My thoughts on Beast Wars so far

[Sam]

I must say initially I was not really impressed, but as with watching any series, I think it's important to keep an open mind if one wants to learn to appreciate it.

Given that it was years ago when the series was created, it was not right to expect modern-day levels of CG quality.

Additionally, I was not used to the alt modes being animals, but I learnt to see past that once I focused more on the story and interaction between characters.

I have only just finished "Code of Hero" - a really good episode in my opinion, the plot and themes reminds me once again what's great about the Transformers mythos.

Looking forward to watching the rest of Season 2 and Season 3!

[kup]

I must say initially I was not really impressed, but as with watching any series, I think it's important to keep an open mind if one wants to learn to appreciate it.

Given that it was years ago when the series was created, it was not right to expect modern-day levels of CG quality.

Additionally, I was not used to the alt modes being animals, but I learnt to see past that once I focused more on the story and interaction between characters.

I have only just finished "Code of Hero" - a really good episode in my opinion, the plot and themes reminds me once again what's great about the Transformers mythos.

Looking forward to watching the rest of Season 2 and Season 3!

Get ready for the super Awesome Season 2 Finale!

Code of Hero is one of my favorite episodes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk1jL...eature=related

[GoktimusPrime]

Heh... the timing of this thread is ironic. Last Friday a former poster from alt.toys.transformers started a thread where we're all posts should be like 1998 never ended so we've been reliving what life was like during Beast Wars' hey day.

I'm glad you're enjoying Beast Wars Sam. I think it's clear to see how Beast Wars managed to save Transformers from oblivion after "Generation 2" brought the franchise to the edge of extinction. I see Beast Wars as the Transformers' Renaissance.

[liegeprime]

I think it's clear to see how Beast Wars managed to save Transformers from oblivion after "Generation 2" brought the franchise to the edge of extinction. I see Beast Wars as the Transformers' Renaissance.

It's all Hasbro's fault!! They shouldve shown better care in their products
G2 wouldve been astounding but they bungled it up with poor promotion, reissues galore in funky candy colors and no cartoon to whet the curio of kids..... ah well, guess its their product so they can mess it up as much as they like, but its still their fault. Twenty lashes with spiked whips shouldve been in order a long time now!!!!

[1orion2many]

Code of a Hero is my favourite Episode Sam, it does help that Dinobot was my favourite character in BW closely followed by the Rat

[Autocon]

i dont understand why people have this "ho no they are animals not machines!" mentality. why is it so wrong?

[GoktimusPrime]

It's all Hasbro's fault!! They shouldve shown better care in their products
G2 wouldve been astounding but they bungled it up with poor promotion, reissues galore in funky candy colors and no cartoon to whet the curio of kids..... ah well, guess its their product so they can mess it up as much as they like, but its still their fault. Twenty lashes with spiked whips shouldve been in order a long time now!!!!

It wasn't entirely Hasbro's fault. Transformers was already a weakened franchise by the end of G1, which is why Hasbro tried to 'reboot' it with G2. I agree that simply reissuing G1 toys in weird colours and that cartoon was not a good idea. Although G2 did have a good comic series, but that was cancelled ultimately due to poor toy sales.

The thing with G2 is that it got good at the _end_. G2 gave us fully articulated robot modes, increased durability etc., but it was too late. Had G2 started like that (like say if in 1993 we got Hero Optimus Prime and Megatron and the Laser Rods) then they line might have lasted better.

Now having said that, it still might not have revived Transformers the same way that Beast Wars did. The problem with Transformers by the mid 1990s was that the franchise/concept had gotten stale. I remember talking to a lot of kids whom I used to play Transformers with complaining that the franchise had run out of new ideas. Beast Wars breathed new life into Transformers by offering something fresh, new and original. It was a risky play, but you could say that G2 was their conservative attempt at reviving the franchise, and considering that it had effectively failed, it's understandable that HasTak decided to go out on a limb and play a riskier hand. Thankfully it worked and Transformers became a success again!

[GoktimusPrime]

i dont understand why people have this "ho no they are animals not machines!" mentality. why is it so wrong?

There's nothing wrong with it, it was just something entirely new and it took people by surprise. To this day some people still don't like the aesthetics of Beast Wars Transformers (as heroic_decepticon once said, it feels "icky" to him) -- and that's just their opinion. I guess some people just don't like seeing organic animal kibble hanging off robots.

When you break away from the traditional design of Transformers you're always gonna get people who won't like it. There are lots of people who hate the live action movie designs because they look too "f'ugly"* and people who hate Animated because it uses the simplified contemporary style of Western animation which cuts down on excessive detailing. Whether you like or hate a certain design aesthetic is entirely a matter of personal opinion.

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*I like the fact that they look so alien. "Transformers and Philosophy" states that technically the Transformers shouldn't have virtually _no_ alt mode kibble at all and that the movie designs show too much. It argues that all their alt mode parts should really pull apart and hide somewhere, leaving a pure protoform on the outside. Similar to how some insects are able to pull back a carapace and reveal wings etc. But as someone from Hasbro pointed out, as unrealistic as it may be, having alt mode kibble is something very iconic about what makes a robot a Transformer -- so I appreciate the fact that the designers tried to reach a compromise between 'realistic scifi fans' who would insist on kibble-free robot modes, and traditional Transformer fans who would want lots of kibble.