bit inconsistant later when other humans see them in action. And what of their parents... or their concept of stranger-danger?
Finally, am I the only one who is just a little annoyed that Bumblebee doesn't speak in a way that the audience can understand, and yet, the kid (Raf) understands him?
I'll watch episode 2 later... it might answer some of those questions.
My comments in Blue
Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Liked it. Alot more darker than I expected.
I too am a lil peeved that BB is non speaking, but oh well. I just want to hear Sondwave dammit. I do like him a bit more now than when we saw pictures of him earlier.
prime really needs a nose or even if they went for a Optimus Primal look would have been better with the spit face plate
and as Azrael said peeved off about BB not speaking
but otherwise not too bad looking forward to see where they go with the series
oh and its good to have welker back as Megatron :D
Watched the first episode and half way through the second.
My thoughts - I wouldn't let my kid watch this what with Cliffjumper's death and resurrection as a zombie. Megatron looks way too scary (even for me :o).
It's hard to get used to Prime with no nose.
Arcee is clearly the standout character for me.
Thankfully, as some have mentioned, the human characters aren't too annoying - yet.
Would like to see a clearer version of the show, but youtube will have to do for now.
So Arcee is pretty much Priss from Bubblegum Crisis. That's awesome.
I really enjoyed these episodes!
You know I really liked TFA. I don't mind Prime but I don't I'm sort of torn. Megatron looks like a shark and I really do not like Starscream's voice, dammit I miss Tom Kenny's TFA version :/
So in conclusion I don't know. It's okay.
Well HUGE fan of new Megatron TOY PLEASE WITH SOUND CHIP HASBRO! And im not the only one not happy with BB not talking my Kids dont like it too. Watched the two eps on Youtube through the Ps3 on the BIG TV worked well :D
Normally I'm not a fan of Arcee but this incarnation isn't too bad. Time will tell if she annoys me as the series progresses. Shocked at Cliffjumpers death. Maybe thats why The Rock voiced him, as he was only in it briefly. I'm no animation expert but I like what I see (I don't hate the movie designs). Overall I enjoyed but the standout was Ratchet. I though he was a great blend of several Ratchet's past.
"Your fine says your physician":D Great way to blow off guard duty.
Really?? At 360p?Quote:
Originally Posted by VERT
Love it.......
He comes back as a zombie.Quote:
Originally Posted by griffin
Aaarrgh... spoilers!!!
Just kidding. :p
I was surprised that Arcee wasn't voiced by Sue Blu - it sounds like her.
Soundwave was both creepy and cool-looking... it'll be interesting to see more of him.
Yeah sure the picture was not clear due to the size of the screen but was WAY more fun than looking at a laptop screen.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5FDP
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
No. Why does everyone think Soundwave is a chick? He plays back part of Arcee's dialouge with Cliffjumper.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartrim
Yeah your right. Soundwave could be a girl but that voice that played wasn't his so it isn't confirmed either way yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1AZRAEL1
It would be interesting if they went that way, but I hope he will be male.
Anybody notice the brief use of footage from War for Cybertron at the beginning of Prime's flashback?
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
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!
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. ;)
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
Oooh, Gok...:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy
I like Soundwave's Oscilloscope face.
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
Whoops, I meant 'Not so movie like'Quote:
Originally Posted by Quickstrike
off to edit...
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?
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:
I wrote up a more detailed analysis of what I thought about the show here, but in a nutshell, I found it to be mediocre with a very nice presentation.
He hardly did anything aside from say one-liners and shoot things. How is that an improvement?Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
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...
Have you blocked out "Go with the Flow" from your memory? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
because kids like kids more. cause then they can pretend to be the kids on the show.Quote:
Originally Posted by shokwave2
That's unnecessary. Kids cut out the middle 'man' and pretend to be Transformers. They still have imaginations (unlike your average TV executives.)Quote:
Originally Posted by kaiden
(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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky Shadow
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.
Let me rephrase: Prime Bulkhead has made a much better first impression on me than Animated Bulkhead.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
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).Quote:
Originally Posted by shokwave2
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. ;) 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!! :pQuote:
Originally Posted by shokwave
At least he isn't a pretend cripple 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 ;))Quote:
Originally Posted by shokwave
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!Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
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:Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
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 :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.Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
Yet they have eyebrows. :p Heheh, nah I agree... but still weird to see those "Pai Mei" eyebrows (Tarantino'd!). ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
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).Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...palmconvoy.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.Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
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. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky Shadow
I like the orchestral music. <shrug>Quote:
Originally Posted by Lint
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. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lint
I actually prefer it over G1. JMOQuote:
Originally Posted by Lint
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?).Quote:
Originally Posted by kaiden
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.